School

Early morning.

Byakuya opened his eyes to the ceiling that had already begun to feel familiar.

The difference was that his body hurt less.

[Jinzen complete. Soul strength +0.3]

The system panel flashed in the corner of his vision.

He sat up and looked down at his pale hands. His arms were as slender as ever, but he did feel much better overall.

"It worked... cough, cough."

Byakuya drew a deep breath and still couldn't help coughing, but it was no longer as wrenching as it had been last night.

Everything was getting better... There had been a little accident along the way, but fortunately the system had taken care of it... right?

Shaking off the faint unease rising in his heart, Byakuya got up.

Today was the first day of school at the Ninja Academy, and he was now a second-year student.

Even though his body had yet to recover, he had still decided to attend class. Now that he had a chance to become a Soul Reaper, he couldn't give up on Ninjutsu either. To deal with the troubled times ahead, he had to seize every opportunity to grow stronger.

As he washed up, Byakuya glanced at himself in the mirror.

Black hair, deep purple eyes, a cool, aloof face, and features more defined than those of his peers. The face reminded him of a certain Soul Reaper—Byakuya Kuchiki. Cold and austere, like a sword still in its sheath.

...No wonder Aizen had it in for him.

"Big brother!"

Along with that sweet, soft voice, three-year-old Hayate came toddling over and hugged Byakuya, his round little face still showing traces of sleepiness.

Byakuya instinctively reached out to steady him.

Such a tiny little otouto.

"Big brother, time to eat."

"Okay."

Byakuya took his younger brother's hand and led him outside.

Three years old.

If nothing changed, this child would be killed on a deserted street twenty years from now.

Byakuya looked down at Hayate. The little boy was busy stepping on his shadow, giggling every time he did.

He gently tightened his grip on the little hand in his.

Something to change things—isn't it already here?

"Do you really have to go? Your health..."

The lady of the Hayate Clan was in her early thirties, with the same gentleness in her features as Hayate. She stood in the entryway, clutching her apron, unable to hide the worry on her face.

Byakuya slung his tachi diagonally across his back and bent down to put on his shoes.

"Don't worry, I'm much better."

"Do you really have to become... a ninja?"

After hesitating for a long time, his mother managed to force out those words. Her husband, her father, and her father-in-law had all died because they became ninjas.

Was it going to be his son's turn now?

Byakuya didn't answer immediately. He had simply recalled a few things—the Nine-Tails incident, Pain's invasion, the Infinite Tsukuyomi...

In this world, how could someone avoid disaster just by not becoming a ninja?

"I'm leaving."

The door closed behind him.

Byakuya didn't look back. It wasn't time yet.

Konoha Ninja Academy.

Established by Second Hokage Tobirama Senju and strongly promoted by the Third Hokage, the school had secured Konoha's immense potential for war and trained many powerful civilian ninjas over the years.

Jiraiya and Orochimaru, for example.

And Minato Namikaze.

Another genius who died young... Change his fate?

Byakuya stood at the school gates, looking up at the wooden sign that read "Konohagakure Ninja Academy." Some vague ideas began to form in his mind.

He stepped inside. The school was much bigger than he had imagined.

Then again, that made sense. These were "superhumans" who jumped around in trees several meters tall, after all. If the place were any smaller, it probably couldn't contain this bunch of monkeys.

It was the first day of school, and there were quite a few people on the grounds, mostly new first-years accompanied by their parents. Quite a few ninjas carried swords on their backs, but even so, a small, scrawny figure like Byakuya carrying a tachi almost as tall as he was... still stood out a little too much.

"Well, if it isn't that sickly kid from the Hayate Clan?"

Byakuya stopped.

Three boys blocked his way. Their leader was half a head taller than him, broad and stocky, with two lackeys behind him. Their grins were begging to be punched.

There are people like this in every world.

Byakuya sighed inwardly, at a loss for words, and turned to walk around them.

"Didn't you hear what I said? You walking corpse, how dare you look down on us?"

Byakuya looked at the three boys surrounding him and felt a little impatient.

"Move."

"What?" The fat boy in the lead laughed and said to his lackeys, "He says move?"

Then all three laughed even harder.

"I heard you almost died a couple of days ago?" The leader stepped forward. "What's someone like you even doing at school? You think you can be a ninja?"

Byakuya ignored him and silently unfastened his sword, holding it in his hand.

"You even brought a sword? You think carrying a toy sword makes you a ninja? Give it here, and I'll show you how to use it!"

The fat boy clearly didn't know when to stop. Relying on his large build from a young age, he had bullied plenty of people and had no sense of limits. Perhaps in a few years, when everyone had moved up to the higher grades, they would realize how childish this behavior was.

Or perhaps, once everyone grew up, they would no longer be able to bully others.

But Byakuya had no intention of putting up with it any longer.

His body was weak, but his soul was strong enough. To his senses, the movements of children only a few years old were practically in slow motion.

He pushed the sword forward, seemingly yielding it under the fat boy's intimidation. In fact, he had quietly set the tip of the scabbard on the ground and braced it with his foot. The hilt missed the fat boy's hand by a hair and pressed into the space between his chest and stomach.

"Ugh!"

The fat boy's momentum carried him forward into the hilt. Unable to catch his breath, he turned red, his vision went black, and he fell to his knees.

"Cough, cough... Do you two want to try too?"

Byakuya's face was a little pale, but his gaze was calm. Jinzen was currently the key to keeping him alive; taking his sword was the same as taking his life.

