Seeing the usually arrogant-looking Renji being so respectful and polite toward Ethan, Ichigo became curious about Ethan's identity again.
When he mentioned this to Renji during a break in training, Renji looked at Ichigo with an expression that said, "You actually don't know?"
"What? Is he really that famous?"
Both Ikkaku's and Renji's reactions reminded Ichigo that Ethan's true identity was definitely not as simple as "just a very ordinary captain" as he claimed.
"You don't know who he is?"
"I only know that he was originally a captain of the Gotei 13."
Renji confirmed that Ichigo really did not know.
"Mr. Ethan was indeed the former... no, he should be the former former Captain of the Tenth Division."
The current Captain of the Tenth Division is Hitsugaya Toshiro, the most famous genius in Soul Society at the moment. The former Captain of the Tenth Division was Shiba Isshin, who suddenly disappeared twenty years ago. Before him was Ethan.
Renji did not give Ichigo a full history lesson on the changes of the Tenth Division captains. Letting Ichigo understand that Ethan was the former former Captain of the Tenth Division was enough.
"He wasn't in office for long, but many Shinigami still remember his name to this day."
"Why is that?"
According to Renji's description, Ethan only stayed in the position of Tenth Division Captain for about ten years, then left Soul Society with Kisuke, the then Captain of the Twelfth Division, and Yoruichi, the Captain of the Second Division.
The specific reasons are unknown to most Shinigami now, and the few seniors who do know will not discuss it. They only know that the matter seemed very serious at the time.
Some older Shinigami know the details, but youngsters like Renji are not clear about the specifics.
Hearing Renji call himself a youngster, then hearing that he had only joined the Gotei 13 a few decades ago, Ichigo felt a strange sensation.
"You still haven't explained why Mr. Ethan only served as a captain for such a short time but has such a great reputation."
"Because Mr. Ethan took in a student during his time as captain."
"A student?"
Ichigo understood. The key was this student.
"Is this student very powerful?"
Renji suddenly put on a very serious expression and spoke a name that shocked Ichigo.
"The current Captain of the Sixth Division, Kuchiki Byakuya!"
For both Renji and Ichigo, the name Byakuya held special significance.
Although Renji was the Lieutenant of the Sixth Division and Byakuya's subordinate, his greatest ambition was to one day surpass Byakuya and prove that his ability was enough to be Kuchiki Rukia's friend.
Perhaps there were deeper thoughts, but at this moment he did not dare to think that far. He was only a youngster intimidated by the name of the Kuchiki family.
As for Ichigo, the first time he felt powerless was against Byakuya. The gap between them was indescribably huge. He did not even understand what had happened before his Shinigami powers were nullified by the other party.
Although Kisuke and Ethan appeared later, they still could not compare to the deep impression Byakuya left on him.
"I didn't expect... Mr. Ethan is actually that person's teacher?"
"Yeah. I didn't expect that you would also be his student."
Renji learned this information from Ikkaku. His first reaction was disbelief, but then it felt more reasonable. Otherwise, there was no explanation for why the previously naive young fellow's strength had increased so rapidly.
Now everything made sense. It turned out he had found such a powerful teacher.
Although many Shinigami in the Seireitei believed that Ethan's reputation was mostly due to Byakuya, and many thought that even without Ethan, Byakuya, as the head of the Kuchiki family, would not be much weaker, perhaps Ethan was not as powerful as the rumors suggested.
But as the Lieutenant of the Sixth Division, Renji would not think that way.
Although he had not been in the Sixth Division for long, he could feel how much respect Byakuya had for his teacher. When Byakuya guided him in training, he would often unintentionally mention his teacher.
Furthermore, Renji had also spent time in the Eleventh Division. Besides Byakuya, the place where various rumors about Ethan circulated the most was the Eleventh Division.
Therefore, Renji would never believe that Ethan had no real power and had only happened to accept a good student.
On the contrary, he believed that if Ethan were not extremely powerful, with his background completely unrelated to the nobility, it would have been impossible for him to become the teacher of the heir of the Kuchiki family, one of the Four Great Noble Clans.
"I hope you can guide me in my training."
Renji did not want to miss this opportunity. After explaining Ethan's situation to Ichigo, he went directly to Ethan, bowed respectfully, and asked Ethan to give him some guidance.
