As time goes by, the bloody wounds left by the war are scabbing little by little in the slow and steady daily operation of Seireitei.
Groups of recruits who graduated early from the Shin'ō Academy were assigned to various divisions. The shocking blanks on the personnel rosters of each team were finally refilled with names whose handwriting was still awkward.
It is true that the young people behind these names, whether in terms of thickness of Reiatsu or experience in life and death, are far from being able to support these two heavy words Seated Officer.
But at least, there were calls for drills in the team building again, and the patrol team took to the streets again. Gotei 13 was finally alive again.
On the afternoon when the initial personnel replenishment was completed and each division barely resumed normal operations, Captain of the Ninth Division Jūmonji Quando called Lieutenant Kensei Muguruma into the captain's room.
The afternoon sun shines through the window lattice and falls on Jūmonji Quando's left shoulder. Connected there is a precision mechanical prosthetic leg made by Twelfth Division. This prosthetic leg is the same as 's back then. The model used by Oda Tenza is exactly the same. Although it can rely on spiritual power to drive the Reishi gear to maintain daily grasping and activities, it cannot transmit and release even a trace of Reiatsu.
For a martial arts captain who advocates head-on combat, this undoubtedly marks the end of his peak period.
"Captain, you called me over now. Do you have any important team duties?" Kensei Muguruma stood in front of the desk, as crisp and neat as ever.
Jūmonji Quando put down the tea cup with his remaining right hand, raised his head, and looked calmly and firmly at the young man in front of him who he had brought out with his own hands. "Kensei, I plan to hand over Ninth Division to you."
The expression on Kensei's face froze instantly, and he was stunned for several seconds before he said in disbelief, "... What?"
After that day, the captain's room in the Ninth Division team building officially changed its owner.
Due to Quincy War's devastating blow to Ninth Division's mid-level and senior management, High-Ranking Seated Officer in the team has been in a state of large vacancy since the war. Of course, there is also Jūmonji Quando who deliberately filled it.
After Kensei Muguruma took over Captain's Haori and generally understood the tedious team captain duties, the first thing he did was make personnel appointments.
The first is Mashiro Kuna who was appointed Lieutenant.
This green-haired girl who always pesters Kensei like a piece of brown candy and murmurs to herself all day long about how powerful she is, although she has a naughty and out-of-touch personality and likes to be lazy and playful when it comes to paperwork, Kensei knows her details better than anyone else. She has excellent practical talent, and Hakuda is even more powerful.
What's even more rare is that her heartless and optimistic style has quite good affinity and prestige among today's young Squad Member who have served for a short period of time and have not yet emerged from the haze of war.
Immediately afterwards, the three Mid-Ranking Seated Officer, Heizō Kasagi, Shinobu Ejima, and Zaemon Tōdō, who had been following Kensei's footsteps on the battlefield, were promoted to Third Seat, Fourth Seat and six seats in one fell swoop due to their excellent military exploits and loyalty.
On the day when they were officially appointed to their seats, the three of them went to the tailor shop to customize a white outer haori with an ordinary style that did not violate team rules but was particularly eye-catching. On the back of the haori, five large characters were written neatly in rough and powerful ink.
[Muguruma Ninth Division]
And the blind Soul Reaper Tōsen Kaname, who also performed extremely calmly and outstandingly in that bloody battle and showed outstanding leadership skills, naturally accepted Fifth Seat's letter of appointment.
A new team belonging to [Muguruma Ninth Division] has taken shape.
Almost on the same day, Sixth Division captain's room.
Kuchiki Ginrei finished reviewing the last team affairs document, gently put down the brush in his hand, raised his hand tiredly, and rubbed his deeply sunken eyebrows.
He is old.
No one needs to explain this.
The war with Quincy continued intermittently year after year, and the Seated Officer in the squad changed one after another. He sat behind this large wooden desk and watched groups of high-spirited young people come in from the Shin'ō Academy and write their names on the roster. Then one day, he personally picked up the ink pen and crossed out those names one by one from under his own name.
The white-haired person has given away the black-haired person so many times that even the leader of Five Great Noble Houses feels tired.
"Kōga"
"Father" Kōga Kuchiki, who had been standing quietly in front of the case, heard this and immediately took a step forward and bowed slightly respectfully.
Kuchiki Ginrei raised his eyes full of traces of time, quietly looked at the man in front of him who was holding up Sixth Division's defense line with his life on the battlefield, and slowly said, "Sixth Division is left to you, I'm relieved."
Kōga's eyelashes trembled suddenly, and an unprepared shock flashed through his eyes.
"Father, I..."
"You are my son-in-law. Over the years, how many people outside have been talking behind my back, using the word "brother-in-law" to make excuses, saying that you are not worthy of the Kuchiki Clan's lintel, I have heard it all." Kuchiki Ginrei raised his hand to interrupt his humble words.
The old man stood up slowly, walked to the window with his hands behind his back, and looked across the corridor at the old pine tree in the courtyard that had weathered the weather but was still green.
