Karakura Town, the "Center of the World"

Yet the Kidō Corps, with all its members, had only two leaders: a Grand Kidō Chief and a Vice Kidō Chief.

After all, whether it was Hadō, Bakudō, or Kaidō, the higher its level, the harder it was to use!

The gap in difficulty between learning Hadō #99 and Hadō #1 was even greater than the gap between elementary school math and quantum mechanics!

Only a precious few could use hundreds of Kidō spells perfectly!

Out of tens of thousands of Soul Reapers, only a handful could be picked out!

But what about the young man before them?

He had created his own Kidō before even graduating from Shin'ō Academy.

And it was so powerful!

"...What a terrifying talent."

"Compared to him, my achievements at that age weren't even worth mentioning."

"After him, how could anyone still dare call themselves a genius?"

"..."

Just then, someone happened to speak up:

"Grand Kidō Chief Tsukabishi, isn't this a good thing?"

"Who could be more suited to the Kidō Corps than this genius? You've just gained a capable right-hand man."

Hearing this, Tessai Tsukabishi suddenly shook his head and said seriously:

"Not at all."

"He's a member of the Kuchiki Clan. Even if he doesn't follow tradition and join the Sixth Division, his potential is far too great for someone like me to rein in."

Everyone was taken aback by such an extravagant statement, and some thought he was exaggerating.

The next second, Tessai Tsukabishi spoke with deep feeling.

"I've only ever seen the talent to freely create and change Kidō in one other person.

Kyōsuke Kuchiki's talent surpasses even his.

Only by truly understanding Kidō can one know what creating a new Kidō spell really means."

Tessai Tsukabishi, the esteemed Grand Kidō Chief, had spoken with a hint of awe!

But no one could laugh at him.

He understood and knew Kidō better than anyone in all of Soul Society. For him to say such a thing showed just how heaven-defying Kyōsuke Kuchiki was!

All they could do now was fall silent.

A deep silence.

They couldn't help turning their gazes toward Kyōsuke Kuchiki.

The handsome, refined young man had long since returned to his seat and was saying something to the defeated Gin Ichimaru.

There wasn't a trace of pride on his face. He even seemed perfectly approachable and gentle, relaxed and composed.

It was as if everything that had just happened had been nothing more than some after-class horseplay to him.

His graceful bearing made everyone sigh softly.

"The Kuchiki Clan really has produced a genius seen only once in a century!"

The seating tournament went by quickly—or rather, for Kyōsuke Kuchiki, it went by very quickly indeed.

With his match against Gin Ichimaru having come first, every time his turn came around, his opponent forfeited before he even got up.

What a joke. They only wanted a good result, not a coffin.

Against such terrifying lightning-type Kidō, even if Kyōsuke Kuchiki had no intention of killing them and a Captain was there to protect them, there was no guarantee they'd be safe.

One slip and they'd be reduced to ashes.

First Seat belonged to him, but their lives belonged to them. The examinees knew the difference well enough.

In the end, throughout the entire seating tournament...

Kyōsuke Kuchiki stepped onto the stage and fought only once, coasting to First Seat!

Second Seat naturally went to Gin Ichimaru.

The previous favorites for First Seat could only accept the result wholeheartedly, not daring to raise any objections.

By comparison, the Third Seat's standing seemed somewhat inflated. He was clearly not on the same level as the top two.

"You're impressive."

Gin Ichimaru smiled at Kyōsuke Kuchiki, his voice full of nothing but delight, making it impossible to tell what he was really thinking.

"I've never seen you use a Kidō spell you created yourself before."

"Young Master Kuchiki, you've got quite a few tricks hidden away."

"You flatter me."

With the Heaven Communicating Talisman Art in hand, Kyōsuke Kuchiki had countless so-called "self-created Kidō" spells.

For now, he only smiled faintly and said no more.

A few seconds later, Gin Ichimaru looked away.

"If it's you, perhaps you really can do it."

"For now, I'll place my hopes in you."

"Don't disappoint me, Young Master Kuchiki."

"We're just helping each other, classmate Ichimaru."

"..."

Chapter 14: Karakura Town, the "Center of the World"

The two spoke briefly, their voices too low for anyone to hear.

Then, at Gengorō Ōunabara's call, Kyōsuke Kuchiki was the first to stand and walk to the spot reserved for First Seat.

