Great Sage: I Want to Retire / Are Kings, Lords, Generals, and Ministers Born to Their Stations?

We're too embarrassed to call you out!

You're just lusting after her! Have you no shame?

"I have no objections," Unohana said gently.

She wasn't particular about where she lived. Besides, she could have deep exchanges with Yamabuki Chidori anytime she liked...

The kind where a blade went in clean and came out bloody.

What was not to like?

"Very well. Yamabuki, you'll assist Captain Unohana with the 11th Division's work for the time being. Take responsibility for it. Understood?" Yamamoto said.

"Yes, sir." Yamabuki Chidori nodded slightly.

And with that, the matter finally came to a close.

The Central 46's temporary headquarters.

The Sage who had complained to Yamamoto the day before returned to the temporary Central 46 headquarters, his heart uneasy.

"You're finally back! Tell us how it went!"

The moment the Sage appeared, everyone crowded around him.

The Central 46's reputation was at stake.

The Sage cleared his throat forcefully. "We've won a preliminary victory. Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto ordered Yamabuki Chidori to apologize to us publicly and gave him a severe reprimand!"

"Excellent!"

The other Sages were delighted. At last, they had won a round against the Gotei 13.

Only the Sage who had visited the Gotei 13 kept glancing about uneasily.

"Quiet, everyone!" The Great Sage raised a hand, and the room fell silent. "Go on. After his apology, how will they deal with Yamabuki Chidori killing one of our own?"

The Sage blinked. "That's it."

"That's it? What do you mean? Is he dead? Did Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto burn Yamabuki Chidori to ashes in a fit of rage?" the Great Sage asked excitedly.

"No. I mean there's no execution. The apology is the final outcome. Oh, and Yamabuki Chidori was ordered to write a letter of self-criticism, and he lost six months' pay... That's a pretty harsh punishment, if you ask me!"

The laughter stopped dead.

Everyone stared at the Sage in disbelief.

The victim had been a member of the Central 46.

A member of the highest authority in the world.

He was dead! Murdered! His head had been chopped clean off! And you're telling me the punishment is an apology, a letter of self-criticism, and six months' pay?

Are you playing with me?

The Great Sage looked as though he had just discovered his wife was cheating on him.

"This is outrageous. Has he forgotten that without us to supply him, the Gotei 13 could never have been established? And now he's turning his blade on us! Outrageous! Absolutely outrageous!" The Great Sage trembled with anger.

"Great Sage, what should we do? We'll follow your lead! Just say the word, and we'll go mobilize our private troops and settle this with him!"

The Great Sage kicked the man in alarm. "If you want to die, leave me out of it! Go yourself if you're unhappy. I have no desire to be burned to ashes by Ryūjin Jakka."

It's fine to complain, but actually do something? Are you trying to get yourself killed? Don't drag me into it! I'm not ready to die!

They all knew what kind of lunatics made up the Gotei 13.

Yamabuki Chidori had given them a painfully vivid lesson just yesterday.

If you lacked the strength, you kept your mouth shut around them!

Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto was clearly protecting one of his own.

What could the Great Sage do? Endure it.

Besides, yesterday's battle had proved Yamabuki Chidori's standing in the Gotei 13. With Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's full support, his position in Soul Society was unshakable.

If he had not possessed some sense of morality, he would already have been lording it over all of Seireitei!

"Forget it. There's no point arguing with those brutes." The Great Sage sighed. They had been looking at things all wrong. The Central 46 had held power for so long that they naively believed authority was everything. But the Gotei 13 had shown them again and again that it wasn't. Force was.

Power came from the point of a sword!

This was no joke.

If the Central 46 had not helped keep Soul Society's nobles in line, and if Yamabuki Chidori had found a system to replace them, he would have wiped them all out long ago.

As the saying went, absolute power corrupted absolutely!

Yamabuki Chidori had racked his brains for a way to replace the Central 46's system. In the end, though, he had realized that even in the most advanced modern societies, where nations had established relatively comprehensive laws, people still judged other people.

No matter how complete the laws or how sound the system, if those administering it acted out of self-interest, it would gradually become another Central 46. It was only a matter of time.

