At some noon during the summer, the sky was cloudless for thousands of miles. The blazing sun poured its scorching light evenly over the land.
Every so often, a gust of hot wind swept in from the wilderness, carrying suffocating heat as it passed through the Soul Society—and through the Shin'ō Academy of Spiritual Arts as well…
Dressed in a white-and-blue kimono, Fūjin Taichi stared blankly at the ten-meter-wide Senkaimon in front of him and fell into deep thought:
Who am I?
Where am I?
What the hell am I doing here?
Around him stood more than eighty people, men and women alike, packed together in neat rows. They were all wearing the same style of Japanese kimono as he was. Their expressions were tense, yet tinged with excitement, as if they were anticipating something.
"First, let me give a brief self-introduction—"
Only then did Fūjin Taichi realize that he was standing at the very back of the group, so he hadn't noticed that there were three people at the very front, also wearing standard-issue academy uniforms—two men and one woman.
One of them, a man with black spiky hair and a '69' tattooed on his left cheek, was the one who had just spoken.
His voice was slightly hoarse, yet firm and powerful, radiating righteousness.
"I am Hisagi Shūhei, a sixth-year student!"
"I'm Ueshaku," the girl with a single ponytail on the left said next.
"I'm Sōhō," the tall and ugly guy on the right said last.
"Next, the three of us will guide you to the World of the Living for simulated soul burial training," Hisagi Shūhei said coldly.
"Ohhh—"
Various sounds erupted from the crowd—excitement, exhilaration, nervousness, anxiety, unease… and even complete confusion.
One such example was Fūjin Taichi, whose face had long since gone blank.
What?
What the hell is this nonsense??
"Now then, you will act in groups of three. Take another look at the slips of paper assigned to you and form teams with people who have the same mark!" Ueshaku shouted loudly.
Whoosh—
The previously orderly formation instantly scattered. Everyone began searching for their teammates according to the slips of paper in their hands, forming groups of three. There were men and women together, each carrying a white Asauchi strapped to their backs. Aside from differences in kimono color, they all looked similar.
Fūjin Taichi finally noticed that he had been gripping a white slip of paper the entire time. On it was written:
"38"
He muttered to himself, "Thirty-eight? Who's thirty-eight?!"
"I—I am!"
A short blonde girl raised her right hand and hurried over, bowing repeatedly at Fūjin Taichi.
"I'm Kasumioji Hoko. Please take care of me!"
"Ah—ah, okay! Hello!" Fūjin Taichi replied hastily.
Only then did he realize something strange—he had clearly spoken Chinese in his mind, but what came out of his mouth was fluent Japanese.
This puzzled him deeply, yet he couldn't figure out why.
I'm clearly named Yu Jin, a university student from Yandu of the Celestial Federation. All because I ate one crab too many at a farewell dinner, I went into an allergic shock and died…
Then what happened? I thought I'd go to heaven, but when I opened my eyes, I ended up in this weird place, surrounded by a bunch of strange samurai?!
And the only thing I can remember about myself here… is the name "Fūjin Taichi." It sounds completely Japanese…
So does that mean… I'm one of these weird samurai too?!
No… no! These uniforms look strangely familiar… I swear I've seen them somewhere before—but I just can't remember where. What do I do?!
"Finally found you two '38s'! I'm Tsunayashiro Tokio. Please take care of me!"
A deep, heavy voice rang out at just the right moment. A chubby boy squeezed through the crowd and spoke to Fūjin Taichi and Kasumioji Hoko.
"Ah—my name is Fūjin Taichi. Please take care of me as well."
Fūjin Taichi nodded, glanced at his two eccentric teammates, hesitated for a moment, then asked:
"So… what exactly are we going to do?"
"Internship, of course!" Kasumioji Hoko replied without hesitation.
"Today is the day the Special Advancement Class goes to the World of the Living to practice Konso (Soul Burial). That's why the academy arranged for sixth-year students to guide us!"
"Ah? Ah!"
Upon hearing the word 'Konso' again, Fūjin Taichi suddenly snapped awake.
So what Hisagi Shūhei said earlier was 'Konso,' not 'nonsense'…
And… isn't Hisagi Shūhei a vice-captain from Bleach?!
Which means—
I didn't just die…
I became a Shinigami.
Although calling himself a "Shinigami" still felt strange, judging by his outfit, he was clearly a student of the Shin'ō Academy of Spiritual Arts.
After six years of training—passing Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Shunpo, and Kidō—students would be assigned to the Gotei 13 or the Onmitsukidō, becoming true Shinigami.
Of course, many geniuses ignored academy rules altogether and skipped grades—such as Hitsugaya Tōshirō, Ichimaru Gin, and Shiba Kaien, among others.
"All right! Everyone's formed their teams, correct?"
Hisagi Shūhei raised his voice, cutting off the first-year students' chatter.
"Now, let me explain the contents of this internship!"
"The sixth-year students who went ahead to the World of the Living have already surrounded the designated area and deployed a protective barrier," Ueshaku explained.
"You will carry out your Konso (soul burial) training within that area, dealing with simulated Hollows," Sōhō added.
"Special reminder," Hisagi Shūhei said at last, his tone serious. "Although the sixth-years have prepared a suitable combat environment, they will not guarantee your safety during battle. Understood?!"
"Understood!!" everyone present replied in unison.
"Then—move out!!"
Hisagi Shūhei turned around, and immediately the two massive doors of the Senkaimon split apart to either side, revealing a gigantic passage flooded with white light.
Under Hisagi Shūhei's guidance, more than eighty students entered the Senkaimon in an orderly fashion, disappearing one after another into the white corridor.
"Alright, let's go too!" Kasumioji Hoko said, running toward the Senkaimon together with Tsunayashiro Tokio. But after a few steps, they realized someone hadn't followed.
"Hey, Taichi? What are you doing?" Tsunayashiro Tokio stopped and shouted toward Fūjin Taichi.
However, Fūjin Taichi stood completely still, staring at the Senkaimon, murmuring to himself:
"Something's wrong… something's not right…"
"What do you mean not right? Taichi, what's wrong?!" Kasumioji Hoko ran back and asked anxiously.
"Which class of first-years is Hisagi Shūhei leading?" Fūjin Taichi asked, having already sensed that something was off.
There was a storyline in Bleach where Hisagi Shūhei and two classmates led a group of first-year students to the World of the Living for simulated Konso training—only to be attacked by a giant Hollow modified by Aizen Sōsuke, one capable of concealing its spiritual pressure.
If Fūjin Taichi remembered correctly, only a handful of that training group survived in the end—namely Hisagi Shūhei, Abarai Renji, Kira Izuru, and Hinamori Momo…
In other words, over eighty first-year students, along with nearly one hundred Shinigami including the sixth-years patrolling the World of the Living, were almost completely wiped out during a single training exercise!!!
Gulp.
By the time Fūjin Taichi fully grasped the danger of his situation, he had already been dragged into the Senkaimon by Kasumioji Hoko and Tsunayashiro Tokio working together.
Then came a sharp snap—and the passage vanished from sight...