Chapter 41: Aizen: Kisuke Urahara? He Does Not Know a Thing
What are you even talking about?
If it were Ichigo here, that would probably have been his first reaction.
Takeru, however, only thought for a moment before answering calmly.
"Sensei, are you talking about the training where you use the Zanpakuto to put pressure on yourself?"
"Precisely."
Aizen's lips curved into a satisfied smile.
"Before I explain why, I want to confirm something first. Takeru, how much do you understand about the power called Bankai?"
"When I was reading in the Spirit Arts Academy library, I saw a quote left by someone named Kisuke Urahara."
Takeru recalled it carefully as he spoke.
"'Shikai' requires you to 'converse' with your Zanpakuto and then 'resonate' with it to draw out its power."
"'Bankai' is to 'materialize' the Zanpakuto by summoning it out of your inner world into reality, and then make it 'submit.'"
"Kisuke Urahara, hm…"
Aizen listened quietly, then pushed his glasses up with an expressionless motion. The evening light flashed across the lenses, hiding his eyes and making his attitude hard to read.
"His name is still widely known throughout the Soul Society. Even people from the Eleventh Division speak of him with respect."
"So the experiences he left behind do have some merit."
"But that is all."
"He only tells people what to do, not why they should do it."
"His words are completely devoid of thought, and far too vague. You could call them a combination of dogma and a genius's whims. For most Shinigami, they are essentially useless."
"After all, not everyone can be like him, capable of both obeying rules and achieving results perfectly at the same time."
"Kisuke Urahara may be clever, but the theories he built from his experience alone are, at best, half formed."
"But that is fine."
"Having his words as a negative reference point will make it easier for you to understand what I am about to tell you."
By the end, Aizen's tone remained as gentle as ever, but a faint competitiveness had seeped into his choice of words.
Takeru did not mind. He focused completely on his teacher's deeper explanation.
Aizen was just as straightforward as always.
"In my view, Shikai is the state in which a Shinigami projects their own power onto their Zanpakuto. Bankai is the state in which, on that foundation, the sword's own self is nurtured and given form."
"The reason there is a training method that uses the Zanpakuto to put pressure on the wielder is because it is built on that first state. You reverse the direction and let the sword's power come back and reflect on you."
"It looks like the Zanpakuto is pressing down on you, but in truth, it is actively drawing near, like a mirror that contains your whole being."
"Through repeated reflection, like branding, the spiritual power acting on you gradually begins to take on your shape."
"In that way, you go further and faster in the Shikai stage until you reach the absolute limit of that stage."
Even if Aizen had not said it out loud, Takeru already understood this part very clearly.
He could even say he had felt it in his bones.
"Indeed, my Shikai is too powerful. It places a huge strain on my soul. The first time I released it, my whole body hurt."
"Normally, that would mean I would need a long time to slowly adapt to the immense power Shikai brings before I could handle it freely."
"But because of the Zanpakuto's constant pressure, and the long period of physical and spiritual blending with its power, my soul has been passively comprehending and understanding its essence, and my body has also been thoroughly trained."
"As a result, the double edged sword in my hand became a blade that can cut through anything, and the one wielding it has grown from a novice into a powerful master with refined swordsmanship."
Hearing this, Aizen gave a slight nod.
"From the outcome alone, that is correct."
"That master has now reached the limit of this stage, which is why he must step into the next realm. That realm is Bankai."
"However, that does not mean this training is useless once you step into Bankai."
"There is a piece of common knowledge you may not have heard yet. Once a Shinigami learns Bankai, they can release Shikai without a command. That is because the Zanpakuto has fully submitted to them."
"This 'submission' is a form of compulsion that overrides 'dialogue,' and 'resonance' is replaced by 'domination.'"
"The pressure training you have been doing is actually preparing you early for the 'submission' stage that comes after the Zanpakuto materializes. It allows you to shorten that part of the process, just as you did before."
"I see."
Takeru's eyes brightened with realization.