So he had decided to slowly reduce the Central 46's influence over Soul Society while keeping the nobles steady and preventing them from taking drastic action. In a thousand years, the Central 46 might matter less in practice than an old man selling vegetables at the market. By then, it would exist in name only.

And a Blood War was coming soon. Whatever good ideas he had, he first had to survive it.

"Forget it. Yamabuki Chidori has done his part to protect the Seireitei, so I'll let this go. But that madwoman must be executed. What did they say about her?" the Great Sage asked.

"Yamabuki Chidori said the Gotei 13 captured her, so naturally, the Gotei 13 should decide how to deal with her," the Sage said quietly.

"Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto understands the bigger picture. He certainly won't bend the rules for her. Besides, that woman isn't one of the Gotei 13. She's finished. Executing her would at least demonstrate the Central 46's authority." The Great Sage stroked his beard, looking pleased with himself.

No sooner had he spoken than a subordinate came to report.

"Great Sage, the final ruling on Unohana Yachiru is in. She chose to join the Gotei 13 and has now become Captain of the 11th Division."

"Pfft!" The Great Sage spat out a mouthful of blood.

Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto alone had already been enough to leave them gasping for air. Then Yamabuki Chidori had proved difficult to deal with. Now a complete lunatic had joined them too. Were they supposed to live like this?

"Let someone like her join the Gotei 13? What is Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto thinking? The Gotei 13 exists to protect Seireitei! How could a lunatic like her protect it?" The Great Sage felt his entire worldview being overturned.

Pardoning Yamabuki Chidori for killing someone in public had already been absurd!

Unohana Yachiru had slaughtered half the Central 46. Her crimes were unparalleled, yet someone like her could bear the name of the Gotei 13?

"Is it... because of her strength? Was Unohana chosen because she's far stronger than ordinary people? How can Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto have so few principles?" A chill ran through the Great Sage. He pulled a blanket over himself and wrapped it tight. His noble birth and position as a Sage no longer gave him the slightest sense of safety. What happens next? What can I possibly do?

Everyone looked to the Great Sage for hope.

Why are you looking at me? If I had an answer, would I be sitting here trembling?

"Tell everyone under me not to cause trouble for a while. Just do your jobs. Don't aim for glory; aim to make no mistakes. We should look on the bright side. Unohana joining the Gotei 13 is a good thing. Now she has rules to follow and can't simply cut down whoever she likes. If we don't provoke her, surely she won't come cut us down for no reason?" The Great Sage felt small, helpless, and pitiful.

I don't need any more status. I'll be happy as long as she doesn't come cut me down.

"Wise as ever, Great Sage."

"Then why are you all standing around staring? Get back to work!" the Great Sage said with a sigh. Everyone returned to their posts and threw themselves into their work.

This is no way to live. I should find a chance to hand the Great Sage position to someone else. Wouldn't retiring at home be better?

Yamabuki Chidori and Unohana had returned home.

They were discussing what to eat for dinner. Yamabuki Chidori wanted something mild; Unohana wanted something strongly flavored. Neither would give way.

Then inspiration struck Yamabuki Chidori: they would have hot pot in a divided yin-yang pot. One side would be spicy and numbing, the other a clear broth. The best of both worlds.

Hot pot, of course, called for plenty of ingredients.

Pork, fish balls, vegetables—Unohana even rode Minazuki to Rukongai and gathered a good number of mushrooms.

It was Yamabuki Chidori's first time riding Minazuki. Slacking off in spirit was no longer an option: as the Gotei 13 kept growing, his workload would only increase. So he settled for stroking a fish in the most literal sense. He sprawled across Minazuki's back and kept running his hands over it, earning odd looks from Unohana. She wondered whether he had some kind of problem.

"Look over there!" Unohana pointed toward a crystal-clear stream.

Yamabuki Chidori looked and found a mound of bodies piled beside it.

"Your work?"

"Mm."

"You can't just leave bodies lying around. What if they cause a plague?" From high above, Yamabuki Chidori aimed at the pile and cast Hadō: Hōen, burning every corpse to ash and returning them to nature's embrace.

"The bodies aren't important. What matters is that I met a strange man there. He was strong. Not many people can last more than a few moves against me, and I had the feeling he wasn't using his full strength," Unohana said.

