Soi Fon's style of self-introduction

Byakurai shot from his finger, but instead of piercing the Soul Reaper's skull as he had imagined, it merely kicked up a cloud of dust.

Dōsan raised his head, and this time, shock surged through his own eyes.

Just now, the instant he raised his hand and fired Byakurai, a figure had appeared from outside his senses, stepped in front of him, and rescued Ryō Genshi.

Dōsan understood the reasoning and the principle behind it,

But can you tell me how you did all that in just one second?

"That's enough, Dōsan Hanyū!" The voice was cold and imperious, and it came from behind Dōsan.

Not daring to show the slightest hostility, Dōsan hesitantly turned his head, moving slowly.

The girl's feather-ringed braids swayed gently, and her white haori billowed in her Spiritual Pressure. Sunlight fell on her, lending her brows a cold, dazzling beauty.

Dōsan Hanyū recognized her. The girl had been present at his match with Nemu Kurotsuchi.

At least she really was a Soul Reaper.

Ryō Genshi knelt behind Soi Fon, genuinely terrified by Dōsan. His mouth hung open, and he braced one hand against the ground as he vomited uncontrollably.

The girl captain raised an eyebrow. Dōsan inwardly sensed trouble and ran through his choice of words.

But she merely turned her head to look at Ryō Genshi.

"What was the mission the Punishment Force assigned you?"

Even though she thought highly of Dōsan, Soi Fon, as commander-in-chief of the Punishment Force, had no intention of deliberately currying favor with him at a time like this.

"My deepest apologies, Commander-in-Chief."

Kudō reacted faster than Ryō Genshi and dropped to one knee. As a member of the Punishment Force, now that he was out of combat and his intelligence had reclaimed the high ground, he knew full well how grave an offense he had committed.

"The truth is... cough, cough." Kudō kept his head lowered. His injuries were far worse than Ryō Genshi's; he had taken Dōsan's Shakkahō to the chest at close range, and now he couldn't move without coughing up blood.

"I'm not interested in your excuses." Soi Fon waved a hand. "Tell me what you're supposed to tell me."

Her orders had been to leave if discovered.

Surveillance meant "no absolute malice" and an unwillingness to provoke a direct confrontation.

But look what had happened: not only had they failed the mission, they had gotten into a fight instead.

It wasn't just this one minor matter. The Punishment Force was the assassin organization of the Thirteenth Division.

Most of the time, they dealt with Soul Reapers who had betrayed them and nobles who secretly plotted evil deeds.

Absolute obedience to orders had always been the Punishment Force's foremost creed.

Kudō began his account, starting with the order his partner had given him and ending with Dōsan severely injuring him.

"Your turn, Ryō Genshi."

Normally, a hearing like this could never have taken place in front of an outsider like Dōsan Hanyū.

But now, Soi Fon needed to salvage her image in Dōsan's eyes as much as possible.

Soi Fon didn't merely speak. She placed a hand on the sword at her waist, and her Spiritual Pressure bore down on Ryō Genshi like an avalanche.

Never mind Ryō Genshi—even Dōsan, standing behind Soi Fon, could feel that the Spiritual Pressure was enough to make the sweat on his forehead flow backward.

Dōsan's Spiritual Pressure seemed to rise in resistance. Its unusual energy rolled out in wave after wave, making Soi Fon nod.

In both quality and quantity, this young man had firmly established himself at the level of a Seated Officer.

Ryō Genshi had already been on the verge of a breakdown from losing his arm, and now he grew even more deranged. "It was Dōsan Hanyū! He slipped past my surveillance, and he attacked me too! He..."

Ryō Genshi opened his mouth as wide as he could, blood in his mouth as he panted wildly. His words came out in no particular order, and he even roared much of it, making him hard to understand.

The Punishment Force was no gentle place. With the mission in such a mess because of him, even if he wasn't sentenced to death, he wouldn't fare much better.

When Ryō Genshi raised his head again, his eyes had inexplicably changed from fearful to full of venomous hatred.

You're my captain! Why are you helping some commoner brat?!

