Sora was in the courtyard, instructing Lisa in swordsmanship.
After Granny E passed away, Lisa had stayed at the Katori Dojo, and Sora had also taken her in as a disciple.
Everyone at the dojo looked after the new little girl, helping her quickly blend in.
"Lisa, when you swing your sword, don't just use the strength of your arms," Sora said, correcting her form.
"Let me show you." He took the wooden sword, squatted down, and had Lisa place her hand on his back. "Do you feel it? The muscles in my back are also exerting force."
"Such... such amazing muscles... What am I thinking... I should be focusing on practicing the sword right now!" Lisa shook her head, dispelling the thought.
"Use the strength of your back, arms, and wrists together to power your swing," Sora swung the wooden sword several times, letting Lisa feel which parts of his body he was using. "Even the strength of your legs and waist can be used. In the future, I will teach you techniques that utilize them. For now, focus on practicing the basics."
"Yes!" Lisa said aloud, but deep down, it felt as if something had awakened in her. The tactile sensation of those perfect muscles lingered at her fingertips.
"Continue practicing."
Sora returned the wooden sword to Lisa and went to check on the progress of his other disciples.
"What are you two doing?"
Sora saw Isshin Shiba and Sōsuke Aizen tinkering with something together.
Isshin had an easy-going personality. Not long after arriving at the dojo, he had become buddy-buddy with Aizen.
"Professor..." Isshin stood up. He was holding a long, thin object, and Aizen was holding a similar one.
"We found this while cleaning the warehouse," Isshin explained.
The two rectangular objects looked like a pair of thin, white plaster strips, a few centimeters long.
"Something you found in the warehouse..." Sora stroked his chin. "The warehouse is full of miscellaneous things. There are many things I don't know the use of. Did you find anything interesting about this?"
The warehouse was filled with clutter. Even Batsu'unsai Katori couldn't identify the origin of some of the items.
"These two items should be a pair. We discovered that they can absorb reishi, and there's a strange spiritual pressure fluctuation inside them," Sōsuke Aizen said, holding up the 'plaster strip' to show their professor.
When Aizen infused spiritual pressure into the 'plaster strip' in his hand, the originally hard object became somewhat soft.
"Hmm?" Sora's eyes narrowed. His spiritual sense had made an astonishing discovery.
After Aizen infused it with spiritual pressure, it actually released the spiritual pressure of a Hollow!
"Let me see," Sora said, taking it to examine. After the supply of spiritual pressure was cut off, the 'plaster strip' quickly became hard again.
Once it hardened, the Hollow spiritual pressure could no longer be sensed.
"A bit strange... it doesn't look like a spiritual organism on the outside..." Sora found it peculiar. He said to the two, "The 'strange spiritual pressure fluctuation' you sensed is actually the spiritual pressure of a Hollow."
Neither Isshin nor Aizen had ever seen a Hollow in person, so they had no frame of reference and didn't know the spiritual pressure they sensed was that of a Hollow.
"These things are Hollows?!" Isshin was so startled he almost threw the 'plaster strip' in his hand.
"They don't seem to be Hollows. Perhaps they are some kind of tool made from a Hollow?" Sora guessed, curious about the function of these two items.
However, their exteriors were completely seamless, making them difficult to take apart for research.
"Let's ask Batsu'unsai. Maybe she knows what this is," Sora said. Since the items hadn't deteriorated, it was possible she had placed them in the warehouse.
Even reishi-based items would break down if left unmaintained for too long.
Sora brought the two 'plaster strips' to Batsu'unsai, and as expected, she recognized them.
"Oh, this... I'd forgotten where I put it..." Batsu'unsai recalled. "I can't remember what it's called, but it's a little toy I got from the Shihōin family. They like to call these kinds of items 'Tenzen Heisō'."
"'Tenzen Heisō'?" Isshin looked thoughtful.
'Tenzen Heisō' was a very broad term, referring to weapons and tools in the Soul Society with peculiar functions.
