No Interest At All, Just Want to Go Home and Sleep

After the spiritual power level test, the newly enrolled students were divided into two groups: one named Quasi, and the other Reserve.

First, students with a spiritual power level of three or below enter the Reserve-Group, meaning they are in reserve for the Gotei 13, essentially serving as a preparatory unit for the thirteen squads.

Those above level three naturally fall into the Quasi-Group, meaning they are quasi-members of the Gotei 13; as long as they complete six years of study here, these students will automatically enter the thirteen squads.

Of course, if your spiritual power level reaches level six, you may apply for graduation at any time to join the Gotei 13.

Although those in the Quasi-Group are guaranteed entry into the Gotei 13, the treatment they receive varies drastically based on their level.

If your spiritual power level is only level four, some squad captains might look down on you, meaning you cannot enter the squad you desire. For instance, the First Squad, known as the Head Squad, is certainly off-limits to those at level four.

However, if your spiritual power level is level five, the doors to any squad will be open to you, and you may choose whichever squad you wish to join.

Level six is even more distinct; it is certain that every squad will crave your presence and proactively invite you to join. While the result seems identical to that of a level five student, the reality is worlds apart.

To begin with, after joining, a level five individual must start from the very bottom just like a level four, living in communal barracks. Only after one year of training are they eligible to challenge for a seated officer position within the squad.

Although the Gotei 13 possesses power equal to the Five Great Noble Clans, these rights are actually held by the captains, lieutenants, and the top five seated officers of each squad, which shows just how important the qualification to challenge for a seat is.

Those with a spiritual power level of six, however, possess the right to challenge any seated officer from the moment they join.

Even if the challenge fails, the captain will provide personal instruction, which means that as long as you are not a hopeless case, becoming a talent is an inevitability. While this is not explicitly written in the rules, it is an unwritten convention within the thirteen squads.

Therefore, people like Hong Jiang and Yoruichi, who were level six upon enrollment—oh, and one must add Urahara, who is also nearing level six—should be sent directly to the thirteen squads for their induction ceremony; keeping them at Shino Academy is purely demoralizing for others.

Because of this, Hong Jiang felt waves of chilliness coming from behind him the entire way; those were the jealous gazes of the other students, perhaps mixed with some reverence, though that was rare.

After the spiritual power test, their destination was the Sword Chamber, a place that sounded like a kendo classroom, but in reality, it was not. A kendo classroom is a kendo classroom, while the Sword Chamber serves a different purpose.

"For the sword I arrive, to welcome the sword I come, Sword Chamber, open!" The lead teacher chanted the incantation loudly, a faint white light emerging from his hand as he pressed it directly onto the massive stone lock on the door of the Sword Chamber.

The stone lock fell to the ground with a loud "bang." The tightly shut doors of the Sword Chamber slowly opened inward, and a sharp, piercing aura surged out instantly, causing everyone's robes to flutter violently.

The door did not open completely, only about a third of the way, but even so, it was wide enough for six or seven people to enter side by side.

"Do not crowd, do not run around, just follow behind me!" The teacher turned his head to shout a warning before being the first to enter the Sword Chamber, and the crowd hurriedly followed.

The interior of the Sword Chamber was very dark, with only a stone path as wide as the door gap, while both sides of the path were pitch black. There might be infinite treasures hidden there, or perhaps a bottomless abyss that meant certain death if one stepped off. Even if they were filled with endless curiosity, the students dared not overstep, intimidated by the teacher's authority.

At the end of the path was an empty, circular stone platform, large enough for the "Quasi" and "Reserve" groups of new students to stand scattered about.

Once everyone was standing on the platform, the candle flames along the stone path they had traveled extinguished one by one from near to far, and the darkness swallowed the road back to the outside world like a tide, leaving only the lonely circular stone platform beneath their feet.

"You can only enter the Sword Chamber once in your life." After the teacher finished speaking, his voice rose a notch, "So, open your eyes and watch carefully!"

Light—it was unclear where the light came from—slowly overflowed from the stone platform, sweeping away the surrounding darkness.

The stone path they had arrived on did not reappear; at this moment, the platform was surrounded by a boundless, mirror-like lake, with long swords stuck into the surface of the water, numbering in the hundreds.

"Zanpakuto, the best friends of a Shinigami, and also the symbol of a Shinigami." The teacher's voice appeared right on cue, "But right now you are not Shinigami, and these are not Zanpakuto."

"Their names are Asauchi, possessing the potential to become Zanpakuto."

"Now, follow the voice in your heart and pick one." The teacher's voice grew louder, his tone carrying a trace of sacred reverence, "The moment you embody your Zanpakuto is the day you become a Shinigami!"

Accompanied by shouts echoing one after another, the new students on the platform flushed slightly, rubbing their hands together as they walked off the platform one by one, weaving through the Asauchi standing on the lake to choose the one they envisioned as their future strongest Zanpakuto.

However, there were exceptions; the three of them—Hong Jiang and his companions—remained on the platform, their faces calm.

This was not because they were not excited about the prospect of possessing a Zanpakuto; in fact, even though the three of them were geniuses in the eyes of their respective elders, they would have been no different from ordinary children when receiving an Asauchi.

Yes, the three of them had actually possessed Asauchi long ago; in fact, the Asauchi they possessed had already successfully transformed into Zanpakuto not long ago.

Before Shino Academy even existed, the granting of an Asauchi was the most important part of the induction ceremony for the Gotei 13, a custom that has actually remained unchanged to this day.

The Asauchi in the academy are actually only temporarily lent to students, as it is better to begin bonding with an Asauchi as early as possible. Once they graduate from the academy, if they can enter the thirteen squads, the temporarily lent Asauchi will then be formally granted, truly belonging to them.

Of course, this is just the public narrative; in reality, the top powers within the Seireitei possess the right to grant Asauchi independently. For example, some high-ranking nobles, the Captain-Commander Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni, and the Five Great Noble Clans go without saying; controlling nearly half of the Seireitei, they can certainly grant Asauchi independently.

Therefore, whether it was Yoruichi or Urahara, including Hong Jiang, they already possessed their own Zanpakuto; they were effectively already true Shinigami, just not yet part of the Gotei 13.

They knew that picking another Asauchi now would be of no use, as a Shinigami cannot possibly have two different Zanpakuto, which was the reason for their calm expressions.

They knew these things, their elders knew, but others did not—such as the lead teacher who was currently on the stone platform with them.