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Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Inside the Ōkaku Training Hall, fierce winds converged, even stirring up wails like ghosts, adding a chilling atmosphere to the vast underground space.
Ishikawa's expression was focused, his fists continuously swinging, and with each swing, his feet constantly alternated back and forth.
Punch, retract, punch…
Step, retract, step…
Ishikawa had been performing these movements for a long time, so long that he had forgotten how much time had passed.
Only the shadow beneath his feet kept expanding.
His bare torso was rippling with muscles, sweat streamed down the crevices between them, soaking his shorts, and with every jump and punch, water droplets scattered, gradually enlarging the shadow beneath him.
The wind from his punches and the splashing of sweat!
The combination of the two made the surrounding area humid and filled with a slightly salty scent of sweat.
"You don't usually notice it, but now that I see it, Ishikawa's physique is really quite good."
Kūkaku sat cross-legged at the edge of the training hall, watching Ishikawa, who was training in the center, with great interest.
"What's so good about it? He looks scrawny."
Shiba Ganju pouted, "A broad-shouldered, bear-like build like mine is what you call a good physique."
"Then why don't you go up and spar with Ishikawa for a bit?"
"…" Ganju was silent for a moment, then said dismissively, "Forget it, my strength is too great, I'm not suitable to be a sparring partner."
Kūkaku glanced at her younger brother, her eyes full of disdain, but she was too lazy to mock him. Instead, she asked, "Why did this brat suddenly decide to come here to cultivate again?"
Although Ishikawa almost always practiced Zankensoki after work, it was rare for him to completely abandon work and focus solely on cultivation.
And most importantly…
Almost every time he finished cultivating, he would go through a fierce battle, which made Kūkaku instinctively feel a little uneasy.
"Who knows what he's thinking."
Shiba Ganju shook his head, then said, "However, Ishikawa asked me about the principle of 'Stone Wave' earlier. He seems to have suddenly developed an interest in it."
Stone Wave?
Kūkaku nodded upon hearing this. "Then later, go to the library and get all the spell scrolls related to 'Stone Wave' for him."
"Understood."
Ganju nodded in response.
As a unique spell of the Shiba, it was generally forbidden to be passed on, and even if it were, others could not learn it.
But if Ishikawa wanted to read it, neither Kūkaku nor Shiba Ganju would object, because in their eyes, Ishikawa was their family.
…
It's still not enough.
Ishikawa frowned slightly. As his physique strengthened, not only did his strength, defense, and self-healing abilities improve, but even his stamina recovery became faster. With this intensity of training, it was almost impossible to exhaust his stamina!
After a moment of contemplation, the power Ishikawa exerted became even more rapid and fierce.
His attention, meanwhile, was focused on Hakuda in the system interface.
This kind of pure punching training had very limited improvement for Hakuda.
After all…
Hakuda was not just simple punching and kicking, but a technique that exploited Reiatsu with fists and feet.
However, apart from an initial period when he didn't have a Zanpakuto and focused on Hakuda, Ishikawa rarely used Hakuda in actual combat afterward. Even when he did, it was mostly combined with Zanjutsu to interfere with enemies while attacking.
Moreover, his Shunko was different from Yoruichi's. His Shunko's highly concentrated Kido was not focused on his back and shoulders; instead, it was injected into his hands and feet at the moment of attack, utilizing the explosion of the highly concentrated Kido to give his every punch and kick super high destructive power.
Ishikawa's Shunko involved directly fusing the highly concentrated Kido into his body, enduring the explosion of the highly concentrated Kido with his powerful physique. This also allowed Ishikawa, while in Shunko, to inject this explosive energy into his Zanpakuto…
When he could use a weapon, he naturally didn't need to fight with his bare hands against someone wielding a sword.
But now, Ishikawa was preparing to pick up Hakuda once again.
The reason was simple…
The recovery speed of his Zanpakuto, which he had destroyed twice in a row, was simply too slow.
Even though Ishikawa continuously used Reiatsu to repair the mental world where his Zanpakuto resided, both the Zanpakuto's form and its newly born consciousness were recovering extremely slowly.
However, this was understandable.
A newly born Zanpakuto was inherently very fragile, and it was destroyed by him right after its birth. And then… after finally recovering a bit, it was destroyed a second time by him…
Recently, when Ishikawa tried to sink his consciousness into his mental world, he would instinctively be rejected at the 'door'.
At the current rate, it would probably take one to two months for the Zanpakuto to fully recover.
The time wasn't long…
But what Ishikawa lacked most now was time.
There were already signs of Arrancar appearing in the Human World. Even if he didn't plan to get involved for now, Ishikawa needed to be prepared.
