8 Arrival (2/2)
Once they reached the designated exam area, they realised that they weren't the only ones who had thought of arriving early. They joined the people already queuing, spotting some servants setting up a platform and around 5 large tents. The exams would start at sunrise and it would test the amount of reiatsu they had, its potential and the chances of awakening a zanpakuto.
As the sun began to rise, they noticed a group of Shinigami coming towards the platform, leading them was a tall and youthful man. He had aqua green eyes and spiky raven black hair. He wore the standard Shinigami shihakuso consisting of a black kimono and white undergarment with a katana strapped to his obi sash. The katana was most likely his zanpakuto.
He made his way to the top of the platform and waited for the applicants to gather round. Once he saw everyone had gathered he started making his speech,
”Welcome, everyone, to the entrance exam of Shin'o academy. My name is Shiba Kaien and I will be overseeing your exams…”
Itsuki finally realised why the man seemed familiar. Shiba Kaien was a Shinigami that was part of the 13th division, under Ukitake Jushiro. He would later become the lieutenant of the 13th division around the time when Gin graduates. Kaien was a very ethical and down-to-earth man with a strong sense of duty. He treated his fellow comrades indiscriminately, earning him the adoration of his fellow division, aristocrats and commoners alike.
Itsuki quite admired him for his beliefs. Kaien believed that one's 'heart' was determined based on the prospects of fighting and protecting. He was a firm believer in Captain Ukitake's philosophy on fighting, which consists of two types of combat: the fight to protect life, and the fight to protect honor. Kaien took it a step further and believed that they both ended up being the same thing: 'Heart.' He believed that one's 'heart' exists in others, and that it remains with his or her comrades even after death. Having held such views, he believed that people should never die alone.
The speech finally ended as Kaien stepped down and moved into the tent. The people were then grouped into 50 rows each containing 120 people. The ones on the back sat down as it would be quite the wait. Unfortunately the three friends were separated during all the chaos and were part of different rows.
People were then called in one by one into the tents where they would be tested. Itsuki came to the concluded that each tent contained 10 rooms in which the examination would be held. People were called in and were quickly shown the way out showing that the failure rate was extremely high. After waiting for around an hour, his turn finally came up, and to his surprise it was also Gin's and Rangiku's turn.
He came into the tent was shown to a servant where they took his information down
”Name?”
”Minamoto Itsuki”
”Age?”
”14”
That was all they asked, reason being that if they passed then the Seireitei will become their home otherwise they will be sent back. He then pointed Itsuki to the direction of a room where he will be tested.