The Alchemist in Bleach

"That's right~" Aizen's lips curled up slightly. This is enough!

This information is very important. Since the situation is similar, it means that Ichiro's research on spiritual pressure medicine was also at roughly the same stage at that time.

Now that we know this, the rest is easy. We go back to Seireitei, find all of Ichiro's research areas after he returned to Seireitei, dissect them, find the source of Ichiro's inspiration for improving the spiritual pressure medicine, and then make inferences!

Thinking of this, Aizen immediately dispelled his fake body and focused all his energy on the Soul Society. He had no choice; given the spiritual pressure Ichiro was currently displaying, he truly had no confidence in winning.

Although he can guarantee not to lose, he prefers to play it safe and push through smoothly. Why create so much trouble for himself?

It was precisely because of this that he began to study spiritual pressure medicine. Before that, he didn't think much of it and believed more in his own power.

But now...

Taking some drugs isn't shameful. Don't let your pride and self-esteem cause your plan to fail, which would be embarrassing.

......

Meanwhile, in the Spirit King's Palace, Kirinji, whose injuries had mostly healed, summoned Wang Yue and Tsunayoshi Shiki in his Kirin Hall.

"Is your hand alright? Should we wait a bit longer? With the strength of the few of us, we can still defend the Spirit King Palace." Wang Yue, who had just arrived, said with a hint of worry when she saw that Qilin Temple's complexion was not good.

"It's alright. The regeneration of severed limbs is very effective when chanting the resurrection spell, it's just that the spiritual pressure consumption is a bit severe."

As soon as the words were spoken, a shadow fell over the hearts of the three of them, because it was Ichiro who created the chanting method, and this time, they were completely in Ichiro's hands again. No, Ichiro himself hadn't even made a move!

This time, the losses were devastating.

However, the matter at hand was more important. The three quickly dispelled the gloom in their hearts. Losing this time was not a big deal; it served as a wake-up call. As of now, their Zero Division could no longer completely surpass the Thirteenth Division in terms of strength. They had to be more cautious in their future actions and further enhance their own strength.

Thinking this, the three of them held hands and formed a circle. Through the connection between their hands, and under the coordination of the Spirit King's power within them, their spiritual pressure gradually began to merge. Then, in the instant they became one, the three of them shouted simultaneously:

"Ichibei of the Military Chief's Department!"

"boom!"

As the three shouted, a strange power emerged, instantly draining the spiritual pressure that the three had combined. Then, it instantly condensed together among the three, collapsed, and then exploded!

A powerful blast of air blew the three powerless people away, sending them crashing to the ground.

Although they fell, the three of them showed joy on their faces, because a white light dissipated and a chubby figure walked out. It was the leader of the Zero Division, whose real name was Hoshino-sou—Hyoushube Ichibei!

As an ancient being from the same era as the Spirit King, the true name of the monk Hu was not so easy to kill. The true name he was given by the Spirit King—Eye Monk—gave him the ability to name all things.

With this ability, he can not only resurrect the dead by calling their names, but also be reborn after his own death by borrowing the power of the being who calls his name.

Of course, there is a price to pay for both resurrecting others and resurrecting oneself. Anyone whose strength is reduced after being resurrected will need a period of time to recover, including the person being resurrected.

This is why the Qilin Temple group didn't revive the monks immediately upon their return. Even if they managed to revive them, it wouldn't have mattered; the monks were too weak and simply couldn't defend the Spirit King Palace.

Fortunately, after witnessing the strength of Ichiro and Urahara, the monk developed a technique that could remove the weakness buff after resurrection, which is the move that Kirinji and the other two just used.

With the combined spiritual pressure of the three, the monk was revived in his full form, and his strength had not diminished in any way!

In other words, although the three of them, Kirinji and his companions, were in a state of near-drained spiritual pressure, they were able to recover to their peak physical condition in return. This was well worth it, because the recovery speed of overdrawn spiritual pressure is much faster than the recovery speed after resurrection.

"Phew~ Monk, should we seal off the temple?"

The monk gazed intently outside the Spirit King Palace, his gaze seemingly able to pierce through space and reach the Serene Spirit Court.

"No, continue recruiting members and expand our target to the entire Soul Society! Our strength is already far too lacking. By the way, didn't Tenshin Ichiro invent something called a spiritual pressure drug?"

“Yes, that’s something he’s been researching. His spiritual pressure can increase so quickly, and that’s largely due to it,” Kirinji, who knows Ichiro well, replied. “However, if you want to obtain this, you’ll be disappointed. The Central 46 Chambers strictly forbid him from disseminating the relevant formula, so until now, only he can make this kind of drug.”

"Really? What about the Great Book Gallery?"

“No way~” Seeing the monk looking at him, Tsunayoshi shook his head. “It’s no use. First, we can’t enter the Great Spirit Book Corridor now. Those old men in the Central Forty-Six Chambers won’t allow it. Second, the Great Spirit Book Corridor doesn’t record this recipe.”

"What did you say?!" The monk's eyes widened in shock as he stared at Tsunayoshi Tokishiro. "Are you sure?"

“I’m sure! Otherwise, do you think those old men are so easy to talk to? A Shinigami corrupted by Hollow power was taken away by Tenshin Ichiro with just a few words. A mere Deva is not enough to satisfy their appetite.”

Upon hearing this, a shadow fell over the monk's eyes; things were becoming increasingly complicated...

