Omniverse: The Martial Artist

"Maybe my Zanpakutō is just special. Even though I failed this time, thank you, Sōsuke."

Hao got up and went to wash up. Despite the failure, he felt that during this latest "exchange" with his Zanpakutō, he had faintly grasped something—it hadn't been fruitless.

After cleaning up, Hao stepped out of the bathroom and looked at Aizen, who was already dressed in his school uniform and ready to head to class.

"Sōsuke, could you help me try again? I really think hypnosis might work."

Hearing this, Aizen paused mid-step. "Not going to class?"

"No. The Head Captain won't be there anyway. What we can learn in class is limited. Right now, the priority is learning Shikai."

Hao replied. At the Shin'ō Spiritual Arts Academy, attendance wasn't mandatory, and perfect attendance didn't guarantee passing. Ultimately, only the final exam results mattered.

"This method is dangerous. Hao-kun, you should have realized that by now. Even so, you still want to keep trying?"

Aizen looked at Hao seriously.

Hao met his gaze and nodded. "Sōsuke, passing the evaluation is really important to me—more important than you can imagine."

"…Alright then. I'll help you train here in the dorm."

Aizen set down the bag that held his calligraphy materials, sighing in resignation. "But let me say this first: if your spiritual pressure goes out of control, I'll call a teacher immediately."

Hao grinned. "Thanks, Sōsuke. I owe you one."

Aizen chuckled as well. "You already owe me a lot."

...

"Still no progress?"

Aizen glanced at the sky outside the window—it was nearly dawn. Today was the day of the final exam.

For the past two days, he had been hypnotizing Hao in the dorm using Kyōka Suigetsu, guiding him again and again into the depths of his soul. But each time, Hao claimed he got "kicked out."

Based on Aizen's understanding of Zanpakutō awakening, it didn't seem like Hao was being kicked out—but rather, he was choosing to come back on his own.

He still held the same belief as before: Hao was subconsciously rejecting that power.

Aizen prided himself on his knowledge of psychology. Based on Hao's descriptions of what he saw, Aizen theorized that the prison cage symbolized Hao's closed-off heart. The demon imprisoned within was a representation of his self-imposed limitations—a suppression of his own power.

"Hao-kun, if you can't untie this psychological knot, then no matter how much your spiritual pressure grows in the future… you might never achieve Shikai."

Aizen sighed. He hadn't expected this outcome. He had thought that with his guidance through Kyōka Suigetsu and Hao's natural talent, achieving Shikai would be simple.

Now, however, he looked at Hao with a trace of regret. He had believed he'd finally met someone just as gifted and without flaws like himself. But if Hao couldn't awaken his Zanpakutō, then in a sense, his potential as a Soul Reaper had already reached its ceiling.

Hao stayed silent for a moment, then waved a hand dismissively. "It's fine. You've already helped me a lot. I think I might have a bit of a clue about what's going on with my Zanpakutō."

Aizen raised his eyebrows in mild surprise. "Oh? Did you manage to communicate with it? There's still a little time—want to try one more time?"

But Hao shook his head. "No. I want to rest while I still have the time. I need to get myself in peak condition. I don't even know who my special examiner will be today."

"Fair enough. Get some rest—you've got about three hours. I'll go grab some food for you from the cafeteria."

Aizen didn't get the feeling that Hao had given up. If anything, he was even more curious now to see if Hao could break through in the upcoming trial.

"Thanks, Sōsuke."

Hao didn't waste words. He fell into bed and immediately went to sleep. He was expecting a brutal battle later and needed to recover mentally to his peak.

Three hours later, Hao woke up right on time. The table was already filled with food Aizen had brought, though the man himself was gone—likely already at the testing site.

Hao quickly washed up and devoured the food in front of him like a storm, ensuring he had enough energy for the challenges ahead.

Once he was done eating, he checked the time and jogged toward the exam venue.

Yesterday, their dormitory supervisor had informed him that even though he would be attempting early graduation, he still had to take the standard exams. Only after passing all the required evaluations would he face the "Final Trial."

Just as he expected, apart from the final trial, he also had to meet one more requirement for early graduation—achieving Shikai.

Even if he passed the trial set by the special examiner, if he hadn't learned the name of his Zanpakutō and demonstrated a Shikai release, he still wouldn't be allowed to graduate.

He glanced at the asauchi at his waist—a black sheath with a white hilt—and silently muttered, You're really not easy to obtain, are you?

Any items gained within a mission world couldn't be taken out unless they were listed as mission rewards.

In order to officially obtain this asauchi, he had to learn the name of the Zanpakutō and complete the Shikai release—in other words, he had to bind it to himself before it could be brought out.

As he stepped into the exam hall, Hao quickly checked his current stats.

