The Panel's Massive Improvement

For Shinigami with their long lives, two months felt like nothing more than a nap. Before they knew it, early spring had already become midsummer.

Asano Kiyoshi sat on the floor of the Kendo Hall, covered in wounds. Head Captain Yamamoto held a wooden sword, satisfaction on his face as he looked at Asano Kiyoshi and said with some gratification,

"Your progress has been tremendous, but you still need to work hard. You now basically have the strength to fight Tsunayashiro Kojiro, but you most likely still cannot defeat him."

Hearing the Captain-Commander's words, Asano Kiyoshi lay on the floor, gasping for breath as he smiled and nodded. The Captain-Commander was right. He had scanned Tsunayashiro Kojiro's attributes long ago. As expected of a descendant of the foremost of the Five Great Noble Clans, his attributes were terrifyingly high:

Name: Tsunayashiro Kojiro

Slash: 43 (Having received private noble education since childhood, he has accumulated extensive experience in Zanjutsu.)

Hakuda: 42 (As a noble, he has private Hakuda instructors constantly sparring with him, giving him formidable strength and seasoned experience.)

Kido: 34 (His naturally insufficient Reiatsu means that even with private instructors, he is not particularly outstanding.)

Shunpo: 40 (Private instructors have corrected his spiritual power and posture one-on-one, giving him great proficiency in Shunpo.)

Reiatsu: Fifth-Seat Reiatsu (As the foremost of the Five Great Noble Clans, this level of Reiatsu is rather low.)

Overall Rating: 159 (He possesses the level of an ordinary squad's Fourteenth Seat. Though incomparably weak when viewed against the entire world, he is a formidable enemy to you.)

Note: Each division has eighteen seats. Excluding the Captain and Vice-Captain, there are sixteen seated officers. The Eighteenth Seat corresponds to an overall value between "120--130." Each increase in seat raises the overall value by 10 points. These values are for reference only. In actual combat, subtle changes such as psychological feints and fighting will can cause combat strength to fluctuate, so they are only references and cannot be fully trusted.

Zanpakuto: Key Restraint

Tsunayashiro Kojiro's panel values were extremely high. He could be called the undisputed first of this class. The reason he had lagged behind Ikkaku and Yumichika at enrollment was simply because his Reiatsu was too weak. Reiatsu was something largely determined from the moment one was born, with almost no way to change it.

Born into one of the Five Great Noble Clans, even Fifth-Seat Reiatsu was considered rather low for him. Perhaps that was precisely why he harbored such intense hostility toward Ikkaku and the others whose Reiatsu had surpassed his during the entrance examination.

Under the Captain-Commander's instruction, Asano Kiyoshi's panel had also improved tremendously. Ink-black words slowly surfaced on the Scroll, displaying Asano Kiyoshi's current values:

Host: Asano Kiyoshi

Slash: 29 (Under the training of Soul Society's foremost master of swordsmanship, your swordsmanship has changed from blind, reckless slashing into structured attacks.)

Hakuda: 27 (After being continuously beaten by the Thousand-Year Old Man for two months, you have also learned a few techniques for beating others.)

Kido: 30 (Perfect Reishi Control Ability and exceptional aptitude for learning Kido. Your Kido has currently reached a bottleneck. At least within Third Class Reiatsu, you are the undisputed number one!)

Shunpo: 30 (Meticulous Reiatsu coverage and nearly perfect distance calculations. Within Third Class Reiatsu, I would call your Kido the strongest!)

Overall Rating: 116 (Close to the strength of the lowest-ranking Seat Officer among official Shinigami. Perhaps someone like you can retain a little strength to resist within the torrent of fate?)

Reiatsu: Third Class Reiatsu 97% (Although the Captain-Commander's Reiatsu made you feel as though you were dying and coming back to life, it also remade you completely. You are gradually advancing toward Fourth-Seat Reiatsu!)

Zanpakuto: Underworld

Shikai Phrase: ???

Bankai Phrase: ???

Currently Unlocked Scene: Gate of the Underworld

Next Unlockable Scene: Road to the Underworld

Under the Captain-Commander's guidance, Asano Kiyoshi could finally rely on his control over spiritual power to contend with Tsunayashiro Kojiro to some extent. Though his chances of defeating him were slim, Asano Kiyoshi's rate of improvement was far greater than Tsunayashiro Kojiro's. At this pace, within two years, he would undoubtedly secure a place in the Great Spirit Book Gallery.

Moreover, over these two months, Asano Kiyoshi had gained a deeper understanding of this world and realized the goal he absolutely had to achieve in the short term.

That was—no matter when Tsunayashiro Kojiro graduated, he would compete with him for that single place in the Great Spirit Book Gallery.

However, even Head Captain Yamamoto did not know much about what was inside the Great Spirit Book Gallery.

The Great Spirit Book Gallery had always been controlled by the Five Great Noble Clans, and it had been established even before Head Captain Yamamoto's lifetime. It was a relic of the Soul King's era. Even the Captain-Commander did not have much authority to investigate it. To put it bluntly, the entire Soul Society prioritized the interests of the Five Great Noble Clans.

Head Captain Yamamoto looked at Asano Kiyoshi lying on the floor and feigned anger as he said,

"Get up already! You lazy brat! Is this all you've got?!"

Before Asano Kiyoshi could react, another fierce downward slash came crashing down. Asano Kiyoshi hurriedly rolled aside, then forced himself to endure the aching pain in every muscle and stood up once more. The hand gripping his wooden sword trembled from exerting force for so long. To keep his swings from being affected, he even wrapped spiritual power around his limbs, forcibly using Reishi to alter his movements whenever his reactions could not keep up.

Watching Asano Kiyoshi charge forward again only to be sent flying once more, the Captain-Commander was immensely satisfied.

Asano Kiyoshi's talent could not be considered the greatest the Captain-Commander had seen over the past thousand years, but he was the most unusual person he had ever encountered: Reiatsu that seemed capable of growing without limit, and perfect Reishi Control Ability.

At the same time, he possessed a steady mindset, a gentle temperament, and exceptional learning ability.

Everything about him pleased the Captain-Commander. In fact, if Asano Kiyoshi could continue like this, the Captain-Commander truly had the intention of grooming him as a successor.

However, Asano Kiyoshi did not yet have such aspirations.

He was good in every respect, but one thing left the Captain-Commander somewhat helpless. Asano Kiyoshi seemed enthusiastic about everything, yet for some unknown reason, he always seemed faintly separated from this world. It was a sense of distance that came from the depths of his soul, as though he did not belong to this world at all.

Captain-Commander shook his head and buried those thoughts deep in his heart. With a casual strike, he sent the charging Asano Kiyoshi flying again before correcting him,

"Your attack just now had enough force, but its angle was too tricky, causing you to lose momentum in your follow-up..."