In this pleasant and tranquil green space, bathed in sunlight, he sank into the absurd and strange inner world deep within his soul.
Aizen, on the other hand, withdrew his gaze and continued to look at the distant scenery of Seireitei.
The vibrant young people around him were constantly changing, yet the scene before him seemed to have remained the same for millions of years.
People and things.
Logically, things should change with people.
So if things haven't changed, it can only mean… the people who possess them haven't changed either; those who appear to be changing haven't actually changed much.
Their thoughts, like Urahara Kisuke's, could only leap and bound within the confines of the rules.
This has been the case for millions of years.
…
In his inner world, as far as the eye could see, it was still a desolate land.
Countless fungi grew rampant, but there was no trace of life's vitality, nor any trend of continued growth; it was as if they had always been this way from the beginning, and would remain so… time was frozen here.
Shimiya Takeru looked around, searching for the only lively figure in this dead silent world.
But the other party was nowhere to be seen.
There wasn't even the slightest unusual movement.
…No.
It wasn't completely absent either.
Shimiya Takeru seemed to sense something, looked up, and then witnessed a small black dot falling rapidly from the sky, without any deceleration, no different from a high-altitude freefall.
Soon after, with a 'thud,' it hit the ground, kicking up dust.
Now, the world finally became a little more lively.
"What are you doing?"
Shimiya Takeru felt like he was becoming more like Ichigo.
Because every time he came in, this guy always managed to pull off something different.
"Saying hello~"
As the dust dissipated, the elegant Mushroom Woman floated out of the deep pit. There wasn't a single scratch on her body; in comparison, the entire inner world seemed like dough, allowing her to knead it at will.
"Saying hello?"
"That's right… a grand entrance greeting in this world that seems unchanged for millions of years~ I quite like it, so you'll definitely like it too, after all, we are one heart and one body."
"Is that so… then after the greeting, I suppose we don't need to exchange pleasantries and can get straight to the point."
Shimiya Takeru slowly drew the long sword at his waist, pointing it along with his powerful gaze towards the Mushroom Woman in mid-air.
"The main topic, I presume, doesn't need explanation; you should already know."
"Bankai training, right?"
The Mushroom Woman spoke leisurely, not at all bothered by the sharp spiritual pressure emanating from the sword.
"Although half the progress was resolved during the subsequent subjugation phase, your progress in the materialization phase is still zero, and generally speaking, it takes over ten years of training for me to manifest in reality."
"I don't have that much time."
"How greedy. If other Shinigami were given the choice, they would undoubtedly spend ten years without hesitation to rapidly increase their spiritual pressure to the Captain level."
"After all, the process of nurturing a Zanpakuto and materializing it greatly enhances one's spiritual power; that's what you value."
"But you dislike the time it takes, so…"
The Mushroom Woman's lips curved into a beautiful, yet fierce, smile.
"My beloved master has turned his blade against his own Zanpakuto."
"By fighting, you violently force spiritual pressure into the opponent's body, using it as nourishment to accelerate the Zanpakuto's growth… Before, I put pressure on you, now it's your turn to put pressure on me?"
"What a great example of applying what you've learned."
"But I'm not angry at all, in fact, I'm very happy."
"Because what you like to do, I definitely like too; what I like to do, you definitely like too. Everything about me comes from you, like a mirror reflecting everything about you."
"So, when you raise your sword against me, I will also be impatiently… wanting to do the same thing as you!"
As soon as she finished speaking, countless dust motes flew out from under the Mushroom Woman's umbrella-like hat and skirt, sweeping towards Shimiya Takeru like a sandstorm, covering the sky and earth.
This is…?!
Shimiya Takeru's pupils contracted.
The next moment.
Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom…!
Endless flames engulfed the land.
From this scene, it was not difficult to deduce the true nature of the dust.
"How is it, the taste of'Star Ash' is good, isn't it… It's a pity there's no moon here, otherwise I could turn into a dragon. Speaking of which, Master, have you considered how to release the scabbard when there's no moonlight?"
"You're not planning to…"
The Mushroom Woman suddenly looked up, her eyes filled with blue light, and her high-concentration spiritual pressure actually materialized into a spiritual particle wall.
Ping!
"Hide with 'Transparent Dragon Scales' and wait for an opportunity to ambush, are you?"
Shimiya Takeru slashed in mid-air, directly shattering the spiritual particle barrier, but the sharp blade was dodged by the Mushroom Woman tilting her head, and then she pulled away.
Seeing this, Shimiya Takeru did not pursue further, but instead returned his sword to its scabbard, adopting an Iai stance, with intense spiritual pressure surging around him.
The smile on the Mushroom Woman's face disappeared.
"Although I also like what you like to do, there are some things I truly cannot do."
"Eight Phases Manifestation… Endonemī."
"Calling someone's name right to their face is also quite a foul."
"You talk a lot, that's definitely not something you learned from me, right?"
