In the rear courtyard of the dojo, a number of wooden stakes stood upright, arranged in a tight formation.
To reduce wear and tear, Nanatsuki brought out a wooden practice sword with no edge. As long as he didn't use the Reiatsu Blade technique, the stakes wouldn't need to be replaced often.
The sword technique he was about to practice, like Shunpo Iaido, was one closely tied to the level of Shunpo mastery.
Previously, due to his lacking Shunpo proficiency, his progress had been slow.
But now, with the Swordheart Clarity trait, he wanted to try mastering this new sword technique.
Standing before the array of stakes, Nanatsuki calmed his mind and steadied his breath.
In the next instant, his figure vanished from sight.
Three afterimages flashed past the stakes, then disappeared almost simultaneously.
Nanatsuki was already standing on the opposite side of the array.
The wooden stakes where the afterimages had appeared were now marked with fresh, clean cuts.
Katori Style · Quadrant Shun Strike!
This sword technique leveraged Shunpo speed to launch attacks from multiple positions. If one's movement and blade speed were high enough, they could create afterimages—making it appear as if the attacks had landed simultaneously.
Nanatsuki stepped forward to inspect the stakes. Three of them bore clean cuts.
"The sword swing speed is enough, but the Shunpo is still a bit lacking…" he thought to himself.
Back when he had first started training in Quadrant Shun Strike, his swing speed wasn't even enough to hit three stakes.
But recently, his swordsmanship had improved considerably, and with the Swordheart Clarity trait's effect, he had managed to strike all three afterimage positions accurately.
Still, it required four afterimages to truly be considered an entry-level execution of Quadrant Shun Strike.
The difficulty lay in the need to momentarily halt during high-speed movement, stabilize the body, and strike with precision.
Shunpo involved three stages: setup, foot lift, and movement. To create afterimages, one had to frequently switch between all three phases.
His previous Shunpo level wasn't high enough to meet this requirement.
That afternoon, he trained tirelessly with the new sword technique and discovered that the Swordheart Clarity trait had a very noticeable effect. After just a few hours, he managed to cross that threshold—occasionally producing four afterimages.
Quadrant Shun Strike—acquired!
Tsunayashiro Residence.
Tsunayashiro Tokitani sat upright in a bright, spacious room. Across from him sat a man in a yellow haori.
The man had a long, narrow face with a broad forehead and a slightly sharp nose. His hair and beard had begun to turn grey.
"Tokitani, the assessment results are out. Your class's swordsmanship grades were quite poor," the man said seriously.
"Aah, that's probably because you skipped over several talented students during class assignment, right?"
Tokitani's expression was the opposite of the man's—he wore a look of faint contempt, or rather, a clear lack of proper respect. Even though the man before him was his elder, he didn't show the slightest bit of deference.
That man was the one responsible for class assignments during the start of term—the Vice Dean, Tsunayashiro Chū.
Chū's face darkened as a flash of anger crossed his eyes. This junior's attitude was utterly appalling.
Unfortunately, Chū wasn't from the main family. Even though Tokitani was merely the lowest-ranked member of the main Tsunayashiro line, his status still outranked Chū's. As such, Chū had no choice but to follow the family's orders and support Tokitani's rise.
"Yes, that was my mistake," Chū admitted grudgingly. "But I heard you haven't attended a single class since term started. Always absent or making students self-study—don't you think that's going a bit too far?"
"I even arranged for upgraded wooden practice swords for the new students during our equipment procurement, just so Class One could dominate the autumn assessment."
"And yet you clearly don't care. Sure, those students entered the Academy with a solid foundation…"
"But they trained for balanced development within their clans. Their strengths in other areas won't help you one bit when it comes to competing for the position of Swordsmanship Department Head."
"You need to give them further instruction in swordsmanship!"
Tokitani's eyes flickered with impatience. Chū's words sounded so selfless, as if all his actions were for Tokitani's sake—when in truth, the money saved from switching sword supplies had gone into Chū's own pocket.
And besides, Tokitani had zero interest in the Swordsmanship Department Head role.
Last time, because of what he did in Rukongai, he had been locked up by the family for a long while.
Those old geezers had only agreed to release him on the condition that he "restrain himself moving forward and obey the family's directives."
"There are too many students. I can't teach them all. I'll just visit their homes and have their families take swordsmanship more seriously," Tokitani said as he stood up and left the room.
One month later.
Zanpakutō Meditation Chamber, Shin'o Spiritual Arts Academy.
Incense smoke coiled upward from a burner in the corner of the meditation chamber, filling the space with a calm, cleansing scent.
Nanatsuki paced around the room, keeping an eye on the students to ensure none of them were distracted during Zanpakutō Meditation Training.
"Your mind is too restless. The more anxious you are, the harder it is to enter the meditative state. You need to settle yourself down first," Nanatsuki said, tapping a student's forehead lightly with his wooden sword.
"Yes, Katori-sensei!" the student replied, wiping the sweat from his brow before attempting to enter meditation again.
After several weeks of Zanpakutō Meditation Training, most of the first-years had successfully entered the meditative state at least once.
But as more and more students succeeded, the few who hadn't were growing increasingly anxious.
And that anxiety only made it harder for them to achieve success.
"Take a deep breath. Regulate your emotions. Empty your thoughts before trying again," Nanatsuki said gently. "I think you're right on the threshold. Don't force it."
Hearing his words, the student relaxed significantly. After a few deep breaths, he slowly entered the proper state.
Moments later, Nanatsuki sensed a fluctuation in Reiatsu.
The student had successfully entered Zanpakutō Meditation.
Nanatsuki smiled faintly and moved on quietly so as not to disturb him.
The first meditation usually lasted longer than usual. Recently, the Academy had even pushed back the cafeteria's closing hours so that students finishing meditation late could still eat.
That evening, after the last student emerged from the meditative state…
The training feedback rewards were tallied.
[Class complete. Reward calculation beginning.]
[You received: 10 Zanpakutō Meditation EXP]
[Due to your attentive guidance, students showed exceptional focus during training. 21 students entered the meditative state. Bonus reward granted.]
[You received: 210 Zanpakutō Meditation EXP]
And that wasn't all. Four of Nanatsuki's direct disciples had also completed Zanpakutō Meditation, granting him an additional 130 Zanpakutō Meditation EXP.
Nanatsuki resisted the urge to immediately enter meditation himself.
He had already used up all of his previously earned Zanpakutō Meditation EXP in past sessions.
But almost every time he entered his Inner World, he discovered significant changes.
Nanatsuki felt a strange, powerful intuition—
His Inner World was nearly complete.
He was about to meet… his Zanpakutō!