"Huh? A fireworks expert!?" Within the Kakaku Taihō chamber of the Shiba Clan household, Ichigo Kurosaki stands with Orihime Inoue, Yasutora Sado, and Uryū Ishida as he expresses shock at the idea of Kūkaku Shiba being a fireworks expert.
"That's right! Koganehiko! Shiroganehiko!! Hoist it!!!" Affirming her statement, Kūkaku looks upward and commands Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko to do it, prompting them to begin rapidly turning a crank next to the smokestack outside.
"Yes ma'am!"
"What!?"
"Wha... What the!? The floor's rising!?" As the floor Ichigo and his friends are standing on begins to rumble and rise up, to their surprise, the smokestack above them crumbles to reveal the Kakaku Taihō, which emerges from the remnants as they fall to the ground below. "Hey.... The roof's opening up!!"
With the ceiling above the chamber pulling apart to reveal a circular opening, Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko finish turning the crank, causing the Kakaku Taihō to come to a halt fully raised about the ground.
"How'd you like that!?" Kūkaku said excitedly "Did that scare you!? This is Kūkaku Shiba's exclusive fireworks launch pad!!"
"The flowercrane cannon!!!" Ganju interjected and immediately received a kick from his big sister
"Who said you could get on the pedestal?!!"
"This... This is not time for jokes! I don't care if you're a fireworks wizard, there's no way you're going to launch us with that! It's insane!! We'd be killed for sure--" However, Uryū assumes that Kūkaku is joking and asserts that there is no way to launch them into the Seireitei with such a thing without killing them, only to be interrupted when Kūkaku throws a Reishukaku that hits him in the face before landing in Mei's hands.
"Hmm.... What's this...?" Mei asked curiously as she turned the crystal ball to see what it did. A medium-sized orb composed of a clear material that is inscribed with a red crane insignia like fortune teller's balls.
"A Reishukaku--A Spirit Core. You can press your palm against it and fill it with spirit energy." Kūkaku explains. Mei looked like she was quite interested in the orb, so she tried it as Kūkaku advised.... After a while, nothing happened, then she sighed a bit and gave it to Ichigo. (While in Senkaimon Gate, Mei used a forbidden Kidō that she accidentally relied on muscle memory and body reflexes so she could concentrate Reiryoku in her hand.)
"Um.... How do you focus your spiritual energy again?" Ichigo was confused and asked again.
"Huh? What are you saying? Like this." Kūkaku was surprised to see that neither Mei nor Ichigo could do it when both of them were Shinigami? She demonstrated how to do it and summoned a simple ball of light when Mei curiously blinked a few times to get a closer look. "If you are Shinigami, you guys should know how to use Kidō."
"Actually.... The lady over there has amnesia that causes her to not remember how to use Kidō or almost any similar thing the Soul Reaper knows. This boy is the newbie Soul Reaper I told you about earlier. He can't use Kidō at all." Yoruichi quickly stood up to explain.
"What the hell?" Kūkaku sighed helplessly and called Ganju to teach them. "Fine.... Ganju! Show them how it's done!"
"Yes ma'am!! Give it to me!" Ganju responded to his big sister's words and quickly tried to grab the orb but Ichigo held it up high so he couldn't get it. When he raised his hand high to grab the ball, Ichigo brought it down low, deliberately not letting Ganju get it, making him angry. "Oh, so you want to play?"
"Yeah! Come and get it. If you can!! I'd rather die than be taught by you!!"
The two of them were once again beaten by Kūkaku, it seemed like they were still not letting up. "That's enough!!"
"UOOOOOHH!!!" Ganju grabbed the ball with both hands then put all his strength into the ball causing it to glow then a spherical protective layer appeared surrounding Ganju causing Ichigo's group to cry out in surprise.
"This.... Is the cannon ball." Kūkaku tapped on the spherical protection still surrounding Ganju as she became more serious and began to act as a teacher to the students. "Listen carefully. If you think the Seirei wall that surrounds the Seireitei is the only thing protecting it.... You're wrong."
"The wall is made from an ore that's rare even in the Soul Society called Sekkiseki--Lethal presence rock-- That completely blocks spiritual energy. This means you can't make a hole in the wall with spirit energy."
