Two days had passed since Kisaragi Akira made his daring escape from the Integrated Medical Ward.
While the previous "genius patient" was still bedridden and groaning, Akira had long since recovered to perfect condition.
Of course, that was thanks not only to Aizen Sōsuke quietly enrolling him in the highest-grade medical treatment, but also due to the mysterious transformations his spirit body had been undergoing.
After all, even with Unohana Retsu's unparalleled medical skill and kaidō, burns that severe—both inside and out—should've required at least some time to heal.
Yet the moment the treatment ended, Akira was already walking, stretching, and testing his limbs.
Two days of rest?He was back to full power.
In Aizen's words:
"People without a care in the world always heal the fastest."
During that time, Akira also familiarized himself with the enhancements granted by the engraved Red Fire Cannon (Aka Homura Hō) Kidō Pattern.
First, his spiritual pressure had risen by one full level—now Lv. 53, Spiritual Might Rank Eleven.
Objectively speaking, that was already ridiculous.
Shinigami, after all, were long-lived beings with near-endless lifespans.Except for a handful of monsters, raising one's spiritual pressure was normally a slow, grinding process.
Second, he gained the property of extreme heat.
Because the Red Fire Cannon's engraved pattern was incomplete, his physical attributes hadn't improved—but even that much was astonishing.
His spiritual pressure was still hovering around seated-officer level, but Akira was confident he could exchange blows with some of those "vice-captain embarrassments" without losing too badly.
With a bit of luck, he might even take the first kill.
So then—
Let's see who the invincible Kisaragi Akira gets to fight today!
Oh.
It's Aizen Sōsuke, who is even more invincible.
…Never mind.
Might as well go home and sleep.
At the sound of Instructor Hanegiri Tessai's command, the kidō combat trial officially began.
Akira had zero intention of holding back. The concept of "keeping a low profile" wasn't in his vocabulary.He was already infamous across the Spirit Arts Academy—why not go all out?
He opened with the same spell that had exploded in his face two days ago—
Hadō #31: Red Fire Cannon.
A burning sphere of flame surged into existence, instantly igniting the air around it.
Crimson fire erupted outward.
With a deep, resonating roar, scalding shockwaves rippled violently across the training arena, forming visible waves that distorted everything ahead.
Tessai involuntarily sucked in a breath of superheated air—his lungs immediately felt like they were on fire.
He had never imagined that the same Kisaragi Akira who once blew himself up could now unleash a flawless Red Fire Cannon.
No matter the power, the speed, the stability—there was nothing to criticize.
Even if he cast the Red Fire Cannon himself, the difference would only be in raw force.
"So… how did this kid manage to blow it up in his own face last time?"
Tessai fell into deep contemplation.
"Does he perhaps have some shameful… unusual hobby?"
At that moment, the blazing fireball barreled forward, carrying with it a wave of blistering heat as it hurtled straight toward Aizen.The temperature alone warped the very air.
Facing an attack of that magnitude, Aizen stood absolutely calm—unmoving, undisturbed, serene to an unnerving degree.
"Bakudō #21 — Red Smoke Escape."
His voice rang out lightly, at the perfect moment.A burst of crimson smoke exploded beneath his feet, expanding instantly and swallowing the entire area where he stood.
The Red Fire Cannon plunged straight into the smoke, unleashing a colossal burst of heat that shot upward.
"D-Did… did it end?"
One academy student whispered dumbly.
From their perspective, Akira's Red Fire Cannon was flawless.If they'd been standing where Aizen was, they would've been vaporized instantly.
"Bakudō #4 — Crawling Rope."
A subtle voice echoed from within the crimson haze.
A thin line of light streaked out like a hunting serpent, cutting across over ten meters instantaneously.
Akira noticed it immediately and used shunpo to retreat on instinct.
But the next heartbeat—
His danger sense screamed.
He halted mid-step.From the corner of his eye, he spotted a spark of brilliant lightning flash behind him—to the right.
"So, you sensed it?"
Aizen stepped from the smoke without anyone noticing when he'd moved, his calm footsteps syncing with the pounding of Akira's heart, crushing him with an inexplicable pressure.
"Hadō #4 — White Lightning."
It was only the fourth-ranked hadō, but the timing and angle were flawless—sharp enough to threaten Akira's life outright.
With Aizen's spiritual pressure, even White Lightning could smash through his defensive barrier easily.
So Akira dodged once more.
Thanks to his trait Featherlight Step, his shunpo speed soared; even within the relatively confined barrier, he could slip, twist, and pivot to avoid the incoming attacks.
"Bakudō #9 — Strike."
Aizen did not relent.
He increased the pressure with a seamless escalation of kidō.He knew exactly how strong his troublesome friend was—and this much wasn't nearly enough to defeat him.
Sure enough, as Akira slipped past another red light-cable, landing lightly on the ground, he grinned:
"Sōsuke—yeah, that's exactly what I expect from you."
"But you still haven't understood the true path of a spellcaster."
"Allow me to demonstrate it for you—personally."
"Watch closely. And learn!"
Before the stupefied eyes of every student present—
Akira turned on his cheat mode.
"Burst and die, black hound of Rondanini!With a single scan, burn everything, sever your own throat!"
"Bakudō #9 — Strike!"
Scarlet light erupted from his fingertips, crashing forward in a sweeping wave.
And that was only the beginning.
"…Bind, shatter, grind, crush.""Hadō #11 — Lightning Stinger!"
"…Burn, inscribe, self-cut and hang.""Hadō #14 — Iron Rend!"
"…Scorch and riot, rise against the seas, march forth!""Hadō #31 — Red Fire Cannon!"
"…Temperance and truth, wall of nameless sin, stand alone!""Hadō #33 — Blue Firefall!"
One incantation after another—
Endless.
Relentless.
The entire kidō barrier drowned beneath the flood of spells.
Exploding spiritual force surged like storming waves, weaving together in an overwhelming torrent of hadō and bakudō.
Dazzling light cracked against the air like iron whips, releasing high-pitched shrieks with every impact.
Boom after boom shook the arena.It sounded like a god was swearing vengeance inside the barrier, rolling thunder shaking the heavens.
With the trait Kidō Specialization, Kisaragi Akira became a spell-firing machine gun, unleashing every single kidō the Academy had ever taught—or even vaguely mentioned—without restraint.
That day, the students finally understood the meaning of—
FULL FIREPOWER COVERAGE.
In stark contrast, Aizen remained understated, elegant, and frighteningly composed.
No long chants.
No flashy spell formations.
Amid the brilliant storm, he slipped from moment to moment, shunpo flashing at precise instants, countering with a simple but perfectly timed bakudō or hadō that dismantled an entire wave of Akira's bombardment.
If Akira embodied firepower saturation—
Aizen embodied:
Precision Strike.