Kyōsuke Kuchiki accepted the First Seat badge from his homeroom teacher with a solemn expression and impeccable manners.

"Thank you for your guidance."

"N-not at all."

Ōuna didn't think the two geniuses could really have learned much at Shin'ō Academy.

They had skipped from first year to sixth year in a single year. With talent like that, very few people were qualified to teach them.

Still, no matter what, the two geniuses were his students and had come out of the academy.

Ōuna felt proud to be associated with them.

Once the badges for all ten seats had been awarded, Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai, the academy's headmaster, delivered a few more official remarks, and the seating tournament came to a smooth close.

The seating tournament was, at its core, a way to determine each student's level of strength.

Afterward, the students soon calmed down from their excited state and returned to their normal academy routines.

A few days later, the academy reassigned everyone to classes according to their results in the seating tournament, preparing them to practice as classes ahead of their Konsō field training.

The stronger the class, the more dangerous the place it would be sent to, and the larger the area each person would be responsible for.

As the sixth year's First and Second Seats, Kyōsuke Kuchiki and Gin Ichimaru were assigned to the same class again, just as expected.

It was Class A, the highest-ranked class.

Before they knew it, the day before the Konsō field training had arrived.

The students were gathered there, waiting for the teachers to assign their areas.

"Classmate Kuchiki, this is the district you're going to."

"For some reason, a lot of Hollows have been appearing there lately."

"Be very careful when you get there. If you run into a problem you can't handle, ask the Soul Reapers stationed there for help."

The teacher leading them gave these instructions as he handed over a map.

There wasn't much worry in his voice, though. After all, the young man before him possessed Captain-level Reiatsu.

None of the Soul Reapers stationed in the World of the Living were at that level. It remained to be seen who would end up saving whom.

Kyōsuke Kuchiki took the map from the teacher and couldn't help raising an eyebrow at the words "Karakura Town" written prominently on it.

Well, would you look at that!

Isn't this Karakura Town, the "center of the world"?

Is this good luck or bad luck?

He had been sent straight to the heart of the original plot. Still, that was fine. Before the World of the Living had been completely encroached upon, it wouldn't hurt to familiarize himself in advance with the place where he would fight later.

Kyōsuke Kuchiki was quite interested in the most famous Jūreichi in the original work, the one that appeared most often.

Just as he put away the map and prepared to leave, Gin Ichimaru's voice suddenly came from behind him.

"Young Master Kuchiki, could you wait a moment?"

"Each of us is responsible for a different area of Karakura Town, so we need a captain to lead us and keep everyone in contact."

"Everyone thinks you're the best choice, since you're strong and excellent at Kidō."

"What do you think?"

"...Uh."

Kyōsuke Kuchiki looked back, an awkward expression on his face.

The class captain had to lead all the members, record everyone's performance, deal with various unexpected situations, and so on... In short, it was a whole pile of work. Just thinking about it gave him a headache.

Naturally, he didn't want to do it.

"I think overall ability matters more than strength in a captain."

"It'd be better to leave it to classmate Ichimaru."

"Hm? Is that so?"

Gin Ichimaru still wore that unsettling smile.

"All right, I understand."

He turned around, his tone still flippant, but obediently accepted the job.

"Then I'll be your captain, everyone."

"The areas will be divided up like this..."

Seeing that no one objected, he pointed at the map of Karakura Town and actually began doing the captain's job.

Kyōsuke Kuchiki was a little surprised by this.

To be honest, he had thought Ichimaru would definitely throw a few more barbs at him.

He hadn't expected him to take over just like that.

It seemed that after the seating tournament, Gin Ichimaru had fully acknowledged him and was willing to obey his orders.

Kyōsuke Kuchiki nodded to a few of his classmates, then turned and left.

The next day, in the Seireitei, beside the Senkaimon.

The students, dressed in trainee Soul Reaper uniforms, were gathered beside a gate-like structure made of two square wooden pillars that towered into the clouds.

This was the Senkaimon, the necessary means of reaching the World of the Living.

Not far from the students, a young man stood straight beneath a tree, gazing at the blue sky.

He looked relaxed, though it was unclear what he was thinking about.

"Classmate Kuchiki!"

At his companion's call, the young man promptly looked away.

"Coming."