Shin'o Academy, Faculty Office Area.
Smack!
A thick file was tossed helplessly onto the pear-wood desk.
Mugoro Ohara, the Head Teacher of the Shin'o Academy's Special Advancement Class, was currently rubbing his throbbing temples.
This veteran teacher, who oversaw the first-year curriculum and was known for his strictness and inflexibility, looked at the circle of teachers sitting before him and let out a deep sigh.
"Everyone, I have reviewed the various data regarding the progress of this year's incoming class."
"Overall, whether it is Spiritual Energy shaping or basic Hakuda, they have reached the historical average. It is acceptable."
Mugoro Ohara looked at the file on the desk, his gaze fixed on the name on the front page. "However, calling you all here today, aside from the routine report..."
"I imagine everyone has the same matter they wish to discuss?"
An eerie silence suddenly fell over the office.
Several teachers exchanged glances. Finally, Instructor Bunin, who was responsible for teaching Basic Kotodama Studies, sighed and broke the silence.
"Head Teacher Ohara, you are referring to... Asuka, correct?"
Ohara nodded. "Exactly. It has been half a month since he transferred in with a decree from the Soul King's Palace."
"But looking at the evaluations you submitted, they are almost entirely blank."
"What is it? Do you not know what to write, or do you simply not want to write anything?"
Instructor Bunin smiled bitterly, taking off his reading glasses to wipe them. "Head Teacher, it is not that we do not want to write anything, it is just... we truly do not know how to evaluate him."
Ohara frowned. "What do you mean by that?"
"...That child is not some stubborn troublemaker. On the contrary, his attitude could even be described as extremely respectful. If I could, I would want to give him an A."
"To be honest, if every student could be like him, I would be absolutely delighted," Bunin said with a wry smile.
"Since he is respectful, that means he is studying earnestly. So where is the problem?" Ohara pressed, puzzled.
Instructor Bunin recalled the scenes from his class, a look of pity flashing in his eyes. "The problem is... my recommendation is to first send him to a private academy in the Rukongai to study for two years. No, five years..."
"During theory classes, he always sits perfectly straight, his eyes locked dead onto the blackboard."
"At first, I thought he was listening with great interest, until one day, I asked him to stand up and read a passage of the most basic Kido incantation..."
Bunin paused. "He stood up, stared at the textbook for a full minute, and then bowed to me..."
"Sigh... Head Teacher, he is illiterate."
"Some basic kanji are fine, but whenever it involves complex Kido incantations or ancient terminology, he gives me the impression that his soul has already left his body."
Hearing this, the several teachers in the office all revealed complicated expressions.
"I did not believe it at first, thinking he was joking." Bunin shook his head. "After all, he was sent to enroll by the Soul King's Palace, so he should at least have a basic educational foundation..."
"Now, I do not even dare to call on him to answer questions... That look of facing a formidable enemy, trying his absolute best yet being completely powerless, makes even me, as a teacher, feel that it is somewhat cruel."
"It is the same in Kido class," another female teacher responsible for teaching Kido chimed in softly. "He has no ability to control the Spiritual Energy within his body."
"I tried teaching him to condense Reishi at his fingertips. He strained for a long time, the veins on his wrists bulging, and in the end, he only squeezed out a faint glimmer of spiritual light..."
"I have studied it carefully. The Spiritual Energy inside him is very powerful, but it is also highly chaotic. There is simply no way to control it through Kido incantations."
"I feel this situation is not something we can handle. We should contact the Department of Research and Development."
Mugoro Ohara's brow furrowed even deeper.
As the Head Teacher of the Special Advancement Class, he had seen all kinds of students.
Even current lieutenants like Renji Abarai, Izuru Kira, and Momo Hinamori had come from under his tutelage.
He had seen foolish students, and he had seen genius students.
But to see both extremes appear in the same person was truly a rarity for him.
He had already heard various pieces of information regarding Asuka's background from multiple sources, knowing slightly more than the other teachers.
Because of this, he was very worried that if the teaching progress was poor, Squad Zero might blame them...
"It is understandable that he cannot grasp academics and Kido... After all, it is a result of his previous era and environment..."
Ohara turned his head to look at the two burly men sitting in the corner who had remained silent the entire time. "But what about Zanjutsu and Hakuda?"
"Since he is a swordsman, those two subjects should be his strong suits, right? Why do you two also look so miserable?"
These two were Seated Officers who had retired from the Gotei 13's Eleventh Division, specifically responsible for teaching practical combat.
Hearing Ohara's question, the Zanjutsu instructor subconsciously touched his own neck, where a certain icy chill seemed to still linger.
"Head Teacher, if he is an infant in academic classes, then in practical combat classes..."
The Zanjutsu instructor swallowed hard, a trace of lingering fear flashing in his eyes.
"I cannot teach him."
"Head Teacher Ohara, do you know? When he first arrived, I asked him to spar with me, wanting to demonstrate basic sword offense and defense to the students..."
"As a result, before he even moved with his wooden sword, I felt as if my neck had already been severed."
"It was not because of Spiritual Pressure, but killing intent... That kind of pure killing intent, unadulterated by any stray thoughts, I have only ever seen in Captain Zaraki..."
The Zanjutsu instructor smiled bitterly. "Yesterday, with that diagonal slash of his, if I had not dodged quickly, I would be lying in the Fourth Division right now."
The Hakuda instructor also nodded in agreement. "Yes, he does not understand the concept of 'sparring' at all."
"In his understanding, as long as he steps onto the training ground, he absolutely will not hold back..."
"I truly do not know who taught him these things in the past. He has absolutely no concept of pulling his punches!"
At this moment, far away at the Shiba Family estate playing mahjong, Yoruichi Shihoin suddenly felt her nose itch.
"Head Teacher Ohara, things cannot continue like this," Instructor Bunin added with deep concern. "Asuka joined the class halfway through the term, and now it has already disrupted the learning environment of the other students."
"Everyone is avoiding him now. The atmosphere in Class 1-B has dropped to the freezing point."
The Hakuda instructor also nodded in agreement. "That is right. Whenever he is around, those brats are all on edge."
"If we really make him spar with those new students, I am afraid half the class will be wiped out before graduation."
...Mugoro Ohara fell silent.
He understood the teachers' underlying message.
Asuka was not a malicious troublemaker; he was just a pitiful person forcibly shoved into an unfamiliar environment.
He was trying hard to adapt, but the teachers were either afraid of his strength and dared not interact deeply with him, or felt his foundation was too poor and did not want to waste their time...
And as for his classmates, the gap between them was too vast, leaving them with absolutely no common ground.
It seemed he had been isolated.
"You all... this is an order from the Soul King's Palace, after all..." Ohara let out a long sigh, his tone filled with exhaustion. "Squad Zero must have their reasons for placing him here."
"You cannot just give up on him like this. Everyone, is there really no good solution?"
Just as the office fell into silence once more.
Knock, knock.
The office door was tapped lightly, and a somewhat lethargic-looking middle-aged man wearing a neat teacher's uniform pushed the door open and walked in.
He was Kinpachi Sakamoto, a new teacher who had recently been hired from the Rukongai.
Because of his long-term teaching experience in the World of the Living, as well as his profound research into the evolution of human society, he had been specially recruited to establish a brand-new supplementary course—World of the Living Anthropology.