Graduation

Ye Yang and Soi Fon returned to the Second Division and opened the letter Byakuya had given them.

To Ye Yang Shihoin:

Ye Yang Shihoin, by the time you read this letter, I should already be dead. This is no joke, because I've recently sensed that my time is almost up, and my days are numbered. You don't need to grieve for me; I've lived this long enough. That old man, Tōno, is calling me from Tono there.

But I'm not as relaxed as he is. As his grandson, you are fully capable of taking on the responsibilities of the Shihoin Clan. As for Byakuya, although he is capable enough and his fiery temper has subsided over the years, don't be fooled by his calm exterior. He is still very impulsive inside. Besides me, you are probably the only one who can stop him from doing what he wants to do.

So I have a favor to ask of you: please take good care of Byakuya. If he makes any wrong decisions, please stop him in time. I think you can manage that. Consider it a favor I'm asking of you.

And then there's Hisana, that child. I always feel a little guilty towards her. After I die, I'll have her listed in the family genealogy as Byakuya's wife. But even if I don't say it, Byakuya will probably do it anyway.

At first, I was furious that Byakuya wanted to marry a woman from Rukongai, but in the end I couldn't go against Byakuya's wishes and acquiesced to the marriage. However, after spending time together, I truly accepted this granddaughter-in-law. Her every word and action, as well as her feelings for Byakuya, made it impossible for me to dislike her. It's just that the elders firmly disagreed with including her in the family genealogy.

You must be wondering why I condoned the elders' actions. I can only say that nobles also have their own constraints. I can't be like Byakuya and disregard the dignity of the head of the nobility. Byakuya can disregard everything, but I can't.

So, in this matter, it can only be said that we have different perspectives. We can only apologize to Byakuya. If possible, please convey my apologies to her; our entire Kuchiki Clan owes her a debt of gratitude...

Okay, I've said enough, so I'll go now with peace of mind.

--Ginrei Kuchiki

After reading it, Ye Yang chuckled and shook his head, "Really, you really think highly of me. Just go ahead and rest assured, I'll help you with Byakuya's matter. Byakuya is my little brother, after all."

Soi Fon glanced at him but said nothing. She simply watched as Ye Yang shattered the letter in his hand into fragments, tossed them aside, and the fragments drifted away in the wind, quickly disappearing, leaving only the two of them walking hand in hand in the wind...

Time passed quickly, and this year's sixth-generation graduates officially became Shinigami with their graduation ceremony. As usual, Kira, representing the sixth-generation graduates, first took the stage to swear an oath. Then, Captain-Commander Yamamoto personally addressed the graduates, and the captains of the other squads also came, as this concerned their squad selection.

It has to be said that the Captain-Commander's speech was incredibly boring, and Captain-Commander Yamamoto's greatest skill was his ability to talk about these incredibly boring things for two or three hours straight. Not only did the students become drowsy, but even the captains couldn't stand it. However, they had all gotten used to it, so they each had their own ways of dealing with it.

Despite his apparent bad mood, he talked for over three hours straight, and finally finished. As is customary, the students then presented what they had learned over the past six years, and were given a volunteer form to fill in the squad they wanted to join. The squad leader would then take the forms back and review them one by one.

To put it bluntly, it was a display of strength, and the students from other classes were no match for the students of Class One. There was a huge gap in strength, especially the strength shown by Renji and his two friends. They were almost capable of becoming high- Seated Officers upon graduation. It is no exaggeration to say that Class One is the strongest and most qualified class in recent decades, which made all the captains full of praise.

In the end, Renji joined the 11th Division, while Kira and Hinamori joined the Fifth Division. The other students also chose their preferred divisions. After this part was completed, the graduation ceremony ended. However, at this moment, Yamamoto spoke up, "Everyone, please wait a moment!"

Everyone paused, startled. As the Captain-Commander, he stepped onto the stage and announced, "This graduation ceremony has now come to a successful conclusion, but I have one more thing to announce!"

Everyone turned to look at Yamamoto, waiting for what he was going to say next. Something that the Captain-Commander himself would announce must be something important, so everyone listened attentively.

Yamamoto slowly began to speak, "As you all have seen, this year's graduates are exceptionally strong. I believe the main reason they have achieved this is the excellent teaching of their teachers. Therefore, I would like to specifically promote their teacher, Ye Yang Shihoin, to the position of Vice Principal of the Shin'ō!"

These words immediately caused an uproar. It was the Vice Principal of the Shin'ō! Although it wasn't a very high-ranking official position, it was extremely beneficial to the development of the division. For example, about half of the students in Ye Yang's class joined the Second Division simply because Ye Yang was the Vice Captain of the Second Division.

