Time passed regardless of anyone's wishes. Jun would have liked to skip straight to the era of the story a few hundred years later, but unfortunately, that was impossible.
Jun had finally gained some idea of how far he was from the story's era. Asai Shinten had only just returned from the World of the Living, and Jun had asked her about the situation there. He inferred that it was sometime before the Sengoku period. He didn't know exactly how long before, but it certainly wasn't the Edo period, since the shogun's surname wasn't Tokugawa.
That put him quite a long way from the original story—roughly six hundred years. Jun didn't know what era the original took place in, of course, but it felt somewhat later than modern times.
Now Jun finally had a clearer picture. He had a reasonably accurate estimate of how much time he had to farm in the jungle and develop, which was fairly good news.
And so, time jumped forward by more than twenty years.
In those twenty-odd years, Jun went from a green Soul Reaper to an elite one.
Yet when he thought about it, Jun felt he had simply become more integrated into this world. Gradually, he grew a little more easygoing and attended more drinking parties, which also had something to do with getting older. He occasionally played cards and chatted, too.
Even the tutoring class Jun had proposed back then was no longer running. Toward the end, it had basically become more like masters instructing apprentices. Everyone was different and needed more specialized guidance, but Jun wasn't capable of providing it.
That didn't mean the tutoring class had been without benefits. Jun really had improved the overall combat proficiency of the Soul Reapers. During those years, he had also returned to teach at Shin'ō Academy and given a public lecture that shook Soul Society.
There was no need to recount the whole lecture. In short, Jun's closing remarks addressed one of the trends in Soul Society that he and Aizen had dissed back at the academy: early graduation.
Jun pointed out the problems with early graduation directly. "If any of you are more badass than me, then graduate early! No one will stop you! But if you aren't, if you've studied for decades and still can't cut it, why graduate early?"
Jun recounted Yuzuki Samidare's life. She had been the best big sister he could have had, but she also represented the circumstances of most Soul Reapers in Soul Society, and most students, both at the time and afterward, could relate to her.
Jun also spoke about the rumors from his time at the academy and the things people had said to diss him.
"It's not that I didn't know. I just didn't care! Now, who still dares say those things to my face!? Stand up! Do you have the guts!? You students sitting down there, I, Jun Shimizu, studied at the academy for fifty-eight years. How embarrassing! Which of you dares say it?"
Naturally, no one was hardheaded enough to stand up. The Chant Harmony Score for Kidō Jun had released had become a standard textbook at Shin'ō Academy. Given his immense prestige, who would dare openly oppose him unless there was something wrong with their head? Besides, only a few years had passed at the time. Now that more than twenty years had gone by, there might have been someone hardheaded enough.
Jun also spoke about the tutoring he had later provided in his division, why some ordinary Soul Reapers sensed their shortcomings but had no way to improve further, and the problem of being unable to find the right path for their development without a Spiritual Power tester, among many other things.
Finally, he raised the central question: "Why become a Soul Reaper?"
"My reason for becoming a Soul Reaper was simple. I had no choice. My parents died to a Gillian, a Menos Grande. You want me to avenge them? Even now, I'm no match for a Gillian. Of course, sooner or later I'll have Gillians in the palm of my hand. I've never doubted that. But back then, I had only one thought: I had to become a Soul Reaper."
"Why? Because my surname is still Shimizu, while my blood sister's is Ise. That's the result, and it also explains why. Of course, I don't think changing her surname was some great humiliation. This is Japan; the Ise are minor nobles, at least, while the Shimizu are nobody. In Soul Society's eyes, changing her surname is more honorable. It's just that I think my parents were heroes, and I should be one too."
Jun had gained enormous benefits from his status as the son of heroes, and he had no intention of giving it up, because it would always be useful.
"So I became a Soul Reaper. I wanted to protect Soul Society like my parents, to become a sharp blade that protects Soul Society. That's what being a Soul Reaper is meant to be! I'm doing pretty well now, but my parents didn't actually do very well, did they? They died, and their blades broke. They weren't sharp blades at all. What about you?"
