Chapter 375 B

Chapter 375

2-in-1 chapter:  

------------------

Kaelith opened his eyes.

Aizen was sitting beside him, working on something at the computer terminal.

Noticing the movement, Aizen turned to look.

“It’s over?”

Kaelith looked at him for two seconds.

Then grinned—deep and smug.

“Hmph
”

“?”

Seeing that foolish expression, Aizen fell silent.

Kaelith turned over and got out of bed, stretching hard.

At that moment, he noticed a silver-haired boy standing at the bedside, holding a Zanpakutƍ, watching him nervously.

“Yo, Tƍshirƍ.”

“Thanks for the help. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have been able to hold on for that long.”

“By the way, you coming over to help probably delayed some of your Shino Academy classes, right... don’t worry, I’ll personally tutor you in Hakuda. For the other subjects, ask Sƍsuke—he’ll teach you.”

Tƍshirƍ quickly shook his head.

“No, no need.”

“I... I’m just happy to be able to help Captain Kaelith.”

“Aww, this kid really knows how to talk!”

Kaelith burst into laughter and reached out to ruffle Tƍshirƍ’s white hair.

Hmm, he had surprisingly good hair for someone who lived on the outskirts for so long.

After reminding Tƍshirƍ to come to him directly if anything came up, he turned and headed toward the lab door.

After a few steps, he was blocked by a cabinet.

A normal person would’ve walked around it.

Kaelith walked straight ahead and bumped into it with a thud.

Aizen looked puzzled.

Kaelith was puzzled too.

He rubbed his head. “Weird. Why didn’t it despawn?”

Then he realized, “Oh right, things in the real world don’t despawn
”

Muttering to himself, he walked around the cabinet and cheerfully left the lab.

Aizen: “

”

This guy
 had stayed in his mental world so long he couldn’t distinguish it from reality?

Next time, he really couldn’t give him that much Superhuman Drug.

Shaking his head, he went back to work.

Under the name of the Central 46, he’d extracted a lot from Azashiro Sƍya.

Combining the intel from Azashiro with what Inaba Kagerƍza had provided, the Vanguard Project could now take another leap forward.

...................

........

.

Leaving the lab, Kaelith returned to the Eleventh Division.

On the way, everything he looked at felt a little unfamiliar.

With the help of the Superhuman Drug, he’d fought thousands of life-and-death battles in his mental realm.

Though his body had returned to reality, his mind hadn’t fully caught up.

Even seeing a dog on the street made him want to go over and slap it twice.

This won’t do
 he was, after all, one of the most elegant swordsmen in all of Seireitei—how could he lose his composure?

With that thought, Kaelith began searching through the squad barracks.

Soon, he found his target.

Soifon, who was currently processing Onmitsukidƍ intel.

Soifon was kneeling upright at the desk, her face serious.

Holding a brush, she was sorting documents while noting down the important parts.

Suddenly, her vision blurred, and the next moment, she found herself turned sideways!

“?!”

Someone had picked her up without her even noticing, like she was a piece of luggage, held face-down under one arm!

She was stunned for a moment, then without hesitation, twisted her waist and kicked upward.

Smack!

Her leg, fast enough to be nearly invisible, was caught mid-air.

Soifon snorted coldly, just about to activate Shunko—

When she noticed the hem of a familiar haori in front of her.

Only then did she realize the person holding her had a very familiar spiritual presence.

Straining to turn her head, she saw the face above and finally let out a breath.

Then her eyes turned icy cold:

“You damn pervert. What are you doing? Put me down, now.”

“Hmph. Not a chance. Today, I, your lord and master, will abduct this maiden!”

Kaelith laughed smugly.

“I’m in the middle of work!” Soifon snapped through clenched teeth.

“What’s next is also work—and even more important.”

Carrying Soifon, Kaelith stepped into a room.

Not long after, all sorts of odd sounds came from inside


......................

...........

.

When he came out, Kaelith let out a long breath.

Completely refreshed.

Inside the room, Soifon, exhausted, had already fallen asleep.

After fetching water to clean her up, Kaelith made his way toward the training grounds.

On the way, he ran into Rangiku returning with Rukia.

When she saw Kaelith, Rangiku lit up with joy and bounced over to hug him.

“Yuu, let’s go—mm?”

Halfway through her sentence, she suddenly wrinkled her nose.

She leaned in and sniffed Kaelith.

“Soifon-senpai’s scent
 you sneakily ate Soifon-senpai!”

“Idiot. Don’t make it sound like I’m Hannibal.”

Kaelith flicked her forehead, sending her tumbling aside.

