Bleach: From the moment I was invited by Squad Zero

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

A more primal, savage, and violent spiritual pressure, like a tangible raging wave, crashed in from the entrance without warning!

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.

They all straightened their backs and turned their gazes toward the entrance.

Yanagawa's senses were the most acute; the "quality" of this spiritual pressure was unlike any Shinigami he knew.

It is filled with the purest desire for battle and destruction, almost like an instinct that is innate and honed in endless battles, rather than something that can be cultivated.

"Hey~ Something interesting looks like this! Little Sword, come look!"

A sweet, childlike voice rang out first, and a petite girl with pink hair, looking like a doll, was leisurely sitting on the shoulders of a tall man.

Swinging her legs, holding half a string of konpeito in her hand, her amber eyes scanned the room with interest, pausing particularly on Yanagawa, a "new face".

The man carrying her—Kenpachi Zaraki, the captain of the 11th Division—walked in with a nonchalant air.

With wild hair, a scar running across his eye, and his open shihata suit revealing his muscular chest, he exudes a lazy yet dangerous aura of "I'm the best fighter in the world."

His single eye barely glanced at his own teammates, but instead, like a beast that had smelled blood, it fixed its gaze on Yanagawa in the center of the field, and on Renji, who had just regained his footing and looked somewhat disheveled.

"Oh?" Kenpachi's lips curled into a grin, revealing gleaming white teeth. The smile was purely the excitement of spotting potential prey. "Renji, looking like this, who beat you up?"

Renji quickly straightened up, and although he looked disheveled, he still tried his best to maintain his composure in front of the captain: "Reporting, Captain! My former classmate, now a member of the Kido Clan! We... were sparring!"

"A sparring match? And it turned out like this?" Kenpachi's one eye swept over Yanagawa, his gaze sharp as a knife, as if he were assessing how tough Yanagawa's bones were and how resilient he was to being cut.

"It's interesting that I managed to beat you up like this. Hey, you," he gestured with his chin at Liu Chuan, "what's your name? Come on, let's fight."

The invitation was taken for granted, and the fighting spirit was made no attempt to hide.

However, before Yanagawa could respond, Renji instinctively added, his tone still carrying the shock of being bombarded by Kido: "Captain! Yanagawa is skilled in Kido!"

"The Way of the Demons?"

This word was like a bucket of ice water, instantly extinguishing most of the burning light in Kenpachi Zaraki's eyes.

His grin turned down, his brow furrowed impatiently, and the interest in his single eye visibly faded, turning into undisguised disdain.

"The Way of the Demons?" he repeated, his tone filled with an "Is that all?" as if he had heard something extremely boring.

He carried Kusajiro Yachiru and took two steps forward, approaching Yanagawa. But the oppressive fighting spirit had dissipated considerably, replaced by a critical gaze as if scrutinizing trash.

"So, after all that, it was just some kind of magic trick involving thunder and fire?"

He clearly had no interest in, and even looked down on, the Kido, which required chanting, skill, and control, rather than pure power and the clash of swords.

In his view, fighting should be a bloody, brutal battle, and any "tricks" are utterly tasteless.

Kusajika Yachiru tilted her head on his shoulder, looked at Yanagawa, then at Kenpachi, and whispered, "But Kenpachi, that 'trick' just now was really loud, Renji even bled."

"That only proves that Renji is too weak," Kenpachi commented bluntly, completely losing interest in fighting Yanagawa.

He had also had a moment of doubt, but now that the captain had pointed it out, he couldn't help but look at Yanagawa and ask the question that many of the Eleventh Division members present, including Madarame and Yumichika, had been vaguely curious about:

"Yeah, Yanagawa!" Renji asked directly.

"Where's your Zanpakuto? You didn't draw it once! Even if your Kido is powerful, a Zanpakuto is only half a Shinigami, right? Your sword... did it rust among the Kido followers?"

That's a very good question. In Soul Society, Zanpakuto are symbols of a Shinigami's power, identity, and even soul; the vast majority of Shinigami consider training in Zanpakuto fundamental.

It is truly an anomaly that someone like Liu Chuan, who is clearly quite strong, does not even draw his sword when sparring with an opponent of the rank of Grand Master.

In an instant, everyone's attention was focused on Yanagawa again. Even Kenpachi Zaraki, who had already lost interest, looked over with a hint of amusement, wanting to hear what this "kido enthusiast" had to say.

Facing the gaze of the crowd, Liu Chuan remained calm and composed as he answered:

"I do have a Zanpakuto, but it's been a long time since I've used it."

He paused, seemingly organizing his thoughts, but what he said surprised those familiar with the Death God's combat system:

"For me, Kido is about 'understanding' and 'construction,' it's about exploring and applying the essence of spiritual power. Zanpakuto, on the other hand, is more about 'giving' and 'resonance.' I prefer the former."

He glanced at his empty waist: "As for the Zanpakuto, it's very strong; it's an extension of the soul, an amplifier of power."

"But relying on it can also limit you to some extent by its 'form' and 'nature'. I prefer to directly control spiritual power itself and use it in the way that is most suitable for the situation at the time, rather than being defined by the fixed 'Zanpakuto ability' in terms of combat mode."

These remarks sounded quite "heretical" to Shinigami who revered the power of Zanpakuto and many even considered Shikai and Bankai as their lifelong pursuit.

Even the Third Seat of Madarame couldn't help but mutter, "This kid's got quite the nerve... looking down on Zanpakuto?"

Upon hearing this, Kenpachi Zaraki let out a sneer, completely losing his last bit of interest, even the slightest bit of amusement vanished.

He turned around, hoisted the deer-like creature Hachiryu onto his shoulder, and walked towards the barracks, his lazy voice drifting over:

"What's the point of a fight if you can't have a good, satisfying battle? Renji, if you lost, go train some more and stop embarrassing yourself here." He didn't even bother to turn around, just waved his hand.

Kusajika Yachiru perched on Kenpachi's shoulder, waved her little hand at Yanagawa, and said with a smile, "Bye-bye, big brother who generates electricity~" Then she was carried by Kenpachi and disappeared into the shadows deep in the training ground.

With Kenpachi's departure, the suffocating and terrifying spiritual pressure receded like a tide.

The atmosphere in the training ground suddenly relaxed, but everyone's gazes toward Liu Chuan became even more complicated.

There was a sense of apprehension at his ability to defeat Renji, and also a subtle, strange admiration for his audacity in saying such things to Captain Zaraki.

Renji didn't think too much about it. He walked over to Yanagawa and patted him hard on the shoulder: "You're still the same as before, your head is full of道理 (principles/truths) that no one else can understand!"

His Zanpakuto... he didn't truly abandon it entirely.

However, his past life as a mage instilled in him a deep-seated preference for "directly manipulating energy through his own cognition and calculation."

The Zanpakuto's power system is more like a "convenient interface" and "power multiplier" provided by the rules of this world. While it is powerful, the relatively fixed nature of its power form makes him somewhat disillusioned.

He devoted more of his energy to studying the nature of spiritual power, the principles of the ghost path, and attempting to integrate certain energy theories from his past life with the rules of this world.

The Zanpakuto is more like a backup, worthy-of-study "sample of special spiritual energy phenomena".

The most crucial point is that Yanagawa's own Zanpakuto is a bit volatile, not easy to communicate with, and quite noisy and destructive when used.

Therefore, in the vast majority of cases, it can only be placed in a corner of the house to collect dust.