In the soul society, battles between shinigami could sometimes end in a flash.

When the difference in power between the two was too great, it wasn't just a question of stronger and weaker anymore, but the difference between prey and predator.

The Reiatsu, or spiritual pressure, was without a doubt one of the most versatile weapon a shinigami had.

Firstly, no two Reiatsu were the same. Not even twins had the same Reiatsu. Secondly, someone with a powerful Reiatsu could completely crush someone with a weaker one without even having to use their weapons.

If the difference was too high, the one with the weaker Reiatsu could collapse, faint, or even die depending on how much power was used.

Jidanbo Ikkanzaka was a rather powerful shinigami who worked as the gatekeeper of the west gate for more than 300 years.

Even though he was lacking in skill, in terms of pure power, aside from some freak such as the members of the 11th division, he wouldn't lose to any fourth or third seat.

For such a man, if he went all out using his Reiatsu, not even one of those souls would be able to pass through this test.

Everyone knew this.

Thankfully, not only Jidanbo was a kind fellow, but the goal of the test wasn't to make everyone fail.

After a few hours, out of the ten thousand people who had wished to enter the academy, only a pitiful thousand passed. Even then, the instructor knew that Jidanbo had lowered the pressure to allow some more to pass, but he didn't fault him.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

After all, he had also been from Rukongai. As such, while outright cheating was impossible, he didn't mind closing one eye before this kind of behavior.

After verifying the time, he clapped and regrettably announced the end of the preliminaries. Thankfully, there were no limits to the number of times one could retake.

'Even the little Hisagi took the test twice before succeeding. Now though he is renowned as one of the best 6th-year students.'

For souls such as them, what they lacked the least was time.

----

"Now then, most of you guys can already more or less be considered as students of the academy. But the reality is that not all students are equal. This is where the second test comes in."

The instructor began to speak as a few shinigami wearing cloaks that hid all their features appeared one after another.

"Those sirs are the members of the Kido Corps. What they are holding are measure devices that will give an accurate reading of your Reiryoku. You just have to touch the crystal ball and pour your Reiryoku in it."

Of course, this wasn't all. This test hides a little trap. Having a certain level of energy was necessary, but it was also necessary to have some control over it.

Those who weren't able to pour their energy in the ball wouldn't be measured and such not considered as students.

This test was made especially for students who had great skills but lacked power. After all, not all shinigami's were front-line fighters.

In the past, the test was even more strident, since it also had a physical part, but after the war against Quincy about 150 years ago, the number of shinigami's had severely dwindled, and entering the academy became way easier.

"Fail."

"Fail."

"Fail"

"Class two."

"Fail."

'As I thought, even though the requirements were lowered, the number of fails is still quite high. I don't even think there will be class one."

"Cl-class one."

The instructor was surprised at this and turned toward the stand where the one who was assigned to class one was.

"Oh! Toshiro passed! I am happy!"

Raising his head, he asked, "Jidanbo, you know him?"

"Yes! Toshiro is a good boy. Toshiro is my friend."

"Heh, Interesting."

The instructor noted down this boy in his mind. Generally, class one was filled with members of the aristocracy. Very few souls from the Rukongai could enter it, and all those that did were without a doubt genius.

'His silver hair makes me think of Gin Ichimaru. That lad was really something else.'

He didn't even have time to think about how that scary bastard breezed through a 6 years curriculum in just one year when he was once again stunned.

"Class one!"

'Again?'

He nearly shouted and was even more surprised when he saw that this time it was a handsome silver-haired man wearing bandages over his eyes.

His first thought was, 'Ïs he blind?'

His second thought as he passed through his hand through his hair was, 'Does having silver hair help in becoming a genius?'

He seriously wondered if he was born with the wrong hair color.

---