Chapter 361: Satoru's Wild Training
"Haaah!!"
"Sleeping Bear Awakens Blindly!!"
Satoru shouted, springing up from his bed with a heroic, radiant smile.
Just as Aizen was about to say something, he saw Satoru smiling before suddenly vomiting a mouthful of blood.
"?"
Aizen found it hard to keep a straight face.
Using forceful means, he pressed Satoru back onto the bed, checking his physical condition while asking what had just happened.
When he heard Satoru say he could simulate battles in his mind with a realism close to the original, Aizen was somewhat surprised.
Most people could simulate battles in their minds.
He himself often used this method to rehearse techniques, confirming his ideas were sound before practicing them in reality.
But someone like Satoru, who could completely simulate another person's personality and engage in mental combat as if fighting the real individual—that was something he had never heard of before.
If forced, he could probably do it too, but the computational load required would be too great, making it not worth the effort.
With that time, it would be better to practice Kidō techniques or refine Reiatsu.
If it were anyone else trying to train this way, Aizen would likely consider them insane.
But... facing Satoru, he felt it wasn't entirely impossible.
After some thought, he decided to run a test.
"Come with me."
Taking Satoru, Aizen went to the training ground.
"Satoru, next, I will attack you with several techniques. Remember these moves and use your mental simulation to break them."
"After you've broken them, tell me your method. I'll judge the effectiveness of your simulation based on your answers."
"Oh, no problem, leave it to me!"
Satoru showed a confident expression, patting his chest.
Under Satoru's enthusiastic gaze, Aizen drew his Zanpakutō and attacked him.
Watching Aizen's attack patterns, Satoru dodged back and forth while showing a puzzled expression.
Aizen's attacks seemed fierce and threatening, but they actually had many openings—he could counter and defeat him at any moment.
Did he really need to use simulation for this? Wouldn't it be easier to just counterattack right here?
Thinking this, he prepared to act.
But before he could move, Aizen suddenly stopped:
"Alright, that's enough for now."
"Next, use your simulated combat ability to recreate the battle just now, then tell me how you would break it."
Under Aizen's watchful eyes, Satoru closed his eyes directly, recreating the previous battle in his mental world.
In a void, the training ground appeared.
Then, Aizen—elegantly holding Kyōka Suigetsu and standing on the field—was also simulated.
The simulated Aizen raised his hand, adopting a combat stance.
Looking at the simulated figure before him, Satoru spoke:
"Sōsuke, do you have any clever ways to break this combo you're about to use?"
Under his expectant gaze, the simulated Aizen chuckled.
"I am merely an image replicated in your mind. How much ability I possess and how much I know all depend on the information you are aware of."
"If you don't even know what techniques I will display, how could I possibly know?"
"Really useless."
Satoru clicked his tongue.
"..."
The smile faded from the simulated Aizen's face, his eyes narrowing.
Before Satoru could prepare himself, the simulated Aizen flashed forward, arriving right in front of him.
Amidst the flashing blade lights, the simulated Aizen swung three consecutive strikes following Aizen's previous attack patterns.
Having already witnessed these moves in reality, Satoru felt no pressure and easily dodged them.
However, just as he prepared to counterattack, he saw the simulated Aizen suddenly twist his wrist, changing his grip on Kyōka Suigetsu before abruptly raising the blade upward.
This technique hadn't been used by the real Aizen, causing Satoru to fail reacting immediately.
His already extended fist was grazed by the rising blade, leaving a blood trail on his arm.
"Huh?"
Looking at the wound on his arm, Satoru showed surprise.
Earlier in reality, he thought he had completely gained the upper hand and could freely overwhelm Aizen, never expecting his opponent had kept such a move hidden.
Gazing at the simulated Aizen before him, his excitement grew.
[Reset first version. Start over.]
The simulated Aizen's first backhand blade lift was easily dodged, but then he discovered the simulated Aizen had pre-placed a Kidō at his likely evasion spot.
During usual sparring, Satoru would typically charge through such Kidō, since it wouldn't cost him much health.
But today, his goal was zero damage!
Facing the Kidō laid by the simulated Aizen, he flickered aside, avoiding the upward shockwave.
After about ten minutes, Satoru opened his eyes.
"Finished?"
Aizen stood nearby with crossed arms, watching him calmly without rush.
