Squad 4's Ichiro

Although the Captain was looking straight ahead, he had been keeping an eye on Ichiro the entire time. This slight shift in Ichiro's demeanor naturally didn't escape his notice, and with a faint smile at the corner of his mouth, he said, "In that case, remember to report to the Squad 4 training grounds at 6:00 AM every morning."

"..." The Captain's gentle tone sent a chill through Ichiro's heart. He turned his head stiffly to look at the Captain, forced a smile onto his face, and said, "Ca-Captain, is that really necessary? I can practice on my own!"

Are you kidding me? Having the Captain train me personally? The gentler someone's voice is, the more black-hearted they are!

Especially since this person has a habit of squinting his eyes—that makes it even more terrifying!

However, upon hearing Ichiro's words, the Captain turned his head to look at him with a smile, his voice as gentle as ever: "Six o'clock sharp at Squad 4 every morning, do you understand?"

"..." Watching the Captain's eyes narrow into slits, Ichiro swallowed in fear and nodded stiffly. "Un-understood. I will definitely be there on time! Captain!"

"That's good."

"Phew~" Ichiro let out a long sigh of relief, but no sooner had he relaxed than he thought of his miserable future and couldn't help but let out a heavy groan. Swordsmanship, huh... Oh well, I already promised her anyway. I'll just spend my final days practicing with her.

Looking at the Zanpakuto at his waist, Ichiro revealed a smile.

Urahara and the others watched Ichiro's rapidly changing expressions, exchanged speechless glances, and chuckled. They didn't say anything, simply sitting quietly atop Minazuki as they headed toward Squad 4.

They knew Ichiro quite well; he was incredibly reliable when he was serious, but when he wasn't, he was more of a goofball than anyone else.

Soon, the Captain brought Ichiro and the others to the bustling Squad 4. After landing, the Captain called over an officer and instructed, "I need to go to Central 46 to report in. Ichiro will be covering my duties for the time being. These individuals are members of the Four Great Noble Houses; please arrange a safe place for them."

"Yes, Captain!"

After giving his orders to the officer, the Captain looked at Ichiro and said, "Kiyonosuke will handle the other squad affairs; you just need to be responsible for the medical work. No problem, right?"

"Yeah, it's fine. My Reiatsu recovered a bit on the way here. Combined with some recovery potions, it shouldn't be an issue."

Ichiro knew the Captain wasn't worried about his medical skills, but rather whether his Reiatsu was sufficient. This was currently Ichiro's biggest weakness in medicine, even more so than the techniques that required honing.

Fortunately, this could be supplemented with blue potions, so it wasn't a major problem.

"I'm leaving now."

The Captain nodded, remounted Minazuki, and flew off in the direction of Central 46.

On this side, Ichiro patted his cheeks, took a drab backpack from the officer, and asked, "Which district is short-handed right now?"

"District 7, Lord Ichiro."

"Alright, I'll head to District 7 first. You get them settled." After saying this, he looked at Urahara and the others. "I have work to do. He will take you to your quarters. I'm off."

With that, he turned and strode away with brisk, decisive steps.

"He's so amazing..." the young lady of the Kuchiki house murmured as she watched Ichiro's retreating back. As a fellow student at Shino Academy, she felt the massive gap between them once again.

Back at the academy, Ichiro's outstanding combat prowess had already shocked her, but that was still within her range of understanding—after all, geniuses were normal.

Her own fiancé from the Kuchiki house was even stronger; it was said he had already achieved Bankai during his time at the academy, which was far more impressive than Ichiro and his peers.

However, the Captain's attitude on the road had surprised her even more, and it was even more evident here. The Thirteenth Division had been established for hundreds of years, and she had never heard of any Soul Reaper who could command such respect from an officer while still a student—and all based on his own ability.

Hearing her mutter to herself, the officer smiled and said, "Lord Ichiro is naturally amazing. Don't let the fact that he's still a student fool you; that's only because he doesn't want to graduate. In terms of medical skill, currently, only the Captain is above him in our squad. Even many members who possess healing-type Zanpakuto are no match for him in this regard!"

"He's that good?!"

Elsewhere, Ichiro was unaware of their discussion. He was currently rushing toward District 7, continuously activating Alchemy to transmute bottle after bottle of Reiatsu Recovery Potion in preparation for emergencies.

The Reiatsu Recovery Potion, a milky-white liquid, was the product of liquefied Reiatsu. However, Ichiro had added a few of his own formulas to make it easier to absorb, giving it excellent mana-restoration properties. It was now being produced across all of Squad 4.

Unfortunately, because it was a product of Alchemy, it still lacked the refinement for mass production using standard techniques. Current stocks in the squad were low, mostly consisting of small-batch laboratory products, so Ichiro had to take advantage of the time to produce more.

Soon, Ichiro arrived at District 7. Looking out, he saw Soul Reapers walking to and fro, while those lying on the ground groaned incessantly. A chaotic atmosphere washed over him.

A group of dragons without a head—a total mess!

Ichiro took a deep breath, transmuted a pair of glasses onto the bridge of his nose, and pushed them up. He activated a self-suggestion to forcibly steady his mind, ignoring the wailing, and shouted.

"Everyone! Break up your current groups! Prioritize organizing into wartime squads! Everyone else, organize according to the emergency response protocols!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

The crowd looked at Ichiro in surprise. After a brief pause, they erupted into a flurry of activity, but this time, it was efficient. After quickly tending to the wounds of those they were already treating, everyone promptly formed new teams and dove back into the medical work.

Meanwhile, Ichiro continued to direct the scene: "That group over there, split into three teams to sort and categorize the medicine! Assign one team specifically to handle medical waste! That squad over there! How were you trained? What are you doing? Get the wounded organized and ready immediately!"

Soon, under Ichiro's command, the scene began to operate in an orderly fashion. In truth, even if Ichiro hadn't come, they would have eventually returned to this state, but it would have taken time.

It couldn't be helped; even modern armies would fall into chaos for a moment after losing their commander, let alone the Soul Reapers, whose discipline wasn't exactly strict.

Seeing the squads begin to act as they had in training, Ichiro nodded. He walked over to a Soul Reaper with severe injuries, waved away the treating members, and kept only two assistants.

Beyond maintaining discipline, Ichiro's more important role was treating the critically wounded. Injuries that were considered severe to other members were often minor to Ichiro; he could finish treating them quickly and move on to the next patient, greatly increasing efficiency.