He pressed the embedded switch on the wall.
The room was powered on, the special large light bulb flickered for a moment, then the entire place brightened up.
Electricity!
Because there was no description of it in the original story, Sakuya originally had no expectations for the technological level of this era...
So being able to have electricity now was already a blessing.
Not having to fumble around in the dark was better than anything!
This small room was located in the edge area of Squad 5's barracks, somewhat away from other squad members' quarters, closer to the warehouse position.
It was quiet by nature, with few people coming and going during normal times.
The person who arranged this place was the prison warden. Thinking from his perspective...
Perhaps it was also because he didn't want other people to actively approach Sakuya.
A form of avoiding suspicion in a certain sense.
Grimacing as he took off his clothes, Sakuya organized the clothing and placed it in the bathroom basket.
He'd wash them after waking up tomorrow.
Jumping onto the preset step, he stood in front of the mirror, observing his current condition under the light.
In the mirror was a rather lean child.
Perhaps because he naturally had no baby fat, he looked more mature, leaning toward a young adult's bearing.
Three-dimensional features, and his hairline showed no signs of receding.
So young!
Sakuya raised his right hand, making a slight gesture.
The slightly bulging bicep indeed boosted his confidence, giving him the feeling that this year's beatings hadn't been in vain...
Only exercise and the body won't betray you.
He half-turned, lifted his hand to pull at himself, using the mirror to observe the condition of his back.
As expected...
Where the prison warden had kicked his right lower back, an entire patch of bruising had appeared.
As for his right hand, the four fingers that had been struck were all congested, swollen, becoming twice their original thickness.
Purple-red bruises were visible on top, the marks from the prison warden's strikes clearly evident.
Even more so, there were countless traces of bumps and beatings on his body.
If it were a normal person, it might not be worth attention. After all, the Shinigami profession itself was a violent organization...
If you don't get beaten during normal times, would you beg opponents for mercy when encountering danger?
But for a four-year-old child, it seemed somewhat too harsh?
The person in question thought so too.
—Never mind anything else, the prison warden's strikes were getting fiercer each time.
If not for knowing the other's true strength, Sakuya would really suspect he was aiming to crush him...
Thinking about it now, the prison warden was still holding back... You really are something (thumbs up)!
And correspondingly.
Sakuya also had his own unique solution.
He slightly closed his eyes, and after a moment, azure light began to emerge around his body.
These firefly-like things floated in the air, and after a brief pause, they all surged forward, covering the bruises.
A cool sensation pierced through skin, straight to the nerves.
Carrying a subtle itchy feeling, Sakuya's tightly closed eyes trembled slightly, feeling even his teeth were aching.
He simply couldn't get used to this sensation...
Only after everything receded like a tide did Sakuya open his eyes.
The flowing light around his body dissipated accordingly.
And the bruises originally hidden under his skin had faded to a degree invisible to the naked eye.
Though there were still injuries, they were far from as exaggerated as before...
He had naturally shown this method to Aizen as well.
And the other had given the most direct judgment.
'This is a Quincy technique.'
'Although I haven't seen the actual thing, these blue particle-like substances are essentially the flowing state of spirit particles.'
'While it's not difficult for Shinigami to manipulate them... to achieve this level, one would need at least the standard of a 4th Seat officer or above.'
Sakuya couldn't remember overly complex things.
But there was one point he could be certain of.
His identity's origin didn't seem simple...
After all, being able to use Quincy techniques already explained a lot, not to mention receiving special attention from the prison warden.
Damn it, am I also a hybrid?
A prototype the prison warden created before making Ichigo?
Although Sakuya had asked about similar things before, he was always deflected with reasons like "the timing isn't right."
Thinking about it now made him curious, but for the present, there didn't seem to be any reason to continue digging deeper.
Too little time, limited information.
He still needed to focus on improving his strength first.
Sighing lightly, he hurried to wash up and took a shower.
His half-long hair stuck wetly to his shoulders. Since things like hair dryers hadn't appeared yet... he could only vigorously towel-dry it, then wait for it to air dry naturally.
So the question arose.
Would life forms composed entirely of spirit particles also get headache problems?
Sakuya wasn't sure, but he indeed still had things to do.
He wandered around his bedroom, then stood in front of a bookshelf that was more than three times his height.
In this roughly fifteen-square-meter room, this thing occupied more than one-fifth of the space.
Almost everything here consisted of assignments and reference books arranged by the prison warden.
Sakuya, wearing loose, baggy clothes, couldn't help but scratch his head.
Recalling today's beating.
According to the order of Zan, Ken, Haku, Ki...
The next time they met, the content to be tested would be "Ken" (Hand-to-Hand Combat).
Sakuya quickly found the corresponding section, climbing up and down the small ladder to bring down things almost as tall as a person.
Aizen's assignments were very complex.
Just like today's experience...
Theory and practice would be divided and arranged in equal proportions, used to determine whether Sakuya was really studying seriously.
Cheating and slacking off was unacceptable.
After all, the Aizen massage technique was definitely no joke.
So Sakuya could only study day and night, and afterward had to find ways to practice extra on his own, just to avoid being beaten by the prison warden until he was crawling on the ground looking for his teeth.
'There's still more than half an hour until my hair dries... let me read a bit more today.'
Just as he made up his mind.
A series of short knocks came from outside the door.
Knock knock knock...
Who?
You had to know this was around ten o'clock.
Although there was no curfew within the Seireitei, once activity hours passed, Squad 7 would begin patrolling.
If caught by those guys, just the questioning alone would take considerable effort...
If there happened to be on-duty Shinigami drinking and not returning to quarters, the Inner Court Guard Squad might find a way to bring this matter up at meetings.
This form of "fame" would make anyone feel ashamed to the extreme when thinking about it.
"Coming..."
Sakuya jumped down from his chair, rushed to the door, and stood on his tiptoes to push it open.
The person standing outside made him slightly stunned.
"Eh?"
How is it you?