"Hakuda?" Asuka muttered, repeating the unfamiliar term.
"In your words, it's martial arts," Yoruichi said, a hint of pride coloring her tone.
"Although you currently lack the Spiritual Pressure to enhance the power of Hakuda, according to Isshin's description, that Breathing Style you used in combat is quite interesting."
"Enhancing physical functions by taking in massive amounts of Reishi, instantaneously boosting the vitality of your spiritual body... This kind of power that pursues the ultimate explosive limit of the flesh might just help you right now."
Yoruichi stretched her furry body and looked at Asuka with a smile, a grin that made him involuntarily shudder.
"Now then, get ready to burn your youth, boy!"
"...I understand. Please instruct me, Mr. Black Cat."
The training lasted for two whole hours.
When Asuka collapsed onto the ground in sheer exhaustion, drenched in sweat, he felt as though this Gigai was on the verge of falling apart.
"Hakuda is not simple brawling, Asuka."
Despite being a cat, Yoruichi's movements easily took Asuka down as if she were toying with a child.
An occasional swipe of her paw or a gentle bump was all it took to effortlessly destroy Asuka's center of gravity.
"It is the art of turning every joint, muscle, and even every strand of hair on your body into a weapon."
"You rely far too much on the momentum of swinging a blade. Remember, even without a sword, your elbows, knees, and headbutts are all sharp blades capable of killing the enemy!"
She nimbly leaped over Asuka's body and strolled toward the upper level. "That is all for today. Consider this the beginning of your hellish training."
"Come back down tomorrow after you finish your deliveries. Until you can touch a single hair on my body, this special training will not stop."
In the days that followed, Asuka's life settled into a highly disciplined routine.
Early in the morning, he would wake up in the attic of the Urahara Shop, briefly wash up, and then wheel out that bicycle with the squeaky chain to begin his busy day.
He rode through the forest of traffic and towering buildings, clutching a stack of delivery slips in his hand.
He left his footprints on every street in Karakura Town.
During his deliveries, he also saw countless wandering souls.
Some souls huddled miserably beneath park benches, while others trailed blankly behind their living relatives.
Asuka merely watched, no longer interfering so easily.
He understood that right now, the most important thing for him was to gather his strength and wait for an opportunity to return while navigating this busy world.
And whenever night fell and the Urahara Shop closed its doors, he would appear punctually in the underground training ground.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
It was the sound of fists striking rock, the sound of sweat smashing into the dust.
Yoruichi was an incredibly strict teacher.
She not only taught Asuka the techniques of Hakuda but also corrected his combat mindset.
"I noticed you really like trading blows for blows. That is not a very efficient way to fight, you know."
"You have to survive first, Asuka," the black cat said sternly, right after nimbly dodging his attack and sending him eating dirt with a swipe of her paw.
"In the World of the Living, the prerequisite to protecting others is not getting beaten to death yourself. There is only a fine line between the art of killing and the art of self-preservation."
During their spars, Asuka continuously tried to integrate the rhythm of his Breathing Styles with the physical techniques of Hakuda.
Although the results were minimal, he was still improving bit by bit.
Late one night a few days later, when Asuka fell into a deep sleep on the training ground due to exhaustion and pain.
Inside the dimly lit back room of the Urahara Shop, the chandelier let out a soft creak.
Kisuke Urahara sat amidst a messy pile of precision parts, holding his signature folding fan to lightly obscure half of his face.
A massive monitor emitted a faint blue glow, its screen divided into several feeds.
The largest section was playing a slow-motion replay of the recently concluded underground training session—
The entire process of Asuka dodging awkwardly under the black cat's stormy barrage of claw strikes before ultimately being knocked down.
The footage was continuously zoomed in and paused, focusing on Asuka's face contorted in agony. The bulging veins on his forehead and his pupils, violently contracted from oxygen deprivation and severe pain, were captured in meticulous detail by the high-definition lens.
"Ah, I am exhausted."
"Welcome back," Urahara said without turning around, his tone carrying a rare hint of solemnity.
Following a slight distortion of Reishi, Yoruichi, who had previously been in her black cat form, reverted to her original human state.
