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"Instructor Ishikawa, you're here."
"Good morning, Instructor Ishikawa."
"Instructor Ishikawa…"
Walking through the Fifth Division barracks, Ishikawa responded to everyone who greeted him. When he first arrived, he was quite nervous.
But after coming many times, Ishikawa gradually got used to it.
And…
"Ishikawa-sama, I'll have to trouble you again this time."
A gentle voice came. Looking up, he saw a delicate girl waiting outside the training hall. This girl was Hinamori Momo, the Vice-Captain of the Fifth Division.
"Vice-Captain Hinamori Momo."
Ishikawa's face immediately broke into a gentle smile.
Teaching the Fifth Division Squad Members here also allowed him to gain Hinamori Momo's favorability.
"How many times have I told you?"
Hinamori Momo shook her head, "Just call me by my name. There's no need to call me Vice-Captain; you're not a member of our Fifth Division."
"Sorry, I'm used to it."
Ishikawa chuckled, but couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
Perhaps due to excessive admiration or deliberate imitation, Hinamori Momo's personality was very similar to Aizen's usual demeanor. Every time he spoke with her, Ishikawa felt as if he was facing Aizen. But putting that aside, Hinamori Momo was very responsible with her work, and coupled with her gentle and simple personality, she was deeply loved by the Fifth Division Squad Members.
Many Shin'ō Academy graduates even chose to join the Fifth Division solely to get closer to Hinamori Momo.
However, these things had nothing to do with Ishikawa.
['Hinamori Momo' Current Favorability: 41.]
A favorability of 40-something wasn't particularly high, but it wasn't low either.
After all, before coming to the Fifth Division as an instructor, Hinamori Momo's favorability towards him wasn't high, barely maintaining at 22 points.
After coming to the Fifth Division as an instructor, her favorability towards him had been steadily rising.
Moreover, besides her, there were many other female Squad Members in the Fifth Division.
Although the experience points provided by each individual weren't high, together they were a decent income, which made Ishikawa come to the Fifth Division more frequently.
"By the way."
Ishikawa rummaged through his satchel and pulled out a book, handing it to Hinamori Momo, "Last time I was chatting with the Vice-President, she told me you really like this book, 'Suzunarihime,' so I searched my own library and didn't expect to actually find it." With that, Ishikawa handed the book to Hinamori Momo.
Hinamori Momo's eyes lit up upon hearing this, but after a moment of hesitation, she didn't reach out to take it.
Ishikawa smiled when he saw this, "Of course, I'm just lending it to you. I also really like this book, and I truly couldn't bear to give it away."
Upon hearing this, Hinamori Momo, who had been hesitant, finally took the book and said happily, "Ishikawa-sama… you're really amazing."
As she spoke, she eagerly opened the book, reading as she said, "Ever since I saw some of it at Vice-Captain Ise's place last time, I've really wanted to borrow a copy, but this book was published so rarely that even the Central Library doesn't have it."
"Thank you so much, Ishikawa-sama."
[Hinamori Momo Favorability +1, gained 2560 experience points, Current Favorability: 42]
Looking at the prompt in his mind, Ishikawa smiled and said, "It's normal for it to be rare, after all, this book was published over 130 years ago."
He had actually obtained this book a long time ago, but it wasn't for Hinamori Momo; it was for Ise Nanao.
Because he saw Ise Nanao always carrying this book around like a treasure, in order to have some common topics with her, Ishikawa ran to many places for it, but couldn't buy it.
In the end, Nagano Kasyuu had her family help, and only then did they manage to buy a copy from some nobles.
The content of the book was actually not unusual.
The three characters for Suzunarihime, as the name suggests, told the story of a little girl born from a bell.
But the meaning it represented was very interesting.
The bell from which Suzunarihime was born was not an ordinary bell, but a hon-tsuri-suzu, which is a bell hung in front of the worship hall in a shrine. When visiting the deities, one needs to pull the rope below the bell twice to Kan it.
The rope is called Suzunawa, also known as Suzuno.
In a sense, the protagonist of the story, 'Suzunarihime,' was very similar to Ise Nanao. Perhaps that's why she always carried this book with her.
However, according to Ishikawa's investigation.
According to relevant information, Ise Nanao had been carrying this book with her for over a hundred years, always meticulously protecting it with her own Reiatsu.
Some said that the reason she did so was actually because she missed the former Eighth Division Vice-Captain who often told her stories from the book when she was little.
Getting back on track.
Although he had put in a lot of effort to obtain this book, it didn't actually give him any common topics with Ise Nanao…
Unlike Hinamori Momo's gentleness and simplicity, Ise Nanao, perhaps due to her age, was overly composed and rigid. Talking to her always made Ishikawa feel like she regarded him as a child.
