Chapter 89: Aizen the Great Divine
"Satoru? What brings you here?"
Seeing Satoru enter, Kensei's expression turned to surprise.
Satoru closed the door behind him.
Walking over to Kensei's bedside, he said flatly:
"During the assessment earlier, I made you lose face. To prevent future retaliation, I've come to eliminate the root of the problem."
Kensei: "???"
He couldn't help but roll his eyes. "How very far-sighted of you."
Satoru grinned.
Pulling up a chair, he sat down.
"Though it's not for you, I really did come to eliminate the root of the problem."
"I have some questions about Yasushi Takada."
"As his vice-captain, you've worked under him for years. You're probably the person in Seireitei who knows him best."
"Why do you think he joined the rebels? Were there any signs beforehand?"
Hearing this, Kensei first looked enlightened.
Then, his expression turned somewhat melancholic.
"The Onmitsukidō already sent someone to ask me these questions. The answers I can give you are pretty much the same as what I told them."
"Captain Takada... to be honest, I still can't figure out why he joined the rebels."
"He wasn't much of a talker in daily life, but he always treated his squad members well."
"He wasn't greedy for money, rarely indulged in luxuries. Aside from the occasional drink, he had almost no material desires."
"Once when we were handling a Hollow invasion in Rukongai, the situation was already extremely dangerous, yet Captain Takada deliberately gave civilians extra time to escape..."
Hearing this, Satoru showed a thoughtful expression.
Kenpachi Kiganjō's dying words—no, the words he'd said before his defeat—resurfaced in his mind.
The rebels who called themselves the "Righteous Army" used slogans about exposing historical truths and overthrowing the Five Great Noble Families' control over the Soul King.
The credibility of those claims was practically zero.
But admittedly, such rhetoric could be quite effective in swaying certain captains who lacked education and hadn't experienced the information age.
As Satoru pondered this, Kensei suddenly seemed to remember something.
"Ah, right... Captain Takada kept a diary. Whenever I visited him in the evenings, I often saw him writing in it."
"But when I went looking for it later, it was already gone. Don't know if the captain took it with him or what happened to it..."
Satoru raised an eyebrow.
Captain Takada's diary?
Now that was a new lead.
If Yasushi Takada had taken it himself, there'd be no way to find it.
But if he hadn't... it was highly likely the Onmitsukidō had confiscated it.
After joining Squad Two, he could try searching for it...
After chatting a while longer and confirming Kensei had no more useful information, Satoru took his leave.
At the doorway, he suddenly remembered something and exclaimed, "Ah!"
Turning back with a grin, he said:
"Forgot to ask—how's your injury? You alright?"
"Too late to ask now!!"
Kensei couldn't help but angrily retort.
"Hahaha."
Satoru laughed awkwardly.
After a moment's thought, he told Kensei: "About your Tachikaze—I've been thinking of some new applications that might really help you."
"Once you're healed up, let's spar and exchange techniques."
Hearing this, Kensei blinked in surprise.
Then he smiled: "Oh, it's a deal!"
...
...
Leaving Squad Four's barracks, Satoru headed toward the academy.
Before coming here, he'd already visited Squad Three's vice-captain.
When mentioning her captain, Chikane Iba displayed clear disgust.
According to her, Rennosuke Kamikawa had always been power-hungry.
After mastering Bankai, he kept it hidden until one day when the previous captain was injured during a mission to exterminate Menos Grande in Rukongai. Only then did Rennosuke suddenly emerge, demanding an irregular captain challenge.
The former captain accepted and, witnessed by two hundred squad members, lost to Rennosuke Kamikawa.
Soon after, that captain joined the expeditionary force and left Soul Society for Hueco Mundo.
Meanwhile, Rennosuke implemented a strict hierarchy within the squad.
The Gotei 13 already had rigid rankings, but under him, Squad Three became far more severe than other divisions.
Squad members would be punished for improper salutes or insufficiently deep bows when greeting him.
Chikane Iba seemed thoroughly pleased to see Rennosuke Kamikawa gone.
She had prepared quite a few snacks for Satoru as a reward for this "meritorious hero."
As for the soon-to-be new captain, his days weren't going so well.
To help Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi quickly familiarize himself with the duties of a captain, Chikane Iba subjected him to a brutal, hellish training regimen.
Rumor had it that screams from Rōjūrō could frequently be heard coming from the Third Division barracks...
While mentally organizing information about the two traitorous captains, Satoru returned to his dormitory.
Aizen sat at the desk, writing something.
The other two roommates, upon seeing Satoru return, immediately stood up as if electrocuted.
Their gazes at Satoru first showed pleasant surprise, then some fear, before finally settling into respect.
Seeing their reactions, Satoru realized an unfortunate, thick barrier had already formed between them.
He didn't particularly mind this.
These two roommates were both subordinates of some minor noble family. From the moment they enrolled, they had formed their own little clique, never including him or Aizen in their activities.
Satoru had been completely focused on studying and training, paying little attention to such matters.
After half a year, he still hadn't clearly remembered their names.
After giving them a casual greeting, he walked over behind Aizen.
"Sōsuke, what are you writing?"
Seeing Satoru approach Aizen, the two roommates quickly made themselves scarce.
Without looking up, Aizen replied, "Mathematics."
Satoru blinked in surprise before realizing - oh, just math.
He leaned over Aizen's shoulder to look for a moment before feeling dizzy and quickly looking away.
"What's this for?"
"Program testing... Using electronic products to simulate real-world behavior and achieve human-machine interaction through control systems," Aizen explained calmly.
Satoru nodded with partial understanding.
Then suddenly, he froze.
"Wait... simulated behavior, human-computer interaction?"
"Isn't this just a game?"
His eyes lit up: "Sōsuke, are you designing a game program?"
Aizen didn't answer. Instead, he continued writing as he spoke:
"That Kisuke Urahara you know—he does have some talent."
"With his help, many previously troublesome aspects can now be overcome."
"If only we could bring him into the experiment as well..."
Satoru didn't pay much attention to Aizen's subsequent musings.
He couldn't help but grin. "Sōsuke—no, Aizen Daimyōjin, you really are my lucky star!"
"What do you need packed? I'll handle it—you focus on your work!"
Soon, the two of them would be moving out.
Each heading to the squad they were assigned to!
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