At a time like this, reporting Kuruyashiki Kenpachi and exposing his crimes seemed like the most righteous thing to do.
But after recalling some of Urahara Kisuke's experiences in the original story,
Natsuki ultimately held himself back.
Central 46 were no good people.
Those nobles fancied themselves righteous, but in truth, they were nothing more than a bunch of people hiding behind righteousness to satisfy their own selfish desires. They were stubborn and old-fashioned, and only willing to believe what they saw with their own eyes.
Natsuki was afraid that dealing with people like that would give him a heart attack.
If possible, he'd rather never have anything to do with them for the rest of his life.
After thinking it over again and again, Natsuki chose to hold back for now and wait to see how things unfolded. He didn't report Azashiro Kenpachi.
Several more peaceful days passed.
After Unohana Retsu treated him, Natsuki's injuries had healed completely.
He returned to his Division's daily routine.
But because he'd used being injured by a Hollow as an excuse last time, Gosu, the vice-captain, was no longer willing to assign Natsuki combat missions. Natsuki could only stay in the Division and handle clerical work. Of course, since the 11th Division didn't have much paperwork, he finished it quickly. In his spare time, aside from staying in the Division to train, he also visited Unohana Retsu in the 4th Division.
His claim that he wanted to learn healing Kidō hadn't been a joke.
Faced with Natsuki's eagerness to learn, Unohana Retsu didn't hold back and began teaching him.
At first, Unohana Retsu had only heard that a new genius had recently risen in the 11th Division. Having lived for so long and with so much free time these days, she couldn't help feeling a little interested in Natsuki.
But after meeting him in person and witnessing his talent for herself, Unohana Retsu grew even more interested.
That was because Natsuki's control over spiritual power was simply astonishing.
Unlike Hado and Bakudo, healing Kidō was a type of Kidō used internally.
Kidō used externally required a specific incantation to draw in the surrounding Reishi. The Reishi would then be arranged and combined according to specific rules, after which the caster used their own spiritual power to propel the gathered Reishi and release it as various distinctive abilities.
Healing Kidō was different.
Its target wasn't an enemy in front of the caster. It was used to treat and repair a Shinigami's damaged body.
Shinigami were beings of Reishi, their bodies composed of highly concentrated Reishi.
Repairing the body was, in fact, repairing damaged Reishi tissue.
The method itself wasn't difficult. All it took was converting one's spiritual power into pure Reishi and injecting it into the injured person to repair their bodily tissues. But putting it into practice was quite difficult.
After all, the human body was complicated.
Even if spiritual power had already been converted into Reishi, too much foreign Reishi entering the body wouldn't repair the injury; it would only make it worse.
Too little, on the other hand, wouldn't be enough to heal it.
So the key was controlling the amount.
That required an extremely high level of control over spiritual power.
This was also why, despite the 4th Division having many Shinigami, few of them truly mastered healing Kidō. Many of the 4th Division's Shinigami actually relied on their Zanpakuto when treating others.
In Soul Society, Zanpakuto were mainly divided into two categories.
Direct Attack Type and Kidō-type. Direct Attack Type Zanpakuto could also be called "Direct Slash Type," while the abilities of Kidō-type Zanpakuto were all sorts of peculiar. Aside from blades with various elemental properties, there were also quite a few dedicated to healing.
"What exquisite control!"
Watching Natsuki quickly get the hang of healing Kidō, Unohana Retsu couldn't help praising him. "Natsuki Third Seat, have you really never considered transferring to our 4th Division?"
"We already have someone in mind for the position of vice-captain, but you'd be more than qualified to serve as our Third Seat."
Unohana Retsu extended an invitation to Natsuki.
"I'll pass. I'd rather fight on the front lines than be a doctor who saves people from behind," Natsuki replied, politely turning down Unohana Retsu.
Admittedly, life in the 4th Division was peaceful, and its members didn't have to face many dangers.
If someone wanted to live a quiet life, the 4th Division was the best choice.
But Natsuki had made up his mind long ago to face all kinds of dangers. Besides, fighting was a way to grow stronger.
His defeat at Azashiro Kenpachi's hands still rankled.
All he wanted now was to increase his strength by any means he could.
Learning healing Kidō was one way to grow stronger.
Although it couldn't directly increase his combat strength, it could help him quickly recover from injuries and regain his fighting strength. That, too, was a kind of indirect improvement.
Seeing how determined Natsuki was,
Unohana Retsu didn't press him any further.
Deep down, she still felt a little regretful.
In the Gotei 13, there were plenty of people who fought, but very few truly top-notch healers.
Shinigami were constantly fighting dangerous foes, and casualties were high.
Even though the 4th Division did its best to rescue them,
the quality of medical care varied, and sometimes there was simply nothing they could do.
As a Third Seat of the 11th Division, Natsuki was naturally no weakling.
But judging from the talent he'd shown while learning healing Kidō, Unohana Retsu was certain that if he became a healer, he would be of even greater value to Soul Society.
Time passed in a flash.
In the blink of an eye, several more months went by.
Azashiro Kenpachi still kept to himself and remained out of sight.
During this time, one or two Menos Grande of the Gillian class appeared from time to time, but Azashiro Kenpachi never came out to fight them. In the end, Gosu, the vice-captain, dealt with them.
Natsuki had wanted to step in.
But Gosu never gave him the chance.
As the 11th Division's vice-captain, Gosu was actually quite capable. In addition to handling administrative matters, he had spent many years by Kuruyashiki Kenpachi's side, receiving his guidance all along. Among the Gotei 13's vice-captains, his strength was outstanding.
Well, except for the 1st Division's vice-captain.
After all, Sasakibe Chojiro had been around for so long. He could have become a captain, but had turned down the position so he could remain by the Head Captain's side.
In the blink of an eye, a year had passed since Kuruyashiki Kenpachi's death and Azashiro Soya had become the new Kenpachi.
That day,
the case of souls disappearing from Rukongai finally came to a conclusion.
Azashiro Kenpachi... had been exposed.
The Gotei 13 used special means to discover that Azashiro Kenpachi had been targeting souls in Rukongai. Enraged, Captain-Commander Yamamoto immediately dispatched several captains to arrest him and question him about what had happened.
In Rukongai,
a battle between captains suddenly erupted.
Azashiro Kenpachi's power was inscrutable. Even Kyoraku Shunsui and Ukitake Jushiro, veteran captains, couldn't get the better of him in a short time when they joined forces with Shihoin Utsusemi, the head of the Shihoin family and a master of Shunpo.
Instead, using the peculiar ability of his Zanpakuto, Azashiro Kenpachi created an illusion that appeared before the three captains and proceeded to mock them.
"So this is the strength of the Gotei 13's veteran captains? You're not all that impressive!"
Before you continue