Ichimaru Gin

"Captain Unohana, thank you for coming in person. Vice-Captain Shiba has already returned to Seireitei on official business, so I can only be the one to brief you on the situation..."

The Soul Reaper wearing the armband marking him as the Tenth Division's Third Seat hurried forward and respectfully addressed Unohana Retsu.

"Thank you for your trouble," Unohana Retsu said with her usual gentleness.

"Yes!"

The Tenth Division's Third Seat responded respectfully. As he led Unohana Retsu and Chiba Makoto forward, he pointed to the houses on either side and said,

"After further investigation yesterday, the number of residents confirmed to have lost portions of their souls has reached 168. A small number are unconscious. Although our colleagues from the Fifth Rescue Squad treated those residents yesterday, their condition remains quite poor. Their reishi is continuing to leak away."

Unohana Retsu nodded and asked, "Have you found any traces of Hollow activity?"

"Vice-Captain Shiba personally led a team in a two-day search, but they found no Hollows that might be lurking in the area. Vice-Captain Shiba suspects the Hollow may already have fled this region," the Tenth Division's Third Seat answered.

Clearly, in order to avoid unnecessary panic, Tenth Division Vice-Captain Shiba Isshin had his suspicions and personally requested support from the Fourth Division to confirm the residents' conditions. However, publicly, they were still treating the phenomenon as the aftermath of a Hollow attack and conducting a search.

"Have all the residents with missing soul fragments been gathered here?" Unohana Retsu asked.

"That's right. Under Captain Shiba's orders, we have gathered and housed every resident discovered to have lost portions of their souls here. However, as for the specific arrangements going forward, we still need Seireitei to issue its final orders," the Tenth Division's Third Seat said respectfully.

"Good. Then I'll first assess the patients' conditions."

Unohana Retsu nodded, then dismissed the three Tenth Division Soul Reapers who had been leading the way. She turned to Chiba Makoto and said,

"Makoto, let's split up and examine the residents for the extent of their emotional loss."

Chiba Makoto nodded and was just about to swiftly begin his task when Unohana Retsu's voice rang out again.

"Makoto, the essence of the world can sometimes be cruel. Do not let it shake your heart. It is enough to do what you can."

Chiba Makoto paused slightly, then smiled with gentle innocence, nodded, and left.

When Chiba Makoto pushed open the door to the first crude house, he saw six residents lying packed tightly within the cramped space. There were men and women alike, all pale-faced and blank-eyed.

And the reishi on their bodies... was leaking away!

Although Chiba Makoto had expected such a state, seeing it with his own eyes still made his heart tighten. He understood why Teacher Unohana had specifically reminded him just now.

In the Soul Society, souls were the foundation of all things, while reishi was the basic substance that formed everything. What was called a body was naturally constructed from reishi according to the soul.

Now, these residents had suffered severe soul loss. It was no different from losing part of the basis upon which their bodies had been built, resulting in an irreversible and continuous loss of reishi.

It was like an ordinary human losing certain organs or limbs. If the degree of soul loss was not too severe, these residents could still live normally.

But if too much of their souls was missing, it was like a human losing both kidneys. Though they would not die on the spot, they could only wait for death.

"Hello, I'm Chiba Makoto of the Fourth Division. I'm here to examine your bodies."

Chiba Makoto spoke gently and politely, but the six residents before him barely reacted at all. They continued to look at him with numb expressions.

Chiba Makoto took a deep breath and began examining the six residents. The Fifth Rescue Squad had evidently already administered basic emergency treatment yesterday.

Afterward, Chiba Makoto began testing the residents' degree of emotional activity, only to find that nearly all of them were orange bordering on white!

So low?

Chiba Makoto was slightly startled. He then tried hardening his heart and verbally provoking the six residents, telling them the truth that they did not have long to live.

The color fluctuated somewhat, but it was still orange.

Finally, Chiba Makoto took the initiative to use Kaido. In a temporary measure that treated the symptoms but not the cause, he replenished some of one resident's lost reishi. After the resident's physical condition improved considerably, he tested him again.

Still orange.

After that, Chiba Makoto repeatedly entered and exited the houses where the residents were housed, testing them in the same way. More than ninety percent were orange bordering on white, while only a few residents produced slightly deeper colors.

It looks like there really is a problem. Only the emotional part of the soul is missing, which doesn't fit a Hollow's usual habit of consuming souls. So... was it really Aizen Sōsuke?

Although Chiba Makoto still had no concrete evidence pointing to Aizen Sōsuke, he understood that looking back a hundred years or ahead a hundred years, if all the blame in the Soul Society totaled one koku, Aizen Sōsuke could claim at least eight tenths of it. The nobles could take one tenth, and all the other Soul Reapers could divide the remaining tenth—except for the innocent and kind-hearted Chiba Makoto, of course!

As Chiba Makoto pondered this, he suddenly felt a petite body bump into him. Instinctively, he reached out and caught the small figure.

Looking down, Chiba Makoto saw a little one with rare pale-purple hair that was nearly white. Dressed in simple burlap clothes, the child's snow-white skin was impossible to hide.

Where did this little girl come from...

Just as this thought instinctively surfaced, and as Chiba Makoto wondered whether he really had the luck to get bumped into by a little girl on the street, the little one raised his head—and Chiba Makoto's expression froze.

Ichimaru Gin?!

A little boy?!!

Though he was still a slender, soft little boy who looked easy to knock over, he had a pair of slightly narrowed eyes like those of a venomous snake, making it impossible to read his emotions. Though his little face seemed to carry some sort of smile, he still gave off a sense of distance and danger that kept others far away.

Just as Chiba Makoto was slightly stunned, Ichimaru Gin suddenly yanked himself free from Chiba Makoto's hand and hurriedly ran off in one direction.

Chiba Makoto turned to look in Ichimaru Gin's direction, and something Ichimaru Gin had been clutching to his chest flashed through his mind.

If Chiba Makoto remembered correctly, it should have been rations from the Thirteen Divisions.

Behind Chiba Makoto, a Tenth Division member came running over, shouting furiously in Ichimaru Gin's direction.

"You damn brat! Stealing rations again! Do you really think this great Soul Reaper won't get angry? If I catch you, I'll hang you up and flick your (beep)(beep) a hundred times!"

???

Chiba Makoto.

He could say something that cruel? What kind of grudge was that?!