Jun acted as soon as he made up his mind. He went outside and used Bakudō No. 77, Tenteikūra. The Bakudō was like a telephone with multiple lines, and he used it to contact everyone still in the division directly and call them over.
There weren't many people in the division at the moment. The Tenth Division was busy with missions, but it couldn't send everyone out every single day. Without rest, people would break down sooner or later.
So the Tenth Division had a rule that ordinary members could take three days off each month, normally one day in each of the month's three ten-day periods. They could also rearrange their days off as they pleased.
Excluding the ten members away on teaching assignments and missions in the World of the Living, eleven people were off today. Only eight were currently in the division; the other three had probably gone out to visit friends.
But those eight weren't the only ones in the Tenth Division right now. Only one single-digit seated officer had to go out with the patrol squad each day, so including Jun, there were currently seven single-digit seated officers in the division, captain included.
Each single-digit seated officer also had an aide, and the lieutenant could have two. Isshin, however, had recruited only one. All the aides were currently in the division, eight in total.
With Jun's summons, everyone in the division except Captain Shiba Kazato was called to the break room. Jun scratched his head.
"Um, why did all of you seniors come too?"
"Haha, we had nothing to do anyway. Since we were just sitting around, we came to take a look." Sixth Seat Mizunami, who had fought Jun during the exam, was being quite supportive.
"Ahem, all right then." Jun didn't mind either way. "I mainly called everyone here today for the members currently on their days off. Here's what this is about."
Jun explained his purpose while observing the members before him. Sure enough, a flash of excitement appeared in several pairs of eyes. Two or three, of course, didn't care at all. Of the remaining single-digit seated officers and aides, some were quite interested, while others gave no indication of what they were thinking.
"Today's rather last-minute. Once we're done, I'll work out a schedule. Whether you come to the extra lessons is up to you. After all, it isn't easy for everyone to get time off, and sometimes you have plans with friends."
"As for how this will work, my idea is to handle it myself for now, roughly five to seven days out of every ten. During that time, I have to go with the patrol squad for two days, and another day, haha, I need a break too."
"So that's the situation. Anyone who's still interested can stay here. I'll go make a pot of tea. Yadai, you don't need to get up." Jun had Seventh Seat Sasebo's aide sit down. His main reason for going out to make tea was to give them time to make their choice, though he didn't think anyone would leave. That would be far too disrespectful.
When he returned, he found that, sure enough, no one had moved. Jun sat down at the front. "Then I'll begin. Please bear with me. If you have any questions, bring them up and we can discuss them together. If I make any mistakes, please point them out too."
"So what am I going to talk about today? Actually, I haven't quite decided, so I'll explain why I wanted to do this."
"I mentioned the broader reason before: to give members who want to advance further a way to do so, and give everyone some inspiration. But the idea actually came from a conversation I had with Lieutenant Isshin a little under half a month ago."
"Oh? How did I get dragged into this?" Isshin was quite innocent. He really had no idea, and wasn't sure which conversation with Jun it was, either. The two had been talking constantly lately, and Jun could be considered a newcomer personally mentored by him.
"Of course it involves you. You're the one who's been showing me the ropes lately, aren't you?" Jun shrugged. "The reason for that conversation was that my Zanpakuto had just been returned to me. Once it was back, naturally I was concerned about my Shikai, right? That led us to talk about Reiatsu."
Only then did many of those present realize that Jun was a newcomer who had graduated just over a month ago. Yet by now, the people here felt there was nothing wrong with Jun sitting at the front. The sense of déjà vu was quite strong.
"On the subject of Reiatsu..." Jun voiced all his questions about it, and the room fell silent. The single-digit seated officers, Isshin included, were all thinking. Among the remaining members, those who understood the relationship were also deep in thought, while those who didn't were thoroughly confused.
"That's a big question." Third Seat Takagi spoke. He was a veteran Soul Reaper, an old hand who had graduated over two hundred years ago. "Everyone has always talked about it that way, and we really haven't made any particularly fine distinctions. Sometimes it does cause problems when we're communicating, but we never paid them any mind at the time, and afterward we forgot about them. The question Jun has raised is very constructive, and well worth discussing."
The others nodded one after another. Jun's topic was actually quite simple: it was just a layer of window paper. Once pierced, everyone could see through it.
Sixth Seat Mizunami glanced at Jun. "Since you brought it up, Jun, it looks like you've given the matter a lot of thought. Why don't you share your views and teach us old fellows a thing or two?"
"I wouldn't dare say I'm teaching you. I'll just offer a few thoughts to get the discussion going." With that, Jun began to explain his ideas.
Jun proposed dividing the concept into several terms.
Spiritual Pool: a term representing the total amount of Spiritual Power. People always said so-and-so had an ocean of Reiatsu. From now on, this would be the official name: a Spiritual Pool as vast as an ocean was a Spiritual Sea.
Reiatsu: a term representing the concentration of Spiritual Power. This time, Reiatsu was being given a fixed definition. People said so-and-so had high Reiatsu, but what made it high? If you released your Reiatsu and the person opposite you didn't even catch their breath, acting as though nothing had happened, could you call that high Reiatsu? If you released it and the person opposite dropped to their knees with a thud, unable even to stand, that was high Reiatsu, right?
Spiritual Reach: a term representing the range over which Spiritual Power spread. Sajin Komamura's Spiritual Reach was extremely high. This attribute meant a person could control Spiritual Power over a wide area. Whether it was useful was another matter.
Spiritual Flow: a term representing the speed at which Spiritual Power flowed. The faster it flowed, the faster one could release skills.
