Chapter 18: Ten Bamboo Awakening
"Good sake!"
Kuroha deftly popped the stopper and took a deep, satisfying swig, letting out a hearty shout.
His bold, unrestrained posture left everyone stunned speechless.
The rich aroma of thousand-year-old premium sake wafted through the hall. Even many in the crowd couldn't help swallowing hard.
Even Shunsui Kyōraku—snapping back to reality—wanted to tell Kuroha to slow down. This was a rare vintage from Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni's personal collection—possibly the last bottle of its kind. Shunsui himself couldn't bear to drink it casually.
In the massive testing hall, aside from Renji (whose face had turned pitch-black), only Aizen and Gin—here to fish in troubled waters—remained calm and detached.
They had come today specifically to test whether Yamamoto was still stubbornly clinging to the events of one hundred years ago.
Now it seemed they had guessed correctly.
But in their eyes, Yamamoto's move had been clumsy. Using someone whose background was completely unknown as bait? That was asking for trouble.
Still—it wasn't entirely Yamamoto's fault. The Shiba family had already suffered two major incidents: Kaien Shiba's Hollowfication and Isshin Shiba's disappearance twenty years ago. Two disasters in one family—how could Yamamoto not grow suspicious?
At the same time, Aizen had moved preemptively to block Kuroha from joining the Gotei 13. He didn't want to risk using Kyōka Suigetsu in public again and expose any cracks in his hypnosis.
Kuroha becoming a variable in his plans was unacceptable.
"Wife… want a sip? It's freezing out—warms you right up."
Kuroha took another deep inhale of the aroma and walked straight toward Rukia with drunken generosity.
Still blackout drunk and chugging more, he kept calling her "wife."
Rukia was ready to explode.
She had planned to deny everything—but now he was coming right at her. There was no shaking off this drunken leech.
Especially with Byakuya Kuchiki's face darkening by the second—there was nowhere for her to hide.
"You damn bastard—so arrogant! Treating the Shin'ō Academy exam like a joke! Today I'll make an example of you!" Renji detonated first.
Hearing "wife" after "wife," watching Kuroha trample all over his childhood sweetheart relationship without a care—Renji couldn't take it anymore.
Compared to Byakuya's icy rage, Renji's fury was far more explosive.
To avoid any deeper entanglement with the drunk, Renji—who had already retreated to the side—vanished in a burst of Shunpo. He reappeared instantly right in front of Kuroha.
Seeing a seated officer-class Shinigami suddenly attack with ghostly speed, everyone immediately realized: Things were about to go very wrong.
Many even looked on with eager anticipation—ready for a good show.
In their eyes, a seated Shinigami taking down a three-bamboo, blackout-drunk kid would be effortless.
"You bastard—if you won't sober up on your own, I'll help you wake up!"
Renji reached for the sake gourd in Kuroha's hand while raising his other fist, swinging it furiously toward Kuroha's cheek.
"Renji—don't!"
Rukia cried out in alarm.
She wasn't defending Kuroha. She was trying to protect Captain Ukitake's guarantee.
She didn't want the already frail Ukitake to face punishment because of this mess.
"Hm? Someone's bullying my wife?"
Kuroha's brows furrowed. His hazy, drunken eyes suddenly sharpened. His long black hair lifted without wind. An indescribable, terrifying aura began climbing rapidly inside him.
BOOM!
A violent surge of reiatsu exploded outward like a tidal wave.
The hurricane-like shockwave rolled in all directions, carrying an overwhelming sense of suffocation.
Renji—who had charged straight in—took the full brunt. It felt like being slammed by a giant hammer.
His entire body was hurled backward.
And the direction he flew… was straight toward the reiatsu testing machine.
CRASH!
A heavy impact rang out.
The massive force crashed into the machine. The display screen flickered wildly before locking onto a new number.
Ding! 709—seven bamboo reiatsu. Excellent!
The emotionless mechanical voice shattered the silence.
Looking at the crimson seven displayed, many in the crowd—still reeling from the reiatsu storm—went blank.
This was completely different from the number Gin had shown earlier.
They had been told three bamboo. Now suddenly seven? The gap was absurd.
"You just harassed my wife… you deserve a beating!"
Kuroha's voice rang out abruptly.
Renji—still dazed from crashing into the machine—was staring at the display in shock.
He never expected a blackout-drunk person to cross a dozen meters so fast and appear right in front of him.
Kuroha tilted his head back, took another swig, and the drunken fire reignited. He clenched his fist and swung.
Substantial reiatsu coiled around his knuckles. A primal sense of danger surged in Renji's chest.
Watching the rapidly enlarging fist in his vision, Renji frantically calculated countermeasures—
Then his view blurred.
When he came to, he was already being carried away by Byakuya Kuchiki.
BOOM!
A thunderous explosion echoed.
The violent gale swept through the entire testing hall once more.
With a crisp shattering sound, the fixed punching machine was blasted off its base like a sandbag. It flew backward dozens of meters and smashed straight through the wall.
The impact left the testing area in ruins. The machine itself was clearly damaged—embedded deep in the wall.
The sudden violence left the entire hall stunned.
Some even rubbed their eyes, wondering if they were dreaming.
But no matter how hard they rubbed, the scene remained crystal clear.
Seeing Byakuya step in to save him, Renji was shocked.
But right now, he had no time for gratitude or formalities toward his future "big brother-in-law."
With desperate urgency, he looked toward the testing machine.
1000—ten bamboo reiatsu!
The mechanical voice rang out again—ethereal and haunting—echoing through the hall long after it spoke.
Looking at the crimson four-digit number frozen on the display, many people's pupils contracted sharply. They stared at the drunken Shiba Kuroha in utter disbelief.
Right now, the word echoing loudest in their minds was probably just one:
Holy shit.
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