A Candidate in Mind / Hell on Earth

"Besides, there's no way the old man can force you to put on a Captain's Haori."

Tessai Tsukabishi nodded slowly at Yoruichi's words, wholeheartedly agreeing.

"That's a good idea."

"Lord Kyōsuke, would you come with me to the Kidō Corps now?"

"Ushōda can also teach you the duties of the vice kidō chief while we're there."

At his words, Kyōsuke Kuchiki's mouth twitched slightly.

"Come to think of it..."

"Grand kidō chief, you look very young, and you're very strong, too."

"Why are you suddenly retiring?"

"Well..."

Tessai Tsukabishi pushed up his glasses, his expression softening considerably.

"There's a heavy workload in the Kidō Corps, with many people and all sorts of matters to manage. After doing it for so long, Ushōda and I are both tired."

"It's only natural that we'd want a long vacation."

At that, he couldn't help reaching out and patting Kyōsuke Kuchiki on the shoulder.

"Lord Kyōsuke, whether I can retire or not is all up to you."

"Every day sooner you get familiar with the work is one day sooner I can step down."

"Once I open my retirement shop, I'll invite you over for a meal."

"..."

Good grief, what a flag to raise.

Kyōsuke Kuchiki gave him a speechless look.

No wonder you ended up doing odd jobs at Urahara's shop later.

So you'd had the idea all along!

Chapter 51: A Candidate in Mind

"I see."

After hearing Tessai Tsukabishi's answer, Kyōsuke Kuchiki smiled and continued:

"But, Yoruichi, grand kidō chief, there's no rush to register me."

"As for a candidate for Kenpachi, I already have a suitable person in mind."

"I'll go find him first thing tomorrow morning."

"Who is it?"

Yoruichi Shihōin paused in surprise, her face full of curiosity.

"If they're in the Seireitei... are you going to persuade Captain Unohana to come out of retirement?"

"I heard she killed countless people in the past and was a renowned swordswoman!"

"Maybe she'd be a good fit for the name Kenpachi."

More than a good fit—she's the First Kenpachi!

Kyōsuke Kuchiki broke out in a cold sweat inwardly.

"Captain Unohana would be a good fit."

"Unfortunately, she's like me. Her ambitions lie elsewhere."

"The person I'm looking for is outside the Seireitei, in Rukongai!"

"?"

At the mention of Rukongai, Yoruichi paused, and her expression instantly turned peculiar.

The next second, she reached out and put her hand on Kyōsuke Kuchiki's forehead.

"Little brother, did you catch something from fighting Kiganjō? Have you gone stupid too?"

She put on a worried expression.

"Plenty of Soul Reapers come from Rukongai, but how could anyone there be as strong as a Kenpachi?"

Without explaining further, Kyōsuke Kuchiki moved Yoruichi's hand away and smiled at her.

"The one I'm looking for is."

"..."

Seeing how confident he looked, Yoruichi and Tessai Tsukabishi couldn't very well try to dissuade him further.

"Then I'll go with you."

After giving it some thought, Yoruichi Shihōin made up her mind without hesitation.

"Rukongai hasn't been peaceful lately. It's too dangerous to go alone."

"Don't you have a mission?"

At Kyōsuke Kuchiki's words, she put on a troubled expression and sighed.

"What can I do? You just have to go, don't you?"

"As your big sister, of course I have to come with you."

"Besides, there haven't been many missions lately. I can have Soi Fon handle them."

"Then we'll leave tomorrow morning,"

Kyōsuke Kuchiki concluded.

"If you oversleep, I'm leaving without you."

"..."

Watching the two of them go back and forth until they'd settled everything, Tessai Tsukabishi suddenly looked a little bitter.

What was going on?

Weren't these two discussing the mission the Captain-Commander had given them?

Why... had he suddenly caught a whiff of dog food?

There were three people in this discussion, so why did he feel like he didn't deserve a voice?

Now that everything was settled, Kyōsuke Kuchiki wasted no more time.

Tessai Tsukabishi didn't insist on tagging along when the mood clearly wasn't right. After saying he would look for a suitable candidate in the Seireitei, he promptly left.

After saying goodbye to Yoruichi, Kyōsuke Kuchiki went home and told Kuchiki Ginrei and Byakuya about the matter. Both their expressions immediately became a little complicated.

