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"So it can be released like this? Ishikawa Katori, your understanding of Kido is amazing." Hinamori Momo exclaimed, "It's really hard to imagine that you've never even attended the Shin'ō Academy."
"It's just… I just figured it out on my own."
Ishikawa Katori originally wanted to say that it was because Kukaku-nee taught him well, but then he thought of Rukia next to him and quickly changed what he was going to say.
Ishikawa Katori knew a little about the matter between Kuchiki Rukia and the Shiba, and it could be said that a large part of the reason Ganju-nii disliked Shinigami was because of Rukia.
Bringing up Kukaku-nee now would only make Rukia, who had become familiar with him because of Renji, start avoiding him.
"Not just Kido, Ishikawa Katori's Kaido is also very impressive. When my sister had nightmares and came to sleep with me, she always mentioned Ishikawa Katori, saying that his Kaido mastery was much better than hers."
"Kiyone~!!"
"Hahaha…"
Looking at the harmonious scene before her, Soi Fon's cold face couldn't help but show a strange expression.
Although she had known for a long time that Ishikawa Katori liked to interact with female Shinigami, she never expected that this guy would perfectly integrate into the Association's small circle in less than half an hour!
No matter what the topic, he could speak eloquently.
Discussing alcohol with Matsumoto Rangiku;
Discussing friends with Kuchiki Rukia;
Discussing Kaido with the Kiyone and Isane sisters;
Discussing Kido and books with Hinamori Momo and Ise Nanao;
When talking to others, he didn't forget to take out various snacks from his body to feed Yachiru, and this wasn't even the most outrageous thing…
The most outrageous thing was that even for the things Nemu Kurotsuchi researched, as long as they were related to herbs, he could actually say a few words and even gained Nemu Kurotsuchi's approval.
To make friends, to work so hard, what kind of social terrorist is this!?
Although she still didn't understand why Ishikawa Katori was so enthusiastic about making friends, it didn't prevent her from admiring his attitude towards making friends.
"The young master's arrival has made the meeting much livelier."
Even President Unohana Retsu, who was beside her, seemed to think highly of Ishikawa Katori for some reason.
Although after such a long period of getting along…
Putting aside Ishikawa Katori's dangerous nature, Soi Fon also felt that Ishikawa Katori was indeed a very good guy.
He was serious and meticulous in his work, and apart from the fight with Zaraki Kenpachi last time, he had never had any outrageous or overstepping behavior, showing great discretion.
If his nature wasn't so dangerous…
Being extremely familiar with Ishikawa Katori, she really couldn't treat him as a simple person who liked to make friends, unlike others.
Don't look at him now, appearing harmless.
But towards those villains, as long as they violated the rules he set, regardless of the reason or whether they were familiar, there was only one option: 'slaughter'.
And…
He treated men, women, old, and young equally, never hesitating because of the other party's appearance, figure, or age.
It was as if in his world, there were only two kinds of people.
One kind was people who were willing to be his friends, and the other kind was…
Dead people!!
West Rukongai, South Rukongai, whether it was the stable areas or the higher-numbered districts, Ishikawa Katori had absolute control!
According to recent reports, even North Borough 80 was about to become Ishikawa Katori's territory. If he were to also conquer East Rukongai, then the entire Seireitei would be surrounded by Ishikawa Katori's forces alone.
—An unprecedented great villain!
In the higher-numbered districts, some people were already using these words to refer to this black-haired young man with a gentle smile.
Soi Fon had also considered whether to stop Ishikawa Katori from continuing to expand his influence.
But in reality…
Ishikawa Katori had only been to the higher-numbered districts a few times, and each time he went, it was to kill someone who had broken the rules, showing no intention of ruling Rukongai; but the villains in his tavern were constantly expanding his sphere of influence in his name.
This made Soi Fon not know how to stop it, and Ishikawa Katori himself never caused trouble in the stable areas; instead, he often helped the residents of Rukongai without compensation.
—A great benefactor rarely seen in a thousand years!
Like two sides of a mirror, the residents in the stable areas of Rukongai used such titles to describe Ishikawa Katori.
He was not a good person, but he was good at controlling himself.
Exposing his dangerous side to enemies and those who deserved to die; showing his good side to strangers and friends; what his true nature was, in fact, was no longer important.
This was Soi Fon's final conclusion.
Of course, she didn't intend to stop monitoring Ishikawa Katori, but she was no longer as strict as before.
