"Yoru Machi, this is the vice-captain of our Thirteenth Division, Shiba Kaien.
Kaien is righteous and loyal, a good man admired and respected by many of the squad members. If there's anything you don't understand, just ask him."
Ukitake was frail and sickly, a complete homebody by nature. If not for this sudden emergency, he would normally never have stepped outside.
Ordinary captains would not explain so much to a mere newcomer, but Ukitake had a reputation for being a nice guy. Since Yoru Machi was also one of the victims this time, he received special consideration.
Now that Shiba Kaien had come to take over, Ukitake naturally could not wait to return to his Barracks and rest.
"Don't worry about whether the captain has any complaints about you. Because of his constitution, Captain Fujitora rarely handles the captain's duties. We subordinates have always dealt with them.
My name is Shiba Kaien. I was only recently promoted to vice-captain of the Thirteenth Division; before that, I was merely the third seat. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Not at all. I should be the one asking Vice-Captain Shiba for guidance. I'm the newcomer who joined the squad today, Yoru Machi."
This was Yoru Machi's first meeting with Shiba Kaien, and it was also his first time learning about this unfortunate character.
Time passed swiftly. Two years after Yoru Machi became a member of the Thirteenth Division, its captain, Ukitake Jushiro, was once again forced to leave his peaceful retirement spot and head to the First Division for an emergency captains' meeting.
"Yoru Machi, why do you think the Captain-Commander called this captains' meeting in such a hurry?"
The one standing beside Yoru Machi and asking him this was Shiba Kaien, vice-captain of the Thirteenth Division. Over the past two years, Yoru Machi and Shiba Kaien had built quite a solid friendship.
Shiba Kaien had originally been the current head of the Shiba Clan, one of the five great noble families of the Soul Society, though the clan had since declined.
There had not been much description of Shiba Kaien in the original story, but after two years of contact, Yoru Machi discovered that there was a reason Rukia with that octopus hair admired Kaien so much.
Born into nobility, Shiba Kaien treated every member of his squad equally, regardless of status or background. Both noble-born squad members and those from Rukongai liked his fair-minded attitude.
Kaien was also a genius. At Shino Academy, he completed the academy's six-year curriculum in only one year.
He had entered the current Thirteenth Division as the third seat from the very beginning, then took only five years to rise to vice-captain.
No matter how one looked at it, with Kaien's talent, connections, and personality, it was practically certain that he would succeed Ukitake as captain of the Thirteenth Division in a few decades.
Over those two years, Kaien had also noticed Yoru Machi's unusual qualities through his sharper-than-average powers of observation.
Out of concern for the newcomer, Kaien had initially planned to give Yoru Machi extra training. Yet during their sparring sessions, he discovered the true strength Yoru Machi had been hiding.
After learning of Yoru Machi's concerns, Kaien did not laugh at him for being needlessly anxious or paranoid, as Ikkaku and Yumichika had. Instead, he smiled and said he understood.
The Soul Society appeared calm on the surface, but undercurrents churned beneath it. As someone who had once belonged to one of the five great noble families, Kaien understood this better than most.
Besides, he believed there was nothing wrong with being cautious. His wife, Shiba Miyako, had died because of carelessness, killed by a Hollow. (PS: I saw that many people were confused. It's not that I haven't read the original story; I arranged for Kaien's wife to die earlier because I want to revive her later.)
Over the years, Kaien had always felt there was something suspicious about his wife's death. By all rights, she had been the squad's third seat, an elite Soul Reaper who had mastered Shikai. How could she have been killed by a low-level Hollow that appeared in Rukongai? The very idea was inconceivable.
"I received some inside information. A large number of soul bodies in Rukongai have suddenly undergone Hollowfication. Kensei Muguruma, captain of the Ninth Division, and Vice-Captain Hiyori Sarugaki went to investigate, but it seems an accident occurred.
The captain and vice-captain are among the Seireitei's top combat forces. Now that something has happened to them, the Captain-Commander naturally called a captains' meeting. I imagine more captains will be sent to investigate this time."
Kaien was not surprised by Yoru Machi's inside information. As someone born in Rukongai, Yoru Machi seemed to have quite a few connections in that mixed-bag place.
Moreover, Yoru Machi was equally well-liked throughout the Gotei 13. Kaien himself was only popular within the Thirteenth Division, but Yoru Machi got along exceptionally well with people across the entire Gotei 13.
This was not difficult to understand. Yoru Machi was a transmigrator, after all. Although he had yet to discover his cheat ability, he knew the plot and had some understanding of the personalities of the people in this world. As long as he catered to their preferences, building good relationships was not difficult.
"Mass Hollowfication in Rukongai? Could this have something to do with what I asked you to investigate about Miyako?"
Upon hearing about the mass Hollowfication in Rukongai, Kaien's expression immediately turned serious. It was not unusual for souls in Rukongai to occasionally undergo Hollowfication.
But the Hollows that usually appeared in Rukongai were merely low-level ones. They could bully newcomers fresh out of Spirit Training Academy, perhaps, but for one to kill his wife when she had been the third seat—and now even the captain and vice-captain of the Ninth Division had gone missing—the situation was clearly abnormal.
"Probably not... After all, there's been quite a long gap between the two incidents."
Hearing Kaien's guess, Yoru Machi could not help admiring the man's sharp intuition. He wanted to say that Kaien was right: both incidents had been orchestrated behind the scenes by a certain Hair Gel Boss.
Whether it was the captain and vice-captain of the Ninth Division or Shiba Kaien's wife, they were all merely victims of Boss Aizen Sōsuke's experiments.
But he could not reveal the truth now, because he had no way to explain it. If he spoke of these secrets, the one locked up and investigated by the Executive Militia might become him instead.
Besides, although Kaien was quite strong now, going to Rukongai at this point would still be nothing but a dead end.
Even without attending this so-called captains' meeting, Yoru Machi knew that the Captain-Commander would next send Kaname Tōsen, captain of the Third Division; Shinji Hirako, captain of the Fifth Division; Love Aikawa of the Seventh Division; Lisa Yadōmaru, vice-captain of the Eighth Division; Hiyori of the Twelfth Division; and Hachigen Ushōda, deputy chief of the Kido Corps, to form a special investigation team.
And without question, even this force of captain-class fighters would ultimately be wiped out before Aizen's Zanpakuto, Kyōka Suigetsu, becoming test subjects for his Soul Reaper Hollowfication experiments.
With so many captains and vice-captains falling, Yoru Machi did not believe adding one more vice-captain, Kaien, could change anything. Naturally, he tried to dissuade him from going to Rukongai to die.
Before you continue