Awaken, Flame Sparrow!

Lying on the ground, Ichiro laughed for a while before gradually stifling it, though the lingering smile on his lips spoke volumes of his current mood.

Ichiro rose and walked to the center of the alchemy array, picked up the Zanpakuto from the floor, examined it briefly, and tucked it into his waistband beneath his own Zanpakuto. Once the two blades were placed together, Ichiro, as the wielder, could clearly sense an anomaly: this blade was dead. It was merely a tool, not a true Zanpakuto.

However, this was all within Ichiro's calculations. He calmly headed to the training grounds to begin various demonstrations and data collection.

By evening, Ichiro was lying on the floor, lamp lit, busily perfecting the alchemy data for the Mimicry Zanpakuto in a notebook. Since he had held this idea from the very beginning, the technology for the Mimicry Zanpakuto, much like his spiritual power recovery potion, could now be replicated without relying on alchemy; the only differences were efficiency and quality.

In other words, it could not be mass-produced.

This was actually no different from modern science. All technology begins as a product of the laboratory; to put it into formal mass production, many hurdles must be overcome.

But that was not something Ichiro needed to worry about. His mindset was much like the scientists of his first life: he only cared about research. As for the specific mass production and popularization, he would gladly offload that to others, which not only saved his own energy but might even lead to unexpected surprises.

After all, scientific research was never something one person could master alone. For instance, the famous scientists of his first life—the likes of Yuan, Tu, and Qian—were top-tier researchers with extraordinary achievements, yet even they had massive teams working behind them.

Or consider Professor Yang, who stood alongside Newton and Einstein—if not for the excellent research environment abroad, he might not have achieved such staggering results.

Therefore, Ichiro didn't need to take on everything himself; he only needed to do what interested him. Having lived two lives, his brain was far sharper now, and he had at least that much confidence in not falling behind others.

Early the next morning, Ichiro woke from his sleep, rubbed his eyes, flipped through his newly filled manual with a hint of pride, and smiled contentedly. He tidied up the scene, hung the Mimicry Zanpakuto at his waist, and turned to leave the underground space.

He had to tell the Captain this good news and give her a surprise. The rise of Squad 4 began today!

"Captain~ Captain~ Are you there, Captain?" As soon as he entered the barracks, Ichiro shouted loudly. Along the way, the more he thought about it, the more excited he became. This was a revolutionary invention for Squad 4!

"Whoosh—thwack!"

Just as Ichiro was shouting, a milky-white ball of spiritual power flew out from the Captain's office, striking him squarely on the forehead.

"What kind of behavior is this, shouting and hollering? When did you become so impetuous?"

As she spoke, Captain Unohana walked slowly out of the office with Lieutenant Kiyonosuke. Both looked at Ichiro with smiles on their faces. They had been worried when Ichiro suddenly left yesterday, leaving only a note, but seeing him alive and kicking now, their hearts were finally at ease.

"Hehe~ Captain, come on, let's go to the training field! I want to show you something good!"

"Oh? Is that so? Then let's go. We'll head to the small training field in the back. Get familiar with it; that's where sword training will be held from now on. However, if what you show me doesn't satisfy me, you'll be swinging your sword for the whole day! I'll explain things to the school!"

With that, Captain Unohana and Kiyonosuke walked toward the back with smiles.

Ichiro's excited expression froze, and he curled his lip. It looked like he wouldn't be practicing swordplay today after all; what a pity. He then followed them with a smug, "Dragon King" smirk on his face.

"Captain, watch closely!" Standing in the middle of the training field, Ichiro drew the Mimicry Zanpakuto and said confidently.

Hmm? Two blades? I didn't notice that just now? This blade is interesting. Kiyonosuke's eyes flashed as he thought to himself. As a lieutenant, he was quite confident in his own observation skills; before Ichiro drew his blade, he had truly only sensed one.

On the other side, Captain Unohana was the same; she hadn't noticed the two blades at Ichiro's waist earlier. However, her strength was far greater than Kiyonosuke's, so she saw it instantly. This phenomenon was because Ichiro's Zanpakuto was deliberately masking itself!

This Zanpakuto has such strong spirituality! It seems there are still many secrets to Zanpakuto.

In an instant, their thoughts raced, though only a moment had passed in reality. After drawing the blade, Ichiro held it horizontally across his chest with his right hand, pressed his left sword-finger against the blade, wore his "Dragon King" smirk, wiped it sharply, and shouted!

"Awaken, Flame Sparrow!"

"Chirp~"

"Whoosh!"

Under the astonished gazes of Captain Unohana and the others, a short, sharp cry rang out, and scorching orange-red flames erupted from the blade, forming a blade of fire!

"This is... Shikai? No! This blade is dead! The spiritual pressure hasn't changed either. Ichiro, what is this!?"

"As expected of the Captain, you saw through it at a glance." Ichiro waved the Flame Sparrow in his hand and said, "This is indeed not a Shikai, nor is it a true Zanpakuto. To be precise, it is not an orthodox Zanpakuto; it is a Mimicry Zanpakuto!"

"A Mimicry Zanpakuto?"

"Yes. I won't go into the specific principles, but simply put, it simulates the effects of various Zanpakuto after Shikai. By constructing Kido formulas, it achieves similar results. It's currently just a prototype, so the power is weaker. Of course..."

Ichiro changed his tone and continued, "If it were only that, it would be nothing more than a portable, fixed-trigger Kido, unworthy of the name 'Mimicry Zanpakuto.' The reason it is called a Mimicry Zanpakuto is that, like an orthodox Zanpakuto, it possesses the ability to self-improve!

Even without manually optimizing the Kido formulas on it, through years of use, it will gradually optimize itself due to the special structure of the Asauchi itself. The principle behind this is currently unknown; I am merely utilizing it. But one thing is certain: no matter how it changes, it can never become a true Zanpakuto. It is merely a powerful tool."

After finishing, Ichiro held the burning Flame Sparrow and watched Captain Unohana quietly, waiting for her to process this explosive news.

A moment later, Captain Unohana closed her eyes slightly, then opened them and asked, "Can anyone use it?"

"Because it has growth properties, it is bound. Only the first person to activate it can use it."

"Can it mimic any Zanpakuto?"

"It depends on the ability. Currently, I can only construct simple ones."

"What about its growth potential?"

"Taking the Flame Sparrow in my hand as an example, the foreseeable expectation is that it can become the strongest fire-type Zanpakuto below Ryujin Jakka!"

The Captain's pupils dilated slightly. She knew Ichiro; although he was sometimes unserious, he was always measured when it came to these matters. Breathing out slowly, the Captain asked again, "Then, can a healing-type Zanpakuto also be crafted?"