Spiritual Sensitivity: a term representing how easy or difficult Spiritual Power was to control. The higher one's Spiritual Sensitivity, the more freely one could use Spiritual Power. Both Aizen and Jun had exceptionally high Spiritual Sensitivity.
Jun proposed just these five terms. After giving them some thought, those present felt the words were well chosen, so there was no need to quibble over them. The single-digit seated veterans then began discussing the differences between their respective attributes.
Jun watched the discussion below with satisfaction. This change had already succeeded. Fine classification was not to be underestimated; it was a prerequisite for development. The finer the classifications, the easier it was to discover people with special talents.
Some people might have poor Spiritual Flow and be especially slow at releasing skills, putting them at a major disadvantage in combat, but have high Reiatsu. What were such people suited for? The Ninth Division's Prison Squad needed talent like that! Kidō seals made with high Reiatsu were sturdier than those made with low Reiatsu. Once someone had been sent to prison, was there any need to fear their resistance? Take your time casting an exceptionally sturdy seal, and no matter how formidable an expert was in combat, they could forget about breaking through it.
After such talents were classified in finer detail, they would be discovered more readily. The more talent was found, and the more specialists there were, the faster society would develop. The people in this break room couldn't see that far ahead yet, but Jun could.
Jun also noticed that the aides below were writing furiously. This was an aide's job, and recording meetings was one of its most important tasks. Jun couldn't be bothered to do it himself, but his own aide was still in the World of the Living and hadn't returned.
The veterans' discussion grew increasingly heated. They all knew one another and had fought ranking matches within the division before. Back when there had been no finer classifications, they had to go home and think about how they had lost. Now that the distinctions had been made, they suddenly realized, Ah, so that's what happened. My Reiatsu wasn't as strong as theirs, or My Spiritual Flow wasn't as good as theirs. Jun had answered the questions troubling them.
Once the discussion got going, there was no end to it. Jun took the opportunity to go down and join the circle, listening to the veterans talk about various Spiritual Power techniques, as well as swordsmanship, Kidō, and combat techniques. One of them refused to accept defeat, felt he had gained some insight, and wanted to hold another ranking match right then. Fortunately, enough people were present to put a stop to it.
Jun gained a great deal from the discussion. As for the other members, if they could understand it today, they were incredibly lucky. If they couldn't, that was a pity, but there wasn't much Jun could do. Today's topic was rather unusual and really didn't have much to do with ordinary members at present. Without a certain level of skill, they couldn't take part.
As the conversation continued, Jun chimed in a few more times, and the topic was steered toward another important point. Now that they had made finer distinctions, how were they to determine how strong or weak each attribute was? You said you were strong, but how strong? Your opponent was stronger than you, but by how much?
The topic energized the veterans present, especially Eighth Seat Tōjō, the one who had refused to accept defeat earlier. Now he was even less willing to concede, insisting that his Spiritual Flow was superior to Seventh Seat Sasebo's. Sasebo didn't like hearing that and said his Reiatsu and Spiritual Sensitivity were superior to Tōjō's, giving him a sure win by two to one.
The two of them were getting a little carried away. Tōjō said his advantage in Spiritual Flow was greater than Sasebo's advantages in the other two attributes combined. Sasebo said that was impossible. Tōjō said it was possible. Sasebo said it was impossible. The pair argued like third-graders.
In the end, their arguing finally made Third Seat Takagi slap the table. The two immediately fell silent like elementary schoolers caught by their homeroom teacher. But once their interest had been aroused, it wasn't so easy to put it to rest.
A problem had come up. How were they to solve it? As the veterans talked, Sixth Seat Mizunami suddenly said, "If we can't figure this out, why not leave it to the people next door?"
"Next door?" Jun hadn't caught on yet.
"Your mother-in-law's place, the Research and Development Institute," Isshin teased. Jun had said before that he was the Tenth Division's son-in-law—no, the Twelfth Division's—and so the relationship had been established.
Third Seat Takagi burst out laughing. "Isn't that perfect? Jun, just pay a visit to your mother-in-law's place and have them solve the problem. That'll save us the trouble of bothering someone else and going through the proper channels. Haha, it's good to have relatives!"
As Jun's face darkened, the group of shameless old men settled the matter. Jun looked at Isshin, who gave him a thumbs-up just as he had that day. Jun now felt he ought to saw that thumb off.
"All right, then. Should I go now?"
"Mm! The sooner the better. We'll be waiting for your good news." Isshin was grinning so wide his gums showed. "In my capacity as lieutenant of the Tenth Division, I'm assigning Ninth Seat Shimizu a temporary mission. Bomu, write that down, and put it in the Division Records afterward."
Jun was speechless. He had even made his aide record it, turning it into an official assignment outside the division. This bunch of shameless old men had him cornered. Jun decided not to waste any more time and set off.
"Oh~ oh~~ oh~~~"
Jun came to the Twelfth Division, where Captain Hikifune listened to his account and voiced her admiration from time to time. Jun sat stiffly upright because a little head kept peeking out from the entrance to the tea room where they were talking.
"Lingling~ aren't you tired?" Jun was really getting annoyed at being watched. "Come over here and sit beside me."
"Oh~ sorry to disturb you."
But neither Jun nor Kirio Hikifune paid any attention to such youthful romantic matters. Jun had almost finished explaining by now, so he asked, "Captain Hikifune, can these ideas be put into practice?"
"Hmm~~ that's a bit of a challenge, but leave it to me. Once I have some tangible results, I'll have Lingling bring them to you."
"Then thank you very much, Captain Hikifune."
"It's nothing, haha. After all, I'm your mother-in-law, aren't I?"
Jun's face darkened. This beauty really was an airhead. Sigh~ I give up.