Upon entering the 4th Division barracks, Shigure immediately felt his eyes light up.
Unohana Retsu wasn't wearing her captain's haori or the standard Soul Reaper uniform. Instead, she was dressed in pristine white kendo attire.
This completely transformed her entire presence. While she still maintained her gentle and serene demeanor, she now carried an additional air of competence and razor-sharp focus.
On the table before her lay two wooden swords.
When Shigure got a clear look at these wooden swords, something stirred within him.
The general shape and style resembled ordinary kendo practice swords, but... they were exceptionally short. At a rough glance, they appeared to be only half the length of normal wooden swords.
Seeing Shigure's expression, Unohana smiled gently.
"It seems you've noticed them, Segawa..."
"These two Half-Range Blades."
Shigure's gaze sharpened. "Half-Range Blades?"
Unohana Retsu rose gracefully, picked up both swords, and extended one toward him.
Shigure bowed his head slightly and accepted it with both hands.
Unohana Retsu smiled warmly. "Please follow me."
She fully opened the captain's office door and turned left.
Shigure gripped the identical short sword and immediately followed.
The 4th Division members around them were utterly shocked to see Unohana Retsu in this attire. However, they maintained their composure and proper etiquette.
"Captain Unohana! Good morning!" they called out while bowing respectfully.
Unohana Retsu responded with her characteristic gentle smile.
When the division members spotted Segawa Shigure behind her, holding an identical wooden sword, they immediately understood the situation. Unohana Retsu's kendo attire made the circumstances crystal clear.
This genius Vice-Captain Segawa was actually going to learn kendo from Captain Unohana!
Even more incredible—Captain Unohana had agreed to it!
While they all considered Captain Unohana a gentle and approachable leader, they also knew she often carried an aura that seemed to keep people at arm's length.
Therefore, even though many in Soul Society knew of her exceptional kendo skills, no one dared ask her for instruction directly.
"What exactly attracted the captain's attention about Vice-Captain Segawa?" one division member muttered with a hint of resentment after they had passed.
A nearby teammate rolled his eyes. "Isn't that obvious, Sangen? It's his strength, of course. This is the man who single-handedly eliminated over a hundred Hollows..."
"Hmm, when you put it that way..."
...
Meanwhile, Shigure followed Unohana Retsu with a calm expression. Despite feeling those surprised and curious gazes, his heart remained completely undisturbed.
When he decided to learn kendo from Unohana, he already knew it would cause quite a stir.
Unohana Retsu led him past the ordinary training dojo and directly into the innermost sword chamber.
After Shigure entered, Unohana Retsu immediately closed the door.
"This is the 4th Division's special sword chamber," she explained while walking toward the sword rack. "The surroundings have been inscribed with complex incantations by Grand Kidō Chief Tessai Tsukabishi."
"These incantations suppress spiritual pressure to the maximum extent and completely restrict Shunpo."
Hearing this, Shigure's eyes flickered with understanding.
No wonder he immediately felt a strange oppressive sensation when he entered. Originally, he had wanted to use his Resonance Vision to examine the surroundings, but now Unohana Retsu's explanation made everything clear.
This place existed purely for honing swordsmanship.
"This feeling isn't very comfortable, is it?" Unohana Retsu smiled knowingly.
Shigure nodded. "It is indeed difficult to adapt to."
Although he usually suppressed his own spiritual pressure, there was a significant difference between self-restraint and incantation-based suppression. Moreover, this place completely restricted Shunpo.
Upon hearing Shigure's words, Unohana Retsu smiled with narrowed eyes.
At the same time, however, she picked up her wooden sword and walked directly toward him.
"Even if it's difficult to adapt to, I won't give you time to slowly adjust."
Seeing this stance, Shigure immediately tensed and gripped his sword with both hands.
"Captain Unohana, please guide me!" he said with utmost seriousness.
Without waiting for Unohana Retsu to approach, he immediately stepped forward and swung his sword in a diagonal slash.
He understood that when facing an opponent who far surpassed him, purely defensive tactics would only lead to absolute passivity.
Only by attacking first could he gain even the slightest advantage.
Shigure focused his mind completely and swung his blade.
Kendo Stance: Crescent Moon!
White sword energy materialized along the wooden blade's edge.
As the blade moved upward, it resembled a crescent moon appearing in the air.
However, at that moment, Shigure suddenly realized his wooden sword wasn't a normal kendo practice blade at all!
The sensation of swinging this short sword was completely different from an ordinary blade!
This mistaken assumption caused him to completely misjudge the distance between them.
When he swung his sword, Unohana Retsu simply leaned back slightly and avoided it entirely.
She didn't even disturb a single hair on her head!
Simultaneously, Unohana Retsu stepped forward half a pace and thrust her sword.
The wooden sword in her hands moved at terrifying speed.
Shigure instinctively tried to dodge, but it was already too late.
The blade struck him directly in the abdomen.
Pain shot through him immediately, and only then did Shigure complete his retreating step.
The persistent ache made him grimace involuntarily.
Seeing Shigure's expression, Unohana Retsu's face maintained that gentle smile.
"Just now, I thought you had already noticed these Half-Range Blades, Segawa..."
"It seems you only saw them but didn't truly understand them."
Shigure's expression froze. He immediately looked down at the wooden sword in his hand.
After a moment, his pupils flashed with sudden realization.
Seeing this, Unohana Retsu smiled. "It seems you've noticed it now."
She raised her wooden sword and spoke slowly:
"The Half-Range Blades are not only much shorter than ordinary swords..."
"Their curvature is also twice that of normal blades."
When Shigure had executed his Kendo Stance slash, his experience told him the enemy would dodge. Therefore, he needed to aim his blade's target one body length further back.
Normally, this should have compensated for the distance lost due to the short sword.
However... he hadn't noticed that this short sword's curvature was also so dramatically exaggerated.
Unohana Retsu seemed to have no intention of giving Shigure time to process this revelation.
She stepped forward and charged at him again.
Her face still wore that familiar gentle smile.
But now it was accompanied by traces of razor-sharp sword intent.
At this moment, she was no longer merely Unohana Retsu.
She had once again become the one who possessed the name "Yachiru"...
The one who had mastered the very pinnacle of swordsmanship!
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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