"I am Yano Masahiko, entrusted by Central 46 to preside over this Spiritual Arts Academy entrance examination.
I now declare that the first stage of the entrance examination, the Spirit Pressure Test, officially begins!"
The man, enveloped in a white robe, spoke immediately after seeing all the equipment on the platform debugged.
As soon as he finished speaking, the sixteen Shinigami in soul reaper uniform, who were supervising the examination, immediately surrounded the four instruments from four directions, preventing anyone from cheating.
"Hasegawa Masami, Spirit Power Level 13, failed!"
"Mori Satsuki, Spirit Power Level 17, failed!"
"Inagaki Masaki, Spirit Power Level 11, failed!"
"Suzuki Keigo, Spirit Power Level 10, failed!"
...
A string of failures right from the start instantly made the atmosphere in the venue even more tense!
"It's so hard! Level 9 Spirit Power is so difficult to achieve! Damn it, to get a recommendation spot for the entrance selection this time, I borrowed high-interest loans from those bastards in District 79. If I fail this time, my family will be ruined!"
A thin man with green hair, standing in front of Ito Makoto, clutched his head and muttered softly to himself.
"Kaga Yoshio, Level 9 Spirit Power, passed!"
Just then, a different voice finally rang out, easing the tense atmosphere in the venue.
"I passed! I passed!"
The young man named Kaga Yoshio couldn't help but shout out in excitement after seeing he passed the Spirit Pressure Test!
The supervising officer on the side looked at the overly excited Kaga Yoshio with a speechless expression:
"You only passed the first stage. Hurry and proceed to the second stage of the examination!"
It wasn't until he was reminded by the supervising officer that he remembered he hadn't completed the examination, and he immediately made his way to the next examination area with an embarrassed look.
"Matsumoto Rangiku, Level 7 Spirit Power, passed!"
"To think it's Level 7 Spirit Power! Even the elite Squad Members in the Divisions are probably not this good. This young girl's Spirit Pressure is actually so formidable!"
The rules stated that achieving Level 9 Spirit Power or above was considered passing the examination, but most people who passed previous examinations barely reached Level 9 Spirit Power, and even Level 8 Spirit Power was rare. Now, to have a Level 7 Spirit Power suddenly appear, how could it not surprise people?
Whispers started up again, and the surrounding examinees looked at Matsumoto Rangiku in front, their gazes filled with envy and jealousy. Of course, more male examinees were infatuated with her.
Ronan, who had been bored, heard the sound from the venue and raised his head in surprise, seeing a golden-haired, wavy-haired girl of about fourteen or fifteen years old, with a charming face, being examined at the very front of the line. Though young, she possessed an undeniable allure, and a faint mole at the corner of her mouth added three points of charm.
And without a doubt, the most eye-catching features on her entire body were those two large...
Ito Makoto's eyes seemed to be under some magical spell, fixed on those two things, unable to look away.
Oda You, who was originally leading the team, saw this scene and a bitter smile appeared on his lips. He had worked diligently in the Soul Society for so many years, and now he was only Level 8 Spirit Power. Now, a young girl directly had Level 7 Spirit Power, how could he bear it!
Watching the mature-for-her-age Matsumoto Rangiku walk towards the next examination area, Ito Makoto rested his chin on his hand with interest:
"At this point in time, Matsumoto Rangiku should have already had the Spirit King's fingernail taken from her body by Aizen. Even with that, she still has Level 7 Spirit Power. If she were in her complete state, what level of Spirit Power would she be?"
"Shimazu Hyouya, Level 11 Spirit Power, failed!"
"Makino Kazuki, Level 9 Spirit Power, passed!"
"Kubo Touya, Level 20 Spirit Power, failed!"
"Nagasawa Masami, Level 9 Spirit Power, passed!"
"Hoshimiya Ichika, Level 10 Spirit Power, failed!"
The examination was still ongoing when Ito Makoto suddenly heard another familiar name.
"Hisagi Shuuhei, Level 7 Spirit Power, passed!"
