I hope all you handsome guys and beautiful ladies will give this plenty of support.
Only two updates today. (The author is off to work hard writing (╥﹏╥))
Urahara Shop, Underground Training Ground.
Boom!
Crimson flames struck the rock wall, blasting open a crater several meters wide. Rubble scattered across the ground, and a scorching blast of air spread out, drying the entire underground space.
Tessai Tsukabishi stood where he was, a sheen of cold sweat forming on his forehead.
Across from him, Yoriichi slowly lowered his right hand.
"Hadō #33, Sōkatsui."
Tessai fell silent.
He had only taught him this Kidō a minute earlier.
At the time, he had recited the full incantation and deliberately limited its power, intending to let Yoriichi first memorize how the Reishi was structured.
Yet Yoriichi had only watched once.
Not only had he cast it successfully, he had skipped the incantation outright.
It was also twice as powerful as Tessai's demonstration.
"Mr. Tessai."
Looking at the crater in the wall, Yoriichi asked earnestly, "Was that good enough to pass?"
"...Yes."
Tessai adjusted his glasses. "In terms of power, there are no problems whatsoever."
That was an understatement.
If that thing hit an ordinary Soul Reaper, there probably would not even be any point in trying to save them.
Kisuke Urahara stood in the distance, his paper fan covering half his face.
At his feet, craters of all sizes had already joined together. All of them had been left by Yoriichi's Kidō practice, and even the smallest measured more than two meters across.
Building an underground base was not cheap.
Urahara suddenly felt a little regretful about agreeing to this training session.
"Next is Bakudō."
Tessai drew a deep breath and raised his right hand.
"Please watch closely how the Reishi moves."
"Bakudō #61, Rikujōkōrō!"
Six golden blades of light appeared in an instant, piercing a boulder from different directions and holding it firmly in midair.
Yoriichi's eyes narrowed slightly.
Through the Transparent World, Rikujōkōrō was no longer merely a set of blades of light. The path of every strand of Reishi appeared clearly before his eyes.
Construction, locking, suppression.
So that was how it worked.
Yoriichi raised his palm and aimed at another boulder.
"Rikujōkōrō."
Six rays of golden light descended instantly.
There was no incantation, no pause, and even his Reiatsu fluctuations were steady. The moment the boulder was locked in place, a crushing sound came from its surface.
Crack.
Cracks spread rapidly, and the boulder shattered into several pieces on the spot.
The corner of Tessai's eye twitched.
"Mr. Tsugikuni, Bakudō is meant to restrain the target, not crush it."
Yoriichi looked at the broken stones on the ground.
"Sorry, I didn't control my Reiatsu properly."
He raised his hand again.
Six blades of light appeared once more, holding a smaller stone nearby in the air. This time, not a single crack appeared in the stone, nor did a trace of Reiatsu leak from the six blades.
Tessai said nothing.
The first casting had been too powerful, and by the second, he could control it perfectly.
Ordinary Soul Reapers learning Kidō needed to memorize the incantation first, then sense the changes in Reishi. Even those with outstanding talent needed long practice before they could gradually attempt to forgo the incantation.
Yoriichi's process, however, was simple.
Watch it once.
Then he knew how.
Over the next two hours, Tessai demonstrated Hadō and Bakudō in turn, from the most basic Sai and Byakurai all the way to Raikōhō and Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō.
Yoriichi succeeded on his first attempt at every one.
The craters in the training ground also grew from dozens to hundreds.
"Hadō #88, Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō."
An enormous blast of lightning surged from Yoriichi's palm, instantly cutting across more than half the training ground. Several layers of barriers ahead lit up simultaneously, shaking violently for a moment before barely managing to block the attack.
The paper fan in Kisuke Urahara's hand stopped moving.
Tessai looked at the crack-covered barriers, his expression beginning to crumble.
Yoriichi turned around.
"Mr. Tessai, is there anything else I should watch out for?"
"No."
Tessai answered very quickly.
All he wanted now was for Yoriichi to stop casting Kidō at the training ground.
"With your current proficiency in Kidō, you would be more than qualified to serve as Chief Kidō Officer."
"Is that so?"
Yoriichi looked down at his palm, seemingly still considering the changes in Reishi just now.
A bad feeling suddenly arose in Tessai's heart.
Sure enough, Yoriichi soon raised his head.
"Mr. Tessai, shall we try Counter-Kidō?"
