I'm in Bleach, starting with Unlimited Blade Works.

"Alright, sir, I agree."

"Hahaha, Toshiro, from now on you should call me teacher!"

"My name is Erin. You can call me teacher or Teacher Erin."

"Yes, Teacher Erin!"

Although Erin ultimately failed to take Toshiro as his son, he was still satisfied with having gained another disciple.

However, remembering that he had just handed one of his disciples over to Byakuya for instruction, it was not appropriate to hand over Hitsugaya Toshiro as well.

After all, it's unknown whether Byakuya will be annoyed by Erin, but if Toshiro's addition causes Erin's Hakuro party's stock to plummet, that would be disastrous.

Alright, I'll just have to work hard for a while and teach Toshiro some basic things.

Let's send Toshiro to the Shinigami Academy a few years later when he's a bit older!

……

In the front yard of the Kuchiki family's residence, Kuchiki Byakuya frowned slightly.

He seemed to have sensed a faint malice coming at him, but it quickly dissipated.

Without much thought, Byakuya Kuchiki quickly identified the malicious suspect.

From birth until now, there have only been two people who have given Byakuya Kuchiki the feeling he just experienced.

One is Yoruichi Shihouin, and the other is Erin's uncle.

Now that Yoruichi Shihouin has fled to the human world, she would never come to Seireitei to play tricks on herself.

The only possibility is that Erin's uncle has developed feelings for her again.

"I'm sorry, Byakuya-sama, I've disappointed you again."

Across from Byakuya, Rukia, who was training with him in swordsmanship, noticed Byakuya's furrowed brow and assumed that her swordsmanship had disappointed him. She quickly bowed and apologized.

"Do not……"

Kuchiki Byakuya looked at the timid Rukia and sighed softly.

To be honest, Rukia's swordsmanship is quite good compared to ordinary people.

However, Byakuya had endured three months of Erin's hellish training, transforming his swordsmanship into an "instinct," making Rukia's swordsmanship no different from that of a child in front of him.

However, when practicing with Rukia, Byakuya would occasionally see Rukia as Hishin and imagine how he would make Hishin stronger if Hishin had spiritual pressure.

Unconsciously, Byakuya's expectations of Rukia became a bit high.

Of course, Byakuya Kuchiki also knew that Rukia was not Hishin.

So after a slight daze, he would come back to his senses and seriously teach Rukia the slashing technique.

"Indeed, your slashing technique makes me wonder if you've been diligently training these past few days."

In the end, Byakuya Kuchiki still didn't say anything to praise him.

Chapter 201 Arrival

Kuchiki Byakuya's words made Rukia's face turn pale.

The time Rukia spent learning Kido from Teacher Erin helped her regain her confidence.

Rukia's thinking is typical of "rational thinking".

There are patterns to learning the ways of the ghosts.

The arrangement of spiritual particles, the chanting of incantations, the changes in speaking speed, the patterns of spiritual pressure and spiritual particle fluctuations...

Rukia is very good at summarizing these patterns and then applying them to the training of the Kido (Demon Path).

In battles using Kido, Rukia is also very adept at seizing the enemy's weaknesses, analyzing the distance between herself and the enemy, and releasing Kido at the right distance to deliver a fatal blow.

The smooth sailing on the Demon Path swept away the gloom of Rukia's setbacks during her first year at the Shinigami Academy.

The techniques for cutting them are different.

By practicing swordsmanship, Rukia can achieve more efficient improvements than others who blindly train, based on the patterns she has summarized.

However, when practicing sword techniques, Rukia's "rational thinking" became her biggest weakness.

When faced with an attack, Rukia always rationally analyzes the opponent's attack speed and range, and how she should block, dodge, or counterattack.

However, the biggest difference between melee combat and demonic duels is distance.

In a battle using the Kido technique, the two sides are always more than ten meters apart, giving Rukia time to think and decide on a strategy.

However, in close combat, the two sides are almost face to face, and before Rukia can fully come up with a countermeasure, the opponent's attack is already upon her.

Under such circumstances, Rukia usually has to deal with attacks hastily and cannot even fully utilize her strength.

And what about Byakuya?

His guilt over Hisana's passing unconsciously led him to raise his expectations of Rukia.

Unlike Hisana, who has always stayed in the Kuchiki family, Rukia will one day become a Shinigami.

As a Grim Reaper, battle is indispensable.

