Bleach: The Afterlife Saga
*Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or any of its characters. All the characters mentioned in this story, with the exception of OCs, are the property of Kubo Tite.
Chapter 10 Lesson 1: Know Your Kido
Ichigo had been prepared to endure long hours of hard work and study, but the first two months at the Academy was possibly the most boring school experience he had ever endured in his life, living or dead. He had expected to start on the basics of Shinigami combat right away. Instead, most of the lessons at the beginning focused on teaching freshmen about the duties of a Shinigami, Onimitsukido or Kido Corps officer, as well as the code of ethics and morality that they were expected to follow. The other major subject at the beginning taught freshmen of the long-winded history of Soul Society.
Ichigo found both classes incredibly tedious. The classes on Shinigami duties and ethics covered things that Ichigo was more than familiar with; he had lived and breathed the life of a Shinigami five years before, and with a few minor exceptions, knew every single duty expected of a Shinigami. He was also familiar with the code of honour that Shinigami abided by, as his interactions with Rukia and her brother Byakuya had already taught him much about how Shinigamis were expected to behave.
The history classes were slightly more interesting. For the first seven weeks or so the lessons covered famous events that took place centuries or even millennia ago, and legendary figures who Ichigo had never heard of. Ichigo's interest in the classes increases however, when the teachers finally started covering recent Soul Society history. He was very curious and a tad offended by how the teachers covered such groundbreaking events like the Ryoka invasion of Soul Society and the Arrancar War.
The way the teachers taught the former event depicted Ichigo and his nakama as a gang of nefarious Ryoka who broke into Seireitei for the first time in three hundred years, fought against captains and lieutenants of the Gotei 13, and caused massive destruction to Seireitei's landmarks such as the Sokyoku. Whilst such a description was quite accurate for Ichigo's role up until the day of Rukia's execution, Ichigo found it baffling that there was almost no mention of the subsequent conspiracy that happened afterwards, with the sole exception being a brief summary of the betrayal of the captains of the 3rd, 5th and 9th divisions.
The lessons on the Arrancar War were even less accurate than Ichigo imagined. All that the teachers taught were that the three traitor captains created group of hollows with Shinigami powers and led them in an invasion on Soul Society, and that the traitors were ultimately defeated by the Gotei 13. Ichigo found it disturbing that so much of what actually went on during the War had been left out. There was no mention of what the objective of the entire war had been about; no mention that the Gotei 13 had been aided by the Visoreds or himself; and most disturbing of all, there was absolutely no mention of the Hogyoku, hollowfication or Aizen's ultimate fate. Hmm, something seems suspicious about all of this, Ichigo thought. There is no way these teachers could have carelessly left out so many important details. Perhaps the higher ups have ordered them to cover up everything suspicious that went on during the War.
Another aspect that made Ichigo's life at the Academy quite boring was that no one in his class interacted with him in any meaningful way, apart from the everyday greeting and an occasional class discussion. Ichigo himself was partially to blame for this, for he mainly kept to himself. Within days of starting the classes he had discovered that the majority of his class were the sons or daughters of noble families who lived in Seireitei. As he expected, nearly all of them looked down upon a people from Rukongai. The fact that Ichigo had told them he was from a district like Inuzuri and the fact they knew he had scored the highest in the entrance exam made them even more hostile to him.
The only real friend Ichigo had was the person who lived next door to him. As Ichigo arrived back at his dormitory, he was greeted by his neighbour, a scrawny looking kid called Minazawa Taneko.
"Hey there Kaien-kun, how was your day?" asked Taneko.
"Boring as usual," replied Ichigo.
"That's to be expected of the history classes, but I found out from the teachers that we'll be starting Kido classes next week!"
"That's nice to hear." Ichigo smiled at Taneko before he entered his room. He had first met him when he stumbled upon the boy in the shared bathroom. They soon struck a bond when Ichigo discovered that Taneko was the son of the border guard Minazawa. He was surprised to hear that Minazawa had become the mayor of Kabuki-cho with Tanaka as his deputy. Apparently, the city had recovered enough for Minazawa to send his son to study at the Academy. Ichigo hadn't been surprised when Taneko told him his dream was to become as strong as the 'Strawberry Ronin' who had overthrown the tyrannical Dialgos. After he learned that fact, Ichigo had taken precautions not to make Taneko find out that he was the 'Strawberry Ronin'.
