IDKjust
patreon
Chapter 252 B
🕑 Added 2025-02-07 16:03:02 +0000 UTCChapter 252
Back to 2-in-1 chapters
------------
A teacher—a sacred, lofty profession, praised by many.
The moment one steps into a classroom, stands behind the lectern, and the bell rings, the teacher becomes ruler of that domain, holding limitless power.
Yet even such an invincible being has an Achille’s heel: if the higher‐ups suddenly come for an inspection, sitting among the students to observe, that once‐invincible teacher is instantly stripped of their halo. From a lofty immortal, they plummet down to the mortal plane.
No doubt about it—the people crowding in today, those eyesores, were all enemies!
Standing at the podium, Kaelith abruptly locked his gaze on Yamamoto Shigekuni.
“Principal, sir, are you here as the leadership today…or as a student?”
Yamamoto gave him a quizzical look. “Since I’m sitting here, naturally I’m just a student.”
“Good!”
Kaelith clapped once. Yamamoto frowned. “Why do you ask that?”
“Oh, it’s nothing—just making sure.”
Kaelith grinned, brushing aside the question. He turned to the others in the room. With Yamamoto taking the lead, they all stated they were here as students. Kaelith nodded in satisfaction.
From his pocket, he produced a pair of glasses he’d ‘borrowed’ from Aizen, elegantly opened the temple arms, and slid them onto his face.
“Well then, to check everyone’s skill level, please pick up your brushes and write a few words so I can see.”
At that, the students sprang into action. Kaelith’s name had lost none of its luster at the Shin’ō Academy over the last few years; in fact, he was more famous than ever.
Students were curious about the legendary upperclassman who’d become an 11th Division captain in the blink of an eye. Plenty who had no interest in calligraphy tried to slip in just to see if Kaelith had multiple heads or extra arms.
But the presence of the Captain‐Commander and several other captains scared away most of the onlookers. By now, nearly all who remained were serious calligraphy enthusiasts.
After waiting about a minute, Kaelith stepped down from the podium.
“In one major kingdom of the Living World, there’s a saying: ‘Your handwriting reflects who you are.’ Looking at your calligraphy tells me not only your technical level but also the secrets hidden in your heart. I won’t lie—my skill in reading people by their writing is quite accurate!”
He approached a student’s desk to inspect the characters.
“Mm… The brushstrokes are sharp and straightforward. You’re a straightforward, decisive person. However, when writing the curved hooks, you should lift your brush a bit earlier, press down more gently for a smoother transition. After you become a Shinigami, remember to think thrice before you act—don’t rely on brute force alone.”
The student tried the suggestion and lit up in delight.
“Thank you, Teacher Kaelith!”
Teacher Kaelith!
Kaelith stood a bit straighter—he was secretly thrilled by the address.
He walked around checking a few more student’s writing, then ended up at Yamamoto’s spot. On the paper before the old man were four characters: “宁静致远” (Tranquility leads to transcendence).
Looking at the writing, Kaelith sighed. The phrase spoke of a calm mind, yet in Yamamoto’s hand, each character seemed to blaze with fire. Though the old man liked to appear with eyes half‐closed, free from worldly cares, Kaelith could see deep inside him the flames still raged.
He bent down to study it for a while, then nodded.
“I see it clearly. The one who wrote these characters is an evildoer—outwardly a gentle person, but never holding back when bullying his disciples. Especially his youngest disciple, forced to live in agony every day. This student here ought to treat his youngest student better—share good food, maybe some valuables too. Only in that way can you improve your calligraphy.”
“…?”
Yamamoto’s eyes snapped open. Anger flared in them. But before he could speak, Kaelith quickly hopped back several steps.
“Careful, young man—this is a sacred classroom. Laying a hand on your teacher brings punishment!”
“…”
Yamamoto took a deep breath, hands clenched into fists. Many of the students in the room turned their heads in astonishment at the little drama. Though he had half a mind to squash Kaelith on the spot, Yamamoto worried that might traumatize the kids. He had to hold back.
Seeing the old man stay quiet, Kaelith gave a half‐smile. Just some random ‘leadership inspection’—nobody was stealing his domain today.
