Bleach: Getting Stronger Starting from Teaching at the Spiritual Arts Academy

The 'Dust-Binding Thunderfire Armor' does not necessarily have to be formed into the shape of a giant. Due to time constraints, July only managed to form an arm holding a sword.

The afterimage trailed by the golden flame longsword resembled a half-sun, radiating dazzling light in the air.

The golden flame longsword struck the thorny thicket and took it away.

bang——

Thorn Cone was slammed to the ground, most of its thorns and bone spikes were shattered, and the flames on the Golden Flame Longsword began to spread across its body.

After Thorncliff detached from the skeleton of the ancient Hollow, although its movement speed increased significantly, the bone spikes on its body were not as strong as before.

The pain in his body made Thornthorn's eyes clear.

It then realized that the Grim Reaper before it was incredibly powerful, far beyond its ability to match.

At this moment, only one thought remained in the mind of the thorn bushes—

Run away!

The thorn bush struggled, trying to break free of the golden flame longsword pressing down on it so it could escape.

But by then it was too late to escape; July wouldn't let it get away.

Sand and gravel swirled in the air once more, merging with the heatwave and airflow to condense into a giant arm burning with golden flames.

July raised the Golden Flame Blade. Just as Thorn Congxu was about to take the opportunity to escape, the left side of his body was stabbed into the ground by the Golden Flame Blade that had been flipped over.

The giant golden flame hand grabbed the other end of the body in the thorny thicket and pulled hard.

“——Ah!!!”

The thorn bush let out a scream as it was torn in two by the immense force.

The Thorn Thicket is not entirely made of bone; there is also a long, thin strip of flesh in the center.

After the body was broken in two, blood and flesh were scattered into the air like rain.

The two severed bodies writhed in agony, like broken earthworms.

The giant golden flame hand grabbed the mangled body in its hand and smashed it towards another mangled body on the ground.

Bang bang bang bang bang——

After being smashed more than a dozen times, both severed parts of the body became still.

"That's an Adjuchas-class Hollow! Teacher dealt with it so easily!" Yoruichi Shihouin was shocked.

When she was still with the Hueco Mundo Expeditionary Force, the force needed several skilled Shinigami to work together to kill an Adjuchas-class Menos Grande. Yet, her teacher was able to kill an Adjuchas-class Menos Grande all by herself, and with such ease.

The two giant golden flame hands and the golden flame longsword slowly dissipated, and the shadow space also quickly disappeared, transforming back into the Zanpakuto and returning to July's hand.

July slowly approached the thicket of thorns to check on its condition.

He didn't kill the Hollow, but simply knocked it unconscious by smashing it into the Thorn Hollow.

This Haunted creature might be the glowing thorn bush that Ulquiorra encountered; it has some research value, and July plans to take it back.

In July, he took out several tubes of potent anesthetic and injected them into the body of the novice.

Upon closer inspection, July could see clearly that at the bottom of the thicket of thorns, there were two rows of body structures resembling insect legs.

"What is this?" July wondered as he noticed two rows of insect legs tightly gripping a long, thin bone.

The bone was about ten centimeters long. For some reason, when I saw the bone in July, I felt an overwhelming longing in my heart.

In July, a spiritual pressure blade appeared at her fingertips, slicing open the insect legs wrapped around her bones.

In July, as he picked up the long, thin bone, he instantly understood why he had felt such emotions towards it.

This bone actually came from the body of the Spirit King!

At that moment, a strange movement came from his shadow.

Several black tentacles emerged from the shadow, enveloping the shadow of the bone.

A few breaths later, the strange phenomenon in the shadow disappeared without a trace, and the few black tentacles that had just appeared seemed to be just an illusion.

July glanced at Yoruichi Shihouin and saw that she was still examining another part of the body in the Thorn Void, unaware of the change in his shadow.

July looked down and saw that the bone still cast a shadow, but he understood that something in that shadow had been absorbed by him, turning it into an ordinary shadow produced by the light source.

The Spirit King is the wedge that stabilizes the Three Realms, and also the god who created the Three Realms. Even His shadow contains divine power. What July absorbed was a part of the 'Spirit King's shadow'.

