Omniverse: The Martial Artist

In the wide and ancient-style tatami room, two figures sat cross-legged on either side of a tea table. The scene of tiger and demon clashing on the hanging scroll, along with the thin mist of rising tea steam, formed an image of perfect stillness.

Yet the will to battle, the intent to kill, and the sparks of clashing blades—all vivid scenes of exhilarating combat—were hidden deep within the thoughts of the two.

If this were truly an ancient silent film, the audience could already sense the bloodshed about to erupt. But this deep, still silence was hard to shatter.

In the end, it wasn't anything grand that broke the stillness—just a leaf drifting down on the wind, falling into the pool.

Right on cue, the water boiled. Steam surged forth, and a high-pitched whistle sounded from the kettle's spout.

And so, ripples formed. Extreme stillness transformed into movement. The entire picture now had sound.

The mist was cleaved apart. The faint aroma of tea became tainted with the scent of blood. Killing intent clashed with fighting spirit, producing dazzling sparks.

Amid the clash of blades and the shriek of steam, Hao and Unohana slid backward, long streaks carved into the tatami beneath them.

Unohana glanced at Hao, then at the Zanpakutō in her hand, which bore no blood. Her lips curled into a wicked smile.

With a graceful hand, she swept across her chest. Her jet-black hair fell loose like a waterfall, yet oddly unnatural—much of it was hanging in front of her.

The setting sun filtered through the paper window, painting the room with a soft crimson glow. Her pale face took on a faint blush, as though painted with makeup.

Hair in disarray, smile unsettling, blood-colored light gleaming—she looked like a demon that had walked out of hell.

On the other side, the man held his shallow-drawn sword at his side, tip lowered. His body was taut like a tiger descending the mountain.

"Captain Hikifune's little invention is really quite something."

Unohana smiled. "Now I can stop holding back and properly test you, Hao."

Hao's mind was razor-focused. This was exactly the scenario he and Aizen had predicted: a final test under equalized spiritual pressure, against a captain-level opponent. Only… with Unohana as the opponent, the difficulty had just skyrocketed.

To Hao, this was a nightmare within a nightmare—and a bliss within bliss.

He couldn't help but grin, revealing a mouthful of white teeth. "As long as I defeat you, Miss Unohana… I graduate, right?"

"Defeat me?"

Unohana raised one hand to cover her face, as if hiding the madness seeping into her expression. Her voice quivered. "Hao… why are you so desperate to graduate early?"

It was as if she were talking to herself. Her voice filtered through her hand. "If you do that, I won't be able to stop myself from becoming your examiner… I won't be able to stop myself… from plucking this fruit early."

She slowly lowered her hand, revealing a face distorted with excitement—far from the gentle beauty she usually wore. No one would have guessed this side of her existed.

Her gaze locked on Hao, arms opening.

"Come, entertain me!"

In the next instant, the wind blew Unohana's long hair backward. A burst of blood exploded from within her pale-gray haori. Blood droplets danced before her excited eyes.

Hao and Unohana brushed past each other. Behind Hao was a series of footprints embedded deep in the tatami. He slowly turned, hair slightly disheveled from his charge, eyes burning with fighting spirit.

"Sensei, after being cut by you so many times… are you finally satisfied with this one strike of mine?"

Hao was a little surprised he had actually injured Unohana. He had thought that even with her spiritual pressure suppressed, her physical resilience would remain. But now it seemed this room's spiritual suppression barrier was something else—it truly reduced her to a Level 16 Reiatsu, stripping away the protective effect high spiritual power had on her body.

It was likely that Hikifune's invention wasn't created just for spiritual academy sparring—it was a battlefield tool meant to trap and kill enemies.

With her back to Hao, Unohana still wore her crazed grin. As she turned, her pale hand brushed over her shoulder—and the wound healed instantly.

"Yes… this is how it should be."

Unohana's excitement only grew. That long-absent feeling of pain had awakened her savage instincts.

At this point, she had completely cast aside the Head Captain's instructions. Two wild beasts had met on the open plains—neither would leave unscathed.

As both their killing intent and fighting will reached the peak, the two figures vanished from the room in the same instant.

Ding—

Hao's shallow-drawn blade clashed with Unohana's Minazuki. In the dim room, sparks burst with blinding brilliance. Through that light, their eyes met—murderous intent overflowing.

It was like a storm had erupted within the tea room. In mere moments, the two had exchanged dozens of strikes.

The tatami gave way, shattered and collapsed, revealing the pinewood floor beneath. In the air, blood droplets mingled with torn fabric as they danced.

After another heavy exchange, the two recoiled from the impact. When they steadied, their figures became visible again: Unohana's haori remained largely intact, while Hao's uniform was in tatters.

Hao reached up, grabbed the edge of his uniform, and ripped away the shredded cloth from his upper body, tossing it to the floor to reveal his toned torso.