Even if he didn't provoke Aizen, who could guarantee that Aizen wouldn't target him?
And most importantly…
He initially gave up on Hakuda because he was often at a disadvantage fighting bare-handed against someone with a weapon.
But now, the strength of Ishikawa's body was already comparable to a Hollow's Hierro. Even without Reiatsu defense, ordinary Captain-level Shinigami would find it difficult to break through his defense, so the disadvantage of fighting bare-handed naturally no longer existed.
Moreover, in addition to defensive power, Ishikawa also possessed the Hollow's super-fast regeneration.
Furthermore, Ishikawa discovered that Hakuda was not purely close-quarters combat.
All along, Ishikawa's impression of Hakuda was close-range hand-to-hand combat.
Until…
A new student came to Ishikawa's Everything Store a few days ago.
This student, named Hachiharan Kumaō, was a Freshman at the Shin'ō Academy. After hearing about the Everything Store from older students, she came to the Everything Store to ask Ishikawa to teach her Hakuda.
Zankensoki!
Although these four techniques were the basic skills of Shinigami, most Central Spiritual Arts Academy students only focused on Zanjutsu, Kido, and Shunpo. Few people focused on Hakuda training, except for those who wanted to join the Onmitsukidō.
And this female student had very high spiritual power talent. It wouldn't take many years for her to become a Vice-Captain.
But Ishikawa paid attention to her not because of her talent, but because of her understanding of Hakuda.
Ishikawa glanced at the system interface.
Special Techniques:
[Bear Bite]Intermediate (1286/10000)
All the Hakuda Ishikawa had learned were encompassed within the Hakuda category and had never been separated individually.
Most techniques that could be categorized as special techniques were extensions of Zanjutsu, Kido, and Shunpo. Only Shunko barely counted as half… although Ishikawa mostly wielded his sword when in Shunko state…
Bear Bite!
This technique was precisely what Ishikawa had… learned by secretly observing Hachiharan Kumaō.
Initially, when Hachiharan Kumaō demonstrated it, Ishikawa didn't pay much attention because Hachiharan's Reiatsu was too weak, so she didn't fully demonstrate the power of this technique. Ishikawa only found it interesting at the time.
It wasn't until he saw this technique on the system interface that Ishikawa realized it wasn't as simple as he imagined, nor was it just striking a dragon claw pose and charging at the enemy.
Rather, it was about…
Form!
Hoo—
Ishikawa exhaled lightly, stopping his punching motion. Instead, he made his hands into a calyx shape, fingers spread, like an open mouth.
At the same time, Reiatsu was released from the acupoints in both hands in a special pattern.
Vaguely, a hint of vitality seemed to emerge behind Ishikawa.
Roar—
Accompanied by a bear's roar, a faint phantom of a giant bear actually appeared behind Ishikawa, its open maw consistent with the shape of Ishikawa's hands.
Ishikawa glanced at the bear shadow behind him, a strange look flashing in his eyes.
Indeed, one cannot underestimate anyone.
Due to her extremely weak Reiatsu, Hachiharan Kumaō at that time did not condense the 'form' of this technique behind her. It only slightly increased the destructive power of her claws.
But the truly terrifying aspect of this technique was the 'form' created by a special pattern and one's own Reiatsu. Although the current Hachiharan Kumaō did not yet understand this point.
The reason Ishikawa could use it was entirely based on her technique, using the system's enhancement to deduce the perfected version of this technique.
The calyx-shaped claws closed, and the giant bear tore at the empty space in front of Ishikawa.
Although the proficiency of the technique was not high, under the enhancement of Ishikawa's powerful Reiatsu, the empty space torn by the giant bear showed an almost imperceptible distortion.
Xingyi Quan~!
Ishikawa's gaze was somewhat peculiar. Although he had long known about the concept of Xingyi Quan, seeing someone use this method to perform a beast-shaped Xingyi Quan in the Soul Society made Ishikawa feel a strange sense of incongruity.
However…
The fact that Hakuda was not the pure close-quarters combat he had imagined reminded Ishikawa of another person in his memory.
Zero Squad's Ichibei Hyōsube!
In Ishikawa's memory, he had used a technique similar to Hakuda.
—Senri Tsūtenshō!
These two examples made Ishikawa realize that Hakuda was not as simple as he had imagined, and there was still much to explore within it.
If he could thoroughly research it, even before his Zanpakuto recovered, if he were to face another encirclement by the Espada, he might not be without a fighting chance!
Thinking of this, Ishikawa took a deep breath and began to step and punch again.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…
The whistling of his fists resumed. This type of training was extremely slow in improving Hakuda proficiency, but it allowed Ishikawa to quickly familiarize himself with his body, thereby getting used to the force, angle, and even the changes in Reiatsu between techniques with every punch he threw.
