"Saitō Arata, Hisagi Shūhei, Kanisawa Hotaru, Aoga."
"After an internal discussion within the Academy, the mission for the Soul Burial internship the day after tomorrow will be led by the four of you."
"Hai!"
In the vice-president's office, the four people whose names were called answered in unison.
Except for Aoga, who had performed the worst and looked a bit nervous, the other three were relatively relaxed.
Particularly eye-catching was the tall and strong young man standing in the middle, with purple hair and bronze skin.
If someone unfamiliar had seen him, they would surely have mistaken him for a member of the Shihōin family.
The young man had been dozing with his eyes closed from start to finish, completely unconcerned about being chosen to lead the internship.
After carefully explaining the task details and safety precautions, Vice President Shibata Mitsunobu dismissed the group and returned to his desk to continue working.
As the vice president of the Shin'ō Spiritual Arts Academy, he was under tremendous pressure, especially since the old dean was preparing to retire in the second half of the year.
Unless something unexpected happened, the position of dean would most likely fall into his hands.
At such a critical moment, he could not afford to make any mistakes.
But then he thought: how could anything go wrong with a simple internship mission for ordinary students, let alone one led by four sixth-year students who were the elite among elites this year?
Especially Saitō Arata and Hisagi Shūhei, whose overall performance had reached the threshold of the Gotei 13 and could be considered rare top students.
After leaving the office, Aoga suggested they all go to lunch together.
Shūhei and Kanisawa agreed, and the three turned their attention to Arata.
"You guys go ahead, I still have some things to take care of," Arata shook his head.
He then quickly left the group and headed alone toward the dormitory.
Before Aoga could react, Arata had already disappeared from sight.
"How strange. Didn't the comprehensive evaluation for the sixth-generation students end last week? We shouldn't have anything to do recently, right?" Aoga was confused.
As a sixth-year student about to graduate, there were no more learning assignments.
The faculty had already taught everything necessary, and the remaining time was for free practice and self-improvement.
Simply put, it wasn't much different from a long vacation, except that the graduation exam could be considered more important.
But there were still more than five months until graduation, plenty of time left.
Shūhei narrowed his eyes slightly.
"That guy went to train again."
Quiet and with average talent, but works harder than anyone else.
That's the impression Saitō Arata left on outsiders.
"Seriously? But you can't be so diligent that you skip meals," Aoga's doubt didn't fade.
"How can you waste the precious time of your sixth year on boring training?"
She thought Arata should rather go to the Fourth Division to visit the pretty medical shinigami and ask for guidance.
Kanisawa smacked him angrily on the head.
"That's why you're the only one among the four of us who can't get into the top ten of the class!"
"That's because I'm only good at Kidō! It's really too hard to do things like close combat and capturing spirits..." Aoga spread his arms and sighed.
Shin'ō Spiritual Arts Academy – Male Dormitory.
Arata Saitō had no idea his companions were talking about him behind his back.
He was focused entirely on the transparent panel in front of him.
From the moment Vice President Shibata announced the list of interns, this panel had appeared before him.
[You have interfered with the world line's plot, initially changing the fates of Hisagi Shūhei, Kanisawa Hotaru, and Aoga.]
[Earn 100 Fate Points and activate the beginner's gift pack.]
[Host, keep up the good work, continue changing others' fates and earn more Fate Points.]
[Item Rank B: Bloodline of the Soul King (Incomplete)]
[Effect: After fusing the bloodline, potential and talent are greatly enhanced, and the body can be compatible with different types of power.]
[Note: Cannot be traded, can be strengthened.]
Arata was initially a little stunned and only reacted after reading it carefully three times.
"Is this… the golden finger I've been waiting for these six years?"
Perhaps sensing his thoughts, a faint silver-white orb of light appeared in his hand and shot toward his chest at lightning speed.
A white flash erupted, then the orb of light vanished, along with the transparent panel.
As if nothing had happened.
But Arata could clearly feel changes in his body.
He picked up the book "Theory on Low-Level Spirits" from the table beside him and casually flipped to the most annotated page.
It felt as though his brain had been redeveloped.
Knowledge of manipulating and controlling spiritual pressure, which had troubled him before, now became crystal clear.
Arata could immediately see the flaws in the understanding of the author, the shinigami who wrote the book.
"Do you really need to evenly distribute spiritual pressure between your hands for stability? And is complete chanting truly necessary to release Kidō techniques?"
They probably never saw someone cast the Black Coffin (Kurohitsugi) with one hand and without chanting.
But after a brief thought, Arata understood why.
Most of the Academy's instructors were members of the Gotei 13 who had retired due to injuries, and their strength was nowhere near that of captains.
Anyone who could reach the level of a mid-ranked officer was already exceptional.
Moreover, even if someone had ability, it didn't mean they had the gift for teaching.
The textbooks they wrote might be good guidance for ordinary students, but shackles for geniuses.
No wonder nobles like Byakuya Kuchiki despised studying at the Academy.
Their private family tutors were far more capable.
Arata flipped through the book a few more times before tossing it into the trash.
He no longer needed such things.
The Bloodline of the Soul King was truly worthy of its name.
Its effect was simple yet overwhelming, an immediate enhancement of talent.
Still, the word "incomplete" at the end of the description caught his attention.
That meant his current Soul King bloodline was only partial, and he couldn't yet use its full power.
Arata assumed that the "significant increase in potential and talent" was just a small fraction of the many abilities of the Soul King.
And "a body compatible with powers of different natures" likely meant he possessed a similar ability to Aizen or Ichigo, the capacity to contain multiple sources of power within himself.
Unfortunately, the Soul King had almost no role in the entire Bleach story, and the only information about his powers came from short mentions by Squad Zero, Yhwach, and others.
All that was known was that the Soul King was the embodiment of omniscience and omnipotence, the source of the powers of the three realms.
As for his other abilities, nothing was known.
"Kubo really loves leaving blanks," Arata thought.
Fortunately, the system had given him a clear direction: as long as he continued changing others' fates, he would earn Fate Points, which he might later exchange for items to complete his bloodline.
For now, until he collected enough, he could only train and test the limits of his potential.
Arata glanced at the clock.
The Soul Burial internship was set to begin at 9 a.m. the day after tomorrow.
There wasn't much time left.
Although he had been in this world for six years, he still vividly remembered the tragedy that was about to happen.
With the power of an ordinary shinigami, he stood no chance of surviving Aizen's experiments in the Valley of Souls.
He had to turn the potential of his bloodline into real strength as soon as possible!
"Is there a way to quickly increase my power in a short time?"
Arata pondered deeply… and then it struck him.
It seemed such a way really did exist.
---
It's been a long time since I last watched Bleach, so if you notice any mistakes, please let me know so I can fix them.
Enjoy reading.
From the Author.