Tōshirō's Decision

Soon, a few days passed, and after a period of rest, the students returned to campus. The impact of the incident was minimized by Central 46, and fewer and fewer people discussed it. It must be said that Central 46 is quite adept at handling such matters.

The Soul Society returned to its former tranquility. Ye Yang continued to fulfill his responsibilities as a teacher. Eleven more students joined Class One, bringing the total number of students from twenty-seven to thirty-eight. However, it was uncertain how many of them would be able to stay.

Ye Yang's Class 1 of the third grade became the most coveted class in the entire school. They had witnessed the incident firsthand. Class 2 suffered heavy losses, with only Shūhei remaining from the sixth graders who went with them. However, Class 1 did not suffer any casualties. This alone was enough to prove that Class 1's strength far surpassed that of the other classes.

Moreover, Ye Yang, as their teacher, was recognized as a captain-level powerhouse. With a Captain-level figure as their teacher, how could their strength be low? As a result, some noble children desperately wanted to get in, but none of them were able to.

Because Ye Yang turned away everyone who tried to get in through connections, even if you were a noble, it was useless. No one could do anything about it, after all, Ye Yang had the Shihoin Clan standing behind him.

This time, after the survivors from Class Two joined Class One, Ye Yang showed no mercy and trained them directly using the usual methods. For those who had not undergone the previous training, this was a nightmare. Two noble ladies couldn't stand the training and gave up on the spot. Ye Yang didn't try to stop them; such fragile people couldn't stay even if they wanted to.

However, the rest of them were quite determined. Although they were exhausted, they gritted their teeth and persevered. Ye Yang saw hatred in their eyes! They hated Xu! Xu had taken away their former comrades, so they had to become stronger!

The day's training finally ended. The nine new students collapsed to the ground; this was their first time experiencing such intense training. In contrast to their disheveled state, the original students, though also exhausted, stood steadily and packed their belongings to go home after school, clearly used to it.

Ye Yang didn't force them to stand up. After all, it was their first time doing this, and it was already quite an achievement that they had managed to persevere. However, Ye Yang still said to them, "Don't think that today's training was difficult for you. They've been doing this every day before. If you want to become stronger, you have to pay a certain price! I don't want to see you lying on the ground again tomorrow!" After saying that, Ye Yang left directly.

They were immediately filled with shame and remorse. They were also among the best in their families, yet they had been dealt a severe blow. The fact that all the students in Class One survived was not simply due to good luck or anything like that. The most important thing was their indomitable spirit, their tenacious will, and the fact that they had put in more than ten times the effort!

Ye Yang walked out of the classroom and saw someone waiting for him. He knew it was Renji without even looking, but unexpectedly, there was another person next to Renji, Momo Hinamori.

Ye Yang walked over and asked, "Momo, is there something you need?"

"Teacher Ye Yang, when I went home to see my grandma before, I told him about this. Then Shiro-chan said he wanted to see you. I asked him why, but he wouldn't say. He just told me to tell you," Hinamori said.

Ye Yang's eyes lit up immediately. Tōshirō was looking for him? Could it be... Momo, could it be that Tōshirō couldn't suppress his Spiritual Pressure?

Hinamori shook her head. "No, I don't know the reason either."

"Alright, it's getting late, and tomorrow's main class is on Kidō. Xiao Momo, could you keep an eye on things in the class for me? I'll go check on things tomorrow." If it weren't for this reason, Ye Yang wouldn't have been able to guess. But wouldn't he know if he went to check?

"Okay. Thank you, Teacher Ye Yang. I'll be going now. Goodbye." Hinamori waved and walked away.

Ye Yang turned to Renji and said, "Let's go."

"Um".

The two arrived at the combat training room and began their battle again. This time, Renji fought with extraordinary ferocity, using all his strength in every move, but in the end, he was the one who fell faster.

Ye Yang stood in front of Renji and said softly, "Don't push yourself too hard. Remember, haste makes waste." Ye Yang knew that this incident had also affected Renji. The feeling of being powerless to stop what was happening right in front of him and to protect his comrades deeply affected him, and he never wanted to experience that feeling again.

"Teacher Ye Yang, I want to become stronger! Stronger than you, Teacher! Damn it! I can't even protect my own companions, how can I talk about protecting her!" Renji tightly clutched his fist.

Ye Yang squatted down and smiled slightly, "Is that so? Then work hard, young man. But I still have to tell you, becoming stronger is not something that can be done overnight. You think I'm very strong? I also spent more than a hundred years to gain this strength. You are still young!" After saying that, he walked towards the door.