"But Kōga, you have to remember that Sixth Division's knife is never held by blood, but by true ability. No matter what those outside say, from today on, Sixth Division will be handed over to you."
The day the news broke out about the Sixth Division team building, the entire Seireitei aristocratic circle was like water dripping from a frying pan, completely fried.
A son-in-law with no aristocratic blood actually succeeded Captain Sixth Division?!
In the eyes of those conservative nobles, Sixth Division has always been known as the noble guard and noble model. The captain's throne should be inherited by Four Great Noble Clans or the Main House bloodline of high-ranking nobles from generation to generation.
Nowadays, even Kuchiki Main House's legitimate son Sōjun Kuchiki has long since resigned from his front-line position due to health problems. The old patriarch Kuchiki Ginrei has also decided to abdicate to take care of his old age. This position should also be filled by another Main House nobleman through a referendum by the aristocratic assembly. In any case, it should not fall into the hands of a son-in-law who has married into the family!
However, no matter how fierce the complaints and protests were in private, no one dared to speak out against it.
There was no other reason. Commander-in-Chief Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto of First Division personally nodded in agreement. Central 46 had no objections to this. As the party involved, Kuchiki's family was even calmer without any objection.
What's more, in the face of absolute military achievements and strength, everyone has to pinch their noses and admit the fact: Even if Kōga Kuchiki is a son-in-law, he is now a person with the surname Kuchiki.
On the other side of Seireitei, under the cherry blossom trees of the Shin'ō Academy, a group of vibrant new students are ushered in.
Among this group of boys and girls wearing uniform blue and white/red and white uniforms, one figure stood out.
He is still young, but his face is extremely handsome and delicate, and his manners are almost rigid. The collar and cuffs of his hospital uniform are decorated with gorgeous brocades that only the children of the great nobles are allowed to wear. On his head is the Kenseikan that symbolizes the status of the orthodox heir of the Kuchiki Clan.
Byakuya Kuchiki. Kuchiki Clan The only son of the current head of the family Sōjun Kuchiki
At this time, young Byakuya was walking in the corridor after class at the Spiritual Arts Academy without looking away, exuding a cool aura that kept strangers away from him.
"Byakuya~"
Suddenly, a lazy voice with a bit of a joking smile floated over from the other end of the corridor in the breeze.
Byakuya, who was walking, felt his body stiffen almost imperceptibly for a moment.
He was so familiar with this sound that his scalp would instinctively tingle when he heard even the last sound.
"Why are you running, young master?"
Second Division Captain, Onmitsukidō Commander-in-Chief Yoruichi Shihōin is slowly wandering over. Not far behind her are several Second Division accompanying Squad Member, at this moment, they all stood still in a tacit understanding, staring here with a look of disinterest. Yoruichi put one hand on his waist, and narrowed his golden eyes slightly, filled with a narrow smile:
"Long time no see. I've grown a lot taller."
Byakuya was forced to stop where he was, and the fingers hanging by his side holding the handle of the wooden knife tightened a little unconsciously.
"Lady Yoruichi."
He took a deep breath, suppressed the urge to turn around and left, and bowed to Yoruichi in an orderly manner, his voice was steady, and his posture was so upright that there was no fault in it.
But only Byakuya knew that a thin layer of sweat had quietly broken out on his back.
For as long as he can remember, every time this woman in front of him "teases him" has been a complete disaster for him.
When he was a child, he was so playful that he climbed up a tree and couldn't get down. Yoruichi asked him to carry him down, but he carried him and Shunpo went to a higher treetop to blow in the wind. Later, he coaxed him and said that he would teach him the best Shunpo in the world, but he was directly carried to the treetop. Kuchiki Clan On the roof of the highest main house, remove the ladder and let him find a way to jump down; or mysteriously tell him to show him something good, and when he gets close, turn around and tie his most cherished hair tie into a knot that cannot be untied...
Every piece of it is clearly visible in my mind.
"Why, you haven't seen me for so long, and you put on this expression when you see me? As if you are about to go to the execution ground." Yoruichi walked up to him, raised his eyebrows deliberately, leaned down and got closer.
"No... I don't dare," Byakuya's ears tightened slightly, his eyes drifted to the side, and he replied firmly.
Seeing his reaction, which was obviously extremely nervous but still trying to act like a serious young adult, Yoruichi finally couldn't help but laugh.
The moment she passed by Byakuya, she raised her hand very naturally and rubbed Byakuya's black and smooth hair, ruffling his meticulously combed hair into a slight mess.
Byakuya did not hide.
To be precise, in the face of her attack, which Shunpo had recently reached the pinnacle of practice and was called Flash Goddess by Soul Reapers of Seireitei, he could neither dodge nor dare to dodge.
Yoruichi took back his hand and continued walking forward in a good mood, waving behind him without looking back:
"Study hard at the Spiritual Arts Academy, young master!"
Byakuya stood upright on the spot, until he saw that handsome and uninhibited back completely disappearing around the corner of the corridor, and his cold and delicate face, which was as cold and delicate as thin ice, finally showed a faint, almost invisible blush.