Shimiya Takeru was like a Buddha manifesting, his deep azure light so dazzling it was impossible to look at directly, and his words transformed into extremely powerful sound waves that shook the atmosphere, majestic and unrivaled.
But the Mushroom Woman—Endonemī herself—was no different.
A spiritual pressure no less inferior to his erupted.
Without a release command, she directly entered the same state.
Compared to a Buddha manifesting, she was more like a proud goddess herself.
Her beautiful hair fluttered, each strand sparkling like Colored Glaze.
Endless brilliant light enveloped her entire body, as if she were immersed in a lake of spiritual pressure.
"Perhaps. As I grow, there should be things about me that are different from you."
"That is truly something to look forward to."
Shimiya Takeru narrowed his eyes, moved his feet, and used exquisite Shunpo as if traversing space. His afterimage stretched into a black line, instantly shortening the distance between them, then he forcefully flicked his wrist.
—"Yuisen"!
The fleeting sword light was exquisitely brilliant.
There was no more beautiful and breathtaking trajectory to be found under the heavens.
The Mushroom Woman's upper and lower body were severed, but there were no wounds on her body, only a glowing trace that resembled a wound.
"This is…"
"This is also one of the uses of our abilities, you know, it's just not very helpful for you, and I don't wish to ever have to use it."
Shimiya Takeru keenly noticed some clues and couldn't help but gasp.
"…!"
"If you want to inject spiritual pressure, why don't we merge into one? I feel this is more efficient than mere combat."
The Mushroom Woman smiled again, as happy as a child.
'Spiritual Particle Fission' is a spiritual particle phenomenon; normally, spiritual particles do not have the concept of fission, but 'Endonemī' somehow made this seemingly impossible spiritual particle phenomenon a reality.
And because it carries subjective and idealistic elements, there are still many things it can do.
For example, during the fission process, the body and spiritual particles highly fuse, achieving an almost invincible spiritualized state for eight seconds, and then…
Boom!
A shocking tide of light swallowed the entire inner world.
"Yawn…"
"How come you've been so listless these past few days, even dark circles have appeared. You're not secretly training at night again, are you?"
On a main road leading from the Spirit Arts Academy to the Fifth Division.
Ichigo looked suspiciously at the tired black-haired youth beside him.
"Forget secretly training at night, I even want to skip my morning run during the day."
Shimiya Takeru waved his hand, uninterested.
"So what exactly have you been doing? It seems you've been like this since you went to the Fifth Division barracks. Hachihara even suspected you went to some shady places."
"…Your eyes tell me you seem very curious about those shady places."
"Are you kidding me!"
"Unfortunately, I'll disappoint you, but I've noted down that Hachihara guy talking bad about me behind my back."
"I told you I wasn't looking forward to it at all!"
"Yawn…"
Facing Ichigo's exasperation, Shimiya Takeru had no mind to continue teasing. As Ichigo said, he was very dispirited, with dark circles under his eyes, as if he had been staying up all night for days.
In fact, it wasn't true.
He was merely bombed too many times during the "Bankai First Stage: Zanpakuto Materialization" process. Although he was physically fine, his mental exhaustion was considerable, to the point that he had been listless for several consecutive days.
Even so, he had to persevere.
After all, it was truly effective.
At this rate, he could complete ten years of training in at most a month.
Even if the Second Stage: Subjugation was not completed, his spiritual pressure would steadily cross the minimum threshold for Captain-level.
Soon after, the two arrived at the Fifth Division.
Aizen and Hinamori Momo were waiting for them at the entrance of the barracks.
"Suddenly being told we're attending a First Division tea party, to be honest, I don't even know what kind of event it is, it's making me a bit nervous."
"It's not a grand event, really. They call it a tea party, but it's actually just the Captain Commander personally brewing matcha for everyone to taste… That being said, due to the Captain Commander's prestige, usually only Captains and Lieutenants attend."
Hinamori Momo smiled, reassuring Ichigo.
But Ichigo became even more flustered after hearing that.
"It's all Captains and Lieutenants, not even seated officers… What's the difference between this and a private gathering of the Gotei 13's higher-ups… Shigong and I, two Freshmen who just entered, going with you, won't anyone say anything unpleasant to Aizen-sensei because of this? I think that guy named Kuchiki Byakuya is very likely to do so."
"You can say that now, but don't say it later. I don't want to drink matcha contaminated by the dust from your fights. But I wouldn't mind if you were beaten up by the Captain Commander for being a disruptive brat."
As Shimiya Takeru spoke, some of the weariness on his face lessened, replaced by a hint of anticipation.
"You just want me to be unlucky, don't you? I still haven't settled the score with you for that Shihōin Clan guy bothering me all day."
"By the way, how did you deal with it in the end?"
"I suggested he pick a gift his sister would like, and he happily ran off after hearing that," Ichigo said grumpily.
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