"I'm back!"
Just as Kazuma and the others were wrapping up their discussion regarding Kūgo Ginjō, the front door slid open.
Hiyori kicked her shoes off and stomped into the house.
At the sound of her voice, Kazuma turned his head and a smile appearing on his lips.
Hiyori froze.
Her face fell the moment she saw him. "Huh? What the hell is the Captain doing in the World of the Living?"
Kazuma stood up, his large hand landing heavily on Hiyori's blonde head, ruffling her hair.
"What's this, Hiyori? You're not happy to see your captain? And what's this I hear about you becoming a massive gaming addict while I was gone? Is that what I sent you to the world of the living for?"
Saitō, sitting on the couch, tilted her head and started whistling innocently, looking up at the ceiling.
Kazuma narrowed his eyes at the purple-haired woman. "Saitō, what's with that reaction?"
Saitō shrugged, putting her hands up. "Nothing. I just think you have a very good point, she really needs to focus more on her training."
Kazuma shook his head helplessly and turned back to Hiyori. "Look at you now. You don't look like a Shinigami at all."
Hiyori pouted, slapping his hand away. "Hmph! Who says a Shinigami can't play an arcade game? Besides, I haven't been neglecting my training!"
"Forget it. I won't bother lecturing you. But be mindful of your image." Kazuma sighed.
Hiyori nodded grudgingly. "I know, Captain."
She then tilted her head, narrowing her eyes. "But seriously, why are you here? You never leave your lakeside cottage."
"Official business, of course," Kazuma smiled.
He glanced at Hiyori, a thought suddenly occurring to him. "Actually, Hiyori, there's something I want to ask you."
Hiyori blinked. "What is it?"
"Kūgo Ginjō. How much do you know about him?"
Hiyori frowned. "Ginjō? That Substitute Shinigami guy Ukitake is always going on about? I don't know much about him at all. Why? Did he do something?"
Kazuma shook his head. "It's nothing. Just asking."
Hiyori gave him a highly suspicious look but didn't press the matter.
Batsu'unsai clapped her hands together, breaking the tension. "Alright, stop chatting about work. Dinner is ready!"
...
After the meal, everyone was resting in the living room.
Saitō suddenly flashed a mischievous grin and looked at Kazuma. "Kazuma. How about some digestive exercise?"
Kazuma raised an eyebrow. "What kind of digestive exercise?"
Saitō smirked, cracking her knuckles. "A fight, of course!"
Kazuma quickly waved his hands in refusal. "Absolutely not! This safehouse is too small to go all out. I'll level the neighborhood."
Saitō was unfazed.
She shot Kazuma a smug look. "You don't have to worry about collateral damage. Batsu'unsai and I built a massive, reinforced training ground under the house for Hiyori's training."
Hiyori sat on the floor, completely baffled.
'Didn't that crazy woman explicitly tell me the Captain was a monster?' she wondered.
'Why is she actively asking for a beating? Is Saitō a masochist?'
Kazuma opened his mouth to decline again, but Saitō was already walking toward the hidden cellar door.
She looked back, tossing him a wooden bokken. "Come on, Kazuma. Scared?"
Kazuma caught the wooden sword, offering a helpless smile. He followed Saitō down into the subterranean training ground.
Batsu'unsai and Hiyori followed, standing on the reinforced sidelines to watch.
"Begin!" Batsu'unsai called out.
Saitō didn't hesitate. She blurred, launching a devastating overhead strike.
Kazuma used Shunpo to side-step, instantly bringing his bokken up to counterattack.
The two clashed, moving at blinding speeds, trading heavy blows back and forth.
Watching from the sidelines, Hiyori grew more and more astonished. She had originally thought the Captain would end the spar in a single, crushing second.
She never expected the crazy purple-haired woman to actually trade blows with him on even ground.
Not only that, but their sheer combat skill left Hiyori in awe.
In her memory, the Captain's movements were always impossibly clean, felling enemies with a single, unseeable strike.
Batsu'unsai leaned over. "Hiyori, haven't you noticed?"
"Noticed what?" Hiyori asked, unable to take her eyes off the blurring swords.
"Feel his Spiritual Pressure."
Hiyori focused her senses.
A look of shock appeared on her face. "How... how can this be? How did the Captain's Reiatsu get so low?!"