Kūkaku continued to explain to them, as she mentioned that it was impossible to create a hole in the wall with spirit energy and Mei had left a pretty big crack on the White Road Gate during her battle with Jidanbō with this sword which made her suspicious. Does that woman's sword have some special power?
"And another troublesome thing about the Sekkiseki is.... That it emits waves that break down spirit energy... So in effect.... Those waves from a sphere around the Seireitei... from high in the sky to deep in the ground!!"
"Complete coverage..."
"Of course, if you flew into something like that...being made of Reishi, you'd disintegrate." Kūkaku said and threw a fist at Ganju's spherical protective shield, making it make a ponk sound, but looking at Ganju's expression inside the sphere, perhaps maintaining the sphere took quite a bit of Reiryoku. "That's where the cannon ball comes in!"
"Sis, I'm feeling.... weak...."
"Suck it up!" Kūkaku grumbled and paid Ganju no more attention as she continued to tell Ichigo's group what to look out for. "By infusing the spirit core with your combined spiritual energies... You will create a cannonball that can punch through the Seireitei's barrier!"
"The plan is to fire it from the flowercrane cannon.... and in you go! It's a rough ride, but there's no other way! That's all!!"
"Any questions!?"
"Um.... Er...."
"Good! then you're dismissed! Go to the dojo and start practicing with the spirit core!" Ichigo and his friends too stunned to ask any questions then Kūkaku had already ordered Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko grab Ichigo and his friends so they can begin training with the Reishukaku in the dojo. "Koganehiko! Shiroganehiko! Escort them!!"
"And you'd better train hard! If any one of you loses focus, it's--BOOM!"
In the dojo within the Shiba Clan household, under the supervision of Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko, the Ryoka practice creating a barrier around themselves by infusing the Reishukaku with their Reiryoku: Orihime Inoue easily creates a perfectly spherical barrier, Uryū Ishida creates a narrow and nearly perfect barrier that Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko assume reflects his body shape, and Yasutora Sado creates a slightly unstable yet strong barrier.
Somehow Mei managed to create a complete sphere that exploded causing her hair to become ruffled due to putting too much spiritual energy into the sphere but the result was still better than a person, Ichigo Kurosaki, struggles to create a complete barrier at all.
"It's terrible!!"
"Indeed!"
"What is it!? I can't stand to look at it!!"
"Try hard won't help! You just don't have the talent!! It's terrible! Too terrible!!" When Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko repeatedly criticize his lack of skill in channeling his Reiryoku, an irate Ichigo hits Koganehiko in the face with the Reishukaku and demands that they give him better instructions as Ganju Shiba sits in the corner and scratches his nose.
"I don't know how to do it!! Give me a tip or something!! Geez!!!"
With night arriving, a visibly exhausted Ichigo remains unable to create a barrier. Poking his head into the room, Taichi Miyamoto informs Ganju that dinner is ready before noting that they seems still busy practicing. "Um.... Boss... Dinner's ready, but.... Guess you're busy...."
"Okay, you guys! Dinner's ready!!" Ganju shouted loudly to notify everyone. "Go eat! I'm sure you must be hungry!!"
"Come to think of it...." said Ishida.
"They didn't feed you in Rukongai, did they? Those guys over there don't know how to use their spiritual powers.... So they don't get hungry!" Ganju observes that the villagers in Rukongai did not feed them because they do not get hungry due to not using any spiritual powers.
"Well.... but Ichigo's..."
"Don't worry about me." As Uryū expressed concern over leaving him behind, Ichigo interrupted Ishida and shrugged it off, telling them to go first. "Go eat. I'll be there as soon as I get this down."
"All right.... I guess we'll go.... Are you coming, Orihime?" Ishida said reluctantly as he felt bad for leaving Ichigo behind and he noticed that Orihime was still sitting there.
"I'm okay! I'll wait for Ichigo! I'm not really that hungry." Even though Orihime said so, her stomach was already growling because she hadn't eaten anything in the past few days except the peaches that Mei shared with her. "Um.... My stomach exaggerates! I'm really not hungry at all."
"Orihime. Go.... I'll be fine." said Ichigo.
