But Yamabuki Chidori knew that a truly powerful army was forged in battle, not on the training ground. No army could become elite without seeing real combat.
When he arrived at the training ground that morning, Yamabuki Chidori did not reveal the day's lesson. Instead, he had everyone hand in their wooden swords.
"No wooden swords today! Everyone gets a real blade!" With a wave of Yamabuki Chidori's hand, two trainees brought over a neat row of Zanpakuto, one for each person!
Many of the trainees were touching a real sword for the first time and could barely contain their excitement. Were they about to spar with live blades?
"Today we're doing something real. No sparring matches. We're going straight to the battlefield!" Yamabuki Chidori swept his gaze across the trainees. Some looked terrified, some calm, some excited, and some were trembling!
"Hollows have appeared in three districts of northern Rukongai. I'm taking you to hunt them. Remember, I won't step in unless I have no choice. Form squads of five. Bring me the body of one Hollow per squad—that's today's test!" Yamabuki Chidori said. "All right, move out!"
The trainees arrived in northern Rukongai.
The area was relatively lawless. It had plenty of Hollows, and plenty of thugs too.
These thugs were not aimless street punks. They were genuine swordsmen with blades in hand.
Quite a few eyed the two girls in the group with open greed. But the group was large and armed, so they did not dare approach.
Some people were reckless enough to try anyway. In the end, a few thugs could not contain themselves and tried to abduct the girls.
But they had badly underestimated the Gotei 13 trainees. After half a month of grueling training, even an ordinary trainee was far beyond these thugs. Two of them were knocked down in a few moves and dragged before Yamabuki Chidori.
"Instructor, these men tried to attack us. What should we do with them?" Hachisato asked.
Yamabuki Chidori looked coldly at the thugs. Ever since Delia had been kidnapped, he had felt nothing but disgust for their kind. He simply lacked the manpower to deal with them now. Once the Gotei 13 had enough people, he would have to clean up Rukongai.
Yamabuki Chidori drew his Zanpakuto and cut off a man's head with one stroke!
Half the trainees screamed at the bloody sight.
"Next time you run into people like this, deal with them the same way. No need to report to me," Yamabuki Chidori said.
From that moment on, the trainees saw Yamabuki Chidori in an entirely different light. His training methods were harsh, but outside of training, he had seemed like a kind, approachable older brother!
That image shattered in an instant.
Yamabuki Chidori flicked the blood from his blade and addressed the group. "All right. Squads of five. Split up and hunt Hollows. Every squad must bring back one Hollow corpse before dark."
Then he said coldly, "Hachisato, you've improved too. I want you to hunt one Hollow on your own. Any problem with that?"
"None at all."
"Good. Begin!" Yamabuki Chidori shouted.
Once everyone had left, Yamabuki Chidori took a small piece of Hollow Lure from his clothes and flicked it into the air, where it burst open.
He had measured the dose carefully. It would attract only weaklings. His aim was to give the squad a taste for battle, not get them all killed. If a Hollow they could not handle appeared, he would step in at once.
The Hollows caught the scent of the Hollow Lure and converged from every direction.
Most of the new trainees felt confident. There were five of them against one Hollow, and they had trained for so long. How hard could it be?
But the moment the first Hollow appeared, they discovered that a real fight was nothing like training. A moment's carelessness could mean injury or death!
Faced with a genuine Hollow, many were gripped by fear and could not bring out even half their strength.
Northern Rukongai descended into chaos.
Yamabuki Chidori kept track of each trainee's Reiatsu.
He knew casualties were inevitable in battle. But these trainees were not yet true soldiers; they were still apprentices. If any of them suffered a fatal blow, he would certainly step in.
As it turned out, though, Yamabuki Chidori had underestimated his students.
Fear seized them at the start of the fighting. But once they accepted that it was kill or be killed, they gradually found their footing and learned to work together.
With their current strength, they would not necessarily lose to these weak Hollows even one-on-one. Sending five against one was already Yamabuki Chidori going easy on them.
