IDKjust
patreon
Chapter 336 B
🕑 Added 2025-05-03 15:02:01 +0000 UTCChapter 336
2-in-1 chapter:
---------------------------
*Squad Eleven, Training Grounds.*
Two figures clashed repeatedly on the field, colliding and separating again and again.
Each impact unleashed bursts of powerful spirit pressure.
Squad Eleven’s members crowded around the perimeter, shouting excitedly.
“Come on! Fifth Seat Madarame, take her down!!”
“Go for it! Sixth Seat Matsumoto, cut that guy down!!”
On the field, Ikkaku Madarame gripped his sword in one hand and the sheath in the other, wearing a mix of excitement and a ferocious grin.
“You little brat... you’ve really gotten stronger.”
Rangiku landed lightly, a smile playing at the corners of her lips.
“That’s strong? You haven’t seen anything yet.”
“Heh... fine, let’s see just how strong you are!”
Veins bulged on Ikkaku’s forehead as his grin grew even more villainous.
Before the watching crowd, he slapped the sword’s hilt and sheath together—
“Extend—Hōzukimaru!!”
A storm of spirit pressure surged out as his katana transformed into a long spear.
Gripping the wooden-shafted spear, Ikkaku shouted and leapt, slashing down toward Rangiku.
Facing this powerful strike, Rangiku’s expression didn’t change at all.
She raised her left hand and brushed it along her Zanpakutō—
“Growl—Haineko!!”
In an instant, the blade crumbled, turning into countless fine metallic dust particles. Under Rangiku’s command, they surged skyward to meet Ikkaku.
Claaaash!!
In midair, Ikkaku’s descending spear collided fiercely with Rangiku’s iron-grey dust.
The moment his blade touched the iron sand, Ikkaku realized something was wrong.
The resistance of the iron sand had increased tremendously compared to when he and Rangiku had sparred two years ago!
Though the Reiatsu infused in it hadn’t changed much, its defensive power had grown significantly.
The source of the change was obvious—the flow speed of the iron sand.
This girl had gained far greater control over the iron sand than before...
In midair, Ikkaku withdrew his spear and flipped backward, trying to regain his footing and look for another opening.
But before he could adjust his stance, two streams of iron sand split off, surrounding him from both sides.
Damn it!
Ikkaku’s pupils contracted.
Before he could react, the grey iron sand engulfed him.
Above, the swirling ball of iron sand spun violently for a few moments, then suddenly dispersed.
Ikkaku, bleeding all over, plummeted from the air.
Just before he hit the ground, Rangiku flicked her fingers, forming a large net from the iron sand that caught him.
Lying on the net of iron sand, Ikkaku silently stared at the sky, feeling a deep sense of existential doubt.
His injuries weren’t serious—Rangiku had held back. Despite all the blood, they were merely superficial wounds.
What was truly wounded was his fragile heart.
Ever since joining Squad Eleven, he seemed to go through this kind of blow every decade or so.
The little monsters Kaelith had brought back just kept growing stronger and stronger.
Tōsen Kaname and Gin Ichimaru had both been complete rookies when they first joined.
Decades later, both could now thrash him effortlessly.
One had even become a captain.
The gap was truly disheartening.
As for Rangiku... when she had first been brought back, she hadn’t even been that interested in becoming stronger.
A typical “good enough is fine” attitude.
But in recent years, for some unknown reason, she’d suddenly begun training seriously.
Ikkaku even suspected she might have secretly mastered Bankai.
While he was deep in thought, Yumichika Ayasegawa stepped onto the platform and announced Rangiku’s victory.
Today’s match wasn’t just a casual sparring session—it was a formal rank challenge.
With Rangiku’s victory, Ikkaku officially stepped down.
The girl was promoted to Fifth Seat.
Once Komamura officially transferred to become Captain of Squad Ten, she would move up again to Fourth Seat.
Sheathing her Zanpakutō, Rangiku left the training grounds.
A young girl ran up to her.
“Matsumoto-senpai! You were so cool!”
The onion-haired girl clenched her fists at her chest, her bright eyes filled with admiration.
Rangiku chuckled.
