Chapter 39: Ground Shrink
The waiting time wasn't too long.
The basic shunpo points had only been explained halfway when two figures appeared hand-in-hand before them.
One was the female teacher who'd just left. The other was the "great villain" Yuuki Shinosuke who'd made all the students suffer this morning.
When most people's gazes fell on the returning female teacher, Suoh keenly noticed that the overall sense of coordination about Yuuki Shinosuke had weakened.
He quickly found the source of the abnormality. His gaze lowered accordingly, locking onto the origin of the strangeness: Yuuki Shinosuke's left calf.
Even though it was covered by his pant leg, Suoh could vaguely sense the spasming tremor of his left calf muscles and the abnormality in spiritual power circulation.
'Oh... so he got kicked.'
His heart immediately understood. Suoh could almost instantly reconstruct in his mind the scene that had just occurred between these two.
With the female teacher's swift and decisive personality, doing something like this wasn't strange at all.
Yuuki Shinosuke seemed to sense Suoh's gaze. His large bell-like eyes turned to look over, a trace of barely perceptible embarrassment flashing across his face.
The female teacher released her grip on Yuuki Shinosuke's upper arm, patted his shoulder, and said crisply:
"Shinosuke, these people are yours."
"Clean up the mess you made yourself."
"Suoh, come with me."
Without waiting for anyone's reaction, the female teacher had already turned and walked toward the other end of the training ground.
"Yes, ma'am!"
Under the envious, jealous, and other complex gazes of those around him, Suoh quickly followed her.
The gazes that had fallen on him quickly withdrew. They'd already grown accustomed to and accepted things like teachers giving Suoh special individual instruction.
At the Shinoreijutsuin, strength decided everything. If they wanted to blame something, they could only blame their own insufficient strength.
The two came to the training ground's center and stopped. The female teacher turned around and very directly got straight to the point:
"How did you train your advanced techniques?"
"Your proficiency is somewhat unusual. Foothold generation isn't just fast but very stable."
The female teacher's tone wasn't interrogative, but purely curious.
Shunpo's advanced techniques weren't written in textbooks because they feared students would aim too high, unable to practice even the most basic shunpo before running off to learn higher-level techniques.
She'd also looked into Suoh's background—a whole soul transformed into a spirit and settled in West District Three, from Rukongai with no elders who were Shinigami.
However, the level he'd just displayed absolutely couldn't be achieved through talent alone. It had to have been possessed through systematic and targeted training.
"First jumping in place, then treading water."
Facing the teacher's inquiry, Suoh didn't conceal anything and answered frankly.
The advanced principle of shunpo had remarkable similarities to Naruto's water-treading and tree-climbing—both used energy to form a stepping pad underfoot that could support one's weight.
After that night's training ended, having achieved making himself jump higher, he'd filled a basin with water in his room to attempt water-treading, and had easily accomplished it.
"Treading water? Very thoughtful."
A flash of surprise crossed the female teacher's eyes before she nodded to show approval.
The Stealth Force actually had similar training methods—using only feet to climb steep rock walls without footholds.
The spirit particle density of air, water, and earth differed. The spiritual pressure required and difficulty of generating spiritual power footholds also differed.
Stealth Force members could only proceed to aerial movement training after passing the rock-climbing step.
"Your technique has no problems."
"The only thing lacking is footwork."
"Most of what I learned comes from the Stealth Force. What I can teach you is only footwork—Ground Shrink."
"As for some more advanced shunpo techniques, if you want to learn them, after graduation I can recommend you to join the Second Division."
She paused, her tone carrying a trace of recruitment intent as she praised.
Most Second Division members were selected from the Stealth Force. Ordinary Shinoreijutsuin graduate division applications generally weren't accepted.
"I already have a division in mind."
Suoh shook his head in refusal.
He naturally knew about the Second Division—the division once commanded by Shihouin Yoruichi, the Flash Goddess representing the highest level of Shinigami shunpo.
Shihouin Yoruichi had even passed down her Shihouin family's secret movement techniques to current captain Soi Fon.
It could be said joining the Second Division was the only way to legally obtain this highest-level footwork set.
Though Kuchiki Byakuya also knew it, with his personality, wanting to learn it from him—the possibility approached zero infinitely.
Though the red-grade secret technique was excellent, the quest chain was too long and complicated. He still had another critical questline waiting to be completed.
"Mm."
The female teacher nodded. She'd only mentioned it casually and didn't mind.
Elite class students having their own division goals wasn't unusual.
"Keep your gaze on my entire body, but also carefully observe my feet's movements. Learn well!"
She then formally began instruction.
To let Suoh see clearly, she slowed her movements considerably.
Her form's forward lean gradually increased in angle. Her right foot stepped out seemingly simply, the stride also not particularly large.
But at the instant her foot fell, the space between starting step and landing seemed to have a section extracted.
In only a few rises and falls, her figure had already appeared ten meters away.
True transmission is one sentence, false transmission is ten thousand scrolls.
Suoh also captured Ground Shrink footwork's key—maintaining the body's straight line while moving and not bending the legs.
When she returned, Suoh spoke of what he'd observed.
The appreciation in the female teacher's eyes grew denser as she nodded:
"Ground Shrink's key isn't in stride length, but the body's tilt and the foot's movements when lifting."
"It's not simple running, but closer to leaping."
"Try it."
"Yes!"
Nodding in acknowledgment, Suoh began adjusting his posture according to the knowledge just learned.
On his first step, his form still showed some awkward swaying. By the second step, he'd successfully grasped Ground Shrink footwork's basic essentials.
And as he practiced, his footwork proficiency grew higher and higher. The distance of each movement gradually increased until reaching a current limit.
"Come back!"
"Remember this feeling. Next, use the footwork combined with shunpo."
"You flee, I chase. Try to escape my pursuit."
Taking in all of Suoh's performance and progress, she called a halt to his practice. After he stood before her, she spoke.
Her words barely fell before the corners of her mouth lifted slightly. Her body instantly transformed into an afterimage and vanished.
Suoh's reaction was also extremely fast. His form moved, immediately activating shunpo to escape.
And simultaneously with his disappearance, the female teacher's figure also flickered at his previous position before immediately vanishing.
In an instant at Suoh's original standing location, the two people's figures had a brief moment of intersection.
Sunlight spilled across the training ground. The two figures were like phantoms—appearing and vanishing, vanishing and appearing, constantly flickering frequently at various corners of the training ground.
Gradually, the frequency of the two figures' appearances grew lower and lower. The afterimages' duration grew shorter and shorter. Only the sunken grass imprints across the training ground remained especially clear.
This silent chase wasn't just shunpo practice, but comprehensive training involving body, spiritual pressure, and will in all aspects.
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