The waiting time wasn't long.
They were only halfway through the basic points of Shunpo when two figures appeared before them hand-in-hand.
One was the female instructor who had just left, and the other was the 'Great Villain' Yuuki Shinnosuke, who had given all the students a hard time that morning.
While most people's attention was fixed on the returning female instructor, Suō Tsukasa keenly noticed that Yuuki Shinnosuke's overall sense of coordination had weakened.
He quickly located the cause of the anomaly. His gaze dropped and locked onto the source of the oddity: Yuuki Shinnosuke's left calf.
Even though it was covered by the trouser leg, Suō Tsukasa could faintly feel the spasmodic twitching of his left calf muscle and the abnormal flow of spiritual power.
"Oh... so he was kicked."
Understanding instantly dawned, and Suō Tsukasa could immediately reconstruct the scene that had just occurred between the two of them.
Given the female instructor's swift and resolute character, such an action was not surprising at all.
Yuuki Shinnosuke seemed to sense Suō Tsukasa's gaze. His large, copper-bell-like eyes turned over, a barely noticeable hint of embarrassment flashing across his face.
The female instructor released her grip on Yuuki Shinnosuke's upper arm, patted his shoulder, and spoke decisively.
"Shinnosuke, these people are in your hands now."
"You clean up the mess you made."
"Suō, come with me."
Without waiting for the others' reactions, the female instructor had already turned and walked towards the other end of the training ground.
"Yes!"
Suō Tsukasa quickly followed her, enduring the complex gazes of envy and jealousy from the people around him.
The attention focused on him soon retracted. They had grown accustomed to and accepted the fact that the instructor was giving Suō Tsukasa private instruction.
In the Shin'ō Academy, strength was the deciding factor. They could only blame themselves for not being strong enough.
The two stopped in the center of the training ground. The female instructor turned around and cut straight to the chase.
"How did you practice your advanced technique?"
"Your proficiency is somewhat unusual. The generation of the fulcrum is not only fast but very stable."
The female instructor's tone was not interrogatory but purely curious.
The advanced technique of Shunpo was not written in the textbook, as she feared students might overreach, trying to learn higher-level techniques before mastering the basics of Shunpo.
She knew Suō Tsukasa's background: he was reincarnated from a human into a soul and settled in West District Three. He came from the Rukongai and had no senior Shinigami relatives.
However, the level he had just displayed was not something that could be achieved by talent alone; it required systematic and targeted training.
"First, jumping in place, then stepping on water."
Faced with the instructor's question, Suō Tsukasa answered honestly, without concealment.
The advanced principle of Shunpo is similar to the Water-Walking or Tree-Climbing techniques in Naruto; both use energy to form a footing pad beneath the feet.
After the training that evening, once he could jump higher, he got a basin of water in his room and tried to walk on water, which he easily managed.
"Stepping on water, that's quite insightful."
A flash of surprise crossed the female instructor's eyes, and she nodded in approval.
The Onmitsukidō (Stealth Force) actually had a similar training method, which was to climb steep rock faces without foot-holds, using only the feet.
The spiritual particle density of air, water, and earth differs, meaning the spiritual pressure required and the difficulty of creating a spiritual energy fulcrum also varies.
Members of the Onmitsukidō could only proceed to the training of walking on air after successfully completing the rock-climbing step.
"Your technique is fine."
"The only thing you lack is the footwork."
"Most of what I learned comes from the Onmitsukidō. The only footwork I can teach you is Shukuchi (Reduced Ground)."
"If you want to learn some more advanced Shunpo techniques, I can recommend you for the Second Division after graduation."
She paused, her tone carrying a hint of recruitment and praise.
Members of the Second Division are mostly selected from the Onmitsukidō; applications from ordinary Shin'ō Academy graduates are usually not accepted.
"I already have a preferred Division."
Suō Tsukasa shook his head, declining.
He naturally knew about the Second Division, the one commanded by the Shunshin (Flash God), Yoruichi Shihōin, representing the highest level of Shinigami Shunpo.
Yoruichi Shihōin also passed down the Shihōin family's secret footwork to the current captain, Suì-Fēng (Soifon).
It could be said that joining the Second Division was the only legal way to obtain this highest-level footwork.
Although Byakuya Kuchiki also knew it, given his personality, the possibility of learning it from him approached zero.
The Onmitsukidō was good, but the mission process was too long and complicated. He had another crucial main quest line waiting to be completed.
"Mm."
The female instructor nodded. She had merely mentioned it in passing and didn't take offense.
It was not unusual for students in the elite class to have their own goals for Division placement.
"Keep your eyes on my whole body, and also carefully observe my footwork. Pay attention!"
She then officially began the instruction.
To allow Suō Tsukasa to see clearly, her movements were very slow.
She leaned her body forward, gradually increasing the angle. Her right foot stepped out seemingly simply, the stride not particularly large.
But the moment her foot landed, the space between her starting point and landing point seemed to have been extracted.
With just a few steps, her figure had appeared ten meters away.
A true teaching is a single sentence; a false one fills ten thousand volumes.
Suō Tsukasa also captured the key to the Shukuchi footwork: maintaining a straight body line and not bending the knees while moving.
When she returned, Suō Tsukasa spoke what he had observed.
The admiration in the female instructor's eyes deepened, and she nodded.
"The key to Shukuchi is not the length of the stride, but the tilt of the body and the action of the foot when lifting off."
"It's not simply running, but closer to springing."
"Come, try it."
"Yes!"
Nodding in assent, Suō Tsukasa began to adjust his posture according to the knowledge he had just learned.
In the first step, his body still wobbled awkwardly. By the second step, he had successfully grasped the basic essentials of the Shukuchi footwork.
As he practiced, his footwork became more proficient, and the distance of each movement gradually increased, reaching his current limit.
"Come back!"
"Remember this feeling. Next, combine the footwork with Shunpo."
"You run, and I'll chase. Try to evade my pursuit."
Taking in Suō Tsukasa's performance and progress, she called a halt to his practice and spoke after he came to a stop in front of her.
The moment her voice fell, she smiled slightly, and her body instantly vanished, transforming into an afterimage.
Suō Tsukasa reacted extremely quickly. His figure moved, and he immediately used Shunpo to escape.
At the same time he disappeared, the female instructor's figure flickered where he had been standing and immediately vanished again.
For a brief moment, the figures of the two crossed paths where Suō Tsukasa had just stood.
The sunlight shone on the training ground. The figures of the two were like phantoms, appearing and disappearing, constantly flashing rapidly in various corners of the training ground.
Gradually, the frequency of their appearances became lower, and the duration of their afterimages grew shorter. Only the clear indentations in the trampled green grass of the training ground remained remarkably visible.
This silent pursuit was not only Shunpo practice but a comprehensive workout involving body, spiritual pressure, and will.