Momo Hinamori stood in an open clearing, took a deep breath, raised both hands in front of her, and began murmuring the Kidō incantation she had learned at Shin'ō Academy.
"Ye lord! Mask of flesh and blood, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of man! Scorching heat and turmoil, the sea barrier surges backward to the south, march onward! Hadō #31, Shakkahō!"
As the incantation left her lips, a ball of crimson light gathered in Momo Hinamori's palm. Reiatsu surged from her like a tide, sweeping the dust around her into the air. The crimson light swelled little by little, turning into a blazing fireball suspended above her hand.
"Go!"
Momo Hinamori suddenly raised her hand, and the fireball shot toward the Sekkiseki target like an arrow from a bowstring. It resembled an enraged firebird, carrying waves of heat and a sharp whistling cry as it drew a brilliant arc through the air. Wherever it passed, the air itself seemed to burn, leaving behind a faint scorched trace. In the blink of an eye, the fireball struck the target with perfect accuracy. With a thunderous boom, the Sekkiseki target was swallowed by flames and turned into the center of a sea of fire.
The heat wave rushed outward, forcing the surrounding first-year students to step back without thinking. Once the explosion faded, the Sekkiseki, capable of completely blocking Reishi and Reiatsu, was revealed again. Aside from a little dust on its surface, it had not suffered any damage at all. Even so, the ground around it was covered in burn marks, and flames still lingered in several places, which was more than enough to prove how powerful that attack had been.
"Whoa, so that's Shakkahō? That power is insane!" one first-year student said, eyes wide and face filled with disbelief, his voice trembling slightly from shock.
"She's only a first-year, but she can already release an intermediate Kidō so perfectly," another student said, swallowing hard, his eyes full of admiration and envy.
In the crowd, Renji Abarai's eyes were also wide as he stared fixedly at the still-burning target and muttered, "That's way too strong... When am I going to use Shakkahō that smoothly? If I could launch a fireball that powerful, it would be seriously useful in a real fight. Hinamori really makes people jealous."
He clenched his fists, and a fierce fighting spirit surged in his chest. Silently, he swore that he would work even harder and catch up to Momo Hinamori. But soon, his whole mood sank again, because while he had outstanding talent in swordsmanship, he was hopeless when it came to Kidō. Even now, the only spell he could use was Byakurai.
After Momo Hinamori, it was Harry's turn to be tested.
Unlike everyone before him, he did not recite an incantation. He simply said, "Hadō #33, Sōkatsui."
The Reiatsu condensed in his palm suddenly flared with dazzling white light. It was a white flame. Harry lightly tossed the flame in his hand, and it drew a silver-bright trail through the air before landing on the Sekkiseki.
In the next instant, flames far hotter than Shakkahō spread outward with the Sekkiseki as their center, bursting into a fan-shaped curtain of fire. Wherever the pure-white tongues of flame swept past, everything was instantly melted into blackened chunks of charcoal. Once the blazing white fire faded, everyone stared in shock at the ground around the Sekkiseki.
The Shakkahō Momo Hinamori had released had only scorched the ground around the Sekkiseki, but Harry's incantationless Sōkatsui had blasted out a crater several yards wide around it. The others looked back at the Kidō they had released. Their attacks had only left tiny marks on the ground, marks so faint that no one would notice them without looking carefully.
The sight left everyone feeling deeply discouraged. They had clearly been studying together, so how could the gap between them already be this large?
Was this the world of geniuses?
If Momo Hinamori still gave them the desire to chase after her, then when facing the even stronger Harry, they completely lost any thought of competing with him. It was like when one person was only a little better than another, the weaker one could still feel the desire to catch up. But if the gap was too great, all that remained was looking up from below.
Right now, when facing Harry, that was the only emotion they had left.
After all, Shin'ō Academy had existed for over a thousand years, yet there had only ever been a tiny handful of students who possessed sixth-class spiritual power upon enrollment. Without exception, those people had later become captains of various divisions, or at worst, lieutenant-level officers.
At that thought, the eyes of some noble students flickered, and they immediately stepped forward, trying to strike up a conversation with Harry. This was a future captain. While they were still in school, this might be the closest they would ever get to him.