Of course…
Considering the age difference, he was indeed a child in front of Ise Nanao.
But if one were to truly calculate ages, these female Vice-Captains could practically be his grandmothers or great-grandmothers, yet only Ise Nanao treated him with this attitude.
So, in the end…
She was just too rigid.
Shaking his head, Ishikawa stopped thinking about Ise Nanao. After all, the person in front of him wasn't Ise Nanao, but Hinamori Momo, so it was better to focus.
Looking at Hinamori Momo, who was engrossed in reading, Ishikawa didn't rush her.
"Oh—"
After a while, as if she suddenly remembered something, Hinamori Momo's expression changed, and she hastily said, "Oh, I'm sorry, Ishikawa-sama, I was so engrossed in the book that I forgot you were here to work! I'll go gather the Squad Members right away." With that, Hinamori Momo turned to run, but stopped after a few steps.
"Oh, right, I prepared your favorite dori monaka in the training hall, and some other small snacks. These are all the snacks Ōmaeda Vice-Captain told me you liked after I asked him."
"No need for so much trouble."
"How can that be? Ever since Ishikawa-sama became our Fifth Division instructor, the Squad Members' Zankensoki have made significant progress, much better than when I teach them, and the Squad Members also really like your teaching methods." With that, Hinamori Momo waved her hand and rushed off to gather the Squad Members.
Ishikawa smiled upon hearing this and turned to enter the training hall.
In fact, every Squad had corresponding instructors for techniques like Zankensoki, but the Fifth Division's instructor accidentally died during a support mission many years ago, so Aizen and Hinamori Momo had been guiding the Squad Members separately ever since.
When Ishikawa first arrived, the Fifth Division Squad Members were still somewhat dissatisfied.
Because compared to someone who wasn't even a Shinigami, they clearly trusted their own Squad Captain and Vice-Captain more.
But after several teaching sessions, and with Natsuhiko stating that she was able to become a Seated Officer precisely because of Ishikawa's careful guidance, the Fifth Division Squad Members grew to increasingly like this new instructor.
Moreover, the feeling Ishikawa gave everyone was also very similar to Captain Aizen and Vice-Captain Hinamori.
Unknowingly, Ishikawa had already gained a reputation in the Fifth Division second only to Aizen and Hinamori Momo. Squad Members often requested Ishikawa to join the Fifth Division, saying that the Fifth Division was the Squad most suitable for Ishikawa.
Before long, Hinamori Momo had gathered all the Squad Members and was listening in from the side.
It wasn't to monitor Ishikawa, but because what Ishikawa taught was also of great help to her.
Although she had long known that Ishikawa was very strong, Ishikawa's understanding of Zankensoki was simply too vast and comprehensive, and he also had many unique techniques that he taught to the Fifth Division Squad Members without reservation.
This made Hinamori Momo sigh at his broadmindedness, saying he was second only to Captain Aizen.
…
The teaching time passed quickly; a morning was gone in a flash.
Declining Hinamori Momo's invitation to stay for a meal, Ishikawa walked towards the Fourth Division.
Current Experience: 146890.
Ishikawa looked at the system interface in his mind and couldn't help but sigh.
In nearly a year, he had gained less than 80,000 experience points.
It was becoming increasingly difficult to gain experience points.
And of these 80,000 experience points, over 30,000 were provided by the Picaro little by little, and over 20,000 were provided by Hinamori Momo… In other words, Seireitei plus Rukongai only provided him with less than 30,000 experience points in total.
This made Ishikawa sigh…
Soul Society was simply too peaceful, and whether it was the Shinigami and residents of Seireitei, or the commoners of Rukongai, their lives were practically monotonous.
Every day they moved in fixed places, doing fixed things.
The commoners of Rukongai were fine; as long as they stayed in Rukongai for 60 years, they could obtain reincarnation permission, and then undergo reincarnation under the guidance of Shinigami. Of course… most of the time, whether to reincarnate or not was entirely voluntary.
But Shinigami were different; they lived day after day, with almost no changes.
However, Ishikawa actually had no right to criticize them.
Aside from having a larger area of activity, what Ishikawa did every day could also be described as 'monotonous.'
No change, sometimes, could become a torment, which is why most ordinary residents of Rukongai chose to reincarnate rather than stay in Rukongai indefinitely.
Ishikawa looked at his Reiatsu.
Reiatsu: Top Tier (318004 / 1000000) (Cannot be increased)
In this year, although Ishikawa had never relaxed, under the operation of the Development Spiritual Mark, a year only yielded a little over 6500 points of proficiency, which could be said to be mediocre; it was basically like this every year.
Even if this speed seemed incredibly astonishing to others, Ishikawa still felt extremely urgent.
