Tsunayashiro Clan

What...

the hell was that?

Seeing high-dimensional comments? Then turning the praise about himself in those comments into reality?

Wasn't this ability a little too ridiculous?

And what did "high-dimensional comments" mean? Were they readers?

Had Ōmaeda really become some kind of god?

If he understood this ability correctly, then the world he was living in was a manga, and he was a character in it.

Since he was a character, naturally there would be readers commenting on him.

And his ability was to choose one of those comments about himself and make it come true.

That was why Gaoyu had been so stunned.

Did this mean he was living in a manga world?

"..."

Forget it. There was no point thinking about that now. What could he do when he was pitiful, weak, and helpless?

Aside from that, the Vice-Captains of the Third and Ninth Divisions had both died in the previous incident, so their positions were currently vacant.

The Vice-Captain of the Seventh Division was away on an assignment, so he couldn't come either.

That meant ten of the thirteen Vice-Captains had shown up. Each one sat in his place, and apart from Gaoyu and Rangiku chatting for a while, none of the others said a word.

Looking at Rangiku, Gaoyu remembered the Great Replenishing Pill he'd created earlier with her ability.

He'd given it to Aizen, and he had no idea what Aizen would do with it.

Was he going to use it to feed the Hogyoku?

But...

Gaoyu instinctively touched his heart.

After activating the Great Replenishing Pill ability, he'd felt as though a small piece of his soul essence had gone missing.

A long time had passed, but the feeling was still there.

He felt that it would take at least a year to recover the soul essence consumed by using the Great Replenishing Pill once.

Soul essence was the foundation of a Shinigami's soul. When a Shinigami awakened his Zanpakuto, he infused his soul essence into an Asauchi, linking it to his soul and awakening the corresponding ability.

If a Shinigami's soul essence diminished, it would affect not only his usual training but also his Zanpakuto's Bankai.

Take Rangiku, for example. Even though so many Vice-Captains later on could use Bankai, she still wasn't ready.

Gaoyu suspected that this might well be because her soul essence was incomplete.

Fortunately, Gaoyu felt that he could probably recover the soul essence he'd lost in about a year.

For a Shinigami, a year wasn't all that long.

The first Captains' Meeting ended just like that. Gaoyu memorized the Soul Abilities of the various Vice-Captains, planning to make friends with them later, starting with the most important ones.

Then he obediently followed Aizen back to the Fifth Division.

From that day on, he was officially a Vice-Captain. Vice-Captains were undoubtedly an important rank within the Gotei 13, so he now had a room of his own in the Fifth Division, and his office had gotten much bigger.

But he still wasn't used to living at the barracks. After all, how could the barracks be as safe as his own home?

His house was his very own Safe House!

"How was it?"

On the way back, Aizen walked ahead of him and asked, "Did you find any new subjects to observe among the Vice-Captains?"

Looking at Aizen's back, Gaoyu smiled faintly. "At least for now, every one of them is a subject of observation."

"But..."

Gaoyu couldn't help complaining. "There's something wrong with the Captains' Meeting. The Captains are the only ones who need to attend. We just sit next door and wait for the Captains to discuss things. Why do we have to go all the way to the First Division for that?"

"It's not a good idea to criticize a thousand-year-old institution in the Seireitei as soon as you've become a Vice-Captain," Aizen said with a smile. "I'll have to tell Captain-Commander Yamamoto about this next time."

"What? Captain Aizen, you're a snitch?" Gaoyu pursed his lips. He hadn't seen many of the Captains on this trip.

He hadn't seen Captain-Commander Yamamoto either.

Honestly, he was quite interested in Captain-Commander Yamamoto's Soul Ability. After all, as the strongest Shinigami in a thousand years, his Soul Ability couldn't be weak.

But then again, no matter how strong the ability was, Gaoyu would have to raise Yamamoto's favorability to at least sixty before he could use it. Just thinking about it gave him a headache.

Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto was a stubborn old fossil. Winning his favor wouldn't be easy.

His status was far too high, and Gaoyu had no real way of getting close to him.

Forget it. Some things simply couldn't be forced.

Gaoyu watched Aizen return to his office, while he went to join the Fifth Division's members.

The members congratulated Gaoyu on becoming Vice-Captain. Gaoyu didn't let his new position go to his head; he continued talking with them amiably, just as he always had.

He'd thought the day would end there, but that evening, just as he was getting ready to leave, a group of people showed up outside the Fifth Division and asked for him by name.

Gaoyu went out to meet them, then his gaze sharpened.

He didn't know them, but he recognized the emblem on their clothes.

It was the emblem of the Tsunayashiro Clan, one of the Five Noble Clans of the Soul Society.

That reminded Gaoyu of something.

The Gaoyu family was a lower noble house. Lower noble houses usually had their own "backers," or "main houses."

The Hachi family, for example, was affiliated with the Shihōin Clan. As a lower noble house, the Gaoyu family was also affiliated with a great noble house: the Tsunayashiro Clan, one of the Five Noble Clans.

But as the Gaoyu family gradually declined, it was no longer qualified to remain affiliated with the Tsunayashiro Clan.

By the time of Gaoyu Kouun's generation, the Gaoyu family had only the name of a noble house, with none of the standing. It had long since lost its ties to the Tsunayashiro Clan.

Gaoyu clicked his tongue, walked over, and asked, "Well, this is unexpected. Important people from the Tsunayashiro Clan have come all this way to see me? What do those old masters want?"

"Gaoyu Kouun," one of the Tsunayashiro Clan's servants said. "The main house has a task for you."

Gaoyu didn't reply. Instead, he looked back at Aizen.

Aizen shrugged, indicating that this had nothing to do with him.

Gaoyu then asked, "What kind of task?"

Although the Gaoyu family was a vassal family of the Tsunayashiro Clan, he was a Vice-Captain now and didn't have to follow the clan's orders in everything.

Of course, if the Tsunayashiro Clan didn't mind the trouble, it could issue an order through Central 46, and then it would be able to command him.

Not just Vice-Captains—even Captains and the Captain-Commander had to obey Central 46's orders.

The Tsunayashiro Clan's envoy said, "The task will be sent to you by Hell Butterfly in three days. This assignment requires you to go to the Human World, so please be prepared."

The Human World...

Gaoyu frowned, but this was a good thing for him too.

There were plenty of people in the Human World whose favor he still needed to win.

So he nodded.

"No problem. Just send the official order in three days."