As the most powerful military organization in Soul Society, the Gotei 13 had always provided excellent treatment, and Shin'ō Academy, which operated under it, was no exception.
In a corner of the academy cafeteria, Renji Abarai wolfed down the food in his bowl. His friend Rukia looked a little embarrassed and could not help poking his arm with her chopsticks, quietly reminding him, "Renji, slow down. No one's going to steal it from you."
Renji Abarai did not care. In fact, he started eating even faster. "Rukia, this is a habit I developed. It's not something I can change in a day or two."
Before entering Shin'ō Academy, Renji Abarai and Rukia had often gone from feast to famine, drifting from place to place and living an extremely hard life. Because of that, even after several months at Shin'ō Academy, Renji Abarai still could not change the way he ate.
Rukia could only give up and change the subject. "Did you hear? In two days, we'll be heading to the World of the Living for field training. We'll be facing Hollows directly then. I wonder what those Hollows look like and how strong they are."
Renji Abarai said carelessly, "Don't worry, Rukia. I'll protect you when the time comes. I'll cut down every Hollow we run into."
Rukia rolled her eyes at Renji Abarai and ignored him, then turned to Harry. "Harry, do you think the upcoming field training will be dangerous?"
When Harry heard Rukia call his name, he set down his chopsticks and thought for a moment before answering, "Probably not. We're only first-year students. The higher-ups of the Gotei 13 wouldn't let us deal with powerful Hollows. They should only select some weaker Hollows for us to handle."
Momo Hinamori nodded in agreement. "Don't worry. Harry is strong. When the time comes, Harry will protect us."
Rukia had great confidence in Harry's strength. "Then we'll be counting on you, Harry."
Renji Abarai was a little unwilling to accept that. "Wait, why aren't you counting on me? I'm obviously strong too."
The others ignored Renji Abarai. Although Renji's strength was among the best of the first-year students, he was still far behind Harry. In the end, Harry was still the strongest fighter among them.
In front of the Senkaimon, the many students who needed to take part in the field training began to gather.
The main participants in this field training were the first-year students of Shin'ō Academy. Aside from them, there were also several sixth-year students taking part. The purpose of the sixth-years' participation was different from the first-years'. They needed to go to the World of the Living ahead of time, mark out the training area, set up a barrier, and create a "simulated Hollow" environment suitable for the first-years to practice in. They were also responsible for observing and recording the first-years' performances, providing a reference for future class placements or division assignments.
Of course, they also had to protect the first-years and prevent any accidents during the training.
In short, the role they played was both instructor and battlefield vanguard.
The sixth-year students assigned to lead Harry's class this time were Hotaru Kanisawa and Shūhei Hisagi. Both of them were members of the sixth-year Class A and stood among the best of their year. This time, they were responsible for protecting and evaluating Harry's class.
By the time Harry arrived at the assembly square, quite a few first-year classmates had already gathered there. They stood in groups of twos and threes, their faces showing a mixture of excitement and unease. The sixth-year seniors stood upright to the side. Among them, Shūhei Hisagi was especially eye-catching, with the distinctive "69" tattoo on his face.
"We will now begin the special advanced class's first-year Soul Burial field training," Shūhei Hisagi said, his voice low and powerful, instantly quieting the noisy square.
"Today's training content will be the subjugation of simulated Hollows. Your sixth-year seniors have already found a suitable location in the World of the Living and set up a barrier there. However, you must not let your guard down. It would not be strange for a powerful Hollow far beyond the prescribed level to appear during training. Everyone will follow the three-person teams arranged in advance. You must cooperate properly. Only then will you be able to improve your scores effectively. Of course, if you encounter danger, you must shout for help at once so we can rescue you as quickly as possible. Now, move out!"
At the seniors' command, everyone passed through the Senkaimon and stepped into the World of the Living.
When they arrived, Harry swept his gaze around and realized they were in a seaside fishing village from the 1950s.
Momo Hinamori, Harry, and Rukia were in the same group. The three of them had only just arrived in the village when they encountered a Hollow charging toward them at high speed.
Harry did not make a move. Instead, he left this chance to train to Momo Hinamori and Rukia.
Compared with Rukia, Momo Hinamori's reaction speed was clearly faster. She reacted in time, gritted her teeth, took a deep breath, quickly adjusted herself, and began chanting under her breath.
