Chapter 170: I Heard the Second Division Sent Satoru
"Captain, are you in your right mind?"
Looking at Shinji, who radiated an aura of laziness, Aizen maintained an indifferent expression.
"My strength is limited, and my experience is shallow. I haven't even been in the division for a year yet. How could I possibly serve as vice-captain?"
Shinji waved his hand dismissively: "Don't bother with all that useless talk. Though I haven't seen it with my own eyes, I know your strength is more than sufficient to be a vice-captain."
Aizen's pupils contracted slightly.
Why was Shinji so confident?
Had he inadvertently done something that revealed his true power?
He put on the expression of a frightened youth, showing some alarm:
"Captain... why would you say that?"
Shinji grinned: "Satoru said so. He claimed you're overwhelmingly powerful, that defeating vice-captains is easier for you than eating."
Sa! To! Ru!
Aizen took a deep breath, his blood pressure skyrocketing.
Seeing the dark aura emanating from Aizen, Shinji sighed.
"Don't be so quick to refuse. Actually, I wasn't in a hurry to find a vice-captain either."
"It's mainly because of what the Seireitei is like now, as you know... talent is scarce, with no proper succession."
"There are a few in the division who can use Shikai. Under normal circumstances, we could probably promote one of them if necessary."
"But not now. I need to find a vice-captain who can fight."
Aizen asked curiously: "Why?"
"Because the Captain-Commander wants to hold a ceremony."
Shinji shrugged: "Several captain-level officers died in this rebel uprising. The Captain-Commander says we need to give them a proper sendoff, so we're holding the Soul Funeral Ceremony ahead of schedule."
"Soul Funeral Ceremony?"
Aizen pondered the term.
He knew about soul burial.
In the living world, there were often souls that couldn't find their way to the Soul Society after death. In such cases, Shinigami would use the hilt of their Zanpakutō to press on their foreheads, sending them to the Soul Society.
That press was soul burial.
All Shinigami learned this during their academy days.
But what was a Soul Funeral Ceremony?
Before he could ask, Shinji explained it to him.
"According to Soul Society regulations, in the 12th year after a captain-level Shinigami's death, a relatively grand division funeral ceremony is held to send them off."
"There are many rules for the funeral, and since it hasn't happened much before, I'm not very familiar with it either..."
"But one of the requirements is that each division must send their vice-captain to the living world to capture a number of Hollows alive for use in the ceremony."
At this point, Shinji sighed:
"Killing Hollows is dangerous enough, but capturing them alive increases the difficulty by several levels."
"I can't bear to send the good... cough I can't send those with insufficient strength from the squad, so Sōsuke, I'll have to rely on you!"
Aizen: "..."
Did this guy just say he couldn't bear to send the good people from the squad?
Although he himself probably, perhaps, possibly wasn't a good person, he had never shown it so far, right?
This targeting was just too much.
Aizen opened his grudge book in his heart and added a heavy mark against Shinji.
Oh, and Satoru too.
Bold, enlarged font, a fierce grudge recorded.
After noting these two grievances, he looked at Shinji.
"Captain Hirako, according to what you just said, the ceremony is held 12 years after a captain-level death, so why are we preparing now?"
"Ah, about that... the Captain-Commander said that since many people died this time, delaying would be troublesome, so the ceremony has been moved up."
Troublesome?
Aizen keenly caught the problem in Shinji's words.
A funeral is just a ritual—what difference does it make whether it's earlier or later?
Unless this so-called Soul Funeral Ceremony is just a cover, with another real purpose behind it.
Hmm... after work today, I'll go check the Great Spiritual Library.
Thinking this, he turned to leave.
"Oh, I just remembered something."
Shinji's voice suddenly sounded from behind.
"The Second Division seems to be sending Satoru."
Aizen: "?"
He stopped and turned back in confusion.
Then, he suddenly realized.
Because the Second Division captain position had been reserved for the Shihōin Clan, the captain position was currently vacant.
Marenoshin Ōmaeda, though nominally the vice-captain, was actually handling most of the captain's duties.
If he went to hunt Hollows, there would be no one to handle the captain's duties.
As the third seat of the Second Division, Satoru taking over these responsibilities was only natural.
The Living World, hunting Hollows, Satoru.
Putting these words together felt like the danger level had exponentially increased.
Under normal circumstances, given Satoru's strength, he wouldn't be worried in the slightest about hunting a few Hollows.
Not to mention ordinary Hollows, even if a few Adjuchas showed up, it would be like serving themselves on a platter.
But now...
After pondering for a few seconds, he looked at Shinji.
The latter grinned, revealing a row of white teeth.
He reached into his robe and pulled out a scroll.
"Come on, this is the appointment document. Sign it, I'll submit it, and it's done~"
He's quite prepared...
Aizen took the appointment document, carefully read through it, and after confirming there were no traps, he looked up.
"Captain Hirako, to avoid future complications, let me make this clear first."
"Even if I become the vice-captain, I will only complete my share of the work... If you're expecting to dump all the captain's duties on me, that's absolutely impossible."
Shinji's expression froze.
Aizen narrowed his eyes: "It's not too late to back out now."
Shinji quickly switched his expression and let out a dry laugh:
"Sōsuke, you brat, what kind of strange talk is that!"
"I'm a dedicated captain... How could I have such thoughts?"
"Don't worry, trust in my integrity as a captain, just sign it quickly!"
Aizen: "..."
For a moment, he seemed to see Satoru's face on his captain.
What had he done wrong? Why was he always surrounded by such unreliable people?
Aizen shook his head slightly, took the pen that Shinji had already prepared, and signed his name.
...
...
First Division barracks.
Yamamoto stood in the middle of the dojo, both hands resting on his cane.
After hearing Satoru's words, he widened his eyes in surprise.
Back when he heard that Satoru's Shikai had no name, he already found it quite absurd.
Now something even more absurd had arrived.
This kid actually had two sets of Shikai?
He couldn't help but suspect that Satoru had just woken up, couldn't distinguish between dreams and reality, and came to brag to him.
Seeing that Yamamoto didn't believe him, Satoru simply directly released his Shikai.
Looking at the twin blades burning with blue flames, Yamamoto fell into silence.
Although he had long thought that Satoru was no ordinary person, being this abnormal still opened his eyes.
Yamamoto had a premonition.
This kid would either become the Seireitei's great pillar of support in the future... or he would be a source of chaos.
The final outcome would depend on him, his teacher!