"Hmm, I didn't expect him to be in the same class as me. Interesting!"
Ronan looked up and saw a thin young boy, about twelve or thirteen years old, calmly looking at the Spirit Pressure measuring device. His eyes were very firm, and the numbers "69" were tattooed on his left cheek, with the skin around the tattoo still a bit red and swollen, clearly indicating it had just been done recently.
"Two Level 7 Spirit Powers!"
The remaining examinees suddenly erupted. The consecutive appearance of two extraordinary applicants ignited the emotions in the examination hall, as if they themselves had measured Level 7 Spirit Pressure!
Even the examiners were a little surprised now, and then burst into hearty laughter.
"Not bad, not bad! This batch of examinees truly has many talents!"
Yano Masahiko's hearty laughter echoed throughout the examination hall. Then, prompted by a Vice-Examiner on the side, he realized his impropriety, cleared his throat, stopped the noise, and continued the examination!
After a long while, it was finally Ito Makoto's turn.
"Tsukada Shinji, Level 9 Spirit Power, passed!"
"I passed! I passed!"
An excited, somewhat trembling voice rang out, belonging to the green-haired man who had been muttering in front of Ito Makoto.
"No shouting! Hurry and proceed to the second stage of the examination!"
The supervising officer waved his hand helplessly, shooing him away.
"Is it finally my turn?"
Even with San Hana-bāba's letter of recommendation, Ito Makoto had waited for so long. He somewhat doubted whether those people queuing outside the gate would be able to finish the examination today.
He took a deep breath, walked to the Spirit Pressure Test device, took another deep breath, and gripped the handle.
Immediately, a dazzling golden light began to flash within the examination hall, and it was only after more than ten seconds that this radiance gradually dispersed.
"This… this is, Level 5 Spirit Power!!!"
The supervising officer responsible for announcing the results by the test device was directly speechless, stunned for a good while before slowly speaking:
"Ito Makoto, Level 5 Spirit Power, passed!!!"
Upon hearing the supervising officer's words, the venue immediately erupted in an uproar!
"What's going on? Is this Spirit Pressure Test device broken?!"
Those who had previously been eliminated because their Spirit Power did not reach Level 9 began to jeer, especially the one named Kubo, who had Level 20 Spirit Power, shouting the loudest!
"Silence!"
Yano Masahiko on the stage raised his Spirit Pressure, and an invisible pressure immediately swept towards the examinees in the examination hall. Some examinees found their breathing difficult due to this Spirit Pressure, especially those students whose Spirit Power was below Level 9.
In contrast, the one named Kubo with Level 20 Spirit Pressure was so intimidated by this Spirit Pressure that he lay on the ground, gasping for air.
However, Ito Makoto felt that this Spirit Pressure was nothing special, and he walked leisurely towards the next examination location as if nothing had happened.
But one couldn't blame these examinees for their strong reactions. After all, Ichimaru Gin, who was called a child prodigy more than ten years ago and is now the Third Seat of the Fifth Division, was only Level 6 Spirit Power during his entrance examination.
The Soul Society's classification of Spirit Power is very simple.
Below Level 9 is considered weak Spirit Pressure or no Spirit Pressure.
Level 9 Spirit Power is generally the standard for Shinigami cadets who have not yet graduated. The normal standard for ordinary Squad Members is Level 8 Spirit Power, and Level 7 Spirit Power is for elite Squad Members.
Level 6 Spirit Power is the standard for Seat Officers.
Level 4 and Level 5 Spirit Power are Vice-Captain level, although most active Vice-Captains are Level 4 Spirit Power. Even if one cannot become a Vice-Captain with Level 5 Spirit Power, they would at least be a high-ranking Seat Officer!
This is why Ito Makoto detecting Level 5 Spirit Power caused such a sensation.
As for Spirit Power of Level 3 and above, there is a collective term: Squad Captain!
Oda You, who had initially been dismissive of Ito Makoto and the others, chuckled and said to the other Gotei 13 who had led teams in:
"Hahaha, see? I just said he would definitely pass the examination…"