It had been some time since he joined the Second Division, and Hasumi Ren had begun training with the Punishment Force's reserve unit.
After several days of intensive drills, Ren had largely adapted to the level of physical strain.
Before dawn, a shrill whistle echoed through the barracks.
The squad members quickly assembled, followed immediately by hellish endurance training.
Strapped with special weights designed to suppress spiritual pressure, they were forced to sprint at full speed through a complex training course.
Ren soon understood why the Punishment Force was renowned for its Flash Step and Hakuda skills.
Every step felt like wading through a swamp, all while contending with elusive traps and mechanisms.
Many recruits fell behind, unable to withstand the intensity of the regimen.
Failure to complete the training tasks meant facing a dismissal notice for lack of qualification.
However, for Ren, this training presented little difficulty.
Mingling with the crowd, he constantly picked up the experience fragments dropped by his teammates; though small, it was better than nothing.
Fortunately, he could also visit the official members' training grounds to gather a significant amount of experience. His spiritual power level, Flash Step, and Hakuda skills were all growing steadily.
Strangely, during the training breaks over the past few days, Ren felt a faint, inexplicable gaze lingering on him.
Yet, whenever he stopped to scan his surroundings, he found nothing, as if it were a mere hallucination.
Today was the day for combat practice.
Ren was randomly assigned to a free-sparring exercise against several other squad members.
The moment the instructor's voice rang out, three reserve members lunged at Ren from different directions in perfect coordination.
Ren stood his ground until the very moment the attacks were about to land, his silhouette blurring slightly.
There was no violent explosion of spiritual pressure, nor were there any flashy moves.
To his eyes, the recruits' movements were riddled with openings.
Ren's movements were disturbingly concise and precise, as if he had already calculated every attacker's path and force. With just a few strikes, he knocked them all down.
In a flash, the encirclement crumbled.
They were simply not on the same level.
The sidelines fell silent. During this period, the reserve members had gained a clear understanding of Ren's strength.
He was an existence far beyond their reach.
Ren also appeared somewhat bored.
The speed, power, and coordination of these recruits were inferior to the fierce prisoners in the Maggot's Nest.
And they certainly could not compare to Soi Fon's tempest-like assaults.
As a result, Ren was collecting fewer experience fragments.
Standing at the edge of the field with his arms crossed, the combat instructor watched with eagle-sharp eyes.
At first, he was just conducting a routine observation, but the more he watched, the tighter his brow furrowed.
Over the last few days, he had noticed that this newcomer, Hasumi Ren, was far too relaxed.
This level of training held no challenge for him whatsoever.
Even if I went up against him, I might not come out on top.
'Where did this monster rookie come from...'
"That is enough."
The instructor strode over to Ren, looking him up and down.
"Hasumi Ren, starting tomorrow, you are excused from the reserve unit's regular combat drills."
Under the confused gazes of the others, the instructor continued.
"This level of training is meaningless for you. I will report your situation and apply for you to enter the candidate selection process for official members ahead of schedule."
He paused, turning to the other squad members, his tone becoming stern once more.
"Look closely! This is the gap between you! Train harder on your own after dismissal! Ren, a word."
The crowd dispersed with feelings of shock and mixed emotions as the instructor led Ren to a secluded corner.
He stared at Ren and hesitated for a moment.
"I will be blunt. Your foundations are too solid for a rookie, and your combat instincts are exceptional. Staying in the reserves is a waste of your time."
"Furthermore... I know who you are. Captain Shihoin gave special mention of you. Based on the assessment period and my own judgment, you are fully capable of handling the duties of an official member of the Punishment Force."
"However, the difficulty of the training and the danger of the missions for official members will be on a completely different level. Be mentally prepared."
"Understood. Thank you, Instructor."
Ren bowed, as this was exactly what he wanted.
"Fine. The notice should arrive in a couple of days. Keep up the hard work."
The instructor nodded and turned to leave.
Afterward, the instructor quietly circled behind a nearby tree, looking at the empty ground before glancing up at the trunk.
'Nothing... Was it an illusion?'
He scratched his head and walked away.
Once he had gone, a figure emerged from the nearby tall grass and stood behind the tree once more.
Soi Fon did not even know why she was doing this.
Soi Fon held her breath and concentrated, suppressing her spiritual pressure until it nearly vanished, blending her entire being into the shadows.
She stood with her arms crossed, her eyes fixed unblinkingly on the figure in the training grounds, her heart filled with complex emotions.
Scenes from that day's assessment had been inadvertently intruding upon her mind lately.
It felt as though something fuzzy was scratching at her heart, leaving her with a lingering itch and a sense of annoyance.
The sensation of the punch to her ribs seemed to retain a phantom warmth, and that guy's subsequent strange, expectant gaze made her blood boil for no reason.
As Yoruichi Shihoin's most loyal follower, Soi Fon was determined to become Lady Yoruichi's sharpest aide, and her self-expectations were strict to the point of obsession.
Any possibility of becoming stronger drew her in like a magnet.
In particular, the martial arts concept Lady Yoruichi had previously mentioned—perfectly fusing Kido's spiritual energy outbursts with Hakuda—deeply fascinated her.
She had been groping in the dark for so long, yet her progress remained slow, like trudging through a thick fog.
Yet this Hasumi Ren, after only a single clash, seemed to have found the way, perhaps even catching up to her own development progress?
He must have seen something, and perhaps he even possessed insights that she herself had yet to clarify.
If he were to develop this ability first and steal the spotlight in front of Lady Yoruichi, becoming the center of attention...
Then what would all her long-term efforts have been for?
The moment the thought arose, it left her restless and uncomfortable from head to toe.
Yet what troubled her even more was the uncontrollable urge to investigate that followed.
She was unwilling to accept it, yet she could not help wanting to know how he did it.
She wanted to know his views on this ability, or if he had a more mature approach.
She wanted to see if she could gain some inspiration from him to break through her own bottleneck.
This inner conflict left Soi Fon unsettled for a long time.
To the point where, after finishing her official duties, she would often find herself drawn to the training grounds to watch him from the shadows.
Attempting to discern some sort of clue from Ren's training.
However, the effort was futile; she found nothing.
"Tch."
Soi Fon clicked her tongue softly, feeling a hint of chagrin at her own surreptitious behavior.
Just as her tangled irritation reached its peak, the whistle signaled the end of training.
It was dinner time.
Soi Fon watched Ren's departing figure, standing frozen for a few more seconds before pursing her lips and heading toward the dining hall.