The Alchemist in Bleach

The technique of "Suddenly Pulling Up Benihime" uses the same spiritual pressure structure to counter the enemy's attack, similar to the "Counter-Demon Kill" technique in Kido, but it is much faster due to the Zanpakuto.

Of course, no matter how fast it is, it's impossible to be this fast; even Urahara in the later stages of the original work couldn't do that.

This is related to the pill he just swallowed. That thing is a super-weakened version of Mayuri Kurotsuchi's Superman Drug from the original work. The Superman Drug's effect is to infinitely enhance your nerve response speed, making you as powerful as Superman!

however!

This thing doesn't enhance the physical body!

Therefore, people who have been given the "superhuman drug" will have their brains constantly processing all kinds of information, causing their bodies to lose control.

Ichiro and the others, on the other hand, did the opposite, controlling the effect to a safe level that their bodies could react to, maximizing its effectiveness. What seemed like only a few seconds had actually lasted a full minute in Urahara's mind after taking the Strong God Pill. This time was enough for him to analyze the spiritual pressure structure of the Red Fire Cannon.

Next, after Ichiro's Red Fire Cannons were broken by Urahara in the same way several times in a row, he realized that Urahara was on drugs. As a result, the Kido had lost its effect. Not only the numbered Kido, but even the Kido spells he had laid on the ground were discovered and broken by Urahara in his movements.

However, Ichiro still did not intend to engage in close combat. The effects of the Binding Spell Crimson Smoke Release and Curved Light had not yet worn off, and he planned to continue moving around to recover some spiritual pressure.

However, Urahara had no intention of giving Ichiro time to recover. He plunged Benihime into the ground and hissed, "Bind her! Benihime!"

In an instant, ribbons of black and red spiritual particles coalesced into a net, enveloping the entire battlefield with Urahara at its center!

Faced with such a massive area-of-effect attack, Ichiro was naturally unable to escape. Like a spider sensing its prey and turning its web, Urahara smirked, lightly turned the blade, and chanted, "Play with fire, Benihime, Juzu Link!"

"Do do do do~"

Instantly, beads with blood-black surfaces and burning flames inside stretched straight towards Ichiro! They kept appearing!

'Oh no!'

As Ichiro watched the bead slowly brighten and become dazzling, his pupils contracted, and the alchemy circle in his sleeve lit up. At this critical moment, a white electric current swept through Ichiro's body!

"BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!"

The continuous explosions echoed in the empty space, and the billowing dust replaced the dispersed smoke.

His gaze pierced through the dust, and Urahara smiled as he pulled Benihime from the ground, saying, "After so many rounds, I've finally forced you to use this move..."

As the dust settled, Ichiro, shirtless, tapped his dark skin, smiled at Urahara, and said nothing.

The battle has only just begun!

------------

In Chapter Twenty-Three, is the cousin/sister you mentioned you the one who is?

Body Tempering - The entire body is transformed into spiritual iron!

This is a higher level of body refinement developed by Ichiro by combining knowledge from Soul Society and his previous life!

In his previous life, Ichiro could only forge parts of his body into iron, because if the weight was too high, it would affect his body's natural functions, and he would die on his own without the enemy even having to do anything.

Secondly, the human body doesn't have that much iron, so it needs to produce it itself. At the same time, it needs to replace some of its own body parts. This means that if too much of the body is replaced, the person will die.

At the same time, the side effects are severe. After the battle, he has to spend a lot of time recovering, and after a while, he dies.

Therefore, Ichiro only used this move in critical moments in his previous life. Under normal circumstances, his marksmanship could take down most enemies, since few people could evade assassination by firearms.

However, things are different now. The spirit iron that Ichiro is replacing is a high-strength biomimetic material that he developed. It has sufficient hardness and the replacement will not affect the operation of human body functions.

The premise is that the time cannot be too long.

"Wake up, Hong Ji..."

"call out!"

"call out!"

"clang!"

After a brief exchange, Urahara unleashed a storm of slashes and thrusts!

"Clang clang clang clang!!!"

However, just like the sound, Urahara's attack failed to penetrate Ichiro's armor! This spirit iron was specially made by Ichiro; if it wasn't strong enough, why would he have chosen it?

Ichiro grinned and, despite Urahara's attack, threw a brutal punch!

"boom!"

Unfortunately, there are pros and cons. The current transformation into spirit iron is not perfect. Although the defense has been greatly improved, the weight of the body has inevitably increased, which has slowed down Ichiro's speed unless he uses Absolute Reason to unleash his muscle power.

But Ichiro had other ideas. Under Urahara's puzzled gaze, Ichiro raised his fist on the spot.

"Has his brain turned to iron?"

"call out!"

Urahara's pupils contracted as he saw Ichiro, who had been throwing a punch in the distance, suddenly appear in front of him!

"puff!"

"boom!"

Faced with this sudden attack, Urahara had no time to react and was instantly sent flying by Ichiro, crashing heavily into the protruding stone wall!

