In the afternoon, at the Shin'o Academy's First Zanjutsu Training Dojo.
The afternoon sunlight slanted through the high skylights of the dojo, casting bright pillars of light onto the wooden floor.
The students of Class 1-B wore white training uniforms, paired up in twos, and practiced basic Zanjutsu sparring under the guidance of two retired Seated Officer instructors.
"Hiya! Hah!"
"Your footwork is a mess! Watch your lower body! Generate power from your waist!"
The Zanjutsu instructor shouted his reprimands, occasionally tapping students who had improper form with his wooden sword.
Meanwhile, in the most remote and isolated corner of the dojo.
Asuka stood there all alone.
Because of the terrifying, almost murderous aura he had displayed in previous classes, absolutely no student dared to pair up with him.
Even the two instructors intentionally or unintentionally avoided this corner, leaving him to stand there and space out.
Asuka held an ordinary wooden sword, watching the amateurish sparring nearby out of sheer boredom.
'Too many openings...'
'That swing is as weak as a wet noodle. Even Kenichi could knock him flat.'
'His footwork is too floaty. Just a little pressure on the ankle and he'd be on his knees instantly.'
Asuka silently critiqued them in his mind.
Even setting aside Spiritual Pressure and the power of a Zanpakuto, from a pure swordsmanship perspective, he was a masterful expert.
In his eyes, the movements of these freshmen were like slow-motion replays, their entire bodies riddled with fatal flaws.
Remembering Mr. Kinpachi's advice to make a friend... he only felt a massive headache coming on.
Asuka glanced at the boy closest to him.
The boy was sparring with his partner and accidentally caught Asuka's gaze. He shuddered in terror, and the wooden sword slipped from his grasp, flying through the air and nearly hitting the instructor's head.
'Brilliant.'
'...'
Asuka silently looked away.
'Forget it, this kind of thing just isn't for me.'
He sighed, preparing to resume his grand task of spacing out.
"Ouch!"
At that moment, a cry of pain rang out from nearby.
Turning to look, he saw a somewhat scrawny boy who, while retreating to defend, had tripped over his own feet due to messy footwork, sprawling flat on his back against the hard wooden floor.
The wooden sword in his hand rolled away to the side.
"Murata! How did you fall again! This is the third time this class!" complained his sparring partner, a burly noble youth, in a foul mood. "Are you even taking this seriously? I have the worst luck being paired with you!"
"I-I'm sorry!" The boy named Murata flushed bright red, scrambling clumsily to get up.
But he had clearly taken a hard fall.
A piercing pain shot through his ankle, causing him to collapse back down halfway up, tears welling in his eyes from the agony.
Instead of stepping forward to help, the surrounding students let out a few muffled snickers.
"He's a commoner from the Rukongai. He can't even manage the most basic footwork."
"How embarrassing. With that kind of skill, how could he ever get into the Gotei 13?"
Hearing those harsh sneers, Murata buried his head even lower, almost touching the floor.
Asuka watched the scene quietly.
He looked at that scrawny back lying on the ground, being ridiculed.
In a daze, that figure overlapped with the memory of a gap-toothed boy being beaten in the muddy water.
"Tch."
Asuka clicked his tongue softly.
Tap.
He stepped forward, walking out of his designated quarantine zone.
The sound of his footsteps was originally unnoticeable in the noisy dojo.
But because Asuka was actively walking into the crowd, the students who were constantly keeping a wary eye on him in their peripheral vision instantly froze as if a pause button had been pressed.
The mocking laughter abruptly ceased.
The clashing of wooden swords also stopped.
Everyone stared in horror as the black-haired young man, radiating a terrifying aura, walked step by step toward the center of the room.
"What... what is he going to do?"
The burly noble youth who had just been complaining about Murata turned pale with fright as he watched Asuka walk straight toward him.
His legs began to tremble uncontrollably, lacking even the strength to step back.
The Zanjutsu instructor also noticed the anomaly and panicked, cursing inwardly.
He assumed that this fiend Asuka had been enraged by the rookies' noise and was preparing to teach someone a lesson.
"Asuka! Stop! This is a dojo! You are not allowed to—" the instructor roared as he rushed over, his hand already resting on the real sword at his waist.
However, Asuka didn't even look at the noble youth who was about to wet himself.
He walked up to Murata, who was still on the ground, and stopped.
"Can you stand up?"
Under everyone's incredulous gazes, this legendary monster who supposedly killed without blinking slowly bent down and extended his broad, calloused hand.
Murata was enduring the severe pain in his ankle, trying to get up, when he suddenly saw a hand appear in his line of sight. He looked up in bewilderment.
