The thoughts in his mind twinkled like stars, and after coming to a conclusion, Aizen chuckled, "Forget it, though they are anomalies, they pose no threat."
"Gin, let's go."
He turned around and waved his hand behind him.
Ichimaru Gin smiled, "Aren't you going to investigate further?"
"There's no need," Aizen's tone was normal.
"What needed to be gained has been gained, the rest is to quietly await the development of events."
"Tsugikuni Yoriichi is unharmed, which shows the foolishness of the nobles."
"To eliminate them, a strong dose is needed, but…"
"That is for later."
"As for Kensei…"
"Though I don't know what methods they used to avoid the Hollowfication outcome… Heh, they can save those close by, but what about those far away?"
Hearing this, Ichimaru Gin's eyes flashed with an almost imperceptible glint, like a fleeting meteor streaking across the night sky: "You still want to act?"
"This isn't acting, it's merely an experiment," Aizen's voice drifted over, "To break through the limits of Shinigami, some sacrifices are necessary."
"Gin, in your opinion, Yamamoto Genryusai is very powerful, but what is he in front of the Soul King?"
"You, I, including Tsugikuni Yoriichi, and Yamamoto Genryusai, are all mere ants that can be easily crushed before the Soul King."
"But ants won't always be ants; as long as they grasp the power to break through their limits, they will have the courage to constantly climb towards the heavens."
"By then, all doubts will vanish, and all obstacles will be like dust, easily wiped away."
"Heh…" These were extremely arrogant words, Ichimaru Gin thought.
He stood behind Aizen and let out a soft chuckle.
The smile showed no discernible emotion, his narrowed eyes flickered twice, and then he quickly followed Aizen's footsteps.
The dust floating in the air dissipated quickly like smoke.
It wasn't until the footsteps and conversation ceased that the place returned to a prolonged silence.
Only a gentle breeze softly brushed by, bringing a hint of coolness that was almost imperceptible.
… …
… …
Soon after, Ninth Division.
After his encounter with Komamura Sajin and bringing him to the Eleventh Division, Tsugikuni Yoriichi quickly arrived here.
The architectural style here was largely similar to the Tenth Division, with white-themed buildings arranged in a circular shape, enclosing the barracks.
The Division crest hanging on the barracks depicted a white poppy, whose flower language is forgetfulness.
Every Shinigami who stepped into this place could feel the faint aura of solemnity and silence lingering in the surrounding air.
The current Vice-Captain, Kuna Mashiro, was standing outside the barracks, waiting for Tsugikuni Yoriichi.
Of course, with Zaraki Kenpachi and his subordinates about to transfer to the Ninth Division, Kuna Mashiro's position as Vice-Captain was likely precarious.
Perhaps thinking of this, Kuna Mashiro's expression was not enthusiastic, even showing some gloom and irritation.
Yoriichi watched her, walked up to her, and extended his hand: "Hello."
Seeing this, Kuna Mashiro pouted, reluctantly extending her hand to shake his.
Since their names were already known beforehand, there was no need for further explanation.
After the handshake, Kuna Mashiro led Tsugikuni Yoriichi directly into the Ninth Division.
At this moment, the Ninth Division was silent, with about fifty Shinigami sitting cross-legged in the spacious room, most of them young adult males in their prime.
Some wore sleeveless shirts similar to Kensei's, only black, and the overall style was very much in line with the Prison Division, serious and silent.
When Kuna Mashiro brought Tsugikuni Yoriichi in, some Shinigami noticed the movement and turned their heads.
What met their eyes was Tsugikuni Yoriichi's quiet, reserved, and subtly aloof demeanor, which caused some people to feel quite displeased.
Not everyone could accept the change in Captain, as decades of friendship were at stake, even if the Captain lost.
Yoriichi didn't mind; almost every Captain encountered this situation when taking over a complete Division.
The solution was simple: just wait for time to pass.
… …
Zaraki Kenpachi arrived outside the Ninth Division with three others.
His Captain's haori had disappeared at some point, replaced by the usual black Shinigami uniform, and the excited smile on his face was undisguised.
Kusajishi Yachiru sat on his shoulder, her face beaming with an innocent smile.
Although they had left the Eleventh Division, in her eyes, as long as she could be with Kenpachi, it didn't matter where they were.
However, Ikkaku Madarame and Yumichika Ayasegawa behind him looked rather helpless.
They had finally found a Division that suited them, but because of their boss's arbitrary decision, they were forced to make a choice and leave…
Honestly, if Tsugikuni Yoriichi hadn't defeated Kenpachi, they would have even thought their boss had gone mad.