Satoru nodded:
"I've seen through all your tricks!"
"Good."
Aizen nodded: "Come, try it."
They moved to the arena and recommenced battle.
Aizen's opening moves remained the same as before.
But when reaching the previously concluding moment, he didn't stop - instead, he snapped into a backhand grip and raised his blade.
Smack!!
Satoru grinned, using Risō Jakumetsu to forcefully knock back Aizen's blade.
Aizen gave an almost imperceptible nod before flicking his fingers.
A pre-placed Kidō emerged from the ground before Satoru.
As if anticipating this, Satoru immediately stomped down.
At the moment of impact, he deployed the exact same Kidō technique at his sole as Aizen's. When their Reiatsu collided, it produced a "Reverse Demon Mutual Annihilation" effect, causing both techniques to vanish simultaneously.
If the blade deflection could be explained as Satoru's improvisation, this counter-Kidō annihilation was undeniably the result of prior preparation.
After exchanging a few more moves, Aizen withdrew.
Continuing this pattern would only lead to embarrassment.
Observing Satoru before him, he felt complex emotions.
The subtle traps hidden in his movement details hadn't been immediately noticed by the real Satoru.
Yet after just over ten minutes of mental simulation, he had deduced all his techniques.
Could this guy actually be a genius?
Sheathing his Zanpakutō, Aizen pondered for a few seconds.
"This proves your simulation combat ability is truly remarkable."
"Being able to conduct extensive simulated training without consuming opponent resources is the optimal method for your rapid power growth."
"Combined with Superhuman Medicine, the simulation volume could increase thousands of times."
"Although your Reiatsu hasn't grown, this massive combat experience provides development no less valuable than Reiatsu itself."
"As for Reiatsu, leave that to me. I'll help you enhance your Reiatsu."
"What we need to solve now is the physical burden caused by your brain operating thousands of times faster under the influence of the Superhuman Drug."
"First is heat dissipation, which can be solved by immersing in liquid... No, your body heat is too high. Unless you're submerged in a lake or seawater, there wouldn't be enough coolant available."
"Nutrition consumption is also a problem. The brain is the organ that consumes the most energy. With your current usage, you'll likely run out of nutrients very soon..."
Hearing this, Satoru suddenly seemed to have an idea.
"Speaking of heat dissipation, I have a solution!"
...
...
Shin'ō Academy, a certain classroom.
Hitsugaya Tōshirō sat in the classroom with a serious expression, listening to the teacher's lecture while occasionally taking notes.
With his personality, he normally wouldn't study this seriously.
But, to repay someone's kindness, he had long resolved to persevere no matter how difficult or exhausting it became.
Simply becoming a Shinigami was far from enough.
At the very least, he needed to become as strong as that golden-haired, dark-skinned woman - strong enough to make Menos Grande tremble in fear - only then would he be qualified to repay that guy.
While organizing his notes, Hitsugaya Tōshirō communicated with his Zanpakutō in his mind.
In the past, when he lived with his grandmother, he had always thought this was a monster living inside him and didn't dare to communicate deeply with it, fearing the monster might escape.
After coming to school, he finally understood this wasn't a monster, but the spirit of his Zanpakutō.
When he stopped resisting the sword spirit and seriously communicated with it, he quickly gained its power and learned Shikai.
Nichio Kinoshita, who had been promoted to department head, was overjoyed when he learned that a first-year student had achieved Shikai.
He specifically sought out Tōshirō for a conversation, concerned about his physical and mental health.
After their talk, he was greatly pleased.
Though somewhat reticent and cold in personality, this Hitsugaya student was clearly a serious and hardworking young man.
He was infinitely better than that slacker from years ago who deliberately hid his abilities and made him look like a fool.
After their conversation, he casually asked:
"By the way, Hitsugaya-kun, have you thought about which division you'd like to join in the future?"
Hitsugaya Tōshirō nodded:
"I want to join the Eleventh Division and become Captain Mikami's subordinate."
"..."
For the rest of the day, Kinoshita felt like he'd been kicked by Komamura.
Another promising seedling was going to be turned into a reckless brute by the Eleventh Division.
Pain, such pain.
Just as Hitsugaya Tōshirō was concentrating on communicating with his Zanpakutō, the classroom door was suddenly pulled open.