"Ah, anyway, I'm going to teach Ichigo. You can just join in."
"Huh?"
Renji had already prepared himself. He was determined to seize this opportunity, and if Ethan disagreed, he planned to shamelessly pester him.
Having such a powerful teacher guide him would definitely be much better than figuring things out blindly on his own.
He never expected Ethan to agree so readily.
"Teaching one is teaching, teaching two is teaching. It makes no difference to me anyway."
He glanced at the stunned Renji.
"What? Is there a problem?"
"No problem at all. Thank you very much."
Looking at Renji's respectful attitude, Ichigo suddenly felt a sense that he was actually very lucky.
Because of this feeling, Ichigo became very serious during the subsequent training. He carefully remembered Ethan's casual guidance, which surprised Ethan a little. This kid did not seem like such an obedient student before.
He glanced at Renji beside him and understood why.
During this training, Ichigo's strength steadily increased until evening, when a massive spiritual pressure suddenly erupted.
A powerful gust of wind that stung the cheeks kicked up a large cloud of dust. When the dust settled, Ichigo appeared within it, and his clothes seemed to have changed.
"Bankai?"
Renji looked at Ichigo, whose appearance had clearly changed a lot. Even the Zanpakuto in his hand had become much more slender and compact. It was now actually the size of a normal Zanpakuto. The Zanpakuto Ichigo used before had simply been too large.
"Probably not."
If it were the original Ichigo, he would definitely consider this current state his Bankai. But now he had a relatively sufficient understanding of his own power. Just now, he had only used all the power he could control at once, and this change occurred as a result.
"This form you are in now indicates that your spiritual power has become more condensed."
The reason Ichigo's Zanpakuto was so large was ultimately his insufficient control over his own spiritual power. He had merely forced the vast spiritual power into the shape of a sword.
Only now, in this state, had he truly stepped past the threshold and condensed his Zanpakuto into a normal form.
"Also, this set of clothes can enhance your speed and attack power."
Just like the Quincy's Blut Arterie, Ichigo's current form was essentially a Shinigami version of Blut Arterie. It could be considered a preliminary fusion of Shinigami and Quincy powers.
As for the black color, that should symbolize the portion of power from the Hollow. Although the proportion of Hollow power within Ichigo was not large right now, its influence was still quite noticeable.
"You can try it. If you truly have sufficient control over your power, this form should also be able to enhance your defense."
Blut Vene can greatly increase defense and can even completely nullify attacks from those with lower spiritual pressure.
The Quincy's Blut has one form for offense and one for defense. These are very useful abilities. The drawback is that these two states cannot coexist. Only one can be activated at a time.
However, Ichigo's situation is special. Ethan believed that he could fully activate both forms of Blut at the same time. Instead of infusing spiritual power into the blood, it functioned as an outer garment close to the body, so activating both simultaneously was not impossible.
It only required a higher level of control over spirit particles to use two completely different methods of spiritual power operation at the same time.
"But... Zangetsu is still fooling Ichigo."
Zangetsu said he would release more power for Ichigo to use without reservation, but it seemed that it was still mainly Quincy power. However, Ethan was already too lazy to bother with it.
After Ichigo experienced this great increase in strength, Renji finally mastered Bankai as well.
Compared with Ichigo's last minute breakthrough, Renji had already been only one step away from Bankai. With Ethan's guidance, he successfully broke through the final barrier and mastered the incomplete Bankai, Hihio Zabimaru.
Of course, Renji did not know that his Bankai was incomplete. After mastering Bankai, he was ready to rush to the Shrine of Penitence to rescue Rukia.
"Going there in this state is just suicide."
"I know I just mastered Bankai and definitely can't compare to Captain Kuchiki, who has mastered Bankai for who knows how long..."
"No." Ethan raised his hand to stop Renji. "What I mean is that you haven't mastered Bankai at all. Bringing out something this half finished is just embarrassing."
"What?"
Renji did not expect Ethan to say he had not mastered Bankai. He had clearly achieved it.
"Your spiritual pressure increase is too low. That can't be explained by just having learned it recently. Renji, does your Zanpakuto have two consciousnesses?"
Ethan's words reminded Renji. He immediately understood what was happening. He had only gained the approval of one of the two personalities.
(To be continued.)