As Taneko had predicted, the Kido lessons finally began at the start of the third week. With most of the theoretical material having been covered, Ichigo was pleased to hear that nearly all of the classes from here on out would be focused on the four disciplines of Shinigami combat: Kido, Zanjutsu, Hakuda and Hohou.
The first Kido lesson was held in the special purpose Kido instruction centre. The complex contained a large target range at its centre but the class found themselves in one of the instruction halls. The Kido instructor, a plump middle-aged woman with brown hair, greeted them.
"Alright class, today we are going to begin learning the fundamentals of one of the most crucial disciplines that all Shinigami must know, and that is the Art of Kido," said the instructor in a slightly squeaky voice. The majority of the students groaned as the instructor rambled on for some time about pointless descriptions and administrative matters.
"Now that the explanatory stuff is finished, we will start with the basic steps of casting a Kido spell," said the instructor. "A Kido spell requires a Shinigami to expend a portion of their Reiyoku and transmit it outwards in the form of a spell. Bakudo spells transmit spirit energy into defensive techniques; Hado spells transmit spirit energy into offensive and destructive techniques. The various spell chants modify how that energy is transmitted outward, but in before you can learn any of the spells you first know how to channel spirit energy out of your body."
"Um, sensei, how do we do that?" asked a student.
"I'll show you right now." The instructor created a small red sphere of energy in the palm of her hands. "Remember back to the reiatsu exam you all went through prior to gaining enrolment. The Reishaku cores were devices that made channelling your spirit energy a much easier task. What we're going to do now is the exact same process, except without the aid of the Reishaku cores."
After the instructor finished talking, she ordered each of the students to channel their spirit energy into red spheres in the palms of their hands. Many students had a difficult time understanding how to do it, and needed the instructor's assistance. Ichigo however, had grasped the concept before the instructor had even finished talking. He remembered the ability his former Zanpakuto had. This is just like how the Getsuga Tensho ate my reiatsu and discharged it, Ichigo thought. He recalled the process that had occurred when the reiatsu discharged and tried to replicate it in his hands. On his first attempt he created an unstable ball of energy that quickly dissipated, but on his second attempt he formed a foot wide solid sphere of energy in the palm of his hands. The other students around him were stunned that someone was able to channel such a large amount of spirit energy.
"You did it perfectly!" exclaimed the instructor when she saw Ichigo's ball of energy. "Now everyone, I want you to follow Kurosaki Kaien-san's lead." Ichigo's face flustered when he sensed the envious looks he was getting from a large portion of the class.
Crap, if I'm not careful I could blow my cover, Ichigo thought. He tried his best not to attract attention but this proved a difficult task when nearly half of the class couldn't even get past the first hurdle of channelling spirit energy. It took at least two classes for every student to get the hang of channelling spirit energy.
"Now class, as all of you have got the hang of the basics, we can finally start learning the most basic Kido spells," said the instructor at the beginning of the third class. The first spell the instructor got the students to practice was the first Bakudo, Sai. Before she got them to cast Sai on each other, the instructor ordered the students to practice the spell on a set of target dummies first. Nearly half the students in the class couldn't cast the spell properly, as they failed to even twist the dummies' arms. Ichigo once again cursed his previous experience, as he not only cast Sai without a hitch; he also cast the spell with enough power to bend the entire dummy's body.
The resentment from the rest of the class became even more acute when it was time for the students to practice casting Sai on each other. Whilst most students failed to bind their partners, the classmate Ichigo cast his spell on screamed in pain, for his arms and legs were bent back so hard that they were dislocated. Shit, I put too much power into that spell, Ichigo thought. The instructor undid the spell on the student and sent him to the infirmary. As the class ended she approached Ichigo to speak to him.
"Your display today was quite impressive Kurosaki Kaien, but next time could you try to take it easy on your fellow classmates?" asked the instructor.
"I'll try to, sensei," replied Ichigo. As he walked back to his dormitory he bumped into Taneko.
"I saw what you did in class today Kaien-san and it was brilliant!" exclaimed Taneko. "Were you taught how to do Kido before you joined the Academy?"
"No I haven't been taught Kido before," Ichigo replied. Whilst that was partly true, he deliberately lied to Taneko about his previous combat experience.
