Shunsui reached the academy gates and paused, looking at the crowd of nervous students gathering outside. Everyone else looked excited or scared.
Shunsui just looked tired. 'At least I will not die so easily out on the field,' he told himself.
That thought gave him a tiny bit of comfort. When he had decided to become a shinobi, he had actually trained since the day he joined the academy. Despite his natural laziness, he had put in real effort when no one was watching.
With his huge chakra reserves, learning jutsu came easily to him. Sadly, he had no proper teacher outside the academy, so he only knew the three basic techniques every student learned: Transformation Jutsu, Clone Jutsu, and Substitution Jutsu.
But he had gone further on his own. He remembered the chakra control exercises from what he had watched in the anime back on Earth, so he practiced leaf sticking, tree walking, and water walking in secret.
It took him a couple of years because he kept putting it off, napping instead of training and his large chakra reserves, but he eventually mastered all three. Now he could stick leaves to his forehead for hours, run straight up trees without falling, and walk on rivers without getting wet. Not bad for someone who hated effort.
He had also worked on his body. He did push-ups, sit-ups, and running every morning.
He did enough to build decent strength, speed, and endurance. The academy offered elective kenjutsu lessons, and he signed up for those too. Swinging a wooden sword felt better than throwing kunai, and it reminded him of the zanpakuto waiting inside him.
He practiced basic forms until his arms ached, then took long breaks to recover. 'For someone like me, I need the best possible foundation,' he had thought back then. 'If I have to fight, I want to make sure that I am not lacking in even basic Kenjutsu. It would be the foundation of my fighting style after all.'
He had once considered asking his friend Might Guy for training help. Guy was always full of energy and willing to push anyone to their limits. And he was the son of Might Duy so he thought that there was some good training method in the family for training your body.
But after watching Guy do five thousand kicks before breakfast, Shunsui quickly changed his mind. 'Guy's training is not for lazy people like me,' he decided.
'That boy trains at a level of pure masochism. He enjoys pain. I enjoy soft pillows and easier ways to gain strength. We are not the same.'
Shunsui stepped into the classroom and found a spot near the back. He adjusted his straw hat and sat down slowly. As he looked around, he caught his reflection in a small mirror hanging on the wall nearby.
He looked just like a younger version of Kyoraku Shunsui from the Bleach world. The only difference was no chest hair yet, since he was still a kid. He smirked a little at that.
The pink kimono and straw hat had been his choice after he realized how good he looked in them. People's opinions did not matter to him.
He liked feeling comfortable, and the loose fabric let him move easily while still looking stylish in his own way.
The matron had actually knitted the kimono herself for his last birthday. She gave it to him as a gift for finally attending the academy regularly without running away.
"Wear this and remember your duty to the village," she had said with a proud smile. Shunsui had rolled his eyes but put it on anyway. Now it was his favorite thing to wear.
Suddenly, someone grabbed his shoulders from behind and shook him hard. Shunsui blinked slowly and turned his head. There stood Might Guy, green jumpsuit shining brightly, bowl-cut hair perfect, teeth sparkling like he had just brushed them five times.
"Where is your youth, my youthful friend?" Guy shouted with full enthusiasm. "We are going to become shinobi very soon! Let us show our burning youth and join our youthful Konoha shinobi on the battlefield! Together we will run thousands of laps, kick thousands of times, and protect the village with the power of our springtime of youth!"
Shunsui stared at him for a long second. 'This boy has way too much energy,' he thought. Out loud, he said in his usual lazy drawl, "Guy, my friend, I appreciate the excitement. Really, I do. But right now I am thinking of taking a very long nap. Maybe wake me up later? Preferably after lunch and a short rest."
Guy was not bothered by my lazy tone. "That is not the spirit! Come, let us do one hundred push-ups together to greet the day!"
Shunsui waved his hand weakly. "Pass. My arms are already tired from thinking about push-ups. You go ahead. I will cheer for you from here."
Guy gave him a thumbs-up anyway. "Very well! I will do two hundred for both of us! Feel the power of youth flowing through you!"
As Guy ran off to start his push-ups in the corner, Shunsui leaned back in his chair. 'At least I am not going to die so easily out on the field,' he repeated to himself.
He had trained hard in his own way. Apart from the physical trainin, his chakra reserves and chakra control, most important of all, he had his zanpakuto, Katen Kyokotsu and he has managed to unlock it's shikai.