"The academy is a whetstone. Have you ever thought about sharpening yourselves into a sharp blade? Those of you graduating early, do you think you're sharp enough already? Heh, a bunch of blunt blades can only break on the battlefield. And you're wasting Mr. Nimaiya's efforts having him forge your so-called Zanpakuto, when their owners aren't even blade blanks."
"Think carefully about your abilities. You live in a good era, because now you have Spiritual Power testers. Look at your own level! Then think about why you became Soul Reapers! Showing off isn't actually wrong. Being weak is! If the meaning of your lives is to show off for a few decades and then die, suit yourselves. Just pretend I never said any of this today."
After Jun's public lecture, the atmosphere at Shin'ō Academy changed immediately. It also led directly to twelve years without a single graduate. Only now, more than twenty years later, had the number of graduates begun to rise again, and the legitimacy of a sixty-year course was basically accepted.
Students who wanted to skip grades first looked at the academy records and their own level, and hardly any of them could skip grades after that. In fact, it also indirectly showed that there wasn't a single genius in those classes. What a pity.
Changing the atmosphere at the academy wasn't particularly important to Jun during those twenty years.
The most important thing Jun did during that time was learn more about Soul Society through socializing, including information about the Five Great Noble Clans.
First among the Five Great Noble Clans: the Kuchiki Clan.
They controlled the Sixth Division of the Gotei 13, a division reserved for nobles. They were the oldest of the Five Great Noble Clans, said to have endured for four or five thousand years.
They were said to have once had four branch families and countless retainers, but those had disappeared, leaving only the main family, which now had few members. Jun thought this was probably a consequence of the first Thousand-Year War.
Second among the Five Great Noble Clans: the Teru Clan.
A great clan that had now withdrawn from public life, they had also been a huge family before the first Thousand-Year War. Like the Kuchiki Clan, they now had few members.
This was another ancient clan that had endured for four or five thousand years. They ranked second because their abilities lay in Kidō, and they were said to have once been the Soul King's priestly family.
Third among the Five Great Noble Clans: the Shiba Clan.
They had the most members of the surviving Five Great Noble Clans: the main family, Shiba Kaien's line; a branch family, Shiba Kazato and Isshin Shiba's line; and another branch family, Shiba Mitsuo's line.
This was the first time Jun had learned of Shiba Mitsuo, but the original story had mentioned only two branch families. This branch with the number three in its name seemed to have disappeared.
They currently controlled the Gotei 13's Tenth Division, the patrol guard, and were said to have endured for over three thousand years as well.
Fourth among the Five Great Noble Clans: the Shihoin Family.
They had the fewest members of the Five Great Noble Clans. At present, they had only a clan head, who was also the only living member of the Shihoin Family: Yoruichi Shihōin.
This was the most talked-about clan in Soul Society. Though few in number, they had retained the most strength and had more retainers than any of the Five Great Noble Clans.
They controlled the Gotei 13's Second Division, the Stealth Force. Unlike the other divisions, however, the Stealth Force's predecessor was the Punishment Force, a unit belonging exclusively to the Shihoin Family. When the Gotei 13 was founded, its entire membership was absorbed directly into the Gotei 13. This also made the Second Division unusual in its recruitment: it generally didn't accept outsiders. The name Punishment Force also became the name of a special unit in the First Division. In practice, the stronger members had been absorbed into the First Division, so the commander of the Punishment Force was also from the Shihoin Family.
The Shihoin Family also possessed the only Heavenly Gifted Armament currently in Soul Society. It was said to be equipment passed down from the age of myth, but nobody knew exactly what it was or what it did. Jun had learned this when Isshin once got drunk and let it slip, though Jun had long known such a thing existed.
Thus, Yoruichi Shihōin's marriage had become one of the hottest topics in all of Soul Society. This was probably the main reason Yoruichi later fled Soul Society.
They had also endured for over three thousand years, though not as long as the Shiba Clan.
Last among the Five Great Noble Clans: the Tachikawa Clan.