"Man you must be a tensai then." The word that Taneko called Ichigo was definitely the label that the other classmates used as the Kido classes progressed. As the instructor started teaching the class more difficult spells, Ichigo continued to find himself in the position as the best student in the class. He was aware that a group of students in particular soon began making veiled threats and gestures towards him at the beginning and end of every class.
Ichigo tried to ignore those taunts the best he could, but he knew that one day he would slip up and cause everyone in the class to detest him. That day came sooner than he expected. After four weeks of Kido classes, the students finally started learning Hado spells. The instructor had each student memorize the chant of one particular spell, Hado 31 Shakkaho, for it was going to be the spell they would practice in their first session on the live target range. For the first time, Ichigo faced something that he found difficult, as Shakkaho's incantation was quite long, and the ancient Kanji and Katakana the incantation was written was sometimes hard to understand.
By the morning of the test, Ichigo still hadn't properly memorized the spell. As the class gathered at the target range, Ichigo found himself sitting in the third or fourth row from the back. He watched as the first few rows of students took their turns casting Shakkaho at the circular targets some fifty yards away, with varying levels of success. Some students couldn't even finish the incantation, others finished their incantations but the resulting spell fizzled in their hands. A few gifted students were able to fire their spells at the targets but only one or two actually managed to it. Soon it was time for Ichigo's row to take a shot at the targets. Alright, I think I've got the chant memorized in my head, Ichigo thought. On the instructor's command Ichigo pointed his right palm forward and placed his left hand over his right wrist. Ichigo began the chant.
"Ye Lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south!" chanted Ichigo. "Hado 31, Shakkaho!" The resulting spell took Ichigo completely by surprise. A huge ball of red energy came shooting out of his hand. The ball hit the target squarely in the centre but instead of just scorching it a bit, the ball actually tore through the entire target. All of the students watched in astonishment as Ichigo's Shakkaho smashed a foot wide hole through the wall behind the target and continued to shoot forward into the distance before dissipating. Oh my god, Ichigo thought. He had cast his spell with perfect precision but it was far more powerful than he ever imagined. He was painfully aware of the shocked looks the rest of his classmates were giving him.
When the test finally ended Ichigo was forced to stay behind by the instructor.
"Kurosaki-san, we need to talk about your demonstration today," said the instructor. Ichigo nodded silently. He knew he was in for some kind of reprimand.
"I have no problems in your execution of the spell. As far as I know, I have never seen a freshman fire Shakkaho with that level of accuracy and power. However, therein lies the problem-the spell was too powerful. It seems as if you're packing all of your spirit energy into it. Either that or your spirit energy is so great that you can't control it."
"It is probably the latter, sensei," said Ichigo. The instructor raised an eyebrow.
"Is that so? Well, we must do something about controlling that spirit energy then. You must learn how to moderate the power of your spells, for if that Shakkaho had hit someone, it would have caused them serious injuries."
"I understand sensei. But I've never had fine control over my spirit energy."
"Perhaps I can do something about this," said the instructor. She frowned as she pondered what to do. "Tell you what, I am going to refer you to the Kido Co-ordinator. She'll definitely be able to sort out your problem."
Ichigo wondered whether thi Kido Co-ordinator would help him solve a problem he had never been able to fix even when he was a Substitute Shinigami. His current reiatsu level, whilst nowhere near the amount he had in the past, was still great enough that he saw no real need to minimize his energy output.
Ichigo's pessimism was instantly erased when realized who the Kido Co-ordinator was.
"Yoruichi-san!" he exclaimed. Sure enough, his other former mentor sat back on a recliner chair in the office he entered. She was wearing a familiar looking orange jacket and vest.
"Hey there Ichigo! I was wondering when I'd get to meet you face to face again," said Yoruichi with a smile. "I really like the way you've died your hair. It makes you look much sexier." Ichigo's face turned a bright red at Yoruichi's words. Yoruichi saw his face and chuckled.
"You're still a prude I see. But I digress. I know you haven't just come by for a chat."
"You're right Yoruichi-san," said Ichigo. "I was sent to see you by my Kido instructor. She said I needed to control my spirit energy output as my Kido spells were too powerful."
"I see. That is quite a difficult problem," pondered Yoruichi. "You couldn't control your reiatsu when you were a Substitute Shinigami either. I remember that your Zanpakuto was in a constant release state because you couldn't seal it."
