Based on Unohana's earlier explanation, Kaidō used spirit particles to repair spiritual bodies. Since he was not a spiritual body, Luke had initially assumed the technique would be useless to him once he understood its principles.
Yet Unohana had successfully healed his injury. That forced him to reconsider one question: what was the actual difference between a physical body and an ultra-dense spiritual body?
Going by the basic scientific knowledge from his previous life, could spirit particles be some kind of molecule or atom?
Of course, there was another possibility. Endspace's "disguise" might be sophisticated enough to let him temporarily exist in this world with the traits of a spiritual body.
For the remainder of the lesson, every student received a white mouse and began practicing Kaidō.
After all, not everyone could successfully cast Kaidō. If they all practiced by cutting themselves up, Unohana would probably have to heal most of the class afterward.
Luke made a small cut on his mouse, then tried to recreate the sensation he had felt when Unohana healed him.
Kaidō truly was not easy to learn. Luke's first attempt failed.
He tried more than a dozen times before finally finding the feeling, guiding spirit particles to repair the mouse's wound.
A short while later, the wound closed, but a clear scar remained.
Obviously, his Kaidō was still nowhere near Unohana's level. Not only was it slow, but the result was poor.
"You need to picture what it looked like when it was whole, then guide the spirit particles to restore it."
Unohana's voice sounded beside Luke's ear. At some point, she had made her way over to his station.
Looking at the mouse on Luke's table, Unohana was still somewhat surprised. She had substituted for this class many times, but she had never seen anyone successfully use Kaidō in their very first lesson.
By Shin'o Academy's standards, Luke had already earned a passing grade in Kaidō. With further training, he would be a qualified medic even if he joined the Fourth Division.
Did this child truly have no weaknesses?
She had heard that Luke had driven both the swordsmanship and hand-to-hand combat instructors into despair. In private, the two instructors had declared that they simply could not teach him. It was not because Luke was troublesome. They genuinely had nothing left to teach him.
At this moment, Unohana could only be glad that her Kaidō was exceptional. At the very least, this was one field where she could still instruct Luke.
Under Unohana's watchful gaze, Luke cut the mouse again and used Kaidō once more according to her guidance.
This time, the mouse's wound healed at a visible rate, and the scar was far less pronounced.
Unohana's eyes lit up. She leaned closer and stared directly into Luke's eyes. "Tell me, why do you want to learn Kaidō?"
Luke was still focused on replaying the details of that last attempt. At her question, he answered without thinking. "So I can enjoy fighting even more, obviously."
The instant the words left his mouth, Luke felt an aura envelop him. Excitement gleamed in Unohana's eyes.
Luke felt as if he had said the wrong thing. He should not have voiced his honest thoughts.
He had nearly forgotten that Unohana was a battle maniac too. It was only after she encountered Kenpachi Zaraki that she stepped down as captain of the Eleventh Division and transferred to the Fourth Division as support.
But in truth, this woman's thirst for slaughter had not diminished in the slightest. She merely suppressed it well in her everyday life.
Before joining the Gotei 13, Unohana had been known as the most monstrous criminal in Soul Society's history. Only after the Captain-Commander brought her under his command did she rein herself in. The gentleness she showed everyone now was merely a mask.
"I see... Stay after class."
Unohana concealed the excitement in her eyes and returned to her usual gentle smile, her eyes curving into crescents. "Since you like Kaidō so much, I'll give you some special instruction."
A chill ran down Luke's spine for no reason, but he also knew that receiving private Kaidō instruction from Unohana was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He had no reason to refuse.
If she wanted an opponent to fight to the death with that badly, she would not kill him while teaching him Kaidō... right?
Thinking of Unohana's opponent, Luke was also puzzled. Where exactly was Kenpachi Zaraki?
He had asked Aizen before. The current captain of the Eleventh Division was Kenpachi Kuruyashiki, and there was no one named Zaraki at Shin'o Academy either.
As he pondered this, the dismissal bell rang. Most of the students left the classroom in disappointment, clearly having failed to save their mice during the lesson.
Luke did not need to worry about another class. He only had electives that afternoon, so taking just this one class was perfectly fine.
After the last student left, a breeze stirred up by Spiritual Pressure swept the door shut.
What made Luke feel that something was seriously wrong was the distinct sound of a lock clicking into place.
He looked up at Instructor Unohana. She was still wearing her grayish-cherry-pink-lined haori, smiling sweetly at him with one delicate hand resting on the hilt at her waist.
"Luke, now it's just the two of us~"
Unohana's fair hand closed around the hilt. Under Luke's baffled gaze, she slowly drew her Zanpakuto, Minazuki, inch by inch.
"Instructor Unohana?"
Every alarm bell in Luke's mind was blaring. "What are you doing?"
Unohana wore a tender smile, like the friendly older girl next door. "Of course, I'm going to let you experience a more advanced form of Kaidō."
Luke had just raised a hand to tell her to wait when, in the next instant, a fountain of blood erupted toward the ceiling, staining it red.
Under the lights and the spray of blood, a trace of crimson entered his dark eyes. The delayed pain told his brain what had happened in that instant, and after the pain came an excitement he could barely suppress.
He was absolutely not a masochist. But this was the first time he had ever seen a blade that fast. Not even his dynamic vision had caught a trace of it. That slash had been so fast that his senses had not even issued a warning!
The blade had descended diagonally from his left shoulder, cleaving through flesh, bone, and heart. His heart still struggled to beat like an old engine, trying to save his ruined body, but no matter how desperately it worked, it only made the bloody fountain surge higher.
His body's functions gradually faded. Luke slowly fell backward, but he never reached the floor. A hand gently caught him instead.
Before his vision could blur, Luke saw Unohana's neighborly smile. "I will teach you through your own body."
Luke gave a faint nod. Though he was on the verge of death, he was not panicked. He understood what Unohana intended to do: let him personally experience how advanced Kaidō healed a grievous, near-fatal injury.
So he forced his mind to remain alert, preparing to study Unohana's technique carefully.
Pale blue light bloomed around Unohana's hand once more, but its range was far greater than during class, and its radiance much brighter.
Strangely, despite being at death's door, Luke found his thoughts unusually clear. His perception even seemed sharper than before.
Even with his eyes closed, he could clearly sense every detail of Unohana's Kaidō, as though countless soft threads were brushing over his chest.
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