His chest was covered in shallow wounds—not caused by direct blade contact, but by invisible blades.

Unohana's strikes were anything but normal. Even if her Zanpakutō didn't touch him directly, the formless sword aura extending from it had shredded his clothes and carved his skin.

"Oh? You've already trained your healing arts to this level?"

Unohana looked on with surprise at Hao's wounds, which were gradually closing. He hadn't activated the glow of Kaidō with his hands to heal them. From the outside, there was no visible spiritual light—yet the injuries were clearly mending.

Although the injuries were just superficial, continued blood loss was dangerous in battle, so Hao needed to use Kaidō for some minor healing.

"Unohana-sensei never said I had to use my hands to perform Kaidō, right? Once you understand the principle, wouldn't it be more efficient to repair the body directly, without gestures, especially in combat?"

Hao explained that this was a new method of Kaidō he had developed after much thought.

The principle of Kaidō was simply to manipulate reishi to repair the body. Hands were used because they're the most dexterous part of the body, offering fine control. But as long as one's control was precise enough—and their focus strong enough—one could directly guide threads of reishi to mend wounds without their hands.

Of course, it was a brand new technique, still crude and unrefined. So far, he could only handle superficial injuries. For anything more serious, he'd still have to use his hands.

"Hahaha…"

Unohana let out a melodious, almost eerie laugh. "Hao-kun, you really are a genius. But this level of Kaidō won't save you."

Hao didn't argue. He could already tell that Unohana had entered her bloodthirsty state—she wouldn't hold back during this assessment. If he fell behind, this version of Unohana would absolutely kill him.

He didn't know what counted as passing this exam, but one thing was clear—he could not lose.

Losing… meant death.

The scent of death loomed over him, and Hao trembled—not out of fear, but exhilaration.

Even restrained, this Unohana was the strongest opponent he had ever faced.

This wasn't like training with the Head Captain. This was a real, honest-to-god death match—the kind of fight he craved.

Standing before him now… was the opponent he had prayed to the heavens his whole life for, and never found.

How could he not be thrilled?

An exam? A mission?

None of that mattered now. All he wanted… was to enjoy this battle.

Boom—

In the next instant, Hao moved. The tatami behind him flipped into the air as he charged forward, a lightning-fast blur, slashing down with deadly speed.

Faster. Heavier. More lethal.

He swung from above, but Unohana's blade met his, diverting the blow with a sidestep and twist.

Immediately after, she stepped forward, closing into his guard, her palm striking toward his chest.

Just as she thought the blow would land, she saw something strange—Hao's left hand was pulled back beneath his chest while his right elbow dropped hard, catching her wrist and stopping the full force of her palm.

Both hands?!

Unohana's eyes widened in surprise. Her gaze flicked to the side—Hao's asauchi was falling nearby.

He'd let go of his sword at that moment!?

But she had to admit—his judgment was correct. If that palm had struck home, it would have crushed his heart. One follow-up slash and it would've been over.

Forced back by the impact of her palm, Hao stumbled away—only to suddenly stomp the edge of a tatami mat. It flipped up, striking the falling asauchi's hilt midair, redirecting its path right into his waiting hand.

Unohana didn't chase after this exchange. Her eyes, instead, gleamed like she had discovered a rare treasure.

She looked at the man charging toward her again, and for a moment, she was dazed.

Ah… he was free.

That wild, unrestrained fighting style—it was like a master calligrapher boldly brushing ink across a scroll. Yet every stroke was perfectly placed.

Boom—

Another direct clash. Unohana's light form slid back, while Hao was flung into the wall from the rebound.

Unohana stared at him like admiring a flawless gem—awed, thrilled… but also regretful.

Regretful that such a delectable fruit would have to be eaten too early.

Even with the device Kirio Hikifune had developed, it couldn't completely suppress her spiritual pressure. Hao's instinctual counter from earlier could have shattered her wrist—but because of her inherently dense spirit body, even if her spiritual pressure was sealed, her muscle and bone resilience remained. His blow had failed.

This spiritual pressure limiter could only let Hao slice through her skin. Getting through to the muscle? Nearly impossible.

By now, her blood was boiling with the thrill of combat. She was completely immersed—no turning back. The only thing that could stop her now… was if Hao truly defeated her.

But that was impossible.

She could see through all of his techniques. With over a thousand years of battle experience and a slight edge in spiritual pressure, she still held the advantage.

Hikifune's device wasn't that precise. By suppression grading, Unohana's spiritual pressure was capped at the peak of Class-16, while Lu Li was only mid-to-upper Class-16.

In this death match, she held nearly every advantage. Lu Li seemed to have no path to victory.

She looked at the young man walking out of the cracked wall, his body covered in blade wounds, and sighed—like watching a destiny already sealed.

°°°

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