Everyone in the classroom turned to look.
They saw a group of tall, imposing, and fierce-looking large men standing there with aggressive postures.
These muscular men wearing Shinigami Uniforms quickly scanned through the crowd with their eyes.
"Which one is Hitsugaya Tōshirō!"
The students instinctively looked toward the small white-haired boy sitting in the back row.
Because he had always focused on studying and training, Tōshirō hadn't made any friends.
The students had always kept a respectful distance from this mysterious boy.
Now that they saw Tōshirō had somehow offended Shinigami, no one dared to say anything.
Under everyone's gaze, Tōshirō slowly stood up.
He calmly looked toward the door.
"What is it?"
Only then did the teacher on the podium realize what was happening.
He quickly walked over, showing an angry expression, wanting to stop this violent behavior.
But before he could speak, he saw these large men neatly divide into two rows:
"Lord Hitsugaya! Mikami-aniki requests your presence!"
"Please come with us to the Eleventh Division!"
Tōshirō: "..."
???
Mikami-aniki, meaning Satoru?
Satoru was summoning him to the Eleventh Division?
His eyes lit up.
Could it be that the esteemed lord had heard about him and wanted to recruit him into the division early?
After a brief moment of excitement, he felt some concern.
Although he had mastered Shikai, his combat ability wasn't particularly outstanding, and his knowledge of various Shinigami skills wasn't solid enough.
Was it really appropriate to join a division at this time?
With somewhat anxious feelings, and under the surprised, envious gazes of the students behind him, he followed these Shinigami to the Eleventh Division...
...
...
Tōshirō had mixed feelings.
Before him was a large coffin-like box.
The man he had been thinking about was lying inside, eyes closed in slumber.
Various tubes were inserted into his body, pumping green liquid inside.
And he himself was holding his Zanpakutō, standing ready nearby.
Inside the coffin, Satoru's body turned red.
Large amounts of steam emerged from his body.
The large quantity of ice prepared earlier around him began melting at an extremely rapid pace!
Tōshirō quickly raised his Zanpakutō.
When the ice had mostly melted, he swung it fiercely:
"Reign over the frosted heavens, Hyōrinmaru!!"
As he swung his sword, a blue ice dragon materialized out of thin air, crashing into the coffin and forming a layer of solid ice that encased Satoru.
Satoru, who had been rapidly heating up, gradually cooled down.
Tōshirō raised his hand and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Since he had arrived here, he had repeated this same operation dozens of times.
According to Satoru and the bespectacled man nearby, this was his training.
Although the results were indeed quite good, was this kind of training really appropriate?
This cycle of hot and cold, hot and cold - could a person really withstand it?
He couldn't help but look toward the man named Sōsuke Aizen beside him.
He saw the latter smiling at the corner of his mouth, his glasses reflecting light, looking exactly like a villain boss from an LSP game.
Scary, very scary.
With heavy psychological pressure, he raised his Zanpakutō once again.
"Reign over the frosted heavens... Hyōrinmaru!!"
A new block of ice came crashing into the coffin...
Though young, Tōshirō's Zanpakutō had already revealed the potential to become Soul Society's strongest ice element.
With Hyōrinmaru's assistance, Satoru's special training began progressing at an astonishing rate.
Every day in the spiritual world, he engaged in life-or-death battles with Yamamoto without holding back.
At first, he only fought against Yamamoto using Shikai.
Gradually, as he grew accustomed to these mortal combats, Satoru began lifting restrictions on Yamamoto.
Until... he permitted Bankai!
In the spiritual world, Satoru stood with metal claws in hand, shadows writhing beneath his feet.
Before him stood Yamamoto Shigekuni, holding his ashen longsword with an expression devoid of emotion.
This marked their three thousandth confrontation with Yamamoto in Bankai form.
In the previous 2,999 battles, he had lost 2,128 times.
Every defeat ended in death.
Burned to death, roasted alive... most frequently, bisected by Zanka no Tachi.
Initially, death could still deliver significant mental trauma.
Slowly, even death ceased to frighten him.
Watching Yamamoto slowly raise his sword, Satoru took a deep breath.
He had a premonition - this time, he wouldn't lose.
After a brief standoff, both simultaneously stomped their feet and charged toward each other!!