Confrontation with Kirio Hikifune

But what surprised Ten Unohana most was the class's teacher. She was none other than—

Kirio Hikifune, captain of the Twelfth Division and a future member of the Zero Division.

There were also plenty of major figures from later on among the students.

Besides Aizen, one of the big bosses among the Soul Reapers in the future, there were the spy Gin Ichimaru, the stubborn Kaname Tōsen, his good buddy, the bear-headed Sajin Komamura, and Kisuke Urahara, who would later establish the Research and Development Institute. There were also Kenpachi Zaraki and Yachiru Kusajishi, who had never appeared at Shin'ō Academy in the original, along with a number of the original's lieutenants.

Looks like they gathered a bunch of promising souls from Rukongai together. As for Yoruichi, she's probably here because of the Second Division. The Second Division is responsible for punishing crime in Soul Society, so putting Yoruichi in this class serves two purposes: establishing authority and keeping an eye on these people. Tsk, tsk, that's Old Man Yamamoto for you. His thinking really is out of the ordinary. But even Old Man Yamamoto missed one thing despite all his careful planning. He overlooked Sōsuke Aizen.

A shout interrupted Ten Unohana's thoughts.

"Look out!" Yoruichi shouted.

Ten Unohana watched the approaching blade with indifference and gave a bloodthirsty smile. Instead of retreating, he stepped forward.

He was about to run straight into Hiyori Sarugaki's Zanpakuto.

"Ah!" "Someone's going to die!"

Ignoring the cries around him, Ten Unohana stepped forward and seized Hiyori Sarugaki's blade before she could react.

Everyone's jaws dropped.

"Ah!"

"No way!"

"How is that possible?"

The students cried out in shock.

At their current level, they had yet to learn how to coat the surface of their bodies in Reiatsu to make themselves resistant to blades. Even the noble students only knew about it; they weren't strong enough to do it yet.

"Th-this... how is this possible?" Hiyori Sarugaki stared blankly at the tip of her blade, gripped in Ten Unohana's hand, and muttered to herself.

"How can someone catch a blade?"

"Hmph. Go home and train for a few more years before you come out acting so cocky!" Ten Unohana didn't care whether Hiyori Sarugaki was stunned or not. After his cold retort, he tightened his grip slightly...

Clang!

"Holy crap!"

"No way!"

"I'm dreaming."

The background characters bore witness to Ten Unohana's strength through their own ignorance.

Ten Unohana snapped Hiyori Sarugaki's Zanpakuto in half, then...

Clang! With a soft ring, the broken blade plunged deep into Hiyori Sarugaki's chest.

Hiyori Sarugaki stared blankly at the broken blade in her chest.

In front of Hiyori Sarugaki was the Kidō barrier Enkōsen, pierced through. It was also this Kidō that had deflected the broken blade, which would otherwise have pierced through Hiyori Sarugaki, into her chest.

"What's the meaning of this?!" Ten Unohana asked provocatively, looking at Kirio Hikifune, whose hand was still raised after casting the Kidō.

At the same time, he slowly drew the Zanpakuto in his hand.

Shing! With a ring of steel, Ten Unohana's Zanpakuto appeared fully before everyone's eyes.

Its slender blade and sharp, pointed broken-blade tip were bloodthirsty yet elegant, like a work of art.

Ignoring everyone's praise for his Zanpakuto,

Ten Unohana said expressionlessly to Hiyori Sarugaki, "Killing you alone wouldn't have been worth drawing my blade for, but add a Captain-level opponent, and that's just right."

Everyone's eyes widened, as though they couldn't believe what Ten Unohana had said. That was a captain! Even looking at one was a grave act of disrespect, yet someone was actually talking about killing one.

Heavens!

This can't be real! I must be hearing things.

"Bastard, what the hell are you doing?!" Yoruichi shouted at Ten Unohana.

Ten Unohana ignored everyone else and simply stared at Kirio Hikifune. A wicked smile slowly spread across his lips as he said, "Since you stopped someone, you have to bear the consequences, don't you?"

With that, he flicked his blade and casually twirled it, then used Shunpo to charge straight forward, paying no heed to Kirio Hikifune's reaction.

His target—

Clang! Right in front of Hiyori Sarugaki's face, she saw Ten Unohana's blade just centimeters away, but Kirio Hikifune had blocked his slash with her own Zanpakuto. Hiyori turned pale with fright.

Ten Unohana looked at Kirio Hikifune's smiling, chubby face. Her two interventions had made him slightly angry.

He turned his blade and slashed straight at Kirio Hikifune, but she was a Captain-level fighter, after all. With a slight turn of her Zanpakuto, she blocked it. Ten Unohana narrowed his eyes and released his grip, letting his Zanpakuto fall.

"Relic of enchantment, bloom! Poppy Scythe!"

Bang! Clang!

Ten Unohana kicked the falling Poppy Scythe, sending its descending blade shooting toward Kirio Hikifune. Although the attack caught her by surprise, she still managed to block it.

