Suì-Fēng subconsciously looked and found it was her 環鈴蛇辮 (ring-bell snake braid) on her left side.
The cut was clean, clearly severed by that last strike.
"How about… you take back your thanks from earlier?"
Although the opponent's mental imbalance led to an opening, too many openings made Shimiya Takeru overestimate her reaction speed, and he "accidentally" missed.
Suì-Fēng glared at him in annoyance.
"It's just hair. I was the one who dragged you into this fight, so even if I were seriously injured, I'd have no reason to blame you."
With that, she hesitated for a second, then severed the other ring-bell snake braid with her bare hands.
Now her hairstyle was "balanced."
After cutting off her braids, the slight reduction in weight on her head made Suì-Fēng feel much lighter. She stared at the braids in her hand for a moment, then clenched her fist and incinerated them completely with Kido spiritual pressure.
"You just mentioned an acquaintance in the Human World… who were you referring to?"
"A girl with orange hair, wielding a large sword."
"Is that so… I didn't pay much attention. My eyes were only on the person I told you about, and I didn't even spare a glance for the other scoundrel… Although I only saw her from afar, she seemed to be just as she was before, completely unchanged."
"Isn't that a good thing? Or do you want to see her reflecting? That's not easy to tell from her appearance."
"It has nothing to do with that. It's just that seeing her familiar appearance reminds me of her from back then, and how I felt at the time, so I can't calm down at all. If she had changed a lot, maybe I wouldn't be so angry."
"But by then, you'd be disappointed again, because she wouldn't be the person you knew."
Shimiya Takeru said, hitting the nail on the head.
"…"
Suì-Fēng paused slightly, then gave a self-deprecating smile.
"Perhaps you're right… It seems I might live in her shadow my entire life."
"Why are you so sure?"
"Because it was destined from the start… Hey, what are you trying to do?"
Facing Suì-Fēng's exasperated gaze, Shimiya Takeru put his Soul Pager back in his pocket.
"Although I wanted to play a suitable recording for you, I don't think it's necessary anymore… Look at your reaction, it's so vivid, completely unlike someone living in a shadow."
"In fact, when you ask questions, when you fight, when you handle official business… do you still think about that person? Clearly, you can't. You can't even think about her constantly… You're taking the phrase 'living in her shadow your entire life' too lightly, aren't you?"
"…"
Suì-Fēng slightly parted her lips, unsure how to retort.
"If you truly consider her a friend, if she truly considers you a friend… then you should do everything in your power to bring her back."
"Even if you have to break her leg, you must bring her back."
Shimiya Takeru said with conviction.
"…Break… break her leg? No, that, I think Yoruichi… her running away might not necessarily be wrong."
"If all else fails, just kill her. Cut ties with your past self, sever past bonds. In my opinion, there are countless ways to escape a shadow."
"No… wait… killing is definitely not an option. She's… sigh, never mind, whatever."
Suì-Fēng suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion.
Compared to Yoruichi, this guy in front of her, constantly giving her trouble, wasn't much better.
Perhaps… Yoruichi's personality would be easier to deal with.
Beep beep beep…
At this moment, the Soul Pager in Shimiya Takeru's pocket rang. He took it out and glanced at it.
"My teacher needs me… Captain Suì-Fēng, if you'll excuse me."
"Ah? Oh, take care… Wait, these past few days haven't been peaceful. Be careful, don't run around carelessly. Although you're strong, some things… shouldn't be faced by you."
Suì-Fēng quickly called out to Shimiya Takeru to admonish him.
"Sorry."
"…Why are you suddenly apologizing?"
"I feel a little bad for making you worry."
"It's nothing, after all, I owe you a lot of favors… I wanted to repay them, but I just keep owing more. You're really a handful."
"That's the secret to getting along with people. Don't worry about it. When you're annoyed, just punch me. I won't complain about you being unreasonable."
"You said that."
"I said it… See you."
Shimiya Takeru waved his hand without looking back and disappeared with Shunpo.
The slight joy Suì-Fēng felt from getting permission to punch him faded with his departure. She looked up at the setting sun.
Living in a shadow, yet able to feel the warmth of the sun.
That doesn't seem quite right, does it…
"Don't you think so, Shimiya?"
Her pretty face, flushed by the sunset glow, seemed to be smiling again.
Fifth Division, Captain's Office.
"Yo."
As Shimiya Takeru entered, he saw Ichigo sitting on the sofa, greeting him.
"Brother Kurosaki, it's been a month, hasn't it?"
"…At most, it's been a week."
