During Jun's next three months at Shin'ō Academy, rather than training Kōga, he spent more time training the three little ones.
Under Jun's careful instruction, the three improved greatly, especially in their teamwork. This made Kōga realize that Jun wasn't just drawing a salary as an instructor.
After that, Kōga's opinion of Jun finally became less strained. But perhaps because of his childhood rebelliousness, there was always a sense of discord between them.
Jun thought perhaps he was too gentle. After all, Kōga came from Rukongai's District 52, which was among the worst districts to live in at the moment. Having thrived in a district like that, Kōga presumably couldn't quite accept Jun's gentleness.
But Jun couldn't help it. Who told him to have this kind of persona in the current Soul Society? And so, amid all that awkwardness, Jun and Kōga's first assignment period passed.
"Hey~ I came over for a drink."
"You only got back from the academy today, didn't you? Aren't you going home to spend time with your family first?"
"I'd like to, but the Twelfth Division is tackling a project. That bastard Urahara! If Captain Hikifune were still around, she definitely would've let Lingling come home with me."
"Hahaha~"
Jun came to Aizen's home. Aizen's current residence was also a former noble estate, situated at the opposite end from Jun's home: one at the southernmost end of the Seireitei, the other at the northernmost.
The two talked about things that had happened in Soul Society over the past three months. One thing that could be considered a major event had happened: a group of Soul Reapers had rebelled.
Soul Reapers rebelling wasn't uncommon in Soul Society. In the original story, many people earned promotions by dealing with rebel Soul Reapers, making it one of the ways to rise quickly through the ranks.
"Did you get involved?"
"I killed one."
"Someone you knew?"
"Not well, but he was from the Fifth Division."
Jun and Aizen clinked cups. How could someone from the Fifth Division not be an acquaintance of Aizen's? Aizen simply didn't want to say more.
"What caused it this time?"
"Dissatisfaction with Captain Nanbu, I suppose. There were also some factors related to their missions."
Jun tilted his head. "There have been quite a lot of incidents directed at Captain Nanbu these past few decades."
"To put it in your words, that's the tide of the times."
"Yeah, someone's doing it deliberately, but there's nothing to be done. Even if that person is found, there'll be another. Removing the nobles from power is inevitable."
Aizen smiled. "Captain Nanbu intends to step down, but our lieutenant, Hirako, isn't quite mature enough yet, so Captain Nanbu hasn't left."
"Oh? Is that so?"
"Yeah, it hasn't been easy."
"Yeah~ I'd say, sooner or later, nobles won't be able to establish themselves anywhere outside the Sixth Division."
Jun spoke of what lay ahead, and Aizen nodded in full agreement. The two clinked cups again.
"Let's change the subject. This is pretty disgusting. Where are you planning to go for a break?"
"The World of the Living, I think."
"The World of the Living? Is that a good idea? Isn't there a war going on there?"
"It's precisely because of the war that our work as Soul Reapers is easier. Haven't you noticed how quickly Soul Society's population has been growing lately?"
"I know. Our Tenth Division has been pretty busy lately."
"Heh, you slacker. How can you even say that?"
"Why shouldn't I be able to say it?"
Jun didn't care in the least. The World of the Living was in the period just before Japan's Sengoku era. Jun had heard about the fighting there before and gone to take a look. He had traveled all over Japan and found a newborn Uesugi Kenshin, who still bore the surname Nagao at the time, so Jun had given up on the idea. Another seven or eight years had passed since then, and it seemed Oda Nobunaga had been born. Should he go take another look sometime?
"If I don't go to the World of the Living, do you have anywhere good to recommend?"
"Hmm~~ I found an interesting youngster at the academy."
"My academy assignment isn't until next year."
"Then wait until then."
"That works too. What's his name?"
"Tatara Kōga. This kid really is interesting. I reckon he has about eighty-five percent of our talent."
"Oh~? Tatara. I'll remember that."
After returning to life in the division, Jun welcomed his beloved back a little over half a month later. The two naturally enjoyed boundless pleasure in a passionate reunion, and Jun's happy days returned.
But as his life grew longer and longer, Jun noticed that Soul Reapers had rather little need for life's pleasures, especially those between men and women.
Take Jun himself, for example. He had spent three months on assignment at the academy, followed by half a month while Isuzu worked on her project. For those three and a half months, Jun hadn't felt any desire at all. The thought had never even crossed his mind.
If he had still been alive, as he was in his previous life, leaving aside whether it was fair to his wife, it would have been genuinely difficult not to cheat if he had spent years away on business. Self-control was one thing, but instinct made a man need release. If he didn't find a woman, he could use his hand.
But Soul Reapers in Soul Society had no such thing. Thinking carefully about it, it was just like eating: both were merely ways to retain their humanity. Soul Reapers weren't living people and had no physiology in the true sense, so they had no hormones or other such substances. Naturally, they wouldn't have those desires.
So Jun wasn't quite sure whether that was good or bad. But clearly, thinking too much about such things suppressed his humanity.
Jun felt he was starting down Instructor Hanazawa's path. In the end, he might really take the path of dying for the greater good, in pursuit of the satisfaction of his highest spiritual needs. Yet that wasn't what Jun truly wanted to do.
"Sure enough, people can't afford to be idle. Too much philosophical thinking will make them lose their humanity. I should take the initiative and do something, but what?"
Jun truly didn't know what to do. He had basically done everything he could, and the time wasn't right for the things he couldn't do. Plotting was one of those things whose time hadn't yet come. It was truly frustrating.
Just then, however, Asai-nee walked over with a document.
