"...Kukaku-neechan, who once taught me Kido, told me never to treat one Kido as my trump card."
"Without a Zanpakuto, a Kido master fighting a Shinigami with a Zanpakuto has only one advantage: 'versatility' applicable to various situations. Treating one Kido as a trump card, however, would lose this versatility."
"Bakudo and Hado, combined, can truly be called Kido."
Inside the newly built Everything Store in West 38th District, Ishikawa had specially added a classroom-like room, specifically for tutoring Shin'ō Academy students.
"Mr. Ishikawa, that..."
A timid boy with slightly upturned short hair raised his hand and, after hesitating, asked, "If one isn't good at Zankensoki, can they still become a Shinigami?"
"Why not?"
Ishikawa smiled slightly: "The recruitment standards for each Squad of the Gotei 13 vary. Zankensoki and Reiatsu intensity are not mandatory admission criteria. For example, the Fourth Squad recruits students whose previous profession was a doctor, or those skilled in Kaido; the Second Squad recruits students skilled in Hakuda and tracking; the Ninth Squad recruits Squad Members who previously had experience as reporters or editors..."
"There are also some Squads that simply look at Reiatsu intensity, so as long as you can graduate, you will definitely find a Squad that suits you."
The high-foreheaded girl next to the short-haired boy slapped him directly: "You idiot, Ikkaku-nii told me that Mr. Ishikawa works for the Second Squad, Fourth Squad, and Ninth Squad simultaneously, and is even the Captain of the Ninth Squad. With him here, you're still afraid of not being able to join the Gotei 13?"
"..." Ishikawa.
Are you openly asking me to pull strings for you?
Ishikawa glared at the girl exasperatedly: "Madarame Shino, instead of bullying Ryunosuke, you should study seriously; among everyone in this room... No, I should say, among all the students I've taught, you're the only one who still fails the monthly assessment after my tutoring..."
"My reputation is almost ruined by you. If you cause any more trouble, don't blame me for going to your Ikkaku-nii and telling him about your glorious achievements."
Madarame Shino stuck out her tongue upon hearing this, immediately adjusted her posture, and pretended to listen attentively.
Ishikawa shook his head at the sight. Although this girl was Ikkaku Madarame's cousin, her personality was nothing like Ikkaku Madarame's... Her talent in combat was also only average. According to Ikkaku, Madarame Shino was the type who would struggle if she joined the Eleventh Division.
This was actually quite a euphemism; this girl was simply not suited for combat.
"Also, Hachihara, put away that magazine under your desk!"
The entire morning was spent guiding the students.
Three days had passed since the battle in the Human World. In these three days, the Human World had been unusually quiet.
The only news that came back was...
Ichigo suddenly disappeared from his home last night.
Ishikawa was not surprised by this.
The state he displayed during his battle with Grimmjow would certainly attract the attention of certain people in the Human World, leading them to try and recruit him!
According to the reports sent back by Rukia and others, this point had been confirmed.
However...
Among that group of people, it seemed there were a few worth getting to know!
After receiving Rukia's report yesterday, Ishikawa had an impulse to go and station himself in the Human World.
But after some ideological struggle, he finally gave up on this tempting idea.
After all...
That madman Aizen, for some unknown reason, had set his sights on him. Rashly going to the Human World could very likely lead to another encirclement by the Espada.
Moreover, stationing in the Human World was different from providing support; if Ishikawa wanted to be stationed in the Human World long-term, he would have to accept the limitation.
Having suffered from the limitation once, Ishikawa absolutely did not want to experience that feeling again, and encountering the Espada under limitation was simply too dangerous!
Anyway, there would always be opportunities to meet them later.
Shaking his head slightly, Ishikawa didn't dwell on it too much. After tidying up the classroom, he got up and walked downstairs to the tavern.
The tavern was as noisy as ever. Even though the rebuilt tavern had nearly doubled in size, it was still packed, with even the backyard full of people.
Ever since they cooperated with Ganju to save his life last time, Ishikawa had become a bit more friendly towards these ruffians.
Of course, only a bit.
Because these guys, if you give them a little bit of a good face, they will definitely take advantage of it!
