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

July gestured for her not to speak and carefully observed the surrounding environment.

After a dozen or so breaths, July spoke up, "There's no sound."

"What's wrong?" Kensei Rokusha looked around.

“Idiot, all the birdsong and insect chirping around us have disappeared.” Hirako Shinji’s expression turned serious.

He had seen this situation described in textbooks—they might have encountered a false alarm.

July's right hand rested on the hilt of the sword, carefully sensing the changes in the surrounding spiritual pressure.

Hollows occasionally appear in Soul Society. Sometimes, the spatial barrier between Hueco Mundo and Soul Society fluctuates, creating gaps. Hollows from Hueco Mundo can then enter Soul Society through these naturally occurring gaps.

However, this usually happens in partitions that are ranked lower.

Shikatori Dojo is located in the outer ward of the sixth district of West Rukongai. The outer ward is considered a relatively ideal area with abundant food, safety, and environment. It has lush vegetation and numerous forests, so there are many hunters in this area.

As a top-ranked district, the outer district is relatively close to Seireitei, making the probability of a gap appearing very low.

July was also the first time I met Xu in the outer district.

However, he was not without experience in dealing with Void creatures; Baiyunzhai had once taken him hunting Void creatures.

July's expression shifted slightly as he sensed an unusual fluctuation in spiritual pressure.

With a flick of his wrist, a blade of light slashed to the right.

Suddenly, a dark shadow appeared on the right side of July, followed by the howl of the Void.

Ow—

The blade flashed past the shadowy figure, leaving a grotesque tentacle on the ground.

The shadowy figure disappeared again.

That Hollow seemed to be very good at hiding its form; even after being hit, it could still conceal itself.

Suddenly, July raised his Zanpakuto and held it in front of him.

In that instant, a ferocious tentacle lashed out like a whip.

Chapter 25 Undercurrent

The grotesque tentacles covered in fleshy growths slammed into the Zanpakuto, the powerful force sending July flying backward.

In July, he retreated several meters before regaining his balance, his legs digging into the grass and leaving two muddy marks.

"teacher!"

With a solemn expression, Kana Mochi drew her Asagi and shielded Lisa behind her. She could feel the strong spiritual pressure emanating from the Hollow.

Kensei Rokusha and Shinji Heiko, who were standing nearby, also drew their Asauchi swords.

"You all step back, I can handle this!" July focused her gaze on the Void that had revealed its form. This Void was quite powerful, and the disciples were not capable of dealing with it at this stage. If they rushed forward rashly, it would easily cause unnecessary casualties.

This fuzzy creature wore a double-horned bone mask on its face, had four spider-like legs on its lower body, and three hideous tentacles covered in fleshy growths on its upper body. Originally, it should have had four tentacles, but one of them had already been severed by July.

This Void clearly did not possess the ability to regenerate at supersonic speeds; the severed tentacles did not grow back.

July focused her spiritual pressure on the blade, quickly twisting her wrist to reshape the blade, instantly slicing into the fleshy tentacle pressing down on the Zanpakuto.

puff-

The blade flashed, and the fleshy tentacles were instantly sliced ​​into several pieces.

"Awooo!!!" Xu roared angrily, raising the other two tentacles high and thrusting them fiercely towards July.

Just as the tentacles were about to pierce through, July vanished instantly.

Bang!

Two tentacles pierced the ground, stirring up countless grains of sand and soil.

The vanished July suddenly appeared behind Hollow's head, took a lunge in mid-air, raised her sword, pressed her left hand against the back of the blade, and attached her spiritual pressure to the blade.

Immediately afterwards, July's body, like a drawn bowstring, stepped forward and thrust out a sword!

Shikatori Style: Instant Strike!

puff-

The tip of the Zanpakuto pierced through the twin-horned bone mask on the Hollow's face.

Ow—

A hollow, piercing whistling sound came from the void's mouth.

July didn't give it a chance, swiftly swinging her Zanpakuto and cleaving the Hollow in two along the wound on its head.

bang——

The body, split in two, crashed to the ground and slowly dissipated, decomposing into spiritual particles that merged into the Soul Society.

"Teacher is amazing! You took care of that Hollow so quickly!" Kana Azashiro exclaimed. "Was that 'Instant Strike' sword technique you used at the end? I really want to learn it soon!"

"At your pace, you should learn it soon too." July's right hand, which was holding the Zanpakuto, twitched slightly. She used her spiritual pressure to disperse the residual blood on the blade and sheathed the sword.

"I've never seen a Hollow before, let alone one here," said Shinji Hirako.

“Me too, and this Hollow’s spiritual pressure is even stronger than mine,” Kensei Muguruma said.

Hollows are not common in Soul Society, especially in the Outer Ward, which is ranked higher, making the probability of encountering Hollows even lower.

The closer you get to the Seireitei, the more stable the space becomes. This is the first time I've encountered a Hollow here, even though I've been in the outer districts for so long.

"This is the first time I've encountered a Hollow in the outer district. I'll have to remind the 10th Division when I get back to have them investigate if there's anything wrong," July said.

Sometimes, gaps in the space can remain for a long time, in which case someone needs to deal with them.

Currently, the 12th Division has not yet established a system that can monitor the spiritual pressure of the entire Soul Society, so Shinigami need to report any abnormalities they encounter when they go out.

The five set off again, heading out of the mountains and forests, and encountered no further accidents on their journey.

...

The location where the Hollow was killed in July.

After the group left, three cloaked grim reapers suddenly appeared in the forest.

They carried around an instrument for detecting spiritual pressure, taking measurements everywhere.

A moment later, the three Grim Reapers compared the values ​​they had detected.

