Bleach: Watch Closely, This Is How You Use a Zanpakutō novel Chapter 4

Chapter 4 - 4: Entering Shin'ō Academy

The entrance exam concluded quickly, with fewer than ten students passing. Across all four major districts of Rukongai, the total number of successful candidates barely reached fifty.

Led by the instructors, the students from the Eastern District who had passed the test traversed most of Seireitei, finally arriving at the western Hakutōmon Gate.

Before them stood a massive, ancient-looking building, its architecture reminiscent of private academies from the World of the Living's past.

Inside the dojo, large plaques adorned the gray-white walls, with the character "元" (Founder) elegantly inscribed in flowing calligraphy.

Shin'ō Academy was originally known as the "Founder's School," established by the renowned Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, the academy's first headmaster and the legendary Captain Commander- of the Gotei 13.

It was unclear whether the current headmaster was a devoted admirer of Yamamoto, but his gleaming bald head reflected the overhead lights so intensely that Masatsuki Aozaki had to squint.

Seated in the main position, the bald headmaster maintained a strict and dignified demeanor, his voice full of authority as he declared,

"Welcome to Shin'ō Academy. I hope that over the next six years, you will learn what it takes to become an outstanding Shinigami."

As he spoke, his gaze swept across the crowd, momentarily lingering on Masatsuki, Rangiku, and Gin. Though his expression appeared casual, he was clearly assessing them.

All three were geniuses. If nothing unexpected happened, they would eventually distinguish themselves in the highly competitive ranks of the Gotei 13.

Masatsuki took a quick look around. The dojo housed not only students from the impoverished districts of Rukongai, dressed in tattered clothing, but also well-off students from Seireitei, their appearances reflecting their privileged upbringings.

Among them, he spotted a familiar face.

Sōsuke Aizen—Lieutenant of the 5th Division and a special calligraphy instructor at Shin'ō Academy.

It was said that his classes were always packed, with students even crowding the hallways just to hear his lectures.

His brown hair, slightly tousled, formed soft bangs over his forehead. He wore a loosely draped Shihakushō, with the academy's white uniform beneath it, giving him an air of quiet refinement.

However, he looked noticeably different from the composed and calculating figure Masatsuki remembered from the anime. At this stage, Aizen still carried a trace of youthful inexperience, lacking the full measure of his future poise. Even so, the charisma of a future antagonist was already beginning to take shape.

As for the person sitting beside him—Sōjun Kuchiki... Well, he had a certain delicate beauty.

Seated with impeccable posture, he appeared fragile, as if a gentle breeze could knock him over. Though only a few hundred years old, he exuded a frailty reminiscent of someone nearing two thousand. His body seemed perpetually weak, as if his very bones lacked the strength to support him.

Truly enviable individuals...

Masatsuki felt a tinge of emotion.

Sōjun Kuchiki was fortunate. As the heir of the prestigious Kuchiki clan, one of the Four Noble Families, he possessed their innate talent, though his frailty rendered him ill-suited for combat.

But Aizen... he was a true prodigy—a genius among geniuses.

His talent was so overwhelming that it left him isolated, with no peers to match him. Deep down, he even wished he were just an ordinary Shinigami.

That kind of ability... it was excessive.

Even Masatsuki couldn't help but feel envious.

He had clawed his way up from the very bottom, struggling to reach a mere sixteenth-rank Reiatsu level, while Aizen was already contemplating the limits of Shinigami existence—meaning he had likely achieved first-rank Reiatsu by now.

And in the future, if he truly succeeded in breaking those limits, surpassing even Yamamoto—the strongest Shinigami—to reach an entirely new plane of existence...

That was something beyond envy.

At this point in time, Aizen was still quite young, carrying a sense of pride and innocence unique to youth.

He concealed it well, but in his interactions with Masatsuki Aozaki, it occasionally surfaced without him realizing it.

Sensing Masatsuki's gaze, Aizen maintained his signature gentle smile and playfully winked.

"Masatsuki, we're going to be living here from now on. Looks pretty nice, don't you think?"

Rangiku took the student uniform handed out by the instructor, spreading it out and running her fingers over the fabric.

This was a material she had never seen in Rukongai. Even the best clothes in Rukongai couldn't compare to the standard-issue uniforms given to every student here.

She smiled happily.

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