Unohana quickly healed her injuries but didn't remove the scars completely. "You've passed the assessment. You can now graduate."
She walked over to Gusion and picked up the arm she'd sliced off. "Let me do it. Your Kaidō skills aren't there yet."
Saying this, she helped Gusion reattach his arm, beginning to heal him with Kaidō.
Gusion had to admit, that Unohana was indeed far superior to him in the arts of healing. In just a few breaths, his arm was as good as new. He moved it a little and felt no aftereffects.
"Thank you for showing mercy, Unohana-sensei."
Gusion said.
"Oh? I didn't show any mercy. That last move, you did win."
Unohana retied her hair into its usual style and glanced at the now chaotic tatami room with a headache. She'd thought the battle would end quickly but hadn't expected it to turn out like this. Looks like she'd get scolded by the old man later.
"There were a few times I was injured mid-fight, but Unohana-sensei, you didn't press the attack, right?"
Gusion grinned. "If you'd kept up the pressure then, I probably wouldn't have lasted until Shikai and would've lost."
Even though he'd told Aizen that he'd grasped some of the tricks to Shikai, he wasn't 100% sure he could activate it. In the end, it was a stroke of luck, and he barely succeeded.
It's not that he only fought well at low health, but if he entered that resonant state and lost consciousness like before, he'd be dead for sure.
That's why he'd chosen not to use Shikai at first against Unohana. But after the fight, he concluded that if he couldn't use Shikai, his chances of beating her were tiny.
"A win is a win. But aren't you forgetting something?"
Unohana tidied her clothes, once again looking like the gentle, beautiful Fourth Division Captain everyone knew. "This is my exam room, not my hunting ground."
Gusion was stunned. "Wait... Unohana-sensei, what were the actual requirements to pass this assessment?"
Unohana smiled gently. "Didn't I say? If you last 10 minutes under my hand without dying, you pass."
Gusion: ???
You never said that!
Thinking back, before he released his Zanpakutō, Captain Unohana had already stopped attacking.
He'd thought she was just curious and wanted to see what he could do. But if he calculated the time, maybe he'd already passed then, which was why she'd stopped fighting.
Yet he went and released his Zanpakutō, got excited, and then fought Unohana for victory...
"Now, not only did you pass, but you got a perfect score from me. Don't worry, tomorrow you'll be an official member of the Gotei 13."
Unohana smiled, walked to the door, opened the sliding door, and left the exam room in Gusion's bewildered gaze.
Lasting ten minutes against a Captain-level opponent without dying was the standard set by the Captain-Commander. But Unohana had to admit, she'd let herself go a little during the fight.
If Gusion hadn't shown new power with his Shikai, she might have accidentally killed him in an overtime fight.
Seeing Unohana gone, Gusion looked down at the only piece of clothing he had left that could cover himself, and breathed a sigh of relief.
Just as Unohana disappeared, he heard a notification from the Endspace, telling him his main mission was complete.
He'd earned the right to return, and since the allotted time for this mission was only three months, he could stay in the Bleach world for at most two more days. If he overstayed, Endspace would forcibly pull him back.
Gusion glanced at his Zanpakutō, Mazuko. Even though Shikai was over, since it had been transformed from an Asauchi into his personal weapon, its appearance had changed.
The original silvery blade now had vine-like engravings, and the plain white hilt had turned purple-black, giving off a mysterious and dangerous vibe.
He used the space's appraisal function again; the details had changed:
[Mazuko]
Origin: Bleach (Derivative World 401118)
Rarity: Rare
Main Weapon: Sword
Durability: 60/60
Sharpness: 20
Tenacity: 20
Details: Zanpakutō forged by Explorer 40440404 injecting soul into an Asauchi. Bound automatically. Not for sale or trade. Only the owner can activate it.
Weapon Skill 1 (Passive): Soul Nourishment
Description: When the explorer kills an enemy with Mazoku, it absorbs a small amount of their soul to grow. The explorer can also feed their soul to Mazuko for greater growth (Warning: extremely dangerous).
Current Growth: 0%
Weapon Skill 2 (Active): Shikai
Description: Activating Shikai consumes soul power, transforming Mazuko. While active, all combat attributes +2, nervous reflexes improve, and the sword's sharpness and tenacity increase.
Deals Corrosion: Injured enemies heal 10% slower and take DoT equal to 10% of max damage per second for 5s, stackable per wound.
Cooldown: None
Rating: 100+ (30–100)
Evaluation: There is a demon god imprisoned in your heart.
[]
After awakening, his Zanpakutō became his exclusive growth weapon; all stats jumped, and Shikai's effect was simple and brutal. The stat boost worked like increased Reiatsu here.
The 10% healing reduction didn't look like much, but against strong-regeneration enemies, it was a killer. Against Unohana, her healing speed had been slowed, and the corrosion DoT was fierce—every strike was like 50% more delayed damage.
The best part was, that this effect had no cooldown. That meant in a prolonged fight, his damage would stack up exponentially until finally, his enemy would bleed out.
In the fight with Unohana, he hadn't gotten the full +2 boost because the field's pressure suppressed him from breaking past Grade Sixteen Reiatsu. In free conditions, he could have gone even further.
As for the equipment grading, over the past months, he'd learned from Endspace that the tiers were: Worn out, Grey, Fine, Rare, and unknown above that.
Worn out was trash—score 0. Grey: 1–10. Fine: 11–30. Rare had a wide range.
His Mazuko was rated max-rare, which was pretty good for a rookie explorer.
After checking his weapon, Gusion left the exam room and found someone waiting outside.
It was Aizen, holding a new set of clothes.