Bleach: Teaching Makes Me Stronger

Katori Nanatsuki and Kuratani Yūjirō each faced off against a Quincy.

His opponent was the black-haired Quincy wielding a longsword, while Kuratani Yūjirō was up against a Quincy skilled in using a spirit bow.

As soon as Nanatsuki clashed with the black-haired Quincy, he realized the opponent was no pushover.

This one definitely had the strength of a seated officer.

The two figures flickered rapidly through the air, the clash of blades ringing out in a continuous flurry.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

But Nanatsuki didn't have time to waste here—the spiritual pressure coming from Karakura Town was growing stronger by the second. The students were in serious danger.

Kuratani Yūjirō had the same thought and shouted, "Katori-sensei, leave this to me! Hurry to Karakura Town!"

"Oh? Talking big, aren't you? You think you can stop us?" The black-haired Quincy smirked, swinging his sword to suppress Nanatsuki's Zanpakutō, trying to keep him from leaving.

Nanatsuki's Reiatsu surged within him, blasting the Quincy's blade away.

His left hand gently ran along the blade.

"Reflect all creation, Kagehime."

The blade instantly turned pitch black, becoming a fully jet-black Zanpakutō.

At the same time, the black-haired Quincy raised his longsword. Spiraling arcs formed along its edge, composed entirely of Reishi, like a spiritual longbow.

Heilig Pfeil!

A blue Reishi arrow pierced straight through Nanatsuki's chest in an instant.

"Tsk tsk… Is that all you've got? You're not getting past me like that," the Quincy said smugly, brushing back a strand of hair from his temple.

But suddenly, his entire body tensed. He whipped his sword back up.

Clang!!!

Nanatsuki leapt from behind, gripping his blade with both hands, and slammed the Quincy down along with his sword.

Only then did the Nanatsuki who had been skewered through the chest begin to melt away—his body turning into a pool of black liquid that seeped into the ground, transforming into a shadow.

A thread of darkness connected that shadow to the real Nanatsuki's feet.

Shadow Switch!

Nanatsuki could swap positions with his shadow—or even have it masquerade as himself.

The moment he released his Zanpakutō, he had swapped with his shadow and hidden within its doppelgänger form.

Then, using the shadow's ability to traverse surfaces, he had linked to the Quincy's shadow, emerged from within it, and launched his surprise attack.

Nanatsuki didn't stick around to confirm the kill—he vanished in a flash step.

He had already sensed the spiritual pressure of a Menos Grande—there was no time to lose.

The black-haired Quincy scrambled up from the ground, patting down his disheveled hair, gritting his teeth as he glared toward the direction Nanatsuki had fled.

"Damn it… he got away!"

...

Karakura Town, Western District Ruins—

"Cough, cough—" The doll-faced girl struggled to sit up, still holding on tightly to Hoshino Rie, who had shielded her during the blast. When she came to, she was horrified to realize Rie's Reiatsu had nearly vanished—it was barely perceptible.

If Rie hadn't pushed her down and taken the hit herself... she would've been the one critically wounded!

Tears poured from her eyes as she sobbed, "Rie, wake up! Please!"

Hoshino Rie slowly opened her eyes. "Stop shaking me... it hurts..."

The doll-faced girl immediately stilled her hands.

Rie continued, "The others... what happened to them?"

The girl looked around in panic—only to realize the little girl she had been protecting earlier had vanished.

Her fragile soul clearly couldn't survive the shockwave of that Cero.

The short-haired young man lay not far away—his lower body was completely gone.

The girl scrambled over to him on all fours.

He was already dead. His remains had started dissolving into Reishi and were slowly fading away.

That young man had been her boyfriend.

She choked on her own tears. "Keita... Keita, he..."

Hoshino Rie whispered, "Naoko... you need to run..."

She turned her head with great effort and saw, not far off, Shihōin Yoruichi pushing aside broken wood and rubble as she staggered to her feet.

Her white academy uniform was completely soaked in blood.

Drip...

Blood fell from her fingertips to the cracked earth.

Crimson ran down her thigh, soaking her white socks red.

"Haaaah..." Yoruichi panted heavily, every breath a struggle.

She tried to stand, but her legs gave out each time.

Finally, she slumped against a chunk of stone, watching as the Menos Grande steadily approached.

Suddenly, her own cocky words from earlier came back to her.

Back then, she'd proudly boasted to her teacher that she'd be ready to serve as a lieutenant the moment she graduated.

"Haha... I'm nowhere near vice-captain level..."

"I couldn't even block a Menos's Cero..."

'Guess this is where it ends...'

'At least... that Cero wiped out all the small fry Hollows...'

'If I'd died to one of them...'

'That would've been humiliating...'

Then, Yoruichi heard something in the distance.

She braced herself, thinking it was another Hollow—but then she heard it clearly:

Kidō incantation.

The chant grew louder, closer—

"Hadō #88: Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō!!!"

Suddenly, a massive bolt of blue light tore across the sky like it meant to split the heavens.

BOOOOM!!!

The blast slammed into the Menos's mask with a thunderous roar.

Yoruichi's hearing instantly cut out.

The impact far exceeded what her ears could endure.

She let out a small groan—her remaining spiritual energy was far too low to withstand a hit like that.

Her mind rang with static, her senses completely cut off from the world.

The Menos, its balance shattered, toppled to the ground with a colossal crash, rubble flying in all directions.

BOOM—

Just as the dust had started to settle, it surged into the air once again.

It was a long while before Yoruichi's dizziness and ringing began to fade.

"Cough... cough—" She inhaled dust and began coughing, but her spirit suddenly lifted.

—That was Katori-sensei's voice!

Yoruichi covered her mouth and nose, eyes wide, straining to see through the smoke.

As it began to clear...

A crack of thunder split the sky, vanishing as quickly as it came.

It felt as if a storm had burst within the smoke cloud.

CRACK!

A sharp, violent thunderclap shook the air.

The surging lightning and Reiatsu blasted the dust apart, revealing the scene.

Katori Nanatsuki was crouched on the Menos's mask.

Black lightning crackled across both his blade and his body.

Half the black blade had already sunk into the mask.

Katori-ryu: Raikiri!

The raging lightning poured into the Menos's massive body through the cleaved mask.

Everywhere the light touched, shadow followed.

Shadow Strike: Raikiri!

Lightning, Reiatsu, and shadow intertwined—fusing into a black lightning Reiatsu Blade that tore through everything in its path.

Zzzzzzzzz—

"RAAAAAAARGHHHH!!!" the Menos howled in agony.

And then—it shattered into countless fragments.