Stagnation

Whenever Yoruichi thought of Kao Susumu, she felt disgusted. And remembering the way he'd just been staring toward Squad 1 made her feel sick.

"Someone like him thinks he can get into Squad 1? In his dreams!"

Yoruichi cursed, then turned to Hongjiang and continued, "You definitely won't let him into Squad 1, right? Anyway, I won't let him into the 2nd Division!"

"Come on, sis, I'm not you! And even if the old man weren't still around, it's not like I'd necessarily be the one in charge!"

Hongjiang looked helpless. The 2nd Division was managed by the Shihoin family, so Yoruichi, as the future 2nd Division Captain and head of the Shihoin family, had the right to refuse anyone.

But Squad 1 was different. Only someone approved by the current heads of the Five Great Noble Families, Central 46, and all the captains could become its captain. So even though Hongjiang was Old Man Yama's favorite, whether he could take up Squad 1's mantle was still unknown.

"The old man won't even give you a few privileges. So stingy!" Yoruichi mocked. Then her eyes rolled as she continued, "How about you join the 2nd Division?"

"What for? To be your lieutenant?"

"Don't be so rigid! With our relationship, we'd obviously be equals. We'd discuss everything together! And if you're willing to marry into my family, you can even be the future head of the Shihoin family~" Yoruichi had made herself blush. She cupped her cheeks, striking the bashful pose of a delicate young woman.

"That joke isn't funny at all." Hongjiang hadn't noticed Yoruichi's current state. He thought she was still joking around.

Of the trio, only Urahara Kisuke could choose which division to join. The other two had their roots firmly planted in Squads 1 and 2; they couldn't just do as they pleased.

"Urahara Kisuke! Step forward for your test!"

Yoruichi had still wanted to have a proper talk with Hongjiang, but it was now their trio's turn to be tested. Just like six years ago, Urahara went first and Hongjiang last.

As Urahara began his test, the water in the Spirit Pool quickly rose past the fifth bamboo marker. It continued filling the remaining space without slowing, until at last it filled the entire pool.

"Level Six, full marks!" The instructor gave a thumbs-up with a smile, then called out, "Shihoin Yoruichi! Step forward for your test!"

Like Urahara, Yoruichi also scored Level Six, full marks. But there was one difference: she reached that level faster than he did.

The Spirit Pool's testing limit was Level Six, full marks, so the students present were all wondering whether Yoruichi had already crossed the Level Six threshold. After all, Urahara had scored Level Five, full marks six years ago, while she had already reached Level Six.

Only Hongjiang knew that both of them were still at Level Six, full marks. There was no such thing as Level Seven in spiritual power; Level Six, full marks, was the limit.

Of course, that didn't mean all top Soul Reapers had the same spiritual power. The levels mostly measured its purity, and Level Six, full marks, was the purest.

Beyond that, they had to approach it differently, considering the spiritual power's quality and quantity. Put simply, they had to compress their spiritual power into a highly concentrated form and use it in everyday combat. In practice, though, it was much more difficult. Urahara and Yoruichi were both stuck at this stage.

This highly concentrated spiritual power was also known as spiritual pressure. In theory, spiritual pressure had no limit, so it had no levels. At most, people used the broad categories of captain-level and lieutenant-level.

Next came Hongjiang's test, but by then the crowd had little interest. He'd been at Level Six, not quite full, six years ago, and surely he'd reached Level Six, full marks by now. There was no way to tell if he'd gone any higher, anyway—the Spirit Pool wasn't going to explode during a test.

But just as everyone thought they knew how things would turn out, Hongjiang's result once again proved them wrong. The Spirit Pool hadn't actually exploded. Rather, he hadn't even reached Level Six, full marks.

"Level Six... not full?" Afraid he'd misread it, the instructor rubbed his eyes hard twice. But he hadn't made a mistake. Hongjiang's result really was Level Six, not full—the exact same as six years ago!

Could something be wrong with the Spirit Pool? The instructor wanted to find an excuse for Hongjiang, but as the one conducting the test, he knew perfectly well that the pool was working fine. That excuse wouldn't hold up.

"A genius has fallen!" the instructor lamented to himself.

The instructor wasn't the only one who thought so. The lieutenant of the 13th Division present felt the same way. Hongjiang's talent had been on par with Yoruichi's, perhaps even a little better, but he'd made no progress at all in six years. It was simply impossible to explain.

The students also began whispering among themselves. Diezuka Hiroe had reached his limit at Level Six, not quite full; commoners just didn't have much potential, and so on. Their words sealed his fate, pronouncing his future dead!

"What's going on with you? You haven't really gone without training for the past six years, have you?"

Hongjiang had just returned to Yoruichi's side when she hurriedly asked him. He didn't know how to explain, so he just gave her a wry smile.

"That's not what I meant! I meant, have you been living too comfortably? Not that you've fallen behind!"

Yoruichi wanted to comfort Hongjiang, but each thing she said sounded stranger than the last. She anxiously scratched her head as she tried to explain, afraid he'd misunderstand her.

Just then, an unwelcome voice cut in. "Well, well, if it isn't our great genius!" Yoruichi looked toward the voice. It was Kao Susumu, with his bright red hair.

"Six years without making any progress. What an unexpected 'genius.' I'm afraid I'll never catch up to you~"

"Are you looking to die?" Yoruichi glared at Kao, her right hand clenched into a fist with a sharp crack.

"Ooh, how scary!" Kao exaggeratedly took a step back, then kept taunting them as he walked away. "Someone's come to protect our great genius! But it's just a woman? Our great genius must have had his teeth glued together!"

Yoruichi was completely enraged. She wanted to smash Kao Susumu's face right then and there! But the moment she lifted her heel, Hongjiang, his face dark, stopped her.

"Leave him to me!"

Spiritual power was part of Old Man Yama's plan, but having to swallow this insult still left Hongjiang deeply unhappy. He'd already been in a bad mood, and Kao Susumu had pushed him over the edge. Disgusting him was one thing, but insulting Yoruichi too? He was going to make him pay! No discussion!

"What are you going to do?" Yoruichi asked.

"Destroy the thing he wants most!" Seeing that Yoruichi didn't understand, Hongjiang continued, "What do you think Kao Susumu wants more than anything?"

What did Kao Susumu want? Yoruichi had never really thought about it. To her, the man was a lunatic, and she couldn't understand what he wanted at all.

"To join Squad 1," Urahara finally answered, having stayed silent until now.

"Exactly. He's shouted at me more than once that he wants to join Squad 1 and become Old Man Yama's disciple."

"Hah, him?" Yoruichi scoffed. "He really thinks he's something, doesn't he?"

"I'd thought it would be amusing to let him join Squad 1 and make a fool of himself. But he's gotten greedy, so he can't blame me for being ruthless!" Hongjiang held his palm like a blade and slashed through the air, his voice icy. "I'll put an end to his hopes!"