Chapter 17: Awakening
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Chapter 17: Awakening
""[[Zanpakuto Spirit?!]]""
Naturally, Hinata, Naruto, and even Kurama himself were rather surprised by that revelation. However, Naruto quickly realized that there might be a little problem. The initial posting of this chapter occurred via N0v3l.B11n.
"However, I do believe our swords are tied to our freshly hatched Zanpakuto Spirits, and we won't be able to use them together with Kurama."
Hearing Naruto's guess, Yuna simply nodded her head, agreeing with Naruto's theory.
"Indeed, we need a Zanpakuto without a Zanpakuto Spirit to make proper use of Kurama's power in this world."
"Does something like that even exist?"
Hearing Hinata's question, Yuna closed her eyes, seemingly deep in thought. After around a minute of silence, she reopened her eyes and simply shrugged her shoulders.
"Well, who knows? For now, we should ask Kisuke if he knows anything about Zanpakuto without a Zanpakuto Spirit, and if he doesn't, then we'll just have to learn how to make one ourselves."
Hinata and Naruto both nodded their heads after hearing Yuna's words. If it doesn't exist, just create it yourself. Easy.
[Will it really be so simple?]
'Meh, it will work out somehow. Generally speaking, creating something will fewer functions is easier than something with more, so creating a Zanpakuto that doesn't have a spirit should technically be easier.'
[If you say so.]
Early the next morning, the trio, plus Tatsuki, made it back to Urahara's shop, where Ichigo was still trapped inside the hole. Seeing Yuna and Naruto look down on him with teasing smirks, he could do nothing but glare back at them.
As soon as everyone was present, Yuna asked the question she and Naruto were dying to ask.
"Yo, Kisuke, just out of curiosity, are there Zanpakuto without a Zanpakuto Spirit?"
Although Kisuke's eyebrows rose in curiosity when he heard Yuna's seemingly random question, in the end, he decided to simply answer her.
"There are. Actually, they are pretty common as they are used by trainee Shinigami, that haven't awakened their power properly yet. Unlike real Zanpakuto, the ones without a spirit are somewhat easier to create."
'See, I told you so.'
[Yeah, yeah, the great Yuna-sama was right with her assumption~]
'Hehe, worship me more~'
After hearing Kisuke's words and a quick squirrel with Kurama, Yuna nodded her head in understanding.
"In that case, is it possible for you to get me two of them?"
Kisuke squinted his eyes as he inspected Yuna, wondering what she wanted to do with two defective blades. After thinking about it for a few seconds, Kisuke made a decision.
"I can easily get you two spiritless Zanpakuto, and I won't even ask you for money. Instead of money, I want to know what you wish to do with those two blades."
"Mhh, what a weird demand. Very well, I agree. As for what we want to do with them, I think you can make a good guess with the information we have revealed to you so far."
Kisuke scrunched up his face when he heard Yuna's words. He was a little dissatisfied that Yuna didn't answer him directly, but he actually liked figuring stuff out himself, so he gave it a try.
'Let's see, the greatest flaw these two blades would have is their missing Zanpakuto Spirits. Without them, the swords are pretty much normal, somewhat decently-made swords. The only way to make them useful is by adding a spirit to them, but where is that spirit supposed to come from?'
As Kisuke was pondering, he suddenly widened his eyes in surprise as he came to a realization.
"This Kurama person you allowed to control your body is a Zanpakuto Spirit!?"
Hearing Kisuke's outburst, Yuna nodded her head in approval.
"Correct, and don't ask where we found him; that's an S-Rank secret, you know~"
Kisuke briefly wondered why Yuna suddenly developed a sound tick, but he shoved that matter aside as his curiosity was sparked.
"Ururu, bring me two of our spare Zanpakuto."
He quickly gave an order to Ururu, one of the people assisting in his shop, to fetch the two swords. He was very eager to see what would happen and if Yuna and Naruto really could turn a spiritless Zanpakuto into a proper one.
