Bleach: The Template System Chose Me, The Forgotten Kuchiki

Shiraha offered a small smile as he steadied Matsumoto beside him, his tone calm yet humble. "Matsumoto-sensei, I was just lucky."

"Classmate Shiraha, you're far too modest," she replied with a soft chuckle as she re-sheathed Haineko, the clink of steel quiet against the tense silence still lingering on the rooftop. "What you did back there had nothing to do with luck."

Killing a mid-class Adjuchas with a single blow—there was no such thing as chance in that. Even without saying it aloud, Matsumoto Rangiku had already come to a conclusion she could not ignore: if this was what Shiraha could do while still an academy intern, then once he graduated from the Shinō Spiritual Arts Academy, it would not be long before he stood among the captains of the Gotei 13.

Supporting each other as they limped over, Renji Abarai, Izuru Kira, and Momo Hinamori approached the pair. Though battered and bruised from the earlier chaos, they'd recovered enough to remain on their feet, the lingering weight of spiritual fatigue still clinging to their steps.

"Brother Shiraha," Renji began, pausing as he swallowed his pride, his gaze briefly flicking toward the fading spirit particles where the Adjuchas had once stood. "I didn't expect you to be this powerful."

Moments ago, the three of them had thrown everything they had at the creature and failed to so much as wound it. In return, they'd nearly been killed by a single Bala. And yet Shiraha had felled it with a single stroke, as though it were nothing more than a nuisance. The difference in strength was vast—immeasurable—like the space between the sky and the sea.

"You three," Shiraha said, his tone stern yet not unkind, "don't be so reckless next time. If Matsumoto-sensei hadn't been here, you wouldn't have been so fortunate."

If it hadn't been for her holding the creature's attention and absorbing the brunt of its aggression, then the Adjuchas—already targeting her as the biggest threat—would have had no reason not to eliminate them first. And had that happened, it wouldn't have been a matter of just losing combat effectiveness—they wouldn't have survived at all.

At Shiraha's words, Renji, Kira, and Hinamori all lowered their heads, expressions heavy with guilt and shame as they stood in silence.

"Alright now, classmate Shiraha, they acted with good intentions, so don't be too hard on them," Matsumoto Rangiku interjected gently. After a pause, she turned her head toward the trio and added, her voice calm but unmistakably firm, "That said, Shiraha is right. If something like this happens again, you're to retreat immediately and wait for backup. Understood?"

"Yes, Matsumoto-sensei!" the three responded in unison, their voices firm but tinged with embarrassment. Looking back, they knew they'd let fear and pride cloud their judgment.

Just then, a voice crackled through Matsumoto's communication headset, cutting through the quiet. "Matsumoto Rangiku, Vice-Captain of the 10th Division—the restriction has been lifted. Authorization for spiritual release granted."

At that exact moment, the limiter seal on her chest flickered out of existence, vanishing in a shimmer of dissolving reiryoku. An instant later, a powerful wave of pressure erupted from her body, her Reiatsu soaring—more than five times stronger than what it had been mere seconds earlier.

"Thank you," Matsumoto replied into her headset, though there was a faint note of bitterness in her voice. "But the Adjuchas that appeared in Karakura Town has already been eliminated."

Though she gave her report clearly, a quiet frustration gnawed at her. If only the restriction had been lifted earlier, she wouldn't have been forced into such a helpless position—and perhaps, Shiraha wouldn't have needed to step in at all. That bitter sense of inadequacy was difficult to ignore.

"Understood, Vice-Captain Matsumoto," the operator responded. "Please return to the Soul Society and report the incident to your division."

With that, the headset fell silent once again.

"Shiraha-san," Matsumoto said softly, glancing at him with a smile that was equal parts weary and warm, "you can let go of me now."

Now that the restriction had been lifted, not only had her Reiatsu stabilized, but more than half her mobility had returned. She could stand and move without needing support.

Shiraha nodded and gently released her, stepping back as she straightened herself. "Now that the matter's been resolved, Matsumoto-sensei… shouldn't we prepare to return to the Soul Society?"

With the Adjuchas, Xiao Xingxu, destroyed and the internship mission complete, there was nothing left to keep them in the Human World. Their duties here were over, and it was time for them to return to Seireitei.

