Shunsui Kyoraku did not answer directly, and Yinsen did not keep pressing the matter. He had only asked in passing. Whether Shunsui agreed or refused made no difference to him.
At the end of the day, Yinsen had no intention of taking the Soul King's position, nor was he interested in becoming the ruler of Soul Society. Even if Shunsui agreed, he would not become Yinsen's subordinate.
They returned to Soul Society without incident. Yinsen wasted no time extracting the portion of Rangiku Matsumoto's soul from the Hogyoku, then returned it to Rangiku's body under Gin Ichimaru's slightly tense gaze.
"The current situation is much like recovering from a severe injury. There may not be any outward effects, but a full recovery will take at least several years, perhaps even decades."
Rangiku Matsumoto nodded, with no complaints about this. She had never expected to recover the part of her soul that had been taken from her. For Yinsen to retrieve it and return it to her was already a pleasant surprise.
"Gin..."
She knew Gin Ichimaru had played a major role in this matter. Everything he had done before had actually been for her sake.
That made Rangiku Matsumoto worry even more about Gin Ichimaru. During his time undercover beside Aizen, he had done quite a few bad things. The Seireitei's attitude toward him was now deeply conflicted. On one hand, he had slain the great traitor Aizen, which should count as a merit.
But Gin Ichimaru's undercover operation had received no authorization whatsoever; it had been entirely his own decision. So who could prove that he had truly been undercover, rather than suddenly switching sides after realizing things were going badly?
Because of this, there was still no conclusion on how Gin Ichimaru should be dealt with.
Yet Yinsen