Makoto-Nii first walked to the wooden rack and picked out a handy wooden sword.
Then, imitating Hisagi Shuuhei, he bowed to Madarame Ikkaku.
He lunged forward with a swift step, delivering a horizontal slash. Madarame Ikkaku, who had been somewhat unenthusiastic, noticed with a sharp glance that this examinee was not simple, so he shed his lazy expression and treated the situation with seriousness.
He immediately held his sword horizontally, parrying Makoto-Nii's powerful blow.
Then, adjusting his breathing, he gripped his sword with both hands and excitedly charged towards Makoto-Nii.
Madarame Ikkaku instantly transformed from defender to attacker.
"Who's testing whom here, anyway?"
Watching Madarame Ikkaku, who was completely absorbed in their struggle, Makoto-Nii looked helpless and could only grumble inwardly.
That being said, he himself actually enjoyed fighting Madarame Ikkaku. After all, though his main body had been using a Zanpakuto for some time, it had only been for slaying Hollows in the Great Hollow Forest.
The only Zanjutsu master he had ever fought was Ito Kai, who had become a lingering obsession.
Now, to be able to fight Madarame Ikkaku, it could be said that they were evenly matched, meeting a worthy opponent.
"His Zanjutsu is absolutely not inferior to Ito Kai's!"
The more Makoto-Nii fought, the more startled he became. Madarame Ikkaku truly deserved his place as the Third Seat of the Eleventh Division, on par with Ito Kai. His Zanjutsu was absolutely not inferior to Ito Kai's, and perhaps even surpassed it.
Makoto-Nii's foundation in Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Kido, and Shunpo all came from Ito Kai's memories. He was still not as good as Ito Kai, let alone Madarame Ikkaku before him.
At this point, Makoto-Nii was gradually falling into a disadvantage, and since this was just an entrance examination, he also needed to appropriately conceal his strength. Therefore, he seized an opportunity, feigned a weakness, and deliberately loosened his grip on the sword.
"Clatter!"
Makoto-Nii's wooden sword was cut in half.
It was then that Madarame Ikkaku finally came to his senses, staring intently at Makoto-Nii for a long time, as if they were old friends who hadn't seen each other in years!
"Good kid, your name is Ito Makoto, right! You actually have the same surname as that man! Your fighting style is also very similar to his!
If I didn't know he had no family, I'd suspect you were his son. You absolutely must come to the Eleventh Division after you graduate!"
Madarame Ikkaku said with a laugh, clearly he hadn't been this excited in a long time. The last time he was this happy was when he was sparring with his own Captain.
"With pleasure!"
Through this battle, Makoto-Nii also witnessed Madarame Ikkaku's strength. He naturally yearned for the Eleventh Division, the legendary combat-crazed division, not to mention that the Eleventh Division also had the even stronger Zaraki Kenpachi.
After some consideration, Makoto-Nii believed that joining the Eleventh Division after graduation and experiencing countless blood battles was the fastest way to improve his strength.
Hearing Makoto-Nii accept his invitation to join the Eleventh Division, Madarame Ikkaku immediately burst into hearty laughter, completely carried away.
"Uh... Examiner, you haven't given me a score for my Zanjutsu!"
Makoto-Nii sighed helplessly.
Madarame Ikkaku then slapped his bald head and picked up the pen to write on the assessment sheet.
"Ito Makoto, Zanjutsu 100 points!"
Afterward, Makoto-Nii bid farewell to Ikkaku and proceeded to the next assessment.
He immediately went to the third room at the fastest speed. This room was very small, only a few square meters. Therefore, examinees could only enter one by one.
Makoto-Nii also waited for a while before walking in.
"Condense your spiritual pressure into your palm and try to materialize it!"
A hunched old man with white hair and wrinkled skin, dressed in a soul reaper uniform, slowly emerged from behind a curtain at the back of the room.
Makoto-Nii complied, casually circulating a wisp of spiritual pressure into his palm, and immediately, a dark golden spiritual pressure glowed brightly in his hand.
Seeing this, the hunched old man nodded slightly and said:
"Not bad, not bad, truly a genius with Five-Tier Spiritual Power!"
Then, with a flourish of his large brush, he wrote on the assessment sheet:
"Ito Makoto, Kido 90 points!"
Clearly, failing to achieve a perfect score in Kido was intentional on Makoto-Nii's part. If he were overly excellent in all aspects, he would inevitably attract Aizen's attention, and at this time, it was better for him to remain low-key.
After all, this method of compressing spiritual pressure was merely the most basic step in releasing Kido; almost anyone who could release Kido could easily do this.
And now, with the combination of Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Kido, and Shunpo, Makoto-Nii had completed the Zanjutsu, Hakuda, and Kido assessments, leaving only Shunpo.
So, Makoto-Nii went directly to the fourth room. The so-called Shunpo assessment was to test a Shinigami's movement techniques, and the classic among them was naturally the Shinigami's common footwork, Shunpo.
However, for examinees who had not yet entered the Spiritual Arts Academy, most of them had never learned Shunpo, so this final hurdle would not be set too difficult.
Makoto-Nii stepped into the last room. Looking around, the final room was filled with wooden dummies, and these dummies were arranged in a slightly strange position, with each dummy continuously swinging its arms to block the path ahead.
In the room today was a capable short-haired woman dressed in a soul reaper uniform; she was clearly the examiner for this final stage.
"Pass through the puppet array within five minutes and reach me to pass!"
The short-haired female Shinigami looked at Makoto-Nii and slowly spoke. Makoto-Nii wasted no words; with a series of dodges and maneuvers, he emerged from the puppet array in less than ten seconds.
This was still because Makoto-Nii was hiding his strength and not using Shunpo. If he wanted to use Shunpo, he could probably pass in an instant.
Watching the final female examiner give him a high score of 95, Makoto-Nii smiled calmly:
"Indeed, the Spiritual Arts Academy's assessment is nothing but child's play for me now!"
That afternoon, all students who had completed the first stage of the assessment stood uniformly outside the Spiritual Arts Academy, arranged into several square formations.
Before long, Yano Masahiko, wrapped entirely in a white robe, suddenly appeared on the high platform in front and spoke loudly:
"Fellow students, welcome to the Spiritual Arts Academy! I hope all of you will achieve much in the coming years, ultimately join the Gotei 13, serve Seireitei, and fight for the Soul Society!"
Upon hearing this, the field immediately erupted in cheers.
In the field, Tsukada Shinji, with green hair, stared incredulously at his report card, which showed only Zanjutsu at 60 points and the other three subjects at 20 points, trembling with excitement as he said:
"I'm not dreaming, am I? I can pass with this?!"
At this moment, Yano Masahiko's voice softly drifted again:
"Starting from this assessment, the system has been reformed. When you pass the first stage, the spiritual pressure assessment, you are already considered admitted to the Spiritual Arts Academy. The subsequent Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Kido, and Shunpo are merely to facilitate class assignments. As long as your character is not problematic and you do not withdraw from subsequent assessments, you will all be considered to have passed!"
...
After the examination, the current batch of students needed to wait half a month until the start of the term for formal enrollment. Students could choose to return home or reside in the Spiritual Arts Academy's dormitories.
"Makoto-Nii, I've already tidied your dormitory for you. It's a single room that I specially applied for you. If you have any further needs, just contact me directly, I, Oda You, am at your beck and call!"
Oda You followed Makoto-Nii with a fawning expression, looking like a puppy wagging its tail, desperately trying to please its master.
"Oda-kun..."
"Makoto-Nii, yes?"
"I still prefer your previous untamed look. Please revert to it."