The Alchemist in Bleach

Because of his past experiences, he knew very well that in the Soul Society, strength was everything! Only the strong could possess everything!

As for Xuxiang?

This kind of trash should just die. One "Tenjō Shirō" is enough...

……

Meanwhile, under the cover of the cyclorama, Ichiro quickly headed towards the Fourth Division's barracks. The captain's lectures were very valuable, and he always gained a lot from them.

For example, the technique I just used was something I learned in a previous lecture: breaking the four-link combo and casting multiple breaking incantations of the Kido within one second. It's a weakened version of another Kido technique.

Before long, Ichiro arrived at the Fourth Division. Like the school, the Fourth Division also had weekends off, but they worked in shifts, as there was health care to do. In case of any emergency, all members had to be on duty immediately, regardless of whether it was a holiday or not!

Therefore, even though it's the weekend, there are still quite a few people. Most people won't miss this opportunity, after all, it's the captain giving a lecture, something that Ichiro only gets to do once every few years before.

"Ichiro's here. Come on over, let's get ready to start." The captain waved to Ichiro, who had just walked in, amidst the envious glances of the others.

If the captain had only been subtly giving Ichiro private lessons before, then after last week's incident, it turned into blatant favoritism. In addition to class time, he would often call Ichiro over to teach him personally during normal work hours, treating him almost like a disciple.

Soon, the captain's lecture began, as always, simple and easy to understand, but Ichiro began to have some worries, because the captain was talking about the accumulation of experience today, and there was less and less about techniques.

This illustrates a serious problem: on the way back, the captain probably doesn't have much left to teach him...

Admittedly, he could do his own research, but nothing beats learning from others' achievements. Only by standing on the shoulders of giants can one reach for greater heights.

After the lecture, the captain, as usual, called Ichiro aside and asked with a smile, "How did you feel?"

As Ichiro poured a cup of tea and handed it over, he said with a smile, "Simple and easy to understand, Captain's experience is still as rich as ever."

"Heh~ You're quite the talker, but all I can teach you on the return journey is experience. As expected, come with me to meet someone later. He should be able to teach you better on the return journey." The captain took a sip of tea and said.

"Is there anyone stronger than you, Captain, on the path back to the Demon Path? Could it be the Great Demon Master of the Demon Path Clan?"

The captain smiled and shook his head: "Although the Great Ghost Taoist's reply was not bad, it was not much better than mine. We need to see someone else."

“Furthermore…” Ichiro’s eyes flashed, a hint of surprise showing in them, “Could it be a royal spy?”

The captain wasn't surprised that Ichiro could use that word, and still had a faint smile on his face: "Looks like you've read a lot of books in school. That's right, the person we're going to meet this time is the founder of the Return Path, a royal agent, also known as one of the captains of the Zero Squad, Kirinji Tenjirou."

'As expected, it's Squad Zero!'

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Chapter Eighteen: On the Way of Ghosts

Royal Special Agents, also known as Squad Zero, is a squad directly under the royal family. After the formation of Squad Thirteen, they went into hiding and would not appear except in special circumstances.

Currently, there are only five members, each with exceptional strength. Their combined strength is said to rival that of the entire Thirteen Teams!

Furthermore, everyone in the Zero Division has made a huge contribution to Soul Society. In other words, only those who have made huge contributions can join the Zero Division. For example, Oetsu Nimaiya invented the Zanpakuto, and Tenjiro Kirinji, whom we will meet soon, is suspected of inventing the Kaido.

Of course, Ichiro wouldn't let the captain know that he knew this information. Knowing about the existence of the Zero Division was the limit of Ichiro's current position. He had indeed seen some vague records in the library, which was why he dared to say this. Any more than that would be problematic.

However, Ichiro was genuinely quite surprised to be able to get in touch with Squad Zero so early...

Is his response very strong?

"Hmm, very strong. He taught me the Dao of Return, so he should be able to help you a lot with the reform of the Dao of Return. I've almost finished my business, so let's leave now. Do you have anything else to take care of?"

"Huh? No, Captain, we can set off anytime."

"Alright, let's go then." The captain smiled gently and took the lead, walking towards the outside of the barracks.

The captain's decisive action surprised Ichiro slightly, and he quickly followed after him.

