"Hollowification."
Urahara answered on Ren's behalf, a trace of imperceptible amusement in his voice. "A completely controllable Hollowification. In the entire Soul Society, he's the only one."
Tessai's jaw remained slack for a long while as he stared blankly at Ren. His gaze drifted from the mask to Ren's hands, and then down to his feet. Tessai was using his own eyes to re-evaluate the young man before him.
"Not bad. It seems those vials weren't wasted. How long can you maintain this state?" Urahara asked excitedly, picking up a notepad and pen.
Ren gauged the consumption of spiritual pressure within his body. "In an all-out battle, about fifteen minutes."
"Alright, don't just stand there." Urahara clapped his hands. "Give it a try. Under Hollowification, your spiritual pressure output should be significantly stronger than usual. Cast a Kido for me to see."
At those words, Ren raised his hand. Without an incantation, a Raikōhō erupted from his palm, blasting against the distant stone wall. Enhanced by his Hollowification, his chantless Raikōhō approached nearly fifty percent of its normal power, and the speed of his spiritual pressure circulation had accelerated considerably.
Standing by the workbench, Urahara froze just as his pen touched the paper, his eyes going wide. "Chantless Raikōhō?"
Hearing Urahara's murmur, Ren dispersed the spiritual pressure in his palm and nodded. "I've been practicing it for a while."
Urahara opened his mouth to speak but swallowed his words. He turned to look at Tessai, hoping to find a look of disbelief on the Grand Kido Chief's face. Yet Tessai merely kept his hands tucked in his sleeves, his expression already recovering its composure from the initial shock of the Hollowification. Facing Ren's chantless, mid-tier Kido, he looked as though he had known all along.
It appeared Tessai had witnessed this before.
Then, Urahara saw Tessai nod at Ren. "Ren, why don't you demonstrate that new technique you mastered for Lord Urahara?"
Hearing this, curiosity flickered in Urahara's eyes. "What new technique?"
Ren remained silent, simply raising both hands. Shakkahō in his left hand, Sōatsui in his right. Dual currents of spiritual pressure condensed simultaneously, then unleashed at once. Lightning and flames erupted from his left and right hands respectively, striking the distant cavern wall one after the other and bursting into two blinding explosions.
Urahara's mouth parted slightly. He stood frozen in place, his eyes wide as saucers.
"Dual casting combined with incantation abandonment... releasing two chantless Kido at the exact same time?" Urahara's voice trembled slightly. "Hey, hey, this is getting a bit..."
He couldn't finish his sentence because he suddenly realized what this implied. Chantless, dual-cast, and capable of being unleashed while in motion. Didn't that mean Ren could continuously fire off Kido while moving at high speeds?
He was a total monster.
Standing nearby, Tessai watched Urahara's flabbergasted expression, the corners of his lips turning up slightly. Seeing Urahara wear that exact same look finally offered some comfort for the shock he himself had experienced over the Hollowification.
"What do you think?" Tessai's tone was calm, but a hint of pride was tucked away in his eyes.
Urahara snapped his head around to look at him. "How long did it take to practice this?"
"Just a single afternoon. I provided full guidance throughout."
"An afternoon..." Urahara turned his gaze back to Ren. His mouth opened, closed, and opened again. Finally, he let out a heavy sigh. "A brand-new Hollowification state, incantation abandonment, chained Kido casting... today really is full of surprises."
Yet, he had a nagging suspicion that Ren could offer even more surprises...
"Ren, are you capable of casting an even higher-tier Kido?" Urahara asked instinctively, a thread of anticipation laced in his voice.
Ren fell silent for a brief moment. Then, he raised his hand. No incantation, no hand seals.
Spiritual pressure condensed in his palm, a cold and dense force carrying a bone-chilling weight of oppression. Pitch-black spiritual energy seeped from his palm, drifting sluggishly through the air.
Urahara's eyes snapped wide. "This is..."
Ren didn't reply, choosing instead to focus the energy further. The black spiritual pressure took shape above his palm, transforming into a miniature black cube. It was only the size of a fist, hovering just above his palm and spinning slowly.
Chantless casting: Hado #90, Black Coffin.
The cavern fell so silent that one could hear a heartbeat. Urahara's mouth hung open, utterly speechless. Tessai was equally frozen in place, his eyes staring wide.
"Black Coffin," Tessai's voice was raspy. "A chantless Black Coffin..."
Hado #90 was the ultimate watershed mark for Kido mastery. Those who could reliably cast Black Coffin could be counted on one hand across the entire Soul Society. As for those who could cast it without an incantation, he had met only a select few in his exceptionally long life.
Granted, the destructive output of this miniature Black Coffin was pitifully small—likely only enough to take down a low-level Hollow. But the mere ability to manifest it pointed to a far more profound reality. This was no longer a question of sheer spiritual pressure capacity, but a testament to his understanding of spell construct, spiritual circulation, and the core essence of Kido itself.
Being able to abandon the incantation for Black Coffin meant Ren's comprehension in this field was rapidly approaching his and Urahara's level.
"You can even use incantation abandonment on this thing?" Urahara slapped his own face, finally snapping out of it. He glanced over at Tessai, and seeing the exact same dumbfounded expression on the Grand Kido Chief's face made him feel oddly comforted. 'So you didn't know either.'
Urahara then looked back at Ren. "Just how long have you been practicing this?"
Ren dispersed the Black Coffin in his palm. "Not long at all."
Urahara and Tessai exchanged a look. Both read the exact same emotion in each other's eyes: unadulterated shock.
They considered the sheer trajectory of Ren's progress. From the time he first stepped foot in the Kido Corps to study their techniques until now, it had been a couple of months at most. In just a few months, he had advanced from Hado #30 to a chantless Hado #90. This sort of progression could no longer be explained by mere talent.
"Who taught you this Black Coffin?" Tessai's voice lacked its usual stability, unable to entirely conceal his burning curiosity.
Ren went silent for a fraction of a second before speaking. "Aizen Sosuke."
The moment the name left his lips, the air inside the cavern seemed to instantly solidify. Urahara's smile froze on his face, gradually fading away. Tessai's brow furrowed tightly as well.
"Aizen... if I recall correctly, he is the Vice-Captain of the Fifth Division. To think his understanding of Kido runs this deep. Did he teach you personally?"
Ren nodded. "During the intervals between our experiments, he taught me some techniques for incantation abandonment."
Urahara fell silent. After a long pause, he murmured under his breath, "A chantless Black Coffin... this really is something else."
His gaze drifted toward the distant stone wall, deep in thought. Only after a long while did he finally speak. "It seems we need to completely re-evaluate Aizen's strength."