[B-rank item: Tenshintai (single-use)]
[Effect: By injecting spiritual pressure into the Tenshintai, the true form of the Zanpakutō can be forcibly drawn out and materialized, helping the user to communicate with the Zanpakutō. If the true form is defeated, the user can master Bankai. Automatically destroyed after one use.]
[Note: Can be gifted, cannot be upgraded]
[Exchange condition: 998 destiny points]
Arata clicked his tongue; "single-use" immediately caught his eye.
You're selling this to me for 998, and I can only use it once?
Disgusting, absolutely disgusting!
But he had to buy it. If he didn't quickly resolve the issue with his Zanpakutō, who knows how long he'd have to endure the silent treatment.
Three months remained until the graduation exam. Even though Arata wasn't at all worried about his own results, without a usable Zanpakutō, you couldn't enter the Gotei 13, right?
Buy it, buy it. We work hard in life to earn — isn't it exactly so we can reward ourselves when the paycheck comes?
Arata gritted his teeth and pressed the exchange button.
[Item successfully exchanged, 998 destiny points spent.]
[Host's destiny value: 330/1829]
[Host, please continue working diligently, keep completing destiny missions and gathering more destiny points.]
Ever since the upgrade, his destiny system had become more humanlike, it even knew how to remind the host to keep earning after spending.
Arata laughed self-mockingly. Even though he had come to this world, he hadn't escaped the fate of a pack mule, it's just that now the employer was the system.
As long as there's money, the Spirit King crushes all.
Remembering that, Arata also recalled the "Heart of the Spirit King" he had seen earlier in the shop.
Although the system labeled it as a defective product, its effectiveness hadn't weakened at all.
Unfortunately, the price of 8848 destiny points was currently astronomical for Arata.
Forget that, first find a secluded place to study how to use this Tenshintai, everything else can wait.
However, just as he was about to leave, he heard the sound of running from the end of the hallway.
As they got closer, he saw familiar faces, the trio Hisagi Shūhei, Aoba, and Kanisawa and all three looked extremely distressed.
"Arata… something bad happened!"
"Something huge! This is really serious!"
Hisagi and Aoba leaned against the wall, breathing heavily as if they had just finished a marathon; sweat dripped from their foreheads.
Only Kanisawa looked slightly better, but even his face was darkened.
"No, why do you look so awful? Did you encounter danger?" Arata quickly found a few bottles of water in the Kendo Club room and handed them over.
The two grown men gulped down the water. Kanisawa took a short sip to collect himself, then approached Arata and delivered the news in a flat, almost numb voice.
"Arata, this year's graduation exam is going to be reformed…"
Arata scratched his head, not thinking it a big deal. "Reformed, so what? At worst, they'll add a few more mid-level Hadō tests or Kendo duels, right?"
As far as he remembered, the graduation exam standards hadn't been set in stone since the founding of the Shinō Spiritual Arts Academy; they were reasonably adjusted depending on the quality of the current student generation.
For example, more than a hundred years ago, to train more students skilled in Kidō and fill the staffing shortage in the Kidō Corps, the dean at the time ordered the difficulty of the Kidō section to be increased.
Because of that, the pass rate that year dropped by a full 10% compared to the previous one.
But everyone who graduated that year became elites in the field of Kidō.
According to Academy records, that class included the graduation of former 2nd Division Captain Shihōin Yoruichi and 12th Division Captain Urahara Kisuke.
"No, this time it's different." Hisagi had finally caught his breath and shook his pale head. "Central 46 has issued an order: this year's graduation assessment includes comprehensive real combat, and…"
"And what?" Arata furrowed his brows. Hisagi's words stirred a bad premonition.
"And all of us sixth-years will be recruited into the expeditionary forces for Hueco Mundo, to participate in the century-long expedition!" Aoba's voice trembled. "This is basically sending us to die!"
Arata's pupils suddenly shrank, and the water bottle fell from his hand with a "thud."
"What did you say?!"
This sudden news struck his head like thunder.
He wasn't stupid and immediately realized that this wasn't an ordinary exam reform, because something so shocking hadn't happened in the original work, nor in the history of the Soul Society.
Arata suppressed his shock and asked the trio: "When did this happen?"
"Just now!" Hisagi wiped sweat from his forehead. "Vice Dean Shibato urgently gathered all the Academy instructors, and the 1st Division's Lieutenant, Sasakibe Chōjirō, came from Seireitei to deliver the work arrangements!"
Arata's mind was racing.
The status of the Shinō Academy was low, and the speed of receiving information was actually the slowest, at least in the current Soul Society.
Since Sasakibe Chōjirō had time to come to the Academy for a meeting, that meant the captain-level meeting in the 1st Division had already concluded, and old man Yamamoto was likely forced to accept Central 46's order.
Soon, Arata saw through to the heart of the problem.
The change in the graduation assessment was an unexpected misfortune for Hisagi, Kanisawa, Aoba, and all other sixth-years.
In reality, this order from Central 46 or rather, Aizen Sōsuke's decision, from beginning to end was aimed solely at Arata.
It was likely that the very moment he measured his strength during the Kendo class in training, Aizen had already begun planning how to conduct the next trial.
Clearly, to further test his strength, Aizen pushed this graduation exam reform through Central 46, turning it from an ordinary academic test into a battle game in Hueco Mundo.
And a game where, if you're not careful, not even your whole body will remain.
What worried Arata even more: he wasn't sure how far Hueco Mundo had developed during this period, nor what Aizen had already done with the incomplete Hōgyoku. Everything was an unknown.
"Arata, what should we do?" Hisagi's slightly helpless and confused voice broke Arata's train of thought.
He took a deep breath, looked at him with a trace of sympathy and regret in his eyes, and finally spoke words of comfort.
"Don't be afraid, it's just a technical adjustment."
"Since Seireitei and Captain Yamamoto didn't reject this decision, it means they still have faith in us. Besides, the seniors in the expedition are very strong and can definitely protect us."
"Don't worry, everything will be fine."
But Arata knew very well that Gotei 13 never had the credibility to defy Central 46, and the captain's meeting had merely been old man Yamamoto's attempt to soften the matter as much as possible within the current limits.
Is it because old man Yamamoto doesn't want to refuse?
No, it's that he has no way to refuse.
———
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