Around a minute later, Ururu returned carrying two ordinary blades and handed them to Yuna and Naruto, who eagerly took them.
[Well, we have the sword now, but what are we supposed to do with it?]
Hearing Kurama's words, Yuna scoffed in disdain. To her, it was pretty obvious what to do next.
'Don't ask silly questions, Kurama. If you get a new sword and want to activate its hidden features, there is only one thing to do.'
As she said that, she raised the sword and cut the palm of her hand, allowing her blood to flow down the sword.
'When in doubt, pour your blood on it.'
[There is no way something this ridiculous would actually...]
Before Kurama could finish talking, he suddenly felt a slight connection with the Zanpakuto Yuna was holding, while the blade itself seemed to change as well, becoming slightly longer, while the hilt turned white. A slight change, representing that the Zanpakuto now held a Zanpakuto Spirit.
[You have got to be joking! That actually worked!?]
'When in doubt, pour blood on it.'
[Urgh, you don't have to repeat it, I got it.]
Anyway, Yuna and Hinata were not that great a match-up at first glance, as Yuna could simply freeze Hianta's water. However, that was actually the case, as Hinata could reverse the process, turning the ice back into water.
Frankly, the fight in their previous lives and this one were rather similar as it would always develop into a tug-of-war for control over the ice and water in the air. Unfortunately, Hinata would usually lose those, but since they were currently only trying to get used to their new power, Yuna was somewhat holding back to make the match more even.
On Naruto and Tatsuki's side, a rather one-sided match took place as Tatsuki simply couldn't compare to Naruto in skill. Previously, that was somewhat offset by Naruto having to be careful of Tatsuki's magma-covered hands, but now that Naruto had a pair of well-fitting gloves to protect him, that was no longer such a big problem, annoying Tatsuki greatly.
Kisuke, on the other hand, occasionally kept an eye on Ichigo while spending most of his time watching the other four fight. Frankly, it was abnormal how well they fought while displaying nothing but confidence. Considering Ichigo's recent loss, Kisuke was rather certain that his mental state would be far away from what Yuna and the rest were currently displaying.
Not even Tatsuki, who Kisuke didn't consider part of the super monster group of Yuna, Hinata, and Naruto, showed admirable amounts of determination and confidence, despite being by far the weakest of the little group of four.
Suddenly, a loud scream was heard from the hole Ichigo was currently in, and moments later, powerful Spiritual Pressure radiated out of it, making Kisuke wary.
'As expected of some with potential as monstrous as Ichigo. This Spiritual Pressure is insane. Maybe, Ichigo is really the one I should put my money on?'
As Kisuke's plan who to prop up was yet again questioned by himself, a mask started slowly forming on Ichigo's face, showing that he was resisting the Hollowfication.
'It's different from the trio. While those three calmy formed their masks without the slightest interruption, Ichigo was struggling with it and fought it with all his mind and body. What did those three do? Did they seriously just accept their Hollow? That's ridiculous.'
An explosion occurred as Ichigo shot out of the hole and landed in front of Kisuke, resulting in him taking a combat stance.
Ichigo raised his hand and pulled out his still-broken sword; however, instead of attacking, he smashed the hilt of his sword against his mask, shattering it in the process.
"Phew, I'm finally out of there."
Seeing that everything went well, a happy expression appeared on Kisuke's face as he pulled out his little fan to hide his mouth.
"Congratulations! You succeeded in becoming a Shinigami and passed the second test. Horray!"
Hearing Kisuke's fake cheering, a tick mark appeared on Ichigo's forehead as he smashed the hilt of his sword in Kisuke's face.
"Horray, my ass! I almost died just now! You should have prayed that I never come out of that hole because while I was down there, I swore one thing to myself. In case I get out of there, I'll definitely kick your ass!"
Hearing Ichigo's proclamation, Kisuke couldn't help but smirk.
