Unohana rapidly healed her catastrophic laceration, although she deliberately left a faint, lingering scar on her chest.
"You have passed the exam. You are officially permitted to graduate from the Shin'o Academy."
She walked over to Lu Li and picked up his severed arm from the floorboards. "Let me handle this. Your Kaido proficiency is not yet capable of surgical reattachment."
Holding the arm against his stump, she enveloped the shoulder in a brilliant, pale green light. Lu Li had to admit, Unohana's mastery of Kaido was fundamentally beyond his comprehension. Within a matter of seconds, the limb was flawlessly reattached. He rolled his shoulder a few times, finding absolutely zero loss in mobility or phantom pain.
"Thank you for showing mercy, Instructor Unohana," Lu Li said earnestly.
"Oh? I showed absolutely no mercy. That final exchange was entirely your victory," Unohana replied, slowly tying her long hair back into its usual, concealing braid.
She surveyed the absolutely demolished tearoom and felt a faint headache coming on. She had genuinely expected the exam to end rather quickly. She hadn't anticipated completely destroying the Captain-Commander's private tearoom. She was definitely going to receive a stern lecture from the old man later.
"Even so... there were several moments during the fight where I was critically exposed, yet you didn't press the advantage," Lu Li grinned. "If you had ruthlessly pursued me when I was on the back foot, I probably would have lost before I could even achieve Shikai."
Despite telling Aizen that he had grasped the "trick" to Shikai, he hadn't been entirely certain he could manifest the blade on command. It was a massive, do-or-die gamble that had miraculously paid off at the very last second.
It wasn't that he intentionally enjoyed playing with low HP. But he knew that if he attempted the resonance mid-fight and accidentally slipped back into a comatose state like he had in the dorm... Unohana would have instantly butchered him.
That was why he had initially attempted to fight her without Shikai. But the brutal reality of the deathmatch quickly proved that without the massive stat boost of his Zanpakuto, surviving the encounter was mathematically impossible.
"A victory is a victory. But it seems you are forgetting something crucial," Unohana said, meticulously straightening out her ruined haori. Her expression seamlessly shifted back to the gentle, maternal Captain everyone knew and loved. "This was an academic examination room. Not my personal hunting ground."
Lu Li blinked in confusion. "Speaking of which... Instructor Unohana, what exactly was the passing requirement for this exam?"
Unohana offered him a warm, gentle smile. "Did I not mention it? To pass, you simply had to survive against me for exactly 10 minutes without dying."
Lu Li: ???
You absolutely did not mention that!
Looking back, he realized that immediately before he initiated the Shikai resonance, Unohana had completely halted her assault.
At the time, he had assumed she was just giving him space to power up because she was curious about his Zanpakuto. Doing the math in his head... he had probably crossed the 10-minute threshold at that exact moment, meaning she had stopped attacking because the exam was officially over!
Yet, high on adrenaline and completely absorbed in the Shikai revelation, he had immediately re-engaged the fight and forced the examiner into a decisive deathmatch...
"You haven't merely passed; I am personally awarding you a perfect score. Rest assured, you will officially be inducted as a soldier of the Gotei 13 tomorrow," Unohana said with a soft laugh. She slid the heavily damaged wooden doors open and gracefully stepped out of the room, leaving Lu Li standing entirely dumbfounded in the wreckage.
Surviving for ten minutes against a Captain was the official requirement set by the Captain-Commander. But Unohana privately admitted that she had lost herself in the thrill of the fight.
If Lu Li hadn't achieved Shikai and unveiled his terrifying new strength, she likely would have "accidentally" killed him in overtime.
Watching Unohana disappear down the hallway, Lu Li let out a long, shuddering breath, glancing down at the shredded rags that used to be his pants.
The moment Unohana left his line of sight, the cold, mechanical voice of the Terminus Space echoed in his mind.
[Main Mission Complete.]
He had successfully earned the right to return. Since the mandatory duration of this mission was three months, he had exactly two days left before the Terminus Space would forcibly extract him from the Soul Society.
Lu Li looked down at Qiu Mo in his hand. Even though he had actively deactivated the Shikai, because the Asauchi had permanently synchronized with his soul, its sealed form had undergone a significant aesthetic transformation.
