"Captain, I've come to report." Arata bowed and saluted.
In front of the strongest man in the Soul Society, he didn't dare be the least bit careless.
"The wine from the Shiba family is quite high quality, but I don't smell a trace of alcohol on you."
"Looks like you haven't indulged yourself over temporary achievements."
Sitting in his seat, Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni smiled faintly.
Arata was momentarily stunned, then smiled a bit awkwardly. "Captain, your eyes are truly sharp. Nothing escapes you."
He should have expected that his visit to the Shiba family banquet last night wasn't any kind of secret in the eyes of the old man.
Now that he thought about it, perhaps Shunsui and Ukitake had even been sent by the old man to observe him.
When he saw Arata speaking openly with Yamamoto, a satisfied smile appeared on Suzuki's face.
He's neither arrogant nor impatient, and he treats elders and superiors with great humility.
After a short conversation, Yamamoto brought up the first important topic of the day.
"Arata, I'll call you that for now."
"Captain, please call me however you wish."
"Do you have any plans for your future work and training in the Gotei 13?" When he reached this point, Yamamoto gently opened his eyes, and in those slightly aged eyes appeared a touch of curiosity.
Although he had already agreed to Arata's request to be registered in all divisions and to freely come and go, he hadn't assigned him specific duties and tasks like other new Shinigami.
In theory, he was currently the freest person in the Soul Society.
That was Yamamoto's concession to his superhuman talent.
However, Yamamoto also wanted Arata to integrate into the life of Seireitei as soon as possible, so he asked the question.
Arata didn't answer immediately, as it was quite a broad question.
He thought for a moment and only spoke after Yamamoto finished his cup of tea.
"Captain, my plan is as follows…"
Arata laid out his plan in detail.
The first thing was to fulfill the promise he made to Unohana Retsu and set aside two days a week to go to the 4th Division to "study Kaidō", which was essentially practicing swordsmanship with his own teacher.
For the remaining five days, one day would be set aside to go to the 11th Division to spar with Kenpachi.
From his recent trip to Hueco Mundo, Arata realized that, although he had considerable strength and a decent level of proficiency in skills like Zanjutsu, Hakuda, and Shunpo, he still relatively lacked real combat experience.
After all, while training with Unohana Retsu, they mostly exchanged moves.
Situations where life and death were on the line were too few.
Only by fighting with Kenpachi Zaraki, the greatest battle maniac in the Soul Society, could he quickly gain combat experience.
Once those two aspects were settled, he would have four days left in the week.
Arata planned to use two days to randomly visit various divisions and learn, with the specific schedule depending on which division was freer that day.
He could go to the 2nd Division to study Shunpo and infiltration techniques, or to the 8th Division to learn how to better connect with his own Zanpakutō.
Arata believed that, at least in that regard, Kyoraku Shunsui was quite experienced.
Of course, he didn't plan to tell old Yamamoto that.
The remaining two days he intended to use at his own discretion, to carry out side tasks from the system and collect destiny points.
It could be said that his schedule was practically full for the entire year.
After hearing Arata's plan, Yamamoto was very pleased.
He hadn't seen such a talented and at the same time hardworking young Shinigami in a long time.
The last group of people who had caught his eye like that were Kyoraku Shunsui and Ukitake Jushiro.
Unfortunately, one became a womanizer and loafer due to laziness, while the other was born with a weak body and most of the time could only do office work.
Neither of them could step forward and lead the others.
When he thought about that, Yamamoto felt like pounding his chest, and even briefly felt the urge to take Arata as a disciple.
In the end, he suppressed the idea and said: "Very good, young man. Since you're so eager to work hard, then do your best. If you run into any difficulties, you can come to the 1st Division and seek me out."
"Thank you, Captain." Arata replied calmly, but inwardly sighed with relief.
He had thought the other party might be displeased that he was spending so much time in the 4th Division.
But now it seemed the old man was a reasonable person.
He might have already guessed the secret behind his sword training with Unohana Retsu.
After all, Arata had reported to the higher-ups when he founded the Kendo Club, and the Shinō Spiritual Arts Academy was Yamamoto's "backyard." It wasn't hard to deduce the answer if one simply connected the before and after.
The fact that he didn't say anything out loud was probably just because he didn't want to bring the matter to the surface.
Now that the old man had said that, Arata's growth plan was essentially without obstacles.
"Alright, that's all for now. I summoned you today for one more important matter."
Yamamoto set down his teacup and looked at his adjutant beside him.
"Chōjirō."
"Yes, Captain-Commander."
Sasakibe, as Yamamoto's right-hand man who had accompanied him for a thousand years, immediately understood what he meant. He quickly took a thick stack of documents written in black ink from a wooden cabinet and handed them to Arata.
Arata took the document, and the first thing that caught his eye were ten large, clear characters:
"Major Reform of the Shinō Spiritual Arts Academy System"
Next followed several thousand words, from the founding of the Shinō Spiritual Arts Academy up to today, mentioning prominent former students, etc., then moving on to current reevaluation of the outdated teaching system and unsatisfactory teaching results.
There was a lot of text, and the sentences were quite convoluted.
Arata couldn't grasp it all immediately, so he carefully flipped through up and down, and only through the lines managed to understand the essence.
The word "reform" was written all throughout the text.
"Captain, this is…" Arata didn't dare make assumptions, so he decided to first feel out the situation.
"As you can see, I'm planning a reform of the Shinō Spiritual Arts Academy." Yamamoto Genryusai replied calmly, as if he weren't talking about reforming a massive institution, but about what to eat for lunch today.
"This…"
"You don't need to stress too much. This matter has already been approved by the Captains' Assembly. I'm only informing you of it today and would like to hear your opinion."
Arata had a bad feeling, but still replied:
"Please, go ahead."
"The reform of the Shinō Spiritual Arts Academy curriculum is necessary. To better achieve the results of that reform, I plan to bring in a new group of instructors."
Yamamoto Genryusai smiled gently, took another document from the drawer, and handed it to Arata.
"Arata, are you interested in becoming an instructor at the Shinō Spiritual Arts Academy?"
…
After leaving the 1st Division, Arata returned under the sun all the way to the Kendo Club at the academy.
The employment letter in his hand already bore the marks of countless folds.
After brewing some tea to calm himself, Arata mentally replayed the conversation he had just had with Yamamoto.
"Why me?"
"You founded the Kendo Club, and most of those who achieved the best results on this graduation exam are your members."
"That proves you're not only talented but also have quite a knack for teaching."
"Actually, all the captains are very capable in that regard, so you don't necessarily have to choose me."
"That's why I assigned teaching tasks to them as well, and the teaching seminar was a successful attempt."
Arata actually had nothing against becoming an instructor at the Shinō Spiritual Arts Academy. Yamamoto was right in the moment he founded the Kendo Club, he had essentially already prepared himself for the role of a teacher.
However, now that he had two "functions," his original training plan might need to be adjusted a bit.
But on the other hand, there were quite a few benefits.
Previously, he worried that the main task [Fate of Hyōrinmaru] would be hard to complete, but now, having become an instructor at the Shinō Spiritual Arts Academy, he had many opportunities to guide the growth of Hitsugaya Tōshirō and Kusanagi Sōjirō.
Moreover, the old man also gave him another task, "founding more clubs at the academy."
Thinking more deeply about it, Arata could also earn more destiny points that way.
Two birds with one stone.
———
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