You are very strong, but my painting style is better than yours!

Once you learn the true name of your Zanpakuto, that is, after achieving "Shikai," you'll focus most of your attention on how to develop its abilities.

Iori is an exception. First of all, he believes that the combat system of Zanpakuto is quite complete and will be of great help if it is developed well. However, if you rely solely on Zanpakuto, you will be countered and defeated if you encounter an enemy with poor compatibility.

Don't believe me? Just look at Enel next door!

He happens to possess the [Perfect Shinigami] talent that he got for free from Aizen. Since he can develop in all aspects—morally, intellectually, physically, aesthetically, and practically—he shouldn't neglect any subject!

Secondly, for Iori, this seemingly simple and tedious training, which doesn't offer much improvement, is actually quite "cost-effective" because—

Zheng!

The bamboo knife fell once more, but this time the sound of it cutting through the air was exceptionally clear and cool, as if a real knife were slicing through the gaps in the wind.

"call……"

Iori slowed her movements slightly, exhaled a breath of hot air, and a hint of pleasure appeared in her eyes.

I can feel... this body is undoubtedly growing stronger slowly but steadily!

Many people have similar feelings after strenuous exercise. Even stay-at-home guys who occasionally go for a run may be misled by the feeling of excitement and think that their physical fitness is pretty good, but in reality, most of them are just illusions.

The human body is highly malleable, but it cannot be changed overnight. It requires daily nourishment and training, and only through long-term perseverance can obvious changes be seen.

Iori was no exception; his strength wasn't achieved overnight, and he needed training just like everyone else, but the difference was—

His growth rate was much faster, and at this moment he was indeed a bit stronger than before!

The magnitude was small, yet it was absolutely genuine!

This is because his encyclopedia, although it cannot level up on the spot like in a game, can develop the attributes added by collecting CGs in the form of "potential", making Iori's progress speed extraordinary. Even the most ordinary training method can make him surpass others' hard training of several days or even weeks in a single day.

The same applies to spiritual pressure. There will be no obstacles before reaching the upper limit of the art style value. In the original work, Aizen needed to study the Hogyoku after reaching the limit in order to break the shackles of the Shinigami system, but Iori is naturally unrestricted. In a sense, her talent surpasses that of this cunning boss.

Physical strength, spiritual pressure, the ability to slay white demons... even if he does nothing and just lets things take their natural course, Iori can become a captain-level expert, and the kind who is well-rounded and doesn't excel in any particular area.

But that's not enough. To truly reach the top, following the rules won't work; you must have extraordinary abilities that others can't match.

Even if you max out your attribute points, you still can't beat some monsters with mechanics, like Yamamoto, who was cut in half by Yhwach...

Iori knew very well that, putting aside other worlds, in Bleach, the most reliable way to obtain a unique "trump card" was to get a Zanpakuto with overpowered abilities.

However, Iori had some reservations about the predecessor of his Zanpakuto, namely the blank tachi "Asauchi," which served as the vessel for his sword spirit...

call!

call!

……

Ivan was not satisfied with the slight progress; the regular, resonant sounds continued to echo in the deserted dojo.

Even setting aside the utilitarian motivation of increasing strength, Iori himself enjoys swinging in the air. This process of emptying his mind and allowing his body to constantly switch between tension and relaxation makes him feel incredibly relaxed, and it even makes him feel happy.

Perhaps that's why he unconsciously curled the corners of his mouth during his workout.

call--

In a sudden instant, the movement stopped, and the trajectory of the bamboo sword was abruptly cut off, defying logic, without an inch of unnecessary movement. This complete control over the sword in their hands was precisely the "leeway" mentioned in Kendo.

At this moment, several dark figures of varying builds appeared at the entrance of the dojo. Under the moonlight, only their plain-colored martial arts uniforms could be seen, but their heads were completely covered by black cloth bags, with only their eyes showing.

Iori lowered the wooden sword, glanced at the doorway, but didn't seem to care. She turned around, picked up a towel from the clothes basket by the wall, wiped the sweat from her neck, and then simply pulled her kimono up to her chest, revealing her upper body, which, while not particularly muscular, was very well-proportioned.

"Phew~ That feels much better." The boy stretched his neck and put the bamboo sword back in its place, seemingly oblivious to his surroundings, before taking down the special wooden sword he used for combat training.

These wooden swords are almost as hard as steel, and even heavier than real swords. They were specially made by the college's teachers to train their students.

