Katori Nanatsuki returned earlier than usual today. The disciples studying at the Shin'o Spiritual Arts Academy were still in class, so he decided to check the training progress of the others.
Shihōin-san and Hoshino Rie had already taken their posts in the 2nd and 4th Divisions, respectively. Only Azashiro Sōya, Aizen Sōsuke, Kotetsu Isane, and the not-quite-a-disciple Kotetsu Kiyone remained in the courtyard.
Kotetsu Isane and Azashiro Sōya were still in the foundational stage.
They had already completed basic training in Zanjutsu and Kidō.
Kotetsu Isane had mainly focused her efforts on Kaido, so her progress was a bit slower.
After confirming their progress, Nanatsuki began teaching them Shunpo:
"Shunpo is one of the basic abilities every Shinigami must master. It's a footwork technique that allows you to move at speeds almost imperceptible to the naked eye."
"By concentrating Reiatsu in your legs and feet, you gain explosive power that allows for instantaneous speed."
"Learning to form footholds using Reishi in midair is a prerequisite for mastering Shunpo. It allows you to move and remain suspended in the air."
"Sensei, is Shunpo easy to learn? Sōsuke seemed to have picked it up in a single day," Azashiro Sōya asked curiously.
"Sōsuke used a rather... unique method to learn it," Nanatsuki explained.
"A special training method?" Azashiro Sōya was intrigued. "Can I learn it that way too? I want to master Shunpo quickly!"
"Of course," Nanatsuki smiled, pleased with his student's eagerness. "Isane, do you also want to train using that method? It does speed things up."
"I want to learn Shunpo as fast as possible," Kotetsu Isane nodded.
"Then let's begin." Nanatsuki grabbed Isane and Sōya by their collars with both hands.
Fwoosh—the three of them appeared high in the sky.
"Now I'll teach you how to master Shunpo in the shortest time possible." Nanatsuki gave a gentle smile.
For some reason, Kotetsu Isane and Azashiro Sōya found that smile… unsettling. Looking down, they realized the Katori-ryu Dojo was already a mere speck.
'Don't tell me...' Azashiro Sōya suddenly had a very bad feeling.
"A-Are you going to drop us?!" Kotetsu Isane asked in a trembling voice.
"Smart guess!" Nanatsuki replied cheerfully—and let go.
"AAAAHHHH!!!" x2
The two plummeted rapidly under the pull of gravity.
Nanatsuki followed them using Shunpo, maintaining a distance of about ten meters.
"Sensei, help!!!"
As the speed of descent increased, Azashiro Sōya panicked and deeply regretted this decision.
Kotetsu Isane, on the other hand, was bolder. Her rationality quickly overcame her fear as she began to attempt self-rescue.
"Use your instincts. Creating footholds from Reishi is a basic skill," Nanatsuki called out loudly.
Kotetsu Isane kicked her legs, stomping through the air. Most attempts yielded nothing, but one finally reacted.
Her little toe seemed to catch onto something—her descent briefly stalled.
Crack!—a bolt of pain shot up her foot.
She had forgotten she was falling from high altitude. Though she'd managed to form a foothold using Reishi, she hadn't used Reiatsu to protect her feet.
The result: she essentially smashed her foot into the foothold. Her toe fractured instantly!
Kotetsu Isane nearly cried. The pain in her toe made it impossible to focus, much less form another foothold.
Watching the rapidly approaching ground, her heart raced in panic.
At the last second, her fall slowed and stopped—Nanatsuki had caught her by the ankle.
Relief washed over her instantly.
"You did great, Isane. Creating a foothold so quickly is impressive. Just remember to use Reiatsu to protect your legs," Nanatsuki said, then turned to the boy dangling from his other hand. "Sōya, have you calmed down?"
"I just wasn't in the right state of mind! I'll do better next time!" Azashiro Sōya, hearing Isane being praised and recalling his own terrible attempt, felt a surge of competitive fire.
"We'll try again soon, but first I need to treat Isane," Nanatsuki said.
