Despite coming from the modern world, the Shinigami Academy sprawled before Lei left him stunned. Its towering gates, carved with the intricate characters of the Soul Society, exuded an air of both majesty and challenge. The large, open courtyard, abuzz with students and instructors, emitted a youthful atmosphere of excitement and hope. The contrast between the two left him speechless in wonder.
Absolutely… amazing.
He glanced at his two companions. Momo's excitement was palpable, her dark eyes darting around to take in every detail. Hitsugaya, on the other hand, looked less enthusiastic, his expression a careful mask of disinterest. Yet Lei couldn't help but notice the way the young boy's gaze lingered on the training grounds just beyond the gates.
Heh - I guess they're just as excited as I am.
"I'm surprised you decided to come," Lei teased, nudging Hitsugaya lightly.
The boy shot him a sharp look. "Don't make a big deal out of it. Granny wanted me to, and Momo wouldn't shut up about it."
Momo beamed at them both. "You'll thank me later, Shiro-chan. I know it!"
Lei chuckled, shaking his head. "Well, I'm glad you're here. Let's make the most of it."
As they approached the main building, a stern-looking instructor stood in their path.
"Halt! Only test takers and official academy personnel are allowed beyond this point!"
Fortunately, he listened to their explanation and ushered them toward a testing area. A large, glowing orb sat in the center of the room, pulsating faintly with energy. Other prospective students lined up before it, each placing their hand on the orb to measure their reiryoku.
"Step forward," the instructor barked.
Momo went first, her hand trembling slightly as she placed it on the orb. It flared a soft blue, the light growing steadily until it illuminated the entire room.
"Potential: High. Placement: Class 1-A," the instructor announced, his eyes twitching, but his voice devoid of emotion.
Momo let out a small sigh of relief and stepped aside, a wide grin spreading across her face.
Hitsugaya went next, his expression unreadable. When his hand met the orb, it exploded with an intense, icy blue light that made the air around them grow noticeably colder.
"Potential: Exceptionally High. Placement: Class 1-A," the instructor said, this time with a slight note of surprise, failing to control his emotions.
Lei raised an eyebrow at Hitsugaya, who simply shrugged and walked off without a word.
Finally, it was Lei's turn. Taking a deep breath, he placed his hand on the orb. The reaction was immediate and overwhelming — a brilliant dark purple light burst forth, nearly blinding in its intensity. Gasps echoed through the room as the orb hummed with power.
"Potential: Extremely High. Placement: Class 1-A," the instructor announced, his tone betraying a hint of awe.
Lei stepped back, his heart racing. He hadn't expected such a strong reaction, though it likely had something to do with that absurd beginner bonus.
The group of 3 looked at each other.
"Greeting classmates, I'm looking forward to sticking with – I mean learning together for the next year" Lei stated while exaggeratedly bowing. For their part, Momo was ecstatic that the group persisted. And Toshiro was well… still scowling.
I guess that's not going to change for a while…
---
Class 1-A was exactly what Lei had expected: a room filled with students who were either extraordinarily talented, obsessively hardworking, or impossibly arrogant.
Their first lesson was an introduction to the four foundational arts of Shinigami: Hakuda (martial arts), Zanjutsu (swordsmanship), Kido (spiritual arts), and Shunpo (flash step). Each art was demonstrated by the instructors with a precision and ease that left the class in awe and excitement. For Lei, it also sparked something else. Ambition.
This. Is. Awesome! I'm going to utilize the heck out of this buff.
… But what should I focus on?
All gamers know this to be true: only the foolish go for an all-round build. The true way to victory is to min-max. And as a self-proclaimed true gamer, Lei took this seriously. After all, as fun as isekai'ing has been (not that fun given he fainted twice), he hadn't forgotten about the coming dangers.
Given that this is Momo's first year, I should have about 50 years before the start of the story. A decent amount of time, but certainly not enough.
He began calculating. Hakudo was a non-starter. Shunpo was an auxiliary skill, so while it's important, it's also out for development. Ideally, he could develop both Kido and his Zanpakuto at the same time, but…
Although I was rated as having "more potential" than Toshiro, I haven't forgotten that it's not really me. Not to mention that the genius halo is sure to disappear after 1 year.
He took a look at the Asauchi the school lended to all 1st years. Then he looked at Toshiro. And sighed.
"What?! You got a problem?!"
"Hey, stop fighting Shiro-chan! It's not healthy to lose your temper all the time." Momo held the boy back while Lei, lost in his thoughts, ignored the conflict he accidentally caused.
Even Toshiro, wielding the strongest ice-type Zanpakuto and being one of the foremost geniuses in Soul Society took a conservative estimate of about 30 years to learn his Bankai. And then even with his Bankai, the only victory he had was hard-fought against the 3rd strongest espada Harribel. Forget about someone like Aizen.
Do I think I'm more of a genius than Toshiro? Do I think my Zanpakuto would be stronger than Hyorinmaru?
The more Lei thought about it, the more focusing on Zanpakuto seemed untenable, and the more focusing on Kido was appealing.
In comparison, at the limit, Kido can be devastating. Aizen's Kuroshitsugi, Kisuke Urahara's Bakudo, Yamamoto's Itto Kaso, the examples are never-ending. Not to mention that maybe I can leverage some original ideas from my world about spell-crafting.
Every other enemy in Bleach can take away Zanpakuto. Only Kido is eternal.
When he walked out of the classroom, his gaze was firm. History was not for the faint of heart - he had decided on the path ahead.
---
Lei's progress was swift. The 1000% increase in experience gain meant that every hour of training yielded results that left even his instructors amazed. Within days, he could hold his own in sparring matches, execute basic Kido spells with ease, and even manage a rudimentary flash step—a feat that many students took months to achieve.
Gradually though, he began to take a back seat. Following the principle of "the nail that sticks out gets hammered", he definitely didn't want to attract the attention of the big boss Aizen too soon. Whenever it was time to practice Kido in class, he would pretend to make average progress. Ironically, for the other 3, he didn't need to pretend - since focusing on Kido, his progress on the other 3 disciplines became almost non-existent…
---
"Ha - you suck at Kenjutsu Lei!" Ever since Toshiro beat Lei in a spar, he took happiness in poking fun at the older man.
Endure, endure, endure. He's just a kid.
"Old guy can't learn anymore. How sad - boo hoo."
Lei's eyebrow twitched.