"Ohya? That's quite convenient as the third lesson is for you to knock my hat off my head. There is no time limit~"
As soon as Kisuke stopped speaking, Ichigo swung his blade, forcing Kisuke to bend sideways, barely dodging the blow, which left a small nick in his hat.
"Oh~ Not bad at all~ You managed to leave a nick despite your broken sword~"
Confidence radiated out of Ichigo as he pointed the tip of his sword at Kisuke.
"That's right, forget about the matter of no time limit; I'll finish this in five minutes."
Hearing Ichigo's words, the atmosphere around Kisuke changed as he grasped the end of the walking stick he was usually carrying around.
"Heee~ Is that so~"
He pulled on it, revealing a hidden blade within the walking stick.
"You really think so? Very well, let's do it."
Ichigo couldn't help but gulp down some saliva as ridiculous amounts of pressure started radiating out of Kisuke.
'What the hell, wasn't he just a shady merchant? What with this pressure?'
Before Ichigo could realize the trouble he was in, the tip of Kisuke's sword appeared in front of his face, causing his eyes to widen as he barely managed to dodge the attack. Despite almost getting stabbed, Ichigo kept up the cocky act.
"Not bad for only having such a small sword."
"Oh, my~ I was praised."
As Kisuke was speaking in a sing-song voice, Ichigo was repeatedly forced to dodge his strikes, turning the whole situation into a weird game of cat and mouse where Kisuke would chase after Ichigo and slash at him while Ichigo was constantly running away.
"How long do you think he will last, Naruto?"
"Meh, it's not looking too good; I give him five minutes, nee-san."
"Excuse me, the popcorn is ready. Would any of you like some, Yuna, Naruto, Tatsuki?"
"Errr, is it really okay for us to watch the situation like this?"
"Mah, don't worry about it, Tatsuki. Thanks for the popcorn, Hinata."
While Ichigo was running for his life, Yuna and her little group had somehow brought a couch here as they were currently spectating what was happening with Ichigo.
"YOU BASTARDS, I'LL KICK YOUR ASSES LATER!!!"
Despite Ichigo cursing at them, Yuna simply waved her hand at him while Naruto gave him a thumbs up.
"Go for it!"
"You can do it!"
Suddenly, Kisuke slashed down his sword at the distracted Ichigo, leaving a small bloody gush behind, making Kisuke frown.
"What are you getting distracted for? Do you think this is a game?"
Despite his words, Kisuke genuinely wondered where Yuna's group had gotten that couch from, but he decided to ponder those matters later. For now, he had to get Ichigo into shape.
"It seems like I'm still not taken seriously. Very well, let's do this then. [Awaken Benihime]"
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Chapter 17: Awakening
""[[Zanpakuto Spirit?!]]""
Naturally, Hinata, Naruto, and even Kurama himself were rather surprised by that revelation. However, Naruto quickly realized that there might be a little problem. The initial posting of this chapter occurred via N0v3l.B11n.
"However, I do believe our swords are tied to our freshly hatched Zanpakuto Spirits, and we won't be able to use them together with Kurama."
Hearing Naruto's guess, Yuna simply nodded her head, agreeing with Naruto's theory.
"Indeed, we need a Zanpakuto without a Zanpakuto Spirit to make proper use of Kurama's power in this world."
"Does something like that even exist?"
Hearing Hinata's question, Yuna closed her eyes, seemingly deep in thought. After around a minute of silence, she reopened her eyes and simply shrugged her shoulders.
"Well, who knows? For now, we should ask Kisuke if he knows anything about Zanpakuto without a Zanpakuto Spirit, and if he doesn't, then we'll just have to learn how to make one ourselves."
Hinata and Naruto both nodded their heads after hearing Yuna's words. If it doesn't exist, just create it yourself. Easy.
[Will it really be so simple?]
