--
A surprising hint of sympathy emerged in Aizen's mind as he observed Kaelith Yurei.
Since their first meeting, Kaelith had never once displayed his true strength.
It wasn't hard to guess that Kaelith, like Aizen himself, preferred to keep his full abilities hidden.
The key difference, however, was that Aizen was cautious and lucky enough to avoid situations where he was forced to reveal his power.
Kaelith wasn't so fortunate.
First, he got severely punished by Kinoshita for skipping class—if he hadn't shown his real strength, he might have ended up in Squad Four's infirmary for days.
Then, he ran into Unohana Retsu, the unreasonably battle-obsessed maniac…
At that thought, Aizen shook his head, a faint smile curling his lips.
Well, perhaps it's for the best. Someone as impulsive as Kaelith could use a humbling experience or two.
Given how miserable his situation was now, Aizen decided he would find an opportunity to teach Kaelith some techniques for concealing Spirit Pressure.
At the dojo, Kaelith Yurei fought with all his might, every nerve in his body on edge.
Initially, he had gone all out because he was intimidated by Unohana's overwhelming opening attack, instinctively reacting in defense.
But as the fight went on, he began to notice something unusual.
It seemed as though Unohana Retsu was intentionally using their battle to adjust minor issues in his swordsmanship while also helping him become more familiar with his techniques.
The abilities he had synchronized from Aizen weren't fully effective yet, lacking the necessary practice and polish.
That was why he had spent so much effort in his dormitory digesting the footwork knowledge Aizen had shared with him.
By his calculations, it would have taken him at least a month or two of solo practice to fully master the sword techniques he gained from Aizen.
But now, under Unohana's flawless guidance, his swordsmanship was improving at a staggering pace.
In just over a minute, Kaelith felt as though he was on the verge of fully absorbing the sword techniques he had synchronized from Aizen!
Realizing this, his gaze toward Unohana Retsu grew fiery with excitement.
If he could spar with Unohana every time he synchronized new abilities from Aizen to refine and assimilate them, wouldn't he be unstoppable?
Noticing Kaelith's eager expression, Unohana's lips curved into a smile.
Oh? Excellent.
This child wasn't frightened by her attacks. Instead, he looked exhilarated by the battle...
What a promising seedling. She couldn't wait to see how he'd grow in the future. Perhaps, someday, he might even make her feel excited again.
As her emotions soared, Unohana's attacks became even fiercer.
Half a minute later, Kaelith finally faltered. His bamboo sword slipped slightly off-angle, and with a loud *snap*, it was cleaved in two by Unohana's strike, its splintered fibers scattering.
*Whoosh!*
After slicing through Kaelith's bamboo sword, Unohana's blade continued forward, stopping just before it could slice his neck.
A brief silence hung in the dojo before Unohana slowly lowered her bamboo sword.
With a slightly regretful expression, she remarked, "We couldn't finish to the very end, huh."
But almost immediately, her familiar smile returned.
"Well then, let's leave the rest for next time… I'm looking forward to that day, Kaelith-kun."
Kaelith's lips twitched slightly, but he said nothing.
He took back his earlier thoughts.
Unohana Retsu was far too dangerous.
While she could be an excellent teacher when calm, her murderous aura when fully engaged was enough to terrify anyone. Just moments ago, he had a strong premonition that he might genuinely die at her hands.
It was a feeling he never wanted to experience again.
Only now did the students finally realize they could breathe, and the dojo filled with the sound of gasping breaths.
As the students watched Unohana, a mix of tension, amazement, and excitement on their faces, she clasped her hands gently in front of her and bowed slightly.
"Everyone, today's special lesson ends here."
"It was a pleasure spending these two class periods with you all. I hope we'll have another opportunity like this."
"Oh, and if any of you are interested in joining Squad Four in the future, feel free to visit the career counseling office to pick up our recruitment brochure. I personally wrote the introduction about Squad Four!"
With that, this graceful (?) and kind-hearted (?) captain left the dojo, heading toward the gates of Shin'ō Academy.
As they watched her departing figure, the students couldn't help but start murmuring amongst themselves.
Carrying his broken bamboo sword, Kaelith slowly walked over to Kuchiki Sōjun, who wore a serious expression.
"Kaelith, let's spar after school," Sōjun said.
"If you don't want to be seen, we can go to a nearby farm owned by the Kuchiki family. I'll clear everyone out, so it'll just be us."
Kaelith nodded. "Sure."
Though he hated trouble, helping a friend was different.
Besides, sparring with Sōjun would help him improve his swordsmanship as well—a win-win.
Over the next few days, Yamada Seinosuke seemed like a completely different person. He dug out his neglected healing Kido textbooks from the dorm and began reviewing them meticulously, starting from the basics.
For most people, this would have been a waste of time, but Seinosuke, a once-in-a-millennium genius in the healing arts, managed to master everything in the textbooks within just a few days and began tackling advanced problems on his own.
Kaelith was glad they weren't competing in the same field. Otherwise, he might've cried from envy.
During their free time, the group of four often visited the Kuchiki family farm to spar with each other.
Aizen, initially uninterested in group practice, preferred solitary training.
But Kaelith's relentless pestering eventually wore him down.
One shameless threat sealed the deal: "If you don't come, I'll tell everyone at school you're hiding your true strength and that I can actually beat you."
Faced with Kaelith's absurd strategy of dragging himself down just to drag Aizen with him, Aizen finally caved.
And so, four days passed in the blink of an eye.
That evening, after dinner, Kaelith was strolling in the courtyard when a voice suddenly rang in his ears—
"Kaelith Yurei, report to the First Division barracks for class tomorrow."
Kaelith jumped in shock before realizing what was happening.
It was a message sent by Yamamoto through Kido.
Most likely, it was Tenran Kōra, a one-way communication Kido.
Kaelith stopped walking and raised an eyebrow.
"Hmph. You think I'll just go because you told me to? What about my dignity?"
"If there's any reason you can't make it, feel free to inform this old man," the voice continued.
Kaelith froze.
Damn it—it was two-way communication.