Yoru Machi: Come On, Let's Hurt Each Other!

Seeing that none of the captains present spoke up, the Captain-Commander swept his gaze over them in feigned anger, though he had expected this all along. In the end, his eyes settled on Yoru Machi and Kyoraku Shunsui.

Among the current captains of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, Yoru Machi and Kyoraku Shunsui were actually the Soul Reapers he thought most highly of.

Kyoraku Shunsui appeared unrestrained and frivolous, but he was truly meticulous. Before Yoru Machi had begun to stand out, the Captain-Commander had even intended to make him his successor.

As for Yoru Machi... he usually seemed lazy and unprofessional, yet the Captain-Commander could say with certainty that he was absolutely the finest genius Soul Society had seen in a thousand years.

Beneath that cynical exterior lay a careful mind. What was rare was that he was not only formidable, but also exceptionally intelligent, always able to spot details others overlooked.

The Captain-Commander was old and shrewd, and he saw things clearly. Many people likely believed Yoru Machi was an ambitious schemer who hid himself deeply, but he felt the other man simply did not want to shoulder responsibility.

In his eyes, Aizen, Shunsui, and Yoru Machi were all talented Soul Reapers, and all of them hid themselves in their own ways.

Aizen pretended to be an excessively nice guy, Kyoraku Shunsui pretended to be a useless middle-aged man, while Yoru Machi constantly put himself down. As long as he could avoid standing out, he would never show his face.

Most ordinary Soul Reapers in the Thirteen Court Guard Squads probably still believed that the Fifth Division's new captain was a harmless fellow who had only become captain through good luck.

"Captain-Commander, since we are forming a Hueco Mundo expeditionary force, we need to account for everything, from