Bleach: Reborn — Chapter 139 - Kaido

Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Nine

Genius, that was the assessment the Fourth Division's visiting instructor gave Wayne. His control over Reiatsu was more refined than veterans who had been Soul Reapers for decades. Outside of the word "genius," the instructor simply could not find a better term.

The truth of the matter was that Wayne had carried over his experience controlling Reiatsu from his past life as a Vasto Lorde. He had lost the raw power of a Vasto Lorde, yes, but not a single bit of that Reiatsu-control experience had faded.

A seasoned veteran with decades of experience had suddenly been reborn as a complete novice, how could his proficiency in Reiatsu control possibly be lacking?

"What a shame. If you had even the slightest sensitivity to Reishi phrasing, you would be the top candidate for the Kidō Corps' focused cultivation next intake." The instructor said this with a hint of regret, but still taught Wayne Kaido with great enthusiasm.

That said, even Wayne could not master Kaido in an instant. Yet when the instructor saw that faint green glow kindle in Wayne's palm, she gave a satisfied nod.

Successfully activating it on the very first attempt was not unheard of, but it was exceedingly rare. The healing output was still very low, but she believed that with increasing practice and growing proficiency, this blind student before her would achieve no small level of mastery in Kaido.

Likewise, Wayne felt a quiet joy after successfully activating Kaido for the first time.

In his previous life as a Hollow, he had also possessed high-speed regeneration. Kaido, by contrast, was a slower method of healing, but as one's Kaido ability grew, both the speed and quality of healing would rise with it. Wayne turned this over in his mind: if he could refine his Kaido technique to a mature level, could it one day replicate his high-speed regeneration, restoring his wounds in an instant?

Teacher and student each had their own thoughts. Wayne began asking questions about the intensity and speed of Kaido's wound-healing, and the instructor on her end patiently explained everything in detail, her goal of giving him private tutoring had already been achieved. As for whether Wayne would choose the Fourth Division in the future, that depended entirely on how well she played her hand.

Soon, the day's lessons ended, and every student trudged back to the dormitory on exhausted legs.

A full day of Kidō training had drained these students, whose Reiatsu reserves were not yet fully developed, to the point of utter exhaustion. Some students had burned through their Reiatsu entirely by the afternoon, and had been forced to sit on the sidelines and rest, recovering their Reiatsu.

Beyond the exhausted students, quite a few had also sustained injuries. These were caused by errors in Reishi phrasing or mistakes in Reiatsu circulation, resulting in Kidō backlash that harmed the caster, and Yū Nakai was among that group.

Fortunately, today's training had only covered the lower-numbered Kidō spells, so the damage was not high and the backlash was not severe. To handle such situations, the instructors had specifically arranged for Fourth Division members to be present, ready to treat students at any time.

Except for two unlucky souls who were truly too unskilled, during training for Hadō No. 4, White Lightning, they had accidentally blown their own fingers open and fractured bones. The rest of the students suffered only minor burns or small lacerations.

"Ow, ow, ow..." Back at the dormitory, Wayne heard Nakai's yelping before he even stepped inside.

As a student who was far behind the others, Nakai had clearly taken more injuries than most. Momo on her end had already progressed to Hadō No. 8, while Nakai was still locked in a struggle with Kidō No. 2 and No. 3. Still, he was lucky, those two unfortunate souls did not include Nakai, since his Reiatsu output was low and the backlash it produced was correspondingly weak.

"Your first time experiencing Kidō backlash tends to go like this. Just keep familiarizing yourself with Reishi phrasing and Reiatsu circulation." Wayne raised his hand.

"I just happened to learn Kaido today. If you don't mind, Yū, I can treat your injuries."

"Really? That's great!" Yū Nakai sat up from his bedding and slowly raised his injured hands toward Wayne's. "Then I'll leave it to you, big bro Tsukishiro. The Fourth Division instructors today were completely swamped. My injuries weren't fully treated before I was carried to the side to rest. This works out perfectly."

"Mm." A faint green glow lit up in Wayne's palm as he began treating Nakai.

The moment he got started, he discovered that healing was truly a task demanding meticulous attention to detail. He had not noticed this during the class exercise earlier, since no one had actually been injured for him to practice on. But the moment Nakai's arms came into contact with the green light in Wayne's palm, Wayne felt as though those arms had been magnified a thousandfold beneath his spirit sense, every muscle fiber, every tendon, every sinew and bone fell clearly into his perception. Then, through the Reiatsu channeled from his palm, he began restoring the damaged areas bit by bit, as though he were personally rebuilding the cells at the site of each injury. The wounds closed slowly, steadily. The Reiatsu-driven healing was slow, but Wayne worked through it methodically, treating every injury on Nakai's body one by one, leaving not even a scar behind.

By the time Wayne finished treating him, nearly two full hours had slipped by. For those two hours, Nakai had stood before Wayne without moving, allowing Wayne to administer his still-unrefined Kaido.

"That took so long..." Wayne remarked at the passage of time.

