T/N: Sorry for not uploading yesterday, was busy studying and forgot. Next weeks my last week so I have loads of exams and wont be able to translate much so I'll be doing only one or two chapters of each fic for each upload. Sorry.
The moment the dual incantation ended—whether it was Ikkaku, who was directly facing the sudden appearance of the binding chains, or the captains all watching the screen—everyone was stunned.
What the hell was that?!
Is that how you're supposed to use post-chanting and dual incantation?!
Kid, aren't you getting a bit too cocky?!
Are you just trying to trample all us veteran captains' pride into the dirt?!
The Head Captain stared at the composed face of Asano Kiyoshi on the screen. His hand clenched involuntarily, crushing part of the cane that had accompanied him for years. The air around him began to heat up—not from anger, but from sheer excitement.
Why are post-chanting and dual incantation so difficult? Not just because they require precise spiritual energy control. While that's already a challenge, for seasoned captains, spiritual energy control is just the basics. The real difficulty lies in this:
To perform post-chanting and dual incantation, one must construct two completely different spiritual energy structures and release logics at the same time.
And unless you have two brains, it's nearly impossible.
Those few who can use dual incantation reliably are only able to do so with low-level, fully-memorized Kido, relying on muscle memory. But Asano Kiyoshi? This kid has only been in the academy for two months. There's no way he could have built up the kind of familiarity that takes others decades or even centuries to attain.
Which leaves only one possibility—
He's running on dual-thread processing.Unlike the rest of them who are "single-core," this kid was born with an extra "brain."
But even that wasn't the limit. Just now, he executed both post-chanting and dual incantation at the same time.
Which meant… he's at least triple-threaded?!
If that's true, then it's safe to say that in future battles at equal levels of power, he'd be virtually unbeatable. No Shinigami would stand a chance at the same tier.
While you're still casting your first Kido, he could be launching three at once to tear you apart. How would you even fight back—headbutt him?!
Even Aizen, watching from the sidelines, felt a rare twinge of shock. He'd seen Asano Kiyoshi use both techniques before in the human world, but back then, there had been a delay between them—he hadn't realized the boy was capable of doing both simultaneously.
After witnessing this scene, the light from the screen reflected in Aizen's glasses, and within his light brown eyes gleamed a mix of curiosity and research interest.
After a brief silence, the Head Captain turned to Mayuri Kurotsuchi and said:
"Seal this off. Anyone who wants to access Asano Kiyoshi's file must now come directly to the First Division for my approval."
He cast a glance around at the other captains, and just that one look carried such overwhelming pressure that everyone present understood his meaning clearly.
From this moment forward, Asano Kiyoshi had entered the Head Captain's list of potential successors.
And not just any successor—he was practically Crown Prince level.
Meanwhile, back in the battle—
Ikkaku stared at the yellow binding chains that had suddenly appeared, his expression filled with shock. He shouted at Asano Kiyoshi:
"Oi! Are you kidding me?! Is that how you're supposed to use Kido?!"
Asano smiled calmly and replied:
"Maybe. But it feels pretty effective to me."
At this point, Yumichika was already frozen in place, staring at Asano standing in the center of the arena. For the first time, he truly understood the vast gap between them—as different as clouds and mud.
Looking at Asano's back, Yumichika shook his head helplessly, his heart filled with bitterness. He now knew that the difference in strength was so great that no amount of effort could close the gap. It was the kind of disparity that left only despair and submission.
Ikkaku, a bit dense and never the best student in class, didn't quite understand the true meaning behind Asano Kiyoshi's level of Kido mastery.
But that didn't matter to him.
All he cared about was one thing: defeating Asano Kiyoshi.
The yellow chains sliced through the air toward Ikkaku's limbs. His spear-like Hōzukimaru was now essentially useless.
But even then, Ikkaku didn't give up. Instead, his wild, beast-like fighting spirit only grew stronger! He shouted:
"Break—Hōzukimaru!"
With his words, his Zanpakutō changed from a spear into a three-section staff, with a spear tip still at the end.
Using the shape-changing ability of his weapon, Ikkaku slashed through the binding Kido.
But in doing so, his body entered a brief moment of vulnerability—a tiny opening.
And Asano Kiyoshi wasn't about to drag this out any further.
A black longsword, forged from condensed dark spiritual pressure, appeared at his side. In a flash-step, he appeared directly in front of Ikkaku, blade aimed straight for the heart!
Ikkaku's eyes narrowed, and with a sharp motion, he smashed the rightmost section of his three-section staff forward. The tipped section hurtled toward Asano's head. If he followed through with the stab to Ikkaku's heart, he would get impaled in the skull.
It was a forced trade—mutual destruction.
Asano would have to change his attack or die.
It was Ikkaku's best possible move in that moment. But he had forgotten something:
In the world of the Shinigami, a Kido expert is someone who has mastered both martial and spiritual combat—a true dual-discipline elite!
Asano didn't hesitate. He threw the longsword straight at Ikkaku and sidestepped to the right, dodging the oncoming Hōzukimaru strike.
Seeing the flying sword, Ikkaku relaxed slightly. That kind of attack, he could dodge—or at worst, suffer a minor injury.
Looks like Asano wasn't willing to go through with a blow-for-blow trade. That was reckless behavior—something Ikkaku mentally noted he'd need to advise him against later. In a real fight, if you can trade light injury for a heavy hit on your enemy, you take it. That's something Ikkaku had learned the hard way from years of fighting in the outer Rukon District.
But just as Ikkaku shifted to dodge the incoming sword—
His body suddenly went numb and stiff!
At that same instant, Asano Kiyoshi's voice echoed in his ears:
"Hadō #11 – Tsuzuri Raiden!"
T/N: For up to 20 chapters ahead on all my translations, become a p@tron at [email protected]/LordHipposApostle
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