"Then, Sensei, how exactly should I proceed from here?"
"Do you not already have a rather good idea in that head of yours?"
Aizen's gaze carried a trace of amusement.
"Yes."
Takeru sat down on the grass right where he was and took the familiar posture of sword meditation.
"By the way, Takeru."
"?"
"Your reason for training in Bankai is not simply to have a friendly competition with Kurosaki, is it?"
"As expected of Sensei, your insight is sharp."
Faced with Aizen's near omniscient air, Takeru answered honestly, without hiding anything.
"I believe a Shinigami's battle is ultimately a battle of spiritual pressure. With my current level, if I want to reach Captain class as quickly as possible, training Bankai is a good choice."
"In other words, you are not yearning for or obsessed with the power of your Zanpakuto, nor are you pinning your hopes of becoming a Gotei 13 Captain on it."
"You simply treat Bankai as specialized training for spiritual pressure, a way to quickly break through your current bottleneck?"
Aizen's eyes were deep as he spoke, his tone hard to read.
"Exactly. I feel that is more efficient than ordinary daily training."
"…Is that so? I have no more questions. Takeru, you may continue."
Takeru nodded, closed his eyes, and adjusted his breathing.
In that pleasant, quiet patch of green, bathed in sunlight, he sank into the absurd and eerie inner world deep within his soul.
Aizen, meanwhile, withdrew his gaze from his student and turned it back to the distant view of Seireitei.
The vibrant youths around him changed endlessly, while the scene before his eyes felt as if it had remained unchanged for millions of years.
People and things.
Logically, things should change as people change.
So if things had not changed, that could only mean that the people who owned those things had not truly changed either. Those who appeared to be changing had not actually changed much at all.
Their thoughts, like Kisuke Urahara's, could only leap about inside the walls of rules and systems.
It had been like this for millions of years.
…
In his inner world, as far as the eye could see, the land was still barren.
Countless fungi grew crazily across the ground, yet there was no real vitality, no sense that anything would continue to grow. It was as if they had always been this way and always would be.
Time here seemed frozen.
Takeru glanced around, searching for that single lively presence in this dead, silent world.
But he could not see her anywhere.
There was not even the slightest unusual movement.
…No.
It was not completely silent.
Takeru sensed something, looked up, and saw a tiny black dot plummeting straight down from the sky.
There was no slowing, no adjustment. It was nothing more than a pure free fall from a great height.
A moment later, with a solid thud, it hit the ground and kicked up a cloud of dust.
At last, the world gained a little noise.
"What are you doing?"
Takeru felt like he was slowly turning into Ichigo.
Every time he came here, this person always managed to do something different.
"Just saying hello."
When the dust cleared, the elegant Mushroom Woman floated up out of the crater. There was not a single scratch on her. Compared to her, the inner world itself looked more like dough that she could pinch and knead however she liked.
"Saying hello?"
"That is right. A grand entrance greeting in a world that looks like it has not changed in millions of years. I quite like it, so you are bound to like it too. After all, we share one heart and one body."
"Is that so? Then, since the greeting is done, we can skip the small talk and go straight to the main topic."
Takeru slowly drew the long sword at his waist. The tip of the blade and his sharp gaze both pointed at the Mushroom Woman floating in midair.
"The main topic should not need any explanation. You already know, do you not?"
"Bankai training, right?"
The Mushroom Woman spoke lazily, completely unmoved by the sharp spiritual pressure gathering on the blade.
"Even if half the process will be settled in the later subjugation phase, your progress in the materialization phase is still at zero. Normally, it takes over ten years of training before I can appear in reality."
"I do not have that kind of time."
"How greedy. If you offered most Shinigami a choice like that, they would gladly spend ten full years to quickly raise their spiritual pressure to Captain level."
"Because the process of nurturing and materializing a Zanpakuto greatly amplifies the wielder's spiritual power. That is what you really care about."
"But you are not satisfied with the time cost. So…"
Her red lips curled into a beautiful yet dangerous smile.