Iori took his usual sword and wrote "Lake Toya" on the hilt as a mark.

Turning around for a quick look, the boy was inexplicably disappointed: these masked men weren't using real knives.

Unfortunately, according to the academy's rules, such a dishonorable sneak attack, if they used real knives, would be a matter of life and death. Even if they were all killed, no one would say anything—of course, whether they would be secretly retaliated against is another matter entirely.

"One, two, three... only six people? Isn't that underestimating me a bit? Oh well, six people are barely enough."

"This guy... he's all pretentious!"

"No amount of talking will change anything; you're not leaving today!"

"Aizen, give up. Stop trying to delay. No one will come to save you. We waited until this time on purpose before coming out. Blame yourself for being so stupid to stay alone until this late."

The leader was clearly very confident. In order to successfully "hunt" Iori, he specially invited five skilled fighters. Some were good at swordsmanship, and some were good at Shunpo or hand-to-hand combat. Although they were certainly no match for Iori or Iba individually, they did not believe that Iori could escape when they cooperated.

"Hmph, don't worry, it won't kill you. One hand or one leg, you'll be bedridden for half a year."

"Six months?" Iori narrowed his eyes. "That's a bit too lenient on you."

"What did you say-"

"Besides their Zanpakuto, Shinigami rely on Zanpakuto the most for their strength: Zanpakuto, Haku, Shun, and Oni."

Iori ignored the other person and continued talking to herself: "For example, Shunpo is a movement at a speed that cannot be detected by the naked eye. If you are confident in your reaction speed, you can move directly to the other person's side—"

bass!

The masked leader felt a blur before his eyes, a white shadow flashed in the dim moonlight, and then his chin was hit violently. His brain was instantly dazed, his feet were lifted off the ground, and he fell backward!

"—Like this."

A gentle breeze swept past everyone, and Iori stepped forward, drawing his sword from his waist with a quick-draw technique. By the time the others reacted, the leader's jaw had already been cracked open.

"asshole!"

"So fast!"

"Everyone be careful, this guy—"

Iori's eyes were cold and clear. Even though she was in the enemy's formation, she remained calm and composed. She dodged the wooden sword that was coming at her, and somehow her left hand curled up and climbed onto the opponent's wrist.

Like a venomous snake's bite, the arm instantly transformed into a strong rope, the sudden pull flowing through the entire body. The person being grabbed was completely unaware of what was happening, their body lost its balance, and was then pulled along by the force.

"Return!"

boom!

Like a failed somersault, the masked man fell backward to the ground.

Immediately afterwards, the sweat-soaked white socks fell down, and Iori gave the guy who was trying to look up another kick.

—Hakuda, a technique that uses physical skills to subdue the enemy, is often used in battles where the goal is to capture rather than kill.

After a short wait, as several more wooden swords fell toward his head, the boy vanished from the spot.

"I only mastered continuous Instant Step a couple of days ago."

Iori recalled the times she and Aizen Sōyūhime had playfully teased each other, a faint smile playing on her lips. Even so, her hands moved with surprising speed.

Snapped!

With a casual swing, without using any specific techniques, relying solely on strength and speed, he directly broke a wooden sword in a head-on collision. The momentum of the attack did not diminish, sweeping across the opponent's chest and causing him to kneel in pain.

That one blow almost took his breath away!

"Successful!"

After defeating three people in succession, one of them finally seized an opportunity and raised his wooden sword high behind Iori, seemingly intending to strike Iori's head from above with the "Tang Bamboo".

But Iori, who had his back to him, gave him a disdainful glance, then shrugged and turned to the side, just in time to avoid the oncoming gust of wind.

"Nani!"

What?! Don't act like this is a surprise!

If you're going to launch a sneak attack, at least be professional. What's with shouting beforehand?

But upon closer reflection, it's not surprising that samurai were a peculiar race who would shout "Heaven's punishment" even when carrying out assassinations.

Before the other person could even react in surprise, Iori had already calmly raised her hand and aimed it at the indentation directly below his sternum—

"【White Thunder】!"

Without any chanting, an electric current immediately spread throughout the other person's body. The intense stimulation paralyzed his entire body, causing him to groan as if his throat had been choked. After a tremor, he collapsed to the ground.

At that moment, Iori suddenly turned around, crouched down, and nimbly flipped to the side. A ball of fire flashed past him, causing a burning sensation on the skin of his arm.

