Chapter 865: Chapter 866: Yoruichi Is Super Evolving...

Although Ethan knew Yoruichi definitely did not mean that, his thoughts still wandered.

Especially after following her into this secret space hidden underground and seeing the nearly completed hot spring pool in front of him.

"A hot spring?"

He knew that Yoruichi and Kisuke had worked together to build a hot spring, a replica of Kirinji Tenjirō’s hot spring with considerable healing abilities.

He did not expect it to be completed so early. From the looks of it, it was almost finished. Was she planning to let him try it out?

"What are you thinking?"

Ethan stared at the hot spring without speaking. Yoruichi suddenly seemed to realize something. She leaned close, placed a hand on his shoulder, and said in a suggestive tone, "Could it be... you want to soak in the hot spring with me?"

"Yeah."

As someone experienced, how could he be intimidated by a little girl? That trick only worked on naive boys like Kurosaki Ichigo.

"Want to go together?"

Anyway, Ethan had nothing to lose. What was he afraid of? If she dared, then they could go together.

"..."

Yoruichi realized that she always ended up at a disadvantage with Ethan. He never followed the script she expected, which was incredibly irritating.

"This hot spring isn’t finished yet."

"Heh."

Ethan’s expression of "I knew it" annoyed her even more, but she knew she could not keep teasing him. He did not look like he was joking.

"Cough."

Yoruichi felt a strange sensation she could not quite describe. If she asked Ethan, he would probably describe it perfectly. I treat you like a buddy, but you want to...

"How is this place?"

Ethan followed her lead and shifted the topic to the secret base.

"It’s very spacious."

The area was enormous, like a giant cave, yet well lit. Aside from that, there was nothing particularly special about it.

"The scenery is a bit monotonous."

It was just rocks everywhere, with terrain resembling hills and a Gobi desert. There was not even a single weed. He wondered if there was some technical limitation.

She had not expected him to notice such things. She had never cared about the scenery here, since the place was built specifically for training.

Why make a training ground beautiful? It was not meant to be a private garden.

On this point, Ethan had a different view.

"More complex terrain can also be used to practice fighting in different environments."

"You have a point."

She stroked her chin, though she did not consider it particularly important. The purpose of building this place was to avoid being disturbed. For practical combat training in complex environments, they could always go elsewhere. This place was meant for training that should not be seen by outsiders.

After touring the entire base, Ethan suddenly turned to her.

"Where’s the good stuff you wanted to show me?" 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

"..."

"Alright, no more joking. Since we’re free, tell me your thoughts on training."

Bringing him here meant this secret base was open to him as well. If he needed a hidden training location, he could use it.

Since he had not helped much with its construction, he did not mind assisting her on her training path. Being a sparring partner was still being a sparring partner. Sparring with Unohana Retsu or sparring with Yoruichi made no difference to him.

"I’m thinking about integrating Kidō into Hakuda."

Ethan was slightly surprised. He knew that in the future she would achieve this and develop Shunko, a technique that fused Kidō with Hakuda.

It was precisely because she developed this powerful style that she eventually abandoned her Zanpakutō.

"Sounds interesting."

"I don’t know how to start yet."

Her earlier hesitation came from this. She had the idea, but no clear direction on how to realize it.

She wanted to see if Ethan had any suggestions. After all, he had a strong talent for Kidō.

"If you want my opinion, I’d advise you to improve your control over your Reiryoku."

"Control over Reiryoku?"

"Yes."

After so many years, rising from an ordinary person to his current level, Ethan understood how important control over basic energy was for any technique that relied on it.

In the Soul Society, whether it was Hadō #31: Shakkahō or Hadō #88: Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō, they were essentially ways of using one’s Reiryoku to produce a specific effect.

Incantations were only auxiliary methods to help better control Reiryoku.

That was why Shinigami with strong control could cast Kidō without incantations. As for Ethan, whose energy control was top tier, even calling out the number or name was unnecessary. Silent casting was basic for him. He simply had not shown it to avoid drawing too much attention.

