Ritual

After meeting with the teachers organizing the entrance ceremony, Yamamoto walked alone toward the office specifically prepared for him within the Shino Academy.

At today's ceremony, he would be attending in full regalia as the founder of the Shino Academy. Along the way, many young teachers retreated to the roadside upon seeing him, bowing respectfully.

Yamamoto shed his usual stern image, nodding kindly in response.

If he had left anything behind in the past thousand years, aside from the Gen Private School, it would surely be this Shino Academy.

Here, Yamamoto Shigekuni could finally set aside the constant, bloody slaughter of the past few centuries and reclaim the glory of being a teacher.

As he walked, thinking of the incident at the academy gates, the corners of his mouth curled upward:

"That little brat Lin Nan, actually daring to strike at a noble scion for the sake of a classmate he just met... It's no wonder; a boy who would dare to venture deep into a rebel stronghold empty-handed to save others wouldn't think twice about a mere noble child.

...Though that fellow Kyoraku is mischievous, he possesses a strong sense of justice; to think he would speak up for a commoner classmate—I truly hadn't seen that in him before..."

In the Soul Society, geniuses with natural spiritual power affinity were not exactly rare, but children like Lin Nan, who possessed such a sense of justice and fearlessness toward power, were indeed few and far between.

As for Ukitake Jushiro, he didn't know much, but he appeared to be a kind and intelligent child.

"I hope these little ones can cultivate well; the future of the Court Guard Squad can only be upheld by such character..." Yamamoto opened his wardrobe and took out his cherished black robes.

Although the style was no different from the standard Soul Reaper uniform, this garment had accompanied him through hundreds of years of his teaching career. Only when wearing it could Yamamoto temporarily forget the things within the Seireitei that constantly infuriated him.

"Old friend, we meet again. Today, let us go and welcome the new children together!" He stripped off his outer clothes, revealing his knotted muscles, and donned the black robes.

On the training grounds, students scattered, gathering in small groups to chat.

Seeing the reaction of the few people opposite him was different from the others, Tsunayashiro Tokinada quickly explained: "I am indeed from the Tsunayashiro Clan. However, I am a child of a branch family, and I don't have much contact with the main house in my daily life.

Therefore, I hope to make more friends at the academy. Please, do not distance yourselves from me!" He bowed sincerely to Lin Nan and the others.

Lin Nan and his companions quickly stepped aside. Out of politeness, Kyoraku chatted with Tsunayashiro Tokinada for a few moments, though he still felt a sense of unreality.

Lin Nan watched the look of disbelief that flickered across Kyoraku's face and could guess the reason.

Seeing a scion of the Four Great Noble Houses, the pillars of the Soul Society, personally handing out gifts and networking was essentially the same as seeing a Minister of Defense personally directing traffic at an intersection—the person and the act were completely mismatched, and the very thought was absurd.

Ukitake did not have as concrete a concept of the Four Great Noble Houses as Kyoraku, so he did not react as strongly to Tsunayashiro Tokinada's gift-giving and politely chimed in.

Lin Nan did not join the conversation; he felt an inexplicable sense of contradiction in his heart. According to the original novel's setting, Tsunayashiro Tokinada was a boy with no presence during his student days.

But was it possible for a boy bearing the surname of one of the Four Great Noble Houses to have no presence at school for all those years? Would those sycophantic noble children really pass up the chance to befriend someone from the Four Great Noble Houses?

Moreover, besides himself, who could imagine that this seemingly kind-hearted boy would one day become another boss after Yhwach?

This feeling of being able to look down upon history and the future made Lin Nan feel a sense of excitement, mixed with a slight vertigo. If the past of a boss were changed, would he still become a boss in the future?

Lin Nan secretly made up his mind to pay more attention to Tsunayashiro Tokinada in the days to come.

Following a loud command, a teacher stepped onto the podium. The students below immediately stopped their chatter and quickly formed lines.

Lin Nan and his two friends naturally stood together, with Lin Nan and Kyoraku side-by-side and Ukitake behind Lin Nan. Because Tsunayashiro Tokinada was closest to the three, he stood beside Ukitake.

Amamiya Keiji, who had his hand crushed by Lin Nan outside the gate, somehow found them and wandered over to their side. Not daring to face Lin Nan and Kyoraku directly, he gave a sheepish smile, nodded at Ukitake, and stood on his other side.

On the stage, Yamamoto Shigekuni had taken his seat at the center. The teacher presiding over the ceremony read the welcome speech, and the annual entrance ceremony for the Shino Academy began.

At first, Lin Nan had been full of anticipation, waiting to see what would be different about the only "Soul Reaper Military Academy" in the Soul Society, but the result left him deeply disappointed.

The entire ceremony consisted of different people taking the stage to speak. Every teacher who spoke was mechanically reading from a script.

With his keen eyesight, Lin Nan could clearly see from below that the scripts used by two of the teachers had deep creases on the back and frayed edges; it seemed they hadn't been replaced in many years.

The attention of the students below gradually drifted. Some of the more exhausted ones even began to doze off.