"Is it possible to obtain simple spiritual pressure medicine?"

Tsuna raised an eyebrow; "It's possible, but do we really want to learn from them?"

"Now is not the time to maintain our ridiculous pride. I think Tenjiro and Oetsu should know very well that the enemy is very familiar with our strength. At the same time, the enemy has learned from everything we are good at, whether it is Tenjiro's Shunpo or Oetsu's sword. If the enemy is like this, do we still want to maintain our ridiculous pride?"

Seeing the three fall silent, the monk sighed, his eyes deep, and said softly, "Gentlemen, put down your pride. Times have changed."

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

Chapter 276 The Philosopher's Stone

"Snapped!"

The next day, just as the warm morning sun rose, a crisp striking sound rang out in the courtyard of the Fourth Division.

"Concentrate! Don't think about anything else!"

"Holy crap, even the captain could do that..."

"Snapped!"

'how……'

"Snapped!"

Whenever Ichiro's thoughts started to wander, the captain standing to the side would always notice immediately and then strike him with a bamboo sword.

"Concentrate your mind; Dao Chan emphasizes tranquility and focused thinking..."

"Snapped!"

"Don't overthink it! Even if I'm talking to you right now..."

"Snapped!"

"Don't even think about it!"

"Snapped!"

As another sword struck Ichiro, the captain couldn't help but sigh. How could she have raised such a wretch?

"If you dare to get distracted again, I'll switch to my real sword!"

Upon hearing this, Ichiro instantly focused his mind and formally entered the state of sword Zen. After all, a real sword is different from a bamboo sword; a real sword hurts a lot...

Unfortunately, Ichiro's thought process soon returned...

'By the way, that experiment might…'

"Snapped!"

"Concentrate! Concentrate!"

'...'

'Is there any way to improve the effectiveness of sword meditation...?'

"Snapped!"

"Concentrate! Concentrate!"

……

Time passed slowly, and soon, an hour and a half had gone by amidst the sounds of bamboo swords striking each other.

Ichiro slowly opened his eyes and saw three or four broken bamboo swords scattered on the ground and the bamboo sword in the captain's hand starting to fall apart. Ichiro's lips twitched.

"Captain, look at all these broken swords on the ground. Don't you feel bad about it?"

The captain looked at the sword on the ground and paused for a moment. Then, seeing Ichiro's happy expression, he nodded and said, "Indeed, I didn't realize it when I was fighting, but now it hurts to see it."

However, before Ichiro could be happy for long, the captain changed the subject.

"I'll use real swords from now on. It's a waste to break so many monsters."

Ichiro: "???"

"Captain! What about me? I'm the one who got beaten up!"

"You? Before you say that, why don't you think about why I broke the bamboo sword? How long has it been since you practiced sword Zen? No, I should ask you this: how many times have you practiced sword Zen?"

"Uh...hehe~"

"..." The captain rolled his eyes at Ichiro and turned to walk outside.

Having barely managed to get away with it, Ichiro stood up, dusted off the light dust on his clothes, and followed behind his captain, asking curiously, "Captain, why is my sword Zen technique so difficult? I haven't neglected my mental cultivation at all. Could it be that damned sword talent again?"

“It has nothing to do with that,” the captain shook his head and replied. “You used shooting instead of sword meditation for your training, didn’t you?”

"Yes, because I'm more used to it, and this also helps me maintain my feel for the gun and prevents my skills from becoming rusty."

"Yes, that's the reason."

"Why? Can different meditation methods have such a big impact?"

"Don't underestimate the difference. Your shooting meditation method is more dynamic. Although it is meditation, that kind of meditation mainly trains the agility of your mind, but it is less effective in calming the mind. After all, that kind of training itself requires you to concentrate your mind highly. Although you can't completely abandon that kind of training, it's time to change it."

"You're already quite skilled at movement, now you should learn how to be still. Only in this way can the things you added to your body through alchemy be put to better use."

"Those things? Oh, Captain, you mean the sword techniques in Sword King Mode?" Ichiro was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized.

"..." The captain paused for a moment. She didn't want to admit that Ichiro's was swordsmanship, but at the same time, she understood that the right to name it was in Ichiro's hands. So she sighed, "Whatever makes you happy. Yes, it's your... swordsmanship!"

"Will this have any impact?"

"Yes, some sword techniques require a certain state of mind. Different states of mind will result in subtle differences in the sword techniques used. You will learn about them later."

"So, Captain, you've trained in both of these? How did you practice your meditation technique?" Ichiro asked the captain curiously.

"Me? Murder? Do you want to experience it?"

"Uh..." Ichiro was stunned as he watched his captain utter the most terrifying words with the calmest expression. He then silently followed behind her, thinking, "I can't afford to mess with her."

They walked in silence for a while, and then Ichiro began to head towards the Fifth Division.

Although he now holds multiple positions, the Technology Development Bureau is now able to operate independently after years of his efforts, and he only needs to conduct regular inspections. While he cannot yet extricate himself from the Ghost Path Research Bureau, theoretical research is inherently difficult to produce results and does not require much funding, so there is very little work involved, and he can also let go of it.

Although the Richton team had a lot to do, most of it involved gathering intelligence and categorizing it, so they could handle it by splitting it into a single thread.

So, all he really needed to do was his job as the third seat of the Fourth Division, but that part of the work was also shared by the World and the Moon Spirit...

Mmm, living off a woman is so delicious!