"My beloved master chose to turn his blade against his own Zanpakuto."
"By fighting, you force spiritual pressure into your opponent's body and use it as nourishment to speed up the Zanpakuto's growth. Before, I put pressure on you. Now, it is your turn to put pressure on me."
"What an excellent use of what you have learned."
"But I am not angry at all. In fact, I am very happy."
"Because whatever you like to do, I will like to do too. And whatever I like to do, you will like to do too. Everything about me comes from you, like a mirror that reflects everything about you."
"So, when you raise your sword against me, I also cannot wait to do the same thing you are doing."
The moment her voice fell, a storm of dust motes burst out from beneath the Mushroom Woman's umbrella hat and skirt, surging toward Takeru like a sandstorm, blotting out the sky.
This is…
Takeru's pupils tightened.
The next instant.
Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom…
Endless flames swallowed the land.
From the sight alone, one could easily deduce the true nature of that "dust."
"How is it? Does 'Star Ash' taste good?"
"It is a pity there is no moon here, or I could turn into a dragon. By the way, Master, have you thought about how you will release the scabbard when there is no moonlight?"
"Do you plan to…"
The Mushroom Woman suddenly lifted her head. Blue light flared in her eyes, and her densely concentrated spiritual pressure hardened into a visible reishi wall.
Ping.
"You were going to hide with 'Translucent Dragon Scales' and wait for a chance to ambush me, correct?"
Takeru's slash cleaved the spiritual particle barrier straight in two, but the Mushroom Woman dodged the edge with a tilt of her head and backed away.
Seeing that, Takeru did not give chase.
Instead, he returned the blade to its scabbard and sank into an iaijutsu stance. Spiritual pressure surged furiously around him.
The Mushroom Woman's smile vanished.
"Even if I like what you like, there are some things that I truly cannot do."
"Eight Phases Manifestation. Endonemī."
"Calling someone's name to their face like that is really cheating, you know."
"You talk too much. That is definitely not something you picked up from me."
Takeru's form seemed to swell until he was like a Buddha manifesting in the world, deep blue light blazing from his body so intensely it was painful to look at. His words became crushing sound waves that shook the very air, majestic and overwhelming.
But the Mushroom Woman, Endonemī herself, was no different.
Spiritual pressure no weaker than his exploded from her body.
Without any chant or release phrase, she entered the very same state.
If he was a Buddha descending to the world, she was a proud goddess.
Her long hair streamed behind her, every strand shining like colored glass.
Dazzling radiance wrapped her entire body, as if she stood submerged in a lake of pure spiritual pressure.
"Maybe so. As I grow, there are bound to be parts of me that differ from you."
"That is something to look forward to."
Takeru narrowed his eyes, moved his feet, and used polished Shunpo that almost skipped over space itself. His afterimage stretched into a black line as he crossed the distance in an instant and snapped his wrist.
"Only Flash."
The brief flash of his blade was as beautiful as it was deadly.
There could be no more exquisite sword path in the world than that single stroke.
The Mushroom Woman's upper and lower body parted, yet no gaping wounds opened on her figure. Instead, a glowing line spread where the cut should have been.
"This is…"
"This is another way to use our ability," Takeru said, his voice tight with seriousness.
"It is just not very useful to you, and I hope it is something I will never have to use."
He had already noticed the clues and could not suppress a sharp intake of breath.
"...!"
"If you want to inject spiritual pressure, why do we not just become one?"
The Mushroom Woman's smile bloomed once more, as bright as a child's.
"Spiritual Particle Fission" was a reishi phenomenon. Under normal circumstances, spiritual particles should not have anything like fission, yet Endonemī had somehow made that impossible phenomenon into reality.
And because it carried subjective, ideal driven elements, there were countless things it could still do.
For example, during the fission process, her body and the spiritual particles could fuse completely, creating an almost invincible spiritualized state for eight seconds, and then…
Boom.
A tidal wave of blinding light swallowed the entire inner world.
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