"Seventh Seat Ganju! Your movements are too wide! You'll lose your balance like that!"
The Third Seat, acting as the instructor, voiced his dissatisfaction with Ganju's technique, but the latter paid him no mind whatsoever.
"Shut up! Real battles don't have all these rules! As long as I beat the enemy, it's fine, isn't it!"
Ganju roared, swinging his halberd in a fierce horizontal sweep that snapped a wooden dummy as thick as a man's thigh clean in half.
Amidst the flying splinters, he leaped high into the air atop his boar, Bonnie, before crashing down violently and kicking up a massive cloud of dust.
"Cough, cough... Ganju, I'm telling you..."
The squad members suffered bitterly under his wild training methods, but complaining was useless. Most of them had already gotten used to it.
Ganju casually wiped the sweat from his face, grabbed his Shihakusho hanging nearby, and draped it over his shoulders, gazing up at the sky with a gloomy expression.
Eighteen years.
After his uncle disappeared, his older brother vanished too...
Ever since his older brother, Kaien Shiba, went missing in Fuyuki City in the World of the Living, the Shiba family—once a dominant force in the Rukongai that everyone had to show some respect to—had completely collapsed.
The useless Shiba family. A bloodline of deserters. A cursed clan...
These vicious rumors buzzed around them like annoying flies.
Seeing that the Shiba family had lost its pillars, the Tsunayashiro Family colluded with Central 46. With a single decree, they stripped the Shiba family of all their noble privileges and tossed them to the fringes of the Rukongai like trash.
His older sister Kukaku's explosive temper meant she never got along with them to begin with. Now, she simply spent her days setting off fireworks in the Rukongai, completely ignoring the Soul Reapers.
But Ganju Shiba refused to accept this.
He did not believe that his brother, who was as radiant as the sun, could ever be a deserter. Nor did he believe that his always-smiling uncle would betray the Soul Society.
Therefore, no matter how much he hated restrictions and rules, he gritted his teeth and graduated from the Shin'o Academy. Relying purely on his sheer ruthlessness and monstrous strength, he fought his way into the Tenth Division.
He was going to stay right here, in the place where his brother and uncle once fought, and personally wash away the disgrace of the Shiba family!
"Hey! Ganju! Stop spacing out!"
A cold, youthful voice interrupted his thoughts.
Ganju looked up and saw a short, silver-haired boy standing on the high platform of the training grounds, frowning down at him.
Although the boy was not tall, the Spiritual Pressure radiating from him was as biting as solid ice, making it difficult to look him directly in the eye.
The current Captain of the Tenth Division, Toshiro Hitsugaya.
"Oh, it's the Captain," Ganju said, flashing a grin.
Though he used the title, his tone lacked any real reverence. "What is it? Do you need me to catch another Soul Reaper stealing booze? Or help some noble find their cat?"
"...You."
Toshiro shot him a cold glare, the Zanpakuto strapped to his back exuding a chilling aura. "Can you not hear the alarm?"
"Alarm?"
Ganju paused for a moment and listened closely.
Sure enough, the urgent blare of an alarm was ringing out in the distance.
"There is a Ryoka invasion coming from the direction of the West Gate, Hakutoumon."
Toshiro looked out over the crowd in the training grounds. His voice was not loud, but it carried clearly to everyone's ears. "According to the report from the Second Division, the enemy just wiped out a patrol squad and is attempting to force their way through the gate."
"Ryoka? Invading the Rukongai?"
Ganju's eyes instantly lit up with the excitement of a predator catching the scent of blood.
For years, the Soul Society had been as stagnant as a pool of dead water.
Aside from occasionally heading to the Rukongai to clear out a few Hollows, he never had the chance to really flex his muscles!
All this strength of his was practically rusting away!
If things kept going like this, when would he ever make a name for himself!
A Hell Butterfly fluttered down and landed on Toshiro's fingertip, bringing new information.
"This..." Toshiro muttered, sensing the message from the Hell Butterfly, his tone tinged with surprise. "It seems Jidanbo, the gatekeeper of Hakutoumon, has been defeated."
