Bleach: Reborn — Chapter 129 - Journey to the Seireitei

Time flew. Wayne had been in the Soul Society for three months now.

Over those three months, he fell into a steady rhythm, out late every night, back before dawn. Hunting in the forest. Foraging. Cutting down Hollows.

Three months of that, and his spiritual power had climbed to a level worth noticing. His current Reiatsu was no longer outclassed by seated Soul Reapers below the 10th Seat. At full output, he could challenge the 3rd or 4th Seat, maybe even a Lieutenant. Not that all Lieutenants were equal. Against someone like the former Lieutenant Aizen, Wayne would have no path to survival. But against an ordinary Lieutenant-level opponent, he couldn't guarantee a win, though going ten or more exchanges without collapsing? That was well within reach.

Worth keeping in mind: his spiritual power compression was no weaker than it had been during his Hollow days. Quality-wise, it already far outstripped the average Soul Reaper.

"Big Brother, Big Brother. Tomorrow's the day we take the Shin'ō Academy entrance exam. I'm so excited." Night had settled over the house. Momo lay in her futon a short distance from Wayne.

Three months of friendship, and nights like this were rare. Wayne's habit of leaving after dark and returning at first light didn't leave Momo many chances to talk with him like this before bed.

"Ah. Three months, just like that." Wayne let out a quiet sigh. Almost every single day of those three months, he'd brought wild game home. It had done wonders, Momo's and Shiro-chan's Reiatsu had grown rapidly because of it. Even Granny, who had no spiritual power at all, looked noticeably healthier thanks to his efforts. The Reiatsu-blocking clothes he'd made for Shiro-chan and Granny had done their job, too. For three solid months, Granny hadn't been touched by a single trace of Shiro-chan's leaking Reiatsu.

On another front, his lessons with Izuru Kira hadn't slipped either. When Kira came back after the first month, Wayne could feel it immediately, the unsteady, drifting footwork was gone. Kira's steps had steadied. And his sword arm no longer wavered on the swing.

Only a month had passed, but Wayne could feel how hard Kira had worked.

In the weeks that followed, beyond drilling the fundamentals, Wayne pushed Kira hard on Reiatsu control. Day after day, the repetition accumulated. Kira's swordsmanship sharpened. His grip on his Reiatsu grew tighter and more precise. Then, after over two months of practice, it finally came together, Izuru Kira had fully mastered the extended technique derived from the Shattering Slash.

Wayne gave it a name: Sword Gleam Slash. Plain and unadorned, named after exactly what the technique did.

Kira's sword gleam could only fly a little over ten meters right now. But against beginners who couldn't even keep their Reiatsu under control? Kira was already in a different class entirely.

"Three months gone in a flash. Momo, how is your Reiatsu coming along?" Wayne thought for a moment, then asked.

"It's improved a lot, you know. That's all thanks to Big Brother." From under her blanket, Momo giggled. Then she drifted into imagining the future alongside him. "Big Brother, do you think once we become Soul Reapers, we'll immediately have to deal with Hollows?"

"From what I've heard, there's still a long stretch of training after becoming a Soul Reaper," Wayne said quietly.

"And during that time, we'll run into all kinds of Hollows. That's the mission, after all — once we're Soul Reapers." Something in Wayne's voice went heavy as he said it. Maybe it was the life he'd lived before. Having been a Hollow himself, speaking those words in this life always carried a faint edge of guilt.

"I've read that when Soul Reapers slay Hollows with their Zanpakuto, it purifies the Hollows' souls. Is that true, Big Brother?" Momo asked.

"Perhaps." Wayne didn't answer directly. After all, the reason he'd gotten a second life at all was largely the Dominator of Hueco Mundo's doing. Without that gift, who could say whether he'd even be here now? "The bigger purpose of Soul Reapers slaying Hollows is to keep the souls of the Three Worlds in balance. As for the purification — I can't confirm that yet."

"Really?" Momo looked up, thinking it over. "According to the books I've read, Hollows are wicked creatures that slaughter the innocent without cause. That's why Soul Reapers have to kill them."

"Rather than wicked, I'd say it's more a difference in perspective." Wayne's tone was even, unhurried. "Among Hollows, there are those who are genuinely pure — clean as snow, untouched as a lotus. They're rare, but they exist. And their need to survive comes down to one thing: consuming Reishi to sustain themselves. That is simply their way of life. As a Rukongai resident, I can't endorse what they do. But that doesn't mean we get to dismiss how they live."

