Bleach: Stirring Up a Storm

At this very moment, there was another person who shared the exact same thought as Yumichika.

Hirako looked at Ichigo, who had appeared before him, and couldn’t help but doubt himself. How could he have believed Kōe’s nonsense before? Did this kid in front of him look even the slightest bit demoralized?

Of course, this wasn’t exactly a bad thing either.

”Although I intentionally released a strong Reiatsu so you could find me, it’s still quite a feat that someone as terrible at Reiatsu control as you actually managed to track it down.” Hirako adjusted the brim of his hat and continued, ”Hey, Ichigo. Since you’re here, does that mean you’re willing to join us?”

*After being thoroughly beaten down by that dead-fish-eyed guy, he hadn’t just stayed locked up at home. The answer was already obvious.*

Just as Hirako was mentally answering *’Of course’* on Ichigo’s behalf, the head-bowed Ichigo let out a soft scoff, raised his head, and replied disdainfully, ”In your dreams!”

”Eh, eh?!”

Hirako froze in shock. *’In your dreams’* was undeniably a rejection no matter how you sliced it. Wasn’t this kid here to learn Hollowfication from them? Then what the hell was he doing here?!

”Join you? What nonsense are you spouting! I only came here to use you!”

Use? That word seemed to awaken some unpleasant memories for Hirako, causing his tone to instantly turn icy. ”What did you say?”

It wasn’t just Hirako. Hiyori, Kensei, Love, and even the usually mild-mannered Ushōda Hachigen all took on serious expressions.

However, Ichigo remained completely oblivious to this shift. Perhaps in his eyes, the reactions of Hirako and the others were perfectly normal.

”I won’t join you, but I want to learn how to control the Hollow inside me from you.”

Where did he learn such an obnoxious way of thinking? Hirako replied in displeasure, ”You dare look down on us? You little brat, who the hell would teach you!”

”I’ll force it out of you!” Ichigo declared, pulling his Substitute Shinigami Combat Pass from his pocket and slamming it against his chest. As his soul separated from his physical body, he charged straight at Hirako. ”I’ll force it out of you with everything I’ve got!”

*Rather than ’using’ us, it’s more like he wants to learn how to control his Hollowfication by getting beaten up, right?* Hirako stepped on the hilt of his Zanpakutō with his left foot, sending the blade he had left on the ground spinning up into his hand.

That was fine too. It was the perfect opportunity to test whether this kid truly had the resolve to master Hollowfication!

The abandoned warehouse serving as the Visoreds’ temporary base was instantly plunged into a dangerous atmosphere of flashing blades and clashing steel. Meanwhile, on the other side of town, the Urahara Shop was no different, its atmosphere carrying an even heavier sense of dread.

Chad glanced left and right at Kaien and the others, who were standing at attention beside him. *Why does this scene feel so much like a group reprimand at school?* Except Kōe, who kept sighing over there, didn’t quite look like a teacher slamming his hands on a desk to scold them.

If Renji could hear Chad’s thoughts, he would probably immediately retort that *this* version of Kōe was the most terrifying. When it came to this specific matter, no one present had more experience than him.

Back at the Shin’ō Academy, Kōe had been the instructor in charge of all their classes. At first, everyone deeply respected this powerful yet easygoing teacher. However, as time passed, that respect gradually became laced with a healthy dose of fear.

Renji clearly remembered that Kōe almost never praised anyone in any of his classes. The closest thing to a compliment was probably when he told Momo ”not bad” during a Kidō lesson.

More often than not, Kōe would accurately point out everyone’s mistakes. If someone repeatedly failed to correct them, he would mock them a bit before slapping them with extra training.

But the most terrifying scenario was exactly what was happening right now. On the surface, he looked incredibly compassionate and worried for you, but in his mind, he had already cooked up a massive pile of wicked schemes to ”entertain” you. As someone who had experienced it firsthand, Renji had the most authority to speak on the matter.

He still remembered the night before their fifth-year class went to the outskirts of the Plains of Slaughter for a practical exam. Kōe had warned him with a worried expression to be smart out there, while simultaneously handing him an amulet to carry at all times.

At the time, Renji had been moved to tears. Even when he got separated from his team during the first support simulation at the Plains of Slaughter due to the sudden appearance of Hollows, he merely lamented his own terrible luck.

Even later, when he was chased by wave after wave of Hollows and nearly died an early death, he never once doubted the teacher who had been so worried about him before his departure.

It wasn’t until half a year later, when Renji returned to the Seireitei, that he learned the truth. As it turned out, it wasn’t that his luck was terrible. The amulet Kōe had given him was actually a special spiritual tool designed specifically to attract swarms of low-level Hollows.

As for the support drill after they were separated, that was also deliberately arranged by Kōe. The goal was to plunge Renji into an endless siege of Hollows.

According to Kōe’s explanation, the spiritual tool only contained enough Reiatsu to attract the first wave of Hollows. After that, it ran entirely on Renji’s own Reiatsu. If he had just paid close attention, he absolutely would have noticed its abnormal Reiatsu fluctuations.

Choosing to fight meant an endless battle. Only by realizing the anomaly after a few waves of Hollows could one find the key to solving the problem.

Kōe had explained it to Renji like this: the more dangerous the situation, the more one needed to remain calm. Being able to discover the amulet’s abnormality amidst the endless pursuit of Hollows would be considered a barely passing grade.

Realizing that he wasn’t receiving any backup during the support mission arranged by the leading instructor, understanding that he had been isolated from the class, and subsequently taking the initiative to seek out the Gotei 13 squad stationed there—that would be considered a high-scoring performance. Achieving both points was the only way to get a perfect score.

As for what Renji did—fighting and fleeing for half a year, stubbornly surviving until the practical exam period ended—that was a zero-point performance!

And if the other members of the Gotei 13 hadn’t intervened, a zero-point performance wouldn’t have even been a possibility! Kōe had indignantly stated back then that, according to his original design, the amulet’s influence was cumulative. By the fifth wave of Hollows, a Gillian-class Menos should have appeared. If it reached the eighth wave, there would likely be ten to twenty Gillians. With Renji’s strength at the time, it would have been absolutely impossible for him to survive.

Of course, if that had happened, the amulet would have seemed even more abnormal. Therefore, from the very beginning, there was never supposed to be a possibility of scoring zero. He either had to get smart or die. Aside from that, the only other possibility was for Renji to experience a sudden epiphany and learn Bankai on the spot.

Heaven knew how badly Renji had wanted to rush up and punch that detestable bastard in the face when Kōe rolled his eyes and told him, ”Do you have any idea how lucky you were this time?” If he hadn’t known he couldn’t win a fight against him, he definitely wouldn’t have held back!

That was the last time in Renji’s memory that Kōe had set him up, but he only knew about it because Kōe had confessed to it himself. Every time he recalled the incident afterward, a chill would run down his spine.

And this time...

”Sigh!” Just as Renji was praying internally, Kōe let out one final, long sigh. Sounding almost as if he were repenting, he said, ”Do you have any idea how terrified I was last night, everyone?”

*I don’t know, and I don’t want to know!* Renji desperately wanted to answer Kōe immediately, but he knew that no matter what anyone said right now, Kōe wasn’t going to stop.

It was far too textbook of an opening stance. This man was getting ready to stir up trouble again!