"Just say it—are you going to make me pay for the damage?"
Aiyan ignored Shiba Isshin's teasing and asked calmly.
"Hah, if you really manage to break the Kidō training dummy... then sure, I'll pay for it," Isshin said boldly.
In his mind, that scenario was impossible. At least, not yet.
If Aiyan had been training for a few more months, maybe there'd be a chance. But now? It was just talk.
"Then I'll thank Teacher Isshin for his generosity," Aiyan said with a faint smile.
Before Isshin could respond, Aiyan raised his right hand and aimed his palm at the Kidō dummy standing thirty meters away.
"Hadō #73: Sōren Sōkatsui."
As each syllable left his mouth, the spiritual pressure in the air trembled. The moment he uttered the word "fall," an intense, azure-blue light exploded from his palm. Blazing heat surged outward, and a massive pillar of blue flame shot forth, piercing through the air like a comet and crashing down on the Kidō dummy.
BOOM!!
The roar echoed like thunder.
Blue flames of Reiatsu engulfed the target.
That training dummy—crafted to endure Kidō spells below number 70 from seated officers—had never been visibly damaged by any Spiritual Arts Academy student.
And now, it was trembling violently, its surface cracking under the devastating impact.
"...No way."
"He just cast a Hadō #73?"
"And... he skipped the chant?!"
Isshin's jaw dropped as he stared in disbelief. He instantly regretted what he'd just said about paying for damages.
"My god…"
"What did I just see?"
"That was Sōren Sōkatsui! Without an incantation, and it still had that much power?!"
"Is he the Spirit King reincarnation?!"
The students around the field were stunned.
"When did this happen? He's only been studying Kidō for, what, two days?"
"This guy's not human. He's a damn monster..."
Even among the observing instructors, Kisuke Urahara, Shihōin Yoruichi, and Tessai Tsukabishi—all prodigies themselves—had shock written across their faces.
"He's already reached this level…?"
"...The best I can do is chantless Hadō #58: Tenran," Aizen thought, hiding his shock behind his usual calm gaze.
Hadō #58 and #73 might seem just fifteen numbers apart, but in Kidō, every ten numbers mark a massive leap in power.
Being able to abandon the chant without reducing a spell's power is something only captains of Gotei 13 can do.
Among them, only the top-tier captains—Unohana Retsu, Shutara Senjumaru, Kyoraku Shunsui, Ukitake Jūshirō, and Kuchiki Ginrei—could cast Hadō in the 80s without incantations and still retain full strength.
As for Hadō #90 and above? Even maintaining a third of the spell's power without chanting was considered extraordinary.
When Aizen defected and reached peak strength, he could only preserve about 33% of Hadō #90's power without an incantation. That's how wide the gap was.
This was Kidō.
Each tier—10, 20, 30—was a wall few could scale.
"Well… at least it didn't break..."
As the flames slowly faded, Isshin breathed a sigh of relief. The training dummy stood there like a cracked vase, but it was still standing.
If it had cracked all the way through, the repair cost would've been far worse than a surface repair.
"It's just Hadō #73," Aiyan murmured to himself.
"Unless I can double my current Reiatsu or reach level 18 Reiatsu force, I still can't destroy it."
"But... Bankai should do the trick."
He frowned slightly, clearly dissatisfied.
After just three days at the Spiritual Arts Academy, he could already cast chantless Hadō up to number 73. And yet, he still felt it wasn't enough.
"My Kidō training has slacked a bit. I should shift my focus back to my Zanpakutō."
After all, the soul of a Shinigami lies in their Zanpakutō.
[Your Kidō is angry. He says he's been training very hard and that you've misunderstood. He practiced the full chant version of Hadō #88: Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō just last night. He's just low-key, that's all.]
As that voice echoed in Aiyan's ear, he noticed his Kidō proficiency quietly rising again.
He smirked.
Over the past few days, he'd learned to understand his abilities'... personalities.
His Zanpakutō constantly looked down on Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Hohō, and even Kidō.
Kidō, on the other hand, was proud and refused to be seen as weaker than the Zanpakutō.
His swordsmanship claimed it had soul, and wasn't any less than the others.
Reiatsu? Reiatsu was the modest one, silently growing stronger behind the scenes.
It was like they were all trying to one-up each other.
And just now?
He had merely thought about focusing on his Zanpakutō training, and Kidō immediately jumped in—raising its power on the spot, like it couldn't stand to be ignored.
And then…
A new technique appeared in his mind.
'Hadō #78: Zangerin'.
"...Huh?"
Isshin blinked.
He could feel something strange coming from Aiyan.
Then, Aiyan softly called out:
"Hadō #78: Zangerin."
He brought his fingers together like a blade, slashing downward. A massive, crescent-shaped arc of Reiatsu tore through the air—like a glowing moon—and slammed into the Kidō dummy.
CRACK!
The crescent slash sliced clean through the already-cracked dummy.
And the next moment—
CRASH!
The dummy split cleanly in two before crumbling into a thousand fragments on the ground.
"He gave up the chant... even for that level of Hadō?!"
"The 78th spell, cast without an incantation—and with that much power?!"
"This is already on the level of a seated captain."
Isshin's face was a mix of amazement and pain. His wallet was crying, but his heart was cheering.
Three days.
That's all it had taken for Aiyan to surpass the Kidō skill of most captains who had practiced for centuries.
It was at this moment that Isshin realized something:
The difference between Shinigami isn't just talent—it's realms apart.
Some Shinigami work for a hundred years and can't climb one step.
And others...
Like Aiyan?
They ascend like meteors.
And he couldn't even begin to imagine what Aiyan would be like in one year...
Let alone ten.