"What an interesting method, killing the current captain in front of the whole squad, or undergoing an assessment before the Head Captain," Rosse chuckled softly.
Such a method really was excessively barbaric.
But to him, it was also rather amusing.
"What do the Tenth and Eleventh Divisions each do?"
Rosse didn't choose right away; instead, he asked about the difference between the two squads.
He didn't want to seem too familiar with the Soul Society in front of Aizen.
Since the only vacant position was in the Tenth Division, he could roughly infer the current timeline.
'Kurosaki Ichigo must have already been born, but whether Kurosaki Masaki has died yet, that is still uncertain.'
"The Tenth Division is responsible for Seireitei's defenses, so it's relatively leisurely. The Eleventh Division, on the other hand, is a pure combat unit, they go wherever there's fighting."
With a single sentence, Aizen clearly explained the functions of both divisions.
"Then the Tenth Division it is. Enjoyment suits me better," Rosse smiled, and as his gaze met Aizen's, he clearly saw the faint change on Gin Ichimaru's face not far away.
'A truly two-birds-with-one-stone maneuver.'
He had both arranged Rosse's placement and simultaneously planted a thorn in Gin's heart.
If nothing had gone wrong, the current Tenth Division lieutenant should be Gin's childhood friend.
Unfortunately, a prideful boy and a mature older woman had no future together.
"Then it's decided. All right, we should get going," Aizen snapped his fingers lightly, and a black cavity opened before them.
This time, his stay in Hueco Mundo had mainly been to pick up Rosse.
With his position, it wasn't convenient for him to linger there too long.
"Let's go."
Rosse walked beside Aizen, stepping into the Garganta together.
Behind them, Gin Ichimaru and Kaname Tosen followed in as well.
However, both Aizen and Rosse noticed that, just before entering, Gin cast a deep, lingering look toward the two of them.
But in the end, he still didn't do anything.
Passing through the long, dark corridor, Rosse finally arrived in the Soul Society.
The moment he stepped out, sunlight from the Soul Society spilled over his body, making him narrow his eyes slightly.
"Tch! It's been a while since I last felt sunlight."
"Has Lord Rosse been to the Soul Society before?", Aizen asked curiously.
Hueco Mundo had no true sun; to feel sunlight, one had to go either to the human world or to the Soul Society.
"I went to the human world once, but found it boring and came back. Back then, the strongest man there seemed to be someone named Yhwach. I heard he even caused some trouble for your Head Captain. Not sure how that turned out in the end," Rosse grinned, casually making it up as he went.
When you're away from home, your identity is whatever you say it is.
As long as his words sounded plausible, Aizen would fill in the blanks himself.
"Yhwach, the Quincy King from a thousand years ago, he was already destroyed by the Head Captain," Aizen adjusted his glasses, mentally filling out Rosse's background.
Rosse being alive for over a thousand years seemed entirely reasonable to him.
If he hadn't lived that long, there's no way he'd be this powerful.
At the same time, Aizen secretly felt relieved.
Compared to Rosse, his own age gave him an advantage.
At least, to reach Rosse's level, it wouldn't take him another six hundred years.
"So this is Rukongai, huh? Looks rather shabby. Honestly, even worse than the human world when I went there."
Rosse glanced into the distance, where a dilapidated village stood.
From the outside, it looked just like an ancient rural settlement, with people in plain clothes going about various tasks.
But compared to a mortal village, life in Rukongai seemed more leisurely.
After all, ordinary spirits didn't need food. Just drinking water was enough to sustain their souls.
Only souls with spiritual power needed to eat to replenish their energy.
Simply put, since the reishi density in ordinary souls was too low, the reishi in water alone was enough for their daily consumption.
Food wasn't common, but water was everywhere.
Thus, even though the village looked worn and old, there were many people around, lazily minding their own business.
"This is East District 78. From here, Lord Rosse, the road to Seireitei is yours to travel. This is your captain's invitation from the Central 46."
Aizen smiled faintly, handing Rosse a letter and pointing toward the direction of Seireitei.
At Rosse's speed, he'd probably reach Seireitei within half an hour.
But in Aizen's view, if Rosse understood his intent, he wouldn't be in such a hurry.
"Got it. You guys wait for me in Seireitei."
Rosse grinned, taking the captain's invitation letter from Aizen, stretching lazily.
He certainly wouldn't rush at full speed. After all, just moments ago, his Haki-like perception had caught an interesting presence nearby.
"Gin, Kaname, let's go."
Aizen called out softly, and in the next instant, he vanished using shunpo.
"Captain Rosse, I hope you have fun in the Soul Society," Gin smiled his trademark fox grin, narrowing his eyes, and after saying that, followed Aizen away.
Kaname Tosen said nothing at all, not even sparing Rosse a glance, before disappearing in a flash.
"Interesting. So your perception was blocked by Aizen, huh…", Rosse chuckled quietly.
If Gin knew his childhood friend was just nearby, he definitely wouldn't be this calm.
Casting his gaze eastward, he was curious why that mature woman was here, but that didn't stop him from wanting to meet her.
After all, she would be his future lieutenant.
With a single flash step, Rosse vanished from the spot.
———
[East District 78, Outskirts of a Forest]
Rangiku Matsumoto was sprinting through the woods, her large weighted training cloth swinging behind her as she moved, occasionally stopping to observe. [T/N: WOULD!]
"There's definitely residual captain-level spiritual pressure here… and it's fresh. But if the captain isn't dead, why hasn't he come back?", Muttering under her breath, Rangiku irritably tugged at her golden hair.
She still had great respect for Shiba Isshin, her former captain.
He had been missing for eleven full years now, and the Soul Society had long declared him dead.
She, too, had believed that. Until not long ago, the Seventh Seat of the Tenth Division came to her, claiming to have discovered traces of Isshin's lingering reiatsu here in East District 78.
Unfortunately, her report was completely ignored, and since she was the only one with free time in the squad, she had no choice but to come investigate alone.
"Hmm?", As Rangiku was following the trail of spiritual pressure, she suddenly raised her head sharply, turning toward the west.
From that direction, she sensed a powerful reiatsu rapidly approaching.
It was overwhelmingly strong, she had only ever felt such pressure from captains.
'Whoever it is, has to be captain-class.'
'But right now, all captains should be in Seireitei.'
'So who is coming?'
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