~ Next Bonus, 200!
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There were four of them in total—four Gillian-class Menos. That was a serious problem for the World of the Living.
Even an average Lieutenant would have a tough time taking down a single Gillian.
"Should we... should we go help him?" one of the students asked nervously.
"Help him? Are you kidding? We'd be lucky if we didn't get ourselves killed."
"He's right. That's a Menos Grande. A 'real' Menos. The sheer Reiatsu is enough to pin us down. We wouldn't even make it close before we were dead."
The students debated amongst themselves, but ultimately, no one made a move. It wasn't that they didn't want to help; they simply understood the massive gap in power. Going up there would be suicide, and they'd only get in the way. They had to trust their instructor's strength.
Rukia gritted her teeth. She desperately wanted to help, but in the end, she held herself back.
'No, I can't be a burden to Instructor Shin.'
She lowered her Zanpakutō. Going up there wouldn't just be useless—it would force Shin to protect her.
Shin was pleased to see that none of the students had rushed forward. If they had, he would have had to knock them out of the way himself. By staying back, they showed good judgment, refusing to become a liability.
Of course, it hardly mattered. With only four Gillians, Shin could have dealt with them in his sleep.
He drew his Zanpakutō. With a single, fluid swing, he unleashed a wave of pure sword pressure. In an instant, all four Gillians were bisected, their massive forms crumbling into nothingness before dissolving into reishi particles in the air.
The students behind him were left slack-jawed. The same monsters whose Reiatsu had made it difficult to even stand had been obliterated by their teacher in a single, effortless slash.
"His swordsmanship is incredible... I want to learn that."
"I always thought Instructor Shin was just amazing at Kidō. I had no idea his Zanjutsu was on another level too. He's so strong. If I had that kind of power, I could wipe out Hollows with no problem."
"Heh, Instructor Shin is said to be the strongest Soul Reaper in the Soul Society, second only to the Captain-Commander. You can dream on if you think you'll ever reach his level."
"So cool..." Rukia said, her eyes sparkling.
"Damn it," Renji muttered, glancing at Rukia before fixing his gaze on Shin, a flicker of annoyance in his eyes.
Though he was grateful for Shin's instruction, Rukia's admiration for him was getting a little too intense for his liking.
"Instructor Shin is just too strong."
The students who had been pinned down by the Reiatsu finally got to their feet and hurried over to Shin.
"What's so surprising about taking out a few small fry?"
Shin's expression was calm. In his eyes, Gillians were nothing but cannon fodder. The same went for Adjuchas, and even Vasto Lorde. They were all just trash he could kill with a single slash. Since he could one-shot all of them, he saw them all as equally weak.
"'Small fry?'"
The students were speechless. They'd spent countless hours in theory classes, where their instructors had repeatedly emphasized just how terrifying a Menos Grande was. And now, Instructor Shin was calling them "small fry."
But thinking back to the power he had just displayed... well, for him, they probably were just small fry. They hadn't even managed to inconvenience him in the slightest before being effortlessly dispatched.
"To me, they're nothing more than ants. But for you, at your current level, a Gillian is an unbeatable opponent. Don't let what you just saw give you the wrong idea," Shin warned them.
The last thing he needed was for them to get cocky and think a Menos was a pushover. If they tried to fight one, it would be a guaranteed death sentence.
"Alright, that's enough excitement for one day. Let's head back to the Seireitei." Shin had no intention of continuing the field exercise. What if another Menos showed up? While it would be easy for him to handle, he wasn't here to be a babysitter.
He opened a Senkaimon gate and had them line up to enter. After everyone was through, Shin glanced at a specific spot in the distance. With a faint, knowing look, he stepped through the gate himself.
In that very spot, Kisuke Urahara and Tessai Tsukabishi were tense, feeling as though they had just been discovered.
"Captain Shin definitely knew we were here," Urahara said. It seemed the Reiatsu-shielding device he had developed was useless against Shin Uzumaki.
Tessai remained silent. The two of them were here because of the Gillians. If the Menos hadn't appeared, they wouldn't have shown themselves. They had originally wanted to see if Aizen was behind their appearance, but now it seemed that wasn't the case.
"Mr. Urahara, what do you make of Captain Shin's power?" Tessai asked.
"His power is unfathomable." Urahara's usual playful demeanor was gone, replaced by an expression of pure, unadulterated seriousness.
"Then if Captain Shin were to face Aizen, who do you think would win?"
Hearing Tessai's question, Urahara didn't answer. He simply stood up and started walking back to his shop. It was a difficult question to answer. Both Shin and Aizen were men he couldn't see through. But deep down, Urahara still felt Shin was the more terrifying of the two.
Aizen was a formidable opponent, but his intuition was screaming at him that Shin was far more dangerous. If they really did face off, Urahara would bet on Shin.
But would they ever actually fight? That was anyone's guess. Back in the Soul Society, Urahara had always felt there was a strange, subtle tension between Shin and Aizen.
What Urahara feared most now was that they were working together. If that were the case, the entire world would be plunged into chaos.
"I'm just a humble shopkeeper now. No need to think about such things." Urahara's playful attitude returned.
Meanwhile, Shin was already back in the Soul Society. He paid no mind to having discovered Urahara.
After returning to the Seireitei, Shin told the students to reflect on what they had learned from the battle.
Of course, telling them to "reflect on their gains" was just an excuse for Shin to slack off. It was like giving them a study hall while he did whatever he wanted.
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