Bleach: From the moment I was invited by Squad Zero.

"Same period?" Another man leaning against the wall with an odd hairstyle raised an eyebrow, his gaze sweeping critically over Liu Chuan.

"He doesn't look like he's that good at fighting, Renji. What did you bring him here for? For a tour?"

"Enough with the nonsense!" Renji walked to a relatively open area in the center of the training field, turned around, facing Yanagawa and all the team members who were looking at him, and announced loudly, his voice filled with excitement.

"I want to have a match with this guy! You all, get out of the way and watch!"

"A sparring match?" "Renji, the eighth seat of the Kido Clan, is going to fight the Kido Clan?" "Interesting..."

"Hey, Renji, don't hurt him! If the Kido Clan comes looking for trouble, it'll be hard to handle!"

A commotion immediately erupted from the sidelines, a mixture of curiosity and jeers.

"Right here?" Liu Chuan confirmed again, his gaze sweeping over the Eleventh Division members who were clearly ready to watch the show.

"Right here!" Renji had already taken his stance, his right hand resting on the hilt of Zabimaru's sword, and his spiritual pressure began to rise, carrying a scorching aura.

"Don't worry, these guys are tough as nails, they won't get hurt! Liu Chuan, don't hold back just because you're in the Eleventh Division! Let me see what you're really capable of!"

Liu Chuan said no more. He stood quietly, with no powerful spiritual pressure erupting from his body, but rather an aura as calm as still water.

It naturally spread out from him, gently separating Renji's burning battle-ready spiritual pressure.

He raised a hand, his voice calm:

"Then, please take care of me, Renji."

Chapter 6 Thunder Roar Cannon?

"Ha, that's the look in his eyes!" Renji grinned, his smile wild; he knew it all too well.

Back in the days at the Shinigami Academy, whenever Yanagawa entered this state, it meant that those seemingly insignificant Kido techniques would combine and erupt in the most cunning and unexpected ways.

"Don't let me down, Yanagawa!"

Before he finished speaking, Renji's figure suddenly vanished from the spot! It wasn't Shunpo, but a rapid dash that pushed his explosive power to the limit, blasting a shallow crater in the sand beneath his feet.

Almost simultaneously, the snake tail ball at his waist was drawn, though not in its complete initial release.

The blade instantly extended and split, transforming into several ferocious blades that, with a piercing shriek that tore through the air, lunged at Liuchuan from several tricky angles!

"Snake Fang Eater!"

The attack is swift and fierce, attempting to overwhelm the opponent with a barrage of attacks and force them to reveal a weakness.

However, faced with an attack that would have thrown an ordinary court official into a panic, Liu Chuan's figure only moved slightly.

His steps, though seemingly small, were perfectly timed to avoid the first two blades that arrived, while his raised right hand was already open.

"Hado #31, Red Fire Cannon".

Chanting? No, not at all! There wasn't even a complete name call; just a few low, rapid syllables uttered.

A blazing, bright red fireball instantly condensed in front of his palm. It was small in size, but incredibly condensed, with an inner radiance.

Then, it struck precisely at the side joint of the middle section of the blade in the snake tail ball!

boom!

The blade was blown off course, affecting the subsequent attacks and creating an opening in the previously tight encirclement.

Meanwhile, Yanagawa, using the recoil and his own exquisite footwork, glided out of Zabimaru's range like a fish.

"Oh?" On the sidelines, Madarame, the third seat, rubbed his bald head, his playful expression slightly fading. "A No-chantment Hakudo #31? The power control is so precise?"

"Hmph, a mere trick." Yumichika crossed his arms, his words laced with disdain, but his eyes grew more serious.

The fact that Renji was able to so effortlessly neutralize his opening onslaught with a low-order Kido demonstrates a level of Kido control and combat intuition that should not be underestimated.

Renji, undeterred by his missed attack, became even more excited: "Not bad! Let's try again!"

With a flick of his wrist, Zabimaru's blade traced a strange arc in the air, turning back as if it were alive.

He entangled with Liu Chuan again, while taking a big step forward, clenching his left fist, and enveloping it with powerful spiritual pressure. He then delivered a straight punch with a fierce wind, aiming for Liu Chuan's face!

The combination of Zanpakuto and hand-to-hand combat is devoid of any fancy moves; it's pure power and speed that overwhelms the opponent!

Yanagawa realized that Renji's strength and speed were indeed much stronger than during his time with Mao.

At the same time, he moved his left hand quickly to his side.

"The thirty-ninth method of binding, the round gate."

A flash of light appeared, not aimed at Renji, but rather in the path of his pursuit, and a circular protective shield instantly materialized.

Renji charged too fast and almost crashed into it. He roared and, without dodging or avoiding, slammed his fist, which was wrapped in spiritual pressure, into the protective shield!

Bang! The protective shield shook violently, cracks spread, but it did not shatter immediately.

Just then, Yanagawa raised his right hand again, this time with his five fingers spread, aiming at Renji.

The spiritual particles gathered and compressed wildly in front of his palm, forming a complex and dazzling small multi-ring.

"Hado #58, Kyo-ran".

The highly compressed Storm Spear shot out, condensing into a sharp spiral wind cone at extremely high speed!

"What?!" Renji's pupils shrank, not expecting the opponent's Kido to be connected so quickly and with far greater power than the Red Fire Cannon from before.

He hurriedly retreated from the snake tail, and several blades quickly returned to defend, weaving into a net of blades in front of him.

Boom!