Fwoosh—he brought them back to the ground.
He had Isane sit by the veranda and began examining her injury.
Her extended leg was already quite long—Nanatsuki noted how her tall frame was starting to emerge.
'No wonder she ends up being over 180 cm tall in the future… even now she's already past 160,' he thought.
After removing her sandals and tabi, her exposed toes were pale and smooth, like peeled quail eggs.
"Three toes are injured. It'll heal quickly, but setting the bone will hurt a bit," Nanatsuki said gently.
"Mm..." Isane kept her head down and barely made a sound.
Nanatsuki took hold of her fractured toe. A soft Kaido glow lit his hand as he used Reiatsu to realign the bone beneath her skin.
The pain made Isane reflexively pull her leg back, but Nanatsuki had already secured her foot with his other hand, preventing disruption.
"Try moving it." His Kaido skills were top-notch. The injury healed quickly.
"Feels fine..." Isane moved her toes a little. With no discomfort, she slipped her foot back into the sandal and tabi.
"Then let's continue training."
Fwoosh—Nanatsuki brought Isane and Sōya back into the sky.
This time, Isane protected her feet with Reiatsu first before forming a foothold.
With experience, her success rate rose dramatically. After three tries, she managed to create a stable foothold.
But soon, a new problem appeared.
She was still falling rapidly. The foothold she created in a rush wasn't stable enough.
Landing on it caused her body to stagger, and she slipped off. The foothold had only served to redirect her fall.
Still, she wasn't discouraged. She continued forming footholds, and after three in a row, she finally managed to stabilize midair.
"Sensei, I did it!" Isane cheered.
"I did it too!" Azashiro Sōya, having overcome his fear, had also succeeded.
"Excellent. If you can stand midair, you're ready to use Shunpo. Keep training until you can do it reliably," Nanatsuki smiled.
[Kotetsu Isane has completed Shunpo basic training. Reward Calculated.]
[Azashiro Sōya has completed Shunpo basic training. Reward Calculated.]
Nanatsuki received 2,000 General Ability EXP and two low-level Kidō techniques—both of which he already knew.
Hadō #1: Shō
Its proficiency level increased from Beginner to Skilled.
'So three duplicates raise proficiency by one level?' Nanatsuki noted mentally.
After guiding Isane and Sōya, Nanatsuki went to check on Aizen Sōsuke's progress.
Aizen's progress was exceptionally fast. During Suburi practice, he could now move without making the four bells on his body ring. Muguruma Kensei and Hirako Shinji had also completed this during the break.
[Aizen Sōsuke has completed advanced Reiatsu Control training. Reward Calculated.]
[Reward: 10,000 General Ability EXP]
[Reward: Hadō #90: Kurohitsugi (Beginner)]
[Hirako Shinji has completed advanced Reiatsu Control training. Reward Calculated.]
[Reward: 10,000 General Ability EXP]
[Reward: Bakudō #81: Dankū (Beginner)]
[Muguruma Kensei has completed advanced Reiatsu Control training. Reward Calculated.]
[Reward: 10,000 General Ability EXP]
[Reward: Hadō #78: Zankawarawa (Beginner)]
Nanatsuki was thrilled—he'd just gained Aizen's future signature Hadō: Kurohitsugi!
It was an incredibly powerful Kidō—one of Aizen's iconic moments was defeating a captain-level opponent with a single Kurohitsugi.
Dankū was a defensive Kidō Nanatsuki was familiar with—he'd seen the 7th Division vice-captain use it during the Quincy War.
Zankawarawa was another impressive Kidō. It was essentially a Kidō version of a Reiatsu Blade, unleashing a powerful slash of energy.
It might even be possible to integrate Zankawarawa into sword techniques and develop new hybrid skills.
With this round, Nanatsuki had gained 32,000 General Ability EXP. The experience rewards from Shihōin-san and Hoshino Rie's missions were still unspent too.
He now had 52,000 EXP in total—enough to level up his Reiatsu once.