"Big Brother, you seem to know a lot about Hollows."

"That came from a chance encounter while I was out hunting. I ran into a noble who lived in the Seireitei. I traded some wild game for information. What I know about Hollows came from his account."

"Ah, so that's how it is." Momo's expression settled into understanding. "No wonder Big Brother knows so much."

"Ha. When you spend enough time wandering outside, you run into all kinds of strange people." Wayne gently steered the conversation elsewhere.

"Hee hee. I just keep getting more excited for the day we become Soul Reapers. Big Brother, do you really think we have what it takes to change things here in the Soul Society?"

"Talking about changing the Soul Society is still far too premature." Wayne chose each word carefully. "Improve yourself first. Then grow. Then worry about influencing others. Then, maybe, the world. One step at a time. Don't reach past where your feet are standing — and never lose sight of why you started."

"Don't reach past where your feet are standing. Never lose sight of why you started." Momo turned the words over slowly. Then she nodded, hard, a smile spreading across her face. "Mm. I understand, Big Brother!"

"Get some rest." Wayne smiled, warm and unhurried. "Tomorrow's the exam. We need to be sharp."

"Mm. Goodnight, Big Brother!"

"Goodnight."

After that, the room fell quiet. Only their breathing remained, slow and even in the dark.

Never lose sight of why you started... Wayne turned the words over in his own mind. Where exactly was his original intention, anyway?

The next morning, Wayne and Momo were up early. They stopped by Shiro-chan's house first to say their goodbyes to him and Granny. Today was the day to register for Shin'ō Academy, and if both of them got in, their house would be sitting empty. The fields would need someone to watch over them, and that someone was Shiro-chan.

Shiro-chan told them not to worry about it. He'd handle both plots himself.

It wasn't an empty promise. By now, both fields were running on something close to autopilot. All Shiro-chan really needed to do was check on any melons showing signs of trouble or pest damage. It was hardly any work at all.

Wayne also quietly pressed a jar of silver rings into Granny's hands. He told her not to hold back, buy what she needed, eat what she wanted, and stop being so frugal. Once he and Momo became Soul Reapers, money would be the least of their concerns. Granny tried to refuse. Wayne wouldn't hear it. She pushed back; he kept insisting. In the end, she couldn't hold out, and accepted it, quietly telling herself she'd put it away as Momo's dowry fund.

"Granny, Shiro-chan, we're off." Momo turned back one last time before they left.

"Call me Toshiro!" Shiro-chan made a face of pure disgust, then immediately added, "Work hard, Momo. And once you're at Shin'ō Academy, try not to wet the bed."

"Wh — who still wets the bed?!" Momo's face went scarlet.

"Big Brother Tsukishiro, you give it everything too. I'm already looking forward to the day you make Captain." Shiro-chan had no doubts about Tsukishiro's strength whatsoever. He didn't worry about whether Wayne could become a Soul Reaper, he'd skipped straight past that and planted his hopes on the day Wayne would make Captain.

"Shiro-chan, take care of yourself and Granny." Wayne reached over and ruffled Shiro-chan's silver hair. "We're going. Granny, Shiro-chan — take care."

Then Wayne picked up his katana with one hand, took Momo's hand with the other, and the two of them set off toward the Seireitei.

District One, Junrinan, wasn't far from the Seireitei. But the Shin'ō Academy registration was only open at the West Gate, which meant they had to take a roundabout route. Along the way, they fell in with the current, a steady stream of applicants, all wearing the same white upper robes and red-and-blue hakama.

Wayne and Momo were dressed the same. They'd received the uniform set when they first registered. Today was the first time they'd actually put it on.

The Academy had no age restrictions. If your Reiatsu cleared the threshold, you had a shot at admission.

In short: it was a school that ran entirely on spiritual power talent and demonstrated ability. So did its resources. The stronger and more gifted you were, the more you received. Simple as that.

After registration and the preliminary checks, the exam itself was broken into two tiers. The primary criteria were spiritual power talent, spiritual power control, total Reiatsu, and spiritual perception. Secondary criteria covered physical strength, reaction speed, agility, combat experience, and tactical or administrative aptitude. Through the full battery of assessments, roughly two thousand students would make the cut. Anyone who didn't would have to wait three years before applying again.

Wayne felt it the moment he stepped through the gate.