Although her “shock absorbers” felt pretty good bumping into him, he was now spiritually enlightened and wouldn’t be swayed by such distractions.

Seeing Rukia standing not far away, he waved her over.

“So, Rukia—how have you been lately?”

“Y-yes, Captain Kaelith!”

Rukia instinctively stood at attention.

“I’ve been eating well every day, training with everyone, and Third Seat Rangiku even takes me out to have fun
 I’m really happy!”

“Good. That’s what I want to hear.”

Kaelith nodded in satisfaction.

After dinner, Kaelith was planning to relax a little and enjoy some LSP4 entertainment.

But before he could make it back to the dorms, he received a transmission from Yamamoto.

[Brat. Come to the dƍjƍ. Time to check your homework.]

Homework? What homework?

Kaelith looked thoughtful.

After a while, he finally remembered.

On the day they returned to Seireitei, Yamamoto—furious after being interrupted by his two disciples—had promised payback.

As revenge, he ordered them to prepare, saying once the Inaba incident was resolved, he’d be checking their progress.

Kaelith had been stuck in his mental world so long he’d completely forgotten.

Bathed in the red glow of the setting sun, Kaelith arrived at the First Division dƍjƍ.

At nearly the same time, Kyƍraku also fluttered down like a big pink moth in front of the entrance.

Seeing Yamamoto standing in the center of the dƍjƍ, back turned to them, the two exchanged a glance.

In each other’s eyes, they both read the same thought—

The old man’s doing his brooding act again.

“Ahem. Old man Yama, we’re here,” Kyƍraku said first, as the senior disciple.

Yamamoto slowly turned around to face them.

“The Modified Soul Rebellion has burdened Seireitei with many affairs.”

“Have the two of you slacked off? Did you train diligently as I commanded?”

Kyƍraku scratched his head.

“Well
 we’ve been trying. But progress isn’t something that comes easy, y’know.”

Yamamoto’s blood pressure rose slightly.

He looked at Kaelith.

The latter scratched his head.

“I’m being called over to your office to stand in punishment every day, old man. Where would I even find time to improve
”

Yamamoto’s blood pressure spiked again.

His hands itched. His heart burned. He wanted to cut someone.

Just then, Kaelith added:

“But even with an unscrupulous teacher working me to the bone, I still managed to squeeze in a little training here and there. Should be enough to surprise the teacher a bit.”

At those words, Yamamoto let out a dry laugh.

These past few days, he’d been handling paperwork in the Eleventh Division. How could he not know this brat’s habits?

Out early, back late. Rumor had it he took a kid from the Shinƍ Academy and locked himself in a room with him all day.

If it weren’t for the fact that it was a boy, he would’ve personally dealt with this criminal.

Kaelith had no idea what the old man was thinking.

If he did, he’d probably sigh at the sheer lack of imagination.

In accordance with the seniority of mentorship, Kyƍraku was to be tested first.

Kyƍraku Shunsui sighed and stepped into the center of the training ground.

Facing Yamamoto, there was no room for laxity.

The usual lazy look in his eyes was gone; now, they were sharp and serious.

His pair of Zanpakutƍ were already drawn.

Facing his eldest disciple, Yamamoto also unsheathed his blade.

At some point, Kaelith had stepped between the two of them:

“Round one!!”

“Ready go!!”

With a sharp swing of his hand, Kyƍraku and Yamamoto charged at each other.

In a flash, the two had already exchanged several blows.

As they crossed paths, Kyƍraku’s pink floral haori fluttered high in the air.

As for Yamamoto—his haori and Shihakushƍ were long gone. No one even saw when he took them off.

Then came the second round.

Kaelith sat cross-legged on the sidelines, resting his cheek on his hand, watching the fight.

After a while, he yawned.

“Uncle Kyƍraku, teacher—fighting like that won’t kill anyone.”

“Shikai! Bankai! If you’ve got it, bring it out—let’s make it lively!”

Kyƍraku: “?”

Easy for him to say, that bastard.

He couldn’t help but feel the urge to take out this wicked junior first.

But the kid wasn’t wrong—he probably should go Shikai at this point.

Finding an opening, Kyƍraku leapt back, crossing his dual blades in front of him:

“Flower wind disorder, the flower god cries.”

“Heaven wind disorder, the sky demon laughs!”

“Katen Kyƍkotsu!”

As the long incantation finished, the twin Zanpakutƍ glinted coldly and transformed into black blades in Shikai form.

Kaelith couldn’t help but sigh.