The spiraling wind cone slammed into the blade net, unleashing intense wind pressure and a cutting sound, sending up a sandstorm.

Renji was pushed back several steps by the force, his sword net trembled, barely managing to block the attack, but his wrist holding the sword felt a tingling numbness.

As the dust settled, Liu Chuan remained standing in the same spot, his breathing steady, as if his swift and fierce demonic combo was merely a casual gesture.

"Hey, are you kidding me?" An 11th Division member stared wide-eyed. "You forced Renji to retreat using only Kido?"

"Is that really Tian Lan number 58? Why does it feel like her speed and penetrating power are a bit off..." another official who had some knowledge of the Ghost Path murmured.

Renji flicked his wrist, his fighting spirit burning even brighter, but also with a touch of seriousness.

He admitted that he had underestimated his old classmate; ten years of experience in the Ghost Path had not diminished his brilliance.

On the contrary, it made his demonic arts skills more refined and his control reached a terrifying level. Moreover... the power of that demonic arts seemed to be stronger than the standard version.

"As expected, Yanagawa!" Renji laughed, his spiritual pressure surging once more. Zabimaru hummed, and the spiritual light on each section of his blade became even more dazzling.

"However, it's time to finish the warm-up! Let me see if you can handle this—Roar, Zabimaru!"

Finally, Shikai!

The enormous serpentine bone sword materialized with overwhelming ferocity, and Renji's aura surged even higher, as if he had merged with the Zanpakuto, transforming into a true monstrous python.

Even when Renji was fully released from his initial state, Yanagawa's expression remained largely unchanged.

He simply took a light breath, and the flow of spiritual energy around him seemed to undergo an extremely subtle change.

A vast amount of spiritual particles converged wildly, forming a violently rotating vortex in front of him, emitting a heart-palpitating energy fluctuation.

“The way this spiritual particles gather and the fluctuations…” Even the third seat of Madarame, who was on the sidelines, put away his nonchalance and became serious.

Renji sensed the dangerous aura emanating from the spiritual vortex and dared not be careless. He roared and raised his spiritual pressure to the limit. The huge snake tail mace, with the force of splitting mountains and shattering rocks, slashed fiercely towards Yanagawa!

"--Hado #63, Thunder Roar Cannon!"

Boom! ...

Unlike ordinary thunder cannons, this was a more condensed torrent of thunder, interwoven with blazing white lightning and deep purple arcs.

It shot out in a strange spiral shape, heading straight for Zabimaru!

A deafening explosion resounded throughout the training ground, as blinding lightning and wild blade energy collided and tore at each other, unleashing a violent shockwave.

The wind whipped up all the sand and gravel on the ground, forcing the 11th Division members watching from the sidelines to use their spiritual pressure to resist, causing them to change color.

The light and smoke slowly dissipated.

In the center of the arena, Renji knelt on one knee, supporting his body with Zabimaru, breathing heavily; the cuffs of his shihaka uniform were charred black.

The tiger's mouth of his hand holding the knife was split open, and blood seeped out. His face was filled with shock and disbelief.

Not far in front of him, Liu Chuan stood quietly. Apart from a little dust on the hem of his clothes, there were still tiny crackling sounds of lightning particles in the air in front of him.

The training ground was deathly silent. All the members of the Eleventh Division, including Madarame and Yumichika, stared at the figure in the field as if it were a monster.

Using only Kido... he directly confronted Renji, who had fully awakened his Shikai, and even gained the upper hand?!

It's important to understand that although Renji Abarai currently only holds the eighth seat, that's only because he hasn't been in the eleventh division for very long. No one present believed that they could easily defeat him.

If Yanagawa could easily defeat Renji, wouldn't he already have the strength of at least a vice-captain?

"That...that really is the Thunder Roar Cannon No. 63?" A team member swallowed hard.

"Changed? He rewrote the hacko?!" another team member exclaimed.

Yanagawa calmed his breathing, looked at Renji who was struggling to stand up, and asked calmly, "Do you want to continue, Renji?"

Renji stared intently at Yanagawa, then glanced at his charred cuffs and cracked hand, and after a long while, suddenly burst into a hearty laugh:

"Hahahaha! Good! Good for you, Liu Chuan! I didn't expect you to have such a hidden trick up your sleeve! The modified Hadō... its power is actually this great! I lose!"

He conceded defeat decisively. The Eleventh Division respects the strong; a victory is a victory, and a defeat is a defeat.

But his eyes were practically overflowing with curiosity and inquiry: "What exactly have the Ghost Path Clan researched over the years? What was that move just now?"

Yanagawa didn't answer directly, but walked to Renji's side and handed him a small roll of bandage that emitted a cool spiritual energy (a common item for the Kido sect, used to treat spiritual burns).

"It's just a minor personal modification, optimizing the spirit particle gathering structure and energy output mode."

He spoke casually, as if the blow that had just changed everyone's understanding of the Ghost Path was really just a trivial "minor change".

But at this moment, no one dared to look at this death god from the Ghost Path Sect with the eyes of someone who was a "clerk" or a "weak person".

Chapter 7 Kenpachi Zaraki

Inside the training ground, the shockwaves from Liu Chuan's "Thunderous Roar" shot had not yet completely subsided.

An even more primal, savage, and violent spiritual pressure, like a tangible raging wave, emanated from the doorway!

All the members of the Eleventh Division, from the Third Seat of Madarame to the most ordinary members, instantly changed their expressions from shock to a mixture of reflexive awe and fanaticism.