Kuroka and Koneko noticed Kisuke popping into existence nearby, but instead of greeting him, they ramped up what they were doing and took back the focus they had on the surroundings to dedicate everything to circulating their Ki. Now that Kisuke was here, they knew that they were safe.
Without further disturbing them, Kisuke inspected Koneko from a distance. He was worried that her adult transformation was actually doing something bad to her overall health as during the last instance that she did this, her Ki pathways were severely strained to the point that she was almost crippled.
But contrary to his expectations, aside from the current white flames that were dancing on her skin, Koneko's adult form had actually reached such a stable level that it was as if this is her most natural state, 'Although this is just a skin-deep level initial observation, the fact that she could give off such a stable aura despite the raging Ki flowing around speaks volumes that achieved something monumental... But how? The training method that I gave them couldn't have this kind of effect within such a short period of time. This result could only be achieved if they did this for at least a year or two without stopping.'
It only when Kisuke turned hisattention to Kuroka, who remained relatively the same in the physical sense, aside from the same six tails behind her and black flames dancing on her skin, that he was able to understand a small bit of what was really happening, 'Their flames are resonating and creating a cycle? And here I thought the flow of their flames only went one way. I may have misunderstood the nature of their flames.'
Since they'd already reached beyond this training's goal, they should be able to go home now. However, since he also knew that this chance might not come for them again, he was willing to wait no matter how long they took. Even if it means missing his one-month deadline.
After contacting Yoruichi about the situation, Kisuke's ardent wait began. And just like that, a whole week went by.
It was only after their 7th tail fully manifested that the circulation of Ki between them ceased and they woke up.
Kuroka and Koneko simultaneously stood up and started stretching while facing away from each other. But despite the immense pressure of the ocean pressing down on them, they were moving and breathing as if the water didn't exist around them, "Yo~ Kisuke-nya~! We've made you wait, nya!" Kuroka greeted Kisuke with greater enthusiasm than before.
But the moment she turned her sights to Koneko, Kuroka didn't know how to react, "S-Shirone? W-why did you suddenly transform, nya? Isn't that too dangerous for you?"
Instead of answering immediately, Koneko started inspecting her own body, touching it all over while having a bewildered expression, "...I didn't transform, Nee-sama..."
"You didn't?", asked Kuroka to confirm again.
Shaking her head, Koneko tried dispelling any transformation or any ongoing technique right now. But as she has initially figured out, she's not doing anything, "I didn't."
"Come in the barrier first. Let me check both of your conditions.", urged Kisuke while making the middle of the barrier comfortable.
Although Kuroka was very worried about Koneko, the latter was just thinking all sorts of weird stuff as she walked past the boundary of the barrier, 'Can I finally do it?'
Oblivious to what she's thinking, Kisuke faithfully went through everything and found out that Koneko was as healthy as she could be, 'Everything was adjusted to be optimized... Is it because of their Ki or is it the Nekoshou's special traits?'
"How is it?" Kuroka couldn't take it anymore and asked after waiting for the silent Kisuke to say something for a few minutes.
"There's no problem. Maybe this is how she should've looked like from the start. Although you're sisters and not that far apart in age, Koneko's stature was very petite and her environment might have caused her to have a suppressed growth. Thanks to her achieving her 7th tail, that suppression was broken and even pushed her to a readjustment. Though I'm not sure if this is because of the abundant Ki or her being a Nekoshou."
Kuroka could finally sigh in relief before saying, "That's good to hear. But I also couldn't tell. The records about the Nekoshou are very sparse and I couldn't find anyone else aside from me and Shirone. There might be some hidden records from the Youkai side, but I haven't explored there yet."
Kisuke rubbed his chin and thought for a bit, "Hmmm... I see... Then maybe it'll be a good idea to make a trip to Kyoto later."
Koneko, who had been doing some stretching in the background and some shadow boxing to gauge her strength, asked, "By the way, Senpai. How long have we been training? I couldn't tell how long we've been sitting here."
"It's actually been more than a week since I returned."
"Is that alright? I didn't think we'd go beyond the schedule."
"It's fine. I doubt you could have another instance of what you did as easily as you just had.", answered Kisuke while preparing their teleportation trip home.
Kuroka and Koneko thought back to it and figured that he's right. They couldn't even remember how they started it, much less how they kept going with their Ki circulation.
"And once we go home, go comfort Aika."
The sisters looked at each other before Koneko asked, "What happened to her?"
"She failed her training and Yoruichi couldn't allow her to continue further cause it'd just put her at unnecessary risk."
Although Kuroka and Koneko's training was extended, Kisuke didn't stop communicating with Yoruichi and kept asking her about Aika's progress. It might have been her special Zanpakuto or that she just wasn't for it in the first place, but Aika failed to acquire the name of her Bankai.