(Sorry guys, a thief broke into my house and stole a lot of stuff, please be a little patient until i recover a bit. thank you)
"Nine thousand eight hundred sixty-seven... nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine!"
"Not a bad performance, silly boy."
In the sealed space, Shutara Senjumaru's lazy voice echoed, a hint of surprise flashing through her slightly narrowed eyes.
"I didn't expect you to actually stick with it. In terms of sheer willpower alone, I'd call you the strongest."
In the open space ahead, Naraku Sora had stripped off his upper garments. His muscle lines were near perfect, shoulder blades raised to display extreme power, his spine taut like a drawn bowstring.
He stood before a pristine white wall, looking as though he had been drenched in a torrential downpour, dripping wet all over.
With a low, muffled shout, Naraku Sora's right fist blasted forward abruptly.
Bang!!!
The moment his fist bone collided with the wall, a dull sound of impact exploded. A visible wave of air burst from the center of contact, surging out in all directions.
Completing the final punch of his training, Naraku Sora slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.
'I actually lasted.'
Even he hadn't anticipated that he would truly be able to complete such hellish training.
This was the Spirit Body Tempering Room that Shutara Senjumaru had built years ago, specifically designed for the cultivation of spirit bodies.
When inside, the user would withstand omnipresent Reiatsu pressure, which would continuously increase in intensity to match the user's upper tolerance limit.
When those with weaker Reiatsu faced truly powerful existences, the immense gap in pressure could cause them to completely lose their combat ability, or even faint on the spot or die.
This matter was even recorded in Coyote Starrk's Autobiography.
If it were merely Reiatsu pressure, this Spirit Body Tempering Room wouldn't have been worth Shutara Senjumaru's personal effort to build.
Aside from the external influence, the Reishi inside the space was abnormally active, capable of immediately replenishing and repairing the spirit body the moment any minute damage occurred.
Not only could it alleviate the negative effects of the Reiatsu on the user, allowing them to adapt quickly to the high-pressure state and sustain their training for longer, but it also improved the toughness and intensity of the spirit body through the constant cycle of damage and repair.
With so many benefits mentioned, there was naturally a downside.
The entire process was excruciatingly painful, something an ordinary Soul Reaper could not endure.
Lasting a few minutes was already the limit for a common Soul Reaper.
Yet even so, people continued to come here to try.
For no other reason than that this method of training truly made one stronger.
As for Naraku Sora, because his spirit body had been enhanced, combined with a one hundred percent increase in growth potential, he had completed a transformation that could be called magnificent from head to toe.
Under these circumstances, the Spirit Body Tempering Room was almost tailor-made for him.
As long as his will of steel was hard enough, he could continue training until his mental energy was completely exhausted.
No flashy moves were needed; he only had to put his full strength into the impact of every punch.
Naraku Sora felt as if he were a piece of steel, transforming bit by bit under a thousand hammer blows.
Continue!
After briefly adjusting his state, Naraku Sora focused his attention once again on the white wall before him. Immediately, his fist wind arrived with fierce swiftness, smashing straight ahead.
Boom!
Violent tremors rang out incessantly, like a rousing symphony marching toward its true climax amidst the percussion of impacts.
Heavy pressure assailed him from all sides, as if he were deep under the sea; even his internal organs were enduring pressure bordering on the limit.
This was a comprehensive tempering of the spirit body!
As the rhythm accelerated, the tyranny in Naraku Sora's bones gradually revealed itself. The smile on his face became increasingly ferocious, just like his posture when entering battle.
His eyes were full of bloodshot veins, and the corners of his mouth grinned to a nearly hideous degree. His uninhibited style filled the watching Shutara Senjumaru with emotion.
"This appearance reminds me of someone."
"That fellow's fighting stance in his early years was exactly the same as Naraku's. Although he became much steadier as his status rose, he still couldn't change that style of aggression like fire."
Thinking of this, a thoughtful glint flashed in the depths of Shutara Senjumaru's eyes, and she muttered to herself:
"Perhaps I could find a teacher for the silly boy?"
While she pondered, Naraku Sora's tempering became increasingly heated. His entire body turned into a weapon, frantically unloading onto the indestructible wall.
Under the powerful recoil force, terrifying cracks appeared on his skin one after another. Blood mixed with beads of sweat seeped out continuously, yet was quickly repaired by his powerful regeneration ability.
The cycle repeated, like a perpetual motion machine.
Shutara Senjumaru discovered a blind spot:
"Hey, if I remember correctly, the active Reishi in the Spirit Body Tempering Room alone shouldn't be able to achieve this level of repair effect, right?"
"Is it a regeneration ability inherent to his spirit body?"
"Or is it... the power of the Hollow?"
As her voice fell, her slender fingers tapped lightly against the void, and countless threads composed of Reishi appeared out of thin air.
Interweaving, entangling, wrapping.
Shutara Senjumaru used this method to measure various data points during Naraku Sora's training.
Including but not limited to the peak value of his Reiatsu, the state of his spirit body, the depletion of his mental power, and so on.
Naraku Sora was not affected even if he occasionally touched the Reishi threads.
One person was addicted to training and couldn't extricate himself, while the other was deeply immersed in researching data.
The two were compatible in an unspeakably strange way.
At first, Naraku Sora had been a little panicked when he learned that Shutara Senjumaru knew about his Hollow powers. But as they spent more time together, he discovered that this bad woman was a completely different species from normal Soul Reapers.
Or rather, high-end researchers in the Soul Society all had some psychological issues, more or less.
So much so that when Naraku Sora was alone with her now, he simply threw caution to the wind, not caring at all about secrets.
Everyone was about the same anyway.
Boom!
In the final bombardment, a red light flashed in Naraku Sora's eyes, and his fist bone, wrapped in crimson Reiatsu, crashed abruptly onto the hard wall.
In an instant, an airwave swept through the entire sealed space, shredding all the surrounding Reishi threads.
"Well, it's finally over."
Shutara Senjumaru raised her head, revealing her mature and exquisite profile, the corners of her mouth slightly raised:
"Your performance really exceeded my expectations."
...
...
Leaving the Spirit Body Tempering Room, Naraku Sora dragged his exhausted body toward his residence.
As the 10th Seat Warden of the Shino Prison, not only did he have fixed quarters within the squad barracks, but he had even been allocated a longhouse mansion.
Though he usually didn't go there to live.
However, the moment he slid open the door, a cold, piercing light attacked him straight on. The offensive was so fierce that it even erupted with an ear-piercing sonic boom.
Naraku Sora's gaze tightened, and his crimson Reiatsu exploded instantly.
At such close range, there was simply no time to draw his sword.
Reacting on instinct, his fist bone wrapped in Reiatsu blasted forward abruptly.
Boom—
The moment the two fists collided, a visible shockwave exploded instantly, and spiderweb-like cracks fractured the ground beneath their feet.
A gift from the Araki family—
The assassin had arrived!