All-rounder and Person-Blade Fusion

Gaoyu discovered that the fact he had killed the Captain of the Third Division seemed to have spread throughout Seireitei.

He didn't need to think to know that Aizen must have been the one to spread it.

Of course, Gaoyu didn't have any objections.

He should heavily publicize his own highlight!

Gaoyu and Rangiku agreed to go drinking together that evening. Rangiku then headed to the Fourth Division, while Gaoyu went home.

He activated the Kirin Child's ability and prepared to begin his training.

He intended to seize this month-long vacation to become stronger.

At the very least, he needed to be worthy of the Vice-Captain position, right?

Among Zanpaku-tō, Kidō, Hakuda, and Shunpo, he was mainly training Shunpo.

He didn't really need Swordsmanship.

Hand-to-hand Combat was even less useful.

For Kidō, he had various abilities that were superior choices.

Therefore, he only needed to diligently train Shunpo. The rest was to increase his Reiatsu.

He trained from morning until afternoon. Around six o'clock, Renji and the others arrived again.

They had heard about the soul disappearance incident at school and knew Gaoyu was involved, so they came to visit him.

"I heard Senior Gaoyu defeated a Menos Grande and might become a Vice-Captain next!" Momo Hinamori said with admiring eyes.

"It must be wonderful to work under Captain Aizen, right?"

Wonderful?

Gaoyu's lips twitched, but he could only nod and say, "Yes."

"But I'm a rather lazy person. I just hope Captain Aizen won't order me around too much."

"Is that why you remained an ordinary squad member before, Gaoyu?" Toshiro said indifferently from the side.

"You should call me Senior Gaoyu." Gaoyu glanced at him, then said, "Also, I wasn't an ordinary squad member, but the Ninth Seat. I'm a Lieutenant in the Fifth Division."

As he spoke, Gaoyu touched his stomach and said to the four of them, "Never mind, I haven't eaten much today. Do you want to go out and get something to eat? I actually have a dinner engagement with Miss Rangiku outside."

"I have class tonight," Renji said regretfully. "Toshiro, what about you?"

"Me too," Toshiro Hitsugaya said indifferently. "And I want to graduate early, so I probably won't have much time from now on."

"Graduate early?" Hinamori looked curiously at Toshiro and couldn't help but ask, "Shiro-chan, why do you want to graduate early?"

"The knowledge taught at school isn't difficult."

"It's actually good to graduate sooner," Gaoyu also said. "With Toshiro's talent, he can quickly master the knowledge in school."

"Speaking of which, aren't the three of you also about to graduate?"

"...Yeah." Kira nodded. "We're already in our sixth year. In less than half a year, we'll graduate. We've already agreed to join the Fifth Division together then."

"That's great, keep it up," Gaoyu encouraged.

After seeing the four off, Gaoyu drank with Rangiku until late at night.

The next month was pretty much the same.

Training during the day, going out to have fun at night.

Besides Rangiku, he occasionally drank with Shunsui Kyoraku, and later, Tetsuzamon Iba from the Eleventh Division joined them.

Iba was still in the Eleventh Division at this time and hadn't transferred to the Seventh Division to become Vice-Captain yet.

His Soul Ability was 'All-rounder'.

'All-rounder: All your abilities will become balanced.'

The effect of this ability was to bring all abilities to the same level.

In other words, once this ability was used, even someone who only knew how to use Flash Step would gain some enhancement from Flash Step when using other abilities, but at the same time, other aspects would also drag down Flash Step somewhat.

For example, if Gaoyu's Shunpo ability was 100, Kidō was 60, Swordsmanship was 40, and Hand-to-hand Combat was 20, then once this was used, the values of these four abilities would become (100 + 60 + 40 + 20) / 4 = 55.

How should I put this ability...

Sometimes it could be useful, and sometimes it was useless.

Gaoyu felt that instead of being a balanced fighter, it was better to go for an extreme build.

Unless you reached the extreme in all aspects like Aizen and became a top-tier, six-sided fighter.

Otherwise... balance would mean mediocrity.

After about half a month, Shūhei successfully recovered and was discharged from the hospital.

During this half month, besides drinking at night, Gaoyu often went to the Fourth Division.

He wasn't just visiting Shūhei; more importantly, he was trying to get closer to the Lieutenants of the Fourth Division.

It's a shame, though. He'd gone so many times, but he'd never even met Retsu Unohana.

He had, however, met Yūne Kotetsu.

Yūne Kotetsu's Soul Ability was 'No More Growing'.

'No More Growing: Allows the user and others to cease physical changes.'

This ability seemed useless at first glance, but it made Gaoyu's eyes light up.

After all, many people had abilities that made them grow gigantic, like Gerard Valkyrie of the Wandenreich's Sternritter, whose ability was to grow larger when injured.

There was also Nnoitra Gilga, the Zero Espada, whose ability was to grow larger the angrier he became.

If this ability could be used on them, perhaps it could limit their powers.

However, Yūne Kotetsu was a Vice-Captain, and Gaoyu had very little time to interact with her.

But he had almost finished increasing his favorability with everyone else in the Fourth Division.

He had managed to raise most of them to sixty.

The number of offensive abilities he now possessed had suddenly increased significantly, giving him a strong sense of security.

In the span of a month, Gin Ichimaru had successfully been confirmed as the Captain of the Third Division, while Byakuya Kuchiki became the Captain of the Sixth Division.

Gaoyu was appointed as the Vice-Captain of the Fifth Division and had to attend the Captains' Meeting with Aizen on his first day.

Gaoyu was a little excited. During the Captains' Meeting, he would at least be able to see the Vice-Captains of each division, if not all the Captains.

Early in the morning, Gaoyu followed behind Aizen, walking towards the First Division.

"I'm really a bit sleepy."

Gaoyu yawned and couldn't help but say, "Captain Aizen, you really shouldn't have made me Vice-Captain. I feel a bit embarrassing like this."

"You'll get used to it," Aizen said with a faint smile. "Becoming a Vice-Captain in less than six years since graduation, Gaoyu-kun's advancement speed is enough to go down in history."

"...It just feels like a lot of trouble."

Gaoyu sighed.

He followed Aizen to the First Division and happened to see Rangiku. Beside Rangiku was a middle-aged man wearing a Captain's haori with a 'Ten' on his back, clearly the Captain of the Tenth Division, Isshin Shiba.

Isshin Shiba's Soul Ability was...

'Final Zanpakuto Fusion: Upon use, the user fuses with their Zanpakuto, achieving the 'Person-Blade Fusion' state.'

'Note: This skill is extremely dangerous. If used without permanently acquiring this ability, all Spiritual Power will be lost upon completion!'