'Meh, it will work out somehow. Generally speaking, creating something will fewer functions is easier than something with more, so creating a Zanpakuto that doesn't have a spirit should technically be easier.'
[If you say so.]
Early the next morning, the trio, plus Tatsuki, made it back to Urahara's shop, where Ichigo was still trapped inside the hole. Seeing Yuna and Naruto look down on him with teasing smirks, he could do nothing but glare back at them.
As soon as everyone was present, Yuna asked the question she and Naruto were dying to ask.
"Yo, Kisuke, just out of curiosity, are there Zanpakuto without a Zanpakuto Spirit?"
Although Kisuke's eyebrows rose in curiosity when he heard Yuna's seemingly random question, in the end, he decided to simply answer her.
"There are. Actually, they are pretty common as they are used by trainee Shinigami, that haven't awakened their power properly yet. Unlike real Zanpakuto, the ones without a spirit are somewhat easier to create."
'See, I told you so.'
[Yeah, yeah, the great Yuna-sama was right with her assumption~]
'Hehe, worship me more~'
After hearing Kisuke's words and a quick squirrel with Kurama, Yuna nodded her head in understanding.
"In that case, is it possible for you to get me two of them?"
Kisuke squinted his eyes as he inspected Yuna, wondering what she wanted to do with two defective blades. After thinking about it for a few seconds, Kisuke made a decision.
"I can easily get you two spiritless Zanpakuto, and I won't even ask you for money. Instead of money, I want to know what you wish to do with those two blades."
"Mhh, what a weird demand. Very well, I agree. As for what we want to do with them, I think you can make a good guess with the information we have revealed to you so far."
Kisuke scrunched up his face when he heard Yuna's words. He was a little dissatisfied that Yuna didn't answer him directly, but he actually liked figuring stuff out himself, so he gave it a try.
'Let's see, the greatest flaw these two blades would have is their missing Zanpakuto Spirits. Without them, the swords are pretty much normal, somewhat decently-made swords. The only way to make them useful is by adding a spirit to them, but where is that spirit supposed to come from?'
As Kisuke was pondering, he suddenly widened his eyes in surprise as he came to a realization.
"This Kurama person you allowed to control your body is a Zanpakuto Spirit!?"
Hearing Kisuke's outburst, Yuna nodded her head in approval.
"Correct, and don't ask where we found him; that's an S-Rank secret, you know~"
Kisuke briefly wondered why Yuna suddenly developed a sound tick, but he shoved that matter aside as his curiosity was sparked.
"Ururu, bring me two of our spare Zanpakuto."
He quickly gave an order to Ururu, one of the people assisting in his shop, to fetch the two swords. He was very eager to see what would happen and if Yuna and Naruto really could turn a spiritless Zanpakuto into a proper one.
Around a minute later, Ururu returned carrying two ordinary blades and handed them to Yuna and Naruto, who eagerly took them.
[Well, we have the sword now, but what are we supposed to do with it?]
Hearing Kurama's words, Yuna scoffed in disdain. To her, it was pretty obvious what to do next.
'Don't ask silly questions, Kurama. If you get a new sword and want to activate its hidden features, there is only one thing to do.'
As she said that, she raised the sword and cut the palm of her hand, allowing her blood to flow down the sword.
'When in doubt, pour your blood on it.'
[There is no way something this ridiculous would actually...]
Before Kurama could finish talking, he suddenly felt a slight connection with the Zanpakuto Yuna was holding, while the blade itself seemed to change as well, becoming slightly longer, while the hilt turned white. A slight change, representing that the Zanpakuto now held a Zanpakuto Spirit.
[You have got to be joking! That actually worked!?]
'When in doubt, pour blood on it.'
[Urgh, you don't have to repeat it, I got it.]
Anyway, Yuna and Hinata were not that great a match-up at first glance, as Yuna could simply freeze Hianta's water. However, that was actually the case, as Hinata could reverse the process, turning the ice back into water.
