From within the dust cloud, a bloodstained figure burst out like a streak of lightning. He first clamped down on the Head Captain's wrist, then twisted his body into the air at an almost impossible angle.
Two legs thick with coiled muscle snapped outward—one locking around the Head Captain's neck, the other pressing against his chest. Still gripping the wrist, the figure yanked backward with explosive force.
Even Yoruichi, watching from the sidelines, showed a look of surprise. She hadn't expected a brute like Kurosaki Rei to know a move like this—
it was a flawless armbar triangle lock.
The Head Captain remained standing, not forced to the ground. He merely tilted his head slightly and looked at Kurosaki Rei.
"Interesting, boy. If our spiritual pressure were equal, you'd have already won."
But before the Head Captain could continue with a "however," Kurosaki Rei had already released the lock, landed lightly, and reset his stance.
"Oh?"
The Head Captain looked at him with some curiosity. "And what does that mean?"
Kurosaki Rei's eyes burned with battle intent as he grinned.
"That kind of fighting isn't my style. And if you hadn't let go of my leg, I wouldn't have been able to counterattack in the first place."
Grabbing an opponent and smashing them into the ground was a brutally effective tactic. If you were confident you could incapacitate the enemy, then the optimal solution was to let go at the moment of impact—otherwise the rebound force would also act on yourself.
But the Head Captain clearly wouldn't care about rebound force. He could precisely control his strength and had already judged that the throw wouldn't kill Kurosaki Rei. Strictly speaking, there was no need for him to let go at all.
From the instant Kurosaki Rei was caught, he had already lost. The Head Captain releasing him was simply because he felt the fight was basically over and wanted to assess the damage. Kurosaki Rei's counter just now was, at best, a kind of sneak attack.
Hearing this, the Head Captain burst out laughing.
"Boy, I'm starting to like you."
He looked at the blood streaming down Kurosaki Rei's head, now dyeing his entire upper body red. The blood flowed like rivulets through the grooves of his muscles. Paired with those blazing, combative eyes, it didn't make him look pitiful at all—
he looked like an asura.
"Still want to face me head-on?"
the Head Captain asked, assuming the opening stance of a fist technique.
Kurosaki Rei took a deep breath. His heart thundered, pumping blood and strength into every limb. Though he'd defended in time, his head had still taken a heavy blow.
His body was soaked in blood, yet he'd never felt this clear-headed before. Facing the strongest Shinigami, he could feel—truly feel—that he was alive.
"Of course," he replied. "Let's start the second round."
Approval flickered in the Head Captain's eyes.
In the next instant, both figures vanished from where they stood.
The dojo floor boomed again and again under their footwork. Heavy, muffled impacts echoed through the air as fists and kicks collided.
Blinding-speed Shunpo.
Lightning-fast exchanges.
Most of the first-year students couldn't see what was happening at all. They could only make out two shadows darting across the dojo, accompanied by the violent tremors in the air.
"He's… keeping up with the Head Captain's movements…"
Yoruichi said in shock.
She knew Kurosaki Rei's level better than anyone, which was why she was stunned. In her eyes, whether it was Shunpo speed or Hakuda skill, Kurosaki Rei was completely suppressed by the Head Captain.
Yet unlike the first exchange, Kurosaki Rei was now not only blocking every attack perfectly—he was even finding gaps to counterattack!
Had he grown again in that brief moment just now?
Aizen watched the spar with a grave expression. He had expected total domination by the Head Captain, but aside from the opening exchange where Kurosaki Rei was caught off guard, Kurosaki Rei now seemed to be gradually… adapting.
"Adapting" was the right word.
Aizen's eye for detail was even sharper than Yoruichi's, and his analytical ability far stronger. He could tell that Kurosaki Rei's Hakuda technique itself hadn't undergone any explosive improvement in such a short time.
Rather, Kurosaki Rei had adapted to the Head Captain's ferocious offensive rhythm, making better choices at every single decision point in combat.
That was why, despite being technically outmatched, he hadn't been instantly crushed.
Rei-kun… just how far does your limit go?
Boom—
Amid a thunderous explosion, a figure was sent flying and slammed into the wall, this time leaving a clearly visible depression.
Everyone's gaze snapped over.
They saw Kurosaki Rei's bare upper body slide down the wall before collapsing to the ground—this time truly unable to get back up.
In the end, he still couldn't overcome two thousand years of combat experience and peak Hakuda mastery. In the prolonged exchange, the Head Captain found his opening and shattered him with a single decisive blow.
Aizen quickly stepped forward to help Kurosaki Rei up, while the Head Captain slowly withdrew his stance and glanced down at his own chest.
In that final instant, the boy had actually touched him—
but before the force could be transmitted, he'd already been sent flying.
The Head Captain walked over, picked up his haori, and draped it back over his shoulders. With his back to Kurosaki Rei, he said:
"Use your Kaidō to heal. I'll be back the day after tomorrow as well."
Kurosaki Rei, who had been reflecting on his shortcomings in the fight, lit up at those words.
He wasn't discouraged by this loss.
Nor would he think it only natural to lose just because his opponent was a monster who'd lived for thousands of years.
He still had chances to challenge the pinnacle of the Shinigami world.
There was nothing more exciting than that.
That evening.
"Sou-suke," Kurosaki Rei said thoughtfully as he sat on his bed, "what do you think I need to do to defeat the Head Captain?"
Aizen was momentarily speechless.
"Rei-kun… don't you think you're getting a bit full of yourself? That's the Head Captain. The strongest Shinigami of the past two thousand years."
In his view, the Head Captain's Hakuda was on an entirely different dimension from Kurosaki Rei's, not to mention that his Shunpo was vastly superior in actual combat.
Honestly, the fact that Kurosaki Rei had lasted as long as he did in the second round already shocked Aizen. And now this guy was talking about beating the Head Captain.
"Sou-suke, haven't you heard a saying?"
Kurosaki Rei asked seriously.
"What saying?"
"A Shinigami who doesn't want to surpass the Head Captain isn't a good Shinigami."
"…I know you want to keep improving in Hakuda," Aizen said patiently, "but surpassing the Head Captain isn't realistic."
"It's not that I doubt your combat talent. It's that there's a fundamental difference between you and him."
"What difference?" Kurosaki Rei asked. "Combat experience?"
"That's part of it. But more importantly—
even if the Head Captain suppresses his spiritual pressure for your sake, his perception, neural reflexes, and overall awareness are on a completely different level from yours."
Hearing this, Kurosaki Rei suddenly understood.
Right.
This was something he hadn't considered.
Spiritual pressure could be suppressed, but the strengthened physique, vision, and reaction speed honed through centuries of spiritual training couldn't simply be erased.
Put simply, the Head Captain was like a powerhouse with over a hundred points in every stat, deliberately holding back his raw power to spar with Kurosaki Rei—but the passive bonuses from those stats were still there.
To the Head Captain, Kurosaki Rei's movements probably looked like slow motion.
Strictly speaking, this wasn't truly a "same-level spar."
Even ignoring technical skill entirely, the Head Captain's advantages were overwhelming.
"I see…"
Kurosaki Rei nodded, genuinely enlightened.
But under Aizen's increasingly strange gaze, he added:
"But that just makes it more challenging, doesn't it?"
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