After absorbing this portion of the 'Spirit King's Shadow,' he slightly improved his control over shadows.

The most direct manifestation of this is that his Bankai ability has become slightly stronger.

He can replicate the abilities of others by using their shadows. The power of the replicated ability is roughly one to five tenths of the original's power, depending on the strength of the replicated entity.

After absorbing this portion of the 'Shadow of the Spirit King' in July, the replicated power had both its upper and lower limits increased.

However, due to the limited amount of 'Spirit King's Shadow' contained in a single bone segment, the improvement was minimal, less than 10%.

In July, it is estimated that absorbing such 'Shadow of the Spirit King' about ten times will increase the power by 10%.

In July, the bones of the Spirit King will be collected. If the 'Hogyoku' is to be created in the future, fragments of the Spirit King will be necessary.

He didn't expect to have such a gain when he came.

However, July felt that this fragment of the Spirit King did not belong to the Thorn Void, otherwise the Thorn Void would not be so weak.

This fragment of the Spirit King is very likely something that belonged to that ancient Great Void.

Most of the fragments of the Spirit King were scattered throughout the Three Realms, and most of them were not unclaimed.

The fragments of the Spirit King will merge into the soul and reincarnate along with the soul.

Souls possessing fragments of the Spirit King all have great potential.

These souls that possess fragments of the Spirit King also have the potential to become void.

That enormous ancient void was very likely the soul carrying fragments of the Spirit King.

The fact that the Thorn Hollow could unleash the 'Glamour of a King Hollow' from the remains of an ancient Hollow suggests that this ancient Hollow must have been a powerful Hueco Mundo no less than a 'Vast Todd'-level high-ranking Hollow in its lifetime.

The remains of ancient Hollows still retain spiritual pressure. Hollows of the 'Vastow' class are very rare, and even their remains are hard to find.

July didn't waste any time; she called Yoruichi over to help, and the two of them packed the remains of the ancient Hollow into the Spirit Space and took them away.

...

A few days later, at the Academy of Spiritual Arts, in the Dean's office.

"Minister Shikatori, this is the list of new students for this term. There are relatively few new students this term, only one class. This class will be in your care. Please take a look and see if there are any problems." Ayane Kotetsu placed a class list in front of July.

In July, she picked up the class list and quickly found the names of Aizen Sousuke, Kotetsu Isane, Azashiro Sōya, Shiba Isshin, and Yadōmaru Lisa.

He arranged for all his disciples who had not yet started school to enroll in this year's class.

Chapter 167 Yamamoto's Visit

In July, I thought I would have a wonderful summer vacation.

When you have free time, you can give your disciples some pointers, or take them on a picnic in the back mountains.

But this idea was thwarted by the old man in front of the door.

"It is an honor to have Captain-Commander Yamamoto grace my humble abode with his presence!" July glanced at Kyoraku Shunsui and Ukitake Jushiro behind Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni and sensed something was amiss.

None of the three wore the captain's haori, or even the shihaka, but were dressed in ordinary civilian clothes.

In July, Kyoraku Shunsui looked at her questioningly, and Kyoraku Shunsui returned a look that said, "You'll find out soon enough."

In July, having no other choice, he had to welcome the three into the temple.

"It has been hundreds of years since I last came here." Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni walked into the dojo, recalled some past events, and sighed softly, "The last time I came here was to find Shikatori Hakunsai to serve as the first captain of the 8th Division!"

To this day, only three of the original captains are still active in Soul Society.

“However, this place is much more lively than when I last came.” Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni stood by the courtyard wall, watched the disciples’ training for a while, and nodded slightly. “It seems you are indeed very capable of teaching. These disciples are all quite good.”

When Baiyunzhai came out of the house, he was quite surprised to see the three people beside Qiyue.

"Captain-Commander Yamamoto, Captain Kyoraku, Captain Ukitake, what brings you here?"

"I've come here to discuss something."

Shiba noticed the commotion and initially paid little attention to the unremarkable old man. However, upon seeing the old man's appearance, he realized that the old man was none other than Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni.

"Yamamoto... Captain-Commander!"

"You must be the Shiba family kid. You're also practicing swordsmanship at the Shikatri Dojo?" Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni thought for a moment and remembered seeing him at the Shiba family's residence.

