Chapter 27: The Combination of Kido and Swordsmanship…?
It was the same place as before.
The hillside where Takeru had been training.
Bang.
Ichigo hit the ground hard and lay there on his back, staring blankly up at the sky.
The sky was so blue, the sun so bright. It should have been a beautiful, healing sight, but right now it gave him no comfort at all. If anything, it just made him start questioning his life choices.
Seeing how shaken he looked, the spectators Takeru, Rindo Yu, and Hachihara, who had rushed over after hearing the news, as well as the outsider Isane, all felt a twinge of pity.
But sympathy? That they did not have.
Because after the big deal was finalized, Ichigo, the moment he heard the strongest Bakudo master in the entire Gotei 13 was willing to give him personal guidance, had sprinted back without a word.
What he never expected was that Retsu Unohana, a woman, and a medical Captain at that, actually preferred real combat.
Out of kindness, Ichigo had suggested they use wooden swords or bamboo swords to avoid any accidental serious injuries.
After all, he had been growing too fast.
Ever since unlocking Shikai, his spiritual pressure had been surging by the day. By now he had stepped into the realm of a Captain class Shinigami.
That kind of progress would make even a genius cough blood.
Even compared to Takeru, who was hailed as a monstrous talent, Ichigo had already surpassed him in raw Reiatsu.
So even when standing across from an actual Captain of the Gotei 13, he did not feel any pressure. On the contrary, he was worried about hurting her.
Besides, medicine should be about peace.
You could not really slice someone open and then demonstrate how to treat the wound on the spot, could you? That would be going a bit too far.
If you absolutely had to demonstrate how to fight at high intensity while healing yourself at the same time, then at this stage, bruises and swellings from wooden or bamboo swords were more than enough for practice.
That was how Ichigo had reasoned things out.
He had clearly voiced all his concerns, and Unohana had agreed very readily.
The result was…
"Kurosaki kun, how much longer do you plan to lie there? Your enemies will not politely wait for you to heal up on the ground."
Unohana stood there holding a wooden sword in one hand. Her loose shihakusho and Captain's haori made her look graceful and soft rather than ready to fight.
Her calm tone and gentle smile made it clear she had not used anything close to her full strength. There was no trace of having fought at all.
Her face was clean. Her clothes and hair were immaculate.
Even her spiritual pressure remained in its most natural state, as unhurried and casual as sleeping, eating, drinking tea, or chatting.
"… Tch."
Ichigo snapped back to reality and tried to get up, only to almost collapse again when sharp pain and weakness shot through his knees.
"It seems you have reached your limit," Unohana said.
Her eyes, as if they could see straight through his shihakusho, fell calmly on his knees and the injuries beneath.
"No. I can still keep going… One more round!"
Although he had grossly underestimated her combat ability, especially her swordsmanship, Ichigo's fighting spirit had not slackened. If anything, it burned hotter after that doubt flashed across his heart.
He planted the wooden sword in the ground like a cane and forced himself up.
Unohana's brows rose slightly.
"You can stand that quickly?"
"Yeah. After being knocked down so many times, I finally sort of figured out the trick. You have to heal the injury the moment you get hit."
Ichigo grinned, as if showing off.
Even from the sidelines, Takeru and the others could see the Bakudo spiritual pressure gathering around his knees, wrapping the joints like invisible bandages. In that state, even if he forced himself to stand, or moved in short bursts, his injuries would not worsen.
Being able to pull that off already meant his Bakudo had reached a very impressive level.
Unohana could not help but look at him in a new light.
"I must admit, Captain Aizen's judgment was correct," she said. "Bakudo suits you very well."
"It is my honor to be recognized by Captain Unohana," Ichigo replied, straightening a little. "So… let us continue!"
Completely overwhelmed by a wooden sword, he finally adjusted his attitude.
But Unohana had no intention of attacking again.
"There is no need, Kurosaki kun. You have already grasped the basics of advanced Bakudo. From here on, what you need is steady accumulation and breakthroughs during real combat."
"Huh?"
"In other words," she said, "you have learned how to run. Now it is about learning how to run faster."
Takeru walked over and offered him a hand.
"Congratulations, Brother Kurosaki. That beating was not wasted," he said kindly.
"Even if that sounds like sarcasm, I am going to take it as you being jealous," Ichigo muttered, annoyed.
"Is Takeru kun jealous of Kurosaki kun's progress?" Unohana's soft voice floated over. "There is no need. I also have some insight into swordsmanship, so helping you continue your unfinished training should not be a problem."
As her words fell, Takeru instinctively opened his mouth to refuse.
But before he could speak, his arm suddenly felt lighter. He turned to see Ichigo shrug off his support and limp toward Rindo Yu and Hachihara, waving as he went.
"You guys go on ahead," Ichigo called back. "I will not get in your way."
"???"
For a moment, Takeru felt like he was looking at a stranger.
"Very well," he said at last. "I just so happen to have a few questions about swordsmanship that I have wanted to discuss."
"To realize that much is already proof you are a qualified swordsman," Unohana said approvingly.
She casually drove the wooden sword into the ground, then reached for the hilt again.
Her slender, snow-white hand, as if untouched by sunlight, closed around the grip. As she slowly drew the blade free, its edge caught the light, flashing coldly. From start to finish, the motion had a strange, quiet beauty.
"And only a qualified swordsman," she said softly, "has the right to create her own sword style."
There was something in her tone that suggested another meaning beneath the words.
Ichigo and the others traded looks, stunned, then turned to Takeru with faint confusion.
What they did not notice was how Isane's shoulders trembled, her face turning slightly pale, as if she were recalling something terrifying.
"But still," Unohana continued, watching Takeru shift his stance, adjusting his center of gravity, each movement flowing together with a strange, compelling rhythm.
As his iaido posture settled, that quiet rhythm sharpened into something like a killing intent.
"Something like this," she murmured, the smile on her lips fading as her eyes lowered and took on a peculiar light, "cannot yet be called swordsmanship."
For no reason, a chill swept across everyone present.
Takeru felt it most clearly.
Even so, he remained calm, his hand resting lightly on the blue hilt at his waist, his entire being radiating a composed stillness.
"Something like this, huh…"
"Is Captain Unohana's guidance starting now?" he asked quietly.
"For something that is not swordsmanship, there is only so much I can teach," Unohana replied.
Her gaze slid down to Takeru's wrist and stayed there.
"There is no point in pretending. Your spiritual pressure outlet is in your wrist, feeding Reiatsu into the scabbard. And I am very sure that what you are channeling is Kido spiritual pressure."
"If I am not mistaken, you have disguised a Kido spell as an iaido technique. It can kill an enemy, yes, but what actually kills them is not the blade. It is the Kido formula you built into the motion."
"Of course, I have no objection to that approach."
"On the contrary," she said with a faint smile, "I admire your creativity, Takeru kun."
"By combining Kido and swordsmanship, you can indeed give swordplay more possibilities."
"You have already taken half a step into the realm that belongs to Kido. But the remaining half, the part that belongs to swordsmanship…" Unohana shook her head faintly. "I am afraid that will take you a long time. Your foundation in swordsmanship is still far from enough."
At those words, Takeru's expression stiffened.
"… Combining Kido and swordsmanship, huh. Is that what you think this is, Captain Unohana?"
"Did I misunderstand?" she asked.
Takeru did not answer.
Instead, he chose to draw his sword.
And it was in that instant that Unohana realized something she could not ignore.
This was not the move she had seen before.
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