His time was running out. Although he didn't particularly like the current peaceful life, with the great chaos approaching, even if he chose to stay out of it with his current strength, it would be difficult to guarantee his safety.
After a moment of thought, Ishikawa decided to keep 46890 experience points and invest the rest into Reiatsu.
"Hmm?"
But then, Ishikawa frowned, a hint of doubt flashing in his eyes.
Because the experience points did not decrease, and the Reiatsu proficiency did not increase either.
Could it be…
The next second, Ishikawa vaguely thought of something, and his expression immediately turned a little ugly.
He first tried adding points in increments of a thousand, and after finding everything normal, he then added points in increments of ten thousand.
Ultimately, his Reiatsu proficiency stopped at 390,000, and trying to go higher resulted in the same situation as before.
So it was true?
Ishikawa sighed slightly in his heart, trying to continue adding points in increments of a thousand, and found that he could still continue to add points.
1000… 1000… 100… 10, 1
Under Ishikawa's continuous attempts, his Reiatsu strength finally stopped at…
Reiatsu: Top Tier (399999 / 1000000) (Cannot be increased)
Limit Barrier!
Ishikawa's footsteps paused. Although he forcibly reined in the ugly expression on his face, his heart was churning like a stormy sea.
Although Ishikawa had vaguely felt this barrier from the moment his Reiatsu broke through to the Top Tier.
But he never expected this barrier to come so quickly.
In the long history of Soul Society, there existed the term 'spiritual power,' which was once a standard of measurement used among nobles to refer to the concentration of spiritual power within a Spirit Body.
Ordinary Squad Members were divided into 20 ranks of spiritual power, Vice-Captains were 5th to 4th rank, and 3rd rank and above were Captain-level.
The bodies of Shinigami are composed of Reishi, and after death, they return to Soul Society in the form of Reishi. However, Reishi of 3rd rank and above cannot return due to their excessively high concentration, so an ritual called 'Soul Burial Ceremony' is required.
This is the official explanation. There are rumors that Reishi of 3rd rank and above can never return to the earth of Soul Society, and these powerful Reishi constantly drift within Soul Society, bringing unimaginable effects to Soul Society.
The true purpose of the so-called 'Soul Burial Ceremony' is not to make these Reishi return to Soul Society, but to send the Reishi of deceased Captains, which cannot return to Soul Society, into…
—Hell!
It can be understood that 4th rank Reishi is the limit barrier of Soul Society itself. It cannot contain Reishi of 4th rank and above, and even if these Reishi drift within it, it will cause immense pain and even death to Soul Society itself.
Soul Society itself has a so-called limit barrier, and Shinigami living in Soul Society naturally cannot avoid the appearance of a limit barrier.
Whether it's Reiatsu, or Zankensoki, no matter how strong a certain ability is, as a Shinigami, one will encounter the limit barrier of the Spirit Body, causing the Reiatsu, which represents soul density, to be unable to grow further.
However, due to differences in talent, some people have higher limit barriers, while others have lower ones.
There can even be cases where people of the same generation, who initially grew at the exact same rate, have vastly different strengths when they both encounter their limit barriers!
Although according to Urahara Kisuke, Ishikawa himself possessed a body like a human, this body had the characteristics of a Spirit Body. Aside from its extremely high physical strength, it was identical to a Spirit Body.
Therefore, for Ishikawa, his Spirit Body, which was integrated with his physical body, also had a so-called limit.
This was the limit of the soul… Strictly speaking, for Ishikawa, it should be the limit of the Shinigami's spiritual world, and it had nothing to do with whether Ishikawa's physique was strong or not.
In other words, no matter how strong his physique was, this limit would still exist here.
And the method to break through this barrier…
Ishikawa 'looked' towards the Zankensoki techniques. He had already deduced the method to break through the limit barrier a long time ago.
He just didn't expect this barrier to come so soon.
Wait a minute~!
Ishikawa's 'gaze' shifted, once again turning his attention to physique.
The limit of the soul indeed had nothing to do with the physical body, but he was different from other Shinigami. Ishikawa's physical body had already merged with his Spirit Body, inseparable.
Moreover, before he added points to his physique, there was a period when his physique grew due to the increase in Reiatsu.
So, conversely…
Would the limit barrier of his own soul also become higher as his physique continuously strengthened?
Ishikawa's 'gaze' constantly shifted between physique and Zankensoki, a hint of hesitation flashing in his eyes.
But in the end, he gritted his teeth slightly…
I want it all!!
While strengthening his physique, Zankensoki couldn't be neglected either.
However, the most pressing matter was to find a way to cross the existing barrier, and the option that could achieve this goal the fastest was, without a doubt…
Precisely physique!
Provided that his guess was not wrong.
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