Chapter 36: Doubts, Dangerous Steps - Bleach: This Captain Is an Uchiha

Huh? So this was the beautiful version of Kirio Hikifune...

This was Uchiha Yato's first reaction after opening the door. He then planted Scarlet Eye's sheath on the ground and dropped to one knee in salute:

"Captain Hikifune."

"Little Yato." Kirio Hikifune smiled and waved at him.

"I'd heard your name long ago. You really are handsome. You must have been very popular with the girls at Shin'ō Academy, right?"

"You flatter me, Captain Hikifune."

"Don't be so stiff, Little Yato."

"As a Seated Officer, it is only proper."

Seeing the boy act this way, Hiyori Sarugaki secretly curled her lip and rolled her eyes.

So in your eyes, the captain is the only one in our division worth respecting?

But before Kirio Hikifune, Hiyori Sarugaki put away her foul temper as well. She obediently walked to her captain's side, her voice naturally intimate and trusting.

"Captain, what work are you assigning him?"

"Well..." The purple-haired woman recalled the Head Captain's instructions from yesterday and fell into thought.

"Little Yato, what are you good at?"

"Fighting. Killing." The boy pointed at his eyes.

"And my Soul-Cutter Sword's ability is well-suited for gathering intelligence."

"Impressive!" Kirio Hikifune gave him an exaggerated thumbs-up.

"Unfortunately, our division specializes in research and leans more toward clerical work... How about this? Starting today, you'll be responsible for protecting me whenever I go out."

"Captain!" Hiyori pouted unhappily.

"Isn't that usually my job?"

"Jealous little Hiyori is so cute~" Kirio Hikifune grinned as she grabbed her lieutenant and pressed her into her bosom, her ample figure jiggling wildly.

"Give Little Yato a chance."

Hiyori Sarugaki's face turned bright red, and she was too tongue-tied to say anything.

Uchiha Yato remained impeccably proper, eyes on his nose, nose on his heart, keeping silent below.

After teasing her lieutenant, Kirio Hikifune turned her attention back to Yato, her gaze repeatedly sweeping over Scarlet Eye's blade.

"Let me touch the guard, Little Yato."

The boy paused. It was not an especially rude request, so he held out the sheathed sword with its hilt facing Kirio Hikifune.

The purple-haired woman's fingertips lightly brushed over the cold guard, gentler than a breeze.

"This feeling... it truly is the Multi-Stage Release type." She narrowed her eyes, seeming to sink into some distant memory.

"I haven't encountered one in many years."

"Oh, right, Little Yato." Kirio Hikifune withdrew her hand and shifted into a more comfortable position on her lounge chair.

"Since you're skilled in combat, you'll inevitably spar with others. Injuries are unavoidable too. You know where to go for treatment after getting hurt, don't you?"

"I understand, Captain Hikifune." Model student Uchiha Yato knew the regulations by heart.

"High-ranking Seated Officers from seventh seat and above in the Gotei 13 may receive the best medical care at the 4th Division's special treatment center. If their lives are in danger, the 4th Division's lieutenant, or even captain, will personally..."

"No need to go to the 4th Division."

"Uh?"

"Our 12th Division's underground laboratory has the most advanced medical equipment in all the Soul Society, and our medicines are fully stocked. We can even pick fresh materials and prepare them on the spot." Kirio Hikifune subtly stressed her words.

"So try not to go to the 4th Division."

"Understood, Captain Hikifune."

Uchiha Yato naturally obeyed. Yet as his eyelids lowered, doubt rose within him.

Was there bad blood between the 12th Division and the 4th Division?

Or... did Kirio Hikifune have a personal conflict with Retsu Unohana?

Thus, Uchiha Yato's life as a Soul Reaper officially began.

The work of a Third Seat was busier than he had imagined.

With Hiyori's temperament, she was excellent at fighting and brawling, but she could hardly be called an outstanding lieutenant. Perhaps she could get along with her subordinates, but that did not help her manage the division.

So, during the first month, after Uchiha Yato flawlessly completed his guard duties and brought the lower-ranked Seated Officers firmly into line, Kirio Hikifune's eyes lit up.

She transferred part of the authority that had originally belonged to Hiyori Sarugaki over to Yato—such as arranging division duty rotations, preparing reports for captain meetings, and catching biological supplies for the underground laboratory...

After the initial period of frantic chaos, Uchiha Yato was able to handle all his duties with ease from the third month onward.

Hiyori had no objections. She was not keen on authority. In fact, Yato's arrival gave her more time for her own affairs, such as going to Squad Five to chat and loaf around with Shinji Hirako.

Of course, Yato did not neglect his training either. Not a single day passed without practicing the essential disciplines of Zankensoki.

During this period, he also sought people out for sparring. That was easy enough—the 11th Division was full of battle-crazed maniacs who never refused a challenge.

Even if you slashed an 11th Division member until he was covered in blood, he would still raise a thumb and shout, "What a fast blade, Third Seat Uchiha! I'll pass out for a while first. When I wake up, we'll fight again!"

Then he would spit out a mouthful of blood and be carried off to the 4th Division.

In his spare time, Yato would invite Byakuya Kuchiki out for meals. Yoruichi Shihōin would occasionally bring Kisuke Urahara along, lamenting that Kirio Hikifune had stolen the genius Fourth Seat of her Second Division, while taking the chance to mooch drinks. It made the veins on Byakuya's forehead throb.

As for Kensei Muguruma, Mashiro Kuna, Rōjūrō Otoribashi... Yato had at least met each of those figures from the original story once or twice.

Time slowly passed amid such daily routines. In the blink of an eye, more than half a year had passed since Yato became Third Seat.

That day, late at night.

Yato opened his eyes and emerged from Sword Zen.

He checked the pendulum clock on the wall, got dressed, and left the division quarters.

A thick fog blanketed the night, so dense one could not see a hand before one's face. Only vague, hazy firelight could be seen—the signals sent out by the Tenth Division while patrolling the Seireitei.

Yato headed north along a familiar route. In less than ten minutes, he reached the Seireitei's northern gate—Black Ridge Gate.

Even in the middle of the night, a burly giant still stood guard there.

He was over ten meters tall, his muscles knotted and his lips exceptionally thick. He was unbelievably robust.

This was Danzōmaru, a hero selected from countless candidates in Rukongai to guard the Seireitei's northern Black Ridge Gate!

Within the thick fog, Danzōmaru's ears twitched as he caught a sound.

"Who's there?"

His eyes widened as he carefully searched the area, yet he saw only weeds blown through the air by the night wind.

"Seriously... those 4th Division people haven't been doing a very good job cleaning lately." Danzōmaru adjusted the thick coat draped over his shoulders and paid it no further mind.

Beside him, Uchiha Yato walked straight through the gate, his scarlet eyes remaining lit for a long time.

He quietly moved away from Danzōmaru and passed before a patrol squad. The hem of his Soul Reaper uniform fluttered in the wind, yet all they could see was a single weed dancing in the breeze.

Yato moved faster and faster. After leaving North District 1, he sped like the wind, soon arriving in a forest.

Beside a small tree as thick as a bowl, a dark-skinned, blind Ninth Division Seated Officer had already been waiting.

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Doubts, Dangerous Steps