Captain Material? Not According to the Gotei 13!

Skill and Reiryoku levels for future reference:

Skills:

Novice - Just beginning to learn

Amateur - Practiced for a while and know the basics

Expert - Pretty good. Able to teach others what they learned

Master - One of the top. Unique and personal insights to the field

Grandmaster - So good they created their own derivative field based on their insights

Reiryoku:

Random Shinigami - 100 to 500

3rd seat - 500 to 1000

Lieutenant - 1000 to 2000

Captain - 2000 to 4000

Advanced Captain - 4000 to 6000

Beyond Advanced Captain - 6000+

---

Close to a year passed in what felt like the blink of an eye.

"Hado 90 - Kuroshitsugi!"

A pitch black coffin entrapped the straw man in a blink of an eye. A torrid energy erupted from within, promising doom for the inside. The remnant spiritual pulses spread outwards before crashing upon the energy-sealing barriers around the practice room.

Looking at the now tattered target, Lei felt a fulfilling sense of accomplishment. He had even surprised himself by how much he had improved. Not only did he learn every existing Kido, but he also pioneered two new systems of Kido.

I underestimated how strong the 1000% increase was. Not to mention the large amount of Reiryoku at the beginning that let me iterate and learn quickly.

Sure, I still haven't awakened my Zanpakuto, but this… maybe even Aizen can't match me in Kido proficiency now…

—

Status:

Name: Lei Zhang

Reiryoku: 6000

Skills: 

* Kido - Grandmaster

* Hakudo - Amateur

* Zanjutsu - Amateur

* Shunpo - Amateur

* Kido Flow

* Kido Seals

Items: 

* Zanpakuto (Unawakened)

Buffs:

* Beginner Gains - 30 days remaining

Main Goal: Become a captain in the Gotei 13

—

Looking at the two unique kido skills in particular gave him reassurance that his chosen path was correct. Kido was as boundless as he expected, and in his pursuit, he managed to port over two of his favorite ideas from Naruto: Kido Flow and Kido Seals. He reminisced about the key moments from the last year…

—

The idea of Kido Flow came to Lei during one of his long meditation sessions. He'd noticed that every time he cast a spell, he was drawing energy from a central reservoir deep within him. It reminded him of a lake - contained and powerful, but unless disturbed, static.

"But what if it didn't have to be static? What if they could be like the dynamic chakra pathways from Naruto?" 

He had long been considering how to counter Aizen's Kyoka Suigetsu, and the answer he came up with was to rely on a chakra system like in Naruto. It's been shown that direct contact with the reiatsu of Kyoka Suigetsu can help someone tell whether what's shown is an illusion or not. Based on this, if he can detect when his reiatsu flow is being affected by an external source, he should be able to revert to normal like how ninjas break free from genjutsu in Naruto. Theoretically.

Honestly, I have no idea if this will work. But better try something than nothing at all…

Construction of the internal flow was not easy. Each meridian and branch had to be created from scratch as internal kido pathways were not natural to the Shinigami constitution. Only the "Beginner Gains" buff allowed him to pioneer this way - trying to do so without would have been near impossible. But once he completed the final path…

Wow… this is amazing. 

The circulating energy made his reiryoku feel alive, like a second pulse. Not only that, but it also acted as a semi-whirlpool, sucking in the surrounding reiryoku and increasing his own energy accumulation.

All that's left is to test the "genjutsu prevention" aspect. 

The image of Aizen flashed through his mind. 

Haha… let's save that for later…

—

In turn, the idea of Kido Seals came to Lei when Momo had awakened her Shikai. Which was interesting, because from Lei's memory, in the original story, she didn't awaken her Shikai until much later in her Academy period. He chuckled as he remembered her look of absolute shock when Toshiro nonchalantly revealed to her that he had awakened his Zanpakuto half way through the school year.

Heh. I guess under that positive and bubbly demeanor was a strong competitive spirit. 

After all, not even 2 months after that, Momo revealed her own Zanpakuto Shikai. When Momo released the fireball, Lei could have sworn he saw on her face a non-verbal message.

"Hmph. I can do it too, Shiro-chan." 

For his part, Lei had just finished crafting his Kido meridians, and he was looking to determine what Kido innovation to pursue next. The near instantaneous delivery of what amounted to Hado 30 inspired Lei to devise his own method of fast casting. Definitely not because he was jealous of Momo's perceived infringement on his (hidden) Kido expertise. Definitely not…

*Cough*

Anyways, the more important part behind the Kido research were the results. And that they wildly over delivered. Lei drew inspiration from Naruto again and looked into how to carry the power of Kido through different seals. He learned that through channeling Reiryoku into specially crafted talismans and engravings, he could imbue them with the energy of different Kido spells.

But it didn't stop there. A thought had captured his mind when researching the runes and continuously asserted its presence through forbidden whispers.

Orochimaru's curse seal.

Yes, through the year, Lei had accumulated almost immeasurable Reiryoku, rivaling even those beyond the captain rank. But near the end of the story, even beyond captain rank characters were harvested like wheat. 

All the Zero Guard members were eliminated in a single fight…

I can't get complacent. I need a way to go beyond my natural limits.

However, Lei quickly discovered a limitation in his research. He could create a rune that would provide him more reiryoku, but eventually, his body couldn't handle the pressure of too much stored energy.

One idea that intrigued him is the idea of imbuing hollow reiryoku into the curse seal. Hollows were known for their physical strength. Although the energy was inherently chaotic, if it could be balanced, Lei might have on his hands a way to perform a controlled hollowfication…

---

Ugh. 

Back in the present day, a soreness rang through Leo's body as he went to clean up the room. The uninhibited growth didn't come without some unexpected side effects: his reiryoku reserves were vast, but they also felt… heavy. It was as if his soul was struggling to contain the power within it. 

The feeling wasn't unpleasant, but it was a reminder that his growth, while rapid, was not infinite.

This is what "body creaking under the weight of your own spiritual pressure" must really mean. 

The wry thought made him chuckle, but also made him more keen to achieve the perfect curse seal. Fortunately, the upcoming Kanso training would give him an opportunity to get his hands on a hollow…