Bleach: Azashiro

Walking towards the training ground, I was excited. I asked my parents to give me asauchi a year ago, but they refused then. Realizing what kind of world I was in, I couldn't wait to get my zanpakto. And the sooner I get it, the faster I will gain strength.

Passing by security at the gate, I ended up in a clan dojo. One-story building with sliding paper walls.

Clan employees usually train shinigami here, but now no one was visible. Before I went inside, I bowed.

Grandfather was already waiting for me, sitting on the tatami, with his legs pressed under him. He was dressed in ordinary shinigami, kosode and hakama clothing. To his right and left lay scabbarded katanas, different from each other. On the left side there was a katana with a black handle and a black sheath. While on the right side the katana had a white scabbard engraved with the clan's coat of arms and a blue hilt.

-Grandpa- bowing, I said hello.

Opening his eyes, the old man looked at me and a second later nodded his head. Taking the left katana, he handed it to me.

"From this day on, this is your asauchi", he said just as looking into my eyes.

After bowing, I took the blade from my grandfather's hands. Holding the asauchi in my hands, I didn't feel anything unusual about this sword. Deciding to figure it out later, I pressed my legs under me and sat on my knees opposite my grandfather.

-Thank you. - I said, with a face that doesn't express anything.

"Yesterday, you were supposed to choose your teacher from vassal families". However, when I saw you, I decided that the lieutenant of my detachment would do your training. He resigned 10 years ago and has been studying with noble families ever since. Yesterday I contacted him, by evening he will be here. - my grandfather told me in a pleased voice.

-Thank you. - I thanked him, understanding the prospects of training with the lieutenant of the kido detachment.

-Grandpa, can you teach me anything while I'm waiting for the teacher? - decided to try, take him to training.

-Hmm, let me think. - Grandfather muttered under his breath and fell silent.

While he was silent, I did not take my eyes off him, waiting for his next words. Yesterday I felt a reireca in myself, but I still know very little about spiritual power and how to use it.

Even though I didn't know how to use spiritual power correctly, I can already control and strengthen my body a little. This also happens in passive mode, but now I can do it more purposefully.

This morning, I even managed to get my energy outside my body. Then I tried to cover my hand with a film of spiritual power, nothing worked for me for the first two hours. Remembering how my grandfather put pressure on me at our first meeting, I tried to release a reireca from my entire body and I succeeded.

By force pushing spiritual force out of the body, a black haze appeared around me, barely noticeable. After that, I felt a little tired.

My thoughts were interrupted by a question asked by my grandfather.

-What do you think makes one shinigami stronger than the other?-

-Killings, the volume of spiritual power, zanpakto. - answered him.

-That's it, but not really. It's probably worth starting with the main thing, reirek. The power of shinigami is based on reireku. The most important aspects of shinigami are not the power of his zanpakto, the level of the kido, or the skill of the sword, but the reireku. The quantity and control of the reirek determines how strong you are. - the old man said measuredly.

"Quantity and control of the reirek?" I decided to clarify an unclear point.

-Exactly. At its core, a battle between souls is a confrontation between spiritual power. Your physical strength and speed depends on the reirek. The strength of each of your hits, technique or zanpakto ability will depend on the amount of reirek invested. For example, to protect yourself, you can concentrate more reirekas at the point of impact than in an enemy strike. - he explained patiently.

From his words it turns out that my main direction of development should be reirek.

"It turns out first, I need to increase the amount of my spiritual power and control over it". - I muttered.

-Yeah, that's the basis of everything, but you shouldn't worry about the amount of reirek. You are talented, you already have a little less spiritual strength than my lieutenant. - when I heard his words, I raised my head and looked at him. - And don't forget about the intention. This also plays an important role in Shinigami battles. Reireku, this is primarily the energy of the soul and the intentions of the soul, play an important role in the battle.

"What do you mean?" - I didn't understand what he was trying to tell me.

-Your intentions are reflected in the reirek during the battle. Your blade, filled with spiritual power, becomes dull when you experience fear and doubt. But when you are decisive, your blade will be sharper. - rising to his feet, he came up to me. He looked down at me, making me lift my head to meet his eyes.

-Remember, your every action in battle must carry your intention. By dodging, think, I won't let myself be hit. By striking, I will cut it. - having agreed, he headed towards the exit. - Let's finish with this. I'm returning to the squad.

Mentally repeating his words, I tried to remember them, it seemed very important to me.

While waiting for the teacher, putting the sword in front of me, I decided to meditate.

