"Hey, you... were excited just now, weren't you?"
In the present world, at Urahara Shop.
Kisuke Urahara leaned forward, his eyes gleaming as he stared at the young woman with wheat-colored skin sitting on the sofa. "It's been a long time since I've seen you this excited... You didn't look like this when you saw Hiyori last time."
"Of course, because Hiyori's footwork is still rougher... She's the talented type, more gifted than I was at her age."
"Oh? And what about this one?" Urahara pointed his ramen chopsticks at the white-haired woman on the screen.
"As for her..."
Yoruichi Shihōin sat down across from him, thought for a few seconds, then crossed her arms. "...I'm not sure. When she fought Jing Yuan, her movements resembled Shunpo, but there were subtle differences. Hmm... how should I put it? It felt more like an instinctive reaction?"
Yoruichi narrowed her cat-like eyes. "If it's instinct... then this woman has likely been through countless life-and-death battles. You can't develop that kind of reaction speed without experiencing endless slaughter."
"To be praised by the 'Goddess of Flash' Yoruichi... that's rare."
Urahara leaned back on the sofa, lazily crossing his legs. His face still wore a carefree smile, but beneath the brim of his hat, his gaze was serious.
"Something on your mind?" he asked. "Distracted during such an exciting fight? That's not like you."
"Yeah, I'm just a little curious."
Yoruichi wore an expression of both puzzlement and regret. "Jing Yuan is her disciple, and she's the master. From the way the battle is going, she trained this disciple exceptionally well... I just don't understand why she would go all out to kill such an outstanding student?"
"Especially since her disciple even became a general, practically the pillar of the Xianzhou. By the standards of the present world, that's... a 'model graduate,' right?"
"Who knows." Urahara shrugged. "Judging by her bloodthirsty expression, I'd guess she's being controlled by something? Her eyes when she was younger... well, they looked pretty pure."
"Cough, pure..." Yoruichi nearly choked on her own saliva. "You're using that word to describe a female swordsman who's killed who knows how many people?"
"...It's probably the most distant and unfamiliar word in her life."
——
[Jing Yuan barely dodged, but a strand of his hair was still severed.]
[Beneath the icy blade, he seemed to see a great fire... a fire that blotted out the sky.]
[It was a scene he had witnessed centuries ago, when he was still a Cloud Knight lieutenant—amidst the collapsed ruins, a monster that had once been a Cloud Knight roared amidst the flames.]
["Master... he doesn't remember us anymore."]
[Back then, Jing Yuan was still young, so young that his voice still trembled.]
[But before the words faded, a strand of moonlight, as if stolen from the heavens, pierced through the monster's chest in a flash.]
[The monster's roar ceased momentarily.]
["This is what happens when one falls into the Mara."]
[The voice was as cold as snow, belonging to a face both beautiful and chillingly severe. Jingliu stood sideways, as if always keeping a distance from others.]
["The Mara is the fate of long-life species. If one day, I too succumb to the Mara, you must not hesitate."]
[Her words were as resolute as ever, but in his master's eyes, Jing Yuan caught a fleeting glimpse of sorrow... and numbness.]
[She must have seen this... countless times before, right?]
["Yes... Master." Just like when he was a child, these were the only words he could muster in response to his master's instructions.]
Tokyo, Japan.
"Calling her 'Master' over and over... what an obedient student—too bad I prefer the less obedient ones."
Elder placed his cigar on the ashtray and glanced at the folding knife on his wrist. "The weapons aren't evenly matched, Akira... Could you move faster than that white-haired woman in the sky?"
"Heh..." Arika Ishizue looked at Elder with a meaningful smile.
His Noble Phantasm was "Shukuchi," and at his peak speed of 128x, he had once been hailed as the Sword Saint of the Eight Great Houses of the Snake Clan. If he unleashed his Iaido at full speed, no opponent could even see his blade.
To his enemies, his sword was nothing more than a faint glimmer in the air.
When Ishizue was young, he had heard legends of swordsmen from the ancient East—back when he had just met Elder. It was said that those swordsmen would spend lifetimes honing their craft, from the vigor of youth to the twilight of old age, dedicating their entire lives just to reach the pinnacle of swordsmanship.
That kind of swordplay... was truly beautiful. Pure as poetry, yet deadly as poetry could be—lonely enough to cut through time itself.
The young Ishizue had once dreamed of witnessing such swordsmanship, but now... on the verge of old age and death, he had still never seen it.
Not long ago, he had fought Elder in a duel, and that battle had finally allowed him to reach his life's pinnacle.
Ninth Step Shukuchi—516x Divine Speed Slash.
In that moment, his Onimaru Kunitsuna finally surpassed the speed of sound, the high-frequency vibrations of the air even slicing open Elder's shoulder for an instant, scattering a layer of crimson across the dance floor.
A 516x Divine Speed Slash might have wounded the principal, but to even graze the woman in the sky...? At this thought, Kaneshiro suddenly laughed in resignation.
Her swordsmanship wasn't Iaido—it was art. The kind of art he could never have imagined, even if he spent his entire life trying.
Ishizue closed his eyes. The fantasy of his youth had finally become reality... 65 years later.
"Tenth Step—think you can do it, Akira?"
Elder exhaled a puff of blue smoke and kicked the leg of Ishizue's sofa. "With the Tenth Step, you might just manage to cut off a strand of her hair. Weren't you fond of sniffing young, beautiful women's hair back in the day?"
"I'm old now, Principal." Ishizue sighed hoarsely. "Are you assigning me homework for my next life?"
[After that, many years passed before Jing Yuan saw his master again—this time in the Shackling Prison.]
["Guh, aah—!" In the shadows, his master was curled up on the ground, her face—once as cold and unchanging as ice—now twisted in agony.]
["Those who succumb to the Mara lose all reason and humanity. Leave, Jing Yuan. Jingliu is already gone."]
[Listening to the prison judge's words, Jing Yuan stared at his master in disbelief.]
"To see your closest master turn into a monster... how tragic." The Stone Pillar clasped his hands together, tears streaming down his face.
"But haven't you noticed? Jingliu's Mara-struck state is different from others." Kocho Shinobu spotted the inconsistency. "Her body doesn't seem to be sprouting branches or anything like that."
"True... Could it be that her Mara affliction isn't physical, but mental?" The Serpent Pillar, Obanai Iguro, suddenly suggested.