The dormitory's timekeeper was a water clock. Each time it filled up marked one hour passing, after which it would flip over and mark a dot as a record of that hour. Fortunately, the water clock incorporated Reishi, so Wayne had no trouble sensing it, otherwise he would have had a hard time explaining how he could tell the time.

"Wow, it's completely healed!" Yū Nakai looked at his hands and cried out in delight.

"It just took a long time." Wayne withdrew his hand, which still faintly shimmered with green light, and returned it to its normal state. "To think that treating just the arms took two full hours. Clearly there is still much I have to learn about Kaido."

"Don't say that! Big bro Tsukishiro is already amazing. Meanwhile I can't even get the first four Hadō spells right."

"Everyone has things they're good at and things they're not. Don't sell yourself short. Take someone like me — I have absolutely no sensitivity to Reishi phrasing. Kidō is simply beyond my reach. Yū, your Reishi phrasing sensitivity isn't particularly outstanding either, but your control over Reiatsu is stronger than most people's. Once you finish the Kidō curriculum, I'd recommend giving Kaido a try as well. Combined with the breathing technique I taught you, you should be able to stand out from the crowd fairly quickly."

"That... that actually makes a lot of sense!" Yū Nakai's eyes suddenly lit up. "In that case, I want to try Kaido too. Big bro Tsukishiro, could you teach me?"

"Of course. Then let's start from Reiatsu control." Wayne held nothing back, students helping each other improve was simply good for learning. It was one-sided instruction on Wayne's part, but for Wayne himself it was little more than review.

For now, though, Yū Nakai clearly did not have Wayne's level of control. He was unable to condense the green light of Kaido in one attempt the way Wayne had. So Wayne had no choice but to start from the very basics of Reiatsu control and have Nakai begin practicing from there. On top of that, there was still tonight's breathing and circulation exercises to get through, so Yū Nakai was going to have another sleepless night.

The residents of Soul Society are souls; they have no inherent need for sleep. The reason for resting at all is to replenish the Reishi the body needs throughout the day. When Reishi is abundant, going several days without sleep is perfectly fine, at worst, one's mental state suffers a little. Yū Nakai clearly fell into this category. A few days without sleep was no problem, since the gains from absorbing Reishi lately far outweighed what sleep could provide.

With Nakai entering a training state, Wayne naturally had time to himself. He positioned himself at the window and began absorbing Reishi from the atmosphere using a weakened version of Soul Absorption. Unlike Hollows, whose internal spiritual power automatically surges to the next level once it reaches a certain threshold, giving an instant massive boost, the Soul Reaper system offered only continuous accumulation. The difference between strong and weak came down purely to natural talent and time spent in training.

To use an example.

If Shiro-chan's talent were rated at one hundred, then the amount of Reishi he could absorb and grow in a single day would be one hundred.

If Nakai's talent were rated at ten, then it would take him ten days of effort to absorb the same amount of Reishi that Shiro-chan gained in one day.

However, Nakai was currently stronger than Shiro-chan, the reason being that if Shiro-chan were the equivalent of one year old right now, Nakai had already been alive for ten years.

That was the Reiatsu growth brought about by time versus talent.

While there was no equivalent to leveling up, Soul Reapers did have a similar means of advancement: the Zanpakutō. A Zanpakutō's form and abilities were modeled after the Soul Reaper's own soul. A Soul Reaper obtained power by coming to know their Zanpakutō, or by giving it a name, and conducting a spiritual dialogue with it. That was the awakening of the Zanpakutō: Shikai, and Bankai. Three stages in all, and with each stage reached, that Soul Reaper's Reiatsu would surge sharply to a higher tier. How much it surged depended entirely on the individual Soul Reaper's potential.

The Soul Reaper system did have one advantage, though: even without awakening a Zanpakutō, a Soul Reaper could accumulate enough power through their own talent to stand against a Bankai. But the time required for that would be an extraordinarily long process, and the clearest example of that path was Kenpachi Zaraki.

What Wayne needed to do right now was accumulate as much Reiatsu as possible. Rather than pinning his hopes on releasing his Zanpakutō, it was better to start from this moment and do exactly what his former self had done, grow stronger through Reiatsu accumulation alone, without relying on anything else. Someday, armed with Soul Absorption, a technique no Soul Reaper had ever possessed, Wayne would overtake those captain-level figures one by one.

He settled into meditation and began absorbing Reiatsu, and just like that, the night passed. With Wayne setting the example right beside him, Yū Nakai had no choice but to push himself as well. He could have simply rolled over and gone to sleep, of course, but watching Wayne forgo rest and continue cultivating his Reiatsu through the breathing technique, Nakai felt his own resolve ignite. He sat up on his bedding and entered the breathing technique's training state as well.

Unfortunately, it was no use.

By the time Wayne came out of his Soul Absorption state, Yū Nakai had long since toppled onto his bed and was snoring away. Without giving Nakai a second glance, Wayne went straight to the window, flipped over the sill, and dropped outside, heading away from Shin'ō Academy in the light of the morning sun. He took a position on a tall tower just outside the academy grounds and extended his perception all the way back toward his dormitory room.