“Yes… Master Shikato’s swordsmanship is better than that of the Shiba family!” Shiba Isshin said.

"Shikatori-ryu swordsmanship is indeed extraordinary." Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni nodded.

Aizen Sousuke, who was standing to the side, had already focused his attention on the three people standing next to their teacher.

He had never seen these three people before, nor could he sense their hidden spiritual pressure fluctuations, but these three people had extraordinary bearing and were clearly not easy to deal with.

After Aizen Sousuke learned that the old man was Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni, the strongest captain in Soul Society, he began to observe him discreetly, secretly comparing him to his teacher.

"I wonder if Master can defeat Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni," Aizen Sosuke thought to himself.

“I won’t disturb their training any longer. Take us indoors,” Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni said, turning to Shikatori Shichigetsu.

"Please come with me to the tea room." July nodded and led the three of them to the tea room.

After they were seated, July poured a cup of tea for the three of them.

Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni took a sip of tea and said, "I don't know if you know, but the 'Genryu' dojo has a tradition."

July and Bayunzhai looked at each other, both seeing confusion in each other's eyes.

"I don't know..."

Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni did not expect them to give an answer, and continued, "Back when I was teaching at the Genryu Dojo, I would take my disciples on a study tour every now and then."

"Study abroad?" July asked. "Is it to visit various dojos and exchange sword techniques?"

Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni nodded slowly: "That's one reason. Besides those dojos, there are also some renowned masters who are worth visiting."

Ba Yunzhai suddenly realized: "Oh, so that's what it is. I remember now, I also saw Captain-Commander Yamamoto bring 'Yuanliu' disciples to exchange sword techniques."

Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni sighed, "Yes, your father was still alive back then."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "After the 'Yuanliu' dojo was transformed into the Spirit Arts Academy, although I no longer took the disciples of the Spirit Arts Academy on study tours, the habit of studying on tours was retained."

"This way, we can personally experience things in Soul Society that we, as captains, cannot see."

July realized that this was just the Soul Society version of a clandestine visit!

As a team leader, if you only rely on reports from your subordinates, you can easily fall into an information cocoon.

July asked with a smile, "So, are Captain-Commander Yamamoto, Captain Kyoraku, and Captain Ukitake going on a 'study tour' incognito?"

Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni nodded: "Now, every few decades, I travel around to observe the situation in Soul Society."

Death Gods are long-lived beings and are not so sensitive to time. This is especially true for elderly Death Gods like Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni. The "every period of time" he mentioned actually refers to intervals of several decades.

Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni continued, "I thought since it's summer vacation now, you shouldn't have to go to the Spirit Arts Academy for classes, so I wanted to invite you to 'study abroad' with me for a while."

"You will inevitably have to take on the important responsibility of captain in the future. Before that, it is very necessary to learn more about the situation in Soul Society."

Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni felt that he had a teacher-student relationship with Shikatoshi Nanatsuki, and since Shikatoshi Nanatsuki would definitely be the captain in the future, he came to invite him to 'study abroad' together.

July was slightly taken aback, not expecting that Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni had come to invite him to go on a 'study tour' incognito.

The Spirit Arts Academy is currently on summer vacation, and the disciples at the dojo are not complete novices who know nothing. Their cultivation doesn't actually require his constant supervision, so he does have time to go on a 'study tour' with Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni and the other two.

"Since it was Captain-Commander Yamamoto who invited me, then I will accept the invitation."

After a brief consideration, July agreed.

The fact that Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni personally invited him to "study abroad" shows how much he values ​​him; refusing would be a loss of face for the old man.

In July, she also went to her room to prepare, changing out of her dojo master's haori and shihaka outfit and into ordinary clothes.

In addition, he also prepared a cloth bag to store his luggage. This cloth bag has a spiritual space inside, which can store a lot of things.

After packing everything up, I will make arrangements for the disciples' training in July.

"Izane, Soya, and Lisa, your foundations are already very solid. You must practice the 'Instant Strike' technique I taught you diligently, until it becomes an instinctive reflex. The way you generate power with 'Instant Strike' is the foundation of the Shikatori-ryu swordsmanship."

"Yes!" X3