Before long, the first squad returned. All five were covered in blood, carrying a Hollow's corpse and looking proud of themselves.
Hachisato returned second. His strength far surpassed that of an ordinary trainee, and he had killed a Hollow by himself.
As time passed, more and more trainees came back. Quite a few were wounded, of course. It was their first real fight.
Yamabuki Chidori used Kido to treat their injuries.
In the end, only one squad had not returned.
It was already dusk.
Yamabuki Chidori closed his eyes and sensed the Reiatsu of its five members. Suddenly, one of the five presences vanished.
His eyes snapped open.
What happened? How did we lose someone?
"Hachisato, take the others back," Yamabuki Chidori ordered. Then he used Flash Step to race toward the squad.
He had not gone far when he spotted the trainees. They were covered in blood, and two Hollow corpses lay on the ground.
The worst injured was a girl. Something had pierced straight through her chest. She lay motionless on the ground, eyes shut.
Yamabuki Chidori's brow tightened. The thing he had dreaded most had happened.
"What happened?" he demanded.
One of the boys choked out, "We'd finished the assignment and were on our way back, but a Hollow suddenly ambushed us... Reiko, she... she..."
Yamabuki Chidori hurried to examine the girl's wound. Half a bone blade had entered through her back and emerged from her chest. Unless he treated her quickly, she would be dead within minutes.
Emergency Treatment ### At the sight of the girl's injury, Yamabuki Chidori frowned deeply. He had studied Kido under Tenjirō Kirinji, but he had never treated a wound this severe.
Besides, a human body was far more complicated than a fish. Treating her would be much harder than healing a half-dead fish!
What if I take her back to Seireitei?
She would probably die on the way. She could not hold out long enough to reach it.
At this point, he had no choice but to try treating her here.
Yamabuki Chidori prepared to operate on the spot. He drew a short blade and cut open the girl's clothes above the waist, exposing her full breasts. Ordinarily, he would have taken a good look, but a life was at stake. He had no time for that.
"What are you looking at? Turn around and keep watch! Wasn't what happened just now enough of a lesson? A soldier can never let down their guard," Yamabuki Chidori barked.
The other four boys in the squad looked ashamed.
It was true. Once they had completed their instructor's assignment, they had relaxed. None of them had expected this!
Yamabuki Chidori studied the bone blade lodged in the girl's chest. He had to pull it out, but the instant he did, she would bleed heavily. First, he needed to use Kido to repair the blood vessels around the wound. Then, as soon as he removed the blade, he would use Ultimate Kido to heal her.
Kido was not like a healing spell in a game. It could not cure her instantly. Even with Kidō, a fatal wound like this would take at least a minute or two to heal completely. Whether she survived those minutes would depend on her will to live!
Sweat slowly gathered on Yamabuki Chidori's forehead.
I knew training rookies would be a thankless job! Damn it!
He gently pressed the skin around the wound, cleaned away the blood, then repaired the damaged tissue and vessels a little at a time to reduce the bleeding when he pulled the blade free.
"You have to hold on!" Yamabuki Chidori took a deep breath, gripped the bone blade, and yanked it out. He immediately began using Kido.
Blood sprayed out with the blade. Despite his preparations, the amount was still frightening.
Yamabuki Chidori ignored the drain on his Reiatsu and healed the wound as fast as he could. About a minute and a half later, the wound in the girl's chest had closed completely. But her eyes remained shut, and she still looked to be in pain!
Cold sweat continued to run down Yamabuki Chidori's forehead. With that much blood lost, whether she would survive was still anyone's guess!
And in this era, there was no way to test blood types. It was too late to arrange a transfusion even if he wanted to.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
Just as Yamabuki Chidori was beside himself with worry, the girl began coughing violently. She spat out two mouthfuls of bloody froth and weakly opened her eyes.
At last, Yamabuki Chidori could breathe again.