[Explorer #404040404, your base stats are as follows:]

Constitution: 18 (+1)

Strength: 17 (+1)

Agility: 18 (+1)

Spirit: 24 (+2)

Charisma: 6

Luck: 1

He had spent a lot of time and energy this past month on his Zanpakutō, so his physical attributes hadn't improved much, though his spiritual attribute had increased by another two points. By now, he should be considered a relatively qualified 16th-level spiritual pressure.

"Should I say, as expected of the genius trying to graduate early? You sure are relaxed, showing up this late."

As soon as Hao walked into the exam room, he heard a teasing voice—it was Yoruichi.

Hao stretched his limbs. "It's not a timed written test, so being a little late doesn't matter."

The first exam was Hakuda, a hand-to-hand combat assessment directly scored by the examiner.

Very quickly, it was Hao's turn. The teacher in charge of the Hakuda test gave Hao a complicated look, then simply gave him the highest score on the sheet without even bothering to test him.

Hao wasn't surprised. During previous Hakuda classes, this teacher had sparred with him—and lost.

Next came the swordsmanship test—again, full marks as expected.

Hadō—full marks.

Bakudō—full marks.

Kaido—full marks.

Shunpo—full marks.

Spiritual pressure—level sixteen.

Many classmates had been waiting to see Hao make a fool of himself, so they politely let him go first. Even so, by the time he finished all the exams, it was already the afternoon.

Following the directions of the last exam's teacher, he headed toward the top floor of the academy's teaching building—the site of the final test.

The top floor of the Academy was rarely visited. Most teacher offices were located there, along with some locked empty rooms that no one was usually allowed into.

Hao now stood in front of one such room. Above the door hung a large plaque that looked quite aged, clearly an antique, inscribed with two heavy brushstroke characters: "Origin Stream."

After he knocked, the sliding doors parted to reveal the interior of the room—and the woman seated cross-legged at the tea table.

Captain of the Fourth Division: Retsu Unohana.

Aizen, this is what you'd call drawing the golden lot.

Hao's lips lifted in a grin. He could feel the battle blood within him already beginning to boil.

From a mission perspective, he had indeed drawn the worst lot. But from a personal perspective, calling this the best possible outcome wasn't wrong.

Looks like his 1-point Luck stat was quite significant after all.

Hao removed his wooden sandals and stepped into the tatami-covered room. Behind him, the doors shut tight and locked.

At the same time, he sensed a strange force field within the room—likely the work of Kirio Hikifune from the Twelfth Division.

Entering this room meant one's spiritual pressure would be suppressed to a constant level—sixteen—unless someone forcibly destroyed the device with a burst of overwhelming power.

It seemed the Head Captain had ordered this specifically. The staff clearly took the final exam seriously and ensured it would be "fair."

At the very least, he wouldn't have to worry about the Captain getting too excited and accidentally crushing him.

At Unohana's gesture, Hao slowly sat down at the tea table, his expression calm.

"This is a venue I chose for the exam. It's also one of the Head Captain's tea rooms," Unohana said softly, her hands gracefully moving as she prepared the tea.

Hao glanced around the room. It was common knowledge that the Head Captain loved tea. It was said that he hosted tea ceremonies with the First Division every month.

But this likely wasn't the Head Captain's regular tea ceremony room. Though spacious for a traditional Japanese room—over 200 square meters—there was only one tea table placed in the center.

On the wall beside them hung a large painting of a fierce tiger and a wicked demon. The bold, powerful strokes exuded majesty and sharp killing intent.

"Ancient tales speak of dragons clashing with tigers. Today, we see the tiger and demon locked in battle."

Hao sat on the tiger's side, quietly watching Unohana handle the tea utensils without saying a word. The room was utterly silent.

Unohana clearly had considerable expertise in the art of tea. Her every movement carried the grace of practiced elegance.

She wiped each item with a silk cloth—tea box, scoop, then warmed the bowls, cleansed the tools, and wiped the cups...

It felt less like she was here to test Hao in combat and more like she had come for a peaceful tea gathering.

In the spacious room, the aroma of brewing tea floated from the small hearth. Steam rose gently from the teapot, curling in the space between the two seated figures.

In that small world, there was no scent of blood, only the calming fragrance of tea.

Unohana slowly spun a freshly brewed cup of tea and pushed it toward Hao. Neither of them spoke. The silence was like an old black-and-white film, infused with a strange sense of Zen.

Hao took the teacup, blew on it lightly twice, then drank it in one go and set it back on the table.

The sound of the teacup hitting the redwood surface seemed to both shatter and deepen the stillness.

Unohana didn't drink from the cup before her. Instead, she set another kettle to boil. Her narrowed eyes slowly opened, meeting Hao's across the tea table.

Like swordsmen crossing paths in ancient duels, the invisible tension between them had already begun to clash.

°°°

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