The Situation

In the blink of an eye, a month had passed. Aside from attending classes, Ichiro had spent the month sweeping floors in Squad 4, though his gains in alchemy were minimal.

However, Ichiro didn't harbor any resentment, as he knew full well that this was a necessary step to entering Squad 4.

What were the primary responsibilities of Squad 4?

Daily cleaning, medical treatment, routine health checkups, and emergency aid.

Most of that emergency aid required them to rush to the front lines personally, and in such moments, being familiar with the Seireitei would save a great deal of travel time.

But today would be the last day of his sweeping duties. The application he had submitted to his superiors a few days ago had been approved; starting tomorrow, he would be transferred to the Medical Squad to officially learn under his seniors in Squad 4.

This was one of the benefits of not skipping grades. If one skipped grades, unless they were an absolute genius, they would have to start from the basics in any squad they joined. Combined with the Soul Reaper sense of time, it was perfectly normal to be stuck doing grunt work for eight or ten years.

Only intern students received preferential treatment. Unfortunately, too many people failed to see this. After all, flaunting one's status as a genius was a way to gain both fame and fortune, especially in a noble-dominated society like the Seireitei. You never knew when a noble house might take a fancy to you and offer to adopt you or have you marry into their family.

For most commoners, that was a chance to soar to the heavens. The nobles of the Seireitei were also keen on fostering this trend, so every few years, they would deliberately promote a few outstanding geniuses—even if they didn't meet the standards, they would pick the tallest among the short.

Walking into Squad 4, Ichiro glanced at the broom he had left in the corner yesterday and let out a disdainful snort. From today on, he would never touch a broom again!

His status was different now!

"Hey you, don't just toss that broom around. Take it back to the storage room immediately."

"You got it, right away."

Fine, that was the last time...

After putting the broom away, Ichiro headed toward his destination: the Health Department.

Squad 4 was divided into several different departments based on their functions, each responsible for its own field during daily operations. However, once an emergency occurred, all members could be organized into an emergency rescue team.

Furthermore, aside from regular rotations, they were occasionally shuffled on a whim by the Captain or Lieutenant to test the members' adaptability. Because of this, as Ichiro walked along, he still ran into a few comrades who had been sweeping the streets with him just a month prior.

Ichiro greeted them cordially. Unlike at school, Ichiro's social life in Squad 4 was actually quite good. Although he still acted as he pleased, there weren't any bad apples in Squad 4, and the overall morale and atmosphere were quite decent, so Ichiro got along with them well enough.

"Senior."

"Oh, Ichiro, you're here. Come on, let me introduce you to the work in the Health Department." A female Soul Reaper wearing the black shihakusho, sporting a dangerous hairstyle, pushed up the glasses on her nose. She handed the items in her hands to an assistant, turned around, and said with a smile.

"Yes, sorry to trouble you, Kiyone-san."

"Don't mention it, let's go."

Amabane Kiyone, a seated officer of Squad 4, rank twenty-third—not too high, not too low. As far as Ichiro knew, her Kido level was around number fifty, and she had not yet mastered Shikai. In terms of combat power, she was a bit unworthy of her seated officer status, but that was understandable; after all, this was Squad 4, where medical ability was prioritized.

Her weakness in combat was offset by her exceptionally outstanding medical skills. Her level of Kaido was very high, and to this day, she had been able to answer every question Ichiro had about Kaido fluently!

This was no simple feat. One had to realize that Ichiro's talent for Kido was monstrous; in just one year, he had mastered Incantation Abandonment for all Kido up to number thirty!

Moreover, he hadn't even dedicated himself entirely to Kido study; his focus remained on alchemy, with Kido being merely a side pursuit.

Consequently, many of the questions he posed required his school teachers to go back and consult reference materials before they could give him an answer—and that included Kaido.

Yet Kiyone could answer Ichiro instantly. Although she had recently started to answer more slowly, just like the teachers at the academy, she had at least managed to keep it up for a month. Now, in the entire academy, only a few teachers of the sixth-year students could resolve Ichiro's doubts regarding Kido.

This was exactly why Ichiro had wanted to intern at Squad 4; the teachers at the academy were already being squeezed dry by him...

"The work in the Health Department is very simple: just perform physical checkups on members of other squads every day and record the data." As she spoke, she showed Ichiro the notebook in her hand, and as they walked inside, she continued, "Occasionally, there are those who have overtrained and need Kaido, but I think that shouldn't be too hard for you. Most of the time, just recording the data is enough."

"Every day? Is there that much?"

"Yes, because Squad 13 has some level of training every day, and some execute dangerous missions, so it's quite frequent. If there are no other missions, physical checkups are generally once a month, coming in one after another."

"Understood." Ichiro's eyes lit up. This was the place he wanted to be—a natural database!

Sure enough, Squad 4 was the most suitable place for him!

Following Kiyone, Ichiro recorded physical data while simultaneously collecting the data he needed, committing it to memory. Occasionally, he would watch Kiyone perform Kaido, learning from the sidelines.

Just like that, Ichiro began a three-point life in the Soul Society: classroom, dormitory, and Squad 4.

The time he spent at Squad 4 each day was short, but the gains were immense. Ichiro's eager-to-learn attitude made many seated officers willing to guide him after work, which significantly boosted his Kaido level. By drawing inferences from these lessons, his progress in learning Bakudo and Hado also improved drastically.

But it wasn't all good news. Just as Ichiro's strength was rapidly increasing, he could clearly feel that the atmosphere in the Soul Society had become increasingly tense lately...

For instance, the proportion of wounded personnel coming to Squad 4 for treatment who were not from Squad 11 had risen rapidly.

Patrols on the road had also increased. Everything pointed to the fact that the situation was becoming more serious; perhaps it wouldn't be long before battle broke out...

However, as mentioned before, none of this had anything to do with a second-year student like him. Ichiro continued to cultivate according to his own schedule.

"Ichiro, my name is Se... call my name to reconstruct... Ichiro, my name... call my name... I have been waiting for you... Ichiro..."

Early in the morning, Ichiro slowly opened his eyes. He turned his head to look at his Zanpakuto beside him with a complex expression. A semester had passed in the blink of an eye, yet he had only heard two more characters of his Zanpakuto's voice. The path to Shikai still felt infinitely far away...

Thanks to Bandalu for the tip.