"Do you have any ideas Yoruichi-san? Even though my spirit energy is much smaller than when I was a Substitute Shinigami, I still don't have precise control over it."
"I might just have the solution. Hold on one minute." Ichigo watched as Yoruichi ducked in a storage room nearby. She came out of the room holding a seal that Ichigo recognised; it was the crest of the House of Shihouin. When Yoruichi showed it to him, Ichigo realized it was a stamp.
"Show me your wrists Ichigo," said Yoruichi. Ichigo bared both his arms. Yoruichi promptly stamped the symbol on his right wrist. A second later Ichigo felt something happening to his body; it was as if all his strength had been suddenly sucked away from him.
"What did you do to me Yoruichi-san?" asked Ichigo in a confused state.
"I just placed a Gentei Reiin, or soul limiter seal, on your wrist," replied Yoruichi. "It's the same seal all captains and lieutenants get placed upon them when they enter the real world for regular patrol missions. The seal will restrict up to 80% of your total spiritual power."
"Do you mean I only have a fifth of my total power at the moment?"
"That's right. It's quite a strange feeling isn't it? From now on I want you to get used to operating at this level of spiritual power. It will make it much easier to vary the power of your Kido spells. Once you can get a hang of how to control your reiatsu at 20% capacity, you can try to practising Kido spells at full power again. By that point you should be able to recognise and control the different levels of your reiatsu output."
"Um, I got all of that Yoruichi-san but once I master my reiatsu control at 20%, how am I supposed to remove the seal?" asked Ichigo.
"I was just about to tell you Ichigo," said Yoruichi with a grin. She placed her arms in a cross-shaped formation. "Hold out your arms in front of you like this and shout 'Gentei Kaijo!' That will temporarily lift the seal. To place back the seal, do the same pose and shout 'Gentei Reiin!" Ichigo tried to do the pose, but he immediately realized something fishy about it.
"Err, Yoruichi-san, is this pose something that Urahara-san made up?"
"Bwa, ha, ha, how did you guess? Yup, Kisuke gave me the idea for the chant," laughed Yoruichi. I knew it! Ichigo thought. He left her office, still dubious as to the effectiveness of this seal. When he returned to his dormitory, he started practising the most basic Kido spells. He found that he could barely get any power out of the spells at all. Looks like Yoruichi-san was right, Ichigo thought. This does severely restrict my reiatsu capacity.
For the next few classes after that Ichigo struggled to master the new spells that were being taught, as he couldn't channel enough of his restricted spirit energy to cast them. Eventually however, found a way around this limitation by squeezing every single last drop of his spirit energy into the spell. Though this allowed him to cast spells at their full potential, it resulted in Ichigo being completely spent afterwards.
Over the following weeks, Ichigo adjusted the amount of spirit energy he needed to put into a chant in order to cast spells successfully, and discovered the absolute minimum level he could suppress his reiatsu. Once he pinned down both these aspects, Ichigo decided it was time to test his abilities at full power. During one of the weekend days, Ichigo went to the Academy's sports oval and found a spot hidden in the trees. Alright, here goes nothing, Ichigo thought as he prepared to remove the limiter. He crossed his arms in front of him.
"Gentei Kaijo!" he shouted. The seal on his right wrist glowed for a brief second before Ichigo felt a rush of energy filling up his body. Yes, this is the sensation. Having experienced what his 20% reiatsu level was like, Ichigo tried to consciously lower his spirit energy to that level. It took considerable effort but he managed to do so in the end. Now for the hard part, Ichigo thought. He raised himself back to full power and decided to cast a Shakkaho to see if he could control its power. He targeted a tree at the opposite end of the oval. After chanting the spell, Ichigo fired it from his hands. He was pleased to see that the resulting red ball of energy was much smaller and when it hit the tree it dissipated and didn't explode on contact.
Ichigo looked at his hands again. I think I've finally managed to control my spirit energy, he thought.
Notes: This is the first of two chapters that cover Ichigo's basic training at the Academy. I apologize if the style is inconsistent with previous chapters as I wanted to pack a lot of exposition in a short amount of time.
As an intersting tidbit, the limiter seal Yoruichi gave Ichigo works the same as the ones Hitsugaya's advance team had in the Arrancar arc, except this one is not only permanent but Ichigo can manually control the limit release at will.