An Unexpected Result

"Hadō #11, Tsuzuri Raiden."

Boom! A bolt of golden lightning sprang from her fingertip and raced along the iron chain. It soon reached the dart and enveloped the target.

In moments, the entire target was reduced to ash.

Momo Hinamori let out a deep breath of relief.

"That was amazing, Momo," Rukia exclaimed.

Even Teacher Ōunabara Gengorō could not help praising her. "A Hadō numbered eleven. Very good."

With a flourish of his pen, he wrote down "excellent, medium."

Rukia planted her hands on her hips and waited until her friends were all looking at her before extending both hands in front of her.

Her black eyes fixed on the distant target, and she began to chant:

"O sovereign, mask of flesh and blood, all things in creation, take flight on your wings, that which bears the name of humanity."

"How is that possible? When did Rukia..." Renji Abarai's eyes widened.

The highest-numbered Kidō taught at the academy was only number forty.

And now, the Kidō his friend Rukia had begun chanting was already above thirty.

This was...

"Scorching heat and strife, surging waves of the sea, advance south."

"Hadō #31, Shakkahō."

A round, red mass of highly concentrated Reishi appeared in front of Rukia's palm.

As her voice fell, a cannon boomed, and the red projectile blasted toward the target ahead.

Boom! The Shakkahō smashed the target apart, which failed to stop it even a little.

After piercing the target, it blasted a large hole in the wall, sending smoke and dust billowing everywhere.

"Rukia, that was amazing!" Momo Hinamori rushed over, clapping her hands repeatedly.

"You really are incredible," Izuru Kira praised her with a smile.

"How is that possible?" Teacher Ōunabara Gengorō hurried forward and stood beside Rukia, asking urgently:

"When did you learn the number thirty-one Shakkahō?"

Rukia put her hands on her hips and raised her head. "I learned it yesterday."

"Good, very good." Teacher Ōunabara Gengorō nodded happily and scribbled "excellent, high" in his notebook.

Then he looked at Tokoyo Misao with great anticipation.

During this month of teaching, Ōu, as their teacher, had naturally noticed this outstanding little group, and Tokoyo Misao was at its center.

If he could produce a student of special excellence, his bonus for the month would at least double.

At the thought, he stood there smiling and watched Tokoyo Misao along with Rukia and the others, waiting quietly.

Tokoyo Misao held his right hand out level, fingers pointing skyward, and opened his mouth to chant slowly:

"O sovereign, mask of flesh and blood, all things in creation take flight on their wings, that which bears the proof of humanity."

"What? You can use the number thirty-one Hadō too? But your Rei'i Grade is only fourteenth class!" Renji Abarai cried out.

Rukia could use Shakkahō, numbered as high as thirty-one, entirely because her own Rei'i was at the peak of eleventh class.

If someone did not have enough Reishi, using a high-numbered Kidō was just courting death.

But Tokoyo Misao's Rei'i was clearly only fourteenth class, so how could he use the number thirty-one Shakkahō?

Just then, Tokoyo Misao actually turned his head and smiled at Renji Abarai.

"Who said I was using Shakkahō? Listen carefully, Red-Haired Baboon."

"Huh?" Renji Abarai's mouth fell open, and he stood there dumbfounded.

"You can interrupt the chant too?" Momo Hinamori exclaimed in shock.

Izuru Kira's mouth hung open, but he was completely unable to speak.

He turned to look at Teacher Ōu beside him, only to see that he too was standing there with his mouth open, stunned.

Rukia folded her arms and said seriously:

"Misao can not only interrupt a chant and then continue it, he can even use Kidō in stranger ways."

Momo Hinamori was just about to ask what those strange ways of using Kidō were.

Tokoyo Misao resumed chanting:

"Truth and temperance, stand with only your claws and fangs upon the wall of dreams that heals without treatment."

"Hadō #33, Sōkatsui."

A ball of blue flame no bigger than a ping-pong ball flew out with a whoosh, struck the distant target, and burned it to nothing.

Everyone around him stood with their mouths open and eyes bulging, completely unable to speak.

A moment later, Teacher Ōu sighed.

"Being able to use the number thirty-three Hadō through Reishi Manipulation taken to the extreme is already quite remarkable.

Although it only produced about one-twentieth of Sōkatsui's power, that's still fairly good."

As he spoke, he wrote "excellent, high" in his notebook, then shook his head and left with a sigh.

Chapter 17: An Unexpected Result

The Central Spiritual Arts Academy cafeteria.

Tokoyo Misao and the others were eating together.

Momo Hinamori said with some concern, "I heard the teacher say the class assignment list will be announced this afternoon. I wonder if we'll get into the Special Training Class."

"Idiot, of course we'll get in! We're the best among this year's new students.

"You and Kira have both reached Twelfth-Class Rei'i, and you got excellent in three areas of zankensoki. There's absolutely no problem." As Renji Abarai spoke, he turned to look at Rukia beside him.

"Rukia is also close to breaking through from Eleventh-Class Rei'i to tenth class. That's a level only high-ranking Seated Officers possess, and she got excellent in all four areas of zankensoki. There's absolutely no problem."

Finally, his gaze fell on Tokoyo Misao, who held a greasy chicken leg in his right hand, biting into it and chewing with a satisfied look in his eyes.