As for unprecedented great villains, the Gotei 13 was not without them. Compared to that guy in the Eleventh Division who had no concept of 'restraint' in his head, Ishikawa Katori was much safer.
Moreover…
Soi Fon glanced at Unohana Retsu, who had a faint smile on her face, and a record from the Onmitsukidō's ancient archives surfaced in her mind. Due to the passage of time, many records had been erased, but one title was deeply engraved in the long river of Seireitei's history.
—The Soul Society's unparalleled great villain.
Compared to Kenpachi, Ishikawa Katori was clearly more like her!
But now, who knew how dangerous the potential nature of this gentle and serene woman was?
Perhaps only her kind could perceive it.
Shaking her head, Soi Fon picked up her honey-added tea and took a sip, her eyes narrowing slightly.
She liked this place very much, because here she could rest and relax, putting everything aside. Even with Ishikawa Katori there, she didn't intend to hide anything.
Most of the people here also held the same idea.
…
[Nemu Kurotsuchi Affection +1, gained 160 experience points, current affection: 1]
[Hinamori Momo Affection +1, gained 160 experience points, current affection: 5]
[Kotetsu Kiyone Affection +1, gained 120 experience points, current affection: 9]
[Matsumoto Rangiku Affection +1, gained 320 experience points, current affection: 16]
[Kotetsu Isane Affection +1, gained 5120 experience points, current affection: 51]
[Kuchiki Rukia Affection +1, gained 240 experience points, current affection: 11]
The constant influx of information from the affection interface in Ishikawa Katori's mind made his gentle smile so soft it almost dripped water.
It was a great harvest!!
In just half an hour, he had gained 9020 experience points.
Of course, the reason he gained so much experience was entirely due to these people having just met him.
In terms of affection…
Except for those with over 10 points, who barely considered Ishikawa Katori a newly acquainted friend, everyone else's perception of Ishikawa Katori had merely shifted from a stranger to a neighbor they would greet upon meeting.
Among those with over 10 points of affection for Ishikawa Katori, the most surprising was Rukia. Although she was just an ordinary Squad Member, the experience points she provided were the same as Kiyone, a Third Seat; and Ishikawa Katori only talked to her about Renji's recent situation, and she actually gained 11 points of affection for him.
Is this the so-called 'a friend of a friend is my friend'?
Although the experience points were few, it was indeed easy to increase affection when first acquainted. For example, even though Ishikawa Katori kept feeding Yachiru, her affection was stuck at 39 points with no signs of moving.
Ise Nanao also increased by 1 point, but since it was a decrease followed by an increase, it didn't bring any experience point gain to Ishikawa Katori.
[Current experience points: 31420]
Ishikawa Katori multitasked, chatting and joking with everyone while carefully observing his current attribute panel.
Due to being in recovery, the panel had basically not changed much since his fight with Zaraki Kenpachi. The only change was the experience points invested in physique during the battle with the black-cloaked figure.
Ishikawa Katori temporarily did not plan to use the stored experience points, saving them for the upcoming Reiatsu increase.
Of course, he wouldn't completely ignore them.
Ishikawa Katori planned to use the period of fewer winter commissions to learn some new Kido from Kukaku-nee. If he encountered a bottleneck or a difficult concept, he would invest a dozen or so experience points to break through.
In the last battle with the black-cloaked figure, Ishikawa Katori found that he still had a certain weakness: the number of high-level Kido, specifically those between 60-89, that he had mastered was too small.
Even now, he only mastered two high-level Kido: 'Bakudo No. 61: Rikujokoro' and 'Hadō No. 63: Raikōhō', which forced him to repeatedly use only a few Kido in that battle against the black-cloaked figure.
When Kukaku-nee taught him Kido, she told Ishikawa Katori never to treat a single Kido as his trump card. The advantage of Kido was its 'versatility', suitable for various situations.
In the past, he didn't learn high-numbered Kido partly because his own Reiatsu wasn't enough, making it difficult to use them in combat even if he learned them; and partly because for a Kido to appear on the system interface, someone had to release it in front of him with 'complete incantation'.
However, normally, almost no one would use powerful high-numbered Kido during practice. Even when Kukaku-nee taught him high-numbered Kido, she wouldn't 'release it once for him to see'.
The reason was simple…
Their power was too strong. Even when limiting Reiatsu, it still needed to be maintained at the minimum standard for release. When released with a complete incantation, the power was already extremely strong, enough to alter the terrain.
So even though the Shiba library recorded almost all Kido training methods, Ishikawa Katori had never practiced them on his own.