Facing those pitch-black eyes devoid of any highlights, he was completely stunned. His mind went blank, and he just instinctively, foolishly nodded.
Asuka exerted a little force and effortlessly pulled him up from the ground, as easily as picking up a kitten.
"Th-Thank you..." Murata stammered, his face as red as a ripe tomato.
Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that the most terrifying person in the entire academy would take the initiative to help him up.
Asuka bent down to pick up the fallen wooden sword and casually weighed it in his hand.
"Your lower body is indeed unstable," he stated plainly. "When you retreated just now, your body's center of gravity was entirely on your heels."
"When your opponent pressed forward, you instinctively tried to speed up to dodge. This caused your body to lean back, naturally making you lose your balance."
Everyone stared at Asuka in shock.
That illiterate who couldn't even recite a basic incantation, the beast rumored to only know how to kill with brute force...
Was actually patiently instructing an underachiever on footwork?!
Murata was also stunned, subconsciously looking down at his own feet.
"But... but the footwork the instructor taught requires us to maintain an even distribution of Spiritual Energy across the soles of our feet when retreating..." he explained with a hint of grievance. "I... I can't control my Spiritual Energy well, so my footing is always unsteady..."
"Forget about that bullshit Reishi distribution."
Asuka interrupted him bluntly. These words made the nearby Zanjutsu instructor's face turn pale and green, yet he didn't dare to utter a word of rebuttal.
"Your foundation is too poor right now. It's not the time to be considering those things."
"In a life-or-death battle, if your mind is still thinking about how Spiritual Energy should flow, your head will have already been chopped off."
Asuka casually tossed the wooden sword back to Murata. "Grip it properly. Don't treat it as a piece of wood for practice; treat it as a part of your body."
"Now, spread your feet shoulder-width apart."
He walked to Murata's side and lightly tapped the inside of his right foot with his toe.
"Point your right foot slightly outward, lower your center of gravity..."
Under Asuka's strict guidance, Murata stopped thinking about those complex Spiritual Energy control theories and completely followed Asuka's instructions, adjusting his body's rhythm time and time again.
Swish.
Finally, after multiple attempts, he executed a perfect backward step.
No stumbling, no loss of balance.
His body moved backward half a meter smoothly and swiftly, as if mounted on rails, while the wooden sword in his hands remained steadily guarding his chest.
If it weren't for the injury on his foot, the movement would have been even more flawless.
"I... I did it?!" Murata looked at his feet in pleasant surprise, hardly daring to believe he had pulled off that movement.
"This is only the most basic way to generate power."
Asuka looked at Murata's excited expression and quickly brought him back down to earth. "When it comes to swords, the most important thing isn't how flashy your techniques are."
"It's whether your feet can stand firm and your hands can grip the blade when facing death."
"As long as you stand firm, it won't be so easy for others to strike you down, and you'll have a chance to win."
With that said, Asuka didn't linger any longer. He walked back to his remote corner and resumed his boring daze.
The dojo remained terrifyingly quiet.
Until Murata suddenly blushed and bowed deeply toward Asuka's back.
"Asuka! Thank you so much for your guidance!" Murata's voice trembled slightly from overwhelming excitement. "I... I will practice even harder from now on!"
Asuka didn't turn around, merely waving his hand casually in response.
Meanwhile, behind a concealed paper window outside the Zanjutsu dojo.
Head Teacher Mugoro Ohara was staring with wide eyes, his mouth slightly agape.
His usually stern and rigid face was now written with utter disbelief.
"Is... is this really the same Asuka who supposedly blinded one of Aizen's eyes and keeps everyone at a distance?" Head Teacher Ohara muttered to himself.
He even suspected he might be under the influence of some illusion-type Zanpakuto's ability.
Standing beside him was Mr. Kinpachi Sakamoto, holding a cup of hot tea and smiling warmly.
"I told you so, Head Teacher Ohara."
He gently blew on the white steam rising from his teacup, looking at the no-longer-so-cold figure inside the dojo with eyes full of gratification.
"He's not some monster who only knows how to destroy... He's just a child who has walked alone for too long and forgotten how to reach out to others."
Head Teacher Ohara remained silent for a long time.
Finally, his slightly parted lips slowly relaxed, revealing a relieved smile.
"It seems... letting you be his homeroom teacher was indeed a wise decision."
"You flatter me. Right now, I've only solved his socialization issue. You all still need to put in some effort regarding his literacy," Kinpachi chuckled.
Head Teacher Ohara nodded. "Let's hope these three months will allow him to truly integrate here and gain something valuable."
"He definitely will."