It turned out to be a masked man on the edge of the battle, who had been quietly preparing his Ghost Path. His proficiency was evident, as he finished chanting in such a short time, though his accuracy and speed of execution were somewhat lacking.

When Iori turned around and rushed over, you could see that he was obviously flustered, waving his wooden sword in vain, while Iori had already flashed to his side.

"【rush】!"

One of the Breaking Techniques: Charge!

The wind pressure released from Iori's fingertips was restrained into a tangible impact, creating a transparent ripple that sent the person, who was curled up in the shape of a shrimp, flying three meters away.

"Finally, there is the Kido, a high-level spell that uses spiritual pressure to induce phenomena."

"No, it's impossible!"

Although one person remained standing unharmed, the one who had been knocked down by Iori's physical skills earlier also stood up again, but he was trembling all over and could only barely hold the wooden sword. Seeing that several of their "highly skilled" companions had been defeated in a few breaths, they had lost their will to fight.

"He's only a second-year student... How could a mere commoner possibly break through the incantation! This is a technique that even we haven't mastered!"

Hearing this, Iori looked at them suspiciously: "You talk as if you're very skilled. Forget about breaking the incantation, I haven't seen you use even basic swordsmanship or Shunpo."

"..."

The masked man was speechless, then flew into a rage: "It's all because of you, you shameless bastard, who launched a sneak attack! If everyone had been prepared, how could we have been defeated so easily without even being able to use our best moves!"

Shameless? Is it righteous to fight six against one?

Seriously, they actually called that a sneak attack... These guys are pretty naive.

Iori was speechless and too lazy to refute them. In his eyes, these guys were just talking human targets.

Chapter 7: Cruel smile

Since these masked men dared to cause him trouble, they must be confident in their skills. They might not be as proficient as Iori in the four skills of "Slaying White and Walking Ghost," but they might still have some skill of their own.

It's a pity that there's a huge gap between theoretical achievements and practical application...

If Iori hadn't sparred with Yuuki frequently and been occasionally provoked in his daily life, he wouldn't have achieved such outstanding combat performance.

Therefore, having attributes alone is useless; they still need to be converted into real combat power!

"Consider yourself lucky this time! Let's go!"

Saying words that left Iori speechless, the remaining two helped up their most seriously injured companion, seemingly intending to end the matter there.

"Huh?" Iori looked at them in surprise. "Who let you leave?"

"...What do you mean? Do you dare to continue attacking us?!"

The masked man, emboldened, declared: "We are—"

Is it really okay to say it?

Iori interrupted him impatiently, saying with a half-smile, "You don't want your family name to be known either—as a defeated person, do you?"

"..."

The man paused for a moment, then suddenly realized something. Although his expression was not visible, he must have been extremely embarrassed.

"Let me guess, you originally wanted to teach me a lesson. Even though I reported it to the Normal School and the Thirteenth Team afterward, because I was masked, I didn't have any concrete evidence. In the end, I couldn't do anything to you and could only swallow my anger."

After speaking, Iori paused, and seeing that the other party still did not refute her, she couldn't help but reveal a mocking expression.

"Did you really not consider the possibility of 'failure'?"

"..."

"To put it bluntly, the Gotei 13 is an organization that values ​​force. If word gets out that a group of scions of noble families attacked a young boy and ended up with everyone injured, you all should feel proud, right?"

Those with siblings should be careful; personally, I wouldn't hand over the family business to such a good-for-nothing.

"What...what exactly do you want to do?!"

The leader, who was defeated by Iori at the beginning, had actually been awake for a long time, but he was too ashamed to admit that he had been pretending to be dead. Now, after hearing this, he finally couldn't hold back and shouted at Iori, but no matter how you looked at it, it sounded like he was all bark and no bite.

It should be noted that even the so-called "noble families" within Seireitei were divided into different tiers.

The four noble families (there are five noble families in total) have existed since ancient times and even served the Soul King. Naturally, they are the most noble beings and generally do not interfere with the normal order of Seireitei.

Then there are the various nobles, big and small. Although they have prestige and influence, they are ultimately unable to transcend these limitations and must depend on the four major noble families or the Thirteen Guards of the Imperial Household for their existence.

They will strive to secure a spot among the thirteen teams. If a captain-level expert emerges, their family will be able to maintain its prosperity for at least two or three hundred years.

Finally, there are the newly rich who rose from humble origins, relying on their martial prowess to distinguish themselves within the Thirteen Squads and eventually establish themselves as powerful families. These families lack sufficient foundation and would easily fall if they lost their military support.