The Power Of Jikukan
"Am I seeing things?"
"Didn't Hirako trap him just now?"
Hirako Shinji stood frozen, his face painted with disbelief. Right before his eyes, Saikyō—whom he had trapped using the Bakudō #61: Rikujōkōrō—was standing in front of him, completely free. The six-stick light prison, which should have securely held him, had failed. It didn't make any sense.
"How did you do that?" Hirako asked, his voice losing its usual playful edge, now laced with genuine curiosity and bewilderment. The moment Saikyō revealed himself, Hirako realized he was the one being played with.
---
Outside the barrier, the other captain-level Shinigami shared Hirako's shock.
Even as mere spectators, they had been thoroughly deceived. The Reiatsu they sensed trapped within the six-stick light prison hadn't faded, and yet, Saikyō stood before them, free. The impossible had happened.
"W-what's going on?"
"How did he pull off that trick?" Love Aikawa muttered in amazement.
"Hiyori, you've been training him. Can you explain how he did this?" The rest of the Masked Legion turned their doubtful gazes to Hiyori, hoping for some clarity.
"I... I don't know! I can't see any flaws at all!" Hiyori admitted, staring at the disappearing afterimage with wide eyes. If Saikyō hadn't voluntarily stepped out, she too would have been fully convinced by the illusion.
"Wait a second..." Muguruma Kensei recalled something important, his expression turning serious. "Did you say he's only been at the academy for a month?" His eyes now held a sharpness as they fixed on Saikyō.
"Kensei, do you really think I'd lie about that?" Hiyori rolled her eyes in annoyance.
"A month... and he can already pull off something like that?" Kensei couldn't shake off his suspicions. But no matter how hard he tried to rationalize it, he couldn't come up with an explanation. After all, the existence of a system and Cheat abilities were far beyond their understanding.
Helplessly, Kensei shook his head. "It has to be a coincidence..."
---
"Look! Look at that!" Kuna Mashiro shouted, pointing toward the still-visible six-stick light prison.
Everyone turned to look.
"No way..."
"An afterimage? That's an afterimage?!"
The "Saikyō" trapped within the prison was slowly dissipating, vanishing before their eyes.
The realization hit them like a ton of bricks. Saikyō had moved so fast that he had created an afterimage—a feat thought to be achievable only by a select few, such as Yoruichi Shihouin, the Flash Goddess herself.
---
"That's absurd! How could a student create an afterimage at that speed?" Ōtoribashi Rōjūrō (Rose), who usually maintained an air of calm elegance, couldn't help but curse aloud. The difficulty of creating an afterimage was unimaginable. For a student, it should have been impossible.
For Saikyō to pull it off in front of a group of captains, all of whom could sense Reiatsu at an extraordinary level, was nothing short of a miracle.
"He fooled us all... This kid has some serious hidden skills." Love Aikawa, having calmed down, couldn't help but admire Saikyō's abilities. "But I bet Hirako's feeling it the most. After all, the kid fooled him face-to-face."
"Knowing Hirako, he's definitely fuming on the inside," Lisa remarked with a smirk, her eyes not leaving the barrier.
The rest of the group quieted down, focusing their attention back on the unfolding scene inside the barrier.
---
Inside the Barrier
The air between Saikyō and Hirako Shinji crackled with tension. The playful atmosphere from before was gone.
"Ling Yun..." Hirako began slowly, trying to wrap his mind around what had just happened. "How exactly did you do that?"
His face was calm, but his eyes betrayed the depth of his curiosity. The experience of watching the afterimage fade was more personal for him than for the others. He had been the one directly fooled by it.
"Honestly, it was just a trick. Think of it like a magic show," Saikyō responded lightly, shrugging off the incredible feat as if it were nothing.
"Tsk, a little trick, huh?" Hirako snorted, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "I'd like to learn this little trick myself."
Creating an afterimage wasn't impossible in the Soul Society, but it was exceedingly rare. Even among the elite captains of the Gotei 13, there were only a handful capable of moving fast enough to produce such an effect. For Saikyō to do it in front of them, and so effortlessly, was truly remarkable.
"Captain Hirako, if you're willing to spar with me every day, I might consider teaching you," Saikyō teased, flashing a grin.
The truth behind the afterimage was simpler than anyone imagined. Thanks to the system, Saikyō had maxed out his Shunpo abilities. Every time he used Shunpo now, he automatically created afterimages—a direct result of upgrading his skill to its highest potential.
"Impressive. You really are different from your sister," Hirako admitted, a rare, genuine smile tugging at his lips. "From this moment on, you have my approval."
---
Ding!
The sound of the system prompt echoed in Saikyō's mind.
"Congratulations, Host! You have completed the random task: Earn the Captain's Approval!"
"Reward: Space-Time Attribute Elements!"
---
Saikyō's body was flooded with excitement as he felt a transformation take place within his Reiatsu. The moment the mission was completed, the space-time attributes fused with his spiritual energy, becoming a part of him.
His Reiatsu, which had previously contained the elements of wind, fire, water, earth, and thunder, now possessed the rarest of all attributes: time and space.
The implications were staggering. In the entire history of the Soul Society, no Zanpakutō with time-space abilities had ever existed. Saikyō was on the verge of creating something unprecedented.
---
"Thank you, Captain Hirako. It's because of you that I've gained this ability," Saikyō said, his voice filled with sincere gratitude as he gripped the Sealed State at his side.
As he drew the sword from its scabbard, an imperceptible ripple passed through the air. A faint, barely visible white light shimmered along the blade's surface, and the space around it trembled ever so slightly.
This was the power of time and space, slowly beginning to manifest within his sword.
---
"You're going to fight back now, aren't you?" Hirako Shinji said, watching Saikyō closely.
This time, Hirako didn't underestimate him. He, too, drew his Zanpakutō, his Reiatsu flaring to life with the full strength of a captain-class Shinigami. "You may have gotten me with Shunpo once, but it won't happen again."
Boom!
The sheer pressure of Hirako's spiritual energy exploded outwards, like a volcano erupting. The air grew heavy with his power as he prepared to face Saikyō seriously.
---
"If you don't try, you'll never know the outcome," Saikyō said, his voice steady. Without any further words, he raised his Sealed State and swung it forward.
A blast of energy surged from his sword, flying through the air toward Hirako. But this was no ordinary attack. The blade crackled with thunder, roared with fire, flowed with the fluidity of water, carried the solidity of earth, and moved with the speed of the wind. On top of that, it carried a faint ripple of something even more mysterious—the newly acquired power of time and space.
A slash of six elements, moving at lightning speed, cut through the air, aimed directly at Hirako Shinji!