"Jun, this is a notice from Central 46."
"Oh? Central 46?" Jun took it and looked. It was actually an expedition letter of intent.
"Well, well~ Has Central 46 become so accommodating?"
"That's only because it's you."
"Fair point."
Jun looked over the letter of intent from front to back, because it really was unusual. Central 46 hadn't issued one for an expedition to Hueco Mundo in a long time. The major event a century ago had reduced the number of Soul Reapers, but now, a hundred years later, their numbers had mostly recovered, so here it was again.
Usually, though, they would simply receive mobilization orders and set out when the time came. What Jun had was a letter of intent, and he had the right to decline. That was one of the benefits of being a hero of Soul Society.
"Hmm~~" Jun fell silent for a moment. "When do they need an answer?"
"Ten days."
"Oh~ All right, I'll give them my answer tomorrow. I'll tell Lingling about it when I get home tonight."
"You're going to agree?"
"I'm more or less set on agreeing. I don't have any reason not to go." Jun had been bored to begin with, and this was a good opportunity. "Which lieutenant is leading the team?"
"Lieutenant Muguruma of the Ninth Division."
"Oh, Kensei. Yeah, he's pretty dependable. What about you? If I agree, it seems you'll have to come along as my adjutant."
"Yes."
"So?"
"Mm, I'll go. You've already agreed anyway."
Jun sighed. "You know~ It's been a hundred years. You should let bygones be bygones."
"What are you talking about?" Asai Shinten pretended not to understand.
"Ah~ Have it your way. As long as nothing especially unexpected happens, I can still protect you."
"You..."
"People have to keep looking forward."
Because of the letter of intent, Jun left the division early. Isshin wouldn't stop him, either. To put it bluntly, if things went wrong, this could be the last time they saw each other.
That really wasn't a curse or anything; it was simply a fact. Moreover, although the expedition team was nominally led by a division lieutenant, its strongest member actually came from the First Division.
The basic requirement for joining the First Division was bankai, so the person from the First Division was the most badass of the lot.
But while on the subject of bankai, the real origin of the power-scaling collapse in the original story lay in one expression: "Captain-level strength."
Captain-level strength was a really misleading concept. Why? Because supposedly, Captain-level meant having the strength to use bankai. But could bankai really be equated with being a captain? Actually, it couldn't.
Bankai was only one of the most basic requirements for becoming a captain. Precisely because it was a basic requirement, it should be considered pretty trashy compared with something else needed for Captain-level strength.
Let's put it this way: of the five attributes, Kyōraku's attributes represented solid Captain-level strength. If someone could bring all five attributes up to Kyōraku's level, then their Captain-level strength was assured.
But if the three attributes other than Spiritual Pool and Spiritual Reach were all cut in half, and that person also awakened bankai, would they still be Captain-level? Of course they could become a captain, but they really wouldn't fit the original story's so-called "Captain-level."
So that was how it worked. Bankai actually had no bearing on strength, because bankai was an elevation of the soul, a special ability born of self-awakening. Whether someone had that ability had nothing to do with how strong they were.
It became even clearer if bankai was treated as a superpower. Say my superpower is setting fires. That's the most ordinary superpower there is; at a glance, it doesn't seem impressive at all. But if I can burn an entire Earth to nothing with one fire, would you say that ability is strong?
The ability is still the same ability. It's the person who is strong.
Say your ability is controlling the Big Bang, an unbelievably badass power that restarts a universe every time you activate it. How awesome is that? But what's the problem? You don't have enough energy. You're not up to it, you lack the capacity, and you can't activate it. So is that ability strong?
The ability is still the same ability. The Big Bang is of course unbeatable, but the person is weak.
So this so-called Captain-level wasn't determined by bankai, but by whether the person was strong. Renji Abarai and that baldy Ikkaku Madarame could use bankai too. Were the two of them strong? Was that a problem with bankai? No, it was a problem with the people!
The definition of Captain-level was truly misleading. Take the First Division members coming on this expedition, for example. Captain-level? Don't be ridiculous. The standard for ordinary First Division members was being able to use bankai, but that didn't make them Captain-level.
Jun picked Isuzu up and took her home, then showed her the letter of intent.
"You're going?"
"I don't have any reason not to."
"Then go. Be careful."
"As long as nothing too unexpected happens, I should be fine."
"Mm." Isuzu leaned against Jun's chest. "I believe in your strength."
"So do I."
"Heehee, shameless~"
"If I cared about being shameless, how could I have someone as beautiful as you?"
"Ah~~ Smooth talker~~"
"Heh."
Jun and Isuzu had been married, or rather, together for more than 120 years, but they were still the same boy and girl they had been back then. Jun felt he had found the reason they still didn't have children: they weren't ready. Jun wasn't ready to be a father, and Isuzu had no desire to be a mother.
But that was fine, because their life together was truly wonderful now, exceptionally beautiful. Jun loved this girl, and Isuzu loved this boy.
They understood and supported each other. Jun understood Isuzu's preferences, and Isuzu understood Jun's twisted sense of humor. They were a match made in heaven.
"Do you want to do it tonight?"
"You want to?"
"Huh? Why don't you say you want to? When has it ever not been you, you bad guy, up to mischief?"
"Hmm~ But I don't really feel like it this time."
"Eh~?"
"Really."
"Mmm~~"
"Really, it's true."
"Fine, I want to, all right?!"
"Mm, as you command, my queen~"
"Heehee."
And so, the next day, the letter of intent, signed by Jun with his agreement, was delivered to Central 46. Soul Society's expeditionary force to Hueco Mundo assembled once again after 107 years.