Hao looked slightly awkward for a moment. "Shikai must be exhausting, right? Sōsuke, you don't need to go that far—just keep telling me about your insights on increasing spiritual pressure."
Damn it, Aizen actually admitted he had already learned Shikai and even wanted to show off his prized possession.
Hao was willing to believe that with the miraculous nature of the Terminal Space, once he completed the mission and returned, the effect of Kyōka Suigetsu would definitely be nullified, and Aizen wouldn't pull anything in the academy. But still—he absolutely did not want to be "completely hypnotized" by his own roommate.
He was here to speedrun the academy, not to play "Hypnosis Academy."
Aizen was a bit surprised by the rejection. "Oh? Then forget it. I thought Hao-kun would be interested. But if you encounter trouble resonating with your Zanpakutō later on, I can always demonstrate my Shikai for you then."
Just then, the lights-out time arrived. As the dormitory went dark, Aizen sat cross-legged on his bed and started cultivating like a model student. Hao followed suit, but instead of absorbing spirit particles, he focused on sensing his Asauchi.
According to Aizen, resonance was a difficult concept to grasp. What he had to do wasn't actually resonating with the Asauchi—because the blade itself contained nothing to resonate with. What he really needed to do was resonate with his own inner self, with his soul.
And once he succeeded, the next step would be to inject his soul into the Zanpakutō. That way, he would learn its true name and unlock Shikai.
In the pitch-black room, Aizen opened his eyes and glanced at Hao on the opposite bed, who was clearly attempting to understand Shikai. His gaze held a trace of suspicion.
Such an eager-to-learn Hao-kun… and yet he rejected my offer to demonstrate Shikai.
Could he already know the true ability of my Zanpakutō?
…No, that's impossible.
——
Facing the rising sun, Hao rubbed his temples.
He hadn't slept all night. His mind had been focused at its peak, meditating, trying to sense the rhythm of his soul. And the result?
Nothing.
He had thought that with his talent, this stage—resonating with his Zanpakutō—would go smoothly. But it turned out to be far more difficult than expected.
Was Aizen right about Shikai requiring a high spiritual power ranking?
Theoretically, someone with level-17 reiryoku could still unlock Shikai—it was just very hard. Hao couldn't even touch the depths of his soul. It was a feeling difficult to describe. He had no idea what Aizen might see when he looked into his own soul.
But when Hao used the Shinigami-exclusive Zanpakutō Resonance Method, all he could see in the depths of his soul was… endless darkness.
The process drained his mental strength more than he expected. Normally, he was the type who could train for days and nights without sleep. But yesterday, he had already burned a lot of soul energy during the Kidō class, leaving him with only 30% of his total soul reserves.
"Hao-kun, you're just getting started. It's better to get some sleep at night."
Aizen seemed to notice his poor condition and offered a gentle reminder.
Hao stretched and tried to perk himself up. "You seem energetic, Sōsuke, even though you don't sleep at all."
"I only got used to it after gradually adjusting. Also, if you meditate correctly, it can function as a form of rest," Aizen replied.
"There are some small tricks to it—I'll teach you tonight."
As they chatted, they walked together to their first class of the morning. Today's topic: Shunpo.
Hao had already heard a bit about Shunpo from Aizen the day before.
A Shinigami's Shunpo was different from a Hollow's Sonído. It relied on physical strength and refined techniques of force application, using leverage points to achieve high-speed movement.
In the manga, Hao remembered how Shinigami using Shunpo looked almost like teleportation—super cool.
But according to Aizen's explanation, that wasn't the reality at all.
For most Shinigami, after learning Shunpo, the most they could achieve was… just running a bit faster.
Currently, Hao understood Shunpo as a refined footwork technique. Only when a Shinigami possessed an exceptionally strong spiritual pressure—or had a naturally high "attribute"—could the movement appear like teleportation.
Moreover, this kind of illusion was only effective against weaklings. In the eyes of true experts, it was still just very fast running.
Only noobs would be completely unable to track the movement, making it seem like teleportation.
Also, if you wanted to look like you were teleporting, then the moment you stopped using Shunpo, your posture had to be graceful and composed—like you were just strolling, calm and elegant, without any exaggerated movements.
Simply put, it had to look cool. Style points mattered.
Just like the original manga's Byakuya Kuchiki, who always appeared with his clothes perfectly in place after a Shunpo, hair only gently swaying, posture straight as ever—that was the image of a "perfect Shunpo."
Oh, but Hao wasn't aiming for any "perfect Shunpo." He was more interested in the principles behind it. He believed that once he mastered this movement technique, his mobility in combat would improve significantly.
The instructor for today's class was a noble from the Ōmaeda clan, currently serving as the third seat in the Onmitsukidō. He had solid expertise in Shunpo.
And just like the others, this instructor also took "special care" of Hao—the now-famous transfer student prodigy from the Shin'ō Academy. Instead of personally guiding him, the instructor sent the top student in class to "educate" Hao.
"Hao, what kind of expression is that?"
Yoruichi Shihōin walked up to him. Though her face remained calm, the playful glint in her lively eyes couldn't be hidden.
"It's nothing. I was just thinking that Sōsuke could've taught me too."
As he said this, Hao glanced toward Aizen.
But Aizen only adjusted his glasses with a smile. "No no, Shihōin-san's Shunpo is arguably the best in the entire academy. It's definitely best if she teaches you, Hao-kun."
Damn you, Aizen! You're selling me out!
Of course Hao knew Aizen was just doing it for laughs—but to be fair, the man wasn't wrong. Standing in front of him was Yoruichi, who would one day be known as the Flash Goddess. Even as her younger self, her mastery of Shunpo was undoubtedly high.
Yesterday, when he had sparred with Yoruichi in Hakuda, she hadn't used Shunpo from the start. And later, once he had her pinned, she had no chance to use it. That's how he managed to beat her.
But now it was different. She would definitely go all out and use her strongest Shunpo technique to "educate" him.
Wait—this is a Shunpo class. No matter how much Yoruichi wanted revenge, she couldn't actually hit him, right?
Composing himself, Hao forced a smile. "Then I'll be in your care, Yoruichi-san."
"Are we that close?" Yoruichi gave him a side glance. "You should call me Shihōin-san."
Then she smirked, "Or you could call me Sister Yoruichi."
Hao felt a little annoyed. He had slipped up. He mostly remembered her as just "Yoruichi" from reading the manga and hadn't paid much attention to her family name. To him, "Yoruichi" already sounded like a name on its own.
Damn these complicated Japanese honorifics…
Seeing Hao fall silent, Yoruichi's lips curled up. "How about this—I'll suppress my spiritual pressure to match yours for this class and give you my full attention. At the end, we'll have a race. If you're slower than me, you'll have to respectfully call me Sister Yoruichi whenever we meet."
"No way. You're from the Shihōin family—you've probably been training in Shunpo since birth."
Hao shrugged. "That's not fair. I'm not stupid. Also, you only mentioned what happens if I lose. What if I win?"
"Win?"
Yoruichi looked him up and down. "You think you can beat me in speed?"
"Why? Is that impossible?"
To Hao, footwork was a part of martial arts. He felt his learning ability in this area was pretty strong. While beating Yoruichi today wasn't realistic, he believed that given enough time and training, he might stand a chance someday.
As if she had just heard the funniest thing in the world, Yoruichi let out a melodic laugh. "That's not going to happen."
°°°
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