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In the following days, aside from necessary training and lessons, Reiji dedicated most of his energy to practicing Hakuda as taught by Yamamoto.
Shinigami primarily rely on their Zanpakuto for combat, but they cannot depend on them completely.
After all, Aozaki Reiji was not only a transmigrator, but his teacher at the Shin'o Academy was Kuchiki Soujun, who had a brother-in-law named Kōga Kuchiki.
He would not overlook a sword like Muramasa, which could sow discord between a Zanpakuto and its Shinigami.
Furthermore, in the future Thousand-Year Blood War, the Quincy of the Wandenreich could use their "Medallion" to steal a Shinigami's Bankai.
If he couldn't successfully acquire the power of the Hōgyoku or Hollowfication before that, he would undoubtedly find himself in an extremely dangerous situation.
At such times, the importance of other abilities became apparent, and Hakuda was one of them.
Hakuda is a tedious ability to cultivate; to unleash its power, one needs sufficiently excellent spirit body quality.
Improving spirit body quality is impossible without long-term training, and Reiji only began to grasp its basics after nearly half a year of practice.
In his free time, he often sparred with Yoruichi Shihouin.
After Yoruichi became a Captain, she recommended Kisuke Urahara to join the Twelfth Division.
Originally, he wanted to take the opportunity to inquire about research progress from Kisuke Urahara.
However, after so much time had passed, and the two had met over a dozen times, it was certain that Kisuke Urahara's Hōgyoku experiments had not yet begun.
Aozaki Reiji was not anxious about this; if he couldn't get the Hōgyoku, building a good relationship with him was also acceptable.
Time passed just like that.
"Rainy days are truly troublesome."
Yoruichi Shihouin strolled through the mountainous area of Rukongai, holding a white umbrella, her gaze sweeping around.
This young girl was always full of vitality; rather than walking in the rain, she preferred the process of chasing that man with Shunpo under the sunlight.
"I actually prefer light rainy weather, of course, only light rain; if there's no dirt, the smell of the earth is quite fragrant."
Aozaki Reiji looked up at the white haori on Yoruichi and said with a smile.
Under Yoruichi Shihouin's gaze, he took a deep breath, closed the five fingers of his right hand, clenched them into a fist, pulled it to his waist, and then suddenly punched forward.
The movement was not very fast, yet Yoruichi Shihouin felt as if she was facing a fierce beast.
She watched intently; she could easily dodge this punch, but she was very curious about what effect Reiji's punch could achieve.
"Boom!"
The waterfall in front of Reiji exploded and dispersed amidst the rainwater, causing a large crater to indent the rock wall, and shattered rocks splashed into the pool.
It took a while for the waterfall's flow to return to normal.
The immense impact made Yoruichi's eyes widen.
Reiji's punch seemed unremarkable, as if anyone who had practiced Hakuda could throw it.
But its power… was definitely not what his level of spiritual pressure should possess.
She saw clearly; at the moment the fist made contact with the waterfall, a terrifying spiritual pressure suddenly erupted, the power of his spirit body and spiritual pressure superimposed, using the water flow to shatter the cliff face.
Aozaki Reiji stood below, calmly looking at his hand.
"Ikkotsu!"
He had already tried this move several times before Yoruichi Shihouin arrived; the broken large trees around were his handiwork.
He had spent nearly half a year cultivating Yamamoto's basic Hakuda techniques, and it wasn't until last night that he finally figured out this move.
Yoruichi Shihouin snapped back to reality and quickly walked over: "Reiji, how are you?"
She hadn't forgotten that Yamamoto hadn't officially taken Reiji as a disciple yet, and this guy had actually comprehended Ikkotsu relying on basic techniques and his own exploration—it was truly terrifying!
"I feel pretty good." Aozaki Reiji shook his wrist and smiled slightly: "Why are you here?"
"Of course, to remind you to go to class; if you're late again today, the Captain-Commander will definitely punish you," Yoruichi Shihouin said leisurely.
"Class again," Aozaki Reiji sighed, mocking, "I really envy a certain Captain who can dump squad duties on her Vice-Captain and run off to play."
Yoruichi Shihouin looked a bit embarrassed and snorted, "I let Marechiyo take over because I came out to pick you up, alright?"
"Is that so?" Aozaki Reiji couldn't be bothered to argue with her.
Having spent so much time with her, if nothing else, he understood her playful nature perfectly.
It would be strange if Yoruichi could calm down and handle squad duties.
This person just wasn't someone who liked to manage things; in the four or five months since she became Captain, he doubted if she had even spent two months in the Second Division Squad Barracks.
Aozaki Reiji carefully recalled his time with her, truly wondering if she was still the Captain of the 2nd Division.
The decline of the Shihouin Family might even be partly her fault.
Yoruichi threw a set of clothes over, teasing, "You pervert, do you intend to return to Seireitei like that? Hurry up and change your clothes."
Aozaki Reiji looked down. His pants were already soaked, and what should and shouldn't be seen was all vaguely visible.
"Aren't you going to turn your face away?"
Yoruichi Shihouin "hmph'd," a smile playing on her lips: "Is there any part of you I haven't seen? Are you shy now?"
Aozaki Reiji said calmly: "That time was an accident, and don't forget whose fault it was."
The accident he referred to dated back two months, when Yoruichi Shihouin actively demonstrated Shunko to Aozaki Reiji.
During their practice, Yoruichi Shihouin's lightning-attribute spiritual pressure accidentally tore Aozaki Reiji's clothes.
In his helplessness, Aozaki Reiji displayed his perfect physique to her.
However, Aozaki Reiji suspected that this might not have been an accident, but rather a prank by Yoruichi.
She did it on purpose, just to make him uncomfortable.
So Reiji deliberately didn't give her the satisfaction; since there was no one else around at the time, he simply didn't cover up and let her see him openly.
Aside from calling him a "pervert" and covering her face with her hands while peeking through her fingers, Yoruichi Shihouin didn't do anything else.
Normally, after something like that, he would at least get a beating, but he didn't.
This made Reiji even more certain that his judgment was correct.
Under the feigned indifferent gaze of a certain young girl, Aozaki Reiji changed his clothes, and the two walked together towards Seireitei.
"You look cute when you blush too!" Aozaki Reiji suddenly leaned in close.
"N-no need for you to say it, this young lady is already cute," Yoruichi Shihouin retorted stubbornly, then quickly asked, "What do you want?"
"Nothing, just stating a simple truth," Aozaki Reiji said indifferently.
He was usually teased by this woman, so he naturally had to get his own back when he had the chance.
Besides, he wasn't lying; she really was cute.
Her brown skin, combined with delicate features and a beautiful figure, was definitely not ugly; on the contrary, it was very attractive, and a touch of blush on her cheeks added a unique charm.
Yoruichi Shihouin paused, then shyly nudged him with her elbow.
This posture would surely make outsiders drop their jaws, as they wouldn't expect the usually carefree princess of the Shihouin Family to actually be shy.
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