"Then what does this pair of 'Tenzen Heisō' do? When infused with spiritual pressure, you can sense a Hollow's spiritual pressure from within," Sora asked.
"That's right, because they possess a Hollow's ability."
Batsu'unsai lifted her foot and stuck one of the 'plaster strips' to the bottom of her geta. Under the stimulation of spiritual pressure, it rapidly softened and adhered to the wooden clog.
She then repeated the action, sticking the other strip to her other geta.
Batsu'unsai explained, "Shinigami, Quincy, and Hollow all have different methods of high-speed movement."
"A Shinigami's Shunpo uses their own spiritual pressure concentrated in their feet, using the power from a burst of spiritual energy to increase their speed."
"A Quincy's Hirenkyaku gathers external reishi to form footholds under their feet, controlling the rapid movement of these footholds to propel themselves at high speed."
"When the speed reaches a level that surpasses the visual nerves, it creates the illusion of teleportation, but both of these can only be called high-speed movement."
"A Hollow's Sonído, however, is different."
"Sonído is a transfer of space, changing location by manipulating space itself."
Sora nodded. "Shunpo is like turning your feet into springs to launch yourself, Hirenkyaku is using reishi to create flying footboards to carry yourself, and Sonído is short-distance teleportation by manipulating the Garganta."
Isshin scratched his face. "When the professor puts it that way, it's much easier to understand. I used to always get them confused."
Sora guessed, "Could it be that this pair of 'Tenzen Heisō' is related to a Hollow's Sonído?"
Batsu'unsai nodded. "Correct. It allows a Shinigami to easily use Sonído."
Don—
With the faint sound of a drumbeat, Batsu'unsai's figure vanished on the spot.
The next moment, she appeared at Sora's side.
"So this is a Hollow's Sonído?" A hint of inquiry was in Aizen's eyes. "I've read in books that only Hollows who can open a Garganta can learn Sonído... for this 'Tenzen Heisō' to grant a Shinigami that ability."
Sora asked curiously, "This ability is quite useful. Why was it left to gather dust in the warehouse? Under normal circumstances, shouldn't a Hollow's Sonído be faster than a Shinigami's Shunpo?"
Batsu'unsai lifted her foot to a height where Sora could see the sole. "The ability is useful, but after it absorbs spiritual pressure, it gradually comes to life. See? I've only used Sonído once, and it's already like this."
Sora saw that the plaster-like board had turned into a writhing white mass. Something was awakening and growing inside it.
"It really is..." Sora extended a finger and poked the white mass, but it didn't react.
Sora tried to pry it off but found it was stuck firmly to the bottom of her geta and couldn't be removed.
"You can't get it off," Batsu'unsai explained. "After being used once, it fuses with the sole of the shoe."
"It hasn't absorbed much spiritual pressure yet. If you starve it for a while, it will wither and fall off."
"It hasn't absorbed spiritual pressure in a very long time, so it has shrunk to its smallest state. As you use Sonído more, its size will grow."
"I tried using it for a while before, and it quickly grew to cover my entire sole."
"At that point, using Sonído is no longer as intuitive."
"After that, I stopped using this pair of 'Tenzen Heisō'."
Aizen asked curiously, "Is it a living thing?"
Batsu'unsai thought for a moment and said, "Probably not anymore, but it's not completely dead either. It just has the potential to come back to life."
"Let me try," Sora was very interested in this item. It was, after all, something that allowed a Shinigami to use a Hollow's ability and had great research value. He even wanted to try bringing it fully to life.
Batsu'unsai sat on the veranda and took off her geta for Sora.
Fortunately, she liked to wear geta that were much larger than her feet, so they weren't too small for him.
After stepping into the geta, Sora felt a strange connection to space.
Sora was surprised. "It seems it can do more than just Sonído..."
Batsu'unsai nodded. "Opening a Garganta is also possible. These are all a Hollow's abilities to manipulate space."
