T/N: Third chapter for today!)
One day later, Katori Nanatsuki had completely purified the Hollow Poison from the expeditionary Shinigami.
Outside the camp, Asido and the expeditionary Shinigami stood before the seven from the Shin'o Spiritual Arts Academy, with Saitō Akane standing beside Nanatsuki.
They had completed their respective missions and were now preparing to return to the Soul Society.
Asido handed Nanatsuki some items.
"Katori-sensei, these are some of the spoils we collected in the past. All of them were left behind by Adjuchas-class Menos Grande."
Nanatsuki had previously expressed interest in bringing back a few mementos from the Forest of Menos, so Asido had prepared them for him.
Whenever the expedition team hunted down powerful Hollows, they'd keep certain remnants as trophies.
The items Asido brought were all remains from Adjuchas-class Menos Grande.
Nanatsuki took a glance—there was quite a lot.
Horns shaped like those of rams, bony Hollow masks, bones, and even pelts resembling animal hides.
"Thanks. These are all excellent collector's items." Nanatsuki accepted the gift.
Of course, he didn't want them just for collection purposes. He intended to study Hollows. Adjuchas-class Hollows were incredibly rare in both the Soul Society and the World of the Living—they were practically a Forest of Menos specialty.
"Take care on your return trip, Katori-sensei. When I get back, I'll make sure to visit and thank you properly." Asido was deeply grateful—if not for Katori Nanatsuki's help, the expedition might not have survived.
"Alright. We'll be heading off now. Captain Asido, please continue to be cautious in the Forest of Menos." Nanatsuki nodded in return.
The Hollow World expeditionary team would remain. The incident had already been reported to the Soul Society, which placed great importance on it. They had decided to dispatch researchers to assist the expedition team in upgrading the Reishi defensive barrier, enabling the camp to better withstand Hollow intrusions at all times.
Just as Nanatsuki was about to step through the Senkaimon, he noticed Asido raise his hand.
The Shinigami of the expedition team all bowed deeply toward him in unison.
"Katori-sensei, thank you for your help!"
The voices of the Shinigami echoed like crashing waves throughout the Forest of Menos.
Smiling, Nanatsuki waved back and stepped through the gate.
Their return to the Soul Society was uneventful—no turbulence from Reishi streams. They arrived safely.
"Phew—guess the Garganta isn't always that dangerous," Muguruma Kensei exhaled in relief after the safe landing.
Saitō Akane explained,
"Reishi turbulence does occur in the Garganta, but the kind we experienced before was unusually strong. It's actually pretty rare."
"It's understandable for a first-timer to slip up in such chaotic turbulence. You just need more practice."
"Once you get used to the environment there, you'll be able to judge the turbulence's intensity and respond appropriately."
Saitō Akane didn't fault them for being affected. They had already proven their strength in the Forest of Menos.
She gave all six of them excellent marks.
Nanatsuki did the same, passing all six in the assessment.
He glanced at the Status Interface. Feedback rewards for the disciples' evaluations had arrived:
[Disciple Azashiro Kana has completed her graduation assessment with an Excellent rating. Reward Settled.]
[Gained 30,000 points of General Ability EXP]
[Random Skill Mastery +1]
All four of his disciples had received Excellent marks, netting Nanatsuki a total of 120,000 General Ability EXP and 4 random skill mastery upgrades.
The skills that leveled up were two Kidō spells: "Black Coffin" and "Ittō Kasō", both upgraded to the Mastery level.
Once high-tier Kidō reached Mastery, they could be cast using Chant Abandonment.
Nanatsuki also noticed that rewards for early graduation assessments were 10,000 EXP higher than those for standard internship assessments.
With Reiatsu now at level 90, the next level required 500,000 EXP to reach.
Nanatsuki decided not to upgrade his Reiatsu further for now. Instead, he invested all the General Ability EXP into his Kidō skill tree.
He had two passive trait entries which would automatically upgrade if Kidō reached a high enough level:
Chant Abandonment (Basic): When casting Kidō, allows omission of verbal incantation for low-tier Kidō (Hadō and Bakudō #1–30).
Omitted chants reduce spell power.
Can only be used when the Kidō skill is at Proficiency level or above.
(When Kidō reaches Level 80, this trait will upgrade to Intermediate.)
Upon reaching Level 70 in Kidō, a new prompt appeared beneath the Chant Abandonment (Basic) trait, indicating that continued leveling would unlock the next stage.
The Post-Chanting (Basic) trait worked the same way.
So Nanatsuki pushed his Kidō level from 70 to 77 using all available EXP.
After dealing with the assessment feedback, the group returned to the 3rd Division.
In the courtyard, they saw Iba Chikane, Vice-Captain of the 3rd Division.
"Vice-Captain Iba, our mission is complete," Saitō Akane reported.
"You all worked hard. Who would've thought a simple supply transport mission would turn into such a mess? If Katori-sensei hadn't been there, I can't imagine the outcome!" Iba Chikane sighed in admiration.
The Soul Society had already received word of the incident through cross-dimensional communication. Iba was fully aware of the unexpected crisis.
The report from the expeditionary force shook the Seireitei, prompting the Gotei 13 to dispatch researchers to help reinforce the camp's Reishi shielding—to prevent camouflaged Hollows from sneaking in again.
At the same time, the incident brought Katori Nanatsuki's Captain-class strength to the attention of other Captains and Vice-Captains.
Iba, as the logistics overseer for this mission, naturally knew the full story.
He smiled and added,
"I heard that Captain-Commander Yamamoto is already discussing with the other Captains about appointing Katori-sensei as a Captain!"
Nanatsuki scratched his cheek awkwardly. This unexpected incident had revealed his Captain-level strength—earlier than he had planned.
After all, Hikifune Kirio had yet to be promoted to the Royal Guard. If Nanatsuki became a Captain now, he wouldn't be placed in the 12th Division.
And if he took a Captain post in a different division, switching to another squad later would be difficult.
Captains couldn't transfer divisions without exceptional reasons—and convincing others would take solid justification.
If that happened, he wouldn't be able to inherit the laboratory left behind in the 12th Division by Hikifune Kirio and Shutara Senjumaru.
Looks like he'll have to find a way to negotiate with Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto—and stall the Captain appointment for a while.