Frankly, the fight in their previous lives and this one were rather similar as it would always develop into a tug-of-war for control over the ice and water in the air. Unfortunately, Hinata would usually lose those, but since they were currently only trying to get used to their new power, Yuna was somewhat holding back to make the match more even.
On Naruto and Tatsuki's side, a rather one-sided match took place as Tatsuki simply couldn't compare to Naruto in skill. Previously, that was somewhat offset by Naruto having to be careful of Tatsuki's magma-covered hands, but now that Naruto had a pair of well-fitting gloves to protect him, that was no longer such a big problem, annoying Tatsuki greatly.
Kisuke, on the other hand, occasionally kept an eye on Ichigo while spending most of his time watching the other four fight. Frankly, it was abnormal how well they fought while displaying nothing but confidence. Considering Ichigo's recent loss, Kisuke was rather certain that his mental state would be far away from what Yuna and the rest were currently displaying.
Not even Tatsuki, who Kisuke didn't consider part of the super monster group of Yuna, Hinata, and Naruto, showed admirable amounts of determination and confidence, despite being by far the weakest of the little group of four.
Suddenly, a loud scream was heard from the hole Ichigo was currently in, and moments later, powerful Spiritual Pressure radiated out of it, making Kisuke wary.
'As expected of some with potential as monstrous as Ichigo. This Spiritual Pressure is insane. Maybe, Ichigo is really the one I should put my money on?'
As Kisuke's plan who to prop up was yet again questioned by himself, a mask started slowly forming on Ichigo's face, showing that he was resisting the Hollowfication.
'It's different from the trio. While those three calmy formed their masks without the slightest interruption, Ichigo was struggling with it and fought it with all his mind and body. What did those three do? Did they seriously just accept their Hollow? That's ridiculous.'
An explosion occurred as Ichigo shot out of the hole and landed in front of Kisuke, resulting in him taking a combat stance.
Ichigo raised his hand and pulled out his still-broken sword; however, instead of attacking, he smashed the hilt of his sword against his mask, shattering it in the process.
"Phew, I'm finally out of there."
Seeing that everything went well, a happy expression appeared on Kisuke's face as he pulled out his little fan to hide his mouth.
"Congratulations! You succeeded in becoming a Shinigami and passed the second test. Horray!"
Hearing Kisuke's fake cheering, a tick mark appeared on Ichigo's forehead as he smashed the hilt of his sword in Kisuke's face.
"Horray, my ass! I almost died just now! You should have prayed that I never come out of that hole because while I was down there, I swore one thing to myself. In case I get out of there, I'll definitely kick your ass!"
Hearing Ichigo's proclamation, Kisuke couldn't help but smirk.
"Ohya? That's quite convenient as the third lesson is for you to knock my hat off my head. There is no time limit~"
As soon as Kisuke stopped speaking, Ichigo swung his blade, forcing Kisuke to bend sideways, barely dodging the blow, which left a small nick in his hat.
"Oh~ Not bad at all~ You managed to leave a nick despite your broken sword~"
Confidence radiated out of Ichigo as he pointed the tip of his sword at Kisuke.
"That's right, forget about the matter of no time limit; I'll finish this in five minutes."
Hearing Ichigo's words, the atmosphere around Kisuke changed as he grasped the end of the walking stick he was usually carrying around.
"Heee~ Is that so~"
He pulled on it, revealing a hidden blade within the walking stick.
"You really think so? Very well, let's do it."
Ichigo couldn't help but gulp down some saliva as ridiculous amounts of pressure started radiating out of Kisuke.
'What the hell, wasn't he just a shady merchant? What with this pressure?'
Before Ichigo could realize the trouble he was in, the tip of Kisuke's sword appeared in front of his face, causing his eyes to widen as he barely managed to dodge the attack. Despite almost getting stabbed, Ichigo kept up the cocky act.
