(AN: So here is the thing. Bleach began in 2001. If we take it as the timeline of the canon. Then my fic is set 55 years before canon. It means we are in 1946. Just after the 2nd world war. See, Japan was shit at that time. Some cities were bombed, some others were occupied by the allied powers. But of course in bleach, Kubo never showed that in any of the flashbacks. So we will not delve too much into that topic. Not gonna do research about post-war japan just for a fic.)

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[Human realm, Japan, Naruki City.]

The passage through the Senkaimon was pretty fast. In fact, from the travelers' perspective, one simply had to open the door, step through a room and open the other door.

The fact that Senkaimon could be opened with any Zanpakuto showed that whoever created them had some deep mastery over space travel.

The moment all the student stepped through the door and appeared on the roof of a large building, Shuhei began to speak,

“This is Naruki city. This city is under the jurisdiction of the 10th division. For today’s exercise, all the hollows have been completely swept away to avoid any problem, so do not worry.”

All the students nodded and began to observe the city.

Currently, even though they left the soul society in the morning, the moon hung in the sky of the human world.

This clearly showed that there was some shift in time.

Shuhei found it a little weird since it wasn’t supposed to happen normally if the gate was well created. But he wasn’t worried either as, while rare, it was something that could happen.

That’s why passing through the Senkaimon was necessary since it was possible to be sent far in the past if you were lucky or completely erased by the current of time 90% of the time if you passed through by Dangai.

While Shuhei began explaining how the exercise would be going on, Gojo, who separated himself from the other students, took off his blindfold and took a deep breath before observing the city.

‘So this is really a different world and time.’

Even though this was indeed Japan, he could not feel an ounce of cursed energy.

Cursed energy was born from the negative feeling of humans. He knew that the second world war had just ended, so this period should have been one of the most active with curses.

Still, it was both funny and sad that no matter which world, humans would always find a way to wage war.

Still, even though there was no cursed energy,

“This is so horrible.”

Momo murmured after coming next to him.

“Indeed.”

As far as the eyes could see, rows and rows of ghosts could be seen here and there roaming.

Ghosts or spirits who stayed in the mortal humans for too long because of their lingering attachments could eventually transform into hollows once their chains of fate were corroded or be eaten by one.

Thankfully, the transition from spirit to hollow could take months, if not years. Though becoming a hollow’s meal was more of a question of luck.

Gojo understood clearly that since the war ended not long ago, it was normal for so many souls to still linger on earth.

‘No wonder they are willing to send students. I guess having more help is always appreciated.’

While Gojo was laughing inwardly, Momo could only lament, “Why do people always go to war?”

She couldn’t really understand this. Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone could simply be happy?

Gojo scoffed at those naive thoughts, “Religion, Ideology, resources, land, spite, love or just because… No matter how pathetic the reason is, it’s enough to start a war. It’s human nature to pursue strife.”

Saying so he put back on his blindfold and began to walk away, “Rather than thinking about something useless like a world without war, you should think of how to become stronger.”

Momo lowered her head at his admonishing tone. Renji, who stood on the side, wanted to speak, but Histugaya stopped him with a shake of his head.

He knew very well that behind his easy-going exterior, his big brother was someone who was extremely cold, almost uncaring even. What’s more, he wasn’t saying this to make Momo feel bad but to seriously advise her.

“Satoru Gojo! Where are you going!?”

“Haha~! I don’t really know. I just found something really interesting~! You guys can stay here and play around if you wish.”

Shuhei was incensed, this was a very important exercise, but this man was playing around.

Even though it has been decided that he would take this exercise alone, it should have still been under the supervision of one out of the three of them.

“Satoru Gojo, I need you to stop. Now.”

“Heh~! Haha, catch me if you can. See ya!”

With those words, he literally vanished from their eyes.

Shuhei could only widen his eyes at this sight. This speed had long surpassed what a normal Shunpo should be able to.

He had heard about his fight with the Shunpo instructor and had thought that it was just the instructor going easy on Gojo, but it seemed that he had been wrong.

Gritting his teeth, he briefly considered giving up on Gojo.

After all, he seemed strong, and he was acting like a nuisance.

Finally, his sense of duty took over his feeling of indignation and he decided to follow him,

But just as he was about to, he was startled to find something missing.

“I can’t feel his Reiatsu at all. How did he do it?”

“Shuhei, what do we do?”

Hotaru asked on the side while looking worriedly at the direction Gojo went to. Like Shuhei, she was unable to feel his Reiatsu anymore. Though she was less surprised.

After all, she had sometimes seen him completely suppress his energy while training. Something that should be impossible since all shinigami always leaked a minuscule amount of Reiatsu even when they held back.

Shuhei hesitated a little before finally shaking his head, “We do not know where he is going, and following him blindly would be a waste of time. We will proceed with the exercise as planned, and if he isn’t back before sunrise, we will ask the soul society to locate him through his hell butterfly.”

“What if something happens to him?”

“Do not worry. As I said, all the hollows in the area had been swept off. There shouldn’t be any problem.” (E/N: Flag.)