Sora decided to try Sonído first.
He tried to focus on that strange feeling, and instantly, he understood.
Don—
With a faint drumbeat, Sora's figure appeared behind Sōsuke Aizen, and he placed a hand on his shoulder.
Sora noticed that in that instant, Aizen's muscles had tensed, though he quickly suppressed the subconscious reaction.
Aizen praised, "As expected of spatial movement. The traces of movement are completely impossible to capture with the naked eye."
At the same time, he thought to himself, "It seems I'll have to find a way to enhance my spatial perception in the future..."
Sora asked Batsu'unsai, "Will there be any negative effects if I just open a Garganta once?"
She shook her head. "Opening a Garganta requires more spiritual pressure. If you use that ability, the 'Tenzen Heisō' will grow faster, but just once won't have too much of an impact. As long as you stop using it, it will quickly begin to wither."
"Then I'll give it a try," Sora decided. The 12th Division was not yet monitoring the entire Soul Society for spiritual pressure fluctuations, so opening a Garganta here wouldn't alert the Seireitei.
Sora extended his right index finger and drew a line in the air.
A black line appeared.
Then, black squares began to appear at the edges of the line.
The number of black squares rapidly increased and grew larger. Space was gradually torn open by the blackness.
A moment later, a black opening large enough for one or two people to enter appeared in the air.
Boundless black nothingness was exposed before them.
Sora had opened a Garganta in the manner of a Hollow!
"An amazing 'Tenzen Heisō,' to actually allow a Shinigami to use a Hollow's ability..." Isshin said in amazement.
"Hehe—" Batsu'unsai Katori placed her hands on her hips and laughed heartily. "Interesting, right? This is what I won from Chihiri Shihōin when we dueled!"
In Batsu'unsai's view, this item had some practical value, but that was it.
There were other ways for a Shinigami to enter the Garganta.
And the number of times Sonído could be used was not enough to sustain a high-intensity battle.
It was just an interesting toy.
But Sora, who knew the future, did not see it that way. Hollow power was an important piece of the puzzle to becoming a 'Transcendent.' He believed this item had high research value.
"This 'Tenzen Heisō' can help me research Hollow powers," Sora thought to himself.
Sora looked down at the 'Tenzen Heisō' on his feet and was slightly taken aback.
The items, originally only a few centimeters in size, had now become two masses as large as the geta themselves, completely fused with the wood. The entire pair of geta had been dyed white.
"After using the ability to open a Garganta, the growth rate is indeed quite fast..." Sora commented.
"Exactly. In this state, using Sonído is no longer easy," Batsu'unsai nodded. This was the main reason she considered it just a toy.
Sora tried it and found that his strange connection to space was not as keen as before, as if he were looking through a thin veil.
He needed to concentrate more to maintain his perception of space.
Don—
With a faint drumbeat, Sora's figure appeared in front of Batsu'unsai.
"I overshot..." Sora frowned. He had intended to use Sonído to move to her left but had ended up overshooting by a dozen centimeters.
"See! It's not easy to use!" Batsu'unsai nodded. "If you used that in a battle, it could lead to very bad consequences. That's why I only used it a few times before putting it away. I never thought you guys would find it. I had completely forgotten about this thing."
Sora nodded and said, "I'm very interested in this 'Tenzen Heisō.' I'll take it for now."
A thoughtful look appeared on Sōsuke Aizen's face. He felt that his professor was very interested in the abilities of Hollows.
"The abilities of a Hollow are indeed very curious," Aizen thought to himself.
For the current Aizen, a Hollow's abilities were just knowledge he had read about in books.
"Although Hollows occasionally appear in the Soul Society, the Soul Society is too vast, and the probability of encountering one is very small... How can I get in contact with a Hollow?" Aizen began to ponder.
Having seen the application of a Hollow's ability for the first time today, a strong desire to investigate them had been sparked within him.
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