***

While Akihiko was meditating, sitting on a wooden parquet. A tall, muscular man with dark short hair and a mustache entered the dojo. Deciding to watch the guy a little, Sato sat down nearby without making a sound.

After examining the child's still-fitting figure, he was greatly surprised by his spiritual power, slightly inferior to him. According to Captain Azashiro, he may have problems with control, but this matter is fixable.

About ten minutes passed, deciding to finish observing and begin meeting his new student, Sato came within a couple of steps of the boy.

-Ahem, ahem. - indicating his presence of Sato, he observed the guy's reaction, or rather his complete absence. The boy simply opened his eyes and turned his head to see the source of the noise. There was no surprise, anxiety, or panic.

"Who are you?" asked Akihiko in a calm voice, already knowing the answer.

-My name is Sato Fukushi and from now on I will take care of your training. You can call me Sato-sensei. Captain Azashiro asked me not to give you any concessions during training due to your age. Therefore, we will start by determining your current level. - Sato said, introducing himself. Deciding to finish dating and start training, he raised his hand and released Kido. - Juryoku

Kido hit Akihiko and he bent slightly in his back and tried to resist the increased gravity.

-For starters, 40 laps around the hall-screamed at Sato the boy.

Without answering anything, Akihiko rose to his feet and secured the asauchi on his belt and began to slowly run. Gradually he got used to the increased gravity and gradually increased the pace of running.

After finishing lap 40, Akihiko breathed heavily and doused himself with sweat. Approaching the teacher, he tried to restore breathing and not fall to the floor from fatigue. For his body, this task turned out to be more difficult than he initially thought.

"Okay, now breathe for a minute and let's start with swings of the sword", hearing the teacher's words, Akihiko leaned against the wall and tried to catch his breath.

***

This is how my training began. Every lesson the teacher put a gravitational kido on me and drove me around all the playgrounds. Today is already a week since the start of my training. I had 3 workouts a day. For the first 2 days I could barely get to my room and fell on the bed. Only after 20-30 minutes did I find the strength to have dinner and take a shower, and then I immediately went to bed. Gradually I got into a rhythm and got used to training, but it didn't make it any easier; the teacher gradually increased the kido's blood pressure when he noticed that I was used to it.

In the morning I had training in an open area Running 20 laps, 700 swings of the sword and practicing hakuda. The training took me about 2 hours.

At lunchtime I trained at a special training ground, but before going to the training ground, I had to run 20 laps around the walls of the training ground. Then 1.5 hours of kido class and reirek control exercises. The teacher spoke until we increase control about the kido we can forget. Here I completely agreed with this. I felt the benefits of these classes already in the 2nd week of training and I only understood this as the beginning.

In the evening there was training in the dojo, running 40 chickens around the hall, 1000 swings of the sword and practicing hoho for 2 hours. It was the most difficult with hoho so far. It was necessary to practice the movements, bring them to automaticity, and since I did not have enough control over the reirek and reatsu, I did the equipment without them.

The tread itself was interesting. At its core, this is a step from point A to point B. The technique itself involves concentrating the reirek in the legs, as well as skillful and dexterous movements of the legs, with minimal body movements to increase speed.

It is worth understanding that hoho does not give any specific level of speed. It increases the base speed of shinigami. Thanks to this shinigami technique, they can move through the air.

The teacher said that when I get used to the sword and hoho a little, we will start sparring. Making it clear that it will be more difficult in the future. But it only made me happy, all the pain after training made me feel alive again. Even in a past life, I went through this stage of preparation and I understood that this was just the beginning.

The first time I lived in a luxurious house, I felt uneasy. I, a man who lived half my life in battles, was not used to such a measured life. Then, on the battlefield, I felt alive, but now I felt uneasy. But I understand it's too early. I'm still weak and can't do anything. That's why I train, giving my all.

My parents, seeing what mode I was training in and how exhausted I was after training, gave me a doctor. He examined and put me in order after every workout.

This is how school days went day after day. Every 2 weeks, Sato-sensei increased the difficulty of training. In the 4th month, my control over reireku and reatsu was enough to start practicing kido. In the 6th month I managed to master hoho at a basic level and then sparring with the teacher began.

At the same time, I did not forget to spend every day, before going to bed, meditating with my asauchi, while I was still there. The teacher said that asauchi can be considered zanpakto, only after finding a name, he wanted me to take my time and not have hopes, to master shikai soon. I already understood this, but for me it has already become a habit. Every day, sit down with a sword on your knees and meditate before bed.