"You want to practice swordsmanship with me?" Sora asked, folding his arms as he sized up the black-haired young man Jin'emon had brought over.
[Isshin Shiba]
[Talent: S]
[Spiritual Pressure: lv45]
[Affinity Level: Stranger]
[Status: Full of Vigor]
"Yes—" Isshin Shiba nodded repeatedly. "The swordsmanship of the Katori Dojo is amazing. I want to train with you!"
Having Isshin Shiba show up on his doorstep was an unexpected gain from the live blade competition.
The outstanding performance of Sora's disciples had made the Katori Dojo famous.
As a result, many people had recently come wanting to learn swordsmanship at the dojo. Isshin was also very interested in the Katori style and had come to seek instruction.
"Recently, many people like you have wanted to come and train at the Katori Dojo. But I am selective about the disciples I accept. You should have some foundation, I presume." Sora turned to his student. "Tsubaki, you test his skills."
Sora wanted to see what Isshin's foundation was like.
Isshin's spiritual pressure wasn't low; he must have undergone some training at home.
The Shiba was a family that placed considerable importance on martial training.
If nothing unexpected happened, Isshin's foundation in Zan, Ken, Sō, and Ki should all be quite good.
"Yes, sir!" Jin'emon said to Isshin. "Follow me."
The three of them went to the sword hall.
Jin'emon tossed Isshin a wooden sword. "Come on. Let the professor see what you've got."
Isshin caught the wooden sword and swung it a few times to get a feel for it. "No problem."
After they took their stances, Isshin launched the first attack.
Thump, thump, thump—
Isshin stepped forward, raised the wooden sword high with both hands, and swung down several times, but Jin'emon blocked every blow.
Sora watched from the side and quickly saw that Isshin indeed had a good foundation in swordsmanship.
His stance was stable, and he knew how to use his strength.
He was even better trained than many of the students in Class One.
With just a little polishing, he could grow very quickly.
Just then, Jin'emon suddenly used Shunpo to appear behind Isshin, startling him. He quickly dodged a kick aimed at his back.
"Hey, hey! Isn't this a sword fight? Why are you using your feet!" Isshin shouted.
"Professor said to test your skills, he didn't say to only test your swordsmanship. Show us whatever you've got!" Jin'emon said, indicating that his reading comprehension was not mistaken.
"Isn't the Katori Dojo a place that teaches swordsmanship?" Isshin asked, confused.
"It's just that swordsmanship is our most prominent skill. The professor can teach anything," As Jin'emon spoke, he had already used Shunpo to appear on Isshin's right, delivering another kick.
Isshin used Shunpo to jump away, dodging the kick.
"Hadō #4: Byakurai!" Isshin raised his index finger, and a bolt of lightning shot from its tip.
The two were too close, and Jin'emon couldn't evade the Byakurai.
Just as he was about to be hit, he suddenly shouted, raised his sword, and swung it forward fiercely.
The Byakurai stopped dead in its tracks, sliced apart by the wooden sword.
Isshin was slightly stunned to see his Kidō blocked by a wooden sword.
The next moment, he was sent flying into the air by a kick from Jin'emon and crashed to the ground.
Thud—
Isshin got up and rubbed his rear. "Uncle, you're way too strong!"
Several veins popped on Jin'emon's forehead. "It seems I was still too gentle."
"His foundation is good," Sora nodded. "He is qualified to enter my school."
"I wish to enter the Katori Dojo to train. Please accept me as your student!" Isshin agreed without hesitation. He had just gained a profound understanding of the gap between himself and the disciples of the Katori style.
[Isshin Shiba has requested to become a disciple. Accept as a direct disciple?]
"From now on, you are my disciple. As long as you respect your elders and train diligently, I will impart the way of the sword to you," Sora nodded.
[Successfully accepted Isshin Shiba as a direct disciple.]
[Isshin Shiba's Affinity Level has increased. Current Affinity Level is Friendly.]
"Yes, Professor! I will train hard!" Isshin said seriously.
"Your foundation is quite good, so we can skip some steps and proceed directly to spiritual pressure control training," Sora took Isshin to the storehouse to select a suitable marlinwood sword.
[Current training mission has been added. Guide Isshin Shiba to complete advanced spiritual pressure control training (In Progress).]
...
At night, Sora left the dojo alone.
He hadn't had a chance to investigate the site since receiving the [Sakketsu Ore Vein Survey Map].
He planned to conduct a field survey of the ore vein tonight.
The vein was very close, on a barren mountain just a few kilometers from the dojo.
Sora even had the deed to this barren mountain. It was among the gifts the Azashiro family had given him in gratitude.
The reishi concentration on the mountain was not high. It was lifeless and showed no signs of development.
The location of the ore vein on the survey map was marked with great precision, and Sora quickly found it.
This vein had never been mined, so naturally, there was no entrance.
The Sakketsu ore was buried underground, but for a Shinigami like Sora, this was hardly an obstacle.
"Hadō #31: Shakkahō." A red ball of light appeared in Sora's palm.
BOOM—
A large crater was instantly blasted into the ground.
Due to Sakketsu ore's reishi-blocking properties, ordinary Kidō couldn't damage it, so Sora wasn't afraid of destroying the ore with his spells.
He then continued to cast Shakkahō, blasting the ground open.
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM—
After a while, Sora saw a piece of white rock exposed in the soil.
It looked similar to white quartzite, but it could withstand his Shakkahō without a scratch.
Sora took out the shovel, pickaxe, and other tools he had prepared and dug out the Sakketsu ore.
He compared the ore he had dug up with the [Sakketsu Ore Vein Survey Map].
When the map was opened, the surrounding reishi would condense into a three-dimensional model of the vein, which could be zoomed in and out to see the position of every single piece of ore.
"This survey map... it's real-time?" Sora discovered that the map was a piece of high-level reishi technology. It released probe reishi in the area of the vein to survey its condition in real-time.
Sakketsu ore blocked the probes, so it appeared as hollowed-out areas on the map. When he moved the ore away, the probe reishi filled the empty space, and the 3D map updated synchronously.
After confirming the location of the Sakketsu ore vein, Sora continued to dig.
Sora didn't want the Seireitei to know he had so much Sakketsu ore. Ore that could block reishi was considered a strategic resource. If others found out, it would likely attract unwanted attention.
With Kidō to clear the way, he could just mine it slowly himself.
And with his strength, even if a cave-in were to happen due to mishandling, it wouldn't be able to trap him.
---
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