You Know How He Flew Five Meters?

On the third day after returning from the Shihoin House, Lin Nan and the others received the funds sent by the Shihoin House. Of course, for the sake of secrecy, the money was temporarily deposited with Captain-Commander Yamamoto. The three of them only received a message from Chojiro, who had come in Yamamoto's stead.

"Right now, you don't have much strength. Lord Genryūsai has instructed you that no matter what happens, you must prioritize staying alive. Caution comes first." Before he left, Chojiro solemnly reminded them.

"Ugh! We don't have a penny in our pockets. How are we supposed to stay alive? They couldn't even bring us a few hundred Kan?" Lin Nan grumbled under his breath as he and Kyoraku and Ukitake watched Chojiro leave.

Ukitake's eyes were a little wistful. "I thought I'd get to see what ten thousand Kan looked like with my own eyes."

Kyoraku waved a hand. "It's fine. The money's definitely safe with the old man, anyway. Who in Seireitei would dare steal from Captain-Commander Yamamoto?"

Lin Nan gave Kyoraku a sympathetic look. "You never got to keep your New Year's money as a kid, did you? You clearly don't understand the basics of parents collecting their children's money for safekeeping."

Kyoraku blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Without cash in hand, Lin Nan wasn't in the mood to explain. He went straight to the point. "When will the investigation be over? It's been seven days since school started, and we haven't learned a thing. Do we have class today?"

Ukitake thought it over. "I heard the investigation into the first-year students was completed yesterday—thankfully, there aren't many of us. If the teachers don't have anything else to do, we should have a Zanjutsu class today."

Lin Nan wore an expression that said, "Finally," and rubbed his hands together impatiently. "At last, we can properly learn something."

Seeing how excited he was, Kyoraku and Ukitake exchanged glances. They couldn't help recalling how easily Lin Nan had drawn Kyoraku's Asauchi from its scabbard.

Apparently, he still hadn't realized what he'd done.

They checked the time. It was almost time for class, so the three of them got ready and headed to their first Zanjutsu lesson, full of dreams of becoming master swordsmen.

However, in that first Zanjutsu class, they simply followed the teacher's instructions and spent the entire lesson practicing suburi with wooden swords—that is, standing in place and repeating the same chopping motion.

By the end of the lesson, Lin Nan and Kyoraku were practically ready to give up on life.

Lin Nan followed the teacher's pace for twenty minutes, then couldn't keep going. Thanks to the growth bonus provided by the Playback Room, he grasped techniques ten times faster than everyone else, and his body control was at least a whole level above theirs.

For him, this kind of repetitive practice was useful for no more than twenty minutes. Continuing after that would just be a waste of time.

Kyoraku, meanwhile, had absolutely no tolerance for such a boring, mechanical lesson. He managed ten minutes before he couldn't take it anymore. He just couldn't get into it at all.

Ukitake, on the other hand, was very focused, constantly refining every movement.

"You two are slacking off," Ukitake complained during the break. "As disciples of the Gen Style, shouldn't the first thing we master be Zanjutsu? No matter how boring it is, we have to find a way to overcome it..."

Kyoraku lay on the ground with his eyes half closed and grinned. "You're right, Ukitake. This kind of stupid lesson really is boring... so I'm planning to sleep through the next one."

"The next class is still Zanjutsu. We'll be practicing suburi again," Ukitake said helplessly.

Kyoraku rolled his eyes. "Might as well swing me to death."

Lin Nan sighed. "If I'd known class would be like this, I wouldn't have brought my Asauchi today. It's such a nuisance hanging off my waist."

Ukitake earnestly advised him, "A Zanpakuto is the foundation of a Soul Reaper. At any time..."

"...you must never give up on it," Lin Nan cut in. "Ukitake, it's not that we're unwilling to work hard. It's just that these repetitive lessons really aren't necessary for the two of us."

Ukitake blinked, unable to understand.

Kyoraku rolled over on the ground and gave Lin Nan a thumbs-up. "Only a genius can understand a genius!"

Less than ten minutes into the second lesson, Lin Nan and Kyoraku—who had slacked off during the first—were inevitably called out by the teacher.

After hearing their excuse for slacking off, Instructor Tanida, a somewhat elderly man with a thick handlebar mustache, flew into a rage.

"Not necessary?! Let's see what you can do to justify saying that to my face!" Tanida was so furious his mustache bristled. "You don't even know what a proper blade line is, do you?!"

Kyoraku lazily replied under his breath, "The blade has to point straight toward the direction of the cut, or it'll affect the strike..."

The teacher hadn't expected the somewhat curly-haired boy to answer before anyone else, let alone get it right. With the little bit of anger he'd just worked up left with nowhere to go, he shrilled, "You know one answer, and that means you can slack off? Huh? Can you beat anyone in a sword match? With an attitude like that, what's your name? Which family are you from?"

Kyoraku remained as laid-back as ever and casually gave his family name.

When the mustached teacher heard that Kyoraku came from a high-ranking noble family, his expression faltered. He even paused in the middle of his nonstop scolding. "You..."

He lingered on "you" for a moment, still unsure what to say. At last, he turned his attention to Lin Nan.