Giving up being a Captain to be a Seat Officer or Vice-Captain in another Division…
Where in the world was such a principle?
Sigh.
Both of them were filled with sorrow.
Kenpachi subtly sensed this sorrow, and the air around him was permeated with a sense of dejection.
He suddenly turned around, stared at the two, and shouted:
"What are you doing?!"
Kenpachi's voice was as loud as thunder, making people's eardrums ache,
"All of you, cheer up!"
"Today is the first day of our new assignment, and I don't want to be looked down upon on the first day, for people to say that the Shinigami brought from the Eleventh Division are useless!"
"Are you useless!?"
Upon hearing this, Ikkaku and Yumichika were instantly energized, their spirits abruptly lifted: "No!"
They straightened their backs, "Whatever you say, boss!"
Seeing this, Kenpachi nodded in satisfaction:
"Very good!"
"Let's go in!"
"I wonder what positions that Head Captain Yamamoto has arranged for us. I really want to have a hearty battle with him!"
… …
Bang!
In the Eleventh Division, Komamura Sajin swung his hand, knocking down a charging Shinigami.
His tall stature was like a towering mountain at this moment.
Around two hundred members of the Eleventh Division, all wore solemn expressions.
Whew.
Heavy breaths occasionally echoed beneath his mask.
Komamura Sajin looked at those formidable and spirited Shinigami, experiencing the "enthusiasm" of the Eleventh Division for the first time.
They only respected the strong, so to gain their respect, the first thing to do was to defeat all of them.
After that, no matter what orders he gave, they would have no objections.
Even if it meant changing rules that had existed for a thousand years.
"Come on, hurry up!"
He extended his palm, as large as a fan, and spoke with high spirits, "It's still too early for you brats to defeat this old man!"
"Though this old man is not the strongest, serving as your Captain is more than enough!"
After speaking, he silently added a sentence in his heart.
—Captain Tsugikuni, this old man will definitely become stronger, only then can I live up to Captain-Commander Yamamoto's expectations!
… …
On the other side, Ninth Division.
"How did I become Fourth Seat?!" Kuna Mashiro looked at her new position, filled with helplessness and on the verge of tears.
She had thought that even if Kenpachi came here, her seat would only drop by one position.
But she never expected Kusajishi Yachiru to appear.
This little girl looked even younger than the neighborhood kids, not even ten years old, yet she was stronger than her?
Could she be an old monster who looked young but was actually hundreds of years old?
Kuna Mashiro was utterly unconvinced. She bit her lip and turned to find Yoriichi.
The result was a disappointing answer.
Yoriichi couldn't change the situation because Yachiru was strong, which was obvious.
No Division would ignore strength and arbitrarily arrange seats based on the former Captain's connections.
Kuna Mashiro asked with a displeased expression, "How strong can she be? Is she several times stronger than me?"
"I'm a super Vice-Captain!"
Her cheeks flushed slightly.
With that, she raised her slender arm, seemingly trying to flex her muscles.
Unfortunately, no matter how hard she squeezed, nothing came out.
This made her even more depressed.
Yoriichi looked at Kuna Mashiro, sighed softly, and said, "Those are all in the past."
"Don't underestimate her."
"If you're not satisfied with your current seat, I can arrange a battle between you and her."
"Of course, it will only be a sparring match."
"Battle? Oh, I love battles!" Hearing the word "battle," Kuna Mashiro's eyes instantly lit up, and a excited smile appeared on her face.
Kensei's departure had already made her quite unhappy, and now her seat was also unsatisfactory, being surpassed by a little girl, making it truly difficult to calm down.
Yoriichi nodded, and seeing that Kuna Mashiro had no objections, he began to prepare for the sparring match.
At the same time, the seats of Ikkaku Madarame and Yumichika Ayasegawa also needed to be reordered.
Yoriichi pulled out the list of Shinigami currently in the Ninth Division from a pile of documents, first scanning through it before focusing his attention on the top twenty Seat Officers.
The paper clearly read:
Fifth Seat, Hisashi Hirata;
Sixth Seat, Shinobu Eshima;
Seventh Seat, Tōdō Saemon;
Eighth Seat, Ikkaku Madarame;
Ninth Seat, Yumichika Ayasegawa;
Twentieth Seat, Tōsen Kaname…
… …
"Huh?"
"Sparring?" Ikkaku Madarame was quite puzzled by this sudden order.