“This is just the beginning. There’s even cooler stuff to come.”
The onion-haired girl nodded vigorously, without a shred of doubt.
She pursed her lips, seeming to make a decision.
“Matsumoto-senpai!”
“Hm?”
“Can I learn from you how to become stronger?!”
The girl asked nervously.
Looking at the girl beside her, Rangiku was momentarily taken aback.
All this time, she had always been the little sister of Squad Eleven. Even though she had grown up and was no longer that little girl, her status hadn’t changed much.
Now, hearing someone call her senpai and wanting to learn from her, Rangiku couldn’t help but feel happy.
“Not bad, Rukia. You’ve got good eyes.”
She reached out and clapped Rukia’s shoulder.
“Since you’re so earnest, as your senpai, of course I can’t ignore you.”
“No time like the present. Starting today, you’ll train with me!”
Rukia’s eyes lit up and she smiled brightly.
“Okay!”
Leading Rukia into the dojo, Rangiku thought for a moment.
Then she clapped her hands.
“Let’s start with wrist strength training today!”
“Using bamboo swords? I practice with them every day!” Rukia said eagerly.
Rangiku gave her a strange look.
“Bamboo swords? What’s the point of those... wait here, I’ll get you something better!”
She hurried off toward the storage room.
Before long, to Rukia’s shock, Rangiku returned carrying two massive swords.
Both swords were made entirely of cylindrical stone.
The smaller one had a diameter of about 25 centimeters and was a meter long.
The larger one... was nearly 40 centimeters thick and about 1.2 meters long!
Just looking at them made one’s pupils tremble.
Rangiku hefted the larger one easily and handed the smaller one to Rukia.
“This one’s the one I used to use. It’s too light for me now, so I’m passing it to you.”
“Don’t let it down!”
Seeing how easily Rangiku handled it, Rukia felt a bit confident.
Maybe it was a special kind of stone—it looked heavy but probably weighed about the same as a bamboo sword, right?
Curious, she reached out and grabbed it—
THUD!!!
The onion-haired girl was dragged down by the stone sword and smashed into the floor.
…………
*World of the Living, Karakura Town.*
After filming a new commercial for Yūtendō Inc, Kaelith left satisfied.
Bringing Soifon with him, he arrived at Bambietta’s residence.
When they opened the door and Bambietta saw Kaelith, her face lit up happily.
But the moment she noticed Soifon behind him, her expression changed.
The memories of being “developed” by Soifon’s various techniques—so much that she’d forgotten who she was—came flooding back.
Seeing Bambietta tremble slightly, Soifon spoke up:
“Don’t worry. I’m not here to—”
Before she could finish, the Quincy girl grabbed Kaelith’s sleeve.
“Is it going to be the two of you again this time? I’m not ready yet... give me a moment, I need to take care of some work and let them know I’ll be staying in for a few days...”
She ran back inside quickly.
Judging by her somewhat cheerful steps, she wasn’t afraid at all.
Kaelith turned to look at Soifon.
The usually stern interrogator, trained in the Onmitsukidō from childhood, now showed a rare expression of reverence.
Once Bambietta realized they weren’t here to “train” her, she looked a bit disappointed.
But she quickly composed herself.
If they were here for something else, this was a chance. If she performed well, maybe she could earn another reward.
Thinking this, Bambietta perked up again.
She led Kaelith and Soifon down to the basement.
As a former Sternritter, her strength was undeniable.
The basement was large, reinforced with Reishi, and wouldn’t affect the building above.
After testing the room’s durability, Kaelith nodded.
“Bambi, I’m going to use some techniques now.”
“I want you to watch and judge if I’m using them correctly or if anything needs improvement.”
Bambietta was puzzled.
Kaelith’s power far surpassed her own, and he was a Soul Reaper. How could she possibly act as his advisor?
As she wondered, Kaelith took a deep breath and raised one hand.
A blue Reishi longbow appeared in his grasp.
Bambietta: “?”
With his other hand, he formed a blue spiritual arrow, nocked it, and fired.
Zing!
The arrow struck the wall, leaving a scorched hole.
