Bleach: Reborn — Chapter 138 - Special Tutoring

"I'm so tired..."

After a full day of training, Yū Nakai collapsed onto his bedding. As an exceptional admission student who'd failed multiple physical assessments, Class A's training, and the sheer intensity of his classmates' competitive drive, had far exceeded anything he'd imagined.

"It's been one day, Nakai-kun. The road ahead is long." Wayne sat at his desk, voice calm. The boy wasn't physically strong, but he had grit. Even when his bones felt ready to give out, he'd still dragged his exhausted body along and carefully supported Wayne back to the dormitory, fulfilling his duty. That had moved Wayne, just a little.

"Just call me Yū, Big Brother Tsukishiro." Sprawled across his bed, Nakai barely had the strength to lift his head. "I want to keep up. But my Reiatsu's too weak. I can't sustain a full day of classes."

"The Academy's instruction doesn't cover Reiryoku absorption training. Students mostly recover Reiatsu through sleep and food. If Nakai... if Yū-kun finds the drain too heavy, perhaps eat something and rest early. Tomorrow you'll wake up with some muscle soreness, but your mind and Reiatsu should recover well enough."

"True. I should shower first." Yū Nakai hauled himself upright with visible effort. "Can't sleep reeking of sweat. Big Brother Tsukishiro would find me disgusting."

Watching him drag his tired body toward the bathroom, the corner of Wayne's mouth curved faintly. Two days of observation had convinced him this student named Yū Nakai probably wasn't someone sent to monitor him. Too many gaps, so many that even if this were an act, it would be overdone. Even Tobi wouldn't ham it up that hard.

Still, Wayne kept his guard up. His own growth wouldn't escape Aizen's notice, but at this stage, he hadn't yet entered Aizen's field of vision. Whether Kaname Tōsen would even mention him to Aizen after their encounter was an open question.

But that didn't matter. In time, Wayne would certainly have his chance to cross paths with Aizen. It was only a question of when. Until then, improving himself was his only path forward.

Setting aside thoughts of Yū Nakai, Wayne opened the window, sat on the tatami, and began his daily Reishi absorption.

Seireitei's Reishi was abundant, its concentration extraordinarily high, and within the Academy, even more so. Wayne half-wondered whether the Academy had planted some kind of spiritual flora that drew Reishi up from underground and dispersed it into the air for students to absorb. That would explain the density.

Idle speculation. If the chance ever arose, he could ask the 12th Division. Might yield an unexpected find.

Wayne entered a peculiar breathing state, his Reiatsu perception fully open. Every blade of grass, every tree in his surroundings flowed into his awareness.

His method of absorbing Reishi differed from other Soul Reapers'. They recovered and increased their Reiryoku through eating and sleep. Wayne did that too, but on top of it he added another layer: absorbing Reishi directly through breath.

This special breathing technique was, in essence, nearly identical to the Soul Absorption he'd used in his Gillian days. He'd only modified it slightly to conform to a Soul Reaper's Reiryoku circulation pattern, a weakened version that drew Reishi from the atmosphere without damaging the souls around him. A single breath using this technique yielded roughly the same Reiatsu as consuming an entire mountain fowl. But Wayne's habit was to refine, purify, and compress whatever he absorbed. That slashed the total volume of Reiatsu per breath, but the quality of his Reishi far exceeded an ordinary Soul Reaper's. As long as he breathed diligently enough, he'd eventually match others in sheer quantity too.

About half an hour later, the bathroom door opened. Yū Nakai stepped out. The shower had eased some of his fatigue. He walked to his bedding, sat down, and quietly watched Wayne, still deep in meditation.

Wayne had sensed him the instant he emerged. He simply chose not to acknowledge it, observing Nakai's every movement through his Reiatsu perception. But it seemed he'd misjudged him. For the next half hour, Nakai did nothing. He just sat there watching Wayne, apparently waiting for him to finish.

