"Kyoya, are you certain about your decision to skip a grade and advance to the second grade?"
In the faculty office of the Shin'o Academy, the head instructor looked over the grade-skipping application in his hands and addressed Kyoya seriously.
"Yes, sensei."
"I've made up my mind."
Kyoya nodded firmly.
"As for the Zanjutsu taught by the first-grade instructors, I believe I've already mastered it to a sufficient degree."
"As for Hakuda… perhaps I'll delve into it in the future, but for now, I don't wish to divide my focus."
The curriculum for first-grade students at Shin'o Academy consisted solely of Zanjutsu and Hakuda.
Perhaps, if future achievement rewards granted him techniques like the Rokushiki, Fishman Karate, or the combat styles of Garp or Zephyr, Kyoya might consider allocating some of his training time to physical combat.
But for now, his priority was to graduate from Shin'o Academy as quickly as possible, accumulate enough achievements, and grow stronger.
Judging by the current timeline, while the Seireitei appeared peaceful on the surface, turbulent undercurrents were already beginning to stir.
Aizen had obtained the fragment of the Soul King's Nails from Rangiku's soul, and by now, he had likely completed the creation of the Hogyoku.
So, what followed would be Aizen's Hollowfication experiments on Shinigami.
Within the next few decades, the Seireitei would face a major upheaval.
After the Captain of the 12th Division, Hikifune Kiryu, is promoted to the Zero Division, Aizen would gain intel on the Soul King Palace and grow even bolder in his actions.
By then, the Seireitei would lose six Captains… those of the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, and 12th Divisions.
Kyoya wanted to attain the strength necessary to compete for a Captain's position during this upheaval.
If his assumptions were correct, the Captains of the Gotei 13, when translated into the One Piece World, would undoubtedly be on par with the Marine's Admirals.
If Kyoya could become a Captain of the Gotei 13, the One Piece Achievement System would undoubtedly recognize it as attaining the rank of Marine's Admiral.
Given that the Marine's Admirals were the pinnacle of combat strength in the One Piece World, this would at least qualify as a gold-tier achievement.
At that point, Kyoya's power would receive a massive boost.
If he missed this golden opportunity, even if he later reached Captain-level strength, the difficulty of actually securing a Captain's position would increase exponentially.
The next chance might not come until after the Thousand-Year Blood War… but by then, Kyoya would be facing Yhwach, an enemy far more dangerous than Aizen.
Without sufficient achievements and rewards, even surviving that war would be a challenge, let alone securing a Captain's position afterward.
For this reason, Kyoya wanted to rack up as many achievements as possible, earn more rewards, and rapidly increase his strength.
Graduating early from Shin'o Academy and climbing the ranks within the Gotei 13… these were all things Kyoya believed would be recognized as achievements by the system.
Moreover, the higher his position within the Gotei, the higher the tier of the achievements he unlocked, which would naturally yield better rewards.
Even if the rewards were just training experience, they would multiply Kyoya's growth rate several times over.
At the lowest white tier, Kyoya could gain anywhere from one month to a year's worth of training results.
Then how much will the rewards for higher-level achievements be?
Three years? Five? Or even ten?
Even if all his future achievement rewards were just training experience, the sheer accumulation of time would allow Kyoya to become, at the very least, a great swordsman on par with a Lieutenant-level Shinigami.
"Very well."
"Since you've made your decision, I'll approve your application."
"Starting tomorrow, you'll be assigned to Class 2-A."
The head instructor stamped Kyoya's application and handed it back to him.
"However, the second-grade students have already been studying Shunpo for three months. If you wish to learn it, you'll have to request separate instruction from the teacher."
"Understood. Thank you, Head Instructor."
Kyoya accepted the application with both hands and bowed slightly.
After leaving the faculty office, Kyoya didn't hesitate… he headed straight for the second-grade training grounds.
As for the first-grade class, he trusted the head instructor would inform the swordsmanship teacher.
In any case, aside from Rangiku, Kyoya hadn't formed any strong connections with his other classmates in Class 1-A.
To Kyoya, those who failed to leave an impression on him were likely destined to remain insignificant in the grand scheme of things.
After all, if someone couldn't stand out across 400-plus episodes of Bleach, how remarkable could they possibly be?
Well, that wasn't entirely true.
Among his peers, there was one other person Kyoya remembered… aside from Matsumoto Rangiku.
The problem was, that person was male, and Kyoya had little interaction with him.
Confident that he would eventually surpass him, Kyoya saw no need to waste time forging unnecessary bonds.
If you bloom, the butterflies will come.
As for Rangiku...
All Kyoya needed to do was ensure that Gin survived Aizen's machinations in the end.
That would be the greatest repayment he could offer her.
Just as Kyoya expected, skipping from first to second grade didn't trigger any achievements.
Evidently, the One Piece Achievement System considered all students at Shin'o Academy, whether first-grades or sixth-grades, as nothing more than 'Marine recruits-in-training'.
This only strengthened Kyoya's resolve to graduate ahead of schedule.
With the aid of Observation Haki, Kyoya's Shunpo training progressed smoothly.
And then, when the three-month assessment arrived, he submitted yet another grade-skipping application.
'Hiss…'
'If I recall correctly, the last student to advance this quickly was that silver-haired boy from last year… Gin Ichimaru!'
As he reviewed the application, the head instructor couldn't help but recall the image of that pale-haired prodigy, slowly superimposing it with Kyoya's own.
Both were equally young, equally dazzling.
When Gin graduated last year, the head instructor had remarked that a genius like him came only once in a century.
Yet here he was, barely a year later, faced with another once-in-a-generation talent.
Of course, their brilliance manifested differently.
Gin was an all-around genius… whether it was Reiatsu, Shunpo, Hakuda, Kido, or Zanjutsu, he excelled in every field.
Kyoya, on the other hand, was a different kind of prodigy.
In terms of Reiatsu and Shunpo, he still lagged noticeably behind Gin.
However, his mastery of Zanjutsu was enough to bridge that gap entirely.
At its core, the Gotei 13 was a military force… one that upheld the Soul Society's rule through sheer, unrelenting power.