Bleach: Getting Stronger Starting from Teaching at the Spiritual Arts Academy

Ignoring the hostility of the two Soul Hunters, Mayuri Kurotsuchi stepped forward to examine the corpse on the ground.

“Soul hunters feed on the souls they hunt. In order to become stronger, they hunted a large number of human souls in the mortal world, which attracted the Grim Reaper’s extermination. These two soul hunters should be the ones who escaped the net,” July explained.

The two Soul Hunters were very hostile towards July and Mayuri, but they felt the terrifying spiritual pressure emanating from July and dared not move at all.

"Can Soul Hunters feed on souls?"

Mayuri's eyes lit up, and his interest in Soul Hunter increased dramatically.

The spiritual pressure fluctuations of Shinigami, Quincy, and Hollows are distinctly different, and even ordinary Shinigami soldiers can distinguish them when their spiritual pressure is not concealed.

Mayuri Kurotsuchi felt that the Soul Hunter's spiritual pressure was somewhat similar to that of the Shinigami.

However, the ability to absorb souls to enhance one's spiritual pressure is a characteristic of the void.

"The Seireitei Research Institute's project aims to study how to make spirits immortal," July said. "These Soul Hunters were originally human. Their bodies absorbed special spiritual particles that spread into the mortal world after the laboratory explosion, turning them into half-human, half-spirit beings."

“Researching immortality… a cliché topic. But then again…” Mayuri Kurotsuchi gave a strange laugh, “Although this experiment had an accident, judging from the results, it was actually partly successful. At least ordinary humans couldn’t survive for that long. By absorbing souls, one can increase spiritual pressure, and lifespan naturally increases as well.”

Both Soul Hunters appeared to be young adults, but hundreds of years had passed since that experiment.

"Go and capture them. Now that we've caught them, we can't let them stay here and devour human souls." July also wanted to capture the two Soul Hunters and investigate their secrets.

"Then Captain, don't scare them. I want to see their strength." Mayuri Kurotsuchi nodded gently.

July nodded gently, dispelling the suppression of spiritual pressure.

The man in overalls with a buzz cut and the woman in purple robes with blue hair immediately felt a sense of relief, and the feeling of being pressed down by the mountains disappeared.

With the suppression gone, the two immediately split up and fled out of the courtyard, showing no intention of lingering in the fight.

"Trying to escape? That won't do..."

Mayuri Kurotsuchi grinned, took a small white ball from his sleeve, and tossed it into the air.

boom--

The small white ball suddenly exploded in the air, creating a cloud of white mist, from which countless bolts of lightning shot out.

The lightning ropes covered the entire courtyard, blocking the escape route of the two Soul Hunters.

The man in overalls and with a buzz cut ignored everything and tried to break the lightning rope by crashing into it headfirst.

"Ahhhh!"

The man in overalls with a buzz cut failed to break free of the lightning rope; instead, it tightened around him, and he was soon electrocuted and in excruciating pain.

Seeing this, the woman in purple robes and blue hair dared not force her way in.

She brandished her longsword, and more than ten sharp blades shot towards Mayuri Kurotsuchi.

"Oh~ Just like a Shinigami who has mastered Shikai, he has special abilities!"

Mayuri Kurotsuchi calmly dodged the attack of the sharp blade.

After the blade pierced through, it circled around and continued shooting towards Mayuri Kurotsuchi.

Mayuri Kurotsuchi took a lump of mud-like substance from his sleeve and threw it toward the blade.

Once the slime adhered to the sharp blade, it expanded rapidly, enveloping the entire blade within.

All the sharp blades stuck together, unable to break free, and soon gradually decomposed into spiritual particles.

The woman in purple robes and blue hair waved her fan in her left hand, and a small hurricane quickly took shape.

With a wave of his fan, a miniature hurricane swept towards Mayuri Kurotsuchi.

After unleashing the mini-hurricane, the woman in purple robes and blue hair did not linger in the fight; instead, she swung her sword and cleaved through the electric grid.

After cutting the lightning rope, she ignored her companions on the other side and fled directly out of the courtyard without any intention of stopping.

"No intention of lingering in battle? Quite rational. However, time's up..." Mayuri Kurotsuchi saw the purple-robed, blue-haired woman cut the lightning ropes, but remained unconcerned.

He held up three fingers and began to count, "3...2...1..."

No sooner had Mayuri Kurotsuchi finished speaking than the blue-haired woman in purple robes, who had been moving swiftly, collapsed to the ground.

"Despicable Grim Reaper!"

The woman in purple robes and with blue hair lay on the ground, her face ashen, unable to muster any strength.

These are symptoms of poisoning, but she doesn't understand when she was poisoned.

"Could it be... those white mists?"

The woman in purple robes and blue hair recalled the white mist that was released when the small white ball exploded.

She thought it was fog used to block out vision, but she never expected that the fog was poisonous!

"Ha, I'm not a combatant, why should I fight you hand-to-hand?"

Mayuri Kurotsuchi slowly stepped forward and took out a syringe filled with an unknown liquid from her sleeve.

The woman in purple robes with blue hair looked terrified and tried desperately to crawl forward, but her whole body was limp and she couldn't muster any strength.

"Don't worry, you are a very rare material, you won't die easily."

Mayuri Kurotsuchi inserted the syringe into the neck of the purple-robed, blue-haired woman, and a powerful anesthetic was quickly injected into her artery.

The powerful anesthetic took effect, and the woman in the purple robe and blue hair lost consciousness.

Mayuri Kurotsuchi carried the unconscious woman in purple robes and with blue hair to the courtyard.

boom--

Just as Mayuri Kurotsuchi was entangled with the woman in purple robes and blue hair, a loud bang came from the courtyard.

