Chapter 233: First Encounter with Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto x Debate on Swordsmanship
The world was still that world, and beneath his feet was still the familiar Seireitei...
But not far ahead, a ray of light faintly appeared, along with a door revealing a corner, waving at him.
Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto sat cross-legged on the corridor of the small courtyard, basking in the sun. Close at hand was the simple and unadorned walking stick that concealed Ryujin Jakka... The old man quietly watched this suddenly appearing door and light. His old eyes suddenly narrowed, shooting out two divine lights, startling the orange and raccoon cats playing in the courtyard into puffing up their fur...
"What is wrong, Eijisai?"
Wearing a Shihakusho with a high-collared shirt underneath, with white hair and golden eyes, sometimes dressed in Western style, Chojiro Sasakibe was tending to the two potted plants in front of him as usual. He keenly sensed a trace of an anomaly and turned to look...
The old man remained silent, only reaching out a withered hand to touch his chest, feeling the heart that had weathered over two thousand years of time still beating steadily, yet it had suddenly skipped a beat... Deep in thought, Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto stared closely at the light-overflowing portal in front of him and slowly said, "Chojiro, can you not see it?"
"See what?"
"The door, right behind you."
"?"
Chojiro Sasakibe frowned. Knowing Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto's temperament well, he knew very well that his Captain would not lie, and never disdained to lie.
Since he said there was a door behind him, there must be a door!
The man calmly put down the watering can in his hand, and in an instant, raised his hand and hurled it fiercely in the direction Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto mentioned!
Bang~
The watering can passed straight through the portal overflowing with light, flying and landing in front of Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto, caught firmly in the old man's hand with a casual grab.
"It seems it is not waiting for you."
The portal was right in front of them, yet Chojiro couldn't see or touch it... How many years had it been? Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto didn't know how many years it had been since he encountered something that could pique his interest and... that he couldn't see through at a glance!
Thump~ Without reason, that heart that had experienced the wind and frost of two thousand years of battle beat half a beat faster again...
The old man touched his chest, and with a backhand motion, threw the watering can back to Chojiro Sasakibe.
Trailing his long beard, he slowly stood up. Halfway up, he raised his hand and summoned, and the walking stick concealing Ryujin Jakka was firmly grasped in his palm. Then... Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto's figure flashed, bathed in the overflowing light, and entered the portal, disappearing.
"Wait for this old man to go take a look." He informed Chojiro Sasakibe as such.
Chojiro Sasakibe bowed slightly, watching his Captain leave without the slightest worry... Firstly, it was his absolute confidence in Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto. Secondly, if there was truly danger, then... not just Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto, but the entire Seireitei and the entire Soul Society would likely fall... After all, for two thousand years, Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto had been the strongest Shinigami, the strongest person in the Human World, Hueco Mundo, and Soul Society, bar none.
However, what Chojiro Sasakibe didn't expect was... the Captain's soul had left, but his shell was still sitting cross-legged in the corridor, making him freeze in shock!
It should be known that a Shinigami is a pure, highly concentrated Reishi single life form, unlike "humans" who still have a physical shell as a vessel for the "soul"... In other words...
Any living thing active in the Seireitei, whether Shinigami or Rukongai resident, or even cats and dogs, are essentially souls. Logically speaking... the phenomenon of the "soul leaving the body" should be impossible.
Yet, it had just happened... Chojiro Sasakibe frowned at the silent, meditating Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto. The old man was sunbathing as usual, so... what was the "thing" that had just left holding the sword?
Unable to figure it out... Chojiro Sasakibe instantly lost the mood to water the flowers. Secretly raising his guard, he sat down next to Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto, maintaining vigilance... In a hazy, groggy state, Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto also noticed his own anomaly. With a trace of inquiry, he drilled into the door. When he looked up again, what caught his eye... was a "dazzling" long sword!
That straight sword was not a katana. The blade was covered in pitch-black flame patterns, though in style... it somewhat resembled the simple and unadorned walking stick he held in his hand.
Resting on the ground, it was a walking stick; drawn out... it was a sword!
Moreover... as the old man slowly approached along the path of gathering light... he keenly sensed a wave of heat!
This heat wave scorched the air like boiling water, surging outward layer by layer. At first taste... it was approaching... ten thousand degrees!
A sword wreathed in flames, condensing light...
"Is he summoning this old man?"
Closer... Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto finally saw clearly... straight ahead was a lush, green garden... In the garden, a young boy with black hair flying in the wind was turning his back to him, drawing his sword towards the sky, absorbing the sun's essence.