One hour, two hours, three hours. Time ticked by second by second. Not a single ripple of Reiatsu disturbance came from Wayne's dormitory room, only Yū Nakai's deep, steady sleep and its stable Reiatsu signature.

"This kid — looks like he probably isn't a piece Aizen planted after all. At least not right now." After more than three hours of observation, Wayne finally allowed himself to let go of a little of his wariness. He dropped back down from the tower and headed into the streets of the Seireitei for a stroll.

The streets in the early morning were not yet noisy. Aside from the night-shift sake stalls, the other shops were still in the process of opening for the day. Wayne had come out partly to clear his head after a night of cultivation, and partly because he wanted to find something to eat. Absorbing Reishi did nothing to fill one's stomach, so Wayne could still eat food to replenish the spiritual energy in his body.

He came to a tavern on the main commercial street, pushed aside the door curtain and walked in. Several tables of customers who had not yet sobered up were still inside, all Soul Reapers, who had probably come to drink away the day since they were off-duty.

"Hey there, young man — judging by the uniform, are you a Shin'ō Academy student? What can I get you?" The proprietor was a middle-aged man full of energy, with a deep, resonant voice that projected effortlessly.

"It's my first time in your shop. Why don't you recommend some of the signature dishes? No need to hand me a menu — I can't see." Wayne settled into a corner of the tavern, a spot that gave him a clear view of the surrounding customers.

"Oh, sorry about that, ha ha ha." The owner scratched the back of his head and laughed good-naturedly. "You know, aside from the captain of Squad Nine, you're the only blind person I've ever seen come to the academy to study. But never mind that — this old man believes you'll become a fine Soul Reaper someday!"

"Mm, thank you." Wayne gave a polite nod. "My name is Tsukishiro Hinamori. I hope to be in your good care from here on."

"Ha ha ha, of course, young Hinamori. Just call me Yukihira — no need for formalities." The owner grinned broadly.

"Oh?" Wayne raised an eyebrow at that surname. A fitting name for a cook, he thought. He could only hope this man's culinary skills lived up to another certain character from a different anime entirely. "Understood, Uncle Yukihira."

"Ah, since it's young Hinamori's first visit, you absolutely have to try our chicken skewers and beef rice bowl — but since it's morning, the ramen is also a great choice. And I can tell young Hinamori is old enough to drink, so try the house's signature brew, and I'll throw in a smoked fish on the house. That ought to do it."

"I eat quite a lot, Uncle Yukihira, just arrange whatever you think is right." Wayne gave a light nod. He was not particularly picky about food, since he had really come to replenish Reishi. That said, if it turned out to be delicious, so much the better. As for alcohol, Wayne had no objection to that either, the last time he had drunk anything was some decades ago, back in his days as a human.

"Right away! Coming right up!" The owner straightened the towel on his shoulder and headed into the kitchen.

Seated at his table, Wayne took a quiet look around the tavern. It was not a large place, eight open tables in total, divided down the middle by a low partition fence, four on each side. Along the far right were two open-style booth seats, and beyond those were four private rooms with doors. At the moment, including Wayne, only three tables were occupied in the open area. The other two tables did not look particularly tidy, suggesting a large wave of customers had already left before dawn, the two remaining tables each had someone slumped over them, sound asleep.

Of the four private room doors, two were closed. Whether anyone was inside, Wayne could not say. All in all it was a small tavern, but business seemed to be decent, the owner's smile when serving customers had a faint tiredness behind it, almost certainly from working through the night.

The ramen and grilled skewers needed to be made fresh, so Yukihira first brought out the fish he had already marinated earlier, along with the drinks, to get Wayne started. Wayne had no objections and simply picked up the cup and took a small, easy sip.

While sipping, Wayne also kept his Reiatsu perception fully open, scanning his surroundings for any sign of surveillance, guarding against the possibility that someone was trailing him, even though he had already checked on Nakai multiple times, he still could not lower his guard.

At the same time, he could use the opportunity to get a better read on the nearby environment and learn more about this street not far from where he lived.

"Who's there! Using Reiatsu perception so carelessly in here!" While Wayne was calmly picking at his food, a gruff voice suddenly rang out from one of the private rooms. "Which blind fool is throwing their Reiatsu perception around in here, don't you know that could disturb..." The gruff voice trailed off, then its owner traced the perception back and appeared directly in front of Wayne. Wayne looked up.

Two powerfully built Soul Reapers had appeared before him. One had a crew cut and wore sunglasses, with a thick mustache. The other had a Zanpakutō slung over his shoulder and a completely shaved head.

"Huh? It's you, kid?" The bald Soul Reaper recognized Wayne. "What are you doing here?"

Looking through his eye-wrap, Wayne fixed his gaze on the two figures. He recognized them both. One was the Third Seat of Squad Eleven he had met before, Ikkaku Madarame. The other was the future Lieutenant of Squad Seven, and current Fourth Seat of Squad Eleven, Tetsuzaemon Iba.

"Having a meal." Wayne said calmly. "Care to join me?"

➤ Next: Swordsmanship