"I don't think that's necessary."
Tessai's voice was a little stiff.
"I'm very interested in it."
Tessai looked at Urahara.
Urahara averted his gaze, pretending to examine the cracks in the rock wall.
This had nothing to do with him.
After a moment of silence, Tessai finally raised his right hand.
"In that case, I will keep its power within certain limits. Please be careful, Mr. Tsugikuni."
Red light gathered in his palm.
"Hadō #31, Shakkahō!"
The fireball roared forth, heading straight for Yoriichi.
Yoriichi did not dodge.
The instant he activated the Transparent World, the Reishi structure inside the fireball was fully revealed.
He raised his right hand and released another Shakkahō at the opposite Reiatsu frequency.
The two masses of flame collided.
There was no explosion.
The two forces pressed against each other in midair, then broke down together, dissolving into tiny particles of Reishi that dispersed into the air.
Tessai's expression jolted.
"You succeeded on your first try?"
The principle behind Counter-Kidō did not sound complicated. One only needed to release Kidō of the same nature and quantity as the opponent's, but its exact opposite, then use it to cancel out the Kidō they had cast.
But actually accomplishing this required seeing through the Kidō's structure in an extremely short time, as well as precise control over Reiatsu.
Too little, and the opponent's Kidō would strike straight through; too much, and it would cause an explosion.
Yet Yoriichi seemed to have known the answer in advance.
"Please increase the power a little more."
"Are you certain?"
"Yes."
Tessai raised both hands, and immense Reiatsu rapidly gathered.
"Hadō #73, Sōren Sōkatsui!"
Two masses of blue flame erupted simultaneously, rushing toward Yoriichi with waves of scorching air.
Yoriichi remained where he stood.
After seeing clearly how the Reishi was structured, he likewise raised both hands.
"Sōren Sōkatsui."
Boom!
Four masses of blue flame collided in midair.
Dazzling blue light illuminated the training ground, and powerful Reiatsu spread in every direction. Yet when the light faded, not a mark had been left on the ground.
Both sides' Kidō had been completely canceled out.
Kisuke Urahara finally lowered his paper fan.
There had been no shortage of genius Soul Reapers throughout Soul Society's recorded history.
Sōsuke Aizen, Tenjirō Kirinji.
Even Sōya Azashiro, whose talent for Kidō was the most terrifying, needed time to analyze Kidō before learning it.
But Yoriichi was different.
His eyes could see directly through to the essence of Reishi, and his body could make the corresponding adjustments in an instant. Once he had watched any technique in its entirety, it held almost no secrets from him anymore.
This talent could no longer be explained by calling him a genius.
Absurd.
That was the only word Kisuke Urahara could think of.
"Mr. Yoriichi, isn't it about time for a break?"
He glanced at the surrounding craters. "If you keep practicing, I'm afraid my little shop's underground base won't survive."
Yoriichi lowered his hands.
"Sorry for the trouble."
"You really don't need to apologize so earnestly."
Urahara wiped his forehead. "I'm just a little curious. With your current strength, Kidō should hardly offer any significant improvement."
"I haven't achieved Bankai yet."
Yoriichi said calmly, "I can feel that I can still grow stronger. But the enemies I encounter now can no longer put enough pressure on me."
Urahara narrowed his eyes.
"Aizen will be making his move soon."
"I know."
Yoriichi gripped Hekyō's hilt.
"So before then, I want to shore up my weaknesses."
Urahara looked at the shattered barriers, then at Tessai, who was already drenched in sweat.
He learned Kidō the moment he was taught, lost no power when omitting incantations, and could even master Counter-Kidō on the spot.
And he called that a weakness?
"You really do hold yourself to strict standards, Mr. Yoriichi."
Yoriichi shook his head.
"One more option means one more way to stay alive, doesn't it?"
Urahara opened his mouth, but ultimately swallowed his words.
With Yoriichi's strength, it should have been his enemies who needed to worry about staying alive.
By the time training ended, it was already dark outside.
Yoriichi said goodbye to everyone at Urahara Shop and headed home along the quiet streets.
Behind him, Tessai thought of the devastated underground base.
"Manager, does all of this need to be repaired?"
Urahara opened his paper fan again, hiding his face.
"Mr. Tessai, thanks in advance for your hard work tonight."
Silence!!!
Tessai suddenly felt that teaching Yoriichi Kidō had been a mistake from the very beginning.
Before you continue