Amid the billowing smoke, Kyoya felt a tremendous force slam into him, sending him flying backward.
The blade pressing against his Zanpakuto made his eyebrows twitch violently.
'Are you kidding me?'
'Is he trying to kill me?'
'If I remembered correctly, Gin had said this battle was merely an assessment… an evaluation conducted by the 5th Division.'
'Or, in other words, an evaluation by Aizen.'
'But what the hell is going on now?'
'Gin actually released his Zanpakuto?'
The overwhelming Reiatsu erupting from Gin at such close range made it hard for Kyoya to even breathe.
By conservative estimates, Gin's current Reiryoku had likely reached 4th-class!
Gin's innate Reiryoku was already 5th-class… a level befitting a Lieutenant.
Now, with his Zanpakuto released, Gin's Reiryoku surged even further. Even if it hadn't quite reached 4th-class, it was frighteningly close.
Even without releasing his Zanpakuto, Gin had been able to suppress Kyoya effortlessly. Now that he had, even with Kyoya's Observation Haki allowing him to perceive Gin's movements, his body simply couldn't react fast enough.
Kyoya felt the pressure on his blade lighten as the white sword retracted. From within the smoke, Gin's figure slowly emerged.
Under the force of Gin's Reiatsu, the flames from the explosion were forcibly pushed aside.
Kyoya's gaze, along with his Observation Haki, locked onto the small, almost toy-like Zanpakuto in Gin's hand.
[Shinso]
Even with his Observation Haki, Kyoya's current abilities were still far too lacking to safely handle Gin's Shikai.
'Dangerous.'
'Dangerous.'
'Dangerous.'
The higher the Reiryoku class, the more pronounced the gap became.
Kyoya's current Reiryoku hadn't even reached 7th-class, let alone Gin's 5th-class. The difference was simply too vast.
And that wasn't even accounting for the fact that Gin had now released his Zanpakuto.
While the commotion from their battle would undoubtedly attract attention and within a minute, academy's instructors would arrive to investigate, Kyoya wasn't confident he could last even that long against Gin.
Taking a deep breath, Kyoya steadied himself, raising his Zanpakuto horizontally before him. He placed his left hand over the blade.
"Shine, Ama no Murakumo!"
Boom!
With Kyoya's roar, his Zanpakuto erupted in a blinding golden radiance.
Starting from the hilt, as Kyoya's left hand swept across the blade, the steel transformed into a sword of condensed light.
This was Kyoya's Partial Shikai - Ama no Murakumo!
The Pika Pika no Mi, one of the most powerful Logia-type Devil Fruits in the One Piece World, had become a Zanpakuto of the highest caliber in the Bleach World as well.
-Well, the strongest light-type Zanpakuto, at least.
In the One Piece World, the most fundamental ability of a Logia was intangible elementalization… the power to negate physical attacks.
As long as one had consumed a Logia-type Devil Fruit, unless the opponent possessed a counter-element or mastered Haki, they couldn't harm the Logia user at all.
Unfortunately, Kyoya's current spiritual pressure was far from sufficient to fully unleash the Pika Pika no Mi's abilities.
After negotiations with Borsalino, Kyoya's Partial Shikai manifested as his signature weapon… Ama no Murakumo!
And it just so happens that Kyoya's main focus so far has been swordsmanship.
"Oh?"
Seeing Kyoya release his Zanpakuto, Gin Ichimaru halted his steps.
Even for someone like him, it was only after reaching the 6th-class Reiryoku that he had nurtured the Spirit within his Zanpakuto enough to achieve Shikai.
Yet Kyoya, with only 8th-class Reiryoku, had just barely met the conditions for nurturing his Zanpakuto's spirit… reaching 6th-class Reiryoku only after releasing it.
'As expected, this Kyoya was anything but ordinary.'
"Ara, ara, Kyoya-kun, you've really given me quite the surprise."
Gin dispersed the Reiatsu around him, sealed his Zanpakuto back into its Shikai state, and returned it to its sheath.
However, despite Gin's actions, Kyoya didn't drop his defensive stance.
"What's this? Are you admitting defeat, Ichimaru-senpai?"
Though outmatched in strength, Kyoya's words refused to concede.
"Hai, hai, hai, I lose."
Contrary to Kyoya's expectations, Gin merely chuckled in response, unfazed by the outcome of their battle.
Or perhaps, from Gin's perspective, who won or lost in this fight didn't matter at all.
Gin spread his hands and said, "Kyoya-kun, your strength has already surpassed that of an ordinary Shin'o Academy student."
"Staying at the academy will only stagnate your growth."
"So, how about joining the 5th Division?"
"I can recommend you to Lieutenant Aizen. If you're willing to join the 5th Division, I can promise you a position as a seated officer."
"A seated officer?"
Hearing this, even Kyoya couldn't hide his surprise.
After all, in the Gotei 13, aside from the 11th Division, other divisions placed heavy emphasis on seniority.
The 11th Division was a combat-focused squad, operating on the principle that the strong rise and the weak fall.
Battle was the11th Division's very essence.
Without sufficient strength, even those who attained seated officer, Lieutenant, or even Captain's positions could be overthrown by someone stronger.
In other divisions, however, the selection and promotion of officers lay entirely in the hands of the Captain.
Captains held the authority to appoint and replace Lieutenants.
Lieutenants, in turn, had the power to nominate seated officers… though their decisions still required the Captain's approval.
Otherwise, a Captain could strip a seated officer of their rank with a single word.
It is not an exaggeration to say that the Captain is the absolute authority within a division.
Under normal circumstances, captains rarely paid attention to unseated Shinigami.
After all, those who couldn't even achieve Zanpakuto Shikai often died in battle during missions.
Investing too much emotion in unseated soldiers would only lead to equal grief when they inevitably fell.
Younger Captains might endure it, but those who had witnessed countless deaths had long since learned to protect themselves.
Therefore, unless a Captain personally appointed someone, seated officer's promotions were usually left to the Lieutenant's recommendation… which the Captain would typically approve.
However, Kyoya knew one thing:
In the 5th Division, though Aizen held the Lieutenant's position, the 5th Division's Captain, Shinji Hirako did not trust him.