Jun Shimizu Infuriates Gin Ichimaru Three Times

Are you the same kind of person as Aizen?

"Eh? Do you perhaps possess the power to sense people's inner thoughts?"

Gin Ichimaru and Jun began their first round of probing. Jun didn't mind revealing some things to Gin Ichimaru, while Gin Ichimaru's primary goal was to protect Rangiku.

"Huh? How could someone possibly have that kind of power?"

"Why doesn't it exist? Your knowledge is still too limited. My disciple, Kōga Kuchiki, possesses this power. I can also sense hostility myself, such as the faint hostility you feel right now."

Jun's sudden reaction startled Gin Ichimaru, because his current perception of Jun was somewhere between enemy and stranger—a subtle but undeniable hostility, Gin Ichimaru himself was well aware of.

Then Gin Ichimaru regretted it, because faced with such an ability, he couldn't hide his true feelings at all, and he would be exposed if he wasn't careful. So the little guy was already thinking of backing down.

"What? You want to leave? That kind of mentality won't work. You're no match for my Aizen-senpai."

"You"

"Aizen's talent and strength are far beyond your reach. Even after looking at your current stats, I don't think you have much of a chance, considering the three hundred years of accumulated experience you have."

How will you know if you don't try?

With a gentle smile, she said, "Is this how you confide in me? Aren't you afraid I'll tell Aizen- senpai?"

"You and him are simply not compatible."

"Your insight is good. We are indeed not on the same page, but he and I are currently allies, so I have been entrusted by him to mentor you."

Gin Ichimaru clenched his fists, finding himself filled with intense resentment, yet utterly powerless to do anything about it.

"Why don't you tell me why you're targeting Aizen-senpai? I'll help you if I can."

"Why?"

"Well, that brings me to why I allied with Aizen-senpai. We both have our own goals, and we both know the other is plotting something. At the same time, we're both confident that if either of us fails, we can basically become the other's accomplice."

Jun looked up at Gin Ichimaru and smiled, "Isn't it an interesting relationship?"

Gin Ichimaru was dumbfounded, his eyes wide open. "Are you guys crazy?!"

There's no barrier between genius and madness. Genius goes left, madness goes right, but neither can be understood as mere ordinariness. Now tell me, are you a genius or a madman, or do you choose ordinariness?

"I want an ordinary life!" Gin Ichimaru's face flushed red, clearly remembering what Aizen had done to Rangiku. "But he won't let me."

"Why are you so good to your Childhood Friends?" Chun Journal, not even looking up as she tidied her notes. "Don't you realize that this behavior exposes your weaknesses to others? I think the hatred you feel stems from what Aizen- senpai did to Rangiku?"

"You bastard!!" Gin Ichimaru completely lost his temper.

"Calm down!" Junichi Spiritual Power into Gin Ichimaru's body, instantly wiping out his consciousness—just like stunning him, only with a different dosage.

"This is"

"A very basic release of Spiritual Power, which can also be seen as the Kidō, you can call it whatever you want, is it fun?"

"This is something a human can do!?"

"Oh dear, how rude of you, little one," Jun said, still smiling. "But I'll take that as a compliment. By the way, Aizen- senpai can do the same thing. That's the fundamental reason why we respect each other."

Jun continued, "But you're really impressive, kid. The Ninth Division's captain, Kensei Muguruma, thought it was my self-created Kidō after taking that hit, so he couldn't detect the problem. But you only took one hit and immediately realized the truth. That's amazing! Very impressive!"

"Can Aizen do that too?"

"Yes," he nodded firmly.

How can I surpass you all?

"To be honest, in terms of Spiritual Sensitivity, that is, the control of Spiritual Power, you definitely have no chance. But you do have a bit more talent in Reiatsu and Spiritual Flow, but we are three hundred years behind in terms of accumulation, do you understand?"

Jun opened his hand, and a surge of Spiritual Power enveloped the entire Journal Hall. Then, Gin Ichimaru lay prostrate on the ground, listening to Jun's words, "You could probably reach the level I'm displaying today in eighty years, but that's still only about ten years' difference between me and Aizen-senpai, who graduated forty or fifty years ago. The difference in talent isn't that big; you don't have much of a chance."

"And here's the question, why do you hate Aizen-senpai?" Jun said, canceling his Reiatsu. "I didn't find anything wrong with Rangiku."

"That bastard stole Rangiku's soul!"

"A soul? Probably part of it, but Rangiku seems to be alright, right?"

"What do you understand!?"

"I understand. I have a wife, someone I'm closer to than you and Rangiku. If someone attacks my wife, I'll kill him. It makes no difference."

"No!" Gin Ichimaru tried to explain, but couldn't quite articulate it. The more he thought about it, the more he realized he was being tricked into revealing information without getting anything useful in return. "Tch~ Talking to you is pointless, I'm leaving."

"How about I answer all your questions?"

As expected, this attracted Gin Ichimaru; it's hard for anyone to resist their greed. "How can you guarantee it?"

Time will tell.

Gin Ichimaru frowned, but couldn't help himself, "Hmph~ Do you know why Aizen wants to steal souls?"

"I'm not entirely sure. I know he's researching one or more things that require the power of the soul. I know he's killed over twenty Soul Reaper, and the population of Rukongai is close to a thousand, probably."

"So much?"

More? There will be even more.

"Aren't you a hero of Soul Society?!" Gin Ichimaru shouted. "You, you're not like him, are you?!"

Hearing Gin Ichimaru's forlorn tone, Jun's heart clenched. "Tsk~ It's hard to tell you the specifics. I'm different from him, but we're also similar. I don't know what he's doing it for, but I'm doing it to make Soul Society better."