"You mean, as long as I strengthen my control over Reiryoku, I can integrate Kidō into Hakuda?"

"I think that if your control over Reiryoku is strong enough, Kidō itself becomes irrelevant. You can directly use pure Reiryoku to achieve your goal."

She looked puzzled. Seeing this, Ethan stopped explaining and demonstrated instead.

He raised his right hand and made a finger gun gesture toward a rock in the distance. Just as she was about to ask something, she felt his spiritual pressure rise and concentrate at his fingertip.

Mobilize, gather, compress, then fire.

A dazzling energy sphere shot out and struck the rock, blasting a washbasin sized crater into it.

"..."

He awkwardly lowered his hand and explained that the move was still under development. Its power would not be so weak once completed.

"Any Kidō effect, whether fire or lightning, is built upon Reishi. That means Reiryoku has extremely high plasticity."

"So you can change attributes at will when needed?"

Her initial idea was to integrate a specific attribute of Kidō into Hakuda, so her punches and kicks would carry additional elemental effects.

But Ethan suggested there was no need to choose an attribute early on. If her control over Reiryoku was strong enough and she could manipulate Reishi freely, she could produce any attribute at will.

She could not confirm whether he was entirely correct, but it at least gave her direction.

Moreover, his earlier demonstration proved that directly fighting with Reiryoku was feasible. However, this style reminded her of the Quincy.

"How did you come up with that move?"

Shinigami were composed of Reishi. Even a simple punch involved Reiryoku. That was why battles between Shinigami were often described as contests of spiritual pressure. If the gap was too large, the weaker side could not even harm the stronger one, unable to break their defense.

Yet using Reiryoku instinctively had not brought additional advantages.

This could be seen in how difficult many Shinigami found it to learn Kidō. While using Reiryoku was instinctive, they often lacked precise control over it. Of course, this was not absolute. Talented individuals could quickly master full control.

As for how Ethan came up with the move, part of it came from memories of manga he had read. Another part was that he had obtained its detailed principles.

"When I’m free, I like to read miscellaneous books."

"So you got inspiration from those people?"

She assumed he had read about the Quincy, confirmed that fighting with Reiryoku was viable, and then developed the technique.

She had no idea that the books he referred to were not what she imagined.

"Anyway, even if you think fighting solely with Reiryoku lacks lethality and want to integrate a certain Kidō attribute into Hakuda, starting with Reiryoku control will never be wrong. Kidō’s power is more volatile than pure Reiryoku. Without sufficient control, problems are likely."

Converting Reiryoku into a specific attribute was more difficult and unstable than using pure Reishi, especially offensive Hadō. Since her goal was to enhance Hakuda’s power, she would definitely integrate Hadō rather than Bakudō, which focused on support and restraint.

She found his reasoning convincing and began training according to his suggestion.

Soon she discovered that as her sparring partner, he frequently used strange techniques specifically against her.

"Reikō Kyōhanshū."

A mirror like disc formed between his hands, reflecting the Reiryoku she had painstakingly gathered. It shot back at her, blasting her straight into the stone wall.

"Jao Ensatsu Rengoku Shō."

He unleashed countless flame infused punches in an instant. Before she could react, her Shihakushō was already burned into tatters.

"You bastard, when did you integrate Kidō into Hakuda?"

"Just now."

Ethan stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the sky. It was merely a matter of converting the Reiryoku on his fists into flames, which was not difficult for him. Turning it into Demonic Realm Black Flames would be more troublesome.

However, this only strengthened her confidence. He had proven that with sufficient control, Reiryoku could be transformed into any desired attribute at will. She simply needed to keep working hard.

Her talent was undeniable. After only three months of training together, just as the secret base was fully completed, she successfully fired her first Spirit Gun.

It was immediately shattered by Ethan’s Kamehameha.

(To be continued.)