Junichi became a Naruto—pfft, a celebrity—in a single day.
Although it had been confirmed that he was not the fastest to complete Reishi Quality, his record for Reishi Sense was indisputable. His combined time was also safely in first place, breaking a record that dated all the way back to the days of Genji Academy.
After that, the Shin'ō Academy record for Reishi Sense went from Shunsui Kyōraku's seven days to Jun Shimizu's five, an improvement of two days.
The combined record went from Jūshirō Ukitake's twenty-one days to Jun Shimizu's fourteen, a full week faster. Of course, Soul Society did not currently have the concept of a week.
Although Jun's basic spiritual power might have allowed him to complete Reishi Quality faster because of his young age, the fact that a ten-year-old had broken the records was already astonishing enough. The academy officially recognized both records, and Jun became famous in earnest. His fame was not limited to the academy, either.
Shunsui Kyōraku was at work when he became one of the first to receive the news. Seeing that his record had been surpassed, Kyōraku smiled from the bottom of his heart, then had an attendant send the news home.
The Kyōraku Clan felt a twinge of regret the moment they heard. What did they regret? Not taking Kiyoshi Shimizu as an adopted daughter. Of course, they could not possibly ask the Ise Clan to give her back now; that would make the main family lose too much face. As for whether Kiyoshi might have the same talent as Junichi, no one held out much hope, but as his biological sister, her talent was probably not bad either.
Even the main Kyōraku family regretted it, let alone the Ise Clan, who practically treated Kiyoshi like an honored ancestor. The Ise Clan was not noble, merely a vassal family, but if Kiyoshi's future achievements proved boundless, then, with Jun already in the Shimizu Family, whether the Ise Clan could ride that favorable wind to nobility depended on this young lady.
None of that had anything to do with Jun at the moment, though, and he did not know that breaking the records had indirectly helped the sister he had acquired. So, back to Jun.
If anyone asked how Jun felt about becoming famous, he could only say it was too much trouble. It was seriously annoying.
Jun was different from other people. Say Sōsuke Aizen suddenly became famous one day: everyone would still have to ask around to find out who he was. In the end, they would learn he was a man with glasses and slightly curly hair. Perhaps there were no glasses now because of the era. In any case, he was a scholarly-looking man, but he would be hard to find.
But Jun? He was the only ten-year-old in all of Shin'ō Academy. His height was a conspicuous feature that set him apart from everyone else. And what did that lead to?
Take Jun's experiences over the past few days. He had completed Reishi Quality, so he could receive a Zanpakuto and begin learning Kidō. At that point, Instructor Hanazawa stopped teaching him Zanpakuto swordsmanship. In the instructor's own words, he was afraid of leading a student astray, because he belonged to the Kidō Corps.
So Jun had to find instructors for Zanjutsu, Hakuda, and Shunpo, which meant following Senior Yuzu all over the academy. Then, for example, a few students would be chatting happily when someone suddenly spotted an unusually short figure, and—
"Oh~ Isn't that the ten-year-old who broke the records?"
"Where? Where?"
"What ten-year-old!? His name is Jun Shimizu! He's the eldest son of the heroic Shimizu Family! A genius!"
"All right~ Enough talk! Let's go see!"
That was roughly how it went, give or take. In short, Jun drew a crowd wherever he went. And it was not just the students watching him. The instructors were even worse: because Jun was young, each of them acted as though they had spotted a neighbor's child, asking after him and chatting about family matters. At times like that, Yuzu would proudly tell them all about Jun, just like his mother, while Jun...
Under those circumstances, Jun ended up being pestered by a swordsmanship instructor from the 11th Division. Jun did not particularly want him as a teacher, but the man stubbornly insisted on teaching him. And this guy was a real rogue. Everyone in the 11th Division was a rogue, and this one was especially so. He defeated all eight of the other training instructors and declared that he would beat up anyone who taught Jun swordsmanship. That was going too far, but no one could beat him, which made it all the more helpless.
"Straighten your back! Put some strength into it!"
"Yes~"
"Louder! Didn't you eat breakfast!?"
"Yes~~~!!"