He moved on to Ukitake Jūshirō’s writing.
“Ukitake, this is quite excellent. Bold and spirited, but with a gentle elegance in the details. Clearly, the one who writes like this must be a genuinely nice person. Still, it lacks a certain rebellious streak. Try pushing back against your teacher from time to time—you might see surprising results.”
Ukitake blinked, then shook his head with a grin. Meanwhile, Yamamoto’s blood pressure rose.
Kaelith drifted over to Kuchiki Ginrei and Shiba Shōdai, nitpicking their calligraphy as though searching for trouble. Finally, he arrived at Unohana Retsu’s spot.
Observing this, Yamamoto inwardly smirked. Go ahead, try needling her. Let’s see if you can get out of this in one piece.
But Kaelith peered at Unohana’s calligraphy a long while, then abruptly straightened, face showing astonishment.
“These are good characters—only a few short lines of haiku, yet I can see the writer’s high‐level literary skill. Above all, your gentler brushstrokes, especially the reverse‐angled entry strokes, show no lack of accommodating breadth. This proves just how expansive your inner world must be! Unohana, my dear student—where did you learn this style? Clearly, someone so capable—elegant, graceful, stunning—must have taught you. I’d be honored to meet them, even if that meeting spelled my death.”
Unohana let slip a faint smile at his overblown flattery. On the other hand, Ukitake rolled his eyes, and Yamamoto ground his teeth. This punk had pummeled him with insults yet showered Unohana with praise—did the brat think Ryūjin Jakka wasn’t still sharp?
Eventually, Kaelith returned to the podium to demonstrate a few common brush techniques used in semi‐cursive writing. After finishing, he casually called on a few students to summarize key points.
“Shiba Shōdai, please explain what ‘upright brush’ and ‘tilted brush’ achieve in semi‐cursive.”
Shōdai stood and repeated Kaelith’s explanation about building structure with vertical strokes and adding flavor with angled ones. Kaelith nodded.
“Good job, Shiba. Ten extra points for the Tenth Division.”
Extra points?
Shiba blinked, confused, but didn’t ask further.
Kaelith’s gaze shifted to Yamamoto. “Yamamoto.”
Face dark, the old man rose. As principal, he had to set an example. Even if Kaelith posed some tricky question, he was confident in his knowledge of calligraphy.
Under Yamamoto’s scrutiny, Kaelith spoke slowly:
“Please name every person in the Living World who has ever practiced calligraphy. By name. One by one.” (t/N; man I can't take this bwahahah)
“???”
Even though Yamamoto had known his ridiculous disciple would pull a stunt, he was still floored. When Yamamoto didn’t reply, Kaelith sighed dramatically.
“Sigh. Yamamoto, you’re not focusing in class. The 1st Division loses 500 points. After class, copy Seireitei Calligraphy Selections ten times and hand it in tomorrow.”
Yamamoto’s blood pressure shot up, and he clenched his teeth. “Kid—khh, Teacher Kaelith—then please enlighten me. What are all those names?”
Kaelith raised an eyebrow. “At your current level, it’s premature. When the time comes, I’ll share them with you as your teacher.”
The old man’s hands shook, itching to slice someone.
That very night, outside Seireitei, the collision of spiritual pressure caused terrible waves. Yamamoto’s reiatsu blanketed the city in surging force. When the 4th Division arrived, Kaelith only managed to utter a partial last phrase—
“The one who did it… is… urgh…”
He left behind a smoldering body. Yamada Seinosuke sighed, gently closing Kaelith’s eyes. "Farewell, you foolish soul."
…
By the following evening, Kaelith stretched and yawned, finally returning to his beloved 11th Division. The first time he got roasted by Ryūjin Jakka, he’d felt a brush with death. These days, he was more or less used to it.
He halted suddenly. Deep within him, the reiatsu that usually flowed quietly began to churn violently—
Boom!