"Not bad for only having such a small sword."
"Oh, my~ I was praised."
As Kisuke was speaking in a sing-song voice, Ichigo was repeatedly forced to dodge his strikes, turning the whole situation into a weird game of cat and mouse where Kisuke would chase after Ichigo and slash at him while Ichigo was constantly running away.
"How long do you think he will last, Naruto?"
"Meh, it's not looking too good; I give him five minutes, nee-san."
"Excuse me, the popcorn is ready. Would any of you like some, Yuna, Naruto, Tatsuki?"
"Errr, is it really okay for us to watch the situation like this?"
"Mah, don't worry about it, Tatsuki. Thanks for the popcorn, Hinata."
While Ichigo was running for his life, Yuna and her little group had somehow brought a couch here as they were currently spectating what was happening with Ichigo.
"YOU BASTARDS, I'LL KICK YOUR ASSES LATER!!!"
Despite Ichigo cursing at them, Yuna simply waved her hand at him while Naruto gave him a thumbs up.
"Go for it!"
"You can do it!"
Suddenly, Kisuke slashed down his sword at the distracted Ichigo, leaving a small bloody gush behind, making Kisuke frown.
"What are you getting distracted for? Do you think this is a game?"
Despite his words, Kisuke genuinely wondered where Yuna's group had gotten that couch from, but he decided to ponder those matters later. For now, he had to get Ichigo into shape.
"It seems like I'm still not taken seriously. Very well, let's do this then. [Awaken Benihime]"
Chapter 17: Awakening""Zanpakuto Spirit?!"" Naturally, Hinata, Naruto, and even Kurama himself were rather surprised by that revelation. However, Naruto quickly realized that there might be a little problem. The initial posting of this chapter occurred via N0v3l.B11n."However, I do believe our swords are tied to our freshly hatched Zanpakuto Spirits, and we won't be able to use them together with Kurama." Hearing Naruto's guess, Yuna simply nodded her head, agreeing with Naruto's theory. "Indeed, we need a Zanpakuto without a Zanpakuto Spirit to make proper use of Kurama's power in this world." "Does something like that even exist?" Hearing Hinata's question, Yuna closed her eyes, seemingly deep in thought. After around a minute of silence, she reopened her eyes and simply shrugged her shoulders. "Well, who knows? For now, we should ask Kisuke if he knows anything about Zanpakuto without a Zanpakuto Spirit, and if he doesn't, then we'll just have to learn how to make one ourselves." Hinata and Naruto both nodded their heads after hearing Yuna's words. If it doesn't exist, just create it yourself. Easy. Will it really be so simple? 'Meh, it will work out somehow. Generally speaking, creating something will fewer functions is easier than something with more, so creating a Zanpakuto that doesn't have a spirit should technically be easier.' If you say so. Early the next morning, the trio, plus Tatsuki, made it back to Urahara's shop, where Ichigo was still trapped inside the hole. Seeing Yuna and Naruto look down on him with teasing smirks, he could do nothing but glare back at them. As soon as everyone was present, Yuna asked the question she and Naruto were dying to ask. "Yo, Kisuke, just out of curiosity, are there Zanpakuto without a Zanpakuto Spirit?" Although Kisuke's eyebrows rose in curiosity when he heard Yuna's seemingly random question, in the end, he decided to simply answer her. "There are. Actually, they are pretty common as they are used by trainee Shinigami, that haven't awakened their power properly yet. Unlike real Zanpakuto, the ones without a spirit are somewhat easier to create." 'See, I told you so.' Yeah, yeah, the great Yuna-sama was right with her assumption~ 'Hehe, worship me more~' After hearing Kisuke's words and a quick squirrel with Kurama, Yuna nodded her head in understanding. "In that case, is it possible for you to get me two of them?" Kisuke squinted his eyes as he inspected Yuna, wondering what she wanted to do with two defective blades. After thinking about it for a few seconds, Kisuke made a decision. "I can easily get you two spiritless Zanpakuto, and I won't even ask you for money. Instead of money, I want to know what you wish to do with those two blades." "Mhh, what a weird demand. Very well, I agree. As for what we want to do with them, I think you can make a good guess with the information we have revealed to you so far." Kisuke scrunched up his face when he heard Yuna's words. He was a little dissatisfied that Yuna didn't answer him directly, but he actually liked figuring stuff out himself, so he gave it a try. 