"Not bad! Keep going! A man ought to shout! Shout loud!"
"Yes~~~!!"
Jun began every morning with Zanjutsu practice: a thousand basic cuts. After resting for about half an hour, he could eat lunch.
Then, in the afternoon, he had to complete a thousand thrusts. That was even more tiring. Once he finished, he went straight back to the dormitory to eat and sleep.
The instructor from the 11th Division was called Tachikawa Zan. He was said to be the best swordsman in the division, but unfortunately, his Reiatsu was not strong, so his overall strength was fairly ordinary.
From what Jun had learned so far, this instructor really knew his stuff. When teaching Jun swordsmanship, he mostly corrected his posture, followed by the various stances for drawing and sheathing his sword, and the force used in each. Beyond that, there was nothing formulaic.
The instructor taught him for three whole months, giving Jun all of his allotted teaching time. Jun felt a measure of gratitude toward this rogue swordsmanship instructor who never minced his words.
At the same time, he felt even more helpless. Over those three months, Junichi had not learned anything else. Writing and the arts were one thing, but the real problem was that he had not learned any Kidō, which was genuinely frustrating. But the man came from the 11th Division, and as Instructor Tachikawa put it, "Is all that Kidō nonsense something a man should use? Men should use swords!"
Jun had no particular opinion on that. He had to learn Kidō, and judging by the original story, he always felt Kidō was fiercer than Zanpakuto. Mostly, Aizen was just that awesome. When he appeared, he took down Sajin Komamura in an instant with Hadō #90: Kurohitsugi. Then, in the Thousand-Year War, he opened against Yhwach with Hadō #99: Five Dragon Destruction. Whether it worked or not, Aizen had never lost while using Kidō. When he lost to Ichigo, he had been using a sword.
That was not the only effect those three months had. First, Instructor Hanazawa, the instructor Jun felt most comfortable with, had completed his assignment and been replaced. Jun would have to find another Kidō instructor.
The new Kidō instructor was petty. Normally, a new instructor would certainly give an open class, but Jun had been practicing Zanjutsu at the time and naturally could not attend. As a result, the instructor took quite a dislike to Jun, and Jun could do nothing about it.
Fortunately, the Kidō knowledge Jun needed right now was very basic, and two of the senior girls in the dormitory were reasonably competent at Kidō. Yuzuki Samidare had Kidō +7, and Isuzu Takasugi had Kidō +9. The adorably absent-minded Isuzu in particular was clearly aiming for the Kidō Corps. Her knowledge of Kidō was extensive, more than enough to teach Jun until the Kidō instructor was replaced.
Under these circumstances, Jun finally enjoyed the ultimate benefit of living in the girls' dormitory: tutoring from a beautiful senior. In the days before this, Jun had actually had little contact with the two girls other than Yuzu. Everyone was busy working to become a Soul Reaper; who had time to flirt with him?
And so the position of Jun's tutor temporarily went to Isuzu Takasugi.
"The foundation of Kidō is the foundation of Reishi Quality: the process of absorbing, controlling, and wielding spiritual power."
"Over Soul Society's development to this day, countless seniors have compiled their knowledge, and the Kidō Corps has selected spells through successive rounds, ultimately defining ninety-nine Hadō and ninety-nine Bakudō to make them easier for everyone to learn and use."
"And the foundations of all Kidō are concentrated in the first three Hadō and Bakudō, just like cuts and thrusts in Zanjutsu. Jun, you've reached diagonal cuts and long-range thrusts in your practice now, right?"
"So, Jun, you can learn the basics from me now and then practice on your own. It's very simple."
Senior Isuzu began demonstrating the first three Hadō and Bakudō to Jun.
Hadō #1: Thrust.
It condensed a small ball of spiritual power at the fingertip, then formed an extremely small shock wave. Its destructive power was extremely low.
Hadō #2: Pierce.
It likewise condensed a small ball of spiritual power at the fingertip, then formed a piercing attack with a certain degree of penetrating power. It was much more destructive than Thrust.
Hadō #3: Shot.
It once again condensed a small ball of spiritual power at the fingertip, then formed a piercing attack that could be fired outward. Its power was basically the same as Pierce.
