Help! I am bound to Aizen!-Chapter 251

Chapter 251

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Large swathes of silvery ash, driven by Rangiku’s movements, frantically converged.

Rotating currents of ashen dust formed a thin yet sturdy shield in front of her.

Clang!

Kenpachi struck with his sword, the blade crashing into Haineko’s shield. He’d assumed that a shield made from mere dust would be easy to cleave through, even if there were ten layers of it. Surprisingly, that rapidly flowing metallic ash produced a powerful force that pushed his blade sideways. At first, his sword cut in smoothly, but once half the blade sank into Haineko, most of its momentum was gone. Feeling the massive force transmitted from within that metal dust, Kenpachi showed a brief flash of surprise—then an exhilarated grin.

“Ha, indeed—you’re strong!”

He wrenched his sword free in a single brutal jerk.

Boom!

A faint glow of reiatsu surged on his body. Because he’d lowered his reiatsu to match Rangiku’s level, the glow was dim—nowhere near the sky-lighting savagery he usually had. Yet even so, the danger radiating from him couldn’t be ignored.

Thud!

Kenpachi slammed his sword onto Haineko’s shield again. This time, instead of pushing in, he took advantage of the shield’s rebound to raise his blade once more, and then he struck a second time.

Thud! Thud!! Thud!!!

Every downward blow of Kenpachi’s sword was deflected by Haineko’s shield. However, each time the shield bounced his blade back, it also boosted his next swing, making every subsequent strike heavier. To handle that greater force, Rangiku had to speed up the shield’s flow even more. In a matter of seconds, she realized that her supposedly unstoppable Haineko shield was starting to slow down under the strain.

Crack!!!

With a wild, menacing grin, Kenpachi unleashed the built-up power in his chipped, serrated sword, slicing Haineko’s shield clean apart. Rangiku’s face went pale. Even Kaelith, watching from the sideline, couldn’t help but think that Kenpachi resembled Jack from *The Shining*, hacking through a door with an axe.

“Wahaha!!!”

Having slashed open Haineko’s shield, Kenpachi let out a raucous laugh. He waved his massive arm, scattering clumps of metallic ash around him, then swung his blade to strike Rangiku directly.

Rangiku hastily tried to control the metal dust to cut into Kenpachi’s skin, but her flustered state kept her from extracting Haineko’s full potential.

Even though Kenpachi wasn’t deliberately boosting his defenses, the metal dust caused him only minor wounds—just enough to make him bleed a little, which only excited him more. Seeing the sword coming straight down, Rangiku’s eyes went wide.

Am I…about to die?

Right then, she was startled to see a blade made of metal dust suddenly extend from the hilt she still gripped. The metal dust gathered together but didn’t solidify like a normal sword.

Bzz bzz bzz bzz!

A faint vibration hummed from the blade. Before Rangiku could figure out what was happening, it was already bringing her arm up to meet Kenpachi’s slash.

Scrraaaape!

The metal-dust sword collided viciously with Kenpachi’s blade, sending sparks flying like a grinding wheel. In an instant, Rangiku’s sword bit three or four millimeters into Kenpachi’s weapon—then continued slicing further.

“Oh…another new trick? Interesting!” Kenpachi barked a laugh, unbothered that his own sword was being damaged.

Kaelith, on the sidelines, shook his head faintly.

Look at this attitude toward one’s Zanpakutō… No wonder his blade never grants him Shikai. That’s just like asking the abuser for forgiveness.

At the same time, Kaelith flicked his fingertip almost imperceptibly. Obeying his movement, the blade of swirling metal dust retreated two steps, pulling Rangiku back and widening the gap between her and Kenpachi. Sure enough, Kenpachi lashed out with a kick the moment there was space, but missed when Rangiku withdrew. The man seemed even more satisfied—this kid was better than he’d imagined.

Acting as referee, Aizen narrowed his eyes and glanced at Kaelith outside the ring. Kaelith just folded his arms behind his head, gazed off elsewhere, and whistled innocently.