'Let's see, the greatest flaw these two blades would have is their missing Zanpakuto Spirits. Without them, the swords are pretty much normal, somewhat decently-made swords. The only way to make them useful is by adding a spirit to them, but where is that spirit supposed to come from?' As Kisuke was pondering, he suddenly widened his eyes in surprise as he came to a realization. "This Kurama person you allowed to control your body is a Zanpakuto Spirit!?" Hearing Kisuke's outburst, Yuna nodded her head in approval. "Correct, and don't ask where we found him; that's an S-Rank secret, you know~" Kisuke briefly wondered why Yuna suddenly developed a sound tick, but he shoved that matter aside as his curiosity was sparked. "Ururu, bring me two of our spare Zanpakuto." He quickly gave an order to Ururu, one of the people assisting in his shop, to fetch the two swords. He was very eager to see what would happen and if Yuna and Naruto really could turn a spiritless Zanpakuto into a proper one. Around a minute later, Ururu returned carrying two ordinary blades and handed them to Yuna and Naruto, who eagerly took them. Well, we have the sword now, but what are we supposed to do with it? Hearing Kurama's words, Yuna scoffed in disdain. To her, it was pretty obvious what to do next. 'Don't ask silly questions, Kurama. If you get a new sword and want to activate its hidden features, there is only one thing to do.' As she said that, she raised the sword and cut the palm of her hand, allowing her blood to flow down the sword. 'When in doubt, pour your blood on it.' There is no way something this ridiculous would actually... Before Kurama could finish talking, he suddenly felt a slight connection with the Zanpakuto Yuna was holding, while the blade itself seemed to change as well, becoming slightly longer, while the hilt turned white. A slight change, representing that the Zanpakuto now held a Zanpakuto Spirit. You have got to be joking! That actually worked!? 'When in doubt, pour blood on it.' Urgh, you don't have to repeat it, I got it. Anyway, Yuna and Hinata were not that great a match-up at first glance, as Yuna could simply freeze Hianta's water. However, that was actually the case, as Hinata could reverse the process, turning the ice back into water. Frankly, the fight in their previous lives and this one were rather similar as it would always develop into a tug-of-war for control over the ice and water in the air. Unfortunately, Hinata would usually lose those, but since they were currently only trying to get used to their new power, Yuna was somewhat holding back to make the match more even. On Naruto and Tatsuki's side, a rather one-sided match took place as Tatsuki simply couldn't compare to Naruto in skill. Previously, that was somewhat offset by Naruto having to be careful of Tatsuki's magma-covered hands, but now that Naruto had a pair of well-fitting gloves to protect him, that was no longer such a big problem, annoying Tatsuki greatly. Kisuke, on the other hand, occasionally kept an eye on Ichigo while spending most of his time watching the other four fight. Frankly, it was abnormal how well they fought while displaying nothing but confidence. Considering Ichigo's recent loss, Kisuke was rather certain that his mental state would be far away from what Yuna and the rest were currently displaying. Not even Tatsuki, who Kisuke didn't consider part of the super monster group of Yuna, Hinata, and Naruto, showed admirable amounts of determination and confidence, despite being by far the weakest of the little group of four. Suddenly, a loud scream was heard from the hole Ichigo was currently in, and moments later, powerful Spiritual Pressure radiated out of it, making Kisuke wary. 