"Hah..." With a soft exhale, Wayne dispersed the weakened Soul Absorption and opened his eyes, turning toward Nakai as though just noticing him. "What is it? Something you want to say, Yū-kun?"

"No." Yū Nakai shook his head. "I was just thinking — Big Brother Tsukishiro, with talent as exceptional as yours, still works this hard. You were absorbing Reishi from the air just now, weren't you? Just watching, I could feel your Reiatsu rising bit by bit. I don't know why, but... I feel so envious. If only I could be as outstanding as you."

"You can." Wayne smiled. "Everyone's natural talent differs. But as long as you're willing to work, even if you can't become the most elite warrior, you can still become a high-ranking one. Put in enough effort, and making something of yourself is absolutely possible. I can teach you a breathing method — one that lets you absorb Reishi from the air a little faster than usual. Consider it a small return for the help you've given me."

"Really?" Nakai's face lit up. "I can really learn it?"

"Yes. This breathing method can't replace sleep, but two hours of meditation a day will net you no less Reishi than eight hours of sleep would. Of course, how much you absorb depends on your constitution. Take in too much at once, and your body won't handle it. Want to try?"

"I want to learn! I want to learn it!" Hope blazed in Nakai's eyes, the kind of desperate longing that couldn't be faked. Even directed at Wayne, who had already lost his sight, those eyes still burned with it. Proof that Nakai's desire to grow stronger was entirely genuine.

"All right. First, sit properly. Breathe in and out — use your abdomen. Let the Reishi circulate in your belly, pass through your core, and spread through your limbs and body..." Wayne weakened the Soul Absorption further still, reducing it to a version that only gathered two or three times the Reishi of normal breathing. That intensity would let Yū Nakai meditate for five or six hours straight. If he was as eager as he seemed, then for the next five or six hours, Nakai would have no other activities at all, which would give Wayne freedom to act. He wasn't worried Nakai would try anything. On the surface, this was teaching. In reality, it was a way to carve out more room to maneuver.

Wayne wouldn't let Nakai's behavior lower his guard. Being friends was fine, but when caution was called for, caution was necessary. Whether Aizen's Kyōka Suigetsu could work on the subconscious to induce hypnosis, that, Wayne didn't know. If Aizen snapped his fingers one day and some strange switch inside Yū Nakai flipped open, it would cost Wayne more than he'd gained.

Nothing else came up that night. Wayne and Yū Nakai simply absorbed Reishi through their breathing techniques until dawn.

The next day, Wayne rose early for class as usual. Yū Nakai showed up with dark circles under his eyes, but his energy was more than sufficient. Replacing sleep with meditation, he wasn't used to it yet. In time, once he could perform the breathing technique in a sleep state, rest would never be a concern again.

The day's class was Kidō. Before it began, Wayne was called aside by a teacher dispatched from the 4th Division.

"Tsukishiro Hinamori — is that you?" The teacher was a female Soul Reaper with refined, delicate features.

"It is," Wayne answered.

"I heard about your situation from Seventh Seat Mizusue. I'm here to take you somewhere separate to study Kaidō." She pointed toward a small room nearby.

"I can't be the only one without Kidō talent."

"That's true. But none of the others are like you — possessing extremely high Reiryoku control with zero bodily sensitivity. As long as they have some degree of sensitivity, they must study Kidō first. You are the exception. And Seventh Seat Mizusue specifically singled you out and asked me to give you private tutoring."

"This..." Wayne winced internally. Was it really appropriate to say that so openly? There were fifty or sixty students standing right behind her.

"Kaidō is a form of advanced Kidō, but it only requires strong control over Reiryoku. I don't have high expectations that you'll master it while still a student, but since Seventh Seat Mizusue asked, would you like to try?"

"...Very well." Wayne turned and pretended to glance back at the students. In reality, he fixed his gaze on both Momo and Nakai. Then he nodded and accepted.

They went together to the adjacent room. Inside, aside from a desk and chair, there were only two thick books.