Renji stared blankly at the ceiling until Ye Yang reached the door, at which point he shouted, "Teacher Ye Yang! One day I will become as strong as you!"

"I'll be waiting for this day!" With those words, Ye Yang vanished in Shunpo.

The next day, Ye Yang went directly to Hinamori's house. Tōshirō was sitting at the door eating watermelon as usual. When he saw Ye Yang, he immediately stood up and walked up to Ye Yang, saying, "You're here. Come in and let's talk." His expression was serious.

To everyone's surprise, Ye Yang flicked him on the head. "Don't pretend to be so profound, you're just a kid!"

The Little Lion immediately bristled, pointing at Ye Yang and saying, "You..." But then, as if remembering something, he suppressed his temper and changed his words, saying, "I won't stoop to your level because you're Teacher Momo Tao." He then led Ye Yang inside.

The two went inside, but didn't see their grandmother. Ye Yang couldn't help but ask, "Tōshirō, where's your grandmother?"

"I went out to buy something, I'll be back soon." Tōshirō gestured for Ye Yang to sit down, then looked at Ye Yang and said, "Is everything Momo said true? But I feel like she's hiding something. Tell me the real story."

Tōshirō's eyes were more serious than ever before. Ye Yang sighed and slowly recounted the general situation at the time. Tōshirō's expression changed constantly as he listened, and when he heard that their lives were in danger, his face turned extremely ugly.

His young face was full of anger. How could they keep such an important matter from him? If Ye Yang had told him, he would probably have been kept in the dark for the rest of his life. It was obvious that Hinamori had concealed part of the truth from Tōshirō.

Finally Tōshirō spoke up, saying, "Hey, you're pretty strong, aren't you?"

As expected, Hinamori's situation really upset Tōshirō. The people he cared about most in the world were his grandmother and Momo. Now that Hinamori was in such danger, he didn't even know, and even if he did know, he was powerless to help.

Ye Yang smiled and said, "What do you think?"

Tōshirō stared intently at Ye Yang and said, "Then teach me to become stronger!"

"What's the reason?"

"I guess if I become stronger, I'll be able to protect her."

Ye Yang stared intently at Tōshirō, unleashing his full power, but Tōshirō remained unmoved, like a small boat adrift in the deep sea, untouched by any storm.

Finally Ye Yang chuckled softly, rubbing his forehead. "Really, this is an incredibly arduous path. To gain the power to protect her, you must pay with blood and sweat. Have you thought it through?"

"Of course!" His tone was incredibly firm, as if he was already prepared.

Ye Yang's lips curled into a sinister smile. He had originally thought that he would only be able to accept Ye Yang as his disciple after Tōshirō lost control of his Spiritual Pressure. However, this unexpected event had stimulated Tōshirō, and the seed planted in his heart had sprouted rapidly, directly changing Tōshirō's thoughts.

However, Ye Yang asked, "Does your grandmother know about this? What will she do?"

"This..." Tōshirō hesitated, because his grandmother was the person he worried about the most.

"I'm alright," a frail voice came from the doorway. Grandma stood there, holding a bag. She said slowly, "I'm alright. Little Lion won't grow up if he stays here all the time. Don't worry about Grandma, I'll take good care of myself."

"Grandma..." Tōshirō's face darkened, unsure of what to say.

The old man walked in and slowly said, "Little Lion, if you stay here, your talent will be wasted. So go with this Teacher Ye Yang; he can definitely make your wish come true!"

"But..." Tōshirō hesitated, but was interrupted by the old man, "There are no buts. You shouldn't be here in the first place. Just come back and visit this old man when you have time."

Tōshirō lowered his head and pondered for a moment before finally saying, "Alright! Grandma, I won't let you down." Then he turned to Ye Yang and said, "I'll go with you."

Ye Yang was speechless. "There's no need for that. It's not like I'm not letting you come back. I'll give you two days each month to come back and visit. But let me make this clear beforehand, you can't regret it later! Also, from now on, I'm your teacher, so you have to call me teacher~"

"Of course, no problem! I'm determined to become stronger, how could I be stopped by difficulties?" Tōshirō patted his small chest, looking very proud.

Ye Yang smiled and said, "Shall we leave now?"

The old man said, "No rush, I bought natto. Little Lion loves sweet natto the most, and so does Teacher Ye Yang. Let's eat before you go."

"All right"

Finally Ye Yang stayed for a meal before setting off with Tōshirō. However, he didn't know where they were going, so he asked, "Where are we going?"

Ye Yang smiled and gave an answer, "Second Division!"