Chapter 093: [Overall Assessment: Bottom-Rank Captain Level]
By the time anyone considered going after him, Kijishi was already too far gone.
The Squad 11 members exchanged glances with each other for a moment, then scrambled off in the same direction as their captain.
Matsushita Yusuke stood where he was. He looked at his right hand for a while, then let out a quiet breath.
"Good thing..."
Soifon had no idea what he meant.
"Good thing what?"
"Good thing he ran fast enough. He couldn't tell how much I had left."
The words left him.
Then Matsushita Yusuke's eyes rolled back, and he went down without a sound.
Shingonkai's void loan did not come free.
The repayment extracted itself afterward. Everything that had been borrowed during the fight now came due at once, and the accumulated cost of the arm reconstruction, the consecutive high-level Kido deployments, and the sustained output of the entire exchange settled onto him simultaneously. The more efficiently the loan had been used, the harder the repayment hit.
But as a result, this time? Matsushita Yusuke had gotten everything he came for.
Something to put to use next time.
...
When he opened his eyes again, the first thing he saw was a familiar ceiling.
He rubbed his head, sat up, and found himself back in his Academy dormitory room.
"...?"
The feeling was strange in a specific way. Like a sequence break that had skipped him directly back to the last save point. Which was obviously not what had happened, since his memory was completely intact, every detail of what had occurred sitting right where he had left it.
He had fought Kijishi Kenpachi.
No definitive finish, technically. But Kijishi had run. By any reasonable definition, that was a win.
He had won.
But what came next?
The light coming through the window had a low orange quality to it. Late afternoon, roughly. He had been out for a while.
How long? What had happened outside? What was the current situation?
He had questions, which got him out of bed.
Then his feet hit the floor and something moved behind his eyes, a churning pressure at both temples that made the entire room tilt in four directions at once.
The body was not fully recovered yet.
He pressed both thumbs against his temples and stood there for a moment.
Students should not be taking out loans. Slow and steady, every time.
While he waited for his head to settle, he started working through the other outstanding question.
Set aside current events for now. Take stock of the haul first.
He looked at his panel.
The expression that formed on his face moved from mild surprise to something that was genuinely pleased.
Two separate quest reward notifications.
Why two?
The fight should have only generated one quest. Where had the second one come from?
He looked at the first one.
[Quest complete... Reward acquired]
[Rewards: Reiatsu Level +10, all four base disciplines +3, Zanpakuto Physical +5]
The overall panel had shifted considerably, but the most significant change was in the Zanpakuto numbers. Between the private training under Aizen and this second round of boosts, the Zanpakuto ability panel had moved to a new configuration.
[Zanpakuto Ability Panel]
[Physical: 41]
[Elemental: 22]
[Kido: 52]
[Biological: 26]
[Rule: 19]
Five points added, and Kido still leading the field by a distance.
Which made sense. Shingonkai had operated at a level beyond what the numbers alone suggested during this fight.
Though Kijishi being on the lower end of what a captain could be had something to do with the outcome too. Beating someone at that level was genuinely difficult regardless.
He moved to the second notification.
It was not something he had expected.
[You engaged a currently serving Gotei 13 captain in direct combat and achieved a literal victory.]
[Achievement reward acquired: Fundamentals Mastered]
[Fundamentals Mastered: All four base disciplines have risen significantly. Any discipline currently below the base value of 40 will be raised to 40 immediately upon receipt of this achievement.]
[Note: You have reached the threshold of what it means to be a genuinely strong person. Use this moment as an opening to look toward higher levels and greater power. Don't keep your attention fixed on the fine details. Use your imagination.]
An achievement.
He had gotten one before, actually. Back when he had attended every single one of Aizen's calligraphy sessions for a full year running. Apparently clearing a fight against a sitting captain qualified for the same category.
The boost itself was a little blunt in how it worked.
Forced straight to 40? The phrasing was accurate enough, it felt like being grabbed and yanked upward. Was the System under the impression he should already be going after a captain's seat?
He checked the panel while the thought ran its course.
[Reiatsu Level: 8] (Current cap: 40)
[Zanjutsu: 40] [Hakuda: 40] [Hoho: 40] [Kido: 55] (Cap per discipline: 100)
[Overall Assessment: Bottom-Rank Captain Level]
Everything except Kido had, if he was being honest, been dragged up rather than grown to that point.
Understandable. From the moment he had started to where he was now was barely over a year. With that kind of timeframe, the ceiling on what was achievable through genuine development was naturally limited.
He adjusted the panel view and checked the Hollow side.
[Hollow Power Level: 9]
[Sonido: 3] [Cero: 6] [Hierro: 4]
The growth on this side was slower, but the numbers fed into the main panel, and the combined effect on overall combat capability was visible. Without the Hollow panel's contribution, he probably would not have made it to the end of the fight.
Putting it all together, the "Bottom-Rank Captain Level" assessment was roughly accurate.
No Bankai yet. But between the reiatsu, the void loan mechanic, and the Kido side's output, the combat capability was real.
Two separate rewards. Two different kinds of gain.
But wait.
Matsushita Yusuke paused.
Achievements represented a staged kind of recognition. A summary of reaching a specific threshold.
Which meant, if that logic extended forward:
Participating in the major events of the story's main timeline would generate more achievements.
That had real potential.
The nearest major historical event from where he stood right now: the Hollowfication incident. The night Aizen pushed Hirako Shinji and the others out of Soul Society.
The thought had barely finished forming when there was a knock at the door.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Matsushita-kun. Are you awake?"