"The books were written using Reiryoku. Provided by Seventh Seat Mizusue."

"I see." Wayne nodded. He understood now, this Soul Reaper named Mizusue had been paying him particular attention. But he still couldn't quite figure out why. Was it because of something he'd said? His talent? Other divisions had extended olive branches, but none had done so quite like Seventh Seat Mizusue of the 4th Division. A faint question lingered: what, exactly, had earned him her favor?

"Wait... Seventh Seat?" Something clicked. "The Seventh Seat of the 4th Division... is named Mizusue?" Wayne couldn't quite recall. In the Bleach manga he'd read, he had no memory of a seated officer by that name. But the Seventh Seat position, wasn't that supposed to belong to Hanatarō Yamada? Though the main storyline was still thirty or forty years away... had he not been promoted yet?

He kept the thought to himself. Bringing up another Soul Reaper's name out of nowhere might arouse suspicion. At this stage, laying low and developing quietly was what mattered.

"The first part of this book covers improving your Reiryoku control. The middle section is Kaidō theory, formation methods and instruction. The final section covers Kaidō's various applications: healing injuries, repairing severed limbs, restoring the soul, spiritual power, and so on."

"Oh?" Wayne's eyebrow lifted. So Kaidō wasn't just for treating injuries, it operated across multiple dimensions.

"Whether Soul Reaper or Rukongai soul, their fundamental nature is a being composed of a soul bound with Reishi. Master the repair method, and even severed limbs or internal organs can be restored with relative ease."

"A form of regeneration, in other words?" Wayne murmured.

"You could understand it that way." The teacher nodded. "Within the 12th Division, there's a medicine called Flesh Restorative. It can restore a severed arm instantaneously."

"Is it restoration, or regrowth?" Wayne asked instinctively. The two were entirely different. Restoration meant the new arm functioned normally and flexibly, just as before. Regrowth meant a new arm grew in its place, muscles, nerves, and bones all needing time to adapt. Though for emergencies, it would certainly suffice.

"Good question." A faint smile touched the teacher's lips. "From a medical standpoint, the term is regrowth. Although it is regrowth, the neural connections and muscle density are simulated based on the individual's baseline physical condition to replicate the arm's pre-severed state. So it can also be considered restoration."

"Impressive technology." Wayne drew a quiet breath and nodded in genuine admiration. He was truly interested in the medicines and Reishi-science produced by the 12th Division. Back when he'd commanded his own forces, if they'd possessed equipment and compounds comparable to what the 12th Division could produce, whether Aizen could have taken his fortress with Kyōka Suigetsu alone would have been a genuine coin toss. "In that case, wouldn't the 12th Division's technology surpass the 4th Division's treatments?"

"The 12th Division's technology requires raw materials. The 4th Division can move across a battlefield and provide front-line medical care to injured Soul Reapers at a moment's notice. The two cannot be compared." The teacher's brow furrowed slightly. "The 12th Division's compounds suit individual combat. The 4th Division's medical teams and supplies operate across an entire battlefield, treating many Soul Reapers at once."

"I see. That was presumptuous of me." Wayne nodded. After a moment's thought, he set aside any intention of probing for information about the 12th Division. "Then I'll leave it to you, teacher. I'll study Kaidō seriously."

"Good. Then let's start with Reiryoku control." The teacher nodded. "I know your control is already strong, but I still need to understand exactly what level you're capable of. Follow my instructions from here. First..."

For the time that followed, Wayne remained in that small room with the 4th Division teacher, practicing Reiryoku control and studying Kaidō theory. Outside on the training ground, the sound of students chanting spirit-words gradually rose, followed by successive explosions and crackling thunder. None of it reached him. Reiryoku control, output, return flow, reversal, Wayne executed every step with precise, effortless accuracy. The teacher couldn't help but stare, eyes wide and bright.

At last, a day of testing and instruction came to an end. The 4th Division teacher had only two words for Wayne.

Genius.

➤ Next: Kaido