"Which family are you from? What's your name?"

Lin Nan answered honestly. "I don't have a family. I'm from Rukongai."

Tanida's expression twisted at once, and he unleashed all the anger Kyoraku had stirred up on Lin Nan. "You're from Rukongai and you still dare to slack off in class?!"

As he spoke, he grabbed two wooden swords from beside him and tossed one to Lin Nan. "Take it! I'll show you what it means when you disrespect Zanjutsu, Zanjutsu will disrespect you!"

Unlike the bamboo swords they usually practiced with, wooden swords were harder and had edges, which made them more dangerous.

All the students fell silent, ready to watch the show. It looked like the teacher was going to get serious with Lin Nan.

Ukitake watched the front of the classroom with worry written all over his face, but there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Only Kyoraku looked relaxed. Seeing Ukitake's expression, he shook his head with a grin and mouthed, "It's fine."

As someone who had fought alongside Lin Nan and once been his sparring partner, he knew just how tough Lin Nan was. As long as nobody used a real weapon, ordinary blows couldn't do him any harm.

Besides, Lin Nan had actually crossed swords with Unohana. The students spreading rumors might have forgotten that detail, but the Captain-Commander had tacitly acknowledged it!

"Don't accuse me of picking on you because I'm the teacher and you're a student. You can defend yourself and fight back! But if I beat you or even injure you, don't complain!" The swordsmanship instructor glared, gripping his wooden sword tightly as he took his stance.

To maintain his authority among the students and uphold his reputation as a teacher among the noble families, he had to make an example of Lin Nan today!

Lin Nan glanced at the wooden sword in his right hand and began to explain. "Teacher, I..."

"It's too late to regret it!" Before Lin Nan could finish, the teacher sprang forward, raising his wooden sword high and bringing it down toward Lin Nan's forehead.

The wooden sword sliced through the air with a deep whoosh, crashing down with the thunderous force of a strike that could break through anything!

A few students let out soft cries, as if they could already picture how badly this would end. A few of the more timid ones had even turned their faces away.

Lin Nan watched the wooden sword coming down, his brow twitching.

Teacher, are you actually serious?

"Crack!" "Thud!"

"Thump!"

A string of sounds rang out in an instant. Then the teacher's wail followed.

The students who had turned away looked back at the noise and saw that the wooden sword in the teacher's hands had snapped in two, while the teacher himself was rolling around on the ground five meters away.

Everyone's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. Even Kyoraku could hardly believe what he'd seen. He stared at Lin Nan as if he were a monster.

"Sorry, I slipped..." Lin Nan gave an awkward smile. Ever since the hot spring at Kirinji had strengthened his body, he still hadn't gotten used to his own strength.

"I was trying to ask how hard I should hit him... but when he swung at me, I reacted on instinct..."

The first Zanjutsu class for the first-year students at Shino Academy ended right there.

The instructor withdrew from teaching due to injury. The date he would return was yet to be determined.

"I just thought of a way."

Lin Nan stood in the corridor. As students passed by and regarded him with some apprehension, he suddenly spoke to Kyoraku and Ukitake.

"What way?" Kyoraku still hadn't recovered from that last strike. "—How did you pull off that swing?"

"I just made sure my blade line was straight, like the teacher said..." Lin Nan explained earnestly. "The way I'm talking about is how we can do a better job with that mission."

Kyoraku understood, but still couldn't believe it. "I still don't get it. No matter how straight your blade line is, it can't send someone flying five meters! How did Instructor Tanida fly that far?"

Ukitake wasn't as physically strong, and he was extremely eager to master swordsmanship. Now his brow was furrowed, his eyes shifting restlessly as he kept replaying Lin Nan's strike in his mind, trying to figure out how he'd done it.

"Don't think about it for now, Ukitake. You can't figure this guy out. He fought Kenpachi and still walked away without a scratch. Instructor Tanida only broke an arm today. He was lucky."

Kyoraku waved a hand in front of Ukitake's eyes, interrupting his reverie. Then he asked Lin Nan, "Most of the students have left. Tell us about your plan."

Lin Nan ran his fingers over the hilt and spoke slowly. "We still don't know what consequences this lost-Zanpakuto incident will bring, or when they'll happen. So we need to get the information as quickly as possible if we want to avoid any potential danger."

Kyoraku blinked, unconvinced. "We're just helping gather some information. There's no need to rush, is there? The Soul Reapers are handling the actual work."

"What if the lost Zanpakuto threatens your brother?" Lin Nan asked in return. "What if the danger affects Rust Face or Kotsukotsu District?"

His firm gaze swept over both their faces. "I just don't want the danger spreading to those around us."

Kyoraku's eyes flickered for a moment before he nodded. "All right. Tell us what to do. We'll follow your lead."

"We need to establish an image."

"An image? What do you mean?" Kyoraku and Ukitake were completely puzzled. It was the first time they'd heard the term.

"It's the first impression people get when they think of us. For us, it's a mask to wear while investigating," Lin Nan explained quietly, leaning closer to the two of them.

"We'll make ourselves into someone else to hide our real intentions."