"The battle is still ongoing; it's dangerous here."
Seeing Yoruichi's silhouette, Suì-Fēng's eyes lit up with a brilliant glow.
But when she saw Ren standing behind Yoruichi, her expression froze instantly.
'He's... completely unharmed!'
Her strongest strike, which had exhausted her Spiritual Pressure and was her proudest trump card, hadn't just failed to deal damage—it hadn't even dirtied his clothes.
Yoruichi rushed over, her expression full of concern. "Suì-Fēng, are you all right?"
"Lady Yoruichi, I'm fine, cough cough."
Suì-Fēng tried to stand, but her Spiritual Pressure was depleted and her strength was nearly gone; she stumbled and nearly fell to the ground.
Yoruichi was quick, catching her in time.
"The battle is over. Rest for a while, Suì-Fēng."
"Lady Yoruichi, I haven't lost yet. I can still fight," Suì-Fēng said, her face full of resentment.
Yoruichi stopped her. "You can't even stand steady right now, how are you going to fight?"
"Furthermore, you saw Ren's condition. He took your Bankai attack head-on, yet he's perfectly fine."
Ren looked her up and down. "I, the one who took the hit, am fine, yet you, the attacker, ended up in such a wretched state..."
Before he could finish, Yoruichi shot him a glare. Ren wisely held his tongue.
She looked at Suì-Fēng and said frankly, "Accept it, Suì-Fēng. You lost this battle."
"The gap in your strength is too vast; it's not something that can be bridged by willpower alone."
"...I understand."
Suì-Fēng lowered her head, her eyes clouded with gloom, not daring to look at Yoruichi's face.
Her voice carried a hint of raspiness.
"Lady Yoruichi, it's my loss."
"I've disappointed you with this performance..."
Seeing her vulnerable state, Yoruichi sighed.
How could she be disappointed? Although she was the one who insisted on this battle, even she had foreseen the outcome.
This battle was meant as guidance for Suì-Fēng from the start.
Yoruichi's expression softened as she reached out and gently stroked Suì-Fēng's head.
"Losing this time doesn't matter. Just keep working hard on your training, and you can pay him back double once you get stronger."
"More importantly, remember the feeling of this defeat. Carve it into your bones, then reflect on your shortcomings in this fight. See what you gained and how you can improve."
"Yes."
Suì-Fēng nodded heavily.
The breath she had been holding finally escaped. The mental and physical exhaustion hit her all at once, and she lost all strength to keep going, collapsing into Yoruichi's arms.
Looking at Suì-Fēng's unconscious face, Yoruichi gently picked her up.
A large hand reached out, wanting to check on Suì-Fēng, but Yoruichi dodged it.
She looked at Ren, a hint of annoyance on her face.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm checking if this girl is faking it," Ren said softly, withdrawing his hand.
He suspected Suì-Fēng was doing it on purpose just to snuggle into Yoruichi's arms, but he had no proof.
Given Suì-Fēng's obsession with Yoruichi, it was entirely possible.
"I thought you were going to take the opportunity to mess with her."
Yoruichi was taken aback, then her eyebrows arched with a playful, knowing look.
"Mr. Serious, what's that supposed to mean? Don't tell me you don't trust Suì-Fēng?"
"Or are you jealous that I'm giving her so much care and affection?"
As she spoke, Yoruichi even lifted the cradled Suì-Fēng slightly.
Ren frowned, his eyes revealing a hint of helplessness.
"You're overthinking it."
"Hehe, you tsundere, keep pretending."
Yoruichi glanced at Suì-Fēng, then back at Ren, the teasing in her eyes deepening.
"I'll put her in the house first and talk to you in a bit."
With a flash of Shunpo, Yoruichi was already heading toward the row of houses.
Ren sighed and followed.
Once Yoruichi had settled Suì-Fēng, the four Kido Corps members recovered some of their strength. Seeing their job was done, they requested leave and withdrew with a bow.
Ren sat on the porch, looking at the training ground ruined by the explosion, drinking the tea Yoruichi had just brewed and eating snacks.
Yoruichi walked out and saw Ren enjoying himself. Pouting, she leaped up and sat across his shoulders.
Ren looked up at his wife perched above him, his expression helpless.
"Yoruichi, do you really like riding on top of me that much?"
"It's a habit. Why, you unwilling?" Yoruichi shot back. "I didn't see you complaining when I was a cat."
"You were a cat back then."
"What's the difference? Wasn't it still me?"
"There's a huge difference. You're human now; you're much heavier than a cat."
"Who are you calling heavy!"
Hearing Ren mention her weight, Yoruichi looked displeased.
"What difference does this bit of weight make to you? I didn't see you struggling when you fought Suì-Fēng just now."
"You're just blaming me for being too rough..."
Just as Ren was about to continue, Yoruichi reached out and pinched his mouth shut.
"Mr. Serious, I saw everything during your fight."
"You should have held back a little; you nearly scared Suì-Fēng to death."
Ren pried Yoruichi's hand away and said speechlessly, "Yoruichi, do you even hear yourself?"
"Was I heavy-handed? I didn't use my Zanpakutō, I didn't use Kido, I only used two moves in Hakuda, and the only serious thing I used was Shunpo."
"If that's not holding back, what is?"
Ultimately, current Suì-Fēng was too green; she wasn't worth him going all out.
She collapsed before he even put in effort. Was that his fault?
Yoruichi paused, replaying the battle in her head.
It seemed that truly was the case.
But a moment later, Yoruichi's expression turned stubborn again as she pinched Ren's cheeks with both hands.
"Then why didn't you restrain yourself even more and use some ordinary methods to fight her?"
"That wasn't ordinary enough?"
Ren sighed inwardly, not wanting to keep arguing with her about this.
Knowing Yoruichi, she wouldn't back down no matter how much they went around in circles.
He picked up a senbei from the plate and stuffed it toward Yoruichi's mouth, only to hear her muffled voice.
"Mr. Serious, you stuffed it in my nose!"
"Oh."
Ren loosened his grip, and the snack was taken from him.
"Yoruichi, are you calm now?"
"No!"
Yoruichi's blunt answer came along with the sound of chewing.
Ren sighed. "Just because I raised a cat?"
"Listen to that tone, talking about an affair so nonchalantly," Yoruichi said unhappily. "You clearly have me, yet you went looking for another cat. Do you even have me in your heart?"
"It was just a cat."
"Exactly because it's a cat, it's not okay!"
"Then what about a person?"
"Haha, you finally showed your tail!"
Yoruichi swallowed the senbei in one gulp and used both hands to mess with Ren's face.
"You dare look for a cat today, you'll dare look for a woman tomorrow, and the day after that you'll be attacking the Soul King Palace. You simply can't be forgiven."
"How... how do you even come up with such ridiculous logic?" Ren's words were slightly muffled by her tugging.
Yoruichi said fiercely, "Promise me, from now on you can only have me. You must never look for another cat again!"
"Fine, fine, I promise. From now on I'll only pet you and won't go looking for other cats. Happy?"
"That's more like it."
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]