Thank goodness this was Soul Society, where incantations came with built-in time stop. Otherwise, such a long release phrase would’ve left him open to dozens of attacks.

Yamamoto also swung his blade, activating Shikai.

Scorching flames instantly raised the temperature in the training grounds.

Now the battle between the two was far flashier.

With Katen Kyƍkotsu’s shadow powers and game-rule abilities, combined with Yamamoto’s flames, the dojo was filled with visual effects and spiritual pressure bursts.

Yamamoto held his ground, exchanging several more blows with Kyƍraku.

Gradually, a look of displeasure appeared on the old man’s face.

“Useless brat!”

With a roar, Yamamoto used Shunpo to appear in front of Kyƍraku.

Before the latter could even react, Yamamoto had already struck down, sending Kyƍraku flying.

Crashing through a wall and landing in the courtyard, Kyƍraku groaned.

Yamamoto roared from inside:

“Too slow! You call that progress?!”

“At your age, I made more gains by lying motionless than you do with full training!”

Kyƍraku was caught between laughter and tears.

It had barely been a week since Yamamoto returned to Seireitei.

For a Shinigami, that wasn’t even long enough to take a nap.

He had genuinely trained hard these past days, but any noticeable improvement would be pure luck.

Clearly, the old man was just looking for an excuse to beat his students.

Tragic.

But soon after, his mood lifted.

Next up was the little junior.

Although last time Kaelith had fought Yamamoto to a draw in the Dangai, Kyƍraku still couldn’t believe his actual power surpassed the old man’s.

And judging by how hard Yamamoto hit him just now, he wasn’t holding back at all.

Thinking about how someone else was about to get beaten and scolded like him put Kyƍraku in a great mood.

Watching like it was theater, he saw Kaelith step in front of Yamamoto.

Having just fought Kyƍraku, Yamamoto was still in good shape.

On a normal day, he would’ve taken this chance to thoroughly educate his idiotic disciple.

But today, as he looked at Kaelith standing before him, he had a strange feeling.

He hadn’t even assumed a battle stance, but Yamamoto already felt a strong sense of danger.

Did this brat actually train something in secret? Had he gotten stronger?

Could it be
 he had mastered the Fourfold Strike?

If so, combined with the boost from the Shadow Blade, that would effectively be fivefold power in a standard attack.

Even for a genius, that was absurd.

Though he didn’t quite believe it, Yamamoto still raised his guard.

Under his gaze, Kaelith drew his Zanpakutƍ.

Huh?

Yamamoto frowned slightly.

He knew his disciple well—when Kaelith used a sword, it meant he was restraining himself. His threat level was lower than when he fought barehanded.

What was he trying to pull?

After a brief moment of doubt, Yamamoto simply gave up guessing.

Whatever the plan—let’s test it first!

With that thought, Yamamoto shouted, then used Shunpo to appear before Kaelith and swung his sword down!

Standing not far away, Kyƍraku watched the two with interest.

Seeing Yamamoto charge with full force, he couldn’t help but cheer internally.

But just as he prepared to enjoy the show, his expression suddenly froze.

Under his gaze, his junior suddenly seemed like a different person.

As Yamamoto charged, Kaelith erupted with beastlike killing intent!

His pupils shrank. His movement was sharp and precise, as if rehearsed countless times.

In an instant, he sidestepped Yamamoto’s swing and slashed at his side.

Yamamoto instinctively blocked.

But Kaelith had already anticipated that.

Before Yamamoto could finish turning his blade, Kaelith switched from slash to thrust, stabbing forward.

Yamamoto was too late to fully react—the blade grazed his front, leaving a shallow cut.

Kyƍraku’s eyes widened in surprise.

What a fierce assault—no hesitation, as if he didn’t need to read the opponent’s reactions, but had simulated the entire fight beforehand!

Having wounded Yamamoto, Kaelith didn’t stop. His killing intent surged as he pressed forward with unrelenting attacks.

Three thousand simulated battles had imprinted every one of Yamamoto’s combat styles and response strategies into his mind.

In those simulations, Yamamoto always opened with full force and aimed to kill.

So the moment Kaelith saw him strike, he forgot everything else—his only thought was to kill the enemy in front of him.

Within ten moves, Yamamoto—who had not yet adopted a kill-or-be-killed mindset—was overwhelmed and knocked to the ground by Kaelith’s roar.

The blade of the Zanpakutƍ was instantly at his throat.

Looking at the nearly frenzied Kaelith, Yamamoto found himself confused—even though it was a life-and-death moment.

Was this brat in a hurry to kill him and take his position?

I push you to step up and you refuse—now you snap like this??