Rangiku peered down at the sword in her hands, startled. Only now did she realize that the swirling metal dust forming the blade was spinning wildly. It hadn’t hardened into a conventional weapon at all. Instead, that rotating dust created a sawlike cutting edge. No wonder it had sliced into Kenpachi’s sword so easily.

But she herself hadn’t made it do that.

Why is Haineko moving on its own?

Just then, Kaelith’s voice reached her ears: “Feel the reiatsu pulsing inside it and learn from it. I can only help you out for a second—Sōsuke’s already itching to come after me.”

Rangiku’s expression cleared. So…that was Kaelith’s doing.

A faint smile touched her lips. It reminded her of when she’d been attacked by wolves in the mountains a year ago. Kaelith had pretended not to care but stepped in at the critical moment anyway.

She closed her eyes and concentrated on how Kaelith was manipulating the metal dust. There it was—his subtle kindness, rescuing her yet again. The only pity was, that gentleness didn’t belong exclusively to her. Kenpachi Zaraki, Komamura Sajin, Tōsen Kaname…all of them shared in Kaelith’s care. That was part of what made him shine so brightly.

Rangiku swiftly opened her eyes. Kaelith’s power withdrew from the blade, letting her own reiatsu replace it and bond with the metal dust. The rotating sword edge paused—then spun up again. Seeing how quickly she’d assimilated that move, Kaelith nodded in satisfaction.

Maybe this was how Yamamoto felt, having a disciple who picked up everything without needing endless lectures. For a moment, Kaelith envied the old man.

Meanwhile, in the 1st Division quarters, Yamamoto suddenly sneezed. The old man, puzzled, pulled his robe tighter and drew Ryūjin Jakka to his side so its warmth would comfort him. Then he happily returned to reading.

Back in the training yard, Rangiku—wielding her “iron-sand sword”—traded blow after blow with Kenpachi. The Soul King’s fingertip granted her potent strength. Long-range manipulation of iron dust alone didn’t show that much of a difference, but swinging the blade in direct combat brought out every ounce of that power. Though she was visibly only fifteen or sixteen, barely up to Kenpachi’s midsection, each of her slashes was not far behind his for sheer force.

On top of that, drifting metal particles around her occasionally struck from blind angles.

At that moment, Matsumoto Rangiku’s fighting prowess easily rivaled that of a mid-ranking officer.

After dozens of exchanges, she finally lost due to running out of stamina—though, to be fair, she was up against Kenpachi, whose battle style was all brute force, barely any technique, and minimal footwork.

Crucially, if he said he’d fight at your power level, he truly did so; he wouldn’t add an ounce of extra strength. Had she faced an officer who fought cunningly, even her heightened power might not have held out so long. She still had plenty to learn.

As Kaelith mulled this over, Rangiku jogged over to him. Sweat trickled down her face, and her orange hair stuck to her brow in damp clumps. She gave him a bright grin.

“Well? How’d I do, Yū?”

“You did great. You can beat any pack of wolves in Rukongai now,” he replied.

Rangiku blinked—then burst out laughing. “What kind of comparison is that?”

He shrugged. “No helping it; if I compared you to me, that’d be too discouraging.”

Kaelith puffed out his chest in smug pride, and Rangiku stuck out her tongue before running off. Kaelith watched her with a soft smile.

He figured out why Rangiku’s powers had grown so much. In the original timeline, Aizen had violently ripped out the Soul King shard from her, damaging her soul and stunting her potential. Now, with her soul intact—and that extra portion of the King’s power—her capabilities far surpassed what they had been. She might even achieve Bankai someday. Given that Haineko now had a chainsaw-like edge, maybe in Bankai form she’d get an explosive shotgun as well… Kaelith’s imagination ran wild at the thought.

…

Dressed neatly, wearing his newly delivered Captain’s haori, Kaelith admired himself in the mirror. He turned to Urahara Kisuke.

“Which of us is more handsome: me or that Sōsuke from the 5th Division?”