"Ye lord! Mask of flesh and blood, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of man! Scorching heat and turmoil, the sea barrier surges backward to the south, march onward! Hadō #31, Shakkahō!"
"Go!"
Momo Hinamori thrust her palm forward, and the Shakkahō roared toward the Hollow like an arrow from a bowstring. Momo Hinamori's strength was far above the first-year average, so the moment the Hollow was struck by Shakkahō, flames immediately swallowed it.
Hotaru Kanisawa, who was observing the scene from a rooftop, nodded and gave Momo Hinamori a point.
After that, Harry's group encountered many Hollows, but all of these Hollows had been carefully selected and possessed weak Reiatsu. Harry did not even need to act. The other two could easily defeat them on their own.
The trio's performance attracted the sixth-years' attention. Shūhei Hisagi smiled and said to Hotaru Kanisawa, "Kanisawa, this field training is much easier for us. As expected of the most outstanding class in decades. Just among those three, any one of them could have been the top student of our year, not to mention the most outstanding one, Harry. Do you think Harry might graduate after only one school year and immediately head to the Gotei 13 to become a Soul Reaper? It's a shame he isn't a noble. If he were, maybe he could become a third seat of some division directly, just like Kaien Shiba."
Hotaru Kanisawa nodded lightly, her face expressionless.
Shūhei Hisagi was already used to this. This classmate of his had always been like that, cool and distant.
Shūhei Hisagi quietly glanced at Hotaru Kanisawa. Her face was round and adorable, her skin fair and delicate, almost seeming to glow faintly under the sunlight.
She really was so cute.
Shūhei Hisagi's face flushed slightly, but he could not bring himself to look away. He had never told anyone that he liked Hotaru Kanisawa.
He had liked her for a long time.
Being assigned together with Hotaru Kanisawa as leaders for the first-years this time had made Shūhei Hisagi overjoyed. He believed this had to be fate.
Secretly looking at the girl beside him, Shūhei Hisagi made up his mind. After he and Hotaru Kanisawa graduated together, he would definitely join the same division as her, and when the time came, he would confess his feelings to her.
Suddenly, Shūhei Hisagi noticed that Hotaru Kanisawa was staring ahead with a stunned expression. Shūhei Hisagi hurriedly withdrew his gaze and looked forward along with her.
Then he and Hotaru Kanisawa both saw the first-year student, Harry, charging straight toward them with an Asauchi in hand and a fierce expression on his face, looking as if he intended to cut them down.
The sight immediately put both of them on guard.
What had happened?
Could this new student have been controlled by a Hollow with mind-control abilities?
Just as both of them became fully alert, their vision suddenly blurred. The first-year student vanished from sight.
Both of them froze.
That was Shunpo!
A very high-level Shunpo, one so fast that neither of them could react in time.
The two immediately looked around, trying to find Harry's figure.
Sure enough, they saw Harry to Hotaru Kanisawa's left, his eyes filled with a vicious gleam.
The first-year student raised his Asauchi and swung at Hotaru Kanisawa with all his strength.
At that moment, neither Hotaru Kanisawa herself nor Shūhei Hisagi standing beside her could stop the Asauchi from falling.
Hotaru Kanisawa's face instantly turned deathly pale as she watched the Asauchi slash toward her waist.
That strike would definitely severely wound her waist. It might even cut her in half outright.
No matter which outcome it was, she would almost certainly not survive.
Even in the best-case scenario, she would bleed to death.
Shūhei Hisagi's eyes nearly split from fury. He used all the strength in his body to rush toward Hotaru Kanisawa, trying to save her.
But with his speed, there was no way he could make it in time.
Damn it, just a little more. He was only a little short!
At that moment, Shūhei Hisagi hated his own weakness more than anything. He could not even save the girl he loved. He could only watch helplessly as she died right in front of him.
Just as both of them fell into complete despair, the Asauchi in Harry's hand came down fiercely.
But to their surprise, the sharp Asauchi did not land on Hotaru Kanisawa. Instead, it struck the air not far from Hotaru Kanisawa's waist.
What surprised them even more was that although the Asauchi had clearly only cut through empty air, a great amount of blood suddenly gushed out from nowhere and splashed all over both of them.
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