Equal-Opportunity Barbs

A year had 365 days. Five days on, two off...

Over a hundred years...

Rounded generously, that was practically thirty thousand seeds.

Although each seed absorbed only the spiritual power a soul unconsciously released into the air, little by little, that would still become an utterly terrifying rate of reiryoku accumulation.

'At that point, I won't be training alone. The entire Gotei 13 will be helping me grow stronger.'

Thinking of that, Akira's mouth curved, and he could not help showing a faint smile.

Seinosuke Yamada, standing beside him, noticed Akira's pleased and relaxed expression. One eyebrow rose as he asked, "Morisawa, are you that happy about joining the Fourth Division?"

Akira paused slightly, then quickly answered with a firm look.

"Of course. Saving lives and treating injuries is my dream. From the day I entered Shin'o Academy, I have looked forward to joining the Fourth Division and becoming a proud, honorable Shinigami..."

He paused, looked at Seinosuke's cool, caustic face, and continued, "Right now, I feel as if my dream is already within reach. How could I not be happy?"

"Mm..."

Seinosuke nodded, then said dryly, "You're celebrating a little too soon."

Akira froze.

Seeing Akira's expression go blank from the verbal jab, Seinosuke smiled, then continued as if nothing had happened.

"Akira Morisawa, you are certain you want to apply to join the Fourth Division, correct?"

"Yes."

"Good. Then wait here for a little while. Once I finish recruiting the other graduates, we will talk in more detail."

With that, Seinosuke went straight back to busying himself with the recruitment of the other graduates.

Akira took the opportunity to say goodbye to Ikkaku Madarame and Yumichika Ayasegawa, while also giving them a stern lecture over their unilateral stunt.

To be fair, it was precisely because Ikkaku and Yumichika had tried to abduct him into the Eleventh Division that Akira had been given the chance, through a strange twist of fate, to plant a Forest Seed inside Kenpachi Zaraki.

Even so, Akira still made his position very clear. If anything similar happened again, he would retaliate. Consider that his only warning.

Ikkaku, for his part, was quite reluctant to part with Akira. He declared that whenever he had time, he would definitely visit Akira at the Fourth Division.

Akira, who understood Ikkaku's personality rather well, did not doubt that at all.

With Ikkaku being all appetite for fighting and not nearly enough caution, once he officially entered the Eleventh Division and joined a crowd of combat maniacs, it probably would not take long before he was carried into a Fourth Division sickroom.

As for Yumichika, he did not say much. He merely expressed some regret. Still, the faintly unreadable look in Yumichika's eyes made Akira tense up by instinct.

However, Ikkaku and Yumichika still had to recruit a batch of graduates on Kenpachi Zaraki's behalf, so they soon became busy as well.

The graduates in the auditorium hesitated and agonized, and the initial Division selections ended up taking more than an hour.

After that, the representatives of each Division led their selected graduates out of the auditorium and began their internal assessments inside Shin'o Academy.

Seinosuke, however, did not seem inclined to remain at Shin'o Academy. He led eighteen graduates, Akira included, away from the academy and into the Seireitei.

The Seireitei.

The center of Soul Society's ruling and military institutions. Outside the towering white walls that separated it from the rest of the world lay the chaotic and impoverished Rukongai. Inside stood the magnificent Seireitei, the place the Shinigami of the Gotei 13 were sworn to protect.

After Seinosuke led the graduates into the Seireitei, he spent the entire walk introducing them to the area's layout, the locations of each Division's compound, the special districts, the various forbidden rules, and more.

"Um, Lieutenant Yamada..."

As Seinosuke spoke at length, a hesitant voice rose from among the line of graduates.

"Is it really all right to explain these things to us in advance? Have we already passed the Fourth Division's assessment?"

"Of course."

Seinosuke turned his head to look at the tall graduate with conspicuous short silver-gray hair. He lowered his gaze to the roster in his hand and said, "Isane Kotetsu, correct?"

"Yes, Lieutenant Yamada," Isane hurriedly replied.

"Mm. Correct. Starting today, all of you are already members of the Fourth Division," Seinosuke said.

"Huh? But... haven't we skipped the Division assessment?"

Isane asked uneasily, "If our Kaido and medical skills are not up to standard, would that not affect the injured?"

"That sort of thing is not important at all..."

Seinosuke shook his head and said with a smile, "Even if you know absolutely no Kaido, it is fine. The Fourth Division is also extremely short-handed when it comes to moving corpses."

In an instant, Isane's face turned rather pale. The expressions of the other graduates also grew ugly.

After all, eighteen graduates had applied to join the Fourth Division this time, and most of them had been won over by Captain Unohana's gentle air and wanted to become her subordinates.

But... moving corpses?

They had not practiced Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Shunpo, and Kido every day just to end up hauling dead bodies, damn it.

For a moment, most of the graduates' expressions darkened, and the looks they directed at Seinosuke filled with resentment.

After all, aside from an odd case like Akira, who was genuinely devoted to Kaido and medicine, the vast majority of Shin'o Academy students focused most of their energy on Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Shunpo, and Kido, the four foundational combat techniques of the Shinigami.

As for Kaido, it was only a special branch under Kido. It was not one of Shin'o Academy's main examination subjects, and it accounted for a very small portion of their scores.

Because of that, a considerable number of students only had the most basic grasp of Kaido. At best, they could probably manage some emergency bleeding control.

Even among the graduates who had applied to the Fourth Division, most were not especially confident in their Kaido.

After Seinosuke's words struck them down, some of the graduates gradually began to shut down completely.

Even Akira had to admit that Seinosuke's sharp tongue was completely unconcealed. It seemed to launch indiscriminate attacks at every moment.

'Maybe the Fourth Division is short-handed every year partly because it got stuck with a lieutenant this sharp-tongued.'

Akira roasted Seinosuke in his mind as well.

'If Sosuke Aizen were the lieutenant, with that flawless surface gentleness and approachability of his, the Fourth Division probably wouldn't be short-handed at all.'

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