Power had a scent.
Not one you could bottle or describe with words. It wasn't sweat, blood, or smoke: it was presence. Pressure. That moment when the air thickens, when instincts whisper danger before your brain catches up.
Katsu Joro was starting to smell like power.
It was faint, but growing. The daily grind carved it into his body like scars, invisible but undeniable.
He noticed it first in how animals reacted.
Stray spirit birds, once indifferent, now avoided him. Rats scurried faster. Children from the deeper alleys stopped crossing paths with him.
The second week of training hit differently.
[Skill Active: Spirit Conditioning – Passive]
Training effectiveness increased by 15%.
He felt it in his sprinting. Each day his legs moved further, faster. Meditation revealed clearer flows of energy. Reiryoku that once resisted his will now bent slightly, grudgingly, to his direction.
[Daily Quests Completed: +6 Stat Points]
[Current Total: 22 Unspent Stat Points]
Still, he didn't allocate anything.
Not yet.
He needed more data. More context. The worst thing he could do was sprint toward the wrong goal and hit a wall he couldn't climb.
So instead, he watched.
Listened.
Learned.
---
Somewhere inside the Seireitei, behind walls he couldn't yet touch…
A young man in a white haori adjusted his glasses, peering at a paper-thin spiritual scanner built with illegally modified Kidō components.
The results made his brow rise.
"A rising Reiryoku signature... from Inuzuri?" Urahara Kisuke murmured, rubbing his chin. "Consistent daily increase. Stable. Unnatural. Almost... structured."
He tapped the scanner. The screen adjusted, displaying faint graphs: jagged, precise. No natural soul developed like this, especially not in the outer Rukongai districts.
"Interesting…"
He jotted down notes in the margin of his report. Nothing official. Not yet. Just curiosity.
For now.
---
Back in Inuzuri, Katsu was sharpening his edge.
His routine was mechanical now.
Meditation at dawn. Sprints before midday. Push-ups by the well. Reiryoku control by nightfall. Eat when possible. Sleep in corners. Fight only if necessary.
His body adapted. Spiritual awareness bloomed like a second set of senses. He could feel the difference between passive souls and volatile ones. He sensed hunger, rage, intent. Faint ripples in the air before words were even spoken.
And then, one night… he felt it.
A flicker of something huge. Heavy. Watching.
Not close. But not far either.
He didn't move. Didn't react. Just closed his eyes and meditated harder. Let his spiritual pressure stay low. Humble. Non-threatening.
The weight passed.
But it left a mark.
Someone's paying attention.
---
The third week began with change.
He woke up before dawn, body full of restless energy. He could feel the pressure building in his limbs, in his chest. The system was quiet: no popups, no flashy windows — but it didn't need to say anything.
He was overdue.
Katsu opened his Stat Screen for the first time in ten days.
---
[SOUL FORGING SYSTEM – STATUS SCREEN]
Name: Katsu Joro
Race: Soul (Human Origin)
Spiritual Power: F
Reiryoku Control: F
Zanjutsu: F
Hakuda: F
Hohō: F
Kidō: F
Unspent Stat Points: 28
Skill: Spirit Conditioning (Passive) – [Active]
---
He stared at it for a long time.
His instincts screamed for balance, for safety. But instinct wasn't strategy.
This wasn't a game. He had to think tactically. Invest in what gave him the greatest return.
He made his choice.
Allocated 10 points to Spiritual Power
Allocated 6 points to Reiryoku Control
Allocated 6 points to Hakuda
Allocated 4 points to Hohō
Remaining Points: 2
---
[Updated Status Screen]
Name: Katsu Joro
Spiritual Power: D
Reiryoku Control: E
Zanjutsu: F
Hakuda: E
Hohō: E
Kidō: F
Stat Points: 2
---
Power surged through him like a dam breaking.
The coal in his core ignited: not a fire, but a steady, glowing forge. His limbs vibrated with control. Every breath drew in more energy than the last. His footsteps became silent on gravel.
For the first time since arriving in this world, Katsu Joro felt real.
And dangerous.
---
Elsewhere, another man in a white cloak frowned.
A Captain-class soul reaper, one who rarely left the Seireitei unless personally assigned, paused in the middle of his patrol near the 77th District.
Kurosaki Isshin tilted his head, scanning the horizon with narrowed eyes.
"…That wasn't there before."
A flicker of rising spirit pressure: faint, controlled, but unnatural. Someone was suppressing their growth too well for a civilian.
"Keep it quiet," he muttered to his aide. "We'll watch from a distance."
The Gotei 13 didn't like anomalies. Especially ones that hid themselves.
---
Back in the alley, Katsu cracked his knuckles.
He hadn't drawn attention yet.
But that was about to change.
One more week, and he'd test for the Academy.
And when he walked through those gates, he wouldn't be a stray soul anymore.
He'd be the storm no one saw coming.
---