Omniverse: The Martial Artist

From the smoke and dust, a bloodied figure suddenly darted forward.

In a flash, Hao locked onto the Captain-Commander's wrist.

Then, twisting through the air at an impossible angle, he launched himself upward.

His muscular legs snapped out—one toward the Captain-Commander's neck, the other toward his chest.

At the same time, Hao wrenched the old man's arm backward with all his might.

Off to the side, Yoruichi's expression shifted with surprise.

She hadn't expected someone as headstrong and reckless as Hao to know a move like this—

a perfect cross armlock.

Yet the Captain-Commander stood firm, unmoved.

He simply turned his head slightly to glance at Hao.

"Interesting," the old man said. "Boy, if our spiritual pressures were equal, you would've won just now."

But before he could say "However…", Hao had already let go of the armlock and landed, quickly resuming a combat stance.

"Oh? And what does that mean?"

the Captain-Commander asked with mild curiosity.

Hao's eyes blazed with fighting spirit as he grinned. "That kind of move doesn't suit my style.

Besides, if you hadn't let go of my leg, I wouldn't have been able to counter."

Grabbing an enemy and slamming them into the ground was a brutal tactic.

If you were confident you could take them out with the impact, the best move was to let go at the moment of collision—

because the recoil could harm you too.

But someone like the Captain-Commander wouldn't care about recoil.

He had complete control over his power.

He had calculated precisely how hard he could hit without killing Hao.

In other words, the moment Hao was grabbed, the fight was already lost.

The Captain-Commander had only let go because he judged the battle to be over and wanted to check on the boy's injuries.

In a sense, Hao's armlock just now had been a sneak attack.

The Captain-Commander laughed heartily at Hao's explanation.

"Boy, I'm starting to like you."

His gaze fell on the blood pouring from Hao's head, which now soaked his entire upper body.

The blood trickled through the seams of his muscles like a stream through a canyon.

But paired with those burning eyes full of fighting will, he didn't look pitiful at all.

He looked like a Shura—a war god.

"Still want to face me head-on?"

the Captain-Commander asked, raising his fists into a ready stance.

Hao drew a deep breath.

His heart pounded, sending blood and strength surging through every limb.

Even though he had blocked in time earlier, his head had taken a heavy hit.

His whole body was soaked in blood, but he had never felt more clear-headed.

Facing the strongest Shinigami alive, he truly felt what it meant to be alive.

"Of course," he replied.

"Let's begin the second round."

The Captain-Commander's eyes gleamed with appreciation.

And in the next instant, both figures vanished.

The floor of the dojo echoed with the sound of footfalls,

and the air thrummed with the dull roar of fists and feet colliding.

Their shunpo was blindingly fast,

their exchanges almost invisible to the naked eye.

Most of the first-year students couldn't tell what was happening—

they could only see two flickering blurs darting across the training hall,

and hear the trembling of the air as it cracked under pressure.

"He's actually keeping up with the Captain-Commander's movements…"

Yoruichi's voice trembled with astonishment.

She knew Hao better than anyone.

That was why she was shocked.

From what she understood, Hao should've been utterly crushed—

whether in speed or hand-to-hand skill.

But now…

not only was he blocking the Captain-Commander's strikes with perfect form,

he was even finding openings to counterattack!

Had he really grown stronger…

in just that short moment?

Aizen's gaze was also serious as he watched the sparring match.

He had initially thought this would be a one-sided crush by the Captain-Commander,

but aside from getting caught off guard at the start, Hao seemed to be gradually "adapting."

He used the word "adapting" deliberately, because Aizen's eyes were sharper than Yoruichi's, and his analytical skills far superior.

He could see that Hao's hand-to-hand combat ability hadn't suddenly leapt forward in such a short time—

what Hao had done was adapt to the Captain-Commander's ferocious offensive, making better choices in each moment of combat.

As a result, even though his hakuda technique was clearly suppressed,

he wasn't instantly defeated.

Hao… just how far does your limit go?

BOOM—

A deafening explosion rang out.

A figure flew through the air and crashed into the wall.

This time, the wall visibly caved in.

Everyone turned to look—

and saw Hao, shirtless and bloodied, slide down from the cracked wall, collapsing heavily to the ground.

This time, he really couldn't get back up.

In the end, even he couldn't overcome two thousand years of combat experience,

nor the absolute pinnacle of hakuda technique.

During the relentless exchange, the Captain-Commander had found an opening—and one strike was all it took to bring Hao down.

Aizen quickly stepped forward and helped Hao sit up,

while the Captain-Commander slowly lowered his stance,

glancing down at his own chest.

In that brief moment earlier…

the boy had actually touched him.

But before the force could fully transfer—he'd already been blasted away.

The Captain-Commander walked to the side, picked up his haori, and draped it over his shoulders.

With his back to Hao, he said:

"Use your healing kido. I'll be back in a day or two."

Hao, who had been reflecting on his shortcomings during the fight,

suddenly lit up at those words.

He wasn't discouraged by losing the match—

but he also didn't think it was "natural" just because the opponent was a millenia-old monster.

He still had a chance to challenge the summit of the Shinigami world.

And that thought—nothing was more exciting than that.

---

That night…

Hao sat on his bed, deep in thought.

"Sousuke, how do you think I can beat the Captain-Commander?"

Aizen gave him a blank stare.

"Hao… are you getting ahead of yourself? That's the Captain-Commander we're talking about. The strongest Shinigami in the past two thousand years."

To him, the Captain-Commander's hakuda was in a completely different league from Hao's.

Not to mention that in close combat, his shunpo speed far outclassed Hao's.

Honestly, the fact that Hao had lasted so long in the second round today was already shocking.

And now the guy was seriously thinking about beating the Captain-Commander?

"Sousuke, haven't you heard this phrase before?"

"Which one?"

"A Shinigami who doesn't want to surpass the Captain-Commander isn't a real Shinigami."

Hao said it with dead seriousness.

Aizen sighed.

"I get that you want to keep improving your hakuda… but beating the Captain-Commander isn't realistic."

He analyzed calmly:

"It's not that I think you lack talent in combat… but you and him are fundamentally different."

"Different how? Combat experience?"

"That's part of it. But more importantly—even if he suppresses his spiritual pressure to train you,

his perception, reaction time, and combat instincts are on a completely different level."

Hearing that, Hao suddenly understood.

Yes… he hadn't thought about that.

Spiritual pressure could be held back.

But the years of forging his body under such pressure…

The sharpness of vision, the swiftness of reflexes—those couldn't be turned off.

Put simply, it was like a max-level player temporarily lowering his damage output for a fair duel,

but his speed, muscle memory, and awareness were still there.

To the Captain-Commander, Hao's movements probably looked like they were happening in slow motion.

Strictly speaking, this wasn't a true equal-level duel at all.

Even if you ignored skill,

his raw physical advantage was overwhelming.

"I see…"

Hao nodded thoughtfully.

But then, under Aizen's incredulous gaze, he spoke again:

"That just makes it more of a challenge, doesn't it?"

°°°

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