In the end, Ise Nanao agreed to transfer into the Eighth Division.
Although she still truly wanted to join the Eleventh Division, Gosuke Shigure personally came to explain everything clearly, and she finally understood.
With her current ability and Academy results, she simply was not qualified to enter the Eleventh Division.
And once she was rejected by the Eleventh Division, if no other squad accepted her, the only remaining destination would be the Kidō Corps.
The Kidō Corps, although respected, was not the organization Nanao wished to join.
Being accepted into the Eighth Division was already far better than she dared expect.
Moreover, Captain Kyōraku Shunsui himself had come to recruit her.
No matter what, she had to give that kind of gesture face.
Even though it was their first formal meeting, Nanao unexpectedly felt a sense of familiarity toward Kyōraku Shunsui. She didn't understand why, but something about him felt like a presence she had encountered somewhere in the past.
With the matter of Ise Nanao resolved, Gosuke Shigure felt once again that the river of time was speeding forward.
Characters who originally appeared much later in the Bleach timeline were now gradually appearing one after another.
Tōsen Kaname and Komamura Sajin had already joined the Gotei 13, and now Ise Nanao had joined the Eighth Division as well.
Not to mention the many earlier arrivals—members who would eventually become the Visored had already long become pillars of the Gotei 13.
Perhaps it was exactly because of their eventual Hollowfication and disappearance that the entire Gotei 13 later fell into a period of weakness.
Gosuke Shigure couldn't help thinking:
If he asked Urahara Kisuke to research the matter of spiritual sub-space earlier, would it affect the pace at which Urahara developed the Hōgyoku?
But since Gosuke himself was neither a scientist nor a researcher, he restrained the urge to ask Urahara directly.
Twenty years passed in the blink of an eye.
For Shinigami, twenty years was merely a finger-snap.
Most Shinigami lived in long stagnation; even after two decades, their strength might not advance at all.
This sounded ridiculous, but it was the truth.
A Shinigami's progress generally had three major stages:
The first stage came during their years in the Shin'ō Academy—awakening spiritual power, learning to externalize it as Reiatsu, studying Kidō, Zanjutsu, Hakuda, and Hohō.
Those few years were the fastest growth period, transforming ordinary souls into full Shinigami.
The second stage was awakening one's Zanpakutō and mastering Shikai.
Talented prodigies sometimes achieved this even before graduation.
After Shikai came the development of abilities unique to each Zanpakutō.
The third stage was, naturally, Bankai.
But for most Shinigami, Bankai remained eternally out of reach.
Outside these stages, learning the Shinigami arts demanded tremendous talent and long training, especially given their near-immortal lifespan.
So it wasn't surprising that after gaining Shikai, an average Shinigami might make no progress for dozens of years.
Gosuke Shigure, of course, was far from ordinary.
Even though only twenty years had passed, his improvement was substantial.
What had grown most?
Naturally—Reiatsu.
Shinigami battles were battles of Reiatsu.
For someone like Gosuke, whose fundamentals were already extremely high, raising Reiatsu was the fastest way to increase combat strength.
At the same Kidō level, stronger Reiatsu produced far stronger spells.
In Zanjutsu, greater Reiatsu produced overwhelming sword pressure.
His Reiatsu, however, was fundamentally different from Zaraki Kenpachi's.
Zaraki's Reiatsu was monstrous, but completely uncontrolled—he lacked both fine control and perceptive sensitivity.
Within these twenty years, many new figures rose in Seireitei.
For example, in the Fifth Division, there appeared the prodigy Ichimaru Gin.
He completed all Shin'ō Academy courses in one year, then immediately entered the Fifth Division.
His talent shocked the entire Gotei 13.
Only a handful in Soul Society's long history had ever accomplished such a feat—and all of them became monsters of power.
At present Ichimaru Gin was still young, but even veteran Shinigami acknowledged that he had boundless potential.
Compared to Gin, the rise of Sui-Feng within the Second Division was far less visible.
The Onmitsukidō never flaunted their members' abilities.
Yoruichi's fame back then came only because she was the heir of the Shihōin Clan.
Still, Gosuke kept an eye on Sui-Feng—she too would become a future captain.
Within the Eleventh Division, several newcomers had appeared, but the most striking were two individuals:
Madarame Ikkaku and Ayasegawa Yumichika.
Both were eager fighters, drawn naturally to the Eleventh Division.
Ikkaku, especially, possessed extraordinary potential—eventually mastering Bankai.
Even though Gosuke had transferred Zaraki into the Eleventh Division many years earlier, it didn't prevent Ikkaku and Yumichika from joining later.
They simply sought stronger opponents. When they found no challenge in Rukongai, they gravitated toward the Eleventh Division.
Not long after joining, both were thoroughly defeated by Zaraki—and became loyal followers of his strength.
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