Talent?

"Alright, everyone. Remember to always keep your Asauchi close to you. With that, you will increase your chance of building a stronger connection to it."

Gengorō was already back at the front of the class and started to lecture once more.

"And as I told you. We wield Asauchi not only because we need a weapon but because together with them we become stronger. We fight as partners. So cherish your swords and don't neglect your meditations. Only pursuing strength with your body will not make you a first class Shinigami..."

He looked down to his own Zanpakuto that was hanging around his waist.

"If you reach a certain point and find out the name of the Asauchi you wield, then it will become a true Zanpakuto. That is what differentiates an Asauchi from a Zanpakuto in general."

At that moment Jin raised his hand.

"Hmm? Yes, Narukami?"

"Gengorō-Sensei, does that mean the Asauchi have a preset soul inside them? I thought they shape themselves after us?"

Gengorō heard the question and stayed silent for a little bit but then started talking.

"You are correct. An Asauchi is a being with a soul no matter what you may think of it. But at the same time, they don't really have a mind of their own. They absorb the ideas from their surroundings just like a newborn child. And while you train with it and communicate with your Asauchi, it starts to develop its own personality and mindset..."

"You can say you give birth to another soul." Gengorō looked at the four Asauchi Jin had. "In your case, it would seem you had enough ideas to bring up four children..."

Jin nodded. "I understand..." His reply was short because it basically was the same thing he understood about Asauchi as well.

"Anyway. Not everyone will be able to learn the name in a fast manner and it may even take years. The unlucky ones may never learn them. But just stay focused enough and your chance may come."

Then Gengorō drew his Zanpakuto out of its Saya(scabbard).

"When you know the name, you will also be able to release a part of its strength. That is called the Shikai. It will, often than not, change its form entirely into something else other than a katana. That is because the Asauchi were not Katana in their natural form and only forged into such weapons. And because of that, they may fight their given form and change."

"Those forms are still somewhat influenced by the wielder and forging. They don't deviate too much from their prior form. That said I mean a bladed weapon. But still, it just happens sometimes that it may not be the case and you would have to start training with a new weapon type like a mace for example."

"Moving on, there is also the Bankai. This state is the highest your Zanpakuto can achieve. And with that, you would harness the utmost power from your weapon. In this state, the form of your Zanpakuto will change drastically and you will more often than not be forced to learn a completely new way of fighting. But here again, if you are lucky it may change into something you were always familiar with but never noticed it yourself."

"Also, Bankai do tend to be enormous in size."

"Anyway, enough of that. If you want to become seated members of the Gotei13 then you need to at least reach Shikai and if you are lucky and put enough time to understand your Zanpakuto, only then, you may achieve Bankai. For a fact. It is also demanded that every Captain has to have achieved Bankai before even being nominated as a Captain."

"That is if anyone from you has the ambition to go that mile...But this will be chewed through in your theory lessons later on."

Then he clapped his hands as if to remove some dust that had accumulated between them and pointed at one wall of the hall. Gengorō seemed to be tired of talking so much himself and start what they came over to do.

"Now that we have that solved out, we will start with the real Zanjutsu training. Everyone go and grab one of those bamboo swords from the racket over there."

Jin put his four Asauchi in his bags and then placed them together with Matsuri´s and Fujimaru´s Asauchi in the corner of the room where everyone put them.

Then everyone started to get certain basic instructions on how to move properly with the sword. They were very simple moves to execute but if they were performed fast enough it truly became a sight to behold when two people exchanged pointers.

For the demonstration's sake, Gengorō and another assistant teacher showed the exchange. And after that, it was time for everyone to do them themselves - the spar included.

Jin had Matsuri as his opponent and actually lost straight away. It sure made him grumpy for a while and Matsuri only grinned.

That training went on until Gengorō was satisfied and ended it. He now had a basic understanding of how good everyone was. The Kuchiki girl excelled in this department and was about the strongest in Zanjutsu.

The next place they went to was the Hoho Hall. It was basically an area where a lot of free space was available. You could even see something like tracks for sprinting and an obstacle course. There were even forested areas that probably were there for jumping training.

Jin sure was surprised about the methodical training they were put through. And just like before they were being hunted through those exercises like cattle until Gengorō was satisfied.

And boy oh boy was Gengorō hard to satisfy. Everyone was basically running on last fumes. Only the obviously talented people could keep up pretty easily. That brownish redhead and the Kuchiki girl were two of them. In this class, the guy called Banri was at the top.

Jin himself became extremely tired with all those bodily actions and he was very average in them. Actually, he was on the lower end. He really did forget that he was in a freaking military school and he started to hate it.

Fujimaru actually seemed to have a knack for the Hoho training. Since Matsuri was more inclined with the prior Zanjutsu training, she was also gasping heavily for air just as Jin did.

Then there was the weaponless Hakuda training right after the Hoho. And it didn't really make it any better. In this class, the trio basically sucked big time.

Only the Kido training was somewhat more based on the mind than the actual muscle. Jin somewhat excelled in that department because it was simple memorizing of chants and the execution of the spells.

For some reason, he never felt very exhausted when he performed the Kido with the chants. Just thinking about the exhaustion when he used the Byakurai spell the first time without chants clearly told him how important it is to use those chants and get familiar with the spells.

Though his body was already so tired that even his mind became somewhat fuzzy after some time and he had to give away one of the top places in class.

Still, he was better than the other two. Yes, Jin started to compare himself with his two friends.

---

Since it was their first day, they luckily only did those four units of training. In Jin´s opinion that was already enough.

The curriculum that he got was insane, to say the least. From Monday to Sunday, there was only work and training.

Why did he end up in the advanced class again? Damn that blondie. Jin now had a very big grudge against Urahara. He knew it was very likely his fault. Jin did remember that Matsuri and Fujimaru never visited this advanced class and just went through the ordinary course.

So Jin knew the course of time is already deviating strongly from the path he knew about. And not only that. He also didn't notice the grudges he started to accumulate over the time he was in that class.