The Mission Came

Gaoyu sat cross-legged, resting his Zanpakuto on his thighs.

He closed his eyes. Even though he had drunk quite a bit earlier, his mind was exceptionally clear at that moment.

Faintly, he seemed to hear a voice. It was the voice of his Zanpakuto!

"...My name is..."

The voice came and went, growing louder and softer. At times, it seemed to sound right beside his ear; at others, it was as if it were calling down at an ant from the peak of a mountain.

Gaoyu tried to grasp the voice, but no matter what he did, he couldn't catch it.

My name is...

Rumble...

As the name was spoken, it seemed as though thunder boomed in the sky, the deafening roar drowning out the name.

Gaoyu slowly opened his eyes.

Though it had felt like a short time, an hour and a half had already passed outside.

After all that time, he only felt that he had moved one step closer to Shikai.

But that still wasn't enough to fully release his Asauchi!

In theory, fighting for your life could accelerate the process. But most of the time, Soul Reapers were inside the Seireitei. Where would they find a battle to the death?

Sometimes, you might notice something very strange: before Ichigo Kurosaki arrived, the Seireitei seemed not to have changed at all for hundreds, even thousands of years.

Yet after Ichigo Kurosaki arrived, the Captains who'd barely improved in over a decade, or even several decades, suddenly began growing stronger by leaps and bounds.

Actually, it wasn't strange at all.

Ordinary training made people stronger very slowly. Traditional training was simply no match for high-intensity combat.

Especially combat fought under the threat of having one's soul erased.

When a soul was in danger of disappearing, Spiritual Power was much easier to improve. So after surviving a fight to the death, every Soul Reaper grew stronger.

Only after Ichigo Kurosaki arrived did the Gotei 13 begin engaging in one battle after another in earnest. After each battle, it wasn't just Ichigo Kurosaki who improved—the members of the Gotei 13 improved as well.

If Gaoyu wanted to grow stronger quickly, he had to consider fighting battles of that intensity.

He had the Kirin Child skill, but even if he grew stronger in sync with Tōshirō, he would only have Captain-level Spiritual Power by the time the story began.

That wasn't what he wanted.

He needed to become stronger.

And he knew that sooner or later, he'd have a chance to go to war.

That guy, Aizen...

Had already taken an interest in him.

Gaoyu's heart sank.

Today, Aizen had assigned him the Ninth Seat. The position wasn't high, but it was enough to prove that his earlier suspicions had been right.

Aizen really had his eye on him.

That guy Metastacia had been sent by Aizen to deal with him. And after Gaoyu had easily taken Metastacia down, Aizen's interest in him had only grown.

That was why he had been assigned the Ninth Seat.

With a man like that watching him, his future clearly wasn't going to be smooth sailing.

What surprised him, though, was that for several months afterward, Aizen didn't send him to do anything.

Gaoyu took advantage of those months to focus on growing stronger. First, he built good relationships with the people in his division, as well as the four kids from Shino Academy, Rangiku, and Shūhei.

As for Shunsui...

He'd told Rangiku and Shūhei about Shunsui. Shūhei had still been a little stiff around him, but Rangiku had taken it in stride and said she'd already had drinks with Shunsui Kyoraku several times.

After that, Gaoyu had secretly invited Shunsui over for drinks a few times, too. But his affection score had risen very slowly. Even now, Shunsui Kyoraku's affection score toward him was only thirty.

So Gaoyu gave up on that Captain altogether. The man really did deserve his reputation as an old-timer who'd lived for several hundred years. His emotional walls were practically impenetrable.

During those months, he'd raised Shūhei's affection score to 79. He was only one point away from reaching 80.

There was nothing he could do about it. The higher it got, the harder it was to raise.

Very few people, like Tōshirō, jumped straight to eighty.

Just as he thought his peaceful life could continue, he received an order at the division headquarters near the end of the year.

"A large-scale soul disappearance incident has occurred in District 62 of East Rukongai, 'Flower Wither.' It appears to be a recurrence of the soul disappearance case from seventy years ago!"

"The Soul Reapers of the Ninth Division have already gone there, but the Captain-Commander is concerned there may be trouble. The Fifth Division will send another squad as well."

Tetsu Tanimoto, Sixth Seat, patted Gaoyu on the shoulder and said casually, "Don't worry too much. This is your first mission since becoming a seated officer, but with Vice-Captain Gin Ichimaru there, everything will be fine."

It was precisely because he was there that I'm worried.

Gaoyu glanced at the squinting Gin Ichimaru. He had no idea what the man was thinking at that moment.

Anyone who believed this mission wasn't arranged by Aizen was a fool!

Wasn't Aizen behind the soul disappearance case?

And District 62 in the East—that was where Gin Ichimaru and Rangiku came from. It was also where Aizen had once gathered souls!

But it had finally come, hadn't it?

Another test from Aizen—or perhaps it would be more accurate to call it...

A game?

The Fifth Division's support force included Vice-Captain Gin Ichimaru, four seated officers—the Fourth Seat, Fifth Seat, Sixth Seat, and Ninth Seat—and more than sixty Fifth Division members.

It was an impressive lineup.

But they were dealing with the soul disappearance case that had caused several Captains to become Hollows sixty or seventy years ago. It wasn't necessarily the same case, but even the possibility was enough to make the Gotei 13 take it seriously.

"Are we leaving now?"

Gaoyu asked, feigning nervousness.

"Yes." Tetsu Tanimoto nodded. "Come on. Captain Gin should already be waiting for us."

Gaoyu hurried to the meeting point with Tetsu Tanimoto. Gin Ichimaru was sitting on a step. As the Soul Reapers gradually arrived, he gave them a leisurely greeting.

"Don't worry, everyone. With me here, you'll be perfectly safe."

The Fifth Division members couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Tetsu Tanimoto called out, "With Vice-Captain Ichimaru here, even if Kisuke Urahara, the mastermind behind the soul disappearance case, were still around, it'd be no problem!"

"Right. I heard Captain Ichimaru has already mastered Bankai. As soon as a Captain's position opens up, he'll be able to become a Captain in another division."

"Captain Ichimaru really is a genius. I heard he graduated from Shino Academy after only a year!"

Everyone began discussing him excitedly. The people in the Fifth Division greatly admired Aizen, and that admiration extended to Gin Ichimaru, his Vice-Captain, whom they trusted deeply despite his rather sly appearance.

Gaoyu joined in the conversation. From the corner of his eye, he noticed Gin Ichimaru smiling with his eyes narrowed...

And looking at him!