This is about fresh blood for the future of the squad. Moreover, the position of vice principal of the Shin'ō is almost a sinecure. Generally, it is held by the vice captain under the Captain-Commander to ensure fairness, because not everyone can join the First Division. Currently, the Vice-Captain Sasakibe is the vice principal of the Shin'ō, while Ye Yang is the second vice principal.

With this in mind, the future of the Second Division is predictable, so everyone can only be envious, since Ye Yang is qualified to take this position in terms of both strength and ability.

The students in Class One were overjoyed; their teacher becoming the principal meant they would have face to be proud of.

Ye Yang could only smile wryly. It seemed he couldn't refuse the position. But that was fine too, at least the vice principal position was just a sinecure, and he could enjoy a peaceful life. It just so happened that Tōshirō had almost finished his training at Punishment Force and it was time for him to enter the Shin'ō to study. After all, he wasn't a formal Shinigami yet.

Even if he has the strength, he still needs to go through the basic procedures before Ye Yang can reveal Tōshirō's identity to the public.

At this moment, Yamamoto continued, "Now, let the newly appointed vice principal Ye Yang Shihoin, come up to the stage and say a few words." Then, the crowd made way for Ye Yang.

As for the content of the speech, it can be ignored. It was just some nice-sounding but useless words. Ye Yang was just good at inspiring people. After he finished speaking, the audience burst into applause.

Afterwards Ye Yang stepped down from the podium and walked to the team leaders. They all congratulated Ye Yang, and Ye Yang responded to each of them. However, it is unknown whether one of them was sincere.

The graduation ceremony finally came to an end, and all the team captains left. Yamamoto suddenly said to Ye Yang, "Ye Yang Shihoin, Shihouin, wait a moment."

"Is there something you need, Captain-Commander?" Ye Yang asked, puzzled.

Yamamoto walked up to him and said in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Come to the First Division in a little while; I have something to tell you."

"Alright, I don't have anything to do right now anyway, so I'll go back with you now." Ye Yang glanced at Yamamoto, presumably to explain the matter of Vice Principal Shin'ō to him.

Afterwards, Ye Yang followed Yamamoto to the captain's room of the First Division. In this room, only Yamamoto, Ye Yang, and Chōjirō Sasakibe. Sasakibe was Yamamoto's confidant, so there was no need to hide anything from him, and Ye Yang's presence would not disturb Yamamoto's conversation.

Yamamoto first invited Ye Yang to sit down and have some tea, then said, "Do you know why I summoned you here?"

"It's about the position of vice principal, isn't it?" Ye Yang replied.

Yamamoto took a sip of tea and slowly said, "That's right, you know how important the position of Vice Principal of the Shin'ō is. I've mentioned it to you before, but you declined. However, you can't refuse this time, can you?"

Ye Yang smiled bitterly. Did he have any room to refuse? What's done is done, and no one can do anything about it. Yamamoto continued, "This position itself isn't tiring; it's much easier than being a teacher now. Besides, your little disciple is going to join the Shin'ō, right? This will make things much more convenient, won't it?"

"That's true," Ye Yang said calmly, not at all surprised that Yamamoto knew about this. With Yamamoto's network of informants in Seireien, it would be very easy for him to find out about such a thing. Besides, Ye Yang hadn't deliberately hidden it. Anyone who wanted to investigate could find out about this. Ye Yang estimated that there weren't many captains who didn't know.

However, Ye Yang never mentioned this matter, and they didn't pay any special attention to it, so they didn't bring it up with Ye Yang.

Yamamoto continued, "You only need to attend one class per week, and you can adjust the rest of the time as you like, how about that?"

"Of course I agree to such a good deal, but what do I have to give in return?" Ye Yang asked. It sounded like Ye Yang was getting a great deal, but how could he enjoy such a good thing for nothing?

Yamamoto smiled and said, "It's simple. You just need to teach your teaching methods to other teachers. We've tried your training methods before, but very few people found them effective. I've been wondering why the same training methods can produce such excellent students in your hands, while they can't."

Ye Yang responded with the same smile, "Was it because they were so exhausted the day after training that they couldn't carry out the training the following day?"

"How did you know?" Yamamoto was startled, then realized that Ye Yang's method could not be implemented simply by imitation, because, as Ye Yang said, the students who received the training were indeed too weak to train the next day. They had tried many times, but all of them ended in failure.

Therefore, they are now very eager to know the specific methods, so that even if the effect is not as obvious as that of Class 1, at least the overall strength of the students will be raised by a level.