"Mm." Matsumoto acknowledged his words with a slight hum, reaching into her uniform to withdraw a circular silver badge. She infused it with spiritual energy, and as the seal activated, a signal pulsed outward.

All around the ruins of Karakura Town, the remaining students of the Shinō Academy emerged from hiding, drawn toward Matsumoto's location. Each held their Zanpakutō at the ready, the tension of the battle still lingering in their limbs.

Soon, all of the surviving students—twenty-one in total—had gathered before her. The only ones absent were the three who had tragically fallen during the earlier battle against Xiao Xingxu.

"Matsumoto-sensei," one of the students asked cautiously, glancing around the debris-strewn battlefield, "where did the Menos Grande go? Did you kill it?"

"No," she replied, shaking her head and gesturing toward Shiraha, who stood quietly behind her. "That Adjuchas was eliminated by classmate Shiraha."

"What?!"

"That Menos Grande... was killed by Kuchiki Shiraha?! How is that even possible?!"

"If Matsumoto-sensei isn't joking, doesn't that mean Shiraha's strength is already at least on par with a Vice-Captain?"

The group collectively reeled in shock, whispers spreading like wildfire as they all turned their gazes on Shiraha, disbelief painted across their faces. They'd watched Matsumoto—an actual Vice-Captain—struggle against the creature, barely able to hold it off.

Yet Shiraha, a fellow student undergoing the same soul burial internship, had annihilated that same threat in a single move. That could only mean one thing: his power was already far beyond what any of them had imagined.

As realization dawned, many among them felt their perspectives shift entirely. Respect, awe, and intimidation blended in the air around them.

"...What?"

Shiraha let out a faint snort, his expression tightening into something unreadable.

As he stood still amidst the crowd, he noticed a strange new sensation sweeping through him. He could suddenly perceive the emotional undercurrents of the students surrounding him—not just through expression or tone, but with startling clarity, as if their very emotions resonated in waves against his senses.

He hadn't realized it before, but his Observation Haki—now refined to its perfect state—had granted him more than just extended perception. From each person nearby, he now felt ripples of fear, awe, hesitation, and loss, all intermingling like currents beneath the surface of a still pond.

Until now, he'd thought that achieving perfect Observation Haki merely expanded his spatial awareness—his ability to detect movement, danger, and shifts in spiritual energy. But this emotional resonance… this was new.

And it surprised him.

He should have discovered this ability earlier, but at the time, he'd been focused solely on using Haki to perceive physical surroundings, not internal states. If not for the drastic emotional fluctuations caused by his overwhelming display of strength, he might never have uncovered it.

"Still… this feels pretty underwhelming," Shiraha muttered to himself, shaking his head slightly.

If this were the kind of advanced Observation Haki wielded by someone like Katakuri from the One Piece world—able to predict movements moments into the future—or even like Princess Otohime's ability to read into people's hearts with clarity and empathy, then it might have served him in battle or diplomacy. But this passive awareness of emotion, inherited from Fujitora's template, was too shallow to provide any real combat advantage.

It didn't strengthen him. It didn't change outcomes.

It was interesting, yes, but ultimately… impractical.

"Shiraha-san, is something wrong?" Matsumoto asked, noticing the strange shift in his expression.

"Nothing. I just remembered something, that's all," he said, quickly smoothing his tone.

Deciding not to press further, Matsumoto turned back to the gathered students, raising her voice just enough to carry across the rooftop. "Everyone—the soul burial internship is over. It's time to return to the Soul Society."

Relief broke across the crowd almost instantly.

"Finally!"

"Thank the heavens we're going back!"

"I thought I was going to die when that Menos Grande appeared…"

Their fear hadn't entirely passed, but their joy at surviving and returning home was genuine. The events of this night would linger in their minds for a long time to come.

"Release the gate," Matsumoto ordered, drawing her Zanpakutō, stabbing it forward with a practiced motion, and turning it sharply. A crack of spiritual power split the air as the Dangai's gate opened before them, a pair of translucent, glowing doors parting slowly to reveal the dimensional corridor beyond.

Without hesitation, she sheathed her blade and stepped forward through the gate.

Shiraha followed, flanked by Renji, Kira, Hinamori, and the remaining students of the Academy as they passed through the doors together, leaving behind the Human World and the battlefield that had changed everything.