Tachikawa Zan of the 11th Division belonged to this clan. They had both a main family and a branch family, but each had only one line left. Zan was from the branch family.
They were said to have once been one of the clans that controlled the Soul King Guard Army. The other was the Kuchiki Clan; in fact, the Tachikawa had been the Kuchiki's assistants.
But the Soul King Guard Army had been wiped out in the first Thousand-Year War, and both clans had declined as a result. How the Kuchiki Clan later gained control of the Sixth Division and why the Tachikawa got nothing were matters for later. In any case, this clan had very little presence in Soul Society.
They also had the shortest history, said to be less than three thousand years.
Almost all of the information above had actually come from Isshin Shiba. Isshin was especially interested in Soul Society Investiture of the Gods, the book Jun had written, which was why he had told Jun these things.
Isshin actually wanted Jun to offer some imaginative ideas and guesses about certain mysterious events. Unfortunately, Jun knew about the first Thousand-Year War, so he deliberately gave Isshin wrong answers. Still, his answers were wildly imaginative and fascinating, leaving Isshin thoroughly satisfied.
Through these conversations, however, Jun and Isshin grew closer and closer. Then, on one of Jun's days off, Sasebo Masataka, the Tenth Division's Seventh Seat, invited Jun out for a drink.
Jun didn't mind, of course. He had nothing else to do anyway. "Shinten, are you coming?"
"I won't go. When you men drink, I'm just there to pour. But don't drink too much, or Lingling won't let you off."
"I know. When have I ever drunk too much?"
Jun ran off with a grin. Over the past twenty-odd years, Asai Shinten and Isuzu Takasugi had also become familiar with each other. Lingling wasn't jealous, either, because Asai Shinten had gotten engaged a few years earlier to the Fourth Seat of the Third Division.
What Jun hadn't expected, however, was that Seventh Seat Sasebo and Jun wouldn't be the only ones at this drinking party. There were also Yagishiro, the Sixth Division's Twelfth Seat, and Bu, the Ninth Division's Fourteenth Seat.
"Oh, sorry to keep you two waiting."
"Not at all. Sasebo and Shimizu, you honor us by coming."
"Haha, no need to talk about honor. You're too polite. Please."
"Please."
Jun had experienced plenty of social gatherings like this. They were men, after all; this was everyday stuff. So they drank, chatted, and shot the breeze.
After several rounds of wine and a good deal of food, the group's conversation began to roam. They started talking about nobles, great nobles, and the like. That was normal, too. When Jun had gone drinking in his previous life, hadn't people talked plenty about Wang Wanda, Ma Ali, and Ma Penguin? It was a common habit among men.
But as the conversation went on, it turned to the two men from the Tenth Division, then gradually narrowed in on Jun.
"Shimizu, what do you think of your two captains?"
Jun suddenly sensed that something was off. "What do you mean? They're great."
"Of course. Come on, drink. Shimizu, you often drink with our lieutenant. If there's a chance next time, perhaps you could invite Lieutenant Shiba. I bet he'd come."
"Ohhh, drink!"
"Cheers." Jun raised his cup and drank with them, wondering if he was being too sensitive.
But then Twelfth Seat Yagishiro of the Sixth Division suddenly told a story. It was roughly about a noble who encountered a calamity. A loyal retainer didn't run away, but fought desperately to protect the noble and ultimately died in the calamity.
It didn't sound quite right to Jun. Then Fourteenth Seat Bu of the Ninth Division also told a story. In this one, too, a noble encountered a calamity, but a less loyal retainer betrayed the noble, won the favor of an important figure, and rose rapidly to prominence.
"What do you mean by that?" No matter how slow Jun was, he understood by now. And the way the three men around him were positioned was rather telling: they had him boxed in.
"So you do understand, Shimizu. What we mean is..." Seventh Seat Sasebo had already gripped the hilt of his sword. "Which one are you, Shimizu?"
Jun understood in an instant. He had been caught up in a major incident. Something had happened to the Shiba Clan!