Then, Kaelith raised his arm again.
With a low grunt, blue patterns resembling veins appeared along his arm.
Bambietta: “???”
If the spirit bow and arrows earlier could still be considered a Shinigami mimicking Quincy techniques, this... this was something else entirely.
“Blut Vene?! How is this possible?!”
She rushed over, grabbed his wrist, and lifted it to inspect.
Though it was hard to believe, the markings on Kaelith’s arm were undeniably Blut Vene.
If it were just some special effect created with Reishi, she would’ve noticed immediately.
She was one of the youngest Sternritter, after all!
Then, under Bambietta’s disbelieving gaze, Kaelith used several more Quincy-exclusive techniques.
This wasn’t mere imitation anymore.
The Reiatsu fluctuations and the feeling these techniques gave her were unmistakably authentic.
It was insane.
A Soul Reaper using Quincy techniques—was she crazy, or had the world gone mad?
Seeing her reaction, Kaelith smiled.
Good. Her shock meant his replicated powers were working properly.
Originally, he had planned to ask Sōken Ishida for guidance.
But considering this ability was best kept secret from outsiders, he’d ultimately chosen Bambietta.
“How... how are you doing this?!” Bambietta couldn’t help but ask.
Kaelith chuckled.
“For ordinary Soul Reapers and Quincy, their powers and techniques are entirely separate.”
“But at my level, I can comprehend the essence of power itself and homogenize what were once completely different forces.”
“So, Bambi, are you impressed?”
Without hesitation, Bambietta nodded.
As far as she knew, not even Yhwach had ever wielded Soul Reaper powers.
Whatever Kaelith had done, there was no doubt that he had, in some ways, surpassed Yhwach himself.
No wonder she had chosen to follow this man!
After her initial shock, she earnestly began helping Kaelith refine his new abilities.
Most of Kaelith’s Quincy techniques had been learned from Soul Society’s archives.
The records left behind by Furōfushi Saitō included many Quincy technique instructions.
Some he had also picked up during brief encounters with the Wandenreich.
As a result, his techniques were quite... freeform.
They resembled the originals, but not precisely.
Now, with Bambietta’s help, these half-baked skills were polished one by one.
After acting as Kaelith’s teacher for two full days, Bambietta made a small request.
She wanted Kaelith and Soifon to blindfold her and do all sorts of things to her.
And so, over the next few days, during the day, Bambietta helped Kaelith with his training.
At night, Kaelith and Soifon helped fulfill her requests.
Harmony, unity, and joy all around.
…………
Once he had mastered all the basic Quincy skills, Kaelith, satisfied, left the living world and returned to his loyal Soul Society.
Entering Squad Eleven’s barracks, he paused in surprise.
Next to his beast-skin throne, a new chair had appeared at some point.
The new beast-skin seat was a bit smaller but matched the large one’s style perfectly.
Rangiku sat on the small throne, proudly showing off.
Kaelith tilted his head.
What happened?
After asking a squad member, he finally understood.
During his time away, Rangiku had defeated both Ikkaku Madarame and Kaname Tōsen in rank challenges, becoming Squad Eleven’s Third Seat.
Since Zaraki rarely fulfilled his lieutenant duties, Rangiku, as Third Seat, had become the de facto leader of the squad members.
Though she still looked like a freshman who had just started college, her bold, carefree leadership style—and her strength—quickly earned the squad’s respect.
After hearing the explanation, Kaelith fell into thought.
Matsumoto Rangiku... managing a squad...
Those words together felt a bit odd.
As he pondered, Rangiku stood up:
“Everyone!”
“Right now, Soul Society is full of filth and chaos. With the boss away and Zaraki useless, it’s time for us to lighten the boss’s burdens!”
“If you have the guts, follow me and show the other squads Squad Eleven’s strength!”
“When the boss returns, we’ll make sure he sees a Squad Eleven that’s grown several times stronger than before!”
Upon hearing her words, the squad members erupted in enthusiastic shouts.
Yes! Exactly right!
That’s what they had always wanted!
In the crowd, only Kaelith remained expressionless.
"Get to the courtyard. All of you. Now!"