Bakudō #1: Sai.
It formed a ring that could be manipulated to bind the target's hands behind their back. Bakudō already required manipulation at this point. All it really did was bind the hands; if the target's hands were in front of them, there was no need to force them behind their back before binding them.
Bakudō #2: Barrier.
It formed a flat surface. This was the most basic defensive Bakudō, and its defensive power was unimaginably low. It could only block the first three Hadō; once it came to the fourth, Byakurai, it was useless.
Bakudō #3: Glow.
It made Reishi glow. If someone could make this move appear in front of a target's face, it could blind the bastard.
After teaching Jun, Senior Isuzu let him practice on his own while Senior Yuzu continued watching over him. In any case, this kind of practice was very simple.
As Jun practiced Kidō, he also thought about its characteristics. Isuzu had said that Kidō had been compiled from ancient times, and that the Kidō Corps had continually improved it.
In the original story, Jun had also seen the Twelfth Division's super-modern equipment. He had never understood how it could be so modern, but now that he had come to Soul Society and encountered Kidō, he figured those things were probably all Kidō. Under a broad definition, everything in Soul Society, including clothing, food, housing, and transportation, was Kidō.
With those thoughts in mind, Jun's enthusiasm for practicing Kidō surpassed his enthusiasm for Zanjutsu. Moreover, Jun had transmigrated from modern society, and his understanding of things like energy was several eras ahead of present-day Soul Society.
Jun treated controlling Reishi like playing a game, drawing on a computer, or packing a snowball in real life. It all felt very familiar.
Take the basics of Hadō: the first three were actually the same. The foundation was condensing Reishi, with only the method of release differing. It was like packing a snowball, squeezing the Reishi together tightly.
The first three Bakudō were each different. Sai formed a ring, and Barrier formed a flat surface; both were easy to understand. Glow was somewhat different, but Jun could still manage it.
But Jun was thinking about a lot now, and that gave rise to more questions. He took a limited number of them to Senior Yuzu, but unfortunately, her understanding of Kidō extended only to using it. She had no deeper thoughts on the subject, so she could not answer.
Senior Isuzu gave Jun some answers, and he also gave her some new inspiration. But because of the limitations of her era and perspective, Isuzu could not possibly give Jun every answer.
Even so, Isuzu excitedly opened her normally narrowed eyes and cried that Jun was a Kidō genius, strongly urging him to join the Kidō Corps in the future.
Jun neither agreed nor disagreed. But after Isuzu acknowledged his talent for Kidō, Jun began practicing the subsequent spells as well.
Just when Jun thought he might have to wait until the current Kidō instructor was replaced before he could continue studying Kidō in greater depth, Nana Onibe, the tsundere senior who had been watching his troubles and had also noticed that the other two could not solve them and that she was incapable of doing so herself, suddenly spoke up over dinner.
"Um, you know~ There's a Journal Hall here in the dormitory area. Jun, do you want to go take a look?"
"Journal Hall? What's that?"
Yuzu and Isuzu suddenly remembered it too and explained to Jun, "Some seniors recorded what they learned and the everyday things that happened during their time at the academy. Some didn't take their journals with them when they graduated. The academy sorted them out while cleaning the dormitories, and since they were the result of the seniors' hard work, it didn't throw them away and kept them instead. Over time, that became the Journal Hall."
Jun suddenly grew interested. "Hey~~ Can I go there?"
Yuzu nodded. "Mm, anyone can go, but generally speaking, there isn't much use in it. Besides, there are so many journals by now. I remember Isuzu went there for a while."
Isuzu nodded too. "I went for about half a year. Actually~ you can pick up some experience, but it isn't that useful. After all, people are different. Experience that worked for the seniors won't necessarily work for you, and there really are so many journals that it's hard to find useful ones. Umm, Jun, you want to take a look, right?"
"Mm." Jun had no other intention; he was simply curious.
Isuzu smiled. "Then go ahead. It'll be a good way to pass the time until the next Kidō instructor takes over. If you can find seniors' experiences that suit you, that would be best of all."
"Yes~ Here's hoping you're right."