All that pent‐up spiritual energy erupted, swelling inside him. Kaelith, prepared for something like this, quickly suppressed the power so as not to alarm anyone around him. Simultaneously, a voice sounded in his mind:
\[Detected that bound partner “Aizen Sōsuke” has reached a new level. Synchronizing cultivation progress… synchronization complete!\]
\[Your spiritual power has increased. Current spirit‐force rank: Level 2!\]
Kaelith felt the surge of thick, roiling reiatsu and couldn’t help feeling wistful. He’d been stuck at the peak of Level 3, hoping to break into Level 2 on his own before Aizen did. But in the end, he hadn’t even scratched the threshold while Aizen had already crossed it. Truly a once‐in‐a‐megaannum ultimate Shinigami.
Yes, with Aizen’s nature, now that he’d advanced to Rank 2, there was sure to be new moves in the works.
Sure enough, not half an hour passed before Aizen showed up confidently.
“Kaelith, it’s time to act.”
“To act? You mean against my teacher?”
“No. I’m not that thick‐skinned.” Aizen shook his head. “I just advanced to Second Rank. It’s time to bring Las Noches under our control.”
Though Kaelith had suspected as much, the moment Aizen actually said it made him strangely excited. He nodded. “Excellent. I got a thrashing from the old man just yesterday, so he won’t be watching me for a while.”
After a few quick words, they came to a neat agreement, forming an alliance—cough, a mutual collaboration—and departed the 11th Division for Rukongai.
Not long after they left, a glimmer of light at the doorway faded out. Wearing a black cloak, Kisuke Urahara stood there, expression sober.
He’d been by Kaelith’s side for years. Although he constantly griped about Kaelith, the truth was he didn’t dislike him at all. Being around Kaelith was comfortable, if often tiring. He never worried about the future when working under him. However, the more time Kisuke spent with Kaelith, the more he realized Kaelith was planning something. With Kaelith alone, Kisuke wasn’t too concerned. The real problem was Aizen Sōsuke— a man full of danger, be it ability or ambition.
Kisuke didn’t know exactly what Aizen was plotting. He only knew that if someone could hide themselves so thoroughly, their target was anything but trivial. With Kaelith constantly in Aizen’s company, there was bound to be trouble.
To confirm his suspicions, Kisuke borrowed data from the Mikami Technology Bureau, creating a reiatsu‐isolating cloak. Tonight, seeing Kaelith come home alone and wait in his study, Kisuke donned the cloak, marshaled his entire repertoire of stealth skills, and hid by the door.
He knew Kaelith had some extraordinary sensing technique—if Kaelith used it, he would be exposed. Luckily, Kaelith wasn’t in the habit of scanning his own home continuously.
Recalling the conversation he overheard, Kisuke’s brow furrowed. Aizen Sōsuke… who apparently now held Rank Two spiritual power.
Impossible—he graduated only a few years ago. If he hadn’t graduated early, he’d be a sixth‐year at best. Yet from Kaelith’s demeanor, he wasn’t surprised. So Kaelith clearly knew about Aizen’s true strength all along.
Kaelith himself was presumably Rank Three, a bona fide captain level.
Combined with Aizen, who had soared to Rank Two, who knew what they’d been up to all these years?
Kisuke recalled many past incidents he’d once deemed unsolvable because Kaelith alone couldn’t alter the outcome. But factor Aizen into the mix, and suddenly everything made sense. The two of them likely had turned Hueco Mundo into their private backyard. All those times Kaelith staggered back through the Senkaimon in tatters? He must have been fighting there.
So why would they want to control Las Noches? For research? Just capturing Hollows would suffice for that, no need to conquer the entire realm. If they wanted to eradicate the Arrancar, they could do it openly, with Yamamoto behind them—it would be far simpler.
Kisuke took a deep breath. Maybe he was overthinking it. Kaelith was a noble, and Yamamoto’s disciple, after all…
Then again, it was Kaelith. The second that name popped into his head, Kisuke rubbed his temples.
Indeed, everything pointed toward a single conclusion: under Aizen’s influence, Kaelith was amassing power to stage a rebellion. And this crucial moment demanded Kisuke make a choice that would define his entire life.
In the end, the curtain fell on that day’s events—but his decision loomed.
