Boom—
Kurosaki Rei's body was sent flying backward, crashing through several carts loaded with teaching equipment. He twisted in midair, barely managing to stabilize himself before coming to a shaky stop.
He glanced down at the bamboo sword in his hand, savoring the profundity hidden within the Head Captain's last strike.
"That's enough for today, boy. You should have a pretty clear understanding of your shortcomings by now."
On the other side, the Head Captain draped his wide haori back over his shoulders and looked at Kurosaki Rei, who was covered in wounds.
"If you want to graduate early, you're still lacking."
Kurosaki Rei stretched his sore body. "I just want to join the Gotei Thirteen as soon as possible. I believe only real combat allows for faster growth."
Hearing this, the Head Captain halted mid-step as he was leaving the dojo. He turned back and said, "So that's what you're thinking. But you should also know that if you stay in the Academy for a few more years before graduating, you could start with a much higher position."
The students present were stunned by the Head Captain's bluntness—it was practically a direct hint.
With Kurosaki Rei's talent, his mastery of zan, hakuda, shunpo, and kidō was already top-tier within the Academy. If he stayed a few more years to polish his spiritual pressure, then upon graduation he could directly become a seated officer in the Gotei Thirteen—perhaps even a vice-captain!
But if Kurosaki Rei chose to skip grades and graduate at this term's final exam, constrained by his current spiritual pressure, he could only become an ordinary rank-and-file Shinigami. At best, a captain might take extra care of him due to his talent.
Kurosaki Rei met the Head Captain's gaze.
"A fledgling must leave the nest. Only in the sky can it fly higher."
The corners of the Head Captain's mouth lifted slightly beneath his white beard.
"In that case, I'll give you a chance. If you can satisfy the examiner, I'll allow you to graduate early."
With that, the Head Captain left the dojo—clearly his final lesson for Kurosaki Rei.
Kurosaki Rei walked back into the still-buzzing crowd, using Kaidō to treat his injuries as he went.
This was already his third swordsmanship spar with the Head Captain. The title of strongest Shinigami was no exaggeration—whether zan, hakuda, shunpo, or kidō, the Head Captain had no weaknesses.
So far, across seven total sparring sessions including barehanded combat, Kurosaki Rei's win record stood at a solid zero. Beating an old monster whose base attributes weren't even in the same dimension as his own was truly difficult.
But the Head Captain's purpose had always been to teach him. During their bouts, he deliberately demonstrated all kinds of high-level killing techniques, and Kurosaki Rei had gained tremendously from them.
Reflected on his status panel, several of Kurosaki Rei's core combat proficiencies had clearly improved, each rising by three levels.
Master-Level Swordsmanship Proficiency
Level: Lv. 23/40 (+3)
Effect: The explorer has achieved considerable accomplishment in swordsmanship and can be called a master of the generation. When attacking with bladed main weapons, damage is increased by 46%.
Master-Level Unarmed Combat Proficiency
Level: Lv. 21/40 (+3)
Effect: The explorer has achieved considerable accomplishment in unarmed combat and can be called a master of the generation. When attacking barehanded, damage is increased by 42%.
Master-Level Force Redirection Proficiency
Level: Lv. 24/40 (+5)
Effect: The explorer has heightened sensitivity to the flow of force in battle. When subjected to powerful impacts, force can be redirected and dispersed, greatly reducing damage taken from blunt-force shock.
Indeed, Kurosaki Rei's greatest improvement wasn't in unarmed combat or swordsmanship—but in force redirection.
The reason was simple: Head Captain Yamamoto was too damn fierce. In sparring, Kurosaki Rei was almost always at a disadvantage. To avoid being instantly crushed, the first thing he needed was to become harder to beat down.
Otherwise, facing the Head Captain—whose combat proficiencies were very likely already at the Grandmaster level—Kurosaki Rei would be smashed flat head-on.
"Rei-kun, are you really in such a hurry to graduate?"
After class, Aizen walked with Kurosaki Rei toward the cafeteria and couldn't help asking.
Kurosaki Rei smiled as he healed himself with Kaidō. "What, Sōsuke—are you afraid you'll be lonely?"
"Not at all,"
Aizen replied calmly. "I just think you could study for another two years. Raising your spiritual pressure wouldn't hurt. A Gotei Shinigami's daily life isn't exactly safe. When you're on missions in the World of the Living, anything can happen. If you're unlucky and run into a Gillian or worse, that's the end."
Kurosaki Rei thought to himself: I'd love to stay another two years and farm stats here—but the Terminus Space didn't give me that much time.
In two more days, it would be the final exams. And Terminus Space had clearly calculated this in advance—he only had four days of remaining stay time.
"Sōsuke, you know me pretty well," Kurosaki Rei said with a grin. "I just want to go out and find some excitement."
Then he patted Aizen on the shoulder.
"If you'll miss me that much, why not graduate with me?"
"Rei-kun, you're joking again,"
Aizen said evenly. "My zan, hakuda, shunpo, and kidō are far inferior to yours. On what basis would I graduate early?"
"Besides," he continued, "judging from the Head Captain's tone, I don't know how it worked in the past, but this time, early graduation will probably be extremely difficult. If a captain is the examiner, there's no way you'll be able to 'pass.'"
Aizen had already reasoned through the situation.
The Head Captain admired Kurosaki Rei and didn't want him to graduate early. He wanted Kurosaki Rei to understand that there was always someone stronger, to stay in the Academy and be hammered into divine steel before being thrown onto the battlefield.
Under such circumstances, any examiner chosen would undoubtedly be pushed to the limit. Given Kurosaki Rei's absurd proficiency in zan, hakuda, shunpo, and kidō, even a vice-captain—if they didn't rely on raw spiritual pressure—wouldn't be guaranteed a win.
Which meant the examiner would most likely be a captain of the Gotei Thirteen. Even with suppressed spiritual pressure, how could Kurosaki Rei possibly win?
Taken together, Aizen felt the Head Captain was merely finding an excuse to suppress Kurosaki Rei again. There was no real intention of letting him graduate early.
"But Sōsuke, you can already use Shikai,"
Kurosaki Rei said as he set a huge basin of rice onto the table, preparing to replenish his strength.
"Very few Shinigami can do that while still in the Academy. You're a genius in your own right—graduating early shouldn't be hard for you."
"Rei-kun flatters me,"
Aizen replied with a sigh. "Since you've already made up your mind, all I can do is wish you success in passing the Head Captain's test—and setting a new record for the fastest graduation in the Academy's history."
Truth be told, under normal circumstances, graduating early wouldn't be hard for Aizen. There had been plenty of prodigies in the Academy's history who graduated after just two or three years.
The Academy didn't deliberately hold back geniuses. As long as zan, hakuda, shunpo, and kidō were excellent and spiritual pressure was strong enough, graduation was allowed.
For example, if a student maxed out zan, hakuda, shunpo, and kidō and had tenth-grade spiritual pressure, they could graduate immediately and enter the Gotei Thirteen as a seated officer—albeit a lower seat.
Aizen himself already had fifth-grade spiritual pressure. If he truly wanted to graduate, he was more than qualified.
The problem was that Kurosaki Rei was being far too eye-catching.
This term, anyone attempting early graduation would almost certainly face the same fate as Kurosaki Rei—
challenging a captain.
So whether considering his long-term goals or the sheer difficulty of this early-graduation challenge, Aizen had no intention of joining Kurosaki Rei.
They would meet again in the Gotei Thirteen—someday in the future.
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