"Yasutora Sado! Don't retreat! Don't try to evade!" Amamiya Miyako's command echoed sharply in the underground training space.
"Tch…" Chad (Yasutora Sado) gritted his teeth, watching as glowing spiritual energy condensed in Amamiya's outstretched palm. A cold sweat beaded on his brow. The pressure was immense.
"I said don't run! If you can't withstand a Kidō of this level, how will you face the attacks of a true enemy?! Come at me! Believe in the strength you hold!" Amamiya's voice was a lash, not of cruelty, but of necessity.
Chad's dark eyes, which had been clouded with hesitation, slowly hardened with resolve. He raised his massive, black-and-red armored right arm—the Brazo Derecha de Gigante—and charged forward with a ground-shaking step.
"Good! That's the way!" Amamiya thought, a flicker of approval in his eyes. He understood this power. It was fundamentally defensive. Only by enduring, by pushing its limits against superior force, could it evolve to its next stage.
"The bones of the beast that dot the plain! The crimson crystal spires! When they move, it is the wind! When they stop, it is the void! The sound of clashing spears fills the empty castle!"
"Hadō Number Sixty-Three: Raikōhō!"
After several days of sparring, Amamiya had gauged the defensive threshold of Chad's right arm. He carefully modulated the output of the Thunder Roar Cannon, calibrating it to be just enough to overwhelm Chad's current defense without causing critical injury.
The blast of concentrated lightning-energy shot forth. As it closed in, Chad felt the terrifying threat it carried in his very bones.
'Can I really block this…? He's a Vice-Captain who fought a Captain…' A sliver of doubt tried to worm its way in.
'No! It's not a question of 'can I'! It's that I MUST! I refuse… I refuse to be a burden any longer!'
BOOM!
The Raikōhō impacted Chad's raised arm with a deafening crackle of energy. He felt the bones in his arm scream in protest, a deep, resonant ache spreading through his shoulder. The force was staggering.
"URRRRAAAAAGH!" Chad roared, drowning out the pain. He planted his feet, refusing to be blown back. Then, against the torrent of destructive energy, he forced himself to take a single, monumental step forward. In that moment of supreme exertion, his right arm began to emit a brilliant, pure white light.
'It's happening.' Amamiya allowed himself a small breath of relief.
With a final, explosive surge of will, Chad swung his arm in a mighty arc. The Raikōhō's energy shattered against it, dispersing into harmless sparks that faded into the air.
As the light cleared, the new form of the Brazo Derecha de Gigante was revealed. The armor had transformed. Where once it was merely a massive, patterned gauntlet, the forearm had now expanded and reconfigured into a massive, sturdy shield. The black base and crimson patterns on its surface seemed to coalesce into a distinct, mask-like visage—uncannily reminiscent of a Hollow's face.
"This… is my power…" Chad stared, awestruck, at his transformed arm. He clenched his fist, feeling a deep, resilient strength coursing through it, far greater than before.
For Amamiya, these days had been fruitful as well. The intensive Kidō practice, combined with receiving pointers from the former commander of the Kidō Corps, Tessai Tsukabishi, had rapidly advanced his own proficiency.
"Amamiya-san! Please, again! I want to test this new strength!" Chad requested, his voice filled with newfound conviction.
"Very well. But this next one won't be so gentle."
Amamiya raised his hand once more, aiming at the formidable shield. The chant flowed with practiced speed.
"O' ruler! Mask of flesh and bone, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws."
"Hadō Number Seventy-Three: Sōren Sōkatsui!"
A twin torrent of blue-white fire erupted from his palms, roaring toward Chad. The teenager sensed the heightened destructive force immediately.
'But now… I can meet it!' Planting his feet squarely, Chad held his shield-arm horizontally and charged directly into the oncoming inferno.
KABOOOOOM!
The collision was cataclysmic. The blast tore gouges in the reinforced ground of the training area, and the shockwave rattled the very foundations of Urahara's shop above. Dust and debris filled the air.
As the smoke settled, Chad stood firm in the center of the devastation. His shield-arm bore several new, smoldering cracks and scratches, a thin line of blood tracing from one. Yet, he was not dismayed. A slow, determined smile spread across his face.
He could feel it. His arm could grow stronger still. Its limits were not yet reached.
"An impressive defensive power," Amamiya acknowledged coolly. "However, if it is only defense, it remains incomplete." Against esoteric or overwhelming abilities, mere toughness would eventually fail.
"Then allow me to show you, Amamiya-san. The true nature of the Brazo Derecha de Gigante." The moment he finished speaking, Chad vanished from his position, using a burst of pure physical speed to appear at Amamiya's side in an instant.
Amamiya, of course, had tracked the movement. As Chad's newly empowered fist, still clad in shield-like armor, swung toward him, Amamiya simply tilted his head to the side. The fist whistled past his ear.
The missed punch didn't strike anything, yet the sheer force of it compressed the air into a violent gust that shot past Amamiya and pulverized a cluster of stone training pillars behind him.
"Your explosive power and closing speed are good. But speed is meaningless if it cannot land a hit," Amamiya noted impassively.
Chad was stunned. He had moved faster than ever before, yet Amamiya had evaded it with what seemed like effortless ease.
"Alright. You've just awakened this new stage. Don't waste your spiritual energy recklessly. Focus on stabilizing and understanding it first." With that, Amamiya walked past the panting teenager, heading for the exit.
"Amamiya-san… thank you," Chad said, offering a deep, respectful bow to his retreating back.
"It's a mutual exchange. I'm not training you out of charity," Amamiya replied without looking back, waving a dismissive hand.
A few moments later, Kisuke Urahara sauntered into the training ground, his fan fluttering. "My, my! How does it feel, Chad-san? To grasp a brand new level of your own power?"
"It's… solid," Chad replied, examining his arm. "With this, I can fight alongside Ichigo."
"Ah, but let's not celebrate prematurely, Chad-san," Urahara said, his smile not quite reaching his eyes. "From what we know, the Arrancar possess a defensive power called Hierro—steel-like skin. At your current level, you may avoid defeat, but achieving victory is another matter entirely."
His words were a bucket of cold water, dousing the flame of confidence that had just ignited in Chad's heart. 'He's right. Even with this, against an Arrancar…'
"However, do not despair!" Urahara's tone shifted, becoming encouraging. "This power of yours isn't limited to just the right arm, you know."
"My… left arm?" Chad looked down at his ordinary, unadorned left hand in confusion. It felt no different.
"Precisely! Leave it to me. I'll have a little chat with Amamiya-san. We'll see about awakening the power sleeping in your left side as well!" Urahara promised cheerfully. While Amamiya hadn't yet revealed the specific power Urahara was watching for, Chad's visible progress was a promising sign.
Amamiya, for his part, was already several blocks away, his path set for Karakura General Hospital.
'Tonight… is Quincy training.'