"Although Brother Misao's Rei'i Grade was only fourteenth class during the test, he's strong in actual combat, so he should get a lot of extra points. Even I can't beat him."

He gritted his teeth and glared at Tokoyo Misao as he said the last sentence.

He also knew that without Misao's help over the past month, he could never have reached Rei'i Grade twelve.

Much less gotten excellent in two areas of zankensoki while also securing a passing grade in Kidō.

Over the time they had spent together, he had long since come to see Tokoyo Misao as a companion and even respected him somewhat.

But the problem was... Renji Abarai glanced at Rukia's profile out of the corner of his eye.

He roared in his heart once more: I absolutely won't admit defeat!

"Hahaha, hearing Renji lay it out like that, I feel like we can all get into the Special Training Class." Kira laughed in agreement. "And we have Brother Misao to thank for it."

Tokoyo Misao heard someone calling him and looked up.

After hearing Kira's thanks, he reached out with his greasy hand and snatched today's special chicken leg straight off Kira's tray.

"This is my thank-you gift."

He opened his mouth and took a great bite, grease running from the corner of his mouth to his chin and dripping onto the table.

"Misao, can't you eat a little more gracefully? It's already been a month. Why are you still like a starving ghost?"

Rukia pulled a handkerchief from her sleeve as naturally as could be, reached over, and gave Tokoyo Misao's chin a few vigorous wipes.

Tokoyo Misao ignored her completely and continued his great undertaking of devouring the chicken leg.

The three across from them watched the scene.

Renji clenched his teeth even harder, while Kira quietly looked at Momo Hinamori beside him.

Momo Hinamori rested her chin on her hands and smiled at the two across from her, looking thoroughly content.

Dong, dong, dong. The assembly bell rang.

This year's new students returned from the cafeteria to the training ground and took their places.

Teacher Ōunabara Gengorō strode onto the platform at the training ground, surveyed everyone below, and said without preamble:

"The roster for this year's Special Excellence Training Class is as follows."

"Renji Abarai."

"Oh! I knew it!" Renji Abarai bounced excitedly on the spot.

Teacher Ōu did not reprimand him. Instead, he smiled and nodded at him, then waited a few seconds before continuing, "Izuru Kira."

"Hahaha, I knew you'd make it," Renji Abarai laughed, reaching out to pat Kira on the shoulder.

"Yeah." Kira also broke into a delighted smile.

"Momo Hinamori."

"Yay, I made it too! That's great, Rukia, we can still be classmates!"

Hearing Teacher Ōu call her name, Momo Hinamori turned around happily, ran over, and took Rukia's hand as she spoke with a smile.

"My name hasn't been called yet." Despite saying that, Rukia kept smiling, fully confident that she would get into the Special Training Class.

Because, simply put, the Special Training Class was a path for gifted students to advance quickly.

A Soul Reaper with Twelfth-Class Rei'i was already fully qualified to serve as a Seated Officer, so that was also the minimum requirement for the Special Training Class.

To this day, none of the Gotei 13's squads had a full complement of Seated Officers, and they were extremely eager for talent.

Not only had Rukia possessed Eleventh-Class Rei'i from the start, she was now on the verge of breaking through to tenth class.

Tenth-Class Rei'i was the dividing line in the entire Soul Reaper Rei'i system. To serve as a high-ranking Seated Officer, one had to reach Tenth-Class Rei'i.

In other words, Rukia was undoubtedly the most gifted among this year's new students.

"How could you possibly fail to get into the Special Training Class, Rukia?" Momo Hinamori smiled and patted the back of her hand, then turned to look at Tokoyo Misao, who was yawning. "Let's go celebrate at a tavern in Junrinan later."

"If you're treating, I'm definitely going." Hearing that they could eat and drink at a tavern, Misao perked up a little.

"Those are all the members of the Special Training Class."

Just then, Teacher Ōunabara Gengorō's voice rang out from the platform.

"What happened? Rukia and Tokoyo Misao didn't make it?"

"Something's wrong, isn't it? Rukia has the highest Rei'i Grade, and Tokoyo Misao is unbeatable in actual combat. How could they not be selected?"

"Could there be something going on behind the scenes?"

The other students made no effort to lower their voices. They were genuinely astonished and simply spoke their minds.

Rukia's previously confident face turned deathly pale in an instant.

She looked up at the teacher on the platform in disbelief, her lips moving a few times, but no sound came out.

Tokoyo Misao, meanwhile, was as listless as ever. He looked like someone who had just eaten his fill, too sluggish to muster any energy and growing sleepy.

Renji Abarai ran up to the teacher in two strides, clenched his fists, and shouted:

"That's not right, Teacher! There must have been some mistake."

Teacher Ōu lowered his head slightly, put the roster behind his back, and said in a low voice:

"What matters most in the Special Training Class is potential and room for future growth."

Still holding his head down, he stared fixedly at Renji Abarai without so much as glancing toward Rukia or Tokoyo Misao. His fist gripped the roster tightly behind his back.

"All of you made great improvements to your Rei'i Grades over this past month, reaching twelfth class.

"But Rukia had Eleventh-Class Rei'i when she enrolled.

"A month has passed, yet he hasn't improved to tenth class. That proves his aptitude is lacking."