Under Kyoya's lead, Hiyori followed him out of the 12th Division.
Along the way, many Shinigami of the 12th Division naturally learned that Kyoya had injured their third seat, Mayuri, and forcefully taken their Lieutenant, Hiyori, away.
The Shinigami's gazes at Kyoya were filled with humiliation.
They didn't know that Hiyori had left willingly.
But even if they had known, without a captain to protect them, the 12th Division was practically defenseless against someone like Kyoya.
Trying to regain their dignity from Kyoya was simply impossible.
"Are you taking me to the 11th Division?"
Hiyori asked as they stepped out of the 12th Division.
"Hmm, that depends on your own preference."
Kyoya stroked his chin.
"I've seen your records. You were also born in Rukongai, right? Captain Hikifune found you during an expedition and brought you to Seireitei."
"Yeah." Hiyori nodded.
Being from Rukongai wasn't something to be ashamed of.
Hadn't Shinji, Otoribashi, Aikawa, and Kensei all risen from Rukongai to become Captain-level Shinigami?
But just as this thought crossed Hiyori's mind, a realization struck her.
'That's right… everyone targeted in the Hollowfication experiments had been Captains who had grown up in Rukongai.'
'If Kyoya hadn't been strong enough during that mission a few days ago, if he had been injured by the three Adjuchas-level Hollows… would he have become another test subject for Hollowfication?'
For a moment, Hiyori felt an overwhelming sense of malice.
"Hey, Kyoya-" She opened her mouth to speak but was instantly cut off.
"Sarugaki, no matter what you've realized or guessed, it's best not to say it out loud."
"Because it'll only make your situation worse."
Kyoya didn't slow his steps just because Hiyori had stopped.
Truthfully, even though Kyoya already knew Aizen's schemes, he had to admit that the man's intelligence and abilities were terrifyingly effective.
Right now, in the entire Soul Society, apart from Gin and Tosen, who stood by Aizen's side, only Azashiro and Kyoya himself knew that Aizen was the true mastermind behind everything.
As for everyone else… Even 8th Division's Captain, Kyoraku, who suspected that there might be a deeper conspiracy behind Kisuke's fall, had no solid leads.
It can't be helped.
Without the benefit of foresight, no one would ever guess that the most dangerous man in Seireitei was Aizen.
Aizen's Zanpakuto's ability allowed him to hypnotize nearly every Shinigami in Seireitei.
Combined with the records of the Great Spirit Book Gallery, which documented every major event since the Soul Society's creation, Aizen ensured that someone else always took the blame for his actions.
For example, the Kasumioji Clan's Battoto Incident over twenty years ago conveniently covered up the number of Shinigami deaths Aizen had caused while creating the Hogyoku.
The Hollowification Experiments Incident a few days ago also pinned all the unexplained disappearances and deaths of the past two decades squarely on Kisuke.
After all, Kisuke's underground lab, which contained Hollowification Experiments, had been discovered beneath Seireitei. That was undeniable evidence.
Even if Kisuke's claimed he hadn't used Rukongai's residents or Shinigami's souls for his experiments, no one would believe him.
Because Hollowfication research, whether on ordinary souls or Shinigami, required massive amounts of test subjects to produce results.
And judging from Kisuke's notes, he had made significant progress.
If Aizen hadn't exposed him, who would have guessed that a seemingly introverted, kind-hearted Captain like Kisuke would experiment on his own people?
Thus, Kisuke became the perfect scapegoat for all of Aizen's crimes over the past two decades.
In a way, Aizen Sosuke was the Soul Society's greatest 'account balancer'… except, unlike the Monkey King Sun Wukong, who settled others' debts, Aizen made others settle his.
Kyoya had no intention of explaining any of this to Hiyori.
Realistically, her potential was limited, and she would likely never reach Captain-level strength.
Whether in the battle against Aizen a century later or the Thousand-Year Blood War after that, Hiyori wouldn't play a major role.
Instead of wasting her, Kyoya planned to recruit her into another team he was forming… one that would serve him.
"By the way, Hiyori, you still haven't answered me."
"If you don't want to join the 11th Division, I have connections in the 3rd and 6th Divisions. I could arrange for you to transfer to either of those."