"Are you kidding me? How can a dignified entrance ceremony be so perfunctory?" Lin Nan couldn't help but mutter to himself.

He wasn't worried about being overheard by the freshmen nearby or the teachers on stage, as almost all the freshmen below were whispering, either complaining about the teachers' quiet voices or mocking their lack of sincerity.

"It is indeed so. Because the teachers at the academy have abandoned their responsibilities." Behind Lin Nan, Tsunayashiro Tokinada said in a low, slow voice, "The Shino Academy, once a cradle for nurturing talent, has now become a place for teachers to curry favor with new nobles and build connections.

Because for the last hundred years, the Court Guard Squad has been under long-term suppression by the Central 46. Not only is the source of students for the academy controlled by the Central 46, but their career paths upon graduation are also manipulated.

Students from noble backgrounds return to their respective houses after graduation. As for students without noble origins? Sorry, they basically have no qualifications to enroll.

The nobles' requirements for student grades cannot be as strict as those of the Court Guard Squad. Therefore, the level of teaching performance ultimately has little impact on a teacher's future.

Under these circumstances, most teachers have abandoned their professional pursuits. Rather than teaching seriously, it is better to take advantage of their work to build relationships with various nobles and pave the way for their own future.

Even if they cannot befriend the transcendent Four Great Noble Houses, it doesn't matter; having the backing of a high-ranking noble name is still much better than struggling alone..."

Lin Nan tilted his head slightly, listening to Tsunayashiro's explanation from behind, his brows furrowing.

His gaze fell upon Yamamoto Shigekuni, who was sitting upright in the center seat on the podium—

On the seats beside Yamamoto, a few teachers sat sparsely, and some seats had remained empty from the beginning. It seemed some had intentionally skipped today's ceremony.

It was clear that Yamamoto had not only combed his hair again but also seemed to have changed his clothes—though there were distinct decorative patterns on the edges, they were clearly even older than the clothes he had worn before. It must have been a formal robe he had kept hidden away.

The only one who truly valued this ceremony was Yamamoto, who had attended in full regalia.

"Tokinada is right. If I were working at the academy, I'm afraid I would make the same choices as these teachers." Kyoraku had also heard Tokinada's words and said deeply, "These teachers are usually former students of the academy who had average total scores but excelled in a single subject, and since they couldn't enter the Court Guard Squad, they were forced to remain at the academy to teach."

Lin Nan withdrew his gaze from the stage and glanced at Kyoraku: "You heard that from your brother?"

Kyoraku nodded: "After all, my eldest brother studied here as well. Had he not been drafted by the Shihoin House, he likely would have been excluded from the Court Guard Squad by various means, just like everyone else."

Hearing this, a deep sense of doubt welled up in Lin Nan's heart.

The shadow of civil war was currently hanging over the Soul Society. Just as he had entered the gates of the academy, he had heard the old man Yamamoto mention that Katori and a group of other captains had already led their respective squads toward different directions in the Rukon District to quell the rebellion.

The Seireitei was located at the center of the Soul Society, and its geography made it easily susceptible to being surrounded from all sides.

Under such circumstances, were there actually people deliberately preventing the Court Guard Squad from reinforcing its numbers?

What are those fellows at Central 46 thinking? If this were the real world, this would already be suspected of treason, right? No wonder Aizen killed them all; they deserved it! Lin Nan thought to himself.

Although he was very familiar with the story of the original timeline, as a transmigrator, Lin Nan still could not fathom how the Seireitei and the Court Guard Squad would break the deadlock they faced in this current civil war.

Suddenly, a sharp round of applause broke Lin Nan's train of thought. Immediately after, enthusiastic applause erupted throughout the hall. Amidst the clapping, Yamamoto slowly walked to the center of the podium and began his speech.

He stood tall at the center of the stage like a great tree. Facing the gazes of all the new students, he used no notes, beginning his tale from the very day the academy was founded.

Over these past thousand-plus years, how many talents had emerged from the academy; how many major events had occurred; how many of the seniors sitting before them had sacrificed their lives in the war that engulfed the Soul Society two hundred years ago...

Yamamoto spoke in a calm, flat tone. Perhaps intimidated by the status of the Captain-Commander, no one below whispered to one another, nor did anyone continue to doze off.

But everyone's patience had long since been worn thin by the dry speeches of the previous teachers. At this moment, there were very few left who could focus their energy on what he was saying.

At this moment, the founder of the Shino Academy, the most notorious butcher of the Soul Society, was like a lonely old man facing a field of rice swaying in the wind, whispering the story of his life.

Lin Nan, however, listened with unusual seriousness, even feeling a resonance deep within his soul. More than a thousand years had passed; even if he still maintained the appearance of a middle-aged man, could he not be considered very old?

After such a long time, the students he had personally taught had died in battle, and the school he had personally founded had become what it was today...

Lin Nan watched the burly figure on the stage quietly, thinking, As the pioneer and the one who had lived through it all, Yamamoto must surely feel a sense of loneliness in his heart.