A captain didn't carry as much weight at the Shino Academy as one might imagine.
After all, the academy had a long history.
Hundreds of years had been enough to extend its influence throughout the Gotei 13. Nearly every Soul Reaper in the Gotei 13 had graduated from this academy, which specialized in training Soul Reapers.
Among them were plenty of Captain-level Soul Reapers.
Kyoraku Shunsui and Ukitake Jushiro had been among the academy's earliest graduates to become captains. They still served in the Gotei 13 to this day, making their mark. If even they had studied here, then it went without saying that the captains who came after them, with less experience than they had, had also attended the academy.
Given the academy's impressive track record, every year captains and lieutenant captains came to look for promising students in advance, hoping to recruit them into their divisions after graduation.
The academy's teachers were no strangers to Soul Reapers of captain or lieutenant-captain rank.
Some lieutenant captains even held teaching positions at the academy and came to give lessons from time to time.
Even so, when Natsuki came to the academy of his own accord, its teachers still gave him a grand welcome.
The other captains had at least been students at the Shino Academy.
But Natsuki was different. He had never studied there, and he also bore the title of Kenpachi. The previous Kenpachi, Kiganjo, had held the position for only a short time, but his reputation wasn't very good. As a result, no one could say what kind of person this new Kenpachi was.
"Hello, Natsuki Kenpachi. I'm Sugita Kazuhiko, a Ghost Way instructor at the Shino Academy. The headmaster had some business to attend to today, so he asked me to receive you."
A middle-aged man in