"I did hear today... that Kiganjō had been taken down decisively."

"But I didn't expect it to be you."

Kuchiki Ginga's expression was full of complicated emotions.

No wonder the captains he'd passed on his way home today had all looked so cheerful when they saw him.

Kyōsuke had only just graduated, yet he was already familiar to all the captains and had nearly become their equal.

That speed of advancement... even for a genius, wasn't it a little too fast?

Uh, wait...

Kyōsuke had already become vice kidō chief.

In theory... he was even half a rank above the division captains...

Kuchiki Ginga's expression grew even more complicated.

He hadn't even retired yet, and his grandson's rank was already half a head above his own.

"...The younger generation is formidable."

Hearing Kuchiki Ginrei's remark, Byakuya Kuchiki, who stood nearby, looked much calmer.

But in truth, he felt no better than Kuchiki Ginrei.

He hadn't yet inherited the position of Sixth Division captain... and Kyōsuke had already become vice kidō chief.

He was clearly the older one, yet in the blink of an eye, Kyōsuke had left him far behind!

By the time he inherited the position of Sixth Division captain, wouldn't this guy already be grand kidō chief?

At the thought, Byakuya Kuchiki couldn't help feeling a little melancholy.

Why did he suddenly feel so useless in front of his own little brother...?

But with his noble restraint, he maintained a calm expression.

"Do you need me to assign a few Sixth Division members to you for your trip to Rukongai tomorrow?"

"Yoruichi's coming too, so there's no need for more people. Thank you, big brother."

Kyōsuke Kuchiki answered immediately.

It wasn't that he didn't want extra people; the main thing was that man's fighting strength was too great.

Yoruichi would be fine. Even if she couldn't beat him, she could at least run, and she could lend a hand from time to time.

If other division members came, it would be no different from handing over free kills!

He didn't know what Byakuya Kuchiki had said about him joining the Kidō Corps and going out to look for a Kenpachi.

Kuchiki Ginrei actually voiced no objection to either matter. Before leaving, he merely gave him a long look, his eyes filled with gratification and pride, along with a touch of helplessness.

In his room, Kyōsuke Kuchiki checked his proficiency in the Heaven Communicating Talisman Art again.

It had been at 95% before. After he killed Kiganjō, his proficiency had indeed risen by only 1%.

Kiganjō, so after getting so full of yourself you thought you could wipe out heaven and earth in seconds, you were only worth one Adjuchas?

Of course, that wasn't how it worked.

Kyōsuke Kuchiki was only venting.

Based on his previous experience cultivating the Six Treasury Immortal Thief, an Extraordinary Skill was extremely difficult to improve when it was close to the perfect realm.

Mastering it overnight was simply impossible.

And it wasn't as though the Eight Extraordinary Skills exhausted their potential once they reached the perfect realm.

In fact, the perfect realm was only the beginning.

The greatest thing about the Eight Extraordinary Skills was that they gave him limitless potential to grow stronger.

For example, with the Six Treasury Immortal Thief at the perfect realm as a foundation, Kyōsuke Kuchiki had easily developed powerful Zanjutsu capable of suppressing a captain.

Not to mention that, with the Heaven Communicating Talisman Art, he was like a "demon king" or "demon god" when it came to Kidō.

Moreover, no matter how talented other Soul Reapers were, they all had limits.

Even someone as powerful as Aizen had only broken through that limit after merging with the Hōgyoku.

But Kyōsuke Kuchiki had no limit, as long as he was given enough time to unlock and develop the Eight Extraordinary Skills.

He could easily surpass even the Soul King, who could be called the creator god of the Soul Reaper world.

After thinking for a while, he decided to proceed steadily and try not to change the course of the story.

Besides, not many of the captains died in the end anyway, so they could just treat it as a long vacation in the World of the Living.

Chapter 52: Hell on Earth

Early the next morning, Kyōsuke Kuchiki had just woken up and hadn't even eaten breakfast when his bedroom's sliding door was slowly pulled open.

Outside, a purple-haired woman stood on the veranda, dressed in a pure black bodysuit with her classic orange jacket tied over it. Two short blades, one long and one short, hung diagonally across the back of her waist.

She was neatly dressed, her slender, graceful figure on full display, and looked beautiful.

"Good morning, Kyōsuke."

Yoruichi waved with a smile.