Urahara VS Yoruichi!

Half a month later, the Shihoin training grounds.

"Boom!"

Wrapped in white electrical light, Yoruichi slammed her fist into the ground, shattering the entire training ground. The air filled with dust and gravel the size of fists.

Urahara flickered constantly, dodging each strike. With his Zanpakuto still unreleased, he wore a nonchalant smile. "Yare yare~ that was close. Is this Shunko? Isn't the power a bit foul?"

"Heh~ spare me that. Would you really take this level seriously? It's just a semi-finished product." Yoruichi, wreathed in white lightning, smirked as she rubbed her knuckles, watching Urahara.

"Again!"

As the words left her lips, Yoruichi shattered the earth beneath her feet and charged at Urahara!

"Tsk tsk~ Bind him! Benihime!"

Several black and red ribbons erupted from the point where Urahara's Zanpakuto met the ground, flying rapidly toward the incoming Yoruichi!

Heh~ the same trick won't work on me!

"Whoosh!"

Just as the black and red ribbons were about to touch her, Yoruichi's figure vanished instantly, reappearing right behind Urahara!

"You think the same trick won't work? Awaken, Benihime!"

"Clang!"

"Whoosh!"

Urahara switched the form of his Zanpakuto instantly, turning and striking in one fluid motion!

The moment their attacks collided, a Howling Gale erupted!

Not a scratch? Not only did she complete the initial stage of Shunko, but she also incorporated Ichiro's idea—the Spirit Armor? Yoruichi, you've finally started taking action. Urahara's lips curled slightly as he flickered, vanishing from his spot while switching his Zanpakuto's form once more.

"Sing, Benihime!"

"Razor Benihime!"

Several crimson flying blades soared toward Yoruichi, sealing off every direction!

Urahara knew Yoruichi well, so he was fully aware of how formidable her Shunpo was. He decided to simply seal off her escape routes!

After all, Shunpo was merely a high-speed movement technique, not spatial displacement.

But clearly, Urahara had underestimated Yoruichi's proficiency with Shunpo. Furthermore, a strike is inherently unidirectional; even if Benihime's superior performance allowed a blade to magically fly behind Yoruichi, it was still just a single strike.

Yoruichi simply turned and smashed her fist into the red blade. On one side was Yoruichi's full-force white light; on the other, Urahara's fragmented red energy. The outcome was never in doubt.

The red strike was shattered by Yoruichi, tearing a hole in the near-perfect encirclement. In an instant, Yoruichi's figure vanished without a trace.

After flashing out with Shunpo, Yoruichi used the dust kicked up by the remaining red blades to close in on Urahara rapidly.

Urahara's Zanpakuto was versatile, which was an advantage, but also a disadvantage. "Singing" Benihime excelled in mid-to-long-range combat, which meant it was inevitably lacking in close quarters.

Of course, Urahara understood this, so he had mastered the ability to switch forms rapidly, changing the state of his Zanpakuto in a Single Thought to nearly eliminate this weakness.

But it was only "nearly."

Frequent form changes consumed massive amounts of spiritual pressure, so Yoruichi's strategy was clear: use Shunpo to constantly pressure Urahara, forcing him to switch his Zanpakuto repeatedly.

Although her semi-Shunko consumed a significant amount of energy, this was only a training bout. Using it at high intensity allowed her to expose potential issues and make timely adjustments.

Consequently, the two figures on the training ground nearly vanished, visible only as two blurry streaks darting back and forth. After nearly thirty seconds of stalemate, Yoruichi's Shunpo proved superior, and she successfully closed the distance!

However, as Yoruichi closed in, Urahara didn't switch to "Singing" Benihime, but to "Binding" Benihime!

"Bind him! Benihime!"

Urahara's lips curled as he chanted quickly!

At the very spot where Yoruichi landed after her Shunpo, several black and red ribbons erupted from the ground, coiling upward!

Damn it! A trap!

That was her first thought.

Mimicry Shikai, activate!

That was her second thought—and her action!

Violent spiritual pressure erupted from Yoruichi, the sheer volume scattering the newly formed black and red ribbons and blowing Urahara far away!

This was another powerful aspect of the Mimicry Shikai.

It required no preparation; as long as she could channel spiritual pressure, she could activate it instantly. In gaming terms, it had no "wind-up."

For a Soul Reaper like Yoruichi who specialized in Hakuda, this was perfect!

Drawing a blade just to buff her spiritual pressure before a fight, then sheathing it again—by the time that was done, the opportunity would have long passed. Moreover, since the source of the spiritual power was something she had crafted herself, as long as she had the money, she could keep the buff active indefinitely. It was even better than a standard Shikai!

The only downside was the exorbitant cost.

But, would the Shihoin clan ever be short on money?

Thus, the moment Urahara finished his experiment, she had him craft one for her immediately and devised several combat styles. Yet, after putting it into actual combat for the first time, Yoruichi realized she had been too hasty.

The Mimicry Shikai technology was, after all, not particularly refined; its spiritual power control was nowhere near as fluid as a standard Zanpakuto Shikai. It was fine under normal circumstances, but once unleashed in the heat of battle, the slightly clumsy spiritual power control caused Yoruichi's semi-Shunko to spiral out of control and dissipate.

And so, the battle ended.

Not far away, Urahara, who had been preparing a counterattack, could only put away his Zanpakuto with a look of regret. There was no point in continuing; he could collect and refine the data for the Mimicry Shikai on his own, and this fight had primarily been to help Yoruichi develop her semi-Shunko.

Even so, Urahara still walked over to collect the meager data from Yoruichi. He still had some ideas regarding the Mimicry Shikai; as a genius, how could he be content with merely perfecting Ichiro's invention?

Currently, besides the issue of spiritual power control, the Mimicry Shikai had another flaw: it could not coexist with a Zanpakuto's Shikai. This significantly lowered its value. To Urahara, the ideal state for the Mimicry Shikai would be for its spiritual power amplification to be indistinguishable from a Zanpakuto's Shikai, while also being able to function simultaneously!

In this way, the Mimicry Shikai would not only be useful to him, but its strategic significance would also be vastly improved!

At the same time, there would be less resistance to its future widespread adoption. After all, once it could coexist, the Mimicry Shikai would transform from a mere replacement for a Zanpakuto into an invention that could simply and drastically boost a Soul Reaper's combat power and growth rate.

Urahara understood Ichiro well; he knew that for Ichiro, an invention that couldn't be popularized was meaningless, unless it was an extremely dangerous "weapon."

Therefore, he was willing to help Ichiro in this regard, because he also believed that if it were Ichiro, he would have made the same decision.

"Are you alright? It looks like the Shunko burned you again. Did a specific node fail?"

"It should be that it couldn't withstand such high spiritual pressure; many of the semi-Shunko nodes collapsed in that instant."

"I see. Write down in detail which parts failed later, and I'll study them with you."

"What about your own research?"

"I'm fine. The Tenshintai research is finished. I'm mainly focusing on the Mimicry Shikai now, so it works out perfectly to help you."

"Alright, the nodes are mainly these."

With that, the two supported each other as they walked into the house, beginning a new round of research. Compared to the male-female partnership on this side, Ichiro's situation was far more miserable.

Not only was the environment harsh, but he was also lonely, accompanied only by a Simpleton Dragon that did nothing but stuff its face.