In the courtyard—

The man in overalls with a buzz cut endured the lightning strike from the electric rope, which triggered his abilities.

The wristband rapidly expanded, transforming into an ice giant.

The frost giant ripped the electric ropes off the man in overalls with a buzz cut.

"This frost golem... seems to be a fragment of his soul that was split off?"

July was observing Soul Hunter's abilities. "If that's the case, it's very similar to the Zanpakuto of the Grim Reaper. Both originate from the power of one's own soul."

Through his spiritual perception, he could sense that the Frost Puppet and the man with the buzz cut in overalls had a close connection, and their spiritual pressure fluctuations were also highly similar.

The frost giant hoisted the man in overalls and the buzz-cut hair onto his shoulder and ran outside.

call out--

July stood in front of the frost giant.

"Get out of the way!"

The man in overalls with a buzz cut waved, and the Frost Giant threw a punch as well.

Knowing that his strength was far inferior to that of the Shinigami, he staked most of his spiritual pressure on this attack, hoping to delay the Shinigami for a while.

An ice fist, more than a meter in diameter, slammed into Shikagiri Nanatsuki, who was blocking its way. The extreme cold caused the ground to freeze into a layer of frost.

"boom--!"

A massive ice fist landed on July's chest.

July's body remained completely still.

The man in overalls with a buzz cut stared wide-eyed, his eyes filled with horror.

He had used such attacks to smash many Hollows in the past, but now he couldn't even make this Grim Reaper retreat an inch.

Click click click——

The enormous ice fist shattered into ice shards.

"The defense of the Bloodlust set is not bad."

July thought to herself.

He didn't use any spiritual pressure to block the ice fist attack at all.

They could only rely on the defensive capabilities of the Bloodlust Armor to withstand the attack.

This ice fist attack was no weaker than the Ghost Path released by a Death God of the Seat Official level, but it failed to break through the defense of the Bloodstained Armor.

July raised her hand, and a spiritual pressure blade formed from her two fingers sliced ​​through the frost giant.

Click click click click——

The frost giant shattered into a pile of ice.

The man in overalls with a buzz cut, who had fallen to the ground, could no longer struggle; the poison in his body had taken effect.

"I've been poisoned..."

The man in overalls with a buzz cut glared fiercely at Shikari Nanatsuki, "You despicable Grim Reaper, kill me!"

"Your lines make us sound like villains!"

"July said helplessly."

"Hmm, isn't that right?"

Mayuri Kurotsuchi carried the blue-haired woman back and said nonchalantly.

He pursues technology to satisfy his curiosity; his moral bottom line is extremely low.

"These two Soul Hunters have spiritual pressure at the level of a lower-ranking Seat Officer, but they don't know how to use it well and have too few tricks up their sleeves. If they really fight, they will definitely be inferior to Seat Officers."

July picked up the purple-robed, blue-haired woman's longsword and fan. "But their abilities are quite interesting. They separate a part of their soul and attach it to these objects to gain special abilities. Isn't that similar to a Zanpakuto in essence?"

"They really do look alike. No wonder their spiritual pressure feels similar to that of Shinigami."

Mayuri Kurotsuchi nodded and walked up to the man in overalls and with a buzz cut.

"This guy's clothes are somewhat similar to those Quincy. Could he be a remnant of the Land of Light?"

Mayuri Kurotsuchi pinched the chin of the man in overalls with a buzz cut and lifted his face. "This appearance doesn't seem like that of someone from Karakura Town."

"You just said that you killed the Quincy in Karakura Town?" July asked. "But with your strength, you shouldn't be able to take down a Quincy!"

Those Quincy obtained Mayuri Kurotsuchi's hidden spiritual artifacts, so their strength should be no weaker than that of the Shinigami Seats.

The two Soul Hunters were clearly not strong enough to defeat the Quincy here; they must have had other companions.

The man in overalls with a buzz cut had a slight change in his eyes, but remained silent, seemingly not intending to betray his companions.

"Ha, it seems he'll have to suffer a bit more before he'll open his mouth."

Mayuri Kurotsuchi grinned and reached into the spirit space pocket in his sleeve.

...

After a while.

"The Naruki area...that seems to be a place of great spiritual energy, no less than Karakura Town."

July stroked her chin, remembering something else, "Ichishin, Souya, and Kaname should be carrying out their mission over there."

Mayuri Kurotsuchi managed to get the information out of the man in overalls and buzz cut.

July's guess was correct; those Quincy who took Mayuri's privately hidden spiritual artifacts were not something these two Soul Hunters could handle.

They also had companions.

However, the other Soul Hunters did not go to Karakura Town, but instead went to a spirit land called 'Naruki'.

What are your companions doing in the Naruki area?

In July, she asked the man in overalls with a buzz cut.

"We are recruiting Soul Hunter companions scattered throughout the world... The leader and others went to Mingmu to recruit Soul Hunters there."

The man in overalls and with a buzz cut answered truthfully.

"Then what are you doing here?"

"Although the leader is recruiting soul hunters from all over the world, he has not made us gather in one place because... if we want to become stronger... we have to devour souls."

The man in overalls with a buzz cut said timidly, "Our 'hunting grounds' will be assigned to different places to prevent the number of souls in a certain area from decreasing drastically in a short period of time, which would attract the attention of the Grim Reapers."

Soul hunters do not gather in one place to hunt human souls. Instead, they disperse the 'hunting grounds' for hunting human souls, leaving only one or two soul hunters in each 'hunting ground'.

"Tsk, you guys are quite cautious. No wonder you weren't discovered by Death. It's a pity you ran into the captain."