บท 17: Entrance

Once they passed the courtyard gates, they were welcomed to an even larger area which was cramped full of people. Kai tried to identify any notable beings, however the immense amount of people present made it very difficult to tell who was who. Taking note of Shinten's size, an idea sparked in his mind.

"Shinten, let me get on your shoulders."

Shinten obediently let Kai climb on top of him, turning his already gigantic body, into a titans. Now that Kai could see above everyone, he still couldn't recognise any notable people. He took note of the several Soul Reapers who were making sure that everyone, kept in line.

He did see Hisagi who was writing away at his notepad, Kai tried to get his attention, but it appeared as if he was too immersed in whatever he was writing. He could now see the wooden stage in front of the school, as well as a podium.

"Hey?? Let me up too!"

"Sorry, no space."

While Shido continued to argue with Shinten, the gate behind them started to close, even though there was still a wave of people waiting to enter. At the same time a male blonde Soul Reaper who had a large part of their hair cover his left eye walked on top the stage and up to the podium.

He tapped his fingers on the mic as well as cleared his voice over it, which drew the attention of all the Soul Reaper candidates in the court.

"Testing.. Testing... Do I have everyone's attention now??"

But there was only silence.

"My name is Izuru Kira, the lieutenant of Squad 3. I don't like working in front of a lot of people, so I'm going to begin the entrance exam right now."

"huh!?"

The crowd began to fuss and shout at each other loudly, and so the Soul Reapers threated them to quiet down or leave. A random member of the crowd the asked,

"How are you going to get through so many people, in such a small amount of time??"

Shinten quickly put Kai down on the ground as if he was anticipating something. Kai was about to complain to him but he saw Shinten's face had turned into one of worry and anticipation, as if he knew what was to come,

"The answer is simple really... I'm going to filter all the weak ones out, by crushing them with my Spiritual pressure."

He then emitted a powerful Spiritual pressure, which spread out to everyone in the court. The Soul Reapers were seemingly unaffected, however several Soul Reaper candidates struggled to breath.

It felt as if the air had gotten heavy, almost like they were being crushed at the depths of the ocean. Shinten and Shido were managing just fine, however Kai felt as if the world itself was being weighed against his back. Yet he pushed through anyway.

After this carried on for 2 minutes, several people started to collapse from the Lieutenant class Spiritual pressure. After 3, waves of people fell one after another, until there were only around 500 of the initial 1000 that had started.

"If this continues any longer then I'll really die!"

Kai was hanging on to the last threads of his consciousness as he felt his body failing on him. This Spiritual pressure was almost to strong for him to handle, as he then fell onto his knees.

"Kai? Don't tell me your giving up that easily? We said that we would become Soul Reapers, right??"

Hearing those words, Kai was instantly motivated. He released a battle cry as he got back up onto his two feet while roaring into the sky.

Just as he did, he felt the air around him get lighter while his breathing grew easier. Around 450 of the 1000 candidates were left. Izuru then spoke into the microphone for the last time.

"This test was done to filter out the people with weak Spiritual Power. Since you were able to endure it till now, it means that you all must have Average-class spiritual power, and that you have the potential to become Soul Reapers. The first half of this exam has concluded, so now I'll be passing things over to your next examineer."

He quietly walked off the stage, only for a female Lieutenant to walk up in his place. Kai couldn't make them out from as great a distance as they were, but he did identify their slim youthfulness as well as her oval shaped glasses. Unlike other Shinigami, she did not carry a Zanpakutō.

"I am the Lieutenant of Squad 1, Nanao Ise. I have no intentions of allowing more idiotic brainless fools like those in squad 11 past this point but at the same time, we don't want any weak willed people. For this exam, I am going to select a random person every 10 seconds. If you cannot give me the desired answer to my question then you fail. I will keep asking everyone this question until everyone fails, but if someone gets it correct, the remainder will also pass."

A random Noble boy from the Seireitei then came forward while complaining,

"What happened to the standard written tests? All of us here have spent so much time preparing for it, only for it to be wasted??"

Other nobles and Rukon citizens also complained at this sudden change.

"The time you prepared for this has been acknowledged, but if you can't even handle this, then you have no right to join this Academy. This school isn't just only the birth place of Shinigami, but it's where future members of the Central 46, Kido Corps, and Onmitsukidō members are also sought from. To join all three of those institutes, you require quick thinking and high intelligence that allows you to make sacrifices for the sake of the Soul Society."

"But that still isn't fair on the rest of us!"

"Since your talking so much about fairness, how about you be the first one to answer my question and save everyone from my tyranny here? Great hero?"

"Give it to me! I'll show you people not to underestimate me!"

"Your injured Shinigami companions are preparing a Senkaimon to help you all escape. However the swarm of hollows will kill them all before they can. What will you do?"

"I will stay and fight of course! I will sacrifice myself for my friends to buy them time to escape!"

Nanao nodded at two Soul Reapers nearby. They then approached the man before dragging him away as he screamed. Shido started to think long and hard, drowning the shouts of everyone, even his own allies.

Nanao then raised her hand and pointed at a random person in the crowd. They came forward and gave their answer,

"I would rally them up, and prepare for one final push against the hollows. If we die, then we die trying."

Nanao then signalled the Shinigami, to drag them away too, stunting the crowd. This mass wipe out of candidates would go on until 62 people from all backgrounds had been eliminated, until only 387 candidates were left.

As the eliminations continued, candidates began to mix into their own groups while Shido, Kai and Kurenai stayed in their own.

Shinten asked in a panic, "What are we going to do? Almost any and all answers that it could have been have already been said?? At this rate everyone here is going to fail."

"Maybe there is something we missed?"