"Crack, crack…"
Fractures spread across the violet barrier.
Kensei hacked up blood, his body still reeling from the impact, staring blankly at the deep trench before him.
"You've got to be kidding me…"
"Hey, Kensei!"
"What happened!?"
"You alright!?"
The Vizards rushed over.
But before they could even speak, Kensei looked at them in a daze.
"How did I end up over here!?"
His memory was gone. His head throbbed, ringing, and when he opened his eyes, he found himself slammed against the wall.
The Vizards twitched their lips. Love smacked his forehead in disbelief.
Shinji sighed. "You got sent flying by a swing of his staff."
"I was… blasted away by a single swing?"
Kensei's eyes widened in disbelief, staring at Cole. "That human brat sent me flying like that?"
He tried to stand, eager for another round.
But as soon as he rose, his steps wobbled, his vision spun, and even the world blurred before his eyes.
"M-My Tachikaze!?"
He looked down at his empty hands in shock.
"He's broken. Kensei's gone dumb," Hiyori muttered, holding her head in despair.
Rose handed back Tachikaze, voice flat. "Your blade got knocked away. It's even cracked."
Kensei lowered his gaze. Indeed, a fissure ran through the weapon—and a chip was missing.
Mashiro gasped. "His zanpakuto actually cracked? Seriously!?"
Lisa's eyes sharpened. "Kensei, just how strong is that human boy?"
Everyone turned to him, waiting for an answer.
Cole's reiryoku was powerful, but nowhere near Kensei's level.
That meant the damage came mostly from brute strength—at least seventy percent raw force.
Kensei thought long and hard before speaking.
"You've all sparred with the old man before, right?"
The Vizards froze, then widened their eyes in unison.
Shinji's jaw dropped. "No way, Kensei—you're saying this brat's brute strength is on par with the old man!?"
The others were equally shaken. They all knew who he meant.
The thousand-year strongest Shinigami—Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni.
Kensei nodded grimly. "No doubt about it. That kid's strength rivals the old man's… maybe even surpasses it."
A heavy silence fell. Their gazes at Cole grew grave.
The Captain-Commander wasn't hailed as the strongest of a millennium just for Ryujin Jakka.
His raw might—strength, reiryoku, body—stood at the peak.
Yet now, a human boy's strength matched his.
And he wasn't even twenty.
Meanwhile, Cole followed Tessai into the barrier's inner chamber.
Though Soi Fong had enjoyed the earlier scene, she couldn't help sneering coldly when she saw him.
"When you fought that woman, why didn't you use the same strength you used on Kensei?"
Unconsciously, she touched her own forehead, still sore with a lump.
When fighting her, he hadn't held back at all.
Cole smiled faintly. "She was too weak. She's nothing compared to you, Captain Soi Fong."
At that, Soi Fong's lips curved with the faintest pride. "Of course. I'm a captain of the Second Division. That woman was just a Twelfth Division lieutenant before she defected."
The words nearly made Hiyori explode with rage.
"Soi Fong, don't get cocky! If you've got the guts, fight me again! I won't make the same mistake twice!"
Soi Fong snorted coldly. "If Shinji and Lady Yoruichi hadn't stopped me earlier, you'd be dead already."
The two glared, sparks crackling.
Cole rapped the floor with his golden staff.
"BOOM!"
Cracks spread through the ground.
As silence fell, he looked at Tessai with a smile.
"Uncle Tessai, let's start training in kido. Lady Yoruichi, Captain Soi Fong—please guide me as well."
Then he glanced at Hiyori too, smiling lightly.
"Hiyori, my strength may be great, but I'm lacking in other areas. Please guide me too."
Both women scoffed, but neither refused. They stepped back quietly.
Tessai nodded to himself. Cole knew how to handle people—his words had defused the tension between Hiyori and Soi Fong with ease.
Tessai's tone turned solemn. "Cole, today we'll systematically learn kido. Watch closely. Don't blink."
Cole straightened, face serious.
Before the others' watchful eyes, Tessai raised his hand, chanting:
"Mask of blood and flesh, all things of the universe, wings that soar, crown that names mankind…"
"Eh!?"
"Eh!?"
"Eh!?"
Hiyori's eyes bulged. "Tessai, are you crazy!? You're teaching kido like this!?"
Normally, Shinigami learned kido step by step, guided carefully.
At the very least, it required patient instruction.
But Tessai had jumped straight into casting—his chant so fast no one could follow.
"How's anyone supposed to learn like this!?"
Soi Fong shot her a glance. "Shut it and watch. That brat's talent isn't something a lieutenant like you can compare to."
She'd seen it firsthand—his terrifying gift.
Shunko was a fusion of kido and hakuda, notoriously difficult to master.
She'd taken nearly a century.
But Cole had mimicked it after seeing it once.
The power was weaker, but the feat itself was staggering.
"You… what did you just say!?"
Hiyori glared, itching to pounce on her rival.
Soi Fong snorted, about to retort—
But Tessai's chant ended.
"Hado #33: Sokatsui!"
...…
...
(End of Chapter)
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