Irina nodded in understanding and said, "Well, that's pretty obviously our choice. But I noticed that you said that our efforts until now weren't wasted. Does that mean there's meaning to what we've been doing?"
"Of course. There is no such thing as meaningless effort, only experiences that can't be used. In this particular case, both of you are lucky since your souls have adapted quite nicely with your bodies. But as I've said from the start, that wasn't enough." Kisuke raised two of his fingers before continuing, "Hence the two choices you have. The first and easy one is to abandon these bodies and return to your previous bodies. Although they are not the original, they should be identical. If you're going to choose this, then you'll have an easier time and could train the conventional way. You'll be left behind for a bit, but it's a sure way to improve and maybe at some point, some sort of evolution on your part."
Akeno prepared herself and asked with a solemn voice, "And for the hard choice?" She knew it's not going to be easy if they go with Kisuke's standard of 'hard'.
"For the hard choice, there are two possibilities. The first one is for your soul to elevate to the same level as your body. However, that's essentially impossible and even if by some miracle you're able to do it, the 'identity' of your own soul may be lost in the process, hence, essentially killing yourselves."
Irina and Akeno shuddered. Far from killing themselves, it's essentially self-destructing in such a way that wouldn't even allow for reincarnation, "If it's like this, why even mention it?" asked Irina.
"Because you'll definitely ask about it after hearing the second one. And it's not like this doesn't have its own advantage. Regardless of whether you lose your rationality or not, when it comes to power, you'll only be second to both Great Red and Ophis."
"Even if we became the strongest existence out there, it's still a hard pass for me if I can't experience it as 'me'."
"Alright. The first one is out of the question. As for the second one, you could probably already guess."
"...Dragging down the level of our bodies to match that of our soul so that we could sync with it better?"
Kisuke nodded, "That's the idea but it's much more complicated than that. In this case, once you've succeeded, you'll certainly become weaker than you are right now, but it really won't take too long before you recover. However, I'll be honest with you. Even though I was able to pinpoint the reason why you can't get stronger and solve it, that doesn't mean the main problem was solved as I don't really know what's going to happen next, so it'll be up to you. Although this is much safer than the first one, the result is uncertain and could possibly have a negative effect, making the choice of you two returning to your former bodies much more appealing. In other words, you'll still be gambling and you'll have to make your choice again."
Akeno and Irina became silent once again.
After a few minutes, resolution first came to Irina and said, "I know that going back to our previous bodies is the safest bet and it isn't like we can't get stronger that way... However, I also knew that I have no talent. I can't control Magic as well as Sona-san, nor could contest with Kuroka-san, Koneko, and even Aika with Ki, be it on control or improvement. As for my speciality, Holy Magic, I can be on par with Akeno but even then, I still fell short due to the special properties of her 'Light'. I tried thinking, but I really have nothing else to offer."
Yoruichi wanted to refute her and say that her talent in swordsmanship is the real deal but she figured this isn't the time yet.
Irina looked straight into Kisuke's eyes as if she's scowling and continued, "If I want to be sure that I won't be left behind, then I'll gladly take the risk. Talent may be one thing, but when it comes to determination, I don't want to lose."
Among the girls, aside from Koneko who had been with her since childhood, Akeno was closest to Irina due to their situation and the timing they entered the group. And the same as her, Akeno was also feeling inferior to everyone, including to Irina herself whenever she saw her strange form of swordsmanship that differed from others.
So when she heard her real feelings, she immediately felt relief, and soon after, guilt, 'I shouldn't be feeling this way... But I can't...'
Shaking her head and clasping her cheeks with her hands, Akeno also decided to be honest with her inferiorities. The least she could do with her is to open up.
Kisuke looked at them carefully and his lips curled upwards. Truthfully speaking, he's still hesitant if he really should help and allow them to do this but seeing their resolve solid enough, he finally let go of the bit of hesitation he's feeling, "Fine. Then listen to me carefully."
The idea behind Kisuke's plan of synchronizing their souls is for their souls to shape their bodies. Depending on the strength of their souls, they would need to strengthen or discard parts of their bodies and in their situation, they would be discarding a lot of it. Once this was achieved, the dissociation of body and soul should largely disappear and the remaining deformations could be solved by living through their everyday lives.
However, what made this dangerous was the fact that their souls were a lot weaker than their current bodies. As they attempt this, their bodies would fight back against the change that they are being subjected to and they could get hurt in the process. And if they couldn't discard enough before their souls tire out, large gaps would appear in their body and soul balance, resulting in not just the death of their bodies, but also the dispersal of their souls due to strain.
After giving them the specific steps, order, and risks for half an hour, Kisuke finished it by asking them again, "This isn't going to be easy and even, by my standards, this is very dangerous as I'm not sure I would be able to save you if something were to go wrong. Are you sure you still want to continue?"
Akeno answered with a small smile, "If we expect you to always come save us, how could we go far? And you've already said it yourself that that is the wrong mindset. We could depend on you, but shouldn't always."
Irina then suddenly stood up, "That's right! And we don't really have time to talk like this. We'll go prepare to increase our chances!"
Yoruichi, on the other hand, out of curiosity asked, "Could you just prepare an artificial body that meets their needs? You should already have enough data on them to do that."
Kisuke shook his head, "I can't do that. If I were to create a body for them, I'd only limit what they could do. I can gather all the information I may need, but I'll never be able to predict someone's potential and growth. The mind, after all, is the greatest mystery of all as it possesses unlimited and infinite possibilities, and with a strong enough will, you can even bend reality."
.
.
.
Kisuke closed his eyes and entered their inner world and what he saw was a scenery similar to the Dimensional Gap, 'So the bodies managed to influence their souls this much... This isn't good.'