Urahara tilted his head, fan tapping lightly against his shoulder.
Such a strange question. Reiryoku? Wasn't the world itself saturated with it? Why would this boy need his permission to absorb it?
But then he recalled—Cole was once just a human.
Ah, so that was it. A smile curved his lips. "Cole-san, absorb as much as you like. Even if you drain this entire space dry, it won't matter—so long as your body can withstand it."
Cole's eyes gleamed with wild anticipation. His tongue brushed across his lips.
"I understand!"
He kicked off his shoes, planting bare feet onto the earth. Each step drew in reiryoku like a thirsty beast. Every footprint sank deeper, leaving small craters in his wake.
"…Hmmm?"
Urahara frowned faintly. Something about this felt off. His gut whispered danger, though he couldn't yet say why.
Jinta's eyes lit up as Cole approached. Abandoning Ichigo and Ishida, he tightened his grip on the bat, excitement crackling in his aura.
Ichigo shouted hoarsely, still winded from running. "Cole, be careful! That brat's speed is insane—and his swings pack real power!"
Ishida's eyes narrowed. "He's using shunpo—an advanced step technique. It allows explosive bursts of speed. Strength alone won't be enough to beat him."
Cole gave a sharp nod, gaze fixed on Jinta's charging form.
His eyes weren't on the bat. They were locked on Jinta's feet.
Each step… a burst of speed.
"So fast… not easy to track. Learning this will be troublesome…"
Cole gripped his eighty-meter blade tighter, slamming it downward.
"BOOM!"
The ground split, fissures spiderwebbing out.
Jinta dodged easily, laughing coldly. "That blade of yours is destructive, sure. But it's too clumsy, too slow!"
"Is that so?"
Cole smiled faintly. He swung again. And again.
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"
The barren ground shook, smoke and dust rising in choking waves. The entire space quaked as though struck by an earthquake.
Even Jinta staggered, his rhythm thrown off by the constant tremors. Dust blinded him, every step a struggle.
"…The hell? His raw strength is outrageous."
Gritting his teeth, Jinta roared and swung down hard. "Don't underestimate me! Even without shikai, your zanpakuto will shatter under my bat!"
"BOOM!"
A deafening impact split the air. Cracks spread across Cole's massive blade.
Jinta vanished.
Seconds later, he stumbled out of a fissure in the earth, covered in dust, head spinning, stars dancing in his vision.
"Y-you… is that all you've got, brat…?"
Cole's voice came from behind him. Calm. Almost pitying.
"I'm over here."
Jinta flushed scarlet, slapping his cheeks hard until his senses returned. He roared again, charging with reckless fury.
"Fine then! Maybe your strength's real, but I'll grind your zanpakuto to dust—one swing at a time!"
Red hair flying, he blurred around Cole, his bat raining down blow after blow.
Cole barely parried, only a few token swings in return. His focus never left Jinta's feet.
So this is shunpo…
Zanpakuto could be reforged. Ichigo's had been shattered once, only to awaken as Zangetsu.
But shunpo—the foundation of speed itself—this was priceless.
——
"Meow. What's that human doing?"
Yoruichi leapt onto Ururu's head, golden eyes narrowed curiously.
Urahara blinked in surprise. "Yoruichi-san. You've recovered."
Her face darkened instantly. She pounced on him, claws raking. "Don't you dare bring that up again!"
Tessai sighed with sympathy, while Urahara groaned beneath the scratches.
Still, Tessai's curiosity burned. "Yoruichi-san… though you're in feline form, your essence remains shinigami. Why would catnip affect you?"
Yoruichi huffed, tail flicking. "Don't insult me. This isn't some cheap transformation kido. My feline body is complete in every way—instincts and all."
Urahara muttered dryly, "And that's something to be proud of?"
"MEOW!!!"
Minutes later, with Urahara's face scratched raw, Yoruichi licked her paw in satisfaction, gaze snapping back to Cole.
"…That boy. His fighting style is strange. Almost like he's… observing."
Urahara nodded, tapping his fan toward Jinta's feet. "He's trying to steal Jinta's shunpo."
Tessai leaned closer, intrigued. "Shopkeeper. Do you believe he can succeed?"
Urahara hesitated. "Shunpo is far harder than kidō to master. And Jinta's speed is nothing to scoff at. Observing alone shouldn't be enough…"
"No."
Yoruichi cut him off, her golden eyes sharp. "Look closely. He's already entered the first stage."
Urahara and Tessai froze, staring hard at Cole's steps.
Sure enough, the chaotic rhythm was gone. His footwork had become precise, patterned—closer and closer to true shunpo.
Each step left a crater. Each step made him faster.
"…He's really done it," Urahara whispered, shaken.
He had seen Hitsugaya Toshiro, the prodigy hailed as the youngest captain in history.
But even Toshiro hadn't reached this level of genius.
In a single day, Cole had learned seven or eight kidō. And now, even shunpo.
A once-in-millennia monster.
"Faster… he's getting faster still…"
Yoruichi stood rigid, every hair on her body bristling as she watched Cole's speed climb higher.
Dust storm swirling. Craters dotting the ground.
The boy's footwork had already matched Jinta's.
And yet each step still left a hole in the earth.
Yoruichi's voice cracked with awe. "Is this… his own creation of a new step technique?"
Urahara and Tessai twitched violently, mouths twitching.
"…Creation? That's not new footwork."
"That's just him… sucking the space dry of reiryoku with every step."
...…
...
(End of Chapter)
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