Touch and It's Shikai?!

Many times, it was not that you were not good enough, but that Pearl and Jade had come before you. If you were not as outstanding as Pearl and Jade, then what awaited you would be a response far below your expectations.

With Ikkaku and Yumichika's astonishing performances, the two who appeared after them would suffer tremendous setbacks and disdain.

It was not their fault. When you looked directly at the sun, your eyes were bound to be burned, weren't they?

The man with short, spiky hair standing on the Examiner Seat looked at Ikkaku and Yumichika and said with a grin, "My, my, what an impressive bunch. Hahaha!"

Unfortunately, the ones appearing after Ikkaku and Yumichika were Asano Kiyoshi and another extravagantly dressed youth. That youth's name was Tsunayashiro Kojiro.

Tsunayashiro Kojiro had a pair of narrow, elongated eyes similar to Ikkaku's, but they were somewhat different as well. His gaze resembled that of a venomous snake flicking its tongue, and his entire body gave off an extremely uncomfortable, chilling aura.

Asano Kiyoshi did not inspect the data of the person before him, because while watching Ikkaku and the others earlier, he had discovered that his spiritual power had been depleted to a certain extent. It seemed that this ability to peer into others came at the cost of Reiatsu, and the stronger the person, the more Reiatsu it consumed.

To ensure that his test results would not be affected later, Asano Kiyoshi did not use the Scroll to examine the gloomy youth's data. He merely smiled at him in a friendly manner. However, the other boy clearly had no intention of acknowledging him. He only cast Kiyoshi a brief sideways glance, his eyes entirely devoid of emotion. In his eyes, Asano Kiyoshi was like a speck of dust drifting through the air, not worth communicating with or wasting any emotion on.

Seeing the youth's arrogant demeanor, Asano Kiyoshi was not greatly affected. Including his previous life, he had already lived for more than thirty years. He would not get angry over something so trivial. In fact, he could even understand the youth's arrogance. He was obviously a child of nobility, so why would he have even the slightest desire to speak with someone like him, who had come from the slums?

Asano Kiyoshi merely shook his head and walked toward the raised platform where the Asauchi were displayed.

The testing method was simple: one only needed to pour all of their Reiatsu into an Asauchi, after which the strength of the Reiatsu within it would be used to determine their approximate Reiatsu level.

It was only approximate because Reiatsu was difficult to measure. It could fluctuate drastically depending on uncontrollable factors such as one's emotional state, length of training, and physical constitution.

However complex those factors might be, a Third Class Reiatsu would never suddenly break through to Fifth-Seat Reiatsu just because someone became enraged. After extensive research, the Research and Development Department had precisely categorized such fluctuations into different ranges, using them to roughly determine a Shinigami's Reiatsu level.

The gloomy youth grabbed the Asauchi on the left before Asano Kiyoshi could. As Reiatsu poured into it, the Asauchi in his hand shone with dazzling light. Yet although the light was brilliant, it could not compare to the previous two. Tsunayashiro Kojiro exerted all his strength, his face turning red and veins bulging across his forehead, but no matter how hard he tried, the Blue Light could never cross that threshold.

At last, when the proctor called for him to stop, Tsunayashiro Kojiro's result was set at Fifth-Seat Reiatsu.

Tsunayashiro Kojiro was clearly dissatisfied with this result. He lowered his head, his expression so ugly it seemed as though water could drip from his face.

Seeing Tsunayashiro Kojiro's result, the crowd felt a slight sense of schadenfreude. Since this was the final batch of enrollment, most of those present were commoners. Nobles and children from wealthy families had already entered the academy during the first or second rounds.

Watching Kojiro be defeated by commoners like themselves, everyone felt an inexplicable thrill rise within them.

Kojiro seemed to sense the hostility directed at him, and a disdainful smile appeared on his face. Then he looked at Asano Kiyoshi with an almost mocking gaze, waiting for Kiyoshi to finish at the bottom and become a "glorious" stepping stone for his own performance.

The man seated at the highest position watched Kojiro's performance and sighed softly. He said nothing, but his gaze instinctively shifted to Asano Kiyoshi. There was unexpectedly a trace of sympathy and conflict in his eyes, as though he had already foreseen the humiliation Asano Kiyoshi would suffer afterward.

But Asano Kiyoshi simply ignored Tsunayashiro Kojiro's gaze. He took a deep breath and gathered the spiritual power in his body into a single point. Under everyone's watchful eyes, Asano Kiyoshi finally gripped the Asauchi!

The instant Asano Kiyoshi grasped the Asauchi, an aura that seemed to come from ancient primordial times enveloped everyone. Then, a fear from the depths of their souls rapidly spread and grew within their hearts. It was suppression on the level of the soul, an unspeakable terror!

A massive Archway slowly emerged behind the youth. Everything around it was a vast expanse of white, littered with countless shattered bones. On the plaque above the Archway were three blood-red characters: "Gate of the Underworld"!

Merely looking at that terrifying structure made everyone's minds waver and their mouths go dry, as if their very souls were about to be sucked inside!

At that moment, Asano Kiyoshi himself underwent an extremely obvious transformation. His previously plain clothes slowly turned into an outfit entirely unlike a Shinigami Uniform.

The robe was different from a Shinigami Uniform, with much wider cuffs. The black cross-collared long robe, edged in red, fell two inches above his feet. His lower half was clad in fitted black trousers with red trim. Compared to the Japanese-style kimono, Asano Kiyoshi's Shinigami attire resembled Hanfu far more closely.

But that was not all. The Asauchi that emitted a pale blue glow began to slowly vanish!

As the Asauchi dissipated, an ancient-looking Scroll gradually appeared beside Asano Kiyoshi. All manner of Wrathful Ghosts and vicious beasts continuously emerged upon it. A single glance was enough to make one feel as though their mind was splitting apart. Meanwhile, Asano Kiyoshi's body floated slightly in the air. Framed by the Gate of the Underworld and the Scroll, he looked exactly like a god who ruled over all life and death!

At that moment, whether they were the examinees who had come to enroll or the well-informed examiners, even Isshin Shiba, seated atop the highest platform, broke out in a cold sweat. Even someone as powerful as him suffered a brief lapse of focus upon seeing the Gate of the Underworld!

Watching Asano Kiyoshi as the surrounding Reishi slowly dispersed, a complex smile appeared on his face. "What an incredible fellow!"

Before his words had even finished, a black figure seemed to tear through space and instantly arrived before Asano Kiyoshi, catching him as he collapsed unconscious from excessive Reiatsu depletion.