Da da da da da…
His constantly crossing legs were like a high-speed fan, with countless afterimages intertwining.
Strictly speaking, Shunpo was not suitable for use in close combat. To integrate it into close combat, certain changes had to be made to make it more flexible.
Only by coordinating footwork with the use of fists and feet could one truly achieve attacking while simultaneously dodging attacks.
In his mind, the various Hakuda techniques granted by the system surged forth at this moment, being constantly exploited by Ishikawa in various ways.
At the same time.
Ishikawa did not neglect the inspiration given to him by Hachiharan Kumaō and Ichibei Hyōsube, but instead pondered and thought seriously.
As his fists swung, their surfaces were covered with a layer of Reiatsu, like gloves.
Ishikawa had used this technique a few days ago when fighting the Espada, avoiding head-on clashes while still being able to exert his powerful strength.
As Ishikawa's fists swung, this glove-like layer of Reiatsu gradually changed its form.
And the Reiatsu changes at Ishikawa's hand acupoints also changed accordingly, making the Reiatsu changes outside his fists faster and faster, finally forming a Reiatsu condensed body that resembled bear claws, covering Ishikawa's fists.
"Hmph~"
With a soft grunt, Ishikawa opened his fists and pressed them down towards the ground.
Buzz~
The air vibrated, and the two bear claws immediately detached from Ishikawa's hands and struck towards the ground.
But…
The moment the Reiatsu output was cut off, the two bear claws suddenly vibrated, and before they even landed, they had already dissipated into Reishi.
It's not that easy, is it?
"The change in Reiatsu… and it also lacks the regularity and vitality of Bear Bite… The Reiatsu cutoff when the bear claws detach is also a difficult point."
Ishikawa muttered to himself, his hand movements not stopping at all, still continuously throwing punches as if by instinct.
While Reiatsu could make simple punches and kicks incredibly lethal.
Techniques, however…
could allow him to exert stronger destructive power with every punch and kick, even while maintaining the same Reiatsu intensity.
…
At the same time.
Inside the First Division barracks, a member of the Onmitsukidō's Rintei Squad knelt on one knee, reporting respectfully:
"The Shinigami Research and Development Institute reports that Arrancar reactions have been detected in the eastern part of Karakura Town, between the area points Guimao and Huangsong. A total of two Arrancar, exhibiting Reiatsu, concentration, and stability equivalent to the several Arrancar who appeared in the Soul Society last time."
"However, neither of them is in the Shinigami Research and Development Institute's database. Captain Kurotsuchi Mayuri speculates that they are Espada who did not come to the Soul Society last time."
Commander Yamamoto frowned upon hearing this and turned to look at Chōjirō Sasakibe, who stood beside him:
"How is the selection of the dispatched Squad progressing?"
"The selection has been completed. This time's Human World dispatch will be led by Captain Hitsugaya, with members including Vice-Captain Renji Abarai of the Sixth Division, Vice-Captain Matsumoto Rangiku of the Tenth Division, Third Seat Ikkaku Madarame of the Eleventh Division, Fifth Seat Ayasegawa Yumichika, and Kuchiki Rukia, who is most familiar with the Substitute Soul Reaper, among others."
"However, due to the Third Division, responsible for support, and the Fifth Division, responsible for rescue, currently having no Captains, and furthermore, the Vice-Captains of both Squads are now… struggling to accept their Captain's betrayal, it is difficult for these two Squads to organize emergency support and rescue."
"Support and rescue, you say?"
Commander Yamamoto pondered for a moment: "Let the Ninth Division be temporarily responsible for that."
"The Ninth Division?"
Chōjirō Sasakibe was startled. The Ninth Division was currently managed by Ishikawa. Although Commander Yamamoto allowed him to leave Squad Nine, he had not stopped the commission from the Captains' meeting at that time.
"Will he be willing to go?"
Although he had only met Ishikawa a few times, and those meetings were merely passing encounters, as the Vice-Captain of the First Division responsible for handling the internal affairs of the Thirteenth Division, he had reports on Ishikawa's whereabouts and all his actions to date.
The other party was indeed very strong, but also extremely unstable. However, overall, he was considered one of their own, just a bit disobedient to orders.
But there was nothing that could be done. The other party was neither a graduate of the Shin'ō Academy nor an official member of the Gotei 13. If it weren't for Commander Yamamoto's commission, he could completely ignore him.
"You can directly issue the commission to him in my name."
Commander Yamamoto paused: "Tell him, as compensation for this commission…"
"I can personally ask Captain Unohana to provide him with guidance on Zanjutsu."
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