Chapter 047: I Am Going to Kill You, YOU!!!
Honestly, Matsushita Yusuke had always preferred things simple.
Complex situations cost processing time as well as effort. Understanding them required investment he'd rather spend elsewhere.
Which was why, among all five Zanpakuto categories, the one he'd been looking forward to most was Physical.
Simple. Blunt. Effective.
Every word you could reach for stacked up in the same direction. The most direct and efficient form of attack, full stop.
It was also, notably, the signature category of the main character. Ichigo Kurosaki's entire combat identity ran through it.
People joked that stats couldn't beat mechanics, but in the Bleach world that usually just meant the stats weren't high enough yet. Physical-type Zanpakuto were proof of what happened when the numbers got there.
And Matsushita Yusuke's Physical category currently sat at 3. Shikai threshold was 30. The gap was, to put it generously, not close.
But things had just changed.
Ten points. In one go.
Setting aside anything that came with a faction commitment attached, this was the largest single Zanpakuto reward he'd seen so far.
And he suspected opportunities like this one didn't come around often.
The System probably factored in the gap between us.
After releasing their Zanpakuto, a Shinigami could access abilities, and the raw numbers got a bump too. Shikai's boost wasn't as dramatic as Bankai's, but it was real.
Which meant the current Soifon was going to be a serious problem regardless.
Fast to begin with, and now in release state. Just keeping up with her speed is going to be a stretch.
That aside.
This quest had reminded him of something he hadn't fully mapped yet.
So Zanpakuto gains came from sparring? Specifically from fighting opponents and forcing them to release?
Fight a specific type of opponent, push them to release, collect the corresponding reward...
Could he farm that?
Probably not.
Because the quest description was clear: the condition was to win. Accepting a quest and immediately dropping to one knee wasn't going to count, which was fine, but it did raise something he'd been mildly curious about.
Was Soifon's Zanpakuto Physical-type?
Hard to say for certain. Her two forms expressed themselves differently enough that the category wasn't obvious.
One form pushed reishi into the target and then detonated it on a second activation.
The other compressed to extreme density and went for sheer saturation, overwhelming through quantity rather than precision.
Leans toward Kido-type... but thinking about it strictly, Physical-type could fit similar properties.
He was still working through the logic and sketching out his approach when Soifon stepped out from the dispersing cloud of reishi.
The long Zanpakuto she'd been holding was completely transformed. Released, it had reshaped itself into a small blade seated at the tip of her finger, fitted over the middle finger, slender and tapered all the way to the point. More precision instrument than weapon, if you were being generous. Something between a blade and a very elaborate piece of jewelry.
Seeing it, Matsushita Yusuke got a little tense.
Because the ability was a problem.
I don't have Aizen's level of reiatsu gap to work with. Getting hit with that thing twice is actually game over.
"What were you about to say?"
After releasing, Soifon's expression had gone noticeably calmer.
Power was, it turned out, a very effective sedative.
Feeling the shift in herself, feeling what Shikai had added, Soifon had come back down entirely. And from that place of clarity, she could speak from a position that didn't need to shout.
She stood still, right hand lowered, chin slightly raised. Looking over at Matsushita Yusuke from something that felt, in posture if not in altitude, like looking down.
"Let's be clear upfront. If you want to concede, now is the time. You're a Shin'o Academy student. You understand what a released Zanpakuto means."
She'd come in hot, but actually following through on all of it could spiral quickly into something neither of them wanted. Soifon had leveled out, and now she was offering him a way to step off without embarrassing either side.
She didn't seem to actually want this to go further?
Under normal circumstances, Matsushita Yusuke would have taken that exit without a second thought, laughed it off, and moved on.
But today was different.
Ten points of Physical. That was enough to make him do something he'd normally never do.
Soifon, who had no idea what was going through his head, was still talking.
"I just think you're kind of annoying. It's not like I actually want to do anything to you. Give me something to work with. If you at least show me you understand where you stand, I can let the whole thing go."
She had no interest in escalating a personal grudge into a formal incident. If Yoruichi found out about this, she'd get a private talking-to that ranked among the worst things imaginable. That outcome was worth avoiding.
Weighing all of it, Soifon had arrived at what she considered a concession.
That was fair, wasn't it?
She was only asking for one sentence. It sounded a little childish, maybe, but that was genuinely what she wanted. Matsushita Yusuke was easygoing enough not to dig in over something like this. Both sides would give a little, and nothing embarrassing needed to happen in front of anyone.
"I refuse."
"...Hm?"
Soifon tilted her head like she suspected a problem with her own hearing.
What did he just say?
"Telling self-important people exactly where they can put it is my single favorite activity in life."
He had started sweating.
But if Soifon cooled down, the quest was probably going to fail. So he had to keep this going no matter what. He braced himself and kept talking.
"Just because you released your Zanpakuto you think you're unstoppable? Come on. You're still incredibly naive. No wonder you're stuck here running drills. You couldn't even make Yoruichi-sama's personal guard unit."
He said it.
So.
What was the result?
He'd gone for whatever seemed most likely to land, pushed on things that might have been a bit much, and genuinely wasn't sure what was about to happen. He didn't quite dare look directly. He was watching from the corner of his eye.
One beat of silence.
Then two.
And then, visibly, a wave of reiatsu erupted off Soifon that was difficult to look away from.
BANG.
The reiatsu rolled upward in a surge, and the veins standing out along her face pressed against the skin like they were trying to leave. The smile that spread across her face was very close to something sinister.
The loose strands of her hair floated upward. The hair coils at the sides of her face fluttered like wings. The whole image had a specific quality: reverse gravity, defying the direction things were supposed to fall.
She was so furious she'd gone past fury and out the other side.
"Actually, I take that back. I was overthinking it."
She said it quietly.
"Matsushita Yusuke."
Was she calling him by name?
"I'm... right here."
"I am going to kill you, YOU!!!"