"Reiatsu: Tier-13!"
"Name: Tori Nishikawa."
"Origin: North Third District."
"Pass!"
"Line up over here."
Before the Hakutō Gate, young candidates with spiritual talent, gathered by the Gotei 13 from across the Soul Society, assembled on a nearby clearing.
A Shinigami stood by a Reiatsu Crystal, watching as each youth pressed their hand to its surface. At the crystal's other end, a corresponding Reiatsu tier appeared.
With the Gotei 13 short on personnel, this batch of Shin'ō Academy recruits faced minimal requirements, anyone with Tier-20 or higher spiritual talent could enroll.
But even "Tier-20" was no small feat.
It was the Seireitei nobles' hard-won benchmark, derived from countless experiments, marking the minimum Reiatsu needed to awaken a Zanpakuto.
Those below it weren't without talent, but their Reiatsu was too weak to commune with a Zanpakuto.
Among these gathered youths, nearly half fell short of even Tier-20, barely scraping by at nineteenth or eighteenth if they passed at all.
So when a candidate neared "seated officer" level, it sparked a wave of gasps from the crowd.
Even the boy himself, Tori Nishikawa, was stunned, his face alight with joy as a formal Shinigami led him to the "passed" line, drawing envious stares.
Makoto arrived at the Hakutō Gate to this scene.
"Where were these recruits gathered from?"
"Just this many?"
He casually asked Sasakibe beside him.
Chōjirō Sasakibe smiled, "Some time ago, Captain Commander Yamamoto planned to run Shin'ō Academy like the old Genji School. With limited instructors, we only posted recruitment notices in Rukongai's first five districts."
"These kids probably rushed here after seeing the posters."
"Posters?"
Makoto blinked, "No other measures?"
Sasakibe looked puzzled, "What else does recruitment need?"
"Our manpower's stretched thin. Covering the nearby five districts in such a short time was tough enough."
"No wonder."
Makoto eyed the queue.
The line before the Hakutō Gate looked long but barely numbered three hundred, with over half failing the minimum standard. In the end, maybe a hundred apprentices would be admitted from Rukongai.
What did this say?
The Seireitei's grip on Rukongai was, at best, tenuous.
Thinking it over, it made sense.
After the Seireitei war, the Genji School, even with surrendered noble forces, barely topped a thousand.
The Gotei 13's current combat strength was under thirteen hundred, each division averaging less than a hundred.
Makoto knew his own combat division had just eighty-some fighters.
Control the vast Rukongai with that?
"How many talents are we missing?"
Makoto wondered if this small pool of testers might yield a seated officer-caliber candidate.
Just then, the formal Shinigami up front froze, shouting,
"Reiatsu: Tier-6!"
"Name: Tokinada Tsunayashiro!"
"Origin: Seireitei."
"Pass!"
The crowd fell silent.
Not just the waiting recruits, but even the Shinigami maintaining order stared in shock.
Innate Tier-6 Reiatsu, already a high seated officer's level.
This was their future boss.
Unconsciously, their gazes grew respectful.
The youth, Tokinada, merely smiled with poised confidence, striding to the front of the passed line.
No one grumbled; instead, they looked at him with reverence.
Some seemed ready to kneel.
The commoners' fear of nobles hadn't been erased by the Genryū Faction's victory.
Just "Origin: Seireitei" was enough to cow them all.
And he wasn't alone.
The registering Shinigami's voice grew louder.
"Reiatsu: Tier-8."
"Marenoshin Ōmaeda!"
"Reiatsu: Tier-4!"
"Shunsui Kyōraku!"
"Reiatsu: Tier-4!"
"Jūshirō Ukitake!"
Name after name, each with extraordinary Reiatsu, poured from the Shinigami's mouth. The recruits' reactions shifted from shock to numbness, then acceptance.
Every one of these candidates shared a single tag.
Seireitei.
What did it mean?
These were lofty noble lords!
Bloodline, legacy, talent, ability, status.
All seemed naturally entwined, intrinsic to being "noble," leaving common-born recruits without the courage to compare, shrinking like quails.
The noble heirs, ignoring the stares, walked to the front of the queue as the crowd parted like the sea before Moses.
"Such promising kids."
Makoto watched their calm indifference, as if this were only natural, and let out a soft sigh.
Sasakibe, missing the subtext, nodded, "Indeed, two youths hitting Tier-4 Reiatsu so young? The nobles must've sent their prized heirs."
"No, they were abandoned."
Makoto shook his head in denial.
Sasakibe turned his head, puzzled.
With a smile, Makoto pointed at the young men ahead and asked, "Do you think, before they die, they could ever surpass Yamamoto-sama?"
"Of course not," Sasakibe replied matter-of-factly.
"And that's why they've been placed within the Gotei 13."
Direct confrontation wouldn't work, so a softer approach became necessary.
Makoto saw through the nobles' ulterior motives, but a subtle weight settled in his heart.
"Still, letting this continue unchecked won't do."
In the early days of the Gotei 13, aside from the 2nd Division Captain, Chika Shihoin, who joined their side through battlefield loyalty, the other twelve were ruthless killers forged blade by blade in Rukongai.
But what about a thousand years later?
On the surface, the 2nd Division seemed to have hastily replaced its captain, yet it remained firmly in the Shihoin family's grasp. Even without Yoruichi, her successor, Yushiro, rose to captain-level strength in just a century.
The 6th Division became, without pretense, the private domain of the Kuchiki family, passed from ancestor to father, father to son, proudly dubbed the noble division.
The 8th Division never changed captains, remaining under the iron grip of Shunsui, a high-ranking noble.