Spending 50,000 EXP, his Reiatsu level rose from 81 to 82.
"Sōsuke, today I'm going to teach you a sword technique: Wave Break. Your Zanpakutō is of the water type, so this move should complement it well," Nanatsuki smiled.
He tilted his wooden blade diagonally downward.
Reiatsu burst forth—he unleashed a dragging slash at a humanoid target dummy.
In that instant, the blade vanished and was replaced by a wave of crashing water.
The water slammed into the dummy, engulfing it in an instant.
When the wave dispersed, the dummy had been split in half, riddled with cuts.
"Wave Break can actually unleash a wave-like strike. It pairs beautifully with Kyōka Suigetsu. Sensei's swordsmanship is truly otherworldly," Aizen Sōsuke remarked.
Nanatsuki taught Aizen the training method for Wave Break and had him begin practice.
In the afternoon, Azashiro Kana, Muguruma Kensei, Hirako Shinji, and Kobane Jin'emon returned from classes.
"Soon it'll be time for the autumn exam. I'll teach you one more sword technique to help you prepare," Nanatsuki announced.
"Which one, Sensei?" Azashiro Kana asked eagerly.
"I'll teach you—" Nanatsuki rested his hand on the hilt, "—Senmai-Oroshi."
Clang!—a burst of sword light flashed, and the dummy was instantly covered in cross-shaped cuts before being diced into fragments.
Senmai-Oroshi was a difficult technique, but Nanatsuki hoped that with their Patient Guidance trait, his students might learn it before the exam.
In the autumn test, Senmai-Oroshi would be a powerful trump card.
Nanatsuki often used Senmai-Oroshi as a probing strike. While it wasn't ideal against strong enemies, average opponents couldn't withstand its relentless flurry.
"If mastered, Senmai-Oroshi allows you to slash hundreds or even thousands of times in an instant," he explained.
Night—
A shadow slithered through the courtyard.
Aizen Sōsuke cautiously checked the direction of his teacher and Shishō's room. After confirming it was safe, he leapt over the wall and slipped out of the dojo.
But what he didn't know was that the moment his shadow merged with the courtyard's, something undetectable flowed into his own shadow.
Aizen Sōsuke sprinted full-speed toward Seireitei.
There were four entrances into Seireitei from Rukongai, each guarded by a large spiritual gate and a stationed Shinigami.
When Aizen reached the western White Path Gate, he found a towering Shinigami standing watch.
However, the guard seemed completely unaware of Aizen's presence, letting him pass freely through the gate.
Inside Seireitei, Aizen slowed down.
From the way he avoided patrol squads with ease, it was clear this wasn't his first time doing this.
After a short while, Aizen arrived at the Noble District.
He strolled into the district right under the guards' noses.
Clearly, they too were under the influence of Kyōka Suigetsu.
He chose a noble estate, scaled the wall, and slipped inside.
With his familiarity of noble habits and estate layouts, navigating the grounds was no challenge.
Eventually, he found what he came for: the library.
After triple-checking for Kidō barriers and finding none, he entered.
He browsed books for several hours.
When finished, he carefully restored all the books to their original condition and left the library.
Avoiding the estate guards, he scaled the wall again and returned to the street.
Following his original route, he exited Seireitei and returned to the dojo.
He perched on the courtyard wall for a moment, glancing toward his teacher and Shishō's room, before climbing over and returning to his own quarters.
Moments later, the courtyard's shadow rippled—and Katori Nanatsuki emerged from within it.
"Such a diligent learner... Sōsuke," Nanatsuki mused silently.
He had noticed Aizen sneaking out at night and followed him using his shadow-based ability, driven by curiosity.
To his surprise, Aizen wasn't doing anything nefarious—he was simply going to the Noble District to read.
Aizen's thirst for knowledge was insatiable. After exhausting the dojo's library, he had turned to the nobles' collections.
Nanatsuki didn't stop him. With Kyōka Suigetsu, Aizen was well-protected. Even the highly guarded Noble District posed little danger.