'As expected of some with potential as monstrous as Ichigo. This Spiritual Pressure is insane. Maybe, Ichigo is really the one I should put my money on?' As Kisuke's plan who to prop up was yet again questioned by himself, a mask started slowly forming on Ichigo's face, showing that he was resisting the Hollowfication. 'It's different from the trio. While those three calmy formed their masks without the slightest interruption, Ichigo was struggling with it and fought it with all his mind and body. What did those three do? Did they seriously just accept their Hollow? That's ridiculous.' An explosion occurred as Ichigo shot out of the hole and landed in front of Kisuke, resulting in him taking a combat stance. Ichigo raised his hand and pulled out his still-broken sword; however, instead of attacking, he smashed the hilt of his sword against his mask, shattering it in the process. "Phew, I'm finally out of there." Seeing that everything went well, a happy expression appeared on Kisuke's face as he pulled out his little fan to hide his mouth. "Congratulations! You succeeded in becoming a Shinigami and passed the second test. Horray!" Hearing Kisuke's fake cheering, a tick mark appeared on Ichigo's forehead as he smashed the hilt of his sword in Kisuke's face. "Horray, my ass! I almost died just now! You should have prayed that I never come out of that hole because while I was down there, I swore one thing to myself. In case I get out of there, I'll definitely kick your ass!" Hearing Ichigo's proclamation, Kisuke couldn't help but smirk. "Ohya? That's quite convenient as the third lesson is for you to knock my hat off my head. There is no time limit~" As soon as Kisuke stopped speaking, Ichigo swung his blade, forcing Kisuke to bend sideways, barely dodging the blow, which left a small nick in his hat. "Oh~ Not bad at all~ You managed to leave a nick despite your broken sword~" Confidence radiated out of Ichigo as he pointed the tip of his sword at Kisuke. "That's right, forget about the matter of no time limit; I'll finish this in five minutes." Hearing Ichigo's words, the atmosphere around Kisuke changed as he grasped the end of the walking stick he was usually carrying around. "Heee~ Is that so~" He pulled on it, revealing a hidden blade within the walking stick. "You really think so? Very well, let's do it." Ichigo couldn't help but gulp down some saliva as ridiculous amounts of pressure started radiating out of Kisuke. 'What the hell, wasn't he just a shady merchant? What with this pressure?' Before Ichigo could realize the trouble he was in, the tip of Kisuke's sword appeared in front of his face, causing his eyes to widen as he barely managed to dodge the attack. Despite almost getting stabbed, Ichigo kept up the cocky act. "Not bad for only having such a small sword." "Oh, my~ I was praised." As Kisuke was speaking in a sing-song voice, Ichigo was repeatedly forced to dodge his strikes, turning the whole situation into a weird game of cat and mouse where Kisuke would chase after Ichigo and slash at him while Ichigo was constantly running away. "How long do you think he will last, Naruto?" "Meh, it's not looking too good; I give him five minutes, nee-san." "Excuse me, the popcorn is ready. Would any of you like some, Yuna, Naruto, Tatsuki?" "Errr, is it really okay for us to watch the situation like this?" "Mah, don't worry about it, Tatsuki. Thanks for the popcorn, Hinata." While Ichigo was running for his life, Yuna and her little group had somehow brought a couch here as they were currently spectating what was happening with Ichigo. "YOU BASTARDS, I'LL KICK YOUR ASSES LATER!!!" Despite Ichigo cursing at them, Yuna simply waved her hand at him while Naruto gave him a thumbs up. "Go for it!" "You can do it!" Suddenly, Kisuke slashed down his sword at the distracted Ichigo, leaving a small bloody gush behind, making Kisuke frown. "What are you getting distracted for? Do you think this is a game?" Despite his words, Kisuke genuinely wondered where Yuna's group had gotten that couch from, but he decided to ponder those matters later. For now, he had to get Ichigo into shape. "It seems like I'm still not taken seriously. Very well, let's do this then. Awaken Benihime"