"Hah?! That big lug lost?"
Ganju and all the squad members were greatly shocked.
Although Jidanbo was not the brightest, his monstrous strength was the real deal. Even a Seated Officer wouldn't dare take a direct hit from his axes.
And he was actually defeated?
"This is not a simple matter." Toshiro leaped down from the high platform. "As the Tenth Division responsible for the security of the Seireitei, we cannot just sit back and watch."
"That idiot Matsumoto has wandered off to who-knows-where again, so I will have to lead you to face the enemy myself."
"All members, assemble! Move out to Hakutoumon immediately!"
"Capture every last one of those arrogant invaders!"
"Oooohhh!!!"
Ganju let out an excited roar and vaulted onto his boar, Bonnie.
The halberd trembled in his grip, his violent Spiritual Pressure already leaking out uncontrollably.
"Finally, some interesting work! Boys! Charge with me!!"
"Wait, Seventh Seat Ganju, I think I'm the one who's supposed to..." the Third Seat tried to interject, but was immediately cut off.
"Shut up! Follow me!"
Outside the West Gate, Hakutoumon, in the Rukongai.
The massive stone gate stood tall and imposing, as if connecting the very ends of heaven and earth.
The clearing in front of the gate was now a complete mess.
The ground was cracked and littered with rubble.
Two giant axes had been shattered into several pieces, sticking pitifully out of the dirt.
"Hah... Hah..."
Ichigo Kurosaki stood in the center of the ruins, panting heavily with his absurdly large Zanpakuto, Zangetsu, resting on his shoulder.
The hem of his Shihakusho was slightly dirty, and his orange hair was damp with sweat.
But in front of him, the mountain-like gatekeeper, Jidanbo, was slumped on his knees in defeat.
"I lost... I actually lost..."
Jidanbo stared at the remaining axe handles in his hands, his massive body trembling slightly.
"Boohoo... They're broken... Both of my axes are actually broken..."
He had lost fair and square.
The scrawny, orange-haired boy in front of him didn't look all that tough, yet his sword had forcefully shattered both of his axes.
"...Uh... I'm really sorry about that... I shouldn't have broken your axes." This made Ichigo feel a bit guilty.
"Ichigo..." Orihime Inoue looked at him with concern from behind. "Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine, don't worry." Ichigo hoisted Zangetsu further up his shoulder and smiled at her.
Jidanbo nodded and scrambled to his feet. "Yeah... You're right."
He walked up to Hakutoumon and placed a hand against the wall. "You are the first man to ever defeat me. I will allow you to pass through Hakutoumon."
"Are you really just going to let us through?" Uryu Ishida pushed up his glasses, warily observing the flow of Reishi around them.
"Ah... I lost to your boss, so I have no right to stop you from passing."
Uryu was highly dissatisfied with this answer. "What? Ichigo Kurosaki is not my boss!"
"Why are you getting so worked up..." Ichigo rolled his eyes at him.
Yasutora Sado stood silently in the back, guarding the group's rear.
Jidanbo paid no mind to Uryu's complaints. He turned around to face the colossal stone gate towering before him.
He reached out both hands.
"Haaargh!!!"
With an earth-shattering roar, the muscles all over Jidanbo's body bulged.
He wedged his hands into the gap of the door and, using every ounce of his strength, slowly lifted the incredibly heavy Sekkiseki gate inch by inch!
*Creak, creak—*
The sound of grinding stone echoed through the clouds.
"It's... it's opening!" Orihime cried out in pleasant surprise.
The gap grew wider and wider, revealing the broad avenue behind the gate that led into the heart of the Seireitei.
"Let's go!"
Without a moment's hesitation, Ichigo called out to his companions and prepared to charge inside.
However.
Just as the gate opened halfway, providing enough space for a person to pass through.
A suffocating, biting chill, mixed with several overbearing Spiritual Pressures, surged out from the shadows behind the gate!
"Who gave you permission to open the gate, Jidanbo?"
A cold, youthful voice, yet carrying the absolute authority of a superior, echoed from behind the gate.