Driven to reckless violence, Ryō Genshi actually snatched his Zanpakuto off the ground and thrust it at Soi Fon's neck.

"Hadō #4: Byakurai." Dōsan moved later but struck first, piercing Ryō Genshi's heart with precision.

Zero point three seconds.

That was the reaction time Soi Fon had calculated for Dōsan Hanyū.

And that figure included Soi Fon's own reaction time added on top.

In other words, after Ryō Genshi decided to rebel, Dōsan Hanyū had taken less than 0.3 seconds to react, raise his hand, and attack him.

Those reflexes were a sign of talent.

And the moment Ryō Genshi's corpse fell, more than a dozen black-clad, masked Soul Reapers appeared around Soi Fon and Dōsan Hanyū, each dropping to one knee.

"Our deepest apologies, Commander Soi Fon!"

Soi Fon waved her hand and snapped, "Withdraw!"

The Punishment Force members left the same way they had come, kicking up a small cloud of dust and taking Ryō Genshi and the severely injured Kudō with them.

It was clearly the same voice, but Dōsan, standing behind her, felt the air around him grow several degrees colder.

One point two seconds.

A full 1.2 seconds had passed after her life as commander-in-chief was "threatened" before her personal guard arrived.

They were her guards, and she knew exactly what they were capable of.

Normally, she wouldn't have been so angry.

Comparisons were deadly.

Under the Punishment Force's old recruitment standards, candidates had to be trained from early childhood. After a rigorous selection process that eliminated nine out of ten and at least five years of training, they could join the Punishment Force. An ordinary recruit then had to undergo another five years of life-and-death trials before becoming part of her personal guard as commander.

The Punishment Force now was a bunch of "top students" fresh out of the academy.

And the Second Division now:

Ordinary members disobeyed orders, and her personal guard reacted more slowly than dogs.

Soi Fon breathed unevenly for three seconds before her chest finally stilled.

But once her mind settled, another problem arose.

How was she supposed to ask Dōsan Hanyū to join the Second Division? Her chances of recruiting him hadn't been that high to begin with, and now they could be said to have hit rock bottom.

She should apologize first. After all, from Dōsan's perspective, regardless of the reason, her surveillance had been far too rude.

No, no, no.

This was their first—second meeting. She should introduce herself first.

I'm the Second Division Captain, commander-in-chief of the Stealth Force, and commander of the Punishment Force.

Isn't that too long-winded? A little too pretentious?

What if I just explain why?

Just tell him I want to invite him to join the Second Division.

That won't work, will it? He'll definitely refuse!

Soi Fon's eyes grew a little dazed.

She had entered the Punishment Force as far back as she could remember, and her morals and values had all been shaped by that person. This kind of social interaction had her stumped.

Dōsan looked at the girl captain's back. He was panicking too. Why had she stopped moving?

What should he do now? Explain why he had attacked?

No. Just thinking of the cold words the girl captain had used on her subordinates...

I'll die. If I say that, she'll definitely cut me down.

Then he would introduce himself.

My name is Dōsan Hanyū. Isshin Shiba, the Tenth Division Captain, is my uncle.

No, that won't work.

Uncle Isshin's name didn't even carry much weight with ordinary Soul Reapers, let alone another captain.

The two stood there, one behind the other, their clothes rustling in the wind.

If the enemy didn't move, he wouldn't move. No move was better than any move.

At last, Soi Fon proved just a little less composed.

I should introduce myself first after all!

Having made up her mind, Soi Fon turned her head slightly, her chin brushing her shoulder. Her feather-ringed braid swayed gently and came to rest on her shoulder, her gaze cold and beautiful like a proud thorny rose in the snow.

But when she saw Dōsan's puzzled gaze, everything she had meant to say vanished from her mind. She merely barked an order on instinct:

"Kid, follow me."

Neither Dōsan nor even Soi Fon noticed that another Soul Reaper had been watching this entire series of events.

"Does Aizen not even take an ability like 'Correctness of Revision' seriously?"

In the shadows, a slender young man opened his beautiful almond-shaped silver eyes, took another long look at Dōsan's back, and turned to leave.