He just thought of waiting until someone released it in front of him, then directly activating it with 50 experience points. After all, to master a Kido, one not only needed to learn the release method and the Reiatsu changes during the process but also understand the meaning of the incantation's composition, and then, after repeated practice, it would appear on the system interface.
However, investing 50 experience points allowed Ishikawa Katori to skip these most tedious steps and directly gain the foundation for practicing that Kido.
But now, Ishikawa Katori planned to use this winter period to learn several high-numbered Kido from scratch, especially defensive Kido like 'Dankū', which would be indispensable in future battles he might encounter.
Although Dankū wasn't very strong in physical defense, it was extremely effective in defending against Kido-type attacks. It could even defend against some rule-based Kido-type attacks; if Ishikawa Katori remembered correctly, the Seventh Espada's 'domination ability', which was between Kido and rules, was once blocked by Kuchiki Byakuya with Dankū.
Whether it was a Shinigami's Zanpakuto or a Hollow's various abilities.
In battles of the same rank, the most troublesome abilities were undoubtedly rule-based abilities. Even Kuchiki Byakuya, when facing the Seventh Espada, whom he could easily kill, would be controlled by the opponent's 'domination ability'.
When facing such opponents, Dankū, which can block abilities between Kido and rules, is indispensable.
Of course…
There was also a simpler way: directly crush the so-called 'rules' with Reiatsu several times stronger than the opponent's.
But this point, simple as it was, was not something just anyone could achieve.
Looking at the system panel, from newly reaching Vice-Captain-level Reiatsu to Captain-level, it required 100,000 proficiency; then, from newly reaching Captain-level to touching the limit barrier, it required as much as 1,000,000 proficiency.
Then, taking Soi Fon's Shikai, which Ishikawa Katori was most familiar with, as an example, her Nigeki Kessatsu would require at least several times her Reiatsu to be immune to.
Even if Soi Fon's Reiatsu intensity was among the weaker of the thirteen Captains, it should still be above 200,000 proficiency. Based on this, even if immunity could be achieved with two or three times her Reiatsu, it would still require 400,000 to 500,000 Reiatsu proficiency.
The total experience points Ishikawa Katori had gained so far had not even reached that much.
Of course, this was just an example. Soi Fon's Reiatsu intensity might be higher or lower than Ishikawa Katori's estimate.
Because Ishikawa Katori was still far from that level, from his current perspective, almost all Captains' Reiatsu was incredibly strong, making it impossible to estimate who was stronger or weaker based on his own abilities.
Moreover, if one wanted to counter Soi Fon's Nigeki Kessatsu, it didn't need to be so troublesome; just being a little faster than her would suffice…
But many rule-based abilities were hard to guard against and impossible to avoid.
To avoid being inexplicably killed in future battles, one needed to exploit the 'versatility' of Kido, which was applicable to various situations!
Ishikawa Katori already had an initial idea of which Kido to learn, but he still needed to consult Kukaku-nee to decide which ones to practice.
Because the three words 'versatility' were, in Ishikawa Katori's opinion, almost equivalent to a 'bottomless pit'. There were hundreds of Bakudo and Hado combined, and each required over a million experience points to raise to the limit… If he learned all of them, the required experience points alone made Ishikawa Katori feel despair just thinking about it.
However, in reality, he didn't need that many. Most of the Kido Ishikawa Katori currently mastered were through self-practice, only investing a dozen or so experience points when encountering a bottleneck, yet still elevating his existing Kido to intermediate and even advanced levels.
Compared to Kido, Ishikawa Katori's experience points were primarily directed towards his own Reiatsu.
This point should not change until his Reiatsu reaches the limit barrier.
Without sufficiently strong Reiatsu as a backing, others wouldn't even need to use their own abilities; they could just slap him to death. What good would versatility be then…
The Shinigami Women's Association gathering continued until nearly dark before everyone gradually dispersed.
Upon returning to the Eleventh Division, Ishikawa Katori left the Seireitei and returned to the long-unvisited Rukongai to prepare for his winter Kido training.
As for the Everything Store in Rukongai reopening, Ishikawa Katori planned to have Ganju help him take on commissions for a period. Anyway, winter commissions were often only received once every ten-odd days, and most were snow-clearing jobs, which Ganju and a few subordinates could easily handle.
The Seireitei branch would remain closed and reopen next spring.
join p atreon.com/KeyofStars and become a Sequence 9: Reader for dozens of advance chapters for over a dozen fics | Every 100 powerstones = 1 extra chapter