In order to prevent Rukia from dying young like Hisana, Byakuya Kuchiki wished that Rukia would possess strength far exceeding his own within a single day.

However, to Byakuya's disappointment, while Rukia was meticulous in training, she couldn't even unleash half her full strength in a real battle.

Typically speaking, Rukia is a practice athlete, not a competitive athlete.

But in every battle against death, there is a brush with life and death.

Even Byakuya couldn't guarantee that he would win every battle.

After witnessing Erin's uncle's strength, Byakuya felt that he was not worthy of the title of "Captain".

Does this mean that after a few years, Rukia will only be able to be assigned to a squad with a lower level of combat intensity?

Which squad should I choose?

At this moment, Rukia had no idea that Byakuya was already making arrangements for her squad.

All she knew was that she had disappointed Byakuya-sama during their practice session.

"I'm sorry, Byakuya-sama."

"I……"

Faced with Byakuya Kuchiki's questioning, even though Rukia had never slacked off in her training, she couldn't utter a single word in rebuttal.

Unfortunately, given her way of thinking, it wasn't so obvious when fighting opponents of similar strength, but in battles against a master of swordsmanship like Byakuya, Rukia never lasted past the second move.

The difference in eyesight, experience, and most importantly, swordsmanship means that even if Byakuya suppressed his power and speed to the same level as Rukia, Rukia would have no chance of winning.

"continue."

Byakuya knew from Rukia's reaction that he had been too harsh with his words.

Kuchiki Byakuya paid much more attention to Rukia than Erin did.

No one knows better than him how hard Rukia practices.

But why did they perform so poorly in battle?

A more tactful way to put it is that Rukia didn't even use half of her full potential.

To put it another way, Rukia has absolutely no fighting talent.

There was nothing Byakuya Kuchiki could do about this; he could only increase Rukia's combat experience through more and stronger battles.

……

After dealing with the matter concerning Toshiro's grandmother, Erin led Toshiro Hitsugaya, who was barely up to his waist, toward Seireitei.

Toshiro lives in Rukongai ward number 34, which is much safer than Rukia and Renji Abarai's ward number 67.

At Toshiro's current speed, it would take at least six months to get from here to Seireitei.

However, Erin didn't intend for Toshiro to be gone for so long.

However, given Toshiro's current condition, Haruko wouldn't be able to withstand the chill if she took him back to the Kuchiki residence.

Although Erin implanted "Avalon" into Haruko's body, it did not increase Haruko's spiritual pressure.

What Avalon granted Haruko was only "immortality"; defensively, Haruko's spiritual pressure was simply not enough to unleash Avalon.

However, Erin was not worried about this at all.

Don't forget, besides Avalon implanted in her body, Haruko also has Alice inside her.

Alice can handle most dangers.

If faced with a danger comparable to that of a captain who has been around for a hundred years, Alice can temporarily transfer her spiritual pressure into Haruko's body to complete the release of "Avalon".

Whether it's Alice or Avalon, both are Erin's Zanpakuto, and Erin will naturally sense when they are used.

When the time comes, Erin will naturally rush over immediately to resolve the crisis they are facing.

Erin is now giving Toshiro basic instruction.

Once Toshiro has mastered his spiritual pressure, Erin will use Shunpo to take Toshiro back to Seireitei.

The length of time they stay in Rukongai depends on when Toshiro can perfectly control his spiritual pressure.

"Toshiro, like most Shinigami, slowly trains himself, using time to hone his skills and increase his spiritual pressure."

"But you are different. Your spiritual pressure is now no weaker than that of some elite Shinigami. So what you need to do now is to control your spiritual pressure."

Under Erin's tutelage, Toshiro lived up to his reputation as a "genius," mastering his spiritual pressure in less than half an hour.

However, this can only be achieved under his deliberate control.

Once Toshiro loses focus or shifts his attention elsewhere, his spiritual pressure, once out of Toshiro's control, will spread outwards, releasing a large amount of cold air.

This means that Toshiro is still far from mastering spiritual pressure control.

Of course, part of the reason is that Toshiro's current age is simply too insignificant compared to his immense spiritual pressure.

It's important to know that Toshiro's spiritual pressure comes from Hyōrinmaru, the strongest ice-type Zanpakutō.

If Toshiro's spiritual pressure were strong enough, he might very well reach the level of Captain-Commander Yamamoto.