It's important to understand that you can't just see the Zero Division whenever you want. Even with the huge problems that occurred in Soul Society in the original work, very few people were able to see the Zero Division. This shows that the captain put a lot of effort into this matter...

A little while later, Ichiro and the captain stopped in front of a huge mansion in the noble district.

Just like Ichiro thought, they didn't go to the Spirit King Palace. Compared to letting Ichiro and the captain go in, it was obviously easier for Kirinji Tenjiro to come out.

"Dong dong~"

"Squeak~"

The gate slowly opened, and a maid walked out, bowed slightly, and said respectfully, "Captain Unohana? Lord Kirinji is already waiting at the training ground. Please follow me."

"Good work."

On the way, the captain, who hadn't received any questions from Ichiro, glanced behind him and saw that Ichiro seemed curious but didn't seem to have any doubts. He couldn't help but smile faintly.

She forgot that Ichiro was not from Soul Society, and his mindset was different from that of his classmates; he couldn't be treated like a child.

A little while later, Ichiro and the captain followed the maid to a huge training ground, so large that Ichiro was dumbfounded...

It's as big as two or three football fields!

Is this some kind of extravagance? This is the very center of Seireitei, huh? The very center of Seireitei?

Suddenly, Ichiro realized that the Seireitei was only about the size of twenty football fields. The four noble families probably couldn't even share that much space. Even if the captain of the Zero Division had a special status, could he be more special than the four noble families as a whole?

Therefore, Ichiro calmed down and carefully observed the training ground, finally discovering a tiny trace of the spatial demonic path...

However, Ichiro did not observe for long before his gaze was drawn to a burly man with a pompadour who was digging a hole with a hoe in the training ground. This man was none other than Kirinji Tenjiro.

Perhaps because he was digging a pit, Ichiro could vaguely sense an extremely powerful and terrifying spiritual pressure emanating from him. Therefore, Ichiro guessed that the pit he was digging was probably a replica of the two hot springs in his Spirit King Palace, or something similar.

"Lord Kirinji, Captain Unohana has arrived."

"Hmm, you may leave." Upon hearing this, Kirinji stood up, leaning on his hoe, and waved the maid away before saying, "This is the genius you spoke of, Retsu? This spiritual pressure... his strength is a bit lacking~"

“Kido talent has nothing to do with spiritual pressure.”

“That’s true. Kid, tell me your thoughts. Although Retsu has already given me a general overview, I’d like to hear yours, and more details would be even better.” Kirinji leaned on his hoe, looking at Ichiro with a hint of anticipation on his face.

Ichiro glanced at the captain, and after receiving a signal, he took a few steps forward and said, "Well, before returning to the chanting, I had one method in mind, but after the captain's guidance, there is another way."

"Two paths? Interesting, tell me about them."

"The first point is what the captain said: to comprehend and chant incantations from the space between heaven and earth, just like the Ghost Path. Of course, we can't comprehend it now, so we can basically draw two conclusions: one, the method is wrong; two, the world has changed."

Personally, I lean towards the second point: the world has changed, so there are two solutions: one, adapt to the world; two, change the world.

Adapting to the world is not about making compromises, but about finding new ways to understand and sing in a new world. This path is unknown; there may be results, or there may be none, but it is worth trying.

Changing the world, finding the reasons for its changes, and then changing them involves too many factors. Whether it's necessary to do so cannot be decided by one or two people. It's better to start by searching.

"Change the world? Ha~ That's an interesting idea. You're getting more and more interesting. This is new, but what about the old one?"

"Compared to the two newly conceived methods, the original method, while highly feasible, is much more complicated. The original method involved continuously breaking down and analyzing the existing chanting text to understand its power in the Ghost Path, and then replacing it with the Return Path. Although the workload was large, it was of great significance to the development of the Ghost Path."

Words alone might not be enough for you two to fully grasp the meaning, so let me demonstrate. Lord Kirinji, may I use Destruction here?

Kirinji spread his right hand and said, "Whatever, just don't mess with me."

Ichiro nodded, walked to the side, and extended his right hand, palm facing forward, as he said, "First, is a debunking incantation similar to the existing Path of Rebirth... Debunking 31: Red Fire Cannon!"

