The stunned silence across the field lasted barely three seconds. Then, as Ōmaeda Nishinoshin was sent flying out of the arena, the suppressed Shino Academy graduates exploded in deafening shock.
"Holy crap, he just one-shotted Vice-Captain Ōmaeda! Who is this guy?!"
"Where am I, what am I doing, am I dreaming? This can't be real!"
"Hell no, this is totally real and absolutely god-tier!"
Unlike the flailing students crying out in disbelief, the captains and vice-captains of the Gotei 13 standing on the podium were far more clear-headed. Some of the vice-captains even had their hands resting on the hilts of their Zanpakutō.
One of them, a burly man with sunglasses and a long scar running across his eye, had already assumed a battōjutsu stance. His gaze locked sharply on Nagasawa Masaru as he growled toward his squad captain, Love Aikawa of Squad 7.
"Captain, do we take him down?"
Clearly, the overwhelming strength Masaru had just displayed far exceeded the realm of any normal Shino Academy graduate.
Even the Academy's most legendary graduates—current Squad 8 Captain Kyōraku Shunsui and Squad 13 Captain Ukitake Jūshirō—would not dare claim they could defeat a vice-captain in a single blow upon graduating.
At that same moment, unnoticed in the commotion, a man wearing a noble's hairpiece called a kenshōken—his appearance bearing a strong resemblance to Kuchiki Byakuya, though more mature—flashed to the side of Ōmaeda Nishinoshin. After a quick examination, he spoke calmly.
"He's just unconscious. No major damage."
Upon hearing that, the Gotei captains, though still focused on Masaru, let out an inward sigh of relief. A few even gestured subtly to hold back their overzealous lieutenants.
He doesn't seem hostile.
That was the captains' first impression of Nagasawa Masaru.
Seeing that the captains weren't preparing to attack him immediately, Masaru also relaxed a little and let his tensed nerves settle.
That strike just now had been precise and calculated. Rather than brute force, he had infused his spiritual pressure at the moment of contact, temporarily shutting down Ōmaeda's spiritual pathways and rendering him unconscious.
It looked dramatic, but it left no real injury.
If he had actually hurt Ōmaeda, he might've tanked his popularity before even joining the Gotei 13. That would've made his post-admission slacker lifestyle a lot harder to pull off.
After all, you can't coast in comfort without good workplace relationships. Otherwise, you'll get reported and have to do actual work.
But just as the captains hesitated on whether to classify him as friend or foe, a voice suddenly rang out from the side—the very same teacher who had been worrying over "Sakamoto" earlier.
"Wait, wait a minute! You... who are you?! Where's the real Sakamoto?!"
That shout was like thunder on a clear day. The students who had been cheering wildly for their peer's display of power were instantly silenced, as if someone had hit a mute button on the entire crowd.
Only one person remained calm atop the podium—Captain-Commander Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni.
Within his clouded yet sharp and ancient eyes, a dangerous light flickered.
First, he glanced at Squad 2's Captain, Shihōin Yoruichi, head of the Punishment Corps. Then he turned to Masaru and asked in a calm but chilling voice.
"Who are you, and why have you come to Seireitei?"
To be honest, even with the Peak Shinigami Experience Card active, Masaru was still nervous being directly questioned by Yamamoto himself.
Thankfully, [Marlon Brando's Peak Acting] carried the entire scene for him.
With a composed expression and a low, gravelly voice, he spoke like a man who held life and death in his hands. It was a voice that sounded as though he were chewing on cotton.
"Nagasawa Masaru. Just an ordinary soul from Rukongai. But that's not important."
"Let me join you."
"And by that, I don't mean going through the Shino Academy selection process. I want to join the Gotei 13 directly."
Hearing that, even Yamamoto himself paused. All the captains were visibly stunned.
Especially Captain Unohana Retsu of Squad 4.
She, having lived through the earliest days of the Gotei 13 alongside Yamamoto, knew Soul Society's history intimately.
This wasn't like the early era when the Gotei was first formed. Since the establishment of the Shino Academy and the formalization of the Soul Reaper recruitment system, cases of independent candidates seeking enlistment were virtually unheard of.
It had been centuries since she had last seen one.
And yet, this boy—young, composed, unflinching under Yamamoto's gaze—stood there without faltering. Unohana couldn't help but grow curious about him.
Yamamoto, too, felt the same.
If this were a thousand years ago, he would've gladly accepted someone like Masaru, even if he had a few personality issues. So long as the strength was there, nothing else mattered.
But times had changed.
The Gotei 13 was no longer the assassin corps it had once been.
Facing Masaru, Yamamoto merely replied with a calm and measured voice.
"And why should we let you in? The Gotei 13 isn't some place anyone can just walk into."
I knew it wouldn't be that easy.
Masaru sighed inwardly.
But then, in the very next moment, he gave Yamamoto a reason that couldn't be refused.
Because whether it was the old hit-squad or the modern peacekeeping force guarding Seireitei and the balance of the worlds, everything came down to one word—power.
A strong enemy and a strong ally. Any rational person knew which one to choose.
Spreading his hands, Masaru let that same cotton-filled tone take on a slightly playful lilt.
"Because I'm strong."