In the 3rd Division, Gin was already the Lieutenant.
With Otoribashi gone, Gin was effectively in charge of the 3rd Division.
All Kyoya had to do was ask, and Gin would accept Hiyori without question.
As for the 6th Division, Kyoya had a decent relationship with Ginrei.
Over the years, Kyoya had also 'coincidentally' crossed paths with Ginrei's son-in-law, Kuchiki Koga.
If Kyoya made the request, Ginrei wouldn't refuse Hiyori's transfer to the 6th Division.
After all, no matter what, Hiyori is also a Shinigami who had served as the Lieutenant of the 12th Division.
While her combat skills might not be top-tier among Lieutenants, she was still one of the strongest seated officers.
"I'll join your division."
This time, Hiyori didn't hesitate in the slightest.
In her current perception, the safest place by far was by Kyoya's side.
Anywhere else, even the 1st Division where Captain-Commander Yamamoto was, wouldn't give her nearly as much sense of security.
At the very least, in the 11th Division, Kyoya was a strong, reliable figure who kept his word, and she had plenty of history with him.
But in other divisions, who would even know who she was?
Even if she had ties to Kyoya, it would still feel like there was a barrier between her and them.
"Good. I'll handle your transfer paperwork as soon as we get back."
"Also, you're aware of the 11th Division's rules, right?"
"You mean the challenge system for division's members?"
Hiyori raised her eyebrows and said, "Don't worry, I'll fight my way up."
In her mind, as a former Lieutenant of the 12th Division, she should at least be able to secure the fifth seat, if not the third.
Seeing her confidence, Kyoya smiled but said nothing.
Some things, when told by others, don't leave much of an impression.
Only when experienced firsthand do they truly sink in.
Under Kyoya's leadership, the 11th Division had grown far stronger than it had been twenty years ago.
Just taking the seated officers as an example, there were now over fifty Shinigami in the 11th Division qualified to compete for a seat.
In other words, out of the 600-plus Shinigami in the division, more than fifty had achieved Shikai with their Zanpakuto.
This was practically unheard of in other divisions.
After all, in most squads, achieving Shikai was enough to secure at least the lowest seat.
Well, in some divisions where the number of Shinigami who had achieved Shikai exceeded nineteen, Captains might adopt a 'shared seat' system to placate their subordinates… meaning multiple Shinigami could hold the same rank.
But such an arrangement didn't apply to the 11th Division.
Every seat in the 11th Division was earned through combat.
And where there was combat, there were winners and losers.
The victor rose in rank, while the defeated fell in standing.
The only one who truly suffered was the lowest-ranked officer… the twentieth seat.
Every time a new strong contender emerged, the twentieth seat was inevitably pushed out.
This forced the seated officers of the 11th Division to train relentlessly and fight desperately just to keep their positions.
Whether it was training intensity or combat experience, the seated officers outpaced their challengers by a wide margin.
Because of this, those who held seats in the 11th Division were far stronger than the average Shinigami.
Especially the twentieth seat… to avoid being ousted, their level of desperation was staggering.
In the 12th Division, Hiyori had been directly appointed Lieutenant by two consecutive Captains with no real competition, so she hadn't taken training seriously.
If she were thrown into the 11th Division, Kyoya suspected she might not even be able to defeat the current twentieth seat.
After all, whether it was combat experience or skill, the Shinigami of the 11th Division could run circles around Hiyori.
"By the way, where's your Zanpakuto?"
Following behind Kyoya, Hiyori suddenly noticed that he wasn't carrying a Zanpakuto at his waist and couldn't help but ask.
"My Zanpakuto…?"
Kyoya paused, slightly surprised. He hadn't expected the first person to notice its absence would be Hiyori.
Well, to be precise, many people had probably noticed Kyoya wasn't carrying his Zanpakuto, but Hiyori was the first to actually ask about it.
For some reason, Kyoya could feel the space around him grow slightly more… alive.
'Was that… Azashiro's Reiatsu?'
'So, this guy was paying attention to me now?'
However, Kyoya was not surprised by this.
After all, before Kyoya, the first Shinigami in Seireitei to go without a Zanpakuto was Azashiro Kenpachi himself!