Unohana Retsu

Hyakume-ki Seikyo was somewhat afraid of Captain Unohana Retsu.

It was not because of her status as the First Kenpachi, nor the fear that she might see through his true identity, but rather due to the little things from his time back in the 4th Division.

Simply put... his experiences were much like those of Kira Izuru.

They had both witnessed the "true" selves of the various ladies behind closed doors.

Especially Captain Unohana Retsu.

The source of the particularly bold discussions regarding male anatomy among the female officers all traced back to Captain Unohana.

Seikyo had even had the misfortune of being used as a teaching aid for her to explain things to others.

Even thinking about it now, Seikyo felt his entire body go numb.

This made him exceptionally polite every time he faced Captain Unohana.

This, in turn, gave Captain Unohana a bit of a headache.

She valued Hyakume-ki Seikyo, this junior of hers, quite highly.

As long as he didn't go off to challenge Zaraki Kenpachi, he would certainly become a captain himself one day.

But she clearly hadn't revealed her true nature in front of him, yet he remained so terrified of her... it seemed the jokes she had made in the past had been a bit too much.

Seikyo informed Captain Unohana about the recent behavior of the 11th Division officers, hoping to secure the cooperation of the 4th Division.

Naturally, Captain Unohana had no reason to refuse.

Having received her response, Seikyo took his leave. Although he had wanted the 4th Division to provide records of which 11th Division members had been coming in for treatment most frequently over the past few days, he decided... it would be better to wait until Lieutenant Yamada Seinosuke was present!

Seeing Seikyo's cautious demeanor, Unohana Retsu finally suppressed the urge to make him stay for a lecture.

She had a feeling that if she said anything, he would run away even faster!

The 11th Division's nighttime training grounds were quite crowded with people training.

After all, they had high-powered floodlights brought from the World of the Living, making the night here as bright as day.

Every officer who wanted to improve their strength refused to let the night hours go to waste.

Although Abarai Renji had only joined the 11th Division a few days ago, he had already grown fond of its atmosphere.

Training here, he truly felt his strength steadily increasing.

Even if not every officer's spiritual pressure was stronger than his, Abarai Renji still lagged behind significantly in terms of combat experience.

While this rough-and-tumble style of fighting was incompatible with what Abarai Renji had learned at Shino Academy, it suited him perfectly.

He had been a wild kid since he was little!

And the one sparring with Abarai Renji at this moment was his classmate, Kira Izuru.

Although Kira Izuru belonged to the 4th Division, as long as an 11th Division officer like Abarai Renji vouched for them, officers from other divisions were permitted to train at the 11th Division at night.

Ever since he and Abarai Renji had met again in the 4th Division infirmary, he had been coming to the 11th Division every night to train.

He studied Kaidō during the day and practiced combat techniques at night.

After all, Kira Izuru did not want to spend all his time in the 4th Division.

After having his Asauchi knocked away by a clever bit of leverage Abarai Renji had just learned, Kira Izuru felt he needed to work even harder.

However, just as he was about to pick up his Asauchi, he saw someone else pick it up first.

Seikyo hadn't expected that just as he walked into the 11th Division, an Asauchi would slide right to his feet.

Picking it up, Seikyo noticed the battle marks on the blade... he really did like to fight using the tip of the weapon!

Seeing Kira Izuru run over, Seikyo understood.

Turning the hilt toward Kira Izuru and handing it back, Seikyo said earnestly, "Next time, even if your weapon is knocked away, don't just stand there and wait to be captured. You have other moves you can use to attack!"

Kira Izuru recognized Seikyo; he took the sword with both hands and bowed very seriously in response, "Thank you very much for your guidance, 4th Seat Hyakume-ki."

"Mm," Seikyo patted Kira Izuru on the shoulder and said in a low voice, "Judging by your habit of using the Asauchi, you should learn fast-sword techniques! Don't copy Abarai's fighting style; it doesn't suit you!"

Kira Izuru fell into deep thought after nodding.

Seikyo smiled and walked toward the center of the training grounds.

Only after Seikyo had passed did Abarai Renji walk over to Kira Izuru's side, "What's wrong, Kira?"

"Just now, 4th Seat Hyakume-ki suggested I learn fast-sword techniques," Kira Izuru looked at his Asauchi, "He seemed to have discerned my habits just by looking at my blade."

"Are all seated officers this amazing?"

This feeling reminded Kira Izuru of Captain Aizen, who had arrived when they were suddenly ambushed by a group of powerful Hollows in the World of the Living.

Although 4th Seat Hyakume-ki was certainly not as powerful as Captain Aizen, both gave Kira Izuru a sense of being unfathomable.

Even though they had become Soul Reapers and were no longer students, it still felt as if they couldn't even see the backs of these men.

"I suppose so! After all, other officers say that 4th Seat Hyakume-ki is not inferior to the other captains who aren't particularly skilled in combat."

Abarai Renji, on the other hand, was already accustomed to the 4th Seat's strength; he didn't hold any special awe for Aizen, who had saved him, which was why he hadn't been chosen by Aizen as a target for easy manipulation.

A captain not skilled in combat... someone like Captain Aizen or Captain Unohana?

In Kira Izuru's mind, the two captains he had actually seen were both definitely the type skilled in combat.

After all, one led the medical division and the other the rescue division; neither were squads meant for frontline fighting!

If Fourth Seat Hyakume could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with those two, that would be truly incredible.

However, as they watched Fourth Seat Hyakume walk to the center of the training grounds, something happened that neither Abarai Renji nor Kira Izuru had expected.

A powerful spiritual pressure erupted from his body, causing every Soul Reaper present to instantly lose their sense of security.

"All you bastards who went to the 4th Division to freeload and mooch off food last month, step forward!"

Aoto's single sentence made the hearts of the Soul Reapers present turn cold.

And those who were truly terrified out of their wits were the squad members who had committed the offense.

Several days had already passed since Fourth Seat Hyakume returned from the human world, and they had been living in fear for every one of them.

They had thought the crisis had passed, never expecting him to suddenly strike at this moment.

Truly... there was no escaping this fate!

Yet, even with long, mournful faces, they still stepped forward.

After all, they truly dared not deceive Fourth Seat Hyakume.

The saying that he could make life worse than death didn't just refer to eating or sleeping poorly.

There had truly been many bold Soul Reapers who had tried to cross Fourth Seat Hyakume, and they had already shown everyone else the consequences.

Seeing them step out obediently, Aoto's anger subsided slightly.

It seemed his prestige was still sufficient.

"Is there anyone else who hasn't come out? Mutual denunciation can exempt you from some punishment, but false accusations are forbidden!"

The crowd immediately widened their eyes, looking around at one another, only to realize that everyone was already here!

Sigh, the chance for exemption they had worked so hard for was gone!