On the training field, the air felt frozen, and all eyes were focused on the two standing at the center.
Arata tightly gripped the wooden training sword in his hand. He stared at Aizen Sōsuke, who stood opposite him with a gentle smile on his face. His delicate facial features were slightly blurred behind the black frames of his glasses.
Ever since he awakened his Zanpakutō and learned the name Meigetsu, Arata had gradually gained the ability to sense the state of souls around him, and he realized that it was a power granted by Meigetsu.
For example, Renji – his soul was like a young flame, constantly burning, reflecting his longing for the future and his tireless effort.
As for Aizen, although no spiritual pressure radiated from his body, his soul was like a deep, cold lake, and beneath the calm surface hid an unfathomable chill.
Unlike the direct sharpness of Unohana Retsu, Aizen gave the impression of immense depth, as if one were surrounded by invisible waters soaking you from all sides, without a single point of support, let alone any possibility of fully seeing through him.
"Don't worry, Saito-kun." Aizen's voice remained gentle and pleasant. "Since this is just a demonstration lesson, of course we will stop in time. I will suppress my spiritual pressure to a level close to yours and use only basic sword techniques. You can attack without restraint."
To a close level?
Arata felt a slight discomfort upon hearing that. He had heard something similar before from Unohana Retsu, the first time he received kendo training from her.
"I'll suppress my strength and speed to the level of an ordinary soldier, and then attack you."
And he still clearly remembered how brutally he had been overwhelmed back then.
He hadn't understood why before, but now that he had grown to a certain level himself, Arata gradually came to realize a truth, even if the amount of spiritual pressure is the same, its quality can be completely different.
Unohana Retsu and Aizen are truly top-level captains. Even when they suppress themselves, their spiritual bodies, tempered through countless battles, and their control over spiritual particles far surpass Arata.
This moment was exactly the same as that time.
After a brief moment of thought, Arata understood Aizen's intent in inviting him to participate in the lesson.
Simply put, during the previous internship mission, he saw Arata kill an invisible Hollow, it sparked his interest, and now he wanted to observe him up close.
Moreover, from his point of view, Aizen was actually quite courteous for having waited this long.
Since there was no way to avoid it, it was better to strike back and test Aizen's strength first.
"My apologies in advance, Captain Aizen."
Before finishing the sentence, Arata had already moved.
In his first attack, he didn't use any complicated techniques or special footwork, instead choosing the simplest but extremely fast frontal thrust.
No tricks, just raw stats.
Don't you want to see what I'm worth? Then watch closely.
The wooden sword sliced through the air with a sharp whistle, heading straight for Aizen's chest.
Faced with the lightning-fast attack, Aizen calmly stood in place, not even moving his wrist seriously. Only when the tip of the sword was about to touch his robe did his body shift slightly.
The movement was so minimal it almost seemed like he just barely turned to the side, but it perfectly avoided the blade, letting its tip silently glide past his silhouette.
At the same time, Aizen raised the wooden sword in his hand, with a movement natural and continuous, as if he weren't blocking, but casually brushing off dust.
"Ping!"
When the blades touched, a clear sound of collision rang out. Arata felt an indescribable force traveling along his sword. It wasn't a pure clash of strength like with Unohana Retsu, but more of a sensation of redirecting and dispersing power.
The force he had put into the attack was instantly reversed, and his balance was thrown off. If he hadn't adjusted his center of gravity in time, he would've already fallen.
Terrifying.
To the observers, it looked like Aizen had simply blocked Arata's attack, and that Arata had somehow lost his balance on his own. But only Arata knew how strange that contact had been.
Aizen's swordsmanship was this high?
It was hard for Arata to believe. Aizen was indeed extremely powerful in the original story. Excluding Kurosaki Ichigo, he could be considered nearly the strongest person in the Three Worlds, second only to Yhwach and the members of the Zero Division.
However, the description of Aizen's strength in the original mainly focused on his enormous spiritual pressure, monstrous Kidō, and the abnormal ability of Kyōka Suigetsu, while his kendo was rarely mentioned, leading many to think his swordsmanship was average.
But this brief clash completely shattered Arata's previous belief.
The problem wasn't that Aizen was weak in swordsmanship, it was that he almost never needed to use the sword.
Weaker opponents were immediately subdued by illusions and manipulation, while stronger ones were simply crushed by spiritual pressure and Kidō, without a chance to force him to reveal his sword skills.
"A Shinigami's battle is a battle of reiatsu."
As the author of this famous phrase, Aizen perfectly lived by his own combat philosophy.
"A good opening strike. Your speed and strength far exceed that of a typical sixth-year student." Aizen calmly commented, like a teacher. "But your desire to attack is too obvious, and the path is too straightforward. It might fool an opponent of your level, but against a particularly strong enemy, it will be easily read."
Arata didn't reply to the comment but quickly adjusted his next offensive, his gaze becoming sharper.
If a single attack doesn't work, then I'll try speed.
He suddenly pushed off the ground with great force, and his figure blurred in an instant. He began circling Aizen at high speed, now to the left, now to the right, sometimes lunging forward with a feint, sometimes abruptly stopping and changing direction.
But from whichever direction he approached, Arata never immediately struck.
After a while, his traces in the air left behind streams of afterimages, which blurred the observers' vision. Some lower-ranking officers and instructors could barely follow his path.
"What incredible speed!"
"This footwork… is that Shunpō?"
"No, there's no fluctuation in spiritual pressure. This is pure physical speed!"
"What?!"
Yet, faced with speed that was enough to confuse most soldiers, even officers, Aizen's gaze remained calm as still water.
He didn't even need to fully turn his body; his legs and upper body moved only in minimal amplitudes within a limited space.
His eyes were constantly focused on the minute points of hesitation in Arata's path, those tiny moments that occurred when changing direction or releasing power.
Suddenly, Arata spotted what he considered the perfect opening and gap in defense. He lunged from Aizen's blind spot and swung the wooden sword at a very tricky angle.
It was a fast, combined technique he had developed himself by merging Unohana Retsu's swordsmanship, aiming to be swift, fierce, and cunning.
But at the moment the wooden sword came down, it seemed as if Aizen had eyes on the back of his head. He naturally raised his hand, and the wooden sword in his grip smoothly intercepted Arata's strike.
"Ping!"
Second block.
This time, the feeling was different. The force transmitted through the blade made Arata's hand go numb, and the massive recoil nearly knocked the wooden sword from his grip.
Two precise predictions and blocks: the first based on the skill of absorbing and dispersing force, the second on sheer, brutal counterforce. Without a doubt, both perfectly demonstrated just how powerful Aizen truly was.
Arata quietly sighed inwardly.
As expected of Aizen. Terrifying.
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