"But I wanna practice some more too! I'm really notthat hungry, so..." As Orihime asserts that her stomach is exaggerating and she really is not hungry, Ichigo requests that she go because he will be fine, and though Orihime insists that she wants to get some more practice in,
"Orihime, please."
"Okay! I'll go, then! If you really want me to!" Ichigo solemnly reiterates his request prompting a concerned Orihime to agree to do so and push Uryū and Sado out of the room while declaring that she will see Ichigo there, with Ganju staying behind. "C'mon, miss Acheron, Uryū. C'mon, Chad!!"
Meanwhile, within the Shiba Clan household, as Yasutora Sado, Uryū Ishida, and Orihime Inoue eat dinner together, Uryū sets down his bowl alongside Sado as he expresses his thanks for the meal. "Thank you for the meal."
"Uryū.... You eat slow." said Chad.
"What's wrong with that? That's how I was raised." Ishida objected to Chad's words. He notices that Orihime has not eaten much and asks her if she is full. "Hey.... You haven't eaten much, Orihime, are you full?"
"Sure am! I'm stuffed..." Unfortunately, Orihime's stomach to growl as she tries to affirm this. She then punched herself in the stomach, causing it to make a softer sound. "See? I'm full...."
"It's okay. You don't have to do that. We'll pretend we didn't hear it." When Orihime punches her stomach in an attempt to silence it, an embarrassed Uryū promises that she does not have to do this because he and an equally embarrassed Sado will not say anything.
"Ac... Actually... I thought I'd give my food to Ichigo...." Orihime explained but she spoke hesitantly due to nervousness.
"Oh, yeah.... He's still hasn't shown up." They looked up at the clock on the wall in front of them and saw that it was 1:00 am.
Acheron was the fast eater of the group and was leisurely putting LOTS of sugar cubes into her tea and stirring it up. Before she could drink it, she felt a slight change in the atmosphere that made her frown and look down at the surface of her tea. It was no longer static, then Ichigo's group and everyone else in this place simultaneously felt an incredibly powerful Reiatsu permeating the area.
"Wha... What's this spiritual pressure!?" The group looked at each other and agreed to see where that pressure of spiritual energy was coming from. "Let's go check it out!?"
When they ran to the source of the large amount of Reiryoku, which was also the dojo where Ichigo trained, they could partly guess when they saw Ganju sitting in the hallway with a panicked face. Even Kūkaku panicked and ran quickly to Ganju "What's that!? What is it Ganju!? What's happening!?"
"S.... Sorry, sis.... I just taught him a little trick.... I had no idea.... this would happen!" Under Kūkaku's questioning demanding to know what is happening, Ganju tried to calm down and stammeringly and nervously explained everything to his big sister. Without saying much Kūkaku immediately opened the sliding door behind her.
"You idiot!! What are you doing?! Solidify your spirit energy!!! Quickly!!!" Upon opening the door to the dojo, Kūkaku is shocked to find Ichigo generating an incredibly large and intense barrier around himself with the Reishukaku, prompting her to instruct him to solidify his Reiryoku right now.
As he does so, a sweating Ichigo finds his barrier drastically reduced in size and intensity, and as he proclaims that he has done it. "I did it!!!"
"G....Goodjob, Ichigo!!!" Orihime was about to rush forward to congratulate Ichigo when she was grabbed by Mei and a red umbrella blocked her. Before Ichigo could respond, the barrier sphere surrounding him began to crack. Well, history is about to repeat itself again.
"You fool!! Never break your concentration so suddenly!!" As Kūkaku finished speaking, the ball suddenly exploded and Ichigo continued to be scolded and kicked by her. "Didn't you....hear what I said!?"
"I told you, if any of you loses focus, it's--BOOM! Didn't I!?" Kūkaku used her foot to repeatedly step on Ichigo's head in an attempt to imprint her words into his head. "Didn't I say that!? Huh?!"
"Yes... Yes, you did, ma'am...."
"Then did you do it on purpose!?"
"Th....Thanks, miss Acheron...." Orihime peered her head over Mei's umbrella to see what was going on.
"That's right!! If you didn't.... OOF!"
"You're equally guilty, you fool!" Kūkaku immediately interrupted Ganju's words by giving him several elbows in the face. The story continued to repeat itself as Ichigo and the group watched while sweating but no less funny.