Ignoring the greetings of the ruffians, Ishikawa sat at the bar.
"Have you finished teaching those students?" asked Ishida Soken from the side.
Ishikawa nodded, then looked at Unagiya next to him and asked, "Are there any commissions today? If there are, I'll do them all this afternoon."
"None."
Unagiya shook his head: "Today's commission orders were all taken by Ganju and Hawk, and a few escorting merchant caravan orders were also taken by Oko and his group."
These guys...
Are they getting more and more presumptuous?
Ishikawa always felt that these bastards seemed to be treating his Everything Store as an adventurer's guild that could take on commissions.
"Then I'll go to Seireitei this afternoon."
Ishikawa paused, then continued: "This time, I might be gone for a long time. The commissions here in Rukongai will be left to Ganju and his group. Don't take on commissions they can't complete; wait until I come back. You help Ganju and them pick out the suitable ones."
"I understand." Unagiya nodded.
Ishida Soken, who was beside them, asked somewhat puzzledly, "Are you going to train again?"
"Hmm... If you say training, then yes."
Ishikawa's expression was a bit conflicted: "But more strictly speaking, it should be 'getting cut'."
After Commander Yamamoto's persuasion, Captain Unohana agreed to provide Ishikawa with a month of Zanjutsu guidance.
Being guided by Unohana Retsu...
Ishikawa's mood was a mix of joy and worry.
The joy was because he could gain Unohana Retsu's favor, and the worry was because the experience points were too few!
Current experience points: 40124
Originally, he had 160,000 experience points. Ishikawa used 60,000 in training and another 60,000 for physical stat allocation in the battle three days ago. This caused the experience points provided by Kotetsu Isane when she broke through 60 favorability to be completely depleted again...
He wasn't afraid of dying at Unohana Retsu's hands, after all, this wasn't a challenge or a fight, but Zanjutsu guidance.
But what Ishikawa was after was not just guidance, but to please Unohana Retsu as much as possible through this training.
However, with 40,000 experience points, it was almost impossible to sustain a prolonged battle under Unohana Retsu's guidance!
And without prolonged combat, he couldn't let Unohana Retsu... cut him to her heart's content.
If she wasn't satisfied, he wouldn't get experience points.
Only by letting her cut to her heart's content, cut until she was excited, cut until her fighting spirit boiled, could his experience points be continuously replenished during the training process!
The agreed time was tomorrow morning. He still had half a day and a night. How could he get a large sum of experience points in such a short time?
Bang—
The sound of a bowl hitting the bar woke Ishikawa from his contemplation. Utsuki looked at Ishikawa: "It seems you've been getting busier and busier ever since that Aizen defected. If you ask me, you should just stop getting involved in those Shinigami matters."
As she spoke, a hint of worry flashed in Utsuki's eyes as she looked at Ishikawa.
Having known Ishikawa for so many years, she had always regarded him as family. The original Ishikawa was busy every day, but there was no danger.
But ever since that madman Aizen defected, Ishikawa had been continuously attacked.
"I wish I could stay out of it."
Ishikawa shook his head slightly and said, "But when a person stays in one place for a long time, they inevitably develop attachments."
"Moreover, this is no longer a matter of whether I participate or not, but that madman has suddenly set his sights on me for some unknown reason."
Ishikawa was actually quite baffled. Compared to Ichigo, he felt he was still very ordinary.
After all, he, a cheater...
Couldn't even keep up with Ichigo's rate of improvement!
Compared to studying him, studying Ichigo would clearly be of greater help to Aizen.
But Aizen just happened to fixate on him, and his several actions were all aimed at him.
Ishikawa would not believe that Aizen would lose interest in him after fusing with the Hōgyoku.
So...
He had to make good use of the time Aizen was fusing with the Hōgyoku.
With the system, as long as there were enough experience points, he could greatly increase his strength in a short period.
However...
Thinking of experience points, Ishikawa started to fret again about how to make himself more durable.
After lunch, Ishikawa gave instructions to Unagiya and the others, then directly teleported to East 1st District and entered Seireitei.
After entering Seireitei, Ishikawa stood at the fork leading to the Onmitsukidō and the Comprehensive Relief Station, hesitating for a long time, and finally chose to walk towards the Comprehensive Relief Station.
