A blood-stained figure burst from the dust, grabbing the Captain-Commander's wrist, and twisting through the air at a strange angle.
Both muscular legs reached for the Captain-Commander's neck and chest while holding onto his wrist and pulling back sharply.
Even Yoruichi was surprised—she didn't expect a brute like Gusion to pull off a perfect cross-arm lock.
The Captain-Commander didn't fall. He just tilted his head slightly, looking at Gusion. "Interesting, young man. If our spiritual pressure were equal, you'd have won."
But before he could finish, Gusion released the hold, landed, and took up his stance again.
"Oh? What's this?"
The Captain-Commander looked at Gusion in surprise.
Gusion's eyes burned with fighting spirit. He grinned. "That move isn't my style. Besides, if you hadn't let go of my leg, I couldn't have counterattacked."
Grabbing an opponent and slamming them down is a brutal move. If you can render them helpless, the best option is to let go as you slam, since the recoil affects you, too.
But the Captain-Commander didn't care about recoil. He could control his strength, making sure the blow wouldn't kill. Strictly speaking, he didn't have to let go.
From the moment he was grabbed, Gusion had lost. The Captain-Commander let go only because he thought the fight was over and wanted to check Gusion's injuries.
The Captain-Commander laughed heartily. "Young man, I'm starting to admire you."
He looked at the blood streaming down Gusion's head, dying his torso red. The blood flowed like a river through his muscles, and with those blazing eyes, he didn't look pitiful at all—more like a demon god.
"Still want to face me head-on?"
The Captain-Commander took up his fighting stance.
Gusion took a deep breath, his heart pounding, blood and power surging through his body. Though he'd defended in time, his head had taken a heavy blow.
He was drenched in blood but had never felt so alive. Facing the strongest Shinigami, he felt truly alive. "Of course. Let's start round two."
The Captain-Commander's eyes filled with appreciation. In the next instant, both vanished from their spots.
The dojo floor echoed with impacts, dull thuds of fists and feet colliding.
Their high-speed Shunpo and rapid exchanges left most first-year students unable to see what was happening. They could only see two blurs darting around, and hear the tremors in the air.
"He's keeping up with the Captain-Commander…" Yoruichi gasped. She knew Gusion's level best, so was shocked. In her view, Gusion should have been completely outclassed in both Shunpo and hakuda.
But unlike their first clash, Gusion was now not only blocking perfectly but also finding openings to counterattack!
Did he grow stronger in those few moments?
Aizen also watched intently. He'd thought it would be a one-sided beatdown, but aside from being caught off guard at first, Gusion was now slowly adapting.
He called it adapting because Gusion's hakuda technique hadn't improved in an instant—he'd just gotten used to the Captain-Commander's wild offense, making better choices in each exchange.
So, even though his hakuda was still outclassed, he wasn't instantly defeated.
Gusion-kun… where is your limit?
Boom—!
With a loud crash, a figure flew out, slamming into the wall and leaving a deep dent.
Everyone looked over. Gusion, bare-chested, slid down from the wall, collapsing to the floor—this time, unable to get up.
In the end, he was no match for two thousand years of combat experience and peerless hakuda. In their ongoing exchange, the Captain-Commander found an opening and finished it with a single blow.
Aizen hurried over to help Gusion up. The Captain-Commander put his haori back on, glanced at where Gusion had touched his chest just now, and said, "Heal yourself. I'll be back in the next two days."
Reflecting on his shortcomings in the fight, Gusion's eyes lit up at these words. He wasn't discouraged by defeat, nor did he think it was inevitable just because he faced an ancient monster.
He'd get another shot at the Shinigami peak. Nothing was more exhilarating.
...
"Aizen, how can I beat the Captain-Commander?"
That night, Gusion sat on his bed, thinking aloud.
Aizen was speechless. "Gusion-kun, aren't you getting a bit cocky? That's the Captain-Commander—the strongest Shinigami of the past two thousand years."
In Aizen's view, the Captain-Commander's hakuda was on a whole different level, not to mention his Shunpo was much faster.
Frankly, Gusion's ability to hold out in the second round was already shocking—yet he was still thinking about beating the Captain-Commander.
"Aizen, haven't you heard the saying?"
"What saying?"
"A Shinigami who doesn't want to surpass the Captain-Commander isn't a good Shinigami."
Gusio said it with perfect seriousness.
"I know you want to keep improving in hakuda, but surpassing the Captain-Commander is unrealistic."
Aizen analyzed, "Not because you lack talent, but because you and he are fundamentally different."
"What difference? Combat experience?"
"That's part of it, but more importantly, even when the Captain-Commander suppresses his spiritual pressure, his insight and reflexes are still far above yours."
Gusion realized—he hadn't considered this.
Spiritual pressure could be suppressed, but the body, senses, and reflexes honed by years of spiritual pressure training couldn't just be turned off.
To put it simply, the Captain-Commander was like someone with over a hundred total stat points holding back his strength, but the boosts from those stats didn't disappear.
To him, Gusion's moves must look like slow motion. Strictly speaking, this wasn't sparring on the same level.
Even ignoring skill, the Captain-Commander's advantages were overwhelming.
"I see…"
Gusion nodded in understanding, but then, under Aizen's odd gaze, added, "But that just makes it more of a challenge, doesn't it?"