To Hiyori's senses, Kazuma's Spiritual Pressure could now be easily measured and quantified.
Before, whenever she stood near him, all she felt was a suffocating ocean of power.
It felt like standing at the bottom of the sea.
But now, that bottomless feeling was completely gone.
Although his Spiritual Pressure was still incredibly dense, it no longer felt immeasurable. It had shrunk from an ocean to a small, deep lake.
Batsu'unsai smiled. "Kazuma had his Spiritual Pressure sealed by the SRDI before coming to the World of the Living. He's a proper Captain now! It's mandatory for him to wear a Gentei Kaijo seal to avoid crushing the human souls above us. He is currently fighting at exactly ten percent of his total power."
Batsu'unsai chuckled. "Why else do you think Saitō challenged him tonight? You don't really think she's stupid enough to fight him at full strength, do you?"
Hiyori's jaw dropped.
'Ten percent?!' she thought.
She finally understood Saitō's true intentions: the crazy woman was taking advantage of the handicap to get some hits in.
At the same time, the sheer, terrifying gap between herself and her Captain fully solidified in Hiyori's mind.
Even at ten percent, his movements were flawless!
...
On the field, Kazuma and Saitō were oblivious to the sidelines.
They were completely absorbed in the rhythm of the blade.
Kidō spells flew wildly across the cavern as neither side gave an inch. Their Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Shunpo, and Kidō were all at the absolute pinnacle of Shinigami skill.
Since neither was using their true Zanpakutō, all that was left was raw technique and stamina.
As the spar dragged on, Kazuma's flawless defense gradually wore Saitō down.
Seizing a microsecond opening in her guard, he stepped inside her reach and launched a blunt, heavy thrust to her chest.
Caught off guard, Saitō was sent flying backward, skidding across the stone floor.
"Saitō, your footwork is getting sloppy in your old age," Kazuma laughed loudly, lowering his wooden sword.
Saitō climbed up from the ground, tossing her bokken aside and dusting herself off.
"Haha! You really are a freak of nature! Even with a ninety percent handicap, your physical strength is absurd. I concede."
The spar came to an end.
Saitō turned to the sidelines, a wicked grin on her face. "Hiyori! This is a rare opportunity to fight a handicapped monster. Don't you want to test yourself?"
Hiyori gripped her own wooden sword, eager to try.
She knew this was a rare learning opportunity.
She hopped over the barrier. "Captain, I want to try!"
Kazuma smiled, motioning for her to attack. "Come."
Hiyori took a deep breath, dropping into a low stance, and launched herself at Kazuma.
After being brutally trained by Saitō, her Shunpo had reached a terrifying new level, one that would put an average Vice-Captain to shame.
She thrust her blade at his center mass.
Kazuma didn't even draw his wooden sword.
He casually sidestepped her blindingly fast thrust, reached out, grabbed Hiyori by the wrist, and used her own momentum to flip her violently over his shoulder.
Hiyori hit the stone floor hard, the wind knocked out of her lungs.
"Good speed, but too much telegraphing in the shoulders," Kazuma evaluated coolly.
Hiyori scrambled up, her pride stung, and attacked again.
This time, she was more cautious, utilizing feints and rapid footwork to find an opening.
Kazuma handled her with insulting ease, parrying her strikes with his bare hands and effortlessly pointing out the flaws in her posture with every deflection.
After a dozen rapid exchanges, Hiyori was panting heavily, her arms trembling from exhaustion, but she refused to give up.
"Alright, that's enough," Kazuma said, holding a hand up. "You've improved drastically, Hiyori. Saitō has done good work with you. But you still need to refine your center of gravity."
Hiyori pouted, dropping her wooden sword. She knew trying to land a hit on him was a pipe dream. Even the madwoman couldn't beat him at ten percent power.
As for a Kidō spar, Hiyori didn't even consider it.
Saitō looked over at Batsu'unsai. "You're not going to try?"
"I have absolutely no desire to fight my husband," Batsu'unsai smiled sweetly. "You can keep dreaming if you want to see us spar."
Saitō rolled her eye. "Boring."
"Wifey, let's go!" Kazuma called out, tossing his bokken aside.
He walked over, pulled Batsu'unsai by the hand, and led her out of the training ground.
Hiyori and Saitō followed close behind, each lost in their own thoughts about the depths of Kazuma true power.