Ichigo put his hand down, speechless.
"But you look like you've changed more than in a month."
Shimiya Takeru sat on the sofa opposite him and poured himself a glass of water from the kettle on the table.
"Thanks to your advice, the other me and I got along quite well. I cleared it in just one day… I didn't even know Old Man Zangetsu could make that kind of expression."
Ichigo couldn't help but grimace as he spoke.
"But it was terrible afterwards. I was trained until my bones felt like they were breaking."
"That's unavoidable…"
Shimiya Takeru took a sip of water.
"Because of the overly exaggerated transformation of Bankai, it often takes more than ten years to use it in combat. To catch up to others' decades of effort in just a few days, you should properly thank your Zanpakuto."
"Same to you. Haven't you also mastered Bankai? You've been running to the Second Division recently, finding that cold-faced woman to spar with."
"No, I haven't used my Bankai on anyone yet."
"What?"
Ichigo was stunned.
"Then what are you doing in the Second Division?"
"Honing my Hakuda and Shunpo, improving the completeness of my techniques… There's nothing for it, I recently comprehended a new move, but that move requires extremely high physical ability and a lot of luck. It's not something that can be used casually in combat, so I'm wondering if there's a way to increase its trigger probability, so I can use it whenever I want."
Black Flash.
The destructive power amplification of this move was terrifyingly strong.
Therefore, it was like a genius's flash of inspiration, a physical phenomenon occurring by chance in a particle collision experiment.
The trigger probability was extremely low.
Strictly speaking, even with intentional attempts, it might not succeed once in ten thousand tries.
Luck played a huge part.
If the destructive power were truly amplified to an extremely considerable degree, the burden on the soul itself would also be unimaginably great.
Shimiya Takeru was currently, on one hand, using the "Physical Growth +1000%" buff to strengthen his physical abilities, increasing his tolerable limit. On the other hand, he was trying to eliminate the element of luck as much as possible, to wield it freely in combat through his own will.
After repeatedly verifying it many times in private.
The former was progressing smoothly, while the latter… as long as he had the "feel" for it, the trigger probability would greatly increase.
To improve the "feel" involved two points.
Either it was an instinct gradually awakened during combat, relying on intuitive instinct to grasp that elusive, almost divine, opportune moment.
Or it was to improve the basic proficiency of Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Shunpo, and Kido, especially Hakuda and Kido.
If he could reach a profound state of mastery, he would naturally be able to hear thunder in silence and turn decay into wonder, like a grandmaster.
Fortunately, both methods could be used together.
This gave Shimiya Takeru some confidence in deploying Black Flash in actual combat.
Everything was progressing slowly and effectively, just as expected.
It was immeasurably stronger than simply relying on luck at the beginning.
Furthermore…
"In necessary situations, it's not like I don't have a way to cheat…"
Shimiya Takeru thought to himself.
He liked to keep a card up his sleeve in everything.
After Shichisen came Yuisen, after Yuisen came Shikai, and after Shikai came a second Shikai.
And when all these became known, he would need new backup plans.
He was not as greedy and self-consuming as Urahara Kisuke.
Battle opportunities were fleeting and ever-changing.
As long as he had one move.
As long as it could kill the enemy, that was enough.
Similarly, for Black Flash, a move with seemingly extremely strict usage conditions.
When it came down to it, Shimiya Takeru was not entirely without special methods to use it in actual combat.
For example… by relying on the Bankai he had just learned.
But special was special.
Without addressing the previously mentioned drawbacks, it would ultimately be drinking poison to quench thirst, detrimental to his own growth.
"A new technique… it's not another exaggerated move like Yuisen, is it?"
To be honest, Ichigo still didn't understand how the other person comprehended those strange yet powerful techniques.
If they were derivative techniques like double incantation or additional incantation, that would be one thing. But both Shichisen and Yuisen, and even Transparent Dragon Scales, could be called distinct, unique secret techniques.
And now, his close friend, who had also mastered Bankai and was clearly stronger, claimed to have comprehended a new move.
It certainly couldn't be anything simple.
It was probably a move stronger than Shichisen, or even Yuisen.
Ichigo had this vague premonition.
So even when Shimiya Takeru waved his hand and said, "It's just a simple application of Kido spiritual pressure," he didn't believe a single punctuation mark of it.
But then again.
"You're putting all your energy into this, so what about Bankai? Don't you need to get familiar with it?"
"Oh, I don't need to practice that."
"…"
In Ichigo's eyes, Shimiya Takeru's attitude was like saying, "Do I need to train for something as simple as eating and drinking?"
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