"So… all you've been doing is letting Teacher Unohana cut you up, so you can deeply experience how Kaidō heals yourself?"
After hearing Kurosaki Rei's explanation, Aizen looked at him strangely.
"You're getting addicted to being cut?"
"What nonsense are you talking about? Who would get addicted to having their heart sliced open by a god-speed slash?!"
Kurosaki Rei was speechless. To avoid Aizen developing even stranger misunderstandings, he had just explained everything and asked him to keep it confidential.
After two months together, he couldn't say much else, but at least he was sure of one thing—Aizen could keep his mouth shut and wouldn't spread rumors casually.
"But I've heard that after classes, voices often come from the Kaidō classroom saying, 'Teacher, please do it again.'"
Aizen said this with a perfectly straight face.
Kurosaki Rei's expression froze.
"That's because I really want to improve… wait a second! Who exactly did you hear that from?!"
Aizen swept his gaze across the classroom full of students.
"In the Shin'ō Academy… is there anyone who doesn't know? It's already become one of the Academy's Seven Mysteries."
"Huh? The Academy has Seven Mysteries?"
Kurosaki Rei was shocked again. He thought to himself—aren't these things usually from middle schools and high schools in the Living World? Ghost stories and the like? You people are Shinigami, and you're still into this stuff?
"Yes, it does. Haven't I mentioned it to you before?"
Aizen commented seriously, "The bloodstained bamboo swords in the equipment shed, the Asauchi that disappear at midnight, the dormitory building where ambient Reishi decreases after nightfall, the endlessly bleeding white mice, the rice that vanishes from the cafeteria at midnight, the stairway whose floors change… and the Kaidō classroom where strange sounds come from after classes."
Kurosaki Rei rubbed his forehead with one hand. He was completely defeated by these Shin'ō Academy students. Gossip really was a universal vice—humans or Shinigami alike.
And he really wanted to complain: among these so-called Seven Mysteries, Sōsuke, you clearly bear responsibility for some of them, don't you?!
The Reishi thinning out in the dorm at night—that's obviously you, you grinding maniac!
"Rei-kun, about the rice disappearing from the cafeteria at midnight—"
Before Aizen could finish, Kurosaki Rei raised a hand and cut him off in one breath.
"Absolutely not me!"
After that little detour, both of them calmed down and began resonating with their Zanpakutō. Of course, Aizen was only going through the motions—he had long since mastered Shikai.
Over these two months at the Shin'ō Academy, Kurosaki Rei's gains had been substantial. Leaving aside the increases in his various combat-related proficiencies, he had also mastered a whole host of techniques.
For example: the advanced Shunpo technique Utsusemi, which he'd won from Yoruichi; Shinigami Kaidō, taught by Unohana; and a variety of Bakudō and relatively practical Hadō learned in Kidō class.
In terms of Kaidō, he already had a respectable level of mastery. Now, Teacher Unohana only needed to do the cutting—he could handle the healing himself, though his speed still needed work.
For a lethal wound running from his left shoulder down to his abdomen, he currently needed about ten minutes to fully heal it. If he were working rear support in a medical division, this level would already be more than sufficient.
But the problem was that he wanted to use Kaidō during combat. At this speed, it was still far too slow. At the very least, he needed to reach the point where light injuries could be healed instantly, and severe injuries within a few breaths.
As for lethal wounds, he wasn't even considering those for now. No matter how fast his Kaidō became, if he ran into an enemy capable of dealing a fatal injury, the situation would probably already be hopeless.
Ideally, Kurosaki Rei wanted to reach a level where even severe injuries could be restored in an instant—that would give Kaidō tremendous practical value in real combat.
But realistically speaking, that goal was still very far away. He likely wouldn't reach that level within his current stay in this world.
Still, his current training wasn't wasted. Kaidō could already be preliminarily applied in combat, and he could heal muscular injuries very quickly.
As for spiritual pressure—Kurosaki Rei wasn't slacking off or avoiding it on purpose. He simply didn't want to become a flashy fighter who only had inflated stats.
His master had once taught him that while numerical strength had its beauty, that was only relative to ordinary people. If he relied purely on brute force, sooner or later he would suffer against true experts.
That was why refining martial techniques was his top priority. He had already grasped methods for cultivating spiritual pressure—he could train that anytime. But missing out on a place like the Shin'ō Academy, where one could freely learn high-quality techniques, would be a massive loss.
Most importantly, he had analyzed his mission. To speedrun the Shin'ō Academy, he would likely face some form of special evaluation.
The examiner's spiritual pressure would almost certainly be higher than his, but they likely wouldn't bully him purely with raw power. That meant what he needed most right now was comprehensive technique.
That said, in the coming period, he planned to ask Teacher Unohana to be a bit gentler. His Kaidō had already reached an advanced level; daily after-class "guidance" didn't need to be quite so intense anymore. That would preserve his stamina and let him grind at night again.
Kurosaki Rei lowered his gaze to the Asauchi resting on his knees.
For the past two months, he had attempted resonance every day—yet failed every time.
He felt that it wasn't due to insufficient spiritual pressure, nor a lack of talent in Zanpakutō resonance. Rather… something about the depths of his soul felt off.
When he examined his inner self, gazing into his soul, he faced an endless expanse of dark violet-black—like staring into an abyss.
The deepest time he ever looked, he felt as though he were falling, and in his ears echoed something akin to terrifying roars.
"Sōsuke," Kurosaki Rei asked after some thought, "when you first heard your Zanpakutō's voice… what was it like?"
"Your Zanpakutō's voice?"
Aizen opened his eyes. He hadn't really been resonating—he'd been cultivating spiritual pressure.
"The Zanpakutō's voice is the voice of our soul. What it first said to me… I've somewhat forgotten."
Kurosaki Rei didn't believe that for a second. More likely, Aizen simply didn't want to reveal such "private" details. So he changed his approach.
"Did your Zanpakutō speak human language? Was the voice calm or violent? Gentle or terrifying?"
Aizen looked at Kurosaki Rei strangely.
"A Zanpakutō is a reflection of one's own soul. Generally speaking, unless one truly despises oneself, a Zanpakutō wouldn't hold malice toward its owner. As for whether it speaks human language…"
He paused, then asked,
"Rei-kun—are you not human?"
"I'm obviously human."
Kurosaki Rei's face darkened. He understood what Aizen meant. Under normal circumstances, a Zanpakutō would definitely speak human language. Unless the wielder wasn't human.
Since a Zanpakutō spirit was born from the wielder's soul, their linguistic understanding should be the same. Even if it spoke some foreign language, it would still count as human speech—not something completely incomprehensible.
But the problem was that, within those terrifying roars he'd heard before, there seemed to be faint, unintelligible murmurs mixed in.
"Then, Rei-kun… do you hate yourself?"
Aizen spoke like a psychologist, seriously analyzing the issue.
Kurosaki Rei fell silent for a moment, recalling his life before entering the Terminus Space.
He had been an orphan since infancy, taken in by his master as a baby. In that life, there were only two people he truly cherished.
One was his master.
The other was his senior sister.
Both of them were dead.
And they had died right in front of him.
◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews. comment
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ You can read 60 chapter ahead on P@treon if you're interested: patreon.com/VoidInk08