Clatter! Ten Unohana grabbed the silver chain and pulled hard. The Poppy Scythe, which had already been blocked, swung swiftly around again and flew toward Kirio Hikifune.

Kirio Hikifune casually raised her Zanpakuto again, preparing to block the faster-moving Poppy Scythe, but...

"Hadō #4: Byakurai!"

Seeing the lightning flickering on Ten Unohana's index finger, Kirio Hikifune grew frantic.

Ten Unohana's icy voice rang out as Byakurai began to gather, and its target was none other than—

Hiyori Sarugaki.

Kirio Hikifune was frantic, but there was nothing she could do about the situation.

If Kirio Hikifune used Shunpo to get there herself, she could definitely block Byakurai in time. But if she did, the Poppy Scythe beside her would be brought straight to Hiyori Sarugaki as well.

Then, with Ten Unohana's superb skill at controlling the Poppy Scythe, he would certainly kill Hiyori Sarugaki while Kirio Hikifune was blocking Byakurai. All her efforts would have been for nothing.

But Kirio Hikifune's actions left Ten Unohana completely dumbfounded...

Kirio Hikifune grabbed the Poppy Scythe herself and used Shunpo to reach Hiyori Sarugaki, standing in front of her and blocking the Byakurai fired at her.

"In that case—" Ten Unohana looked at the two of them, both unharmed, a flash in his eyes. He pulled the silver chain taut. In that case, he cried inwardly, die!

"Yah!" Ten Unohana shouted and swiftly pulled the Poppy Scythe's silver chain tight. Before Kirio Hikifune's shocked eyes, the Poppy Scythe cut deep into her body.

"Bastard—stop!" Yoruichi's breathless voice rang out.

Ten Unohana looked at the panting Yoruichi and sighed inwardly. He knew she must have just gone to find Retsu Unohana, but it seemed Retsu Unohana hadn't stopped what he was doing and had instead tacitly allowed it. Otherwise, Yoruichi would surely have brought Retsu Unohana's orders to stop him.

Ten Unohana sighed and slowly withdrew his Reiatsu.

Ten Unohana felt himself growing more and more distant from Yoruichi, but he didn't blame her. After all, what she had done was for his sake; she didn't want him to become the public enemy of Soul Society. But what Yoruichi didn't know was that Ten Unohana had long since become Soul Society's public enemy—from the moment he was born.

He slowly put away his Zanpakuto, ignoring Hiyori Sarugaki's murderous glare and the complicated look in Kirio Hikifune's eyes. He simply looked at Yoruichi, his own expression complicated.

After a long while,

"As expected of the Unohana family's young master, you really are strong. You've already achieved Shikai!" Kirio Hikifune said with a laugh, though it was unclear whether she had failed to notice the atmosphere between Yoruichi and Ten Unohana.

Ten Unohana turned to look at Kirio Hikifune. She had become very beautiful, practically a different person. The once fat, ugly woman had become slender and graceful.

"Hmph, did you use Temporary Souls to heal your injuries?! No wonder you think so little of the Fourth Division!" Ten Unohana snorted coldly.

Kirio Hikifune hurriedly explained, "Oh my, no, that's not it. I have great respect for the Fourth Division."

Ten Unohana shot Kirio Hikifune a fierce glare. She had spotted his verbal trap. As expected of the person who had invented a new species in Soul Society. If Kirio Hikifune had said anything else, she would have confirmed his claim that she thought nothing of the Fourth Division. Though the consequences wouldn't have been too serious, if someone from the Fourth Division tripped her up someday, it wouldn't have been worth it.

Ten Unohana looked at the huge hole in the wall and knew there would be no class today. So he casually greeted Tessai Tsukabishi and, ignoring the students with their various expressions of shock, left using Shunpo, leaving Yoruichi behind with a dim look in her eyes.

Retsu Unohana was surprised that Ten Unohana had returned so early. She knew that although he disliked school, he would obediently finish his classes because she had asked him to attend.

"It's nothing else. Someone broke the classroom wall, so I came back early. Oh, right, I had a bit of a conflict with Kirio Hikifune, the Twelfth Division captain, to lay some groundwork for my plan," Ten Unohana explained.

Retsu Unohana nodded. Ever since Ten Unohana had told her about his plan, she had known he would have to fight a Captain-level opponent. Besides, Yoruichi had just come to report to her, so she wasn't too surprised. What she hadn't expected was that her son would choose such an opponent: the captain of the Twelfth Division. Kirio Hikifune was due to be promoted to the Zero Division very soon. She could be considered one of the strongest captains, an opponent on Old Man Yamamoto's level.

"How did it go?" Retsu Unohana asked, a little worried. Kirio Hikifune was a Captain-level fighter, and one of the very best at that.

Ten Unohana sighed. "As expected of a veteran captain, she's very strong. Even while protecting someone, letting her guard down against me, and unable to hurt me, I only managed to give her a tiny, insignificant wound, which she quickly healed herself. Her Temporary Souls are far too effective. It's technology worthy of a promotion to the Zero Division."

Retsu Unohana saw how dejected Ten Unohana was and decided to bring one thing forward: teaching him swordsmanship.