Captain Soi Fon had become much friendlier towards him now.
A large part of this was due to the healing of her long-standing heartache, but raising her favorability was truly difficult.
Moreover, her favorability towards him had already reached 55 points. With Yoruichi not around, Ishikawa had no idea how to increase her favorability towards him.
In contrast...
Ishikawa looked at the favorability interface, Kotetsu Isane's name, and the 62 points of love value next to it.
With Isane, if he could figure out why her perception of him changed that night, perhaps he could further increase her favorability... no, love value.
Not much, 3 points would be enough!
Based on Ishikawa's rich experience accumulated over many years in Rukongai and the Commercial Street outside Seireitei, as long as he maintained 65 points of love value, there wouldn't be a big problem!
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, Ishikawa paused in his steps and looked up towards the end of the street.
He saw two familiar figures strolling through various shops on the Commercial Street.
When he saw the two of them, Ishikawa was slightly startled.
Why were they here?
Looking across, he saw Kuchiki Rukia leading a dejected Orihime, browsing through a shop selling daily necessities.
After pondering for a moment, Ishikawa quickened his pace and headed towards the two of them.
"This brand is the one I've always used, it's very good."
As soon as he walked in, he heard Rukia introducing the product in her hand to Orihime.
"And this one..."
Ishikawa did not disturb the two inside the shop, but carefully observed Orihime's state, a flash of realization in his eyes.
If there were no accidents...
Their appearance in Soul Society should be Urahara Kisuke's doing.
Moreover, Ishikawa also remembered.
In his memory, Orihime was precisely kidnapped by Aizen's subordinates from the Dangai when she was returning to the Human World from Soul Society.
"Oh, Ishikawa?"
Rukia and Orihime finally noticed Ishikawa outside the shop and came to greet him.
"Mr. Ishikawa."
Orihime showed a slight smile on her face, but it was a forced one. It was clear that she was not in a very good mood right now.
The reason Rukia wanted to take her shopping should also be because of this.
Rukia, who was beside them, saw Ishikawa observing Orihime. She instantly understood that Ishikawa had noticed Orihime's current poor state, but she didn't explain. Instead, she signaled Ishikawa with her eyes not to ask, so as not to make Orihime sad again.
Seeing this, Ishikawa hesitated slightly, but finally shook his head: "Did Urahara Kisuke tell you something?"
"Ah?"
At these words, both Rukia and Orihime were slightly startled.
"How did you know?" Rukia asked somewhat puzzledly, then seemed to think of something: "Did you tell Urahara-san to say that?"
"...I can't order him around."
Ishikawa narrowed his eyes and said, "The reason I would think Urahara Kisuke said something to Orihime is simply because, besides him, there's no one else who would discourage a little girl like that."
After his words, Ishikawa looked at Orihime and said, "Although I don't know what he told you, to make such an optimistic child become so pessimistic, it must have been something like telling you that you're not suitable for combat, or that you shouldn't participate in the upcoming battles, right?"
"You don't need to care about those words at all."
A strange light flashed in Ishikawa's eyes: "Your ability, in my opinion, is an extremely terrifying one. Perhaps in some respects, it truly isn't suitable for combat, but for Ichigo, you are an indispensable existence."
"Really?"
Orihime's dim eyes immediately brightened, and she looked at Ishikawa with anticipation.
"Of course it's true."
Ishikawa said, "And the reason he said that isn't because he looks down on your ability, but because he has other plans."
"Other plans?"
Rukia's face showed confusion.
Ishikawa didn't explain, but after hesitating, he said, "When you're ready to return to the Human World, remember to notify me."
"Ah?"
"I will personally escort you back to the Human World then."
Aizen captured Orihime not for her abilities, but to use her as bait to trap the Captains in Hueco Mundo.
If he could prevent Orihime from being taken to Hueco Mundo, then Aizen's scheme of dividing forces would naturally be thwarted.
However...
Judging from the experiences during this period.
Things might not necessarily unfold as he remembered, because due to his existence, Aizen's plan had already undergone significant changes.
The possibility of him acting earlier was definitely not zero.
This point must be guarded against!