Without hesitation, Kisuke answered, “What’s Aizen got on you, sir?”

Kaelith gave a pleased nod. “Your honesty is what I like best about you!”

Leaving the 11th Division barracks, he set off for Seireitei’s East Gate. He’d walked that route countless times when he was younger, so he knew it backward and forward. Before long, he arrived at the gates of the Shin’ō Academy. The guard recognized him instantly and bowed.

“Captain Kaelith!!”

Stepping onto campus, Kaelith took a look around. Students in red or blue uniforms were everywhere. Just a few years ago, he’d been one of them. Since he was masking his reiatsu and sticking to the less crowded paths, no one paid him any notice. Then a voice called out:

“Hey! Kaelith!!”

Turning, he saw a man approaching with a beaming smile. Kaelith lit up as well.

“Mr. Kinoshita—I’m not playing sick today.”

He smirked mockingly, a subtext of “Even if I did, you couldn’t touch me now.” Kinoshita merely grinned back.

“Haha, no worries. If you do skip class, I’ll just report you to the Captain-Commander.”

Kaelith: “…”

Such is life—one shouldn’t get cocky.

Feeling slightly deflated, he followed Kinoshita inside the main teaching building. Along the way, Kinoshita pointed out all the changes the Academy had undergone: new textbooks, updated teaching standards, revised training regimens. Even though only a few years had passed, it felt like a century’s worth of innovations. Kaelith found many of these new things intriguing.

When the topic shifted to the new teacher guidelines, Kinoshita remarked, “That said, these rules mostly apply to full-time instructors. You’re only teaching an elective course, so just keep it in mind. Besides, that haori of yours means you’re not exactly bound by standard procedures.”

He couldn’t help noticing how new Kaelith’s haori looked. For someone who’d been a captain for a while, Kinoshita had half-expected it to be dirty or torn. The pristine condition moved him a bit.

This kid must have grown up and realized how precious the captain’s mantle truly was.

After a few laps around campus, Kaelith found a resting room and took a nap. Having only left school a few years back, his initial novelty soon faded. Might as well just sleep until his calligraphy class started.

This content is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

When he woke, the timing was just right. Gathering a bit of reiatsu into his palm, he smoothed down his messed-up hair with a single pass. Exiting into the corridor, he saw Kinoshita waiting for him. The man wore a grave expression.

“Kaelith, we’ve run into a situation. When you begin your lesson, you must stay calm. No matter what you see, don’t panic—keep your emotions steady, you hear?”

Kaelith gave him a puzzled look. Had the students grown so undisciplined in just a few years? If so, he was more than ready to deliver some tough love—show them a real “strict teacher” approach.

He smirked. “Kinoshita, fear not. With me here, I’ll quell any storm with one firm anchor.”

And with that, he strode confidently to the classroom. Watching Kaelith’s assured back, Kinoshita felt a renewed burst of faith. As expected of someone who became a captain a few short years after leaving school. He was reliable in a pinch.

…

“Uh, sorry, Kinoshita—I need to go home. My stomach hurts!”

A few minutes later, Kaelith opened the classroom door, took a single glance inside, then promptly shut it again and turned on his heel to leave. Outraged, Kinoshita seized him in a bear hug.

“Curse you, you can’t run away at the last second!”

“What the hell, man—did you see what’s in there?!”

“What do you mean ‘what’? Everyone is just here because they like your calligraphy and want to learn from you!”

“Yeah right! Then why don’t you teach them?”

“If I could do it, I would!”

“Kinoshita, you… you…!”

Breathing deeply to compose himself, Kaelith opened the door once more. The modest classroom was jam-packed with people. Among the red-and-blue-uniformed students, several figures stood out like beacons:

Yamamoto Shigekuni, Unohana Retsu, Kuchiki Ginrei, Shiba Shōdai, Hikifune Kirio, and Ukitake Jūshirō…

Yes—six captains (including the Captain-Commander himself) had come to attend one single student lecture.

How the hell was any of this normal?