Ito Makoto first walked over to the wooden rack and carefully selected a training sword that fit comfortably in his hands.
Then, following Hisagi Shūhei's earlier example, he respectfully bowed to Madarame Ikkaku.
Without hesitation, he stepped forward in a sharp lunge and unleashed a swift horizontal slash. Madarame Ikkaku, who had been observing with mild boredom, suddenly narrowed his eyes. In that instant, he realized this examinee was far from ordinary. His previously lazy demeanor vanished, replaced by focused seriousness.
He immediately raised his own wooden sword and parried Makoto's powerful strike.
After adjusting his stance and breathing, Ikkaku gripped his sword with both hands and charged forward with obvious enthusiasm.
In the blink of an eye, Madarame Ikkaku had switched from examiner to aggressor.
"Just who exactly is testing whom here?"
Watching Ikkaku completely lose himself in the thrill of combat, Makoto could only sigh inwardly.
Even so, he found that he was enjoying the exchange. Although his main body had wielded a Zanpakutō for some time, his combat experience was limited to slaying Hollows in the Great Forest of Menos.
The only true Zanjutsu expert he had ever crossed blades with was Ito Kai, whose overwhelming skill had left a deep impression on him.
Now, standing before Madarame Ikkaku, Makoto felt as though he had finally encountered another genuine master.
"His Zanjutsu is absolutely not inferior to Ito Kai's!"
The longer Makoto fought, the more astonished he became. Madarame Ikkaku truly lived up to his reputation as the Third Seat of the Eleventh Division. His swordsmanship was at least on par with Ito Kai's perhaps even superior.
Makoto's foundation in Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Kidō, and Shunpo all stemmed from the combat memories inherited from Ito Kai. Even with that advantage, he still could not claim to be on the same level as his predecessor much less surpass the fierce bald examiner before him.
Gradually, Makoto began to fall into a disadvantage.
Since this was only an entrance examination, and he had no intention of revealing his full abilities, he seized an opportunity, deliberately exposing a small opening and loosening his grip on the wooden sword.
"Clatter!"
The blade in his hands was split cleanly in two.
Only then did Madarame Ikkaku snap out of his battle-induced excitement. He stared intently at Makoto for a long moment, his gaze filled with a strange mixture of nostalgia and admiration.
"Good kid… your name is Ito Makoto, right? You've even got the same surname as that man! Your fighting style is unbelievably similar to his."
He let out a hearty laugh.
"If I didn't know he had no family, I'd think you were his son! No question about it you absolutely have to join the Eleventh Division after you graduate!"
Makoto gave a slight smile and bowed.
"With pleasure."
Through this battle, he had personally experienced Madarame Ikkaku's formidable strength. The Eleventh Division the legendary combat-focused division was exactly the environment he desired. And above all, it was home to Zaraki Kenpachi, the embodiment of raw power.
After some thought, Makoto concluded that joining the Eleventh Division and throwing himself into relentless battles would be the fastest way to grow stronger.
Hearing Makoto accept the invitation so readily, Ikkaku burst into laughter again, clearly delighted.
"Uh… Examiner," Makoto said with a helpless expression, "you still haven't given me my Zanjutsu score."
Ikkaku slapped his bald head.
"Right, right!"
He quickly picked up the brush and wrote on the assessment sheet.
"Ito Makoto Zanjutsu: 100 points!"
Afterward, Makoto bid farewell to Ikkaku and headed straight for the next assessment room.
Without delay, he proceeded to the third chamber. This room was much smaller only a few square meters in size so examinees were admitted one at a time.
Makoto waited patiently until his turn arrived and stepped inside.
"Condense your spiritual pressure into your palm and attempt to manifest it."
From behind a curtain at the back of the room emerged a hunched elderly Shinigami with white hair and deeply wrinkled skin.
Makoto complied. He calmly gathered a strand of spiritual pressure into his palm, and immediately, a dark-golden aura glowed brightly above his hand.
Seeing this, the old examiner nodded repeatedly.
"Excellent… truly worthy of someone with Fifth-Grade spiritual pressure."
With a flourish of his brush, he recorded the result.
"Ito Makoto Kidō: 90 points!"
The slightly lower score was entirely intentional on Makoto's part. Excelling too perfectly in every field would only attract unnecessary attention particularly from Aizen Sōsuke. At this stage, maintaining a low profile was the safest course.
After all, simply compressing spiritual pressure was merely the most basic prerequisite for casting Kidō hardly anything remarkable.
With Zanjutsu, Hakuda, and Kidō completed, only the final assessment remained: Shunpo.
Makoto proceeded directly to the fourth and final room. This test was designed to evaluate a Shinigami's movement techniques, with Shunpo serving as the primary benchmark.
However, since most examinees had not yet entered the Shin'ō Academy, few had actually learned Shunpo. As such, the difficulty of this test was intentionally moderate.
Makoto stepped inside and looked around.
The room was filled with wooden training dummies arranged in a complex formation. Each dummy continuously swung its arms, creating a constantly shifting obstacle course.
Standing at the far end of the room was a sharp-looking short-haired woman in standard Shinigami attire clearly the examiner for this stage.
"Pass through the puppet array and reach me within five minutes. That will count as a pass."
She spoke calmly while observing him.
Makoto gave a brief nod.
Without wasting a single word, he darted forward. With a series of agile movements and precise steps, he weaved effortlessly through the obstacles, emerging at the far end in less than ten seconds.
And that was with him deliberately holding back and not using Shunpo.
If he had chosen to employ Shunpo, he could have cleared the course in an instant.
The examiner recorded the result with visible approval.
"Ito Makoto Shunpo: 95 points."
Seeing the final score, Makoto smiled faintly.
"As expected… the academy entrance assessments are practically child's play for me at this point."
That afternoon, all examinees who had completed the first-stage evaluations gathered outside the Shin'ō Spiritual Arts Academy, standing neatly in several large formations.
Before long, Yano Masahiko, dressed entirely in white ceremonial robes, appeared upon the central platform and addressed the crowd.
"Students, welcome to the Shin'ō Academy! I hope that in the coming years, you will all strive for excellence, join the Gotei 13, serve the Seireitei, and fight for the Soul Society!"
The moment his speech ended, the field erupted in cheers.
Among the crowd, Tsukada Shinji stared at his evaluation sheet in disbelief. With only Zanjutsu at 60 points and the other three categories at 20, he trembled with excitement.
"I'm not dreaming, right? I actually passed with this?"
At that moment, Yano Masahiko's voice rang out once more.
"Beginning with this assessment, the admission system has been reformed. Once you pass the spiritual pressure evaluation, you are already considered admitted to the Shin'ō Academy. The subsequent Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Kidō, and Shunpo tests are used only for class placement. As long as you complete the process and have no disciplinary issues, you are officially accepted!"
…
After the examinations concluded, the new students were given half a month before the official start of term. During that time, they could either return home or stay in the academy dormitories.
"Makoto-Nii, I've already prepared your dormitory! It's a single room I personally arranged it for you. If you need anything else at all, just say the word! I, Oda You, am entirely at your service!"
Oda You followed closely behind Makoto, practically glowing with eagerness, like a loyal puppy desperate to please its master.
"Oda-kun…"
"Yes, Makoto-Nii?"
Makoto turned and sighed.
"I preferred your earlier rebellious attitude. Please go back to that."