"Yojuro, this is our Thirteenth Division's vice-captain, Shiba Kaien.
"Kaien is a man of honor and loyalty, admired and respected by many in the division. If you have anything you don't understand, you can always ask him."
Because of his frail health, Captain Ukitake was basically a shut-in. If it hadn't been for today's sudden incident, he wouldn't have even stepped outside his barracks.
Normally, a captain wouldn't waste words on a mere rookie. But Ukitake, being the good-natured man that he was—and since Yojuro had been a victim caught up in recent events—showed him special consideration.
Now that Kaien had come to take over, Ukitake was all too eager to hurry back to his quarters to rest.
"You don't have to worry about whether the captain holds anything against you," Kaien said. "Because of his health, Captain Ukitake rarely handles division affairs directly. Most of it falls to us, his subordinates.
"My name is Shiba Kaien. I was only recently promoted to vice-captain of the Thirteenth Division. Before this, I was the third seat. I look forward to working with you."
"It's the other way around—I'll be counting on Vice-Captain Shiba for guidance. I'm the newcomer here, Minami Yojuro."
This was Yojuro's first meeting with Shiba Kaien. And for Yojuro, it was also the first time he came to understand just what kind of tragic figure Kaien really was.
---
Time flew by quickly. Two years passed since Yojuro became a member of the Thirteenth Division. Once again, Captain Ukitake Jūshirō was forced to leave his haven of rest and attend an emergency captains' meeting in the First Division.
"Yojuro, what do you think prompted the Head Captain to suddenly call such a meeting?"
The one who asked was none other than Vice-Captain Shiba Kaien. In the two years they'd served together, Yojuro and Kaien had built a strong friendship.
Kaien was originally the head of one of Soul Society's five great noble families—the Shiba Clan—though the family had since fallen from power.
In the original storyline, Kaien's character didn't get much development. But after two years together, Yojuro came to understand why even someone like Rukia adored Kaien so much.
Despite his noble birth, Kaien treated every member of the division equally, regardless of whether they were aristocrats or came from the slums of Rukongai. His sense of fairness made him well-loved by all.
What's more, Kaien was a prodigy. At the Shin'ō Academy, he had completed the full six-year curriculum in just one year.
He had entered the Thirteenth Division directly as a third seat, and within only five years, had risen to vice-captain.
From every perspective—his talent, his connections, his character—it was practically guaranteed that Kaien would one day succeed Ukitake as the next Captain of the Thirteenth Division.
And over these two years, Kaien's keen insight had also allowed him to notice something unusual about Yojuro.
At first, Kaien had simply wanted to train Yojuro more thoroughly out of concern for rookies. But during their sparring matches, he gradually discovered the hidden strength that Yojuro kept concealed.
After learning about Minami Yojuro's concerns, Kaien did not laugh at him like Ikkaku and Yumichika often would, dismissing him as paranoid or delusional. Instead, Kaien smiled and expressed his understanding.
The Soul Society might look calm and peaceful on the surface, but in reality, dangerous undercurrents were always present—something Kaien, once a member of one of the Five Great Noble Families, understood all too well.
He also believed that being cautious was not necessarily a bad thing. His late wife, Shiba Miyako, had been killed by a Hollow precisely because of carelessness.
(Author's Note: I know some readers may be confused. It's not that I haven't seen the original storyline—I deliberately arranged for Miyako to die earlier, because I plan to have her revived later on.)
For years, Kaien had felt there was something suspicious about his wife's death. By all logic, it shouldn't have happened. Miyako had been the Third Seat of their squad, a skilled Shinigami with Shikai, yet she was supposedly killed by nothing more than a low-level Hollow in Rukongai. The entire situation was simply absurd.
"I've picked up some rumors," Kaien said. "Apparently, large-scale Hollowfication incidents have suddenly broken out in Rukongai. The Captain of the Ninth Division, Kensei Muguruma, along with his Lieutenant, Mashiro Kuna, went to investigate. But it seems something went wrong."
"The Captain and Lieutenant of the Ninth Division are among the top combat forces in the Seireitei. If something happened to them, it makes sense the Head Captain would urgently call for a Captains' Meeting. This time, I'm guessing more Captains will be dispatched to investigate."
Kaien wasn't surprised by the intel Minami Yojuro had acquired. Coming from Rukongai himself, Yojuro seemed to have connections in that chaotic, mixed-up place where information spread quickly.
And within the Gotei 13, Yojuro had also built strong relationships. Kaien's circle of friends was mostly limited to the Thirteenth Division, but Yojuro's connections stretched across multiple squads.
It wasn't hard to understand why. Yojuro, after all, was a transmigrator. Though he hadn't yet discovered his "cheat ability," his knowledge of the plot gave him insight into everyone's personalities. As long as he catered to people's interests, getting along with them wasn't difficult at all.
"Hollowfication spreading across Rukongai? Could this be related to what I asked you to investigate about Miyako's death?"
Upon hearing about widespread Hollowfication, Kaien's expression immediately grew serious.
Occasional Hollowfication of souls in Rukongai wasn't unusual.
But usually, the Hollows there were only low-class ones. They could bully fresh graduates from the Academy, sure, but killing his wife—someone as powerful as a Third Seat with Shikai? That was beyond reason. And now, even the Captain and Lieutenant of the Ninth Division had gone missing. Clearly, something was very wrong.
"It probably isn't connected…" Yojuro replied. "The timing between the two incidents is too far apart."
Even so, Minami Yojuro couldn't help but admire Kaien's sharp intuition. He wanted to tell him that he was exactly right—that both events were orchestrated by the same mastermind, a certain slick-haired schemer.
Whether it was the disappearance of the Ninth Division's Captain and Lieutenant, or the death of Kaien's wife, both were nothing more than sacrifices in Aizen Sōsuke's experiments.
But Yojuro couldn't reveal the truth. He couldn't explain how he knew. If he spoke out, he might end up being arrested and investigated by the Onmitsukidō himself.
Besides, even though Kaien was strong, heading to Rukongai now would only mean walking to his death.
Yojuro already knew what the so-called Captains' Meeting would decide, even without being there. The Head Captain would dispatch a special task force made up of Captain Rose Otoribashi of the Third Division, Captain Shinji Hirako of the Fifth Division, Captain Love Aikawa of the Seventh, Vice-Captain Lisa Yadōmaru of the Eighth, Captain Hiyori Sarugaki of the Twelfth, and Kidō Corps Lieutenant Hachigen Ushōda to investigate.
And without question, even this group of Captain-class fighters would ultimately fall prey to Aizen's Zanpakutō, Kyōka Suigetsu, becoming experimental subjects for Hollowfication.
If so many Captains and Lieutenants were doomed to fail, Yojuro saw no way that Kaien alone could change the outcome. Which was why, at this moment, he tried to dissuade him from rushing into Rukongai to meet certain death.