3rd Year (1)

Another flaw...

My progress with my version of armament haki was progressing smoothly. Now that I can cover my hand with my costume barrier, that's when I finally saw the flaw in this technique.

*Fua* 

"Ouch, my hand feels heavy, and I'm pretty sure my bones are getting crushed."

The compress reiatsu that my barrier is made of is dangerous by itself; when I use it to cover a part of my body, it crushes said part.

"I need to find a solution for this."

Hakuda class...

"A way to make your body stronger without using reiatsu?" (Teacher)

"Ahm, yes, well, on earth, if you go to the gym, you can train to make your body more resistant and stronger, right? Is there any equivalent here?"

"Hmm, well, you're not human anymore, boy; here you're a soul, and we are made of a completely different material." (Teacher)

"That's why reiryoku capacity and reiatsu control are everything for a Shinigami. It's the only way to be strong  here." (Teacher)

After my hakuda class, I continued with my other classes, but the doubt was still in my mind.

{Is there really no way to train your body?}

After classes, I went to the library, and after checking for something that could give some kind of hope, I found a book called Introduction to Reishi.

"Reishi (spirit particles) is the main component material of souls and all spiritual matter; it is commonly used in Shinigami techniques such as Shunpo (flash steps).The method that Shinigami uses to travel faster than the eye can follow and Platform Manifestation allows the user to create a platform of Reishi under their feet."

{Hmm...maybe I can use Reishi to modify my body to withstand the insane pressure my technique has on my body}

"But how do I use it? It says that it is used in Shunpo, which is an advanced technique of Hohō, so..."

The next day...

"You want to learn Shunpo!" (Teacher)

We are on the obstacle course. Half of the class was racing on it while the other half was waiting for his turn.

"Yes, sir." I already finished my assignments for today, which consist of 50 laps on the race track and 50 on the obstacle course.

"Hmm, well, your progress is good, boy, but you know Shunpo requires a lot more." (Teacher)

"Please, teacher, train me."

*Puppy dog eyes*

~shi, shi, shi~

"Agh, alright, alright, it's going to be hard, so you better be prepared, boy!" (Teacher)

****

After classes, the Hohō teacher and I were on the race track.

"The focal point that determines the basis of this technique is speed. As speed is the main point of the technique, the method is best described as "how fast one can get from point A to point B in the least number of steps." (Teacher)

"First, start channeling reiryoku into your legs.(Teacher)

"Understood"

*Fuwa*

On my legs, an emerald green aura started to appear.

"Good, now I want you to run from here." He made a line on the ground.

Then he disappeared and appeared a few feet away from where he previously was.

"To here." He made another line where he was at now.

"Yes, teacher"

*Inhale* *exhale*

I put myself in a running position, then I took one step.

*Boom* *Crash*

I immediately crashed on the ground, twenty feet past the mark on the ground.

"Ugh..."

~Shi, shi, shi~

"Ha, ha, ha, ha(teacher)

****

After crashing all over the racing track, the teacher said that I should practice more. I left the place, took a shower, and now I was in my room, lying down on my bed. Orochi was in his little form on my chest.

{Another set of exercises was added to the routine}

(Sigh) "Swordmanship, Hakuda, Hohō, Shunpo, and armament training..."

~You forgot your studiess~

"Right..."

"And you, Orochi, how is your progress with armament?"

~Pretty well, look!~He showed me his tail, and suddenly it changed color from white to metallic emerald green.

"Oh, nice." I was genuinely happy for him.

~And you?~

"Well, not that great. I can hold it for ten minutes, but after that, it's starting to hurt too much. Although the power is pretty good, I'm not satisfied with it yet."

~Your pressuring yoursself too hard~

{Am I?}

"You think so?"

~Yess, what iss the hurry?~

"Right, what is the hurry? I'm only a nine-year-old kid, and now I still have a lot of time ahead of me."

_______________________________________

I took the advice from Orochi, so I decided to relax and do things slowly.

From Monday to Thursday, I focused on swordsmanship; from Thursday to Wednesday, I focused on hakuda; and on Friday, I focused on hohō and shunpo.

Plus, I made it a habit to go to the library every weekend to study; unfortunately, I stopped my training on the reiryoku armor.

Like that, the second year passed...

I fortunately passed the second year, but some of my classmates didn't. The one class of forty or fifty people had only twenty people now.

___________________________

At the beginning of year three, something happened...

I woke up like I always had breakfast at the canteen, and after that, I went to class, but as I entered the main building, someone was already waiting for me.

"Tatsumi Ryuji,..."

Akon, the person who worked in the S.R.D. I was at the entrance, and he was carrying something long on his left hand. I couldn't see what it was because it was covered with a sheet, but after our last conversation, I could easily guess what it was.

"Oh, mister Akon, if you're here, that means..." I looked at the covered sword.

"That's right, it took me some time due to some procedures, but I finally got it approved." He handed me the sword.

"Thank you," I grab it from his hand.

"Don't thank me; we had a deal; you will regularly report to me every single anomaly and detail of what happened, understood?" (Akon)

"Yes, sir" I uncovered the sword; it was like any other Asauchi, but I feel like it was different, like it was the first time touching an Asauchi.

I put the Asauchi on my left side.

"How do you feel?" (Akon)

"Mmh, like it was the first time touching an Asauchi..."

"Understood, well, I will see you in a month." He just left, just like that.

After the initial commotion, I went to class.

"Welcome everyone to Reiryoku Control. Here we're going to learn how to effectively use your reiryoku and reiatsu."

New classes and teachers were introduced in year three. We have six new classes, starting with reiryoku control, then shinigami etiquette, Zanpakutō communication, kidō application, Hohō drills, and standard drill exercises.

The Zanpakutō Communication class finally introduced Jinzen, something that I needed a year ago.

I took advantage of this class to finally take my Asauchi out of his scabbard.

~I never assked you, Why are you sso adamant on having two sswordss?~ Orochi asked me, and he was around my neck like every day.

"Well, for starters, there's a ritual called Konsō that I need to perform in order to bring souls here, but without a Zanpakutō, I can't do it, so I need it."

~Hiss, and the other reasson?~

"A theory of mine, I want to confirm."

~I ssee~

"What? Are you jealous?"

~Shi, shi, shi, we made a deal, Ryuji. I don't care how many more spirits you have~

"Don't worry, Orochi, you are always going to be the older brother."

~What!?~

"Yeah, if my theory is right, you are going to have a little brother."