The Image in His Eyes

The instant he released Kyoka Suigetsu before Tang San, Aizen Sousuke keenly noticed the purple glow in Tang San's eyes.

"Aizen Sousuke, what are you trying to do?" Tang San snapped awake after a dazzling flash and looked doubtfully at Aizen Sousuke, who was holding his martial soul and walking toward him.

"I merely wanted to spar with you, Senior. Would that be all right?" Aizen Sousuke asked gently.

Tang San shook his head and refused Aizen Sousuke's invitation. "I need to train with Big Brother Ulquiorra. I don't have time to spar with you today."

"Oh, is that so? Then I have disturbed you. I wonder when I might have another chance to spar with Senior Tang San." Aizen Sousuke sounded disappointed.

"Not at all. We're classmates now, so there will be plenty of chances. I'm leaving!" With that, Tang San ran toward Ulquiorra, and the two left the dormitory together.

Watching Tang San's retreating figure, Aizen Sousuke adjusted the glasses on his nose. The gentleness in his eyes was gone, replaced only by indifference.

"I didn't expect Kyoka Suigetsu to be ineffective against him now. It must be because of that strange eye technique, along with the Soul Power gap being too small."

"In that case, the plan needs to be revised. Lord Aizen was able to completely hypnotize him because of their enormous gap in Soul Power. I need to speed up my cultivation."

Aizen Sousuke left the dormitory and headed toward the back mountain.

"Ah!"

"That hurts!"

"Can't you be gentler?"

"I can't take it anymore!"

On the Training Field, Ulquiorra continued attacking Tang San with all-round, relentless strikes, hitting every part of his body.

Each time he was hit, Tang San cried out in pain.

Ulquiorra paid him no heed. He attacked the areas Urahara Kisuke had specifically emphasized with particular frequency.

A Soul Master capable of Soul Beast Transformation needed an extremely strong physical foundation. Otherwise, their body would collapse the instant they transformed.

Then the plan would fail.

To ensure the experiment's success, targeted training had to begin from childhood.

While Ulquiorra trained Tang San, Urahara Kisuke carefully recorded the data from the side.

Compared with Tang San's harsh training, Xiao Wu's was much gentler.

"Your movement isn't quite standard. You should do it like this."

Aizen personally taught Xiao Wu the essentials of the movements. Wherever she did not perform properly, he directly corrected her with his hands.

The physical contact between them never stopped.

Yet Xiao Wu did not resist at all. Instead, whenever Aizen touched her, her face flushed slightly, and she even felt quite happy.

Aizen was currently teaching Xiao Wu the techniques of Flash Step. Footwork and body movement were especially important.

Her thighs and waist were the areas he touched most often.

Using rapid movements to create afterimages that confused one's opponent was a highly advanced evasive technique.

As an agility-attack Soul Master, Xiao Wu had been especially delighted when she learned she would be taught this move.

Faced with Aizen's attentive guidance, Xiao Wu did not even know how to repay him.

She felt that, other than Tang San, Aizen was the person who treated her best.

Meanwhile, Kurosaki Ichigo was sparring with Ichimaru Gin.

Combat was the best way to improve, especially for Ichimaru Gin and Kurosaki Ichigo, whose strengths were not too far apart.

Zangetsu, shaped like a kitchen cleaver, faced Shinso, which could extend and retract freely.

Although Kurosaki Ichigo could not use Getsuga Tenshō, and Ichimaru Gin's Shinso was not fast enough in its extension and retraction—

Ichimaru Gin's attacks were extremely tricky, and the places he targeted were particularly vicious. Kurosaki Ichigo got no advantage at all against him.

Matsumoto Rangiku watched Ichimaru Gin with a smile from the side, admiring the boy who had captivated her.

Meanwhile, Inoue Orihime kept cheering Kurosaki Ichigo on.

"Kurosaki, come on! Don't lose!"

"Come on, come on, Kurosaki, you can do it!"

The adorable cheers made Kurosaki Ichigo, who had fallen into a disadvantage, feel a little embarrassed.

Having someone cheer for him, having someone hope he would win—what a proud thing that was.

But his opponent showed him not the slightest mercy, making him look bad time and again.

"What's wrong, Kurosaki Ichigo? Are you going to surrender?" Ichimaru Gin retracted Shinso, narrowed his eyes, and looked at Kurosaki Ichigo with a mocking smile.

"Who's surrendering?!"

Having been toyed with like this, Kurosaki Ichigo flew into a rage. He raised Zangetsu in his hand and roared.

"Raaah!"

He covered three steps in two and rapidly closed in on Ichimaru Gin, forcing him to raise Shinso and block in front of his chest.

Clang!

Seeing the fury on Kurosaki Ichigo's face, Ichimaru Gin was slightly startled before forcefully knocking him back.

"What? Aren't you pretty impressive?"

Then Kurosaki Ichigo launched a frenzied assault on Ichimaru Gin.

Ichimaru Gin likewise began to fight Kurosaki Ichigo seriously.

The two exchanged blows, and for a time, neither could gain the upper hand.

Tang San watched Kurosaki Ichigo and Ichimaru Gin enviously and sighed inwardly. When will I be able to do this with Ulquiorra too?

In the instant he lost focus, Ulquiorra's fist came again.

"Damn it!"

Tang San's carelessness earned him a brutal punch to the stomach. He fell to his knees in pain and spat up sour liquid.

"What are you doing? You already couldn't defend against that punch after only a moment?" Ulquiorra looked at Tang San calmly and spoke with a hint of contempt.

"How could that be? It's not over yet!" Tang San immediately stood up, stepped into Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, and activated Purple Demon Eyes. His gaze would not leave Ulquiorra for even an instant.

"That's more like it. Continue!" Ulquiorra nodded in satisfaction, then continued tormenting Tang San.

Seeing how miserably her newly acknowledged brother was being treated, Xiao Wu could not bear it. She tugged at Aizen's sleeve and pleaded, "Can you stop treating Third Brother like this?"

Aizen stroked Xiao Wu's smooth hair and comforted her. "It's all right, Xiao Wu. This is the result of Tang San's hard work. Ever since you became sworn siblings, he has trained desperately every day so he can protect you. Can you bear to make Tang San give up like this?"

Xiao Wu was slightly moved. She looked at Aizen, then at Tang San, before saying with a resolute expression, "Third Brother is working hard, so I need to work hard too. Master Aizen, let's increase the difficulty!"

Aizen smiled faintly and reminded her, "All right. Since that is the case, let's have an actual fight. When you get injured here and there, it will be unavoidable."

Xiao Wu's gaze was extremely firm, and she did not waver because of this.

"Come on!"

With that, she assumed her stance.

Aizen nodded and raised his palm, striking toward Xiao Wu's chest...

On the back mountain, Aizen Sousuke saw Yamamoto Shigekuni training himself diligently. In particular, the Gōka no Ken in Yamamoto Shigekuni's hand made Aizen Sousuke deeply wary.

Yamamoto Shigekuni noticed Aizen Sousuke, cast him a glance, and sternly shouted, "Don't stand around here. Get out of the way!"