The woman with dark skin, long purple hair, and a proud figure casually grabbed a long shirt and draped it over herself.
She sat cross-legged brazenly opposite Urahara, snatched a teacup from the table, and downed it in one gulp.
Yoruichi wiped the corner of her mouth, her gaze turning sharp. "Kisuke, where have you been these past few days? By the way, the results of my covert investigation back in the Soul Society are out."
"I went to see a few old acquaintances..." Kisuke Urahara paused his movements and pulled down the brim of his hat. "How did it go? Any news from the Fifth Division?"
Yoruichi shook her head heavily.
"Unfortunately, no. That boy named Asuka has absolutely no record in the Soul Society."
"Oh?" Urahara let out a soft sound of surprise. "None at all?"
"None. At. All."
Yoruichi spat out those words, her golden eyes filled with bewilderment. "I scoured through all the Fifth Division rosters from the past thirty years. From official squad members to logistical staff, and even the temporary workers hired from the Rukongai—I checked them all."
"As for the Shin'o Academy, I risked being discovered to infiltrate their archives and cross-referenced the boy's portrait, but the results were completely blank."
"It feels like this kid just made up that whole bit about being a Fifth Division member."
Kisuke Urahara snapped his folding fan shut and rested it against his chin, falling into a long silence.
"No records..." Urahara muttered to himself. "That is the most interesting part."
"A boy wielding a Zanpakuto and exuding that kind of Spiritual Power, yet he has never received any formal spiritual arts training, nor has he left a single trace in the Seireitei..."
"It is simply unbelievable." Yoruichi sat down next to Urahara, looking at Asuka's face on the screen. "His fighting stance is bizarre, and the Breathing Style he uses is highly unique... He is definitely not a nobody."
"If he is not a Soul Reaper, then what exactly is he? And who taught him how to use a Zanpakuto?"
At this point, Kisuke Urahara recalled Asuka's sharp Asauchi.
"According to Isshin's description, that blade was snapped during that battle, yet it has now repaired itself... Without a supplement of spiritual power, it is absolutely impossible for him to manifest a Zanpakuto out of thin air."
"..."
"Unless what?" Yoruichi pressed.
"Unless the source of his power does not belong to our Reishi circulation system to begin with." A profound light flashed in Urahara's eyes.
"Yoruichi, do you think this could possibly be related to that guy?"
"You mean Aizen?"
Yoruichi's expression instantly tightened. She naturally knew who Urahara was referring to.
The Captain of the Fifth Division who orchestrated the Hollowfication incident a century ago, pinned the blame on Kisuke Urahara, and harbored unknown, sinister intentions.
"Could this boy be a 'Hollowfied product' created by him? Or perhaps another form of 'mutant'?"
Kisuke Urahara remained silent for a moment, his mind rapidly deducing Sosuke Aizen's personality and modus operandi.
Finally, he gently shook his head, rejecting his own theory.
"With Aizen's current capabilities, he might be able to create products mixed with Hollow powers."
"But to create such a unique individual out of thin air, he shouldn't be able to reach that step just yet."
"Furthermore, there are no traces of Hollowfication on Asuka. If he truly mastered such technology, we wouldn't be sitting here drinking tea; we'd be preparing for our funerals."
"Watching him ride a bicycle to deliver goods every day and desperately practice his punches underground, I can't see him harboring any earth-shattering conspiracies either." Yoruichi sighed. "What do you plan to do? Are you really going to keep him here as a delivery boy?"
"Of course." Urahara turned around, flashing his confident smile. "Since he is currently homeless and so easy to boss around... isn't it great to have an extra free delivery boy and Hakuda sparring partner?"
"You are still as awful as ever," Yoruichi said, rolling her eyes at him. "I just have a feeling this will bring about unpredictable variables."
"Variables often mean opportunities, Yoruichi."
Urahara looked at Asuka on the screen and suddenly remembered something else.
"By the way, the name Shinobu Kocho... did you find anything on her?"
"Now that you mention it, I actually did."
Yoruichi walked over to the storage rack and pulled out a document she had brought back earlier.
Seeing the information on the document, Kisuke Urahara raised an eyebrow.