Normally, it could only be stored in a carry-on case filled with frozen liquid. The Sword should only be removed when it was time to use it.
Oetsu jokingly called the Sealed Edge "a Sword that would leave professional blade-sharpeners out of work."
"Kusawokaru" was very similar to Sealed Edge in terms of its smoothness and cutting power.
The difference was that "Kusawokaru" concentrated all its edge on the blade itself, which made it stable to swing in combat and avoided the issue of becoming unstable when mounted to the hilt, unlike Sealed Edge.
Moreover, "Kusawokaru" started out as a basic sword before activation. It could be properly sheathed and carried anywhere without issue.
In that sense, "Kusowakoru" inherited all the strengths of "Sealed Edge" without any of the drawbacks.
Its flaws had been completely corrected.
Yuta slid "Kusawokaru" across a knee-high boulder in front of him.
He barely put any weight behind it. The sound was clean and slicing, like tearing through paper. The stone split cleanly in two, the surface of the cut smooth as a mirror.
There wasn't a scratch left on the blade, not a stain or mark could be seen.
To sever stone so effortlessly… no blade, no matter how finely honed, could do something like that under normal conditions.
"Kusawokaru's" cutting power seemed to follow some sort of automatic law. It wasn't simply "sharp"-it was made to "cut through anything without interruption."
Yuta extended his left hand. Souls gathered in his palm as the scabbard reformed itself. The blade reverted to its black and white state and slid back into place without resistance.
With that done, Yuta walked toward the others, having trained alone until now.
They'd clearly already been practicing for some time. Everyone was frowning or staring off into space. It looked like Jinzen wasn't as easy as it sounded.
"I can't figure it out at all. How am I supposed to talk to my sword? It's not alive."
"I tried focusing... nothing happened. Felt like I was asking myself questions and getting no answers."
"It sounds simple when they say 'calm down and talk to the blade,' but doing it is something else entirely."
Kuranosuke Kiyota stood silently at the edge of the group and shook his head with a faint chuckle. Today's students were impatient-they wanted results too quickly. They couldn't grasp Jinzen that fast.
Even among elite students from his own class years ago, it had taken him nearly a full month to comprehend Jinzen. And that came about only by chance.
Although he called it chance… without hundreds of failures beforehand, he probably wouldn't have encountered that "lucky accident" at all.
He clenched his right fist briefly and pressed it near the corner of his mouth to hide his expression. Narrowing his eyes slightly, he spoke in a cold tone:
"You're the worst group I've ever taught. You're first-year students and you can't grasp Jinzen. How do any of you expect to become Shinigami worthy of carrying Gotei's burdens?"
Pressure-it had always existed in these lessons.
His own teacher had placed that same weight on him before. If the seniors suffered through it, so would the juniors coming up after them.
What Kiyota didn't expect was to hear sudden gasps from the students-
"Look! Someone's figured out Jinzen!"
"No way… are they serious?"
"Wait… who did it?"
He froze for a moment.
Someone achieved Jinzen already?
Which one?
He quickly followed their gazes-and found they were all staring at Mikami, Juri, and Kanae.
Faint blue spiritual pressure flickered across their bodies. It pulsed gently along their knees and shoulders, giving off signs of something changing inside them…
Seriously?
They actually got it?
He remembered clearly that those three were all commoners from Rukongai. None of them had received structured training before this lesson-not in any formal setting anyway.
Yet somehow… they managed to grasp Jinzen during their first try?
Three at once?
Did they share some hidden connection? Or experience?
Kiyota stood stunned for several seconds.
"Everyone keep silent," he finally commanded, "and don't disturb them. Let them continue their Jinzen practice without interruption."
The students stopped whispering right away and backed off respectfully.
Hirano's face tightened with frustration. He gritted his teeth hard enough for his nails to dig into his palms. Those were civilians-and now they were beating the nobles to comprehension? He stepped back from the crowd, keeping his hands buried in his pockets as he watched with clenched fists.
It felt like those three had tapped into something-a kind of spiritual spring awakening their latent potential all at once.
It didn't last long. Mikami and the others gradually came out of that rare state and returned to normal consciousness.
Naturally, everyone swarmed them immediately-
"How did you do it?"
"Is there some trick?"
"What does it feel like?"
Mikami gave an awkward smile. "I… honestly don't know."
Juri raised her brow and turned back with confusion. "Didn't the teacher say we'd get there by calming down?"
Kanae stretched out both arms casually and added, "Was Jinzen supposed to be hard?"
None of them knew how significant Jinzen really was, or what it required from others to understand it fully.
The rest of the students looked crushed hearing that response-as though they'd each taken a blow to the chest. Some drifted off silently toward corners out of embarrassment.
Mikami turned to ask curiously:
"Teacher Kiyota, is Jinzen really supposed to be hard?"
Kiyota replied carefully:
"It's not easy at all. Especially considering that you three are from Rukongai with no prior training-it should have been far harder for you."
"You have to understand… everyone's talent lies in different areas."
Juri tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Back when we took Kaido class, Asui had talent for it, but neither I nor Kanae could keep up."
Kiyota nodded slowly. "Exactly."
"You're talented in different ways."
"Logically speaking… only one of you should've been able to grasp Jinzen first."
"The fact that three of you managed simultaneously-it suggests there's something unusual."
"Do any of you remember… experiencing something strange recently?"
Mikami Asui suddenly looked like she remembered something crucial.
"Could it be…"
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