He widened his eyes, a grin spreading across his mouth, his Zanpakuto resting on his neck, as he looked at Yumichika Ayasegawa, who had just delivered the news, and asked:
"Haven't the seats already been determined?"
"Is there a problem with me being eighth and you ninth?"
"No problem, but, well, Captain Tsugikuni seems to have noticed that we're hiding our strength."
Yumichika Ayasegawa's expression was somewhat complex.
Heaven knows what kind of atmosphere he felt when he first met Tsugikuni Yoriichi, as if he had been completely seen through.
He had indeed hidden his strength.
As a Seat Officer, especially one of the top ten, almost everyone had mastered the release of their Zanpakuto.
He was no exception.
However, due to his Zanpakuto's preferences clashing severely with his own, he strongly disliked it.
So, in most cases, when he performed Shikai, he would only say half of its name.
As a result, its power was only half.
Ikkaku Madarame, on the other hand, had a hidden fighting style.
He was skilled at fighting with his sword sheath, both defending and attacking.
However, here, he only used his Zanpakuto, which resulted in his low seat ranking.
In a normal Division, this practice was fine, but the Ninth Division was, after all, the Prison Division.
If even the Seat Officers were hiding their strength on a daily basis, then there would be huge problems when arresting criminals.
For example, very strong Shinigami going to arrest petty thieves, while weaker Shinigami go to arrest Vice-Captains or Captains.
Everything would go into chaos.
To avoid this situation, reordering the seats became quite important.
Listening to Yumichika Ayasegawa's detailed explanation, Ikkaku Madarame took a deep breath.
His chest rose and fell slightly, as if he was trying to suppress his inner emotions:
"He noticed? How is that possible? Did the boss tell him?"
"I don't know, but he wants us to use our full strength in this sparring match, or at least over 90% of our strength."
"Otherwise, if injuries or casualties occur later because of this… we'll also bear some responsibility."
"Why?"
"Because this is the Prison Division, and he wants us to live up to our identity and be responsible for those in Rukongai or Shinigami."
These words made Ikkaku Madarame suddenly silent.
He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but then remembered his identity and ultimately couldn't utter a single word.
"Forget it," he sighed, "Whatever the Captain says, goes."
"Damn it, I wanted to hide my strength and give the big brother a surprise later."
"The Prison Division is such a hassle, unlike the Eleventh Division, where if I win, whatever I say goes…"
"When will the big brother defeat him?"
Being constrained everywhere was truly unpleasant; he wasn't the kind of Shinigami who liked to follow orders.
Born in Rukongai, he had always been free. In the Eleventh Division, he wouldn't care about the lives of his comrades or those in Rukongai.
If they died, they could only blame themselves for being too weak; no one else was to blame.
Yumichika Ayasegawa's thoughts at this moment were similar to Ikkaku Madarame's.
Making him perform Shikai in front of a large crowd was worse than killing him.
But he couldn't disobey the Captain's words, and his Shikai wasn't something shameful; he just disliked his Zanpakuto.
His Zanpakuto, like him, was extremely fond of beauty.
But there could only be one most beautiful thing, and once he performed Shikai, his beauty would be stripped away.
Just thinking about it made his heart ache.
… …
"You are Tōsen?"
In the office, Tsugikuni Yoriichi looked at the Shinigami in front of him, who wore a white mask and had his hair styled like a pentagram, and suddenly felt that his demeanor was very similar to someone he had met—Gyomei Himejima.
If the information was correct, Tōsen Kaname was also blind.
"Yes, Captain," Tōsen Kaname lowered his gaze, his tone slow and respectful, "May I ask why you summoned me, Captain?"
"Your strength is considerable, why are you only Twentieth Seat?"
Yoriichi raised an eyebrow and asked.
Tōsen Kaname paused, then smiled faintly:
"Captain, you jest. My strength is merely average."
"Although I was Fifth Seat in the Fifth Division before, it was only because Vice-Captain Aizen promoted me."
"The death of the former Third Seat caused Captain Hirako to discover issues within the Fifth Division, which is why all the Seat Officers were readjusted."
"I was transferred to the Ninth Division for this. Before, I mostly did clerical work rather than combat, because I am blind."
"And that remains the case now."
That's an interesting point…
Because he couldn't see, he wasn't good at combat, but he was good at writing…
Was there a contradiction in that logic?
But considering that Tōsen Kaname was blind but not mentally blind, Yoriichi didn't press further on that question.
Instead, he said, "Are you interested in participating in this sparring match?"