The 10th Division was once securely held by Shiba Isshin, head of a branch family. Had he not met trouble in the Living World, and had Shiba Kaien, head of the main family, not perished to a Hollow decades ago, the captain's seat would never have changed hands. With Hitsugaya Toshiro as a ready substitute, the main and branch families ensured the position stayed within their control.
The 13th Division, much like the 8th, was led by Ukitake, a noble and representative of Mimihagi.
An organization once known as a band of killers had, in less than a millennium, seen nearly half its divisions claimed by nobles right under everyone's noses.
When Yamamoto, the anchor of the Gotei 13, passed, the entire organization fell into Shunsui's hands.
Anyone with a shred of awareness could see what this meant.
To maintain the organization's strength while ensuring their own positions weren't usurped, there was only one solution, continuously unearth more promising recruits.
That alone was a task the current Gotei 13 could not achieve.
"It seems we'll need to roll out a system, exemptions for those who pass, benefits for their districts, and reporting spiritual potential," Makoto mused, gazing at the hesitant Rukongai civilians behind him.
Sometimes, he had to admit, in an ancient world, old-school methods worked best.
With few applicants, the screening process was straightforward, so the records outside Hakuto Gate didn't take long.
Soon, the passing recruits were led through Hakuto Gate by official Shinigami.
The rest left with sighs of disappointment.
The recruitment notice painted an enticing picture of life as a Shinigami, naturally leaving them to lament their lost opportunity.
Shunsui, hands tucked into his sleeves, strolled leisurely at the front of the group led by Shinigami.
His steps seemed slow, but each light stride covered a great distance, keeping him firmly at the head of the line. The scruffy young man's gaze wandered, marveling at his surroundings.
Clearly, this was the basic application of Shunpo.
At the school building's plaza, another group of stern Shinigami stood waiting, their gazes cold toward the newcomers.
These were officers handpicked by Yamamoto, deemed worthy of further training and possessing greater potential.
Given their talent and battlefield prowess, as Makoto-sama put it, they should be called "advanced officers."
But with Shin'o Academy hastily established, they became part of the first batch of students.
Shunsui's gaze didn't linger on them, instead turning to the school building.
"This place is built rather nicely, isn't it?"
"The Genryu folks don't seem as averse to comfort as the reports claimed."
Shunsui muttered under his breath.
"Shunsui!"
His words barely left his mouth before a sharp reprimand came from a silver-haired youth beside him.
Ukitake glared fiercely, making Shunsui shudder.
This friend of his was always like this, a total nag.
With a resigned drawl, Shunsui replied, "Yes, yes~"
"It's the Gotei 13 now!"
Ukitake frowned, carefully reminding him, "Don't think the war's end means no one will come for you over something like this."
"Even though the Onmitsukido is nominally under Shihoin-sama, that shadowy Inner Court Troop is entirely his."
For these newly defeated former nobles, their status was precarious.
After all, at the old negotiation table, Makoto, rumored to be a perverse killer with a foot fetish, had, with his overwhelming might, stripped all but the five great noble families, with their million-year legacies, of their titles.
Not long ago, the Ryōdoji family faced severe repercussions over "restoration" issues, with most of its members exiled to the Dangai.
The war between the Gotei 13 and the nobles wasn't truly over.
Their current status still marked them as enemies in a subtle sense.
Ukitake didn't even dare utter "Genryusai" directly.
"Enemies, huh…"
Shunsui sighed.
As the second son of his family, his exceptional combat talent wasn't exactly a blessing in the noble era.
Yet, after the Genryu invasion, that talent made him one of his family's few pillars in these chaotic times.
In a way, it was bitterly ironic.
"So what if we say it?"
As the two whispered, a jarring voice cut in.
Kyouraku and Ukitake turned to see Tokinada, smirking slyly, having approached unnoticed.
"The Genryu are only called that because Genryusai-sama stands with them, right?"
"Without him, what could the rest of those guys amount to?"
He spoke loudly, ensuring everyone nearby heard.
His words sparked outrage among the official Shinigami.
"Insolent!"
"Do you even know what you're saying?"
"Take it back, now!"
"Damn it, I said we should've cut down these nobles!"
"Ungrateful wretch!"
Their hands instinctively gripped their Zanpakuto hilts.
Though they were fellow Shin'o Academy students, these advanced officers didn't see themselves as kin to these fallen nobles.
Fresh from the war against Seireitei's nobles, these battle-hardened veterans wouldn't easily forget the bloodshed and grudges.
Kyouraku and Ukitake exchanged a glance, instinctively stepping in front of Tokinada, ready to defuse the situation.
But Tokinada, ever arrogant, didn't bother hiding his disdain for them.
Even Yamamoto couldn't strip his Tsunayashiro of their "family name."
That was the pride of the five great noble families.
Just as tensions peaked…
A childish, curious voice echoed in everyone's minds.
[Oh my?]
[What a thrilling duel, kido!]
[Hot-blooded boys like you, even if you became cute girls, your guts would still be fiery, right?]
[Spin that blades, whoever it lands on gets boobs, hey!]
Instantly, silence fell.
Tokinada froze, staring toward the advanced officers.
They parted, revealing Makoto and Sasakibe.
Sasakibe stepped aside.
Makoto, with an innocent look, stood exposed to everyone's gaze.
Ah! That's the unspeakable… that guy.
Right?
The noble students all thought the same thing upon seeing him.
Noticing their subtle looks, Makoto's mind echoed with a single phrase.
This motherfucker!
***
Bonus Chapter:
100 Power Stones = 1 BC
300 Power Stones = 2 BC
500 Power Stones = 3 BC
700 Power Stones = 4 BC
1000 Power Stones = 5 BC
***
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