"I see."
Toshiro understood.
"Moreover, it's not just the Dragon's Eye. Once you completely refine the Ice Dragon Pearl, all the power contained within it will belong to you."
Hyorinmaru continued.
"Really?"
Toshiro was pleasantly surprised.
However, Hyorinmaru then threw cold water on his excitement. "But, to completely refine the Ice Dragon Pearl, you need at least god-level strength."
"Well, forget it then. Though I believe I'll get there eventually, one step at a time, one bite at a time. For now, I'll focus on familiarizing myself with my own power, then think about other things later."
Toshiro said indifferently.
Then Toshiro continued to familiarize himself with his own power, while Hyorinmaru watched from the side.
Clang!
Toshiro drew the Zanpakuto from his back and softly chanted: "Bankai, Daiguren Hyorinmaru!"
Boom!
An immensely powerful Reiatsu spread out in all directions.
However, it didn't take on the world-freezing stance from before his breakthrough.
Firstly, because this time Toshiro was controlling his power.
Secondly, because Toshiro's Inner World was already an icy plain, full of ice and snow. Freezing it again wouldn't look any different.
Also, since he was in his Inner World, Toshiro didn't use his Weather Subjugation ability, so there was no scene of the world changing color.
Only Toshiro's body rapidly grew, transforming into his young adult form again.
Watching Toshiro's young adult form, Hyorinmaru couldn't help but tease: "You look quite good in this form. You should find a way to maintain it in the future. The Captain of the Gotei 13, always looking like an elementary school student, is bound to be looked down upon."
"Well, though I'm quite satisfied with my handsome young adult form and would like to maintain it, there's no way to do it..."
Toshiro said helplessly.
Toshiro was an adult in his previous life. Though by Soul Society standards, adding his previous and current lives together still placed him in the child category, even so, Toshiro wished to become an adult, not look like an elementary school student as he did now.
According to Toshiro's estimation, if left to natural growth, it would take him at least several decades after the end of the original work to become an adult.
To become an adult sooner, Toshiro had even secretly gone to Kurotsuchi Mayuri, asking if there were ways to speed up physical growth.
According to Mayuri, there were indeed methods, but they had some 'side effects'.
Forcibly altering the body's growth patterns would create hidden dangers, damage a Shinigami's potential, and be very detrimental to breaking through to higher levels later.
So Toshiro gave up on that idea.
"Hyorinmaru, do you know a way?"
Toshiro asked.
Since Hyorinmaru brought it up, maybe she knew of a method that had no hidden dangers but could still increase growth speed.
"Well, there might be a way."
Hyorinmaru thought for a moment before speaking.
"Oh? What way?"
Toshiro asked.
"Become a god!"
Hyorinmaru answered.
"Become a god?"
Toshiro was puzzled.
"That's right. If you can break through to god-level early and become a god, then at that time, divine power will transform your body once, eliminating hidden injuries and such, shaping your body into a perfect divine vessel. During the transformation, you can control your body to take on an adult form. And doing so won't leave any hidden dangers either."
Hyorinmaru explained.
Hearing Hyorinmaru's words, the glimmer of hope that had just risen in Toshiro's heart instantly vanished.
He had just broken through to Demigod-level, and hadn't even fully mastered Demigod-level power yet.
So breaking the Shinigami's limits and becoming a god... who knew when that would happen.
Maybe by then, he would have already grown up naturally, not needing this method at all.
So Toshiro said somewhat dejectedly: "Forget it, let's not talk about it. I still need to familiarize myself with the power after the breakthrough."
With that, Toshiro calmed his mind, cleared away distracting thoughts, and began testing the power of his Bankai.
After calming down, Toshiro discovered that his Reiatsu actually possessed a special power.
…
One month later.
Creak!
Toshiro opened the training room door and stepped out, taking a deep breath.
"Such fresh air!"
Toshiro said with some emotion.
During this month, Toshiro had ignored everything else, devoting himself wholeheartedly to training, familiarizing himself with the power gained from his breakthrough, rarely ever leaving the training room.
"A month's time is up. Now to go find Genryusai-sensei."
"Originally, I thought fighting Genryusai-sensei so soon after my breakthrough would definitely mean losing. But now, it's hard to say who will win!"
Toshiro said confidently.
After a month of effort, Toshiro had not only completely familiarized himself with his power, but even developed some new abilities.
Toshiro suddenly realized that with his current strength, even fighting Yamamoto might not necessarily mean defeat.
"So, Genryusai-sensei, I'll give you a nice surprise..."
With that, Toshiro headed towards the 1st Division.
…
1st Division, Duty Room.
"Genryusai-sensei, I'm here."
Toshiro stood outside the duty room and said.
"Come in."
Yamamoto's voice came from inside.
Then Toshiro pushed the door open and entered.
Inside, he saw Yamamoto handling paperwork.
Seeing this, Toshiro couldn't help but think: 'The Captain-Commander's workload is huge!'
In Toshiro's memory, it seemed every time he came to see Yamamoto, he was in the duty room handling work, as if the work was never-ending.
But the Captain-Commander's workload was indeed heavier than a Captain's.
Within the Gotei 13, Captains only needed to handle their own division's affairs. The Captain-Commander, aside from handling the 1st Division's affairs, also needed to oversee matters for the entire Gotei 13. His workload was indeed much heavier than that of a Captain like Toshiro.
'If being Captain-Commander is this busy, should I refuse Genryusai-sensei and let Shunsui do it?'
Seeing Yamamoto Genryūsai's busy state, Toshiro couldn't help but have such thoughts.
While Toshiro's mind was wandering, Yamamoto put down the document in his hand and said to Toshiro: "It seems you have mastered the power from your breakthrough. Then follow me. Oh, the location for the battle is not within the Soul Society."
"Not within the Soul Society?"
Toshiro was puzzled.