"You mean the Soul Society is even more despicable than Aizen now!?"

"Yes," Jun nodded, "He's even more despicable than Aizen, because he gave birth to Aizen."

"He also gave birth to you."

"I can't refute that. Do you have any more questions?"

"Who can defeat Aizen?"

"Captain-Commander, only him."

"You can't do it either?" Gin Ichimaru asked in surprise.

"It's a 50/50 chance, but my true ability isn't combat-oriented, and my combat-oriented abilities are inferior to Aizen's, so he can't kill me. I'm basically guaranteed to lose," Jun said, mentioning Zanpakuto, Gin Ichimaru didn't quite understand at the moment. "Ah, if you don't understand, just remember it for now and think about it later. Anyway, I'm not lying, so keep asking."

"Okay~", Gin Ichimaru realized that Jun seemed genuinely interested in revealing a lot to him, but Jun knew too much and he knew too little, which was why Jun was using this method. "Why are you doing this? Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I don't want you to die in vain. I have a thousand faults, but one good thing is that I especially appreciate talent! I like talent, even if it's not under my command, or even if it's my enemy. But you are talented, so I appreciate you. Isn't that strange?"

"Yes, a little."

"Haha, everyone is different, that's what makes it interesting, continue."

Gin Ichimaru now believed much of what Jun said. Of course, even if he didn't believe it, he could have gathered more information before making a judgment. Gin Ichimaru still trusted his own intelligence, so he began to rack his brains to think about the problem.

"Is it true that Rangiku is alright?"

"Really, I also study souls. If Aizen really did something crucial to your Rangiku, you would definitely lose such a healthy Childhood Friends."

How strong are you?

"Tsk, that's an interesting question. You wouldn't understand even if I explained it; your level is too low."

"How about we rank the team captains, Vice-Captains, you, and Aizen?"

"Oh, this... I need to think about it carefully," Chun said slowly, clearly not having given this question much thought.

"The first place is definitely the Captain-Commander, no question about it."

"Second place should currently go to Kuruyashiki Kenpachi, the 11th Division Captain. Every Kenpachi in the series has been very strong, so he's definitely one of the top two."

"As for third Shihoin or Captain Kuchiki Ginrei is stronger, so let's go with third or fourth."

"Fifth and sixth are Shunsui Kyōraku and Jūshirō Ukitake, so let's insert one here, Sōya Azashiro, seventh, he's the Sixth Seat the 11th Division."

"As for the eighth one, tsk tsk~ I've really never seen Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi's strength, so I'm giving this place to Aizen."

"Huh!?" Gin Ichimaru was dumbfounded. "You haven't seen his strength, so you gave it to Aizen?"

"Ah, I'll just follow Aizen's order. Anyway, there's no problem here. Oh, right, I forgot about the Fourth Division Captain, Retsu Unohana. Captain Unohana is third, so everyone else goes one place down."

"Huh!? Isn't the Fourth Division the ambulance squad?"

So you underestimate doctors?

"Wasn't that old lady supposed to be incapable of fighting?"

"Oh ho~ I heard you call her 'auntie,' hmm~ you've got guts. Maybe you can try calling her that when you become the Soul Reaper."

Gin Ichimaru's face turned a purplish-red with frustration. He was deeply conflicted about Retsu Unohana's fighting prowess, but he couldn't very well disbelieve Jun's assessment. "Then continue," he said.

"So, the eighth, ninth, ninth, and tenth places are Aizen and me. So, eleventh is meaningless, let's not rank it. Wait a minute, Isshin Shiba should be able to make the top ten. Who will he push out? Could it be myself?"

"Stop thinking about it!" Gin Ichimaru valued his time. "So, there are only these eleven people in the top ten, right?"

"Hmm, isn't it normal for the top ten to have eleven people?"

"What kind of common sense is this?!" Gin Ichimaru felt like he could vent all his frustrations from this conversation. "One last question: if I die, could you please help me?"

"No way~, I have a bunch of women around me that I can barely take care of myself, let alone you. Let me ask you a question, can your Rangiku be my concubine?"

"Are you kidding me?!"

Chun shrugged. "Look at you, you've entrusted your woman to someone else's care, but you won't let him touch her. Do you have some kind of... inclination? Like, enjoying watching your favorite woman being intimate with other men or something?"

"Bullshit! I don't have that kind of hobby!"

"Huh? You're already thinking about giving gifts to women but don't have that kind of hobby? It's okay, even if you admit it, I won't tell anyone. It's our little secret."

"The secret to its tiny size!" Gin Ichimaru cursed in exasperation.

"Tsk tsk tsk, she's really not cute, and she even likes to swear. If you care so much about your Childhood Friends, why don't you marry her?"

"I," Gin Ichimaru thought, feeling uncomfortable from head to toe, furious with Jun, "I'm going to die sooner or later anyway, isn't that..."

"Wouldn't that mean watching her marry someone else from Heaven years later?"

"I," Gin Ichimaru felt like he was about to vomit blood.

"Tsk tsk tsk, hurry up and leave. This isn't the Fourth Division. If you get angry and die here, no one can save you," Jun said, then used a Spiritual Power blast on Gin Ichimaru to clear his mind and force him to calm down. Haha.

You're really going to drive me crazy!

"Kid, remember, enjoy life to the fullest while you can, or you'll die in peace. Go get that... um!"

He lightly cupped his chest with his hand, trembling slightly, which made Gin Ichimaru's eyelids twitch. The instant Gin Ichimaru left, a mental connection appeared in his mind, and then...

"Go for it, kid! I'm looking forward to your wedding, haha~"

"Go to hell!" Gin Ichimaru felt he had never been so angry in his life, nor had he ever felt so disgusted with Aizen. Damn it!