Department Assignment

At this, Chiba Makoto was startled inwardly. Somewhat awkwardly, he fobbed her off with the excuse that he disliked fighting and that his goal was to follow in Teacher Unohana's footsteps forever.

Then, as though nothing had happened, Unohana Retsu gently and thoughtfully took Chiba Makoto around the courtyard, familiarizing him with the place, before having breakfast with him.

It had to be said that Captain-class Soul Reapers, standing at the pinnacle of the Soul Society, wielded power and held status beyond what ordinary souls could imagine.

This breakfast was the most exquisite and delicious meal Chiba Makoto had eaten since crossing over. Not only was it incomparably better than anything in the resource-starved, chaotic Rukongai, but even the food at Shin'ō Academy was nowhere near comparable.

Yet throughout the meal, Chiba Makoto seemed somewhat dazed and absentminded.

Seeing this, Unohana Retsu did not think much of it. She merely assumed that the killing intent she had inadvertently revealed had left the newly graduated Chiba Makoto unable to recover.

What Chiba Makoto was truly dwelling on was the sentence Unohana Retsu had said earlier.

Some future Lieutenant of the Fourth Division... Chiba Makoto had already been stuffed sick of that kind of empty promise in his previous life. Naturally, he would not naïvely take it as an eternal vow.

They were all thousand-year-old foxes with layer upon layer of masks buffing them up, so there was no need to act out some heartfelt ghost story.

But... Unohana Retsu personally teaching him Zanjutsu carried a rather profound implication...

As Chiba Makoto tried putting himself in Unohana Retsu's shoes, he finally reached a highly likely conclusion—Had he inadvertently been treated as prey for slaughter?

Damn it, he had finally found a place to settle down, and now she was going to make him lose this thoroughly...

Now he really had become a clown!

After all that circling around, he had only wanted to become a low-key, heartless seed-spreader in the Seireitei. Yet he had somehow been marked as prey by Unohana Retsu, whose danger level rivaled Aizen Sōsuke's.

For some reason, after breakfast, Unohana Retsu inexplicably caught several traces of undisguised resentment in Chiba Makoto's eyes.

Being repeatedly slaughtered into paste by All Things in Nature within his spiritual world was one thing, but was he really unable to escape that fate of being turned into paste in the real world too?

Unohana Retsu teaching him Zanjutsu was terrifying. It absolutely could not be some warm, intimate guidance; more likely, it would be one frenzied, bloody slaughter after another.

Could they still pretend nothing had happened and break up peacefully... no, peacefully sever their teacher-student relationship?

Just as Chiba Makoto wailed inwardly, he suddenly felt something soft and delicate envelop his chin. Focusing his gaze, he saw that Unohana Retsu's fair, slender fingers had gently lifted his chin.

For a moment, Unohana Retsu's exquisite, beautiful features were almost right before Chiba Makoto's eyes. He could even clearly make out the gentleness and concern in her gaze.

Chiba Makoto's pupils trembled, and his cheeks were instantly flushed pink.

Too... too close!

Chiba Makoto could even feel the soft warmth of Unohana Retsu's breath and catch her faint fragrance. The charm of a mature, intellectual older woman hit him full force, leaving his mind blank.

Whether in his previous life or this one, it was the first time Chiba Makoto had ever been this close to a woman. He was so close that even his instincts were thrown into disarray.

"Tea... Teacher... you're... too close..."

"Ha ha!"

Chiba Makoto was answered by a soft laugh. Unohana Retsu tapped his forehead with her index finger, pushing him back slightly, then smiled openly. "Makoto, whether it's killing intent or merely being approached by a woman, having such a severe reaction is quite terrible."

"Sorry, Teacher."

At that moment, what else could Chiba Makoto do but retreat in defeat?

Unohana Retsu smiled as she spoke. "I was originally still hesitating over which subordinate department to assign you to, but now I've decided."

"Ah? A subordinate department?" Chiba Makoto was slightly surprised.

The Thirteen Divisions had vastly differing numbers of members due to their varying duties. A treatment-focused division like the Fourth Division, for example, had only a little over three hundred members because it lacked a source of new recruits.

The Thirteenth Division, which had the largest number of members among the Thirteen Divisions, was tasked with "purification in the World of the Living." Its members needed to station themselves in cities of the World of the Living to purify Hollows and prevent them from damaging that world.

Thus, the Thirteenth Division could boast the astonishing number of several thousand members. However, most of them needed to remain stationed in cities in the World of the Living for long periods, leaving relatively few in the Seireitei.

Therefore, aside from the fixed systems of Captain, Vice-Captain, and seated officers, the internal management systems of each division in the Thirteen Divisions were entirely different.

Within the Fourth Division, members were primarily divided into different departments, handling both combat medical treatment and the everyday treatment of various illnesses.

Chiba Makoto had originally thought he would need to stay by Unohana Retsu's side and focus on studying Kaido and Medical Skills for a while. He had not expected Unohana Retsu to be willing to assign him to a department so quickly, allowing him to interact with patients.

Without question, this was precisely what Chiba Makoto wanted. Even his gaze toward Unohana Retsu unconsciously revealed a hint of eagerness.

Barring any surprises, purely from a rational standpoint, the department most suited to the Zanpakuto ability Chiba Makoto had displayed was undoubtedly the surgical department, which dealt with the numerous injuries Soul Reapers sustained during daily training or sparring in the Seireitei.

This was also why Chiba Makoto had never concealed the fact that his Zanpakuto, All Things in Nature, possessed an advantage in treating relatively minor injuries that others could scarcely match—he had been waiting for just this opportunity.

The chance to spread seeds legitimately... has arrived!

Just as joy rose in Chiba Makoto's heart, Unohana Retsu spoke with a gentle smile.

"First, Makoto, your Zanpakuto possesses large-scale healing abilities, and you also lack experience facing combat directly. So you need to be listed under the Combat Support Division. If an emergency arises that requires the Fourth Division to provide treatment support, you will need to follow me or Kiyosuke to provide aid. Is that acceptable?"

"Yes, I will obey Teacher's orders."

Chiba Makoto answered obediently, looking entirely compliant. This had not been beyond his expectations, and it undoubtedly suited his plans as well.

Unohana Retsu paused, then continued. "Besides that, as for the department where you will conduct consultations on ordinary days... um, then... gynecology!"

Gy... gynecology?!

Chiba Makoto felt as if he had been struck by lightning. His expression completely fell apart as he stared in disbelief at the smiling Unohana Retsu before him, with only one thought flashing through his mind.

How was he supposed to spread seeds now?

What chance was there for wounds to bleed in gynecology?