The standard silver blade was now etched with faint, elegant vine-like patterns, and the previously plain white hilt had turned a deep, abyssal purple-black. The entire weapon radiated a mysterious, deeply dangerous aura.
Using the Terminus Space's appraisal function, he examined the updated data.
[Qiu Mo] (Demon Imprisoned)
Origin: Bleach (Derivative World 401118)
Rarity: Rare
Category: Primary Weapon (Sword/Katana)
Durability: 60/60
Sharpness: 20
Toughness: 20
Details: A Zanpakuto forged by Explorer 404040404 infusing their own soul into an Asauchi. Soul-Bound. This item cannot be dropped, traded, or sold. No other entity can activate or wield this weapon.
[Weapon Skill 1 (Passive): Soul Nourishment]
Effect: Whenever the Explorer slays an enemy using Qiu Mo, the blade will passively devour a minute fraction of the enemy's soul to nourish itself, thereby increasing its Growth Progression. The Explorer may also voluntarily sacrifice their own Soul Source to feed Qiu Mo, yielding a massive increase in Growth Progression. (Warning: Voluntarily sacrificing your own soul is extremely dangerous and potentially fatal.)
Current Growth Progression: 0%
[Weapon Skill 2 (Active): Shikai]
Effect: Activating Shikai continuously drains the Explorer's Soul Source, forcing Qiu Mo to manifest its true form. While in Shikai state, all of the Explorer's combat-related core attributes temporarily increase by +2. Neural reflex velocity is significantly enhanced. The Sharpness and Toughness ratings of Qiu Mo drastically increase.
Corrosion: Any physical damage inflicted upon an enemy by Qiu Mo applies a [Corrosion] debuff. Afflicted enemies suffer a 10% reduction in all natural healing/regeneration capabilities. Additionally, they suffer True Damage equal to 10% of the initial strike's maximum damage value every second. The [Corrosion] effect lasts for 5 seconds. Striking the exact same wound multiple times stacks the [Corrosion] duration and effect.
Cooldown: None.
Rating: 100+ (Rare Tier Scale: 30 - 100)
Evaluation: Imprisoned within your heart... is a Demon God.
Now that the Zanpakuto was fully awakened, it had fundamentally transformed into an exclusive, growth-type primary weapon. Its base stats were incredible, and the Shikai buffs were terrifyingly straightforward. The +2 attribute boost perfectly mirrored the sudden surge in Spiritual Pressure native to this world.
The 10% anti-healing debuff might seem minor, but against enemies with supernatural regeneration, it was utterly devastating. During the fight, Unohana's instant Kaido casting had visibly slowed down upon receiving his strikes. Furthermore, the bleeding DoT (Damage over Time) from the Corrosion effect was monstrous—it was essentially a delayed 50% damage multiplier on every single successful hit.
Most importantly, the effect had absolutely no cooldown. This meant that in a prolonged battle of attrition, the accumulated True Damage would rapidly snowball until the enemy completely bled out.
During the fight with Unohana, his attributes hadn't fully increased by the guaranteed +2 points. That was entirely due to Kirio Hikifune's restrictive barrier aggressively capping his Reiatsu at Class 16. Once he was outside, in an unrestricted environment, his Shikai would unleash a vastly higher combat output.
Based on his limited interaction with the Terminus Space over the past three months, he had a basic grasp of the equipment tier system.
The currently known tiers were: Dilapidated, Common (Grey), Excellent (Green), and Rare (Blue). He had no idea what lay beyond Rare.
Dilapidated gear was literal garbage with a rating of 0. Common gear ranged from 1 to 10. Excellent ranged from 11 to 30. The Rare tier possessed a massive power variance, ranging from 30 to 100.
Qiu Mo was currently evaluated at a 100+ Rare rating, completely maxing out the tier. Lu Li reasoned this was an unimaginably powerful weapon for a brand new Explorer.
After memorizing Qiu Mo's data, Lu Li stepped out of the demolished tearoom.
Waiting for him out in the hallway was a familiar figure, holding a neatly folded set of fresh clothes.
It was Aizen.
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