Luke looked at the old man before him, his white beard tied with a purple band. He was excited—but also a little surprised.
Excited because he was meeting one of the strongest beings in this world. Surprised because the Captain-Commander seemed... kind of short.
Maybe he had never noticed it when reading the manga. The artist’s style had made the characters look tall and lean, so Luke had always imagined the Captain-Commander as a towering figure. But now that he saw him in person, the man did not even seem to be five foot seven.
So people really did shrink with age.
Every student in the dojo was fired up. Standing before them was a powerhouse practically synonymous with the history of Soul Society—the pinnacle of the Soul Reapers, the Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13, and the headmaster of Shin'o Academy.
No one had expected the Captain-Commander himself to substitute for a tiny first-year Hakuda class.
The dojo was packed, and the entrance was even worse. At least ten pairs of eyes peered through every window, all desperate to witness the strongest Soul Reaper in Soul Society.
Just as everyone eagerly prepared to listen to the Captain-Commander’s instruction and give their best performance in class, the old man raised a hand and pointed in one direction.
"Boy, I hear you’re quite good at Hakuda. Grant says he can’t teach you anything more. How about this old man gives you some practice?"
Eyes turned toward Luke.
From every direction, gazes bore into him, each carrying a different meaning.
Some were astonished. Some were envious. Others were sympathetic. But most were openly delighted by his misfortune.
Over the past two months, Luke had become Shin'o Academy’s number-one celebrity. There was no one who did not know his name.
He had beaten Yoruichi Shihouin with his fists and defeated Fujimoto with a blade. His talent seemed bottomless, as if there was nothing he could not do. So many instructors had sighed that they had nothing left to teach him.
Well, now they would finally get to see Luke take a beating.
The Captain-Commander was personally stepping in. Wouldn’t Luke be beaten into a pulp?
The students around Luke hurriedly backed away. That included Sosuke Aizen, who hid his amusement, and Yoruichi, who made no effort to hide her glee.
Under everyone’s watchful eyes, Luke showed no fear. He flashed a broad grin.
"It would be an honor to receive the Captain-Commander’s guidance."
He stepped forward, tightened the sash around his waist, and shrugged off the upper half of his academy uniform, letting it hang at his sides.
Shin'o Academy’s uniform was too loose. It never felt clean or comfortable when he fought in it. And the opponent before him was the peak of all Soul Reapers. He had to go all out.
For the first time in a while, Luke felt his blood begin to boil, urging him to scale the mountain before him.
"Wow... Luke’s physique is incredible..."
"Looking closely, he’s really handsome. So manly, too."
"Those abs... those back muscles... I want to touch them..."
The students stared at Luke’s bare upper body. He was the kind of man who looked slim in clothes but was solid muscle underneath.
From the front, the lines of his body resembled a sculpture from ancient Greece, as though shaped by divine hands. But the students standing behind him were even more stunned.
Luke’s back muscles were extraordinarily developed. Their perfect symmetry seemed to form some kind of pattern—a violent kind of beauty.
Luke heard none of the noise around him. At that moment, his eyes held only the old man before him.
"Mm. You’ve trained well."
The Captain-Commander gave Luke’s physique an approving look. Then his loose haori rose into the air and drifted away, revealing the old man’s powerful upper body.
Only after he removed his shirt did the young students realize that this was no kindly, undersized old man.
Every inch of his muscular torso was like forged steel. The scars carved across it by time spoke of countless battles to the death, radiating a savage presence.
As the haori fell to the floor, the Captain-Commander took a step forward.
In that instant, Luke felt his body stiffen.
To Luke’s eyes, the Captain-Commander’s figure seemed to rise without end. The old man had not released even a trace of Spiritual Pressure, yet his invisible presence nearly crushed Luke where he stood.
This was no mountain waiting to be climbed.
It was a world-destroying tsunami crashing down on him.
"Boy, focus..."
The old man’s tiger-like eyes fixed on Luke.
"And grit your teeth."
After that brief stiffness, Luke felt the pounding of his own heart.
Thump... thump... thump-thump-thump-thump-thumpthumpthump...
It was like war drums pounding in his chest, sending his fighting spirit soaring.
The exhilaration of facing a powerful opponent overwhelmed that suffocating pressure. Where Luke himself could not see it, a faint hint of deep violet surfaced in his black eyes.
Boom!
A straight punch descended with the force of a heaven-splitting blow.
The floor beneath Luke’s feet shattered as it absorbed the impact, while Luke himself was launched backward and slammed into the wall behind him.
"Oh? Quick reactions."
The Captain-Commander stood where Luke had been a moment ago, slowly withdrawing his aged fist.
Luke leaned against the cracked wall and lowered the arms he had used to shield his face. A clear dent had been driven into his right arm, stamped with a crimson fist mark.
The pain did not frighten him. It only made the blood of battle run hotter. As he stepped forward, he loosened his limbs, his neck cracking loudly as he rolled it. His eyes burned with excited fighting spirit.
There was no need to ask. The Captain-Commander had suppressed his Spiritual Pressure. Otherwise, that punch would have turned Luke into paste.
In other words, the Captain-Commander had used roughly the power of Spiritual Might Rank 16—and even though Luke had successfully defended himself, the punch had nearly snapped his right arm.
His arm was not broken, but its function had been badly compromised. As Luke advanced, light gathered in his left hand. He pressed it against the dent in his right arm. A few seconds later, the flesh slowly filled back out, though the red fist mark remained.
"Kaidō? That recovery is far too slow to be useful in real combat."
The Captain-Commander did not attack again. Instead, he offered a critique.
He did not say Kaidō was useless in battle. He knew that Retsu Unohana could apply Kaidō in combat perfectly well. Luke simply had not trained it to that level yet.
Luke grinned.
"I just want one chance to challenge you at my peak."
He lowered his stance slightly. In the next instant, he vanished from the sight of the ordinary students.
Bang!
The sound of fist meeting limb rang out. Luke reappeared in midair, his right leg colliding with the Captain-Commander’s wrist. The blast of wind stirred the old man’s beard, yet his body did not shift even an inch.
In that brief moment, the Captain-Commander did not even glance up at Luke. He merely turned his wrist, caught Luke by the ankle, and smashed him into the floor as if swinging a battle axe.
The watching students did not dare breathe. They were shocked that Luke, the strongest Hakuda fighter among the students, was so utterly outmatched by the Captain-Commander. They were even more shocked that the old man showed no mercy at all.
With a hit that heavy, had Luke just been beaten to death?
But in the next instant, amid flying splinters and billowing dust, an arm shot out like a serpent—drawing even a flicker of surprise into the Captain-Commander’s eyes.
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