He had already gone easy on them.

Although Byakuya's breathing had grown ragged, his gaze was too frightening. The two lackeys hesitated for a long moment before looking away, not daring to step forward.

The schoolyard fell silent for a few seconds. A few children watching stared at him wide-eyed, as though seeing him for the first time.

Byakuya turned to leave, only to see that the fat boy on the ground had caught his breath and was looking up at him.

"He's out of strength! What are you afraid of? A sickly brat scared you this badly? Useless!"

"Is your fat too thick?"

Byakuya sighed. The fat boy was right; he was indeed a little tired. One night of Jinzen couldn't heal him all at once.

"...B-boss..."

The fat boy struggled to his feet. Hearing his two lackeys, he instinctively looked up, only to see a drawn blade pressed against his neck.

"...A r-real sword?"

The fat boy felt an overwhelming urge to urinate, as though he could barely hold it back. He could only squeeze his legs together and do everything he could to stop trembling, terrified that Byakuya might accidentally push the blade forward.

"Kid, stop!"

"Don't do anything rash! Put the sword down!"

Seeing this, some of the parents who had brought their children to school couldn't help shouting.

Byakuya ignored them. He simply spoke in a calm voice.

"Didn't you want to see the sword? My father left it to me when he died. I imagine it's been stained with the blood of quite a few enemies."

Silence fell over the crowd.

"Well? Is it nice to look at? Want to get a little closer?"

Byakuya's hand was slender, but he held the sword steadily.

"Lunatic..."

Seeing a hint of a smile appear on Byakuya's face, the taut string in the fat boy's mind finally snapped. He lost consciousness and fell backward.

Byakuya even caught his clothes lightly to keep the back of his head from hitting the ground.

"Really heavy."

Byakuya returned the sword to its sheath and looked at the students watching, who had opened a path for him. His chest began to itch again.

"Cough, cough."

He walked slowly toward the school building, spotting quite a few familiar figures on either side of the "path."

Asuma had a blade of grass in his mouth and was studying him with an appraising gaze. Kurenai Yuhi stood nearby, her red eyes full of curiosity.

Obito was gesticulating wildly as he said something to Rin, who covered her mouth and laughed. Kakashi stood beside them, his silver hair shining in the sunlight. His expression was indifferent, but his gaze followed Byakuya's back the whole time.

A tall man stood beside Kakashi—Konoha's White Fang, Hatake Sakumo.

Byakuya looked away without breaking stride. He recognized every face, and he also knew how each of their stories ended.

"Impressive... The Gekko Clan? They were once prominent, but I thought they had fallen into decline... I didn't expect them to have a child like that."

Hatake Sakumo watched the retreating figure, now some distance away, and vaguely recalled a few figures from the past.

"Hmph, I could beat that fat guy with one hand."

The silver-haired boy, who was entering school early at the age of five, immediately felt a little indignant at seeing his father, the strongest person in his eyes, praise someone else.

"You certainly could."

Hatake Sakumo paused.

"But if you were as weak as he is, could you have done what he did?"

"I..."

Kakashi thought it over and fell silent for a while, but he still wasn't entirely convinced.

"Your body is part of your strength too. I'd never be as scrawny as him!"

Hatake Sakumo didn't argue with his son again. He ruffled Kakashi's hair, but the sequence of movements the child had made, from drawing his sword to placing it against the other boy's throat, flashed through his mind.

It hadn't been fast. To ninjas like them, it could even be called slow. Yet no one there had managed to stop him before it was all done.

Because it had been too natural.

So natural that no one had realized he was drawing his sword on someone.

The classroom.

Byakuya sat in the last row by the window.

He had chosen the seat himself. Lately, the front row had become a psychological sore spot for him.

Because he had often taken time off for health reasons in his first year, Byakuya had no friends he knew in the class. He looked around but didn't recognize anyone.

One or two faces seemed vaguely familiar, but he really couldn't remember their names.

He was happy enough with the peace and quiet. If he really had to act like a seven-year-old and mingle with others, he wouldn't know what to talk about anyway.

His classmates gathered in groups of twos and threes, whispering among themselves. Quite a few glanced at him from time to time. Presumably, word of what had happened earlier had spread.

That's fine too. This should help avoid some trouble, right?

A green blur flashed through his mind, along with strange cries like "Youth~" Byakuya swallowed.

Guy hasn't enrolled yet, has he?

At the front of the classroom, a middle-aged ninja was explaining the basic theory of Chakra.

"Chakra is a combination of spiritual energy and physical energy. It is formed by mixing the two energies in precisely equal proportions. Spiritual energy comes from training and accumulated experience, while physical energy is produced by the body's cells..."

Chakra extraction.

As a ninja's fundamental energy, Chakra extraction was naturally quite important. Although fighting ability couldn't be judged by Chakra reserves alone, meager Chakra certainly wouldn't be enough to reach a certain level.

Kakashi was always running short of Chakra, but he actually had quite a lot. The fact that he could remain active on the front lines of the Shinobi World while burdened by a Sharingan that could never be turned off was already remarkable.

"Physical energy?"

Feeling how difficult it was to extract Chakra himself, Byakuya understood that his current predicament still lay with his body, weakened by years of being ravaged by his bloodline disease.

The growth of his soul seemed to help his body recover a little... but relying on that alone was far too slow.

I wonder if Medical Ninjutsu would help... Is Tsunade still in Konoha?

At that thought, a word flashed through his mind.

"Kaido..."