Yamabuki Chidori's interest was instantly piqued. The Gotei 13 was short-handed. If someone that strong was around, he ought to find a way to trick him into joining—no, recruit him with complete sincerity.

"Did he give you his name?" Yamabuki Chidori asked.

Unohana nodded. "He said his name was Shijima Chiru!"

Yamabuki Chidori's heart jolted. He knew that name well: the Fourth Division Captain of the Original Gotei 13. What an unexpected gain at the end of all this. If Shijima Chiru had appeared here, he probably lived nearby. Yamabuki Chidori would pay him a visit when he had the chance. If Shijima Chiru refused to come, he would bring Unohana, and together they would "persuade" him.

After picking some wild mushrooms, the two headed home to cook.

They found someone waiting at the door: Chōjirō Sasakibe.

"Chōjirō? What are you doing here?" Yamabuki Chidori asked.

Chōjirō Sasakibe looked embarrassed and seemed unsure what to say.

"Is something wrong at work? Come inside and tell me. We're about to eat, and you won't get food like this in the cafeteria," Yamabuki Chidori said with a smile.

Before long, the hot pot was bubbling.

"It's not that anything went wrong at work," Chōjirō Sasakibe said dejectedly. "I just don't think I'm doing well enough. The Captain Commander hasn't scolded me, but he keeps shaking his head and sighing at me... That makes the pressure even worse! I'm clearly not ready to be a Lieutenant, especially the First Division's Lieutenant!"

"That's all? Here, have some meat. I doubt he's sighing because he's unhappy with you. He's probably cursing me in his head." Yamabuki Chidori put a slice of pork belly in his mouth. "When I was in the First Division, he never had to worry about anything. I took care of problems before he even thought of them. Now I've been transferred to the 11th Division, and you've only just arrived. He has to handle all that work himself, so of course he's unhappy. But you can find anyone to manage routine affairs. What matters is being able to fight. If you reach Captain-level strength, Old Man will definitely be pleased with you."

"C-Captain-level?" Chōjirō Sasakibe stared, dumbfounded. He thought of those monster-like Captains. How could I possibly reach their level?

"Why not? From now on, come here after dinner every day, and I'll give you special training. I'd be talking nonsense if I promised to get you to Captain-level in a short time, but I can definitely get you to standard Lieutenant-level strength." Yamabuki Chidori thumped his chest.

Chōjirō Sasakibe's eyes shone. Wonderful! With Yamabuki's help, he would soon become a capable Lieutenant.

"Eat up! Whatever we need to talk about can wait until we're full. You don't have hot pot in Soul Society, do you?" Yamabuki Chidori said with a grin.

"No, I've never eaten like this before!" Chōjirō Sasakibe nodded as he ate.

The three soon finished the entire pot of food and patted their stomachs in satisfaction.

"Now that we've eaten, how about a little exercise? Come with me, both of you." Yamabuki Chidori led Chōjirō Sasakibe and Unohana to the underground training ground.

Chōjirō Sasakibe's eyes nearly popped out.

"Yamabuki, you dug out a space this huge beneath your house?"

"That's the wisdom of adulthood." Yamabuki Chidori looked smug. "Now it's time for your special training. Do you know the fastest way to grow stronger?"

Chōjirō Sasakibe shook his head hard.

"Real combat."

"Real combat?"

"Exactly. Every strong fighter grows stronger through real combat. You'll be no exception." Yamabuki Chidori spoke as though he knew all about it.

Chōjirō Sasakibe brightened. "So... you're going to train me yourself, Yamabuki?"

Yamabuki Chidori gave him a mysterious smile.

"You will have a trainer, but it won't be me." Yamabuki Chidori turned to look at Unohana.

Chōjirō Sasakibe's face went white.

You've got to be kidding me.

That terrifying woman is going to train me?

She'll cut me down on the spot!

"Yamabuki, I just remembered I have a lot to do at home. I'd better go. Sorry to bother you!" Chōjirō Sasakibe turned and ran, but Yamabuki Chidori reached out and dragged him back.

"Trying to run? Too late! Go on, Unohana!"