In an instant, an orange-red fireball condensed in Ichiro's palm. Since it was for demonstration purposes, Ichiro did not suppress its power but instead unleashed it normally.

"boom!"

"This is the broken incantation; what follows is the normal incantation. I'll slow down a bit; captains, please pay close attention..."

"The Sovereign! A mask of flesh and blood, all things, soaring high, something bearing the name of humanity! Scorching heat and strife, sweeping southward across the sea, advancing step by step! The Thirty-First Deck, Crimson Fire Cannon!"

"boom!"

An even larger fireball shot out, causing even greater destruction.

The simple comparison caused Kirinji and the captain to change color drastically. During the complete chanting, they felt for the first time a rhythm that they had subconsciously ignored before. This rhythm was the culprit that caused the change in the power of the demonic path!

However, Ichiro's actions weren't over yet. With his palms still facing forward, he chanted again, but this time...

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Chapter Nineteen: The Uprising!?

"The ruler, a mask of flesh and blood, all things take flight, bearing the name of humanity, scorching heat and strife, across the sea, surging southward, stepping forward, breaking through the thirty-first path of the Crimson Fire Cannon!" (Read in one second)

"boom!"

If they were only surprised by the uniqueness of the chanting language just now, the captain and Kirinji are now truly shocked!

The two stared in disbelief at the crater, almost the same size as the one created by the complete chant. What just happened?!

Because Ichiro chanted so fast, they were still unable to react even after being reminded.

"Ichiro... what is this?" The captain paused for a moment, then asked solemnly.

"High-speed chanting is a technique I developed while researching the incantations of the Ghost Path. Without affecting the power or energy consumption, it compresses the chanting time of the Ghost Path incantations to increase their practical significance. The standard is to chant the incantation completely within one second. You can only chant it; reciting it has no effect."

Ultimately, the incantation of the Demonic Path is essentially a miniature ritual to the world, so even high-speed incantation cannot avoid this; the speed of speech can vary, but the tone cannot.

"..." Kirinji remained silent, and he could only describe it with two words.

evildoer!

Couldn't they have thought of that?

Do not!

Ichiro wasn't the first to have this idea; they had thought of it long ago, but couldn't put it into practice...

They had no choice but to settle for second best and developed a method to break the chanting...

Throughout history, Ichiro is the only one who has achieved this, and what's even more frightening is that he seems to have plans to promote it...

Invention is difficult, but popularization is also difficult, and combining the two requires a monster to achieve...

With a sigh, Qilin Temple said, "With just this skill alone, if word gets out, once your strength increases, you will definitely have a place in the Spirit King Palace!"

"Cough cough!"

Kirinji glanced at the captain who was coughing softly and smiled: "Don't worry, Retsu, I won't compete with you. I'm just saying that this kid has potential, but his strength is far too lacking."

The captain glanced at him and said with a smile, "Even if he's strong enough, we won't give it to him. Ichiro is the future of our Fourth Division."

'The future? Does this mean you haven't given up on that idea yet?' Kirinji's eyes dimmed slightly, then he looked at Ichiro as if nothing had happened.

Ichiro pretended not to hear the two big shots fighting over him. He didn't take Kirinji's words to heart. Although Kirinji and the captain were friends, he didn't trust Kirinji. What if Kirinji was just jealous of his handsome appearance and was trying to ruin him by praising him?

Praise to death is the easiest way to ruin a genius, so Ichiro will never fall for it!

"So, you're planning to analyze all the existing chants for the return chant and then regroup them? That's too much trouble, isn't it?"

"Yes, Lord Kirinji, this is very troublesome, but as I said before, it is not a futile effort. Even if we cannot complete the incantation for the return path in the end, it will still allow the Kido to take a big step forward. For example, my high-speed incantation is currently only applicable to a few Kido. When this technique is fully developed and applicable to all Kido, the Kido may surpass Zanpakuto and become the top of the four great techniques of Zanpakuto, Kenpo, and Onikiri!"

Kirinji squinted and nodded. That was indeed the case. The reason why the Kido was considered useless in high-level battles was because the incantation time was too long and the power of breaking the incantation was insufficient. It could increase the power but consumed too much energy, making it seem quite useless.