The Reishi concentration spiked, several times what it was outside. One wall separating two completely different worlds. If he could train here, Wayne was certain he could surpass his current total Reiatsu within a single month of arriving in the Soul Society, no food supplements needed.

Resources and power really aren't in the same conversation.

Wearing his blindfold, Wayne took in the Seireitei's grandeur through the semi-transparent fabric, what he could of it, anyway. Towering obelisks. Buildings crowding every direction. Streets and districts that hummed with a prosperity Rukongai couldn't touch.

The people on those streets fell into three types: Soul Reapers in Shihakushō, prospective students in white robes, and a scattered handful of merchants in ordinary clothes. The merchants, without exception, were connected to noble families or Soul Reapers. Their shop signs made it obvious, Wayne could pick out the family crests of different noble houses at a glance.

"This place is incredible." Momo stared around with wide eyes. She'd been born in the Soul Society, but she'd never actually set foot inside the Seireitei before, never seen the inner city looking like this.

"Big Brother, once we become Soul Reapers, do you think we'll get to live here?"

"I think Soul Reapers live in division barracks. What those look like, I honestly don't know." Wayne shook his head.

"That's a shame. Your eyes..." Momo's voice dipped, a quiet note of regret in it. "You can't see any of this."

"It's fine. Through Reiatsu perception, I've already got a general read on the layout. I can't make out concrete details, but the rough shape of things comes through clearly enough. The range isn't far yet, but I can already feel that a large number of souls have gathered over that way."

He gestured toward a courtyard not far ahead. A dense crowd of applicants was flowing in that direction.

"That must be where the exam is, right?" Momo looked toward it. On the right side, a large hall was surrounded by students packed together in a jostling mass. "Big Brother, let's get over there. It looks like they're handing something out."

"Yeah, let's go." Wayne nodded, letting Momo take his hand and pull him along.

"You two, here for the exam?" At the entrance to the hall, a young Soul Reaper in a Shihakushō glanced between Momo and Wayne.

"Yes. Could you tell us what they're distributing here?" Momo asked.

"That's right. Follow me, I'll get you registered and hand you your exam forms." The young man gave a brief nod and guided them to an office deeper inside the hall.

"Fill in your name, height, weight, and basic information here." Behind a wide desk, a bearded Soul Reaper slid a form in front of each of them. Momo immediately reached over and took Wayne's form.

"Fill out your own, hm?" The bearded man had started to object, mildly irritated, then stopped. He'd just noticed the blindfold wrapped across Wayne's eyes.

"Your eyes..."

"I can't see," Wayne said, perfectly calm.

"And you still want to test as a Soul Reaper?" A note of disdain crept into the bearded man's voice.

"Wasn't it said that the exam tests spiritual power and basic capability? My eyes don't work. That doesn't seem like it would disqualify me, does it?" Wayne just smiled. It wasn't the first time he'd had this conversation.

"...Huh. Weird." The bearded man scratched his head. "You're the second blind person I've seen come in wanting to be a Soul Reaper. The other one was Captain Tōsen."

"Captain Tōsen?" The name landed, and something flickered in Wayne's chest, then he pressed it back down.

"That's right. Our 9th Division Captain, Kaname Tōsen, is a blind man. But don't let that fool you. His strength is among the best in the entire Gotei 13."

"Privately ranking a Captain's strength aloud." A low voice came from directly behind the Soul Reaper. "That is deeply disrespectful."

The bearded man spun around.

Standing there, unhurried and composed, was the exact Captain he had just been discussing. Kaname Tōsen.

"Kaname Tōsen..." Beneath the blindfold, Wayne's eyes went still. He hadn't expected this. His first day in the Seireitei, and the first Captain-level figure he encountered was Kaname Tōsen, the same man he had come within a single slash of killing, years ago.

"C-Captain Tōsen!" The bearded Soul Reaper shot to his feet and bowed, words tumbling out in apology.

"Once. Don't let it happen again." Tōsen's voice was cold. He said nothing else. He simply turned and paced over to Wayne's side.

"You are also blind?"

The voice was low, deliberate. As Tōsen drew closer, Wayne looked at him through the semi-transparent blindfold. That dark skin. The wild, chaotic hair he'd once known was gone, it hung now in thick dreadlocks down his back. The Captain's haori draped across his shoulders moved without any wind to move it.

And on the right side of his neck, vivid and unmistakable, a savage scar sat exactly where Wayne had put it.

➤ Next: The Assessment — Face to Face