He immediately took off his outer robe and draped it over her. Then he picked her up and used Flash Step to rush toward Seireitei.
The four boys followed close behind.
Carrying the blood-covered girl, Yamabuki Chidori burst into Tenjirō Kirinji's home. Hachisato had already told Tenjirō Kirinji roughly what had happened. He had prepared a tub of warm spring water, had the girl placed in it, and began cutting various medicinal herbs into the water.
The two worked tirelessly to save her. Finally, at a little past three that morning, the girl fully regained consciousness.
Her wound had healed, so she felt no pain. She just had no strength at all and did not want to move.
She wore only a thin white shirt as she soaked in the warm water. Once wet, the shirt concealed almost nothing.
"You're awake?" Yamabuki Chidori had stayed beside her the whole time. Seeing her wake up, he knew she was finally out of danger and let himself relax.
The girl looked bewildered. It took her a while to remember what had happened. A Hollow had attacked her and pierced her chest. She could hardly believe she had survived!
She wanted to reach up and touch the wound, but she had no strength.
"Don't move. You lost too much blood and need time to recover. Take some leave and rejoin us when you're better," Yamabuki Chidori said. "I hope this taught you not to underestimate an enemy or let your guard down again!"
The girl managed a nod.
Yamabuki Chidori bent down and lifted her out of the water. Only then did she realize how close to naked she was, and her face flushed.
"Embarrassed already? I cut your clothes right open to give you first aid. Who knew you'd be so well-developed at your age?" Yamabuki Chidori joked, hoping she would not be left traumatized by the ordeal.
Hearing her instructor say that, the girl blushed even harder.
"Delia, sorry for the trouble, but could you look after her? I'm going to rest." Yamabuki Chidori was exhausted. Now that the girl was out of danger, he could finally sleep in peace.
"By the way, I still don't know your name," Yamabuki Chidori said.
The girl replied shyly, "I'm Katoru Chimu, Instructor... One day... I'll repay you."
Yamabuki Chidori froze. Katoru?
That surname was rare!
He had been so overwhelmed during registration that he had never paid attention to the trainees' names.
"Is there someone in your family named Katoru Hatsunoya?" Yamabuki Chidori asked.
Chimu looked surprised. "Instructor, how do you know my sister's name?"
Your sister?
The founding captain of the Gotei 13's 8th Division is your sister?
Yamabuki Chidori thought back to Katoru Hatsunoya's appearance. Judging by looks alone, she certainly seemed like a quiet, refined young lady.
So she came from a noble family, and a high-ranking one at that.
How could two young ladies born into noble families turn out so differently? One was graceful and gentle, while the other was like a wildcat.
He would refrain from naming the one he meant.
But why had Katoru Hatsunoya not come when the Gotei 13 was recruiting?
Judging by what was known about the events of a thousand years ago, Katoru Hatsunoya usually looked like a demure young lady. But when she started cutting people down, she was every bit as fierce as Unohana—one swing, one kill!
Was there more to it than I knew?
It looked like he would have to pay her a visit himself.
"Here's what we'll do. To make sure nothing else happens to you, I'll take you home myself tomorrow," Yamabuki Chidori said.
Of course, taking her home was not his real aim. Rumor had it Katoru Hatsunoya was very well-endowed—no, very strong. As the Gotei 13's Chief Strategist, how could he pass up a chance to recruit talent?
If he brought her into the squad, he could enjoy watching her every day—no, ahem, sparring with her every day. A little recreation was good for body and mind!
It's settled!
Katoru Hatsunoya ### The next day.
Yamabuki Chidori arranged a carriage to take Chimu home. She had lost too much blood and needed time to recover; she did not have the strength to walk.
Having him carry her all the way would have been rather embarrassing.
For Chimu, that was.
Yamabuki Chidori would have endured a little hardship to protect one of his trainees.
In the end, Chimu rode in the back while Yamabuki Chidori drove the carriage to the Katori Family estate.
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