That boy was very young, but also very sharp... Seemingly hearing his footsteps, he looked back, separated by the overflowing light... One old and one young, one leaning on a cane, one raising a sword like a cane, quietly staring at each other... Silence enveloped Kukuroo Mountain at this moment...
"What is he looking at?" At eight o'clock in the morning, transitioning from spring to summer, the weather was getting warmer. Plus... [Solar Eclipse] absorbing the sun's essence, pushing away waves of heat... When Silva returned with the doctor responsible for the delivery, the man crossed his arms and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Maha.
Watching the boy stare blankly in a certain direction, he frowned slightly.
"I don't know," Maha said, picking his ear.
"Grandpa doesn't know either?"
"You don't know what your son's 'Nen ability' is either, do you?"
Silva: "..."
He fell silent.
Maha looked faintly at Roy, not bothering with him, only saying, "Existence is reasonable. If the child doesn't want to say, you don't need to ask... He is someone with his own ideas."
"At least... more assertive than you."
Silva: "...Yes."
Grandfather and grandson... one tall and one short, one burly and one shriveled, shut their mouths simultaneously.
Not far from the window, Tsubone supported Kikyo as she went down to rest. In the massive garden, only Roy remained, obsessively holding up his sword, his consciousness immersed. He saw the old man not far away trailing a long beard, meticulously trimmed and braided, falling to the ground. He nodded and greeted him without losing courtesy.
"Roy Zoldyck," he said.
"Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto," he replied.
"Are you practicing swordsmanship?" Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto squinted at [Solar Eclipse]. "What is its name?"
Roy felt the "light" and "heat". At this moment, he no longer treated the sword as an extension of his arm, but rather as an extension of his "life" and his inner [Visualization Object], relying on his own [Ren]. He said warmly, "Solar Eclipse."
Solar Eclipse?
What an... ambitious name!
Listening to the call of the Asauchi, learning its true name... It seems this boy in front of him has completely mastered [Shikai], and even... [Bankai]!
A bright light suddenly flashed deep in Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto's old eyes. The geta under his feet moved, and with a flash, he appeared right beside Roy, facing the ten-thousand-degree high temperature as if it were nothing. He carefully savored it and said, "It lives up to its name, just... the temperature is a bit lacking."
"[Zanjutsu], [Hakuda], [Hoho], [Kido]... Was that [Shunpo] just now?" Roy noticed Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto's ethereal and elusive footwork. He moved like teleportation, truly worthy of the name [Shunpo].
The boy's gaze shifted, and he smiled. "Compared to you, old man, it's naturally not worth mentioning."
Ryujin Jakka, Itto Kaso, Tenchi Kaijin, the limit... nearly a hundred million degrees of high temperature, approaching the surface of the sun... It was not an empty reputation.
Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto's eyes moved, and he looked over sideways. "You know me?"
Standing close, the old man could clearly smell the vibrant vitality emanating from deep within Roy's soul. In an instant, he deduced...
His actual age wouldn't be very old, or even... very young.
Perhaps because of old age, or perhaps because of the unique nature of Shinigami, being one or two hundred years old in the Soul Society could only be considered... young.
And the boy beside him, at most, wouldn't exceed 13 years old. Young... extremely young... so young that he lacked experience and knowledge, and shouldn't have had the chance to come into contact with him, let alone... know that a figure like him existed in the Seireitei...
"I suppose we know each other." They hadn't met before, but since they were meeting now, it counted as knowing each other.
Without waiting for the old man to speak, Roy let [Solar Eclipse] drink its fill of the sun's essence and confessed honestly, "I didn't expect you to come. I was just... thinking earlier about what I must do to show true gratitude towards the Way of the Sword."
Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto was stunned. His withered large hand that was rubbing his walking stick slowly vibrated as he looked at the boy. "So, this is your realization?"
Roy was also stunned. "Is there a problem?"
Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto remained silent. He simply drew his own sword, his Ryujin Jakka... Boom! Surging flames shot straight into the sky!
Overwhelming, unparalleled Spiritual Pressure poured down!
In just an instant, it completely dwarfed Roy and Solar Eclipse!
It was like a firefly crashing into the great sun, an ant encountering an elephant... Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto didn't even use Bankai. He looked deeply at Ryujin Jakka and said faintly, "This old man's sword does not have as grand a name as yours, but there is one thing: it is stronger than yours."
"Ah—" Despairing screams and roars suddenly emanated from Ryujin Jakka... Roy was dazed for a moment, as if he saw hundreds of millions of dead souls struggling to climb out of Ryujin Jakka. That visual impact made his heart waver, and he began to pant...
Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto stood right next to the boy, holding the sword vertically in his hand. With a swipe of his hand, he forcibly erased the dead souls, then tilted his head, looked at Roy, and said indifferently, "It can kill better than you can!"
"Kill!" Like thunder rising from flat ground, Roy's nostrils flared. Even though he was physically standing in the garden, his drifting consciousness felt as if he had been placed in a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. Prostrating beneath his feet were nothing but corpses scorched by fierce fire, some even having their features burned away, their noses and eyes indistinguishable.
Fortunately... Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto didn't seem to intend to make things difficult for him. Withdrawing the sword in his hand, it turned back into that unremarkable, simple walking stick. As the door branded with the "horned corpse demon" in Roy's Sea of Cognition closed... his figure turned into specks and slowly dissipated...
In the end, he left only one final profound look and a leisurely sentence that echoed in Roy's ears, lingering for three days without fading...
"This old man does not understand gratitude, only slaughter... Boy named Roy, if one day we meet again, you might as well let me witness it..."
Creak~
The portal of light dissipated.
Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto's consciousness returned. Opening his eyes again, he was back in the Seireitei, in that familiar small courtyard...
"Meow~" Under the corridor, an orange cat and a raccoon cat sat side by side, looking at him curiously. Beside them was Chojiro Sasakibe, who was standing guard...
The old man recalled Roy's appearance. With his grizzled beard trailing on the wooden floor of the corridor, he fell into deep thought. Upon returning to his senses, he said faintly to Chojiro Sasakibe, "You are right, this old man... should take a disciple."
Chojiro: "..."
He froze for a moment. When he brought this up last time, it was actually... vaguely just a joke. Now he asked curiously, "What did you see inside?"
Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto looked up at the sky, the bright sun incredibly warm, and a sharp glint flashed in his piercing eyes: "Light... a very bright beam of light..."
Then Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto closed his old eyes and said no more.
Chojiro Sasakibe was completely baffled. Seeing this... he didn't ask further, picked up the watering can again, and began to water the flowers. Just like the butlers of the Zoldyck family, who, after Roy sheathed his sword and returned to his senses, gradually entered the garden to start repairing the lawn and tending to the flowers.
[Prompt: Through "Gratitude", you triggered an enlightenment in the Way of the Sword, attracting the gaze of "Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto". You were fortunate enough to discuss the path with him and behold Ryujin Jakka, "Swordsmanship" +1000]
[Current "Swordsmanship": LV4 (41570/100,000)]
The panel popped up... As the notification sound faded, Roy bathed in the sunlight. With a backhand motion, he used [De-Conjuration] to decompose [Solar Eclipse] into a wisp of Nen, returning it to himself. He carefully savored the words Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto had spoken. After a moment, he raised his head, took a deep breath, and a muddy shoal appeared beneath his feet. When he reappeared, he was in the corridor hallway. Maha looked over at the right time: "Found an answer?"
Roy's gaze bypassed the old man, gave a slight nod to Silva, and after pondering for a moment, replied, "My original imagination of 'Gratitude' was to lean towards my inner [Visualization Object], but later..."
"I realized I seemed to have overlooked a very serious problem."
Silva: "What problem?"
"Slaughter!" Roy's expression turned stern: "The Way of the Sword is not only about gratitude, but also slaughter... or rather... killing is the true nature of the Way of the Sword!"
Ryujin Jakka was but a single sword, yet it could bury a billion dead souls... Roy felt that since he was born and gained consciousness, the people he had killed... were too few... too few... So few that, although Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto didn't say it out loud, just by drawing his sword he could completely outshine him. Roy felt that if there was a next encounter, at the very least... he couldn't lose so miserably again. At the very least... he needed to show some real progress!
"Hmm... As an assassin, you are indeed unqualified," Maha agreed fully.
"Then kill more." Silva brushed past Roy's shoulder, heading upstairs to see Kikyo: "Wait until Killua is born. Wherever you want to go, whoever you want to kill, it's up to you."
"Alright." Roy watched Silva leave, then resumed his steps, turning his back and walking towards the training room.
Tap... tap... The boy had visibly grown much taller. The shadow cast on the ground was even longer than Maha's.
The old man, hands behind his back, watched him leave closely. In an instant, he was dazed, as if seeing... the Zzigg of the past, who, like a stubborn mule, plunged into the Dark Continent without looking back. He called out faintly to the boy, "When you get back, go see Zzigg."
Roy paused his steps and nodded solemnly.
Needless to say, he was going too~!
And incidentally... kill people... until he kills... a God!
☆☆☆
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