"Cough cough~ Using Shunpo to reduce the speed disadvantage and make the attack more deceptive? As expected of you, Ichiro! Tui~" Spitting out the blood foam in his mouth, Urahara grinned and disappeared from the spot, avoiding Ichiro's successive attacks.

"boom!"

"call out!"

"clang!"

After dodging Ichiro's attack, Urahara took advantage of Ichiro's "stiffness" after the attack to move behind him with Shunpo, held his sword with both hands, and slashed down hard!

Although it still failed to break through Ichiro's defense, the enormous force caused Ichiro to fall into the large crater it created!

Before Ichiro could react, Urahara teleported out again, then teleported back in, repeating this six or seven times. Ichiro, with a helpless expression, deactivated his Iron Spirit Transformation, raised his hands, and surrendered.

If we can't even touch them, what's the point of fighting?

"Hey~"

Urahara teleported in front of Ichiro, holding a sword in one hand and reaching out with the other to pull Ichiro up.

"Full-body iron transformation is too cumbersome; partial transformation might be better."

"Hmm, but it's quite difficult. The basic combat techniques will cause damage. Let's see. I'm familiar with the combat methods, but... it hurts a bit..."

As he spoke, a miniature transmutation array on Ichiro's trouser leg lit up slightly, and with a surge of electricity, a brand-new school uniform appeared on Ichiro's body.

Seeing this, Urahara, covered in dust, brightened up and looked at Ichiro expectantly. Ichiro smiled, pretended not to see, and turned to leave!

I'll let you beat me!

Yoruichi, who had been watching the show from the sidelines, burst out laughing. She put away her snacks, jumped to the ground to stretch her body, and then it was her turn to spar with Urahara.

……

Urahara's spiritual pressure had just recovered when Yoruichi forcibly dragged him into battle, and she had been itching to join in for a long time.

On the other side, Ichiro succeeded Yoruichi as Yoruichi, sitting on a stone pillar watching the two fight.

Their fight was different from the one before. Ichiro and Urahara's fight was more tactical, that is, to defeat their opponent through an interlocking layout, like a hunter and prey!

The fight between Urahara and Yoruichi leaned more towards a battle of techniques, with the smooth alternation of Hakuda, swordsmanship, Shunpo, and Kido making the entire fight incredibly exciting!

Ichiro watched intently. Close combat was not his forte. Even though he used close combat as his trump card in his previous life, it was based on absolute rationality. In terms of technique alone, he could only say that he was good, far from being excellent.

After all, a person's energy is limited. He has too many research projects to work on. He can rely on his excellent comprehension and the random, quirky ideas he learned online in his first life to support his mastery of the Ghost Path, but he has no way to master close combat techniques, as that requires time investment.

What Ichiro lacks most is time...

After watching their fight for a while, Ichiro walked to the side, forged two pistols, and began practicing shooting with "bang bang bang".

Regardless of talent, the only way to improve marksmanship is through sheer volume of bullets. This is also a way for Ichiro to clear his mind. Through a special meditation method, he releases his negative emotions with each bullet. After each shooting practice session, Ichiro feels as if his spirit has been cleansed, and his thoughts become much clearer. Over time, the benefits are considerable.

Therefore, when Ichiro discovered this thing in his previous life, he would practice shooting every day without fail. After refining the gun in this life, he naturally picked up this habit again.

……

That evening, after a day of practice, Ichiro and Urahara finished washing up and collapsed onto the bed, staring quietly at the ceiling. After a while, Urahara suddenly spoke.

"Ichiro, I have a question for you. You have more experience."

"Well, you said."

"Well, a few days ago, my cousin told me something," Ichiro said, turning to look at Urahara in surprise at the familiar script, but not interrupting him, letting him continue. "He has a childhood friend he's known since we were little, they're practically together every day. Now he's suddenly asking me if their relationship is love, or just pure friendship?"

"Hmm, this is a bit complicated. Let's make an assumption first: you are your cousin!"

Urahara hesitated for a moment, then nodded with difficulty.

"Did you grow up together?"

"...Yes, my cousin and she have been playing together since they were little."

"You're basically always together?"

"...Yes, they're basically always together."

"Is that even a question?"

"Really? Then I knew it..."

"They must be my best buddies!"

"As expected... Huh? Best buddy?" The answer was somewhat unexpected for Urahara, who looked at Ichiro in astonishment.

"Yeah, they're together every day, they must be best buddies. Have you ever seen a couple who's together every single day?"

"But...but...they train together all the time!"

"How can couples train together all the time? Who wants to look all sweaty and smelly in front of their loved one?"

"Even so... even so, they still think about each other when they're not together, right?"

"I think about you sometimes too, it's normal between brothers."

"besides……"

This time, before Urahara could finish speaking, Ichiro interrupted him with a single sentence, plunging him into deep thought.

"Don't you already have the answer? You, oh no, your cousin! Don't want to just be friends with her..."

"……Yeah……"

Yeah~