Does Hell have daytime?
It seems not.
Dense, inky black is Hell's perennial color.
Higashino Shuuichi drove a fist forward. The ancient Hollow before him froze, then fissured, then shattered.
Yakuryū (Choke the Flow).
It was one of the results of his recent training under Kuruyashiki Kenpachi.
Compared to the immature Hakuda (hand-to-hand) tricks Shuuichi had groped out on his own before, this punch method of Kuruyashiki's was far more overbearing—and far more practical.
No need to touch the opponent; by relying solely on one's control over reiatsu (spiritual pressure) and reishi (spirit particles), you seize the opponent's reishi, then apply force and rupture the seized reishi from within.
For Soul Reapers and Hollows alike, once their reishi is seized, it's as if a hand has closed on their throat.
So Kuruyashiki named it Yakuryū (Choke the Flow).
Its success rate and area of effect depend on Shuuichi's own command of reishi and on the gap between his reiatsu and the enemy's.
For Kuruyashiki, here in Hell he could apply Yakuryū freely to any Sinner he wished.
Shuuichi couldn't. He could only handle Sinners whose reiatsu wasn't far from his own, and his success rate hovered around half.
"Today's training ends here. You did well, Shuuichi."
Kuruyashiki's clapping came from behind.
From the day he'd racked his brain to "rope" Shuuichi in as his final disciple and spiritual successor, Kuruyashiki had kept close and put him through a hellish regimen—day in, day out.
Not for anything else, but because he wanted Shuuichi to ask Azashiro Sōya, once he returned, what exactly had led the nobles to cast him into Avīci Hell; and because he wanted Shuuichi to make a trip to Hueco Mundo and look for an old friend—Asido, the former captain of the Seireitei expeditionary force.
Just as he believed in Azashiro Sōya, Kuruyashiki believed in that friend: he wouldn't have died easily in Hueco Mundo, even if more than two hundred years had passed since Asido disappeared there.
"Got it, Captain!"
Hearing the praise, Shuuichi turned at once and jogged over.
Time in Hell was monotonous—but it was full.
With no alternation of day and night, his daily life here was: rest enough, practice cutting; tired from cutting, lie down and rest.
Repeat. Endlessly.
If not for the way he could feel his power growing at a speed visible to the naked eye, Shuuichi would probably have gone numb already.
Compared to training under Aizen and Unohana before, Kuruyashiki's place had two advantages no other place could match.
First: no shortage of suitable sparring opponents.
With Shuuichi's current strength, he probably still wouldn't crack the top twenty if you stacked Seireitei and Hueco Mundo together. But that's because the captain class has a depth no other tier can match.
Across all strata of power, Soul Reapers or Hollows who stand equal to Shuuichi—or even close—are very few.
So trying to find a peer in Seireitei or Hueco Mundo to draw out his potential was almost impossible.
Even if they existed, how many of them had time to spar with him?
In Hell, that problem didn't exist.
Everyone thrown in here starts around captain-class power. Their days are nothing but killing and being killed. Only a tiny handful—those like Kuruyashiki, who stand at the top of the pyramid—can act purely according to their own will.
Second: here, Shuuichi could unleash everything without restraint. No worrying about filing reports to Central 46 afterward so no one came asking questions; no worrying about accidentally killing his partner mid-practice; no worrying that if he ran out of trump cards and stamina, nobody would watch his back and some nameless background extra would shiv him from behind.
Every time he thought of that, Shuuichi felt the need to call out his two current bosses by name.
One was Aizen Sōsuke; the other, Unohana Retsu.
One only wanted to watch the show—wishing Shuuichi would squeeze out every last drop of value himself. Apart from the first few decades, when Shuuichi's hard power was just too poor and he actually got some firm help, afterward it was basically: if he could avoid lifting a finger, he wouldn't.
The other had a thousand little schemes—guarded against Shuuichi in small ways while earnestly passing on kendo, and when she trained him, she was like a madwoman, itching to finish him off on the spot every session.
Compared to Kuruyashiki now—the perfect superior who picks you up when you fall, feeds you when you're hungry, teaches you when you don't understand, helps when you're in a bind, and encourages you when you lag—it was heaven versus two layers of hell.
It even left Shuuichi a bit at a loss; a man used to being squeezed as labor had rarely felt this kind of human warmth.
"Before we knew it, you've trained with me quite a long time…"
Kuruyashiki looked at him, a little wistful.
Hearing that tone, Shuuichi understood at once.
All good feasts end. This trip to Hell was probably coming to a pause.
Given Kuruyashiki's temperament, he obviously wouldn't sit here and wait, clueless, for Shuuichi's next return.
Their bond, brief as it was, hadn't risen to that level.
Shuuichi figured even if Asido—Kuruyashiki's long-missed close friend—showed up, he probably wouldn't get this treatment either.
In other words, when Shuuichi came back next time, there was a good chance he wouldn't run into Kuruyashiki again.
Hell is vast; Kuruyashiki had stayed so long and still never glimpsed its edges.
Hell is also small; small enough that it's about to overflow before it's even packed that many Sinners.
"Thank you very much, Captain, for your care during this time."
Shuuichi bowed deeply. The other man was worth it.
Kuruyashiki smiled.
As expected—the same sharp kid.
"That Sinner you asked me to find—the one who can use kidō (demon arts)—I found him. Ikeda Kōsuke. He was once a great fiend of North Rukongai District 78, turned his turf into a no-go zone. Even the Tenth Division Captain at the time couldn't do much about him.
"Pity some boy who came out of nowhere cut him down with a single unreleased Asauchi (nameless Zanpakutō).
"Not sure if he's the one you're after for revenge.
"But from what I see, he's more than enough to test what you've gained training with me."
"Then I'll ask you to take me to him, Captain. I won't disappoint you."
Shuuichi answered with respect.
He'd been waiting for this day a long time.
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