Kirio Hikifune waved her hand gently, and several notebooks filled with writing floated over.
Under Kaelith Yurei's watchful gaze, she opened each one.
"Master, I analyzed the details as you described," she began.
"A special kind of illusion—silent, invisible, and possibly without any noticeable signs during activation."
"As long as one sees it, they fall under its control indefinitely."
"There are only two ways to break free from this state of control."
"First, your Spiritual Pressure must far exceed the opponent's."
"Second, you need to physically touch the object used to cast the illusion."
She paused, her expression solemn.
"My conclusion is clear." Hikifune's tone turned grave as she stated:
"You can't defend against it." (t/n I am telling you it's to OP)
Kaelith: "...?"
If she weren't so strong, Kaelith would have immediately asked if she was joking and reprimanded her.
Seeing his stunned expression, Hikifune smiled.
"If you can't defend against it, then why not change your perspective?"
"If the enemy wants to use illusions, let them. As long as you can continue fighting normally after falling under the illusion, it won't matter."
Kaelith raised a skeptical brow. "How's that even possible?"
"It's possible," Hikifune said seriously.
She pointed at the open notebooks beside her.
"The method is simple. First, carry a Gikongan with you at all times."
"Second, keep the Gikongan in an activated state."
"Third, during battle, treat the Gikongan like an outer garment for your own soul—wear it over your spirit."
"This way, if the enemy's illusion takes effect, it will target the 'soul garment' instead."
"When you remove the garment, you'll break free from the illusion."
Kaelith: "…"
Seeing his silence, Hikifune waved a hand in front of his face.
"What's wrong, Master Kaelith? Is there a problem with my method?"
"There's a huge problem!" Kaelith rolled his eyes. "Let's not even get into the finer points—how does this third step even work? You're practically skipping an entire tree of technology!"
"I don't know much about the structure of Gikongan, but they're clearly extremely intricate. Changing their form like this isn't something you can just say and do."
"If manipulating souls were this easy, Shinigami wouldn't bother with swords and battles. They'd just wave their hands and mess with their enemies' souls directly."
Hikifune thought for a moment before chuckling. "Well, we'll figure that part out when we get there."
"That makes sense," Kaelith replied instinctively, before quickly correcting himself. "Wait, no, it doesn't! This time, it's urgent!"
"Urgent, huh…" Hikifune mused. "But I can't think of a better solution at the moment. How about we start with this approach, and if we come up with new ideas, we can adjust?"
Kaelith nodded reluctantly.
---
As the sky darkened, Kaelith bid farewell to Hikifune and left the Twelfth Division.
In just half an afternoon, he had learned a wealth of foundational knowledge about Gikongan and artificial souls.
Since this was meant to be used "against" Aizen, he couldn't exactly ask Aizen for practice.
The thought of mastering such a complex system left Kaelith feeling utterly drained.
This friend of his was proving to be quite the handful.
In the future, if that idiot Aizen managed to avoid a lifetime prison sentence, he should really bow and thank Kaelith profusely.
Before leaving, Hikifune had insisted on learning a few simple recipes from him.
In this era, while Japanese cuisine wasn't exactly backward, it was certainly underwhelming. Miso soup, pickled vegetables, and bizarre varieties of sushi were the culinary staples.
Commonplace dishes like tempura from later times were considered high-class delicacies and synonymous with gourmet food in this era.
To Hikifune, the dishes Kaelith could prepare were like a revelation.
It was as if someone accustomed to retro consoles suddenly encountered a PS5.
Her envy and admiration needed no words.
---
The next day, Kaelith and Aizen attended their classes together.
Even though both were on the verge of graduation, their disciplined nature drove them to maintain their attendance.
As long as they hadn't officially graduated, they committed to taking every lesson seriously.
Seeing the two of them in class, Kinoshita looked momentarily surprised before smiling.
After class, Kaelith headed toward the school's shop.
Since Sōjun Kuchiki had stopped attending, Kaelith rarely visited the cafeteria for lunch.
Without the lavish meal boxes Sōjun brought from the Kuchiki household, the cafeteria food could only satisfy hunger—it offered no sense of excitement.
At the shop, Kaelith was about to buy two anpan when a voice suddenly called out behind him. (T/n anpans are basically donuts)
"Oi! Kaelith, my man!"
Turning around curiously, Kaelith looked toward the source of the voice.
A man with brown hair styled into a pompadour and a large gold chain around his neck was running toward him.
His appearance startled several students nearby.
"Hey, isn't that someone from the Second Division?"
"That's the Lieutenant of the 2nd Division, Ōmaeda Marenoshin!"
"The one who's insanely good at Shunpo?"
"Yeah, not just Shunpo. I heard he practically runs the Second Division now and is really powerful!"
At first, the students were puzzled as to why someone of Ōmaeda's rank would come to Shin'ō Academy.
But when they heard him call Kaelith's name, everything clicked.
He must be here to recruit Kaelith into the Second Division early.
Even so, Kaelith was still a first-year student.
Even if he was on track to graduate within a year—an unprecedented feat—there were still over six months to go.
Wasn't it a bit too early to start recruiting him?
As students whispered amongst themselves, Ōmaeda reached Kaelith's side.
"Hey, Kaelith! I heard your year has no classes this afternoon, so I came to find you. What are you up to?"
"Buying lunch," Kaelith said, pointing to the anpan on the counter.
Ōmaeda looked momentarily taken aback before quickly waving it off as if it didn't matter.
"I love anpan as much as anyone, but skip them for today. Let's go try some of the food my family's chef prepared!"
Kaelith naturally had no objections.
If he remembered correctly, the Ōmaeda family was among the wealthiest nobles in the Soul Society.
The ingredients they used wouldn't fall short of the Kuchiki household's quality!
Following Ōmaeda's lead, Kaelith left the academy, and the two headed toward the Second Division's barracks.
Since Ōmaeda was currently handling most of the captain's duties, he lived directly within the division's quarters.
As they walked, Ōmaeda enthusiastically pointed out various facilities and training programs along the way.
Passing a wide-open area, Kaelith noticed several young children, shorter than him, practicing kansetsu waza on wooden dummies.
Despite their young age, the aura each child exuded was extraordinarily intense.
---