"Eleventh-rank spiritual power."

"Eleventh-rank spiritual power."

"That's right, me too. Let's go back."

After the three Grim Reapers put their cloaks and hoods back on, they vanished again, as if they had never been there, leaving no trace.

...

The next day, July received feedback from the 10th Division that there were no more spatial gaps in the forest behind the mountain.

Yesterday, after returning from the mountains and forests behind the dojo, he reported the encounter with Hollows to the 10th Division. After all, the mountains and forests are right behind the dojo, and if there are any remaining spatial rifts, Hollows might come from Hueco Mundo again.

The 10th Division is quite efficient; they reported it yesterday and sent Shinigami to investigate on the same day.

In the courtyard, Cilantro thrust out her sword with a thud, successfully piercing the wooden blade into the human-shaped target.

"Teacher, I did it!" Cilantro was so excited she almost jumped for joy.

In July, he went up to check the human-shaped target. The wooden sword had not pierced through the target's head; it had only penetrated about one-fifth of the way in.

“There might be something wrong with how you’re applying force. Demonstrate it for me again,” July said.

Cilantro lifted the wooden sword, pressed down on the back of the blade with her left hand, and attached her spiritual pressure to the blade.

With a thud, the wooden sword was thrust into the human-shaped target once again.

The depth of the penetration this time was about the same as before.

“There’s something wrong with how you’re applying force. Get into the right stance,” July said.

"Is that so?" Cilantro took a lunge and raised her sword, then pressed down on the back of the blade with her left hand, attaching her spiritual pressure to the sword.

"You're not showing off by pressing down on the knife with your left hand; you're using your left hand to build up power." July pressed down on Xiangcai's left hand, indicating that she should press down on it more firmly. "Just keep pressing down on the knife like this, and then exert your power."

Cilantro begins to exert its power, the muscles in its palms and arms tense, ready to unleash its full potential.

"You also need to use the strength of your waist. If you only use the strength of your arms to punch, you can't even penetrate a human-shaped target, let alone a virtual body." July noticed that the muscles in Cilantro's waist were very relaxed.

After hearing this, Cilantro's waist tightened.

"Yes, like that. Finally, use your leg strength to propel yourself out, like a bowstring, using the power of your whole body to shoot the knife out." July patted Cilantro on the back, signaling her to attack.

With a low shout, Cilantro suddenly stepped forward and thrust out the wooden knife in her hand with incredible speed.

Shikatori Style: Instant Strike!

Boom!

After a loud bang, the wooden sword pierced the head of the human-shaped target in an instant.

"Teacher, I hit the human-shaped target!" Cilantro said, waving her wooden sword.

“Very good. Remember this feeling and practice it until it becomes muscle memory. In battle, the enemy won’t give you time to build up their strength. You need to complete those maneuvers in a very short time.” July said with a smile.

After Cilantro successfully executed "Instant Strike," her training quest received a notification.

Disciple Kana Mochi learns the sword technique "Instant Strike".

[Guide Cilantro Mochi in completing a sword technique training (completed)]

July glanced at the pop-up notification and focused her attention on the "completed" cultivation task.

[Disciple Mochishiro Kana has completed a sword skill training session; reward settled.]

[Reward: 5000 Universal Experience Points]

[Reward: Sword Skill - Wave Breaker (Beginner Level)]

In July, she glanced at the panel and saw that a new beginner-level skill, "Breaking Waves," had been added to the sword skills section.

By focusing on "breaking the waves," more information immediately came into view.

Chapter 26 New Sword Techniques

After completing the training mission, the reward for Cilantro Mole City was surprisingly a sword skill.

In July, many memories of practicing the "Breaking Waves" sword technique flooded her mind, as if she had actually devoted herself to practicing the sword technique for a period of time.

【Breaking Waves: The waves surge endlessly, and the blade is imbued with the currents, making it difficult to discern whether it is real or illusory】

In July, combining his cultivation memories, he discovered that "Breaking Waves" was not an ordinary sword technique, but a sword technique that incorporated the Ghost Path!

The "Wave Breaker" slash creates a wave-like spray that obscures the true location of the blade, while the spray also adds a certain amount of damage.

Upon hearing Kana Mochijo's joyful cheers, Kensei Rokusha and Shinji Heiko stopped their training and came over to offer their congratulations.

"Cilantro has already learned a sword technique so quickly! Master, when can we learn sword techniques too?" Kensei Rokusha asked.

“Yes, practicing the basics is so boring.” Hirako Shinji also expressed his desire to learn swordsmanship.

"Xiangcai's swordsmanship foundation is already quite good, which is why she completed the basic stage of training so quickly. You all need to practice all the basic stances and footwork until they become muscle memory. The foundation is the basis, and you must lay a solid foundation in order to go further."

July smiled and said, "Kensei's basic training is almost complete, so he can move on to the next stage of training. But Mako still needs to train for a while longer."

In July, he glanced at Kensei Muguruma's training mission and saw that it was already completed, while Shinji Hirako's training mission was still incomplete.

[Guided Kensei Rokusha to complete his basic swordsmanship training (completed)]

In July, focus your attention on the item that shows "completed".

[Disciple Rokuche Kensei has completed his basic swordsmanship training; rewards have been distributed.]

[Reward: 1000 Universal Experience Points]

[Reward Obtained: Hado No. 11 - Lightning Bolt (Beginner Level)]

After completing the training mission, the reward for Kensei Muguruma is Kido.

In July, a new beginner-level skill called "Lightning Bolt" was added to the Kido panel. The function of "Lightning Bolt" is to release lightning along objects to strike enemies.