On the third day after Sōgo Shihoin returned to Soul Society from the Dangai, Sōgo completely took over Yoruichi's position as the captain of the Second Division of the Gotei 13.
"You're finally back! The captain just ran off without a word, leaving me to clean up this mess alone. I can't handle this!"
The current vice-captain of the Second Division, Marechiyo Ōmaeda, possesses the standard male appearance of the Ōmaeda Family ( the Ōmaeda Family's appearance is more likely to be passed down to men than women). Yoruichi calls him a very reliable vice-captain, and he has been diligently helping Yoruichi with her affairs throughout Yoruichi tenure.
" Uncle Shin, what are you saying? During my tenure, I'll definitely need your help."
Sōgo smiled faintly at Marechiyo Ōmaeda in front of him, and with a simple sentence, he promised that the Ōmaeda Family would still enjoy their superior status in the Second Division during Sōgo's tenure.
"Sigh~ Alright, alright, Miss Yoruichi has left Soul Society, it's time for me to retire. Since I came to the Second Division as a lieutenant, I haven't really managed the Ōmaeda Family, and my wife has started to complain about it, after all, the children at home are still young."
After hearing Sōgo's words, Marechiyo Ōmaeda waved his hands repeatedly. He was Sōgo's words; he had no intention of continuing to sit in the position of vice-captain of the Second Division. Marechiyo Ōmaeda understood the principle of "a new emperor, a new court."
"Really? I remember that Marechiyo ( Ōmaedaijin ) isn't young anymore. She should take some time to train with the Second Division."
After listening to Marechiyo Ōmaeda's words, Sōgo gave a sermon.
"Indeed... but that child... sigh, he's such a disappointment, he's a disgrace to the Ōmaeda Family!"
"I'll talk to him about it when I get back."
After listening to Sōgo's words, Marechiyo Ōmaeda nodded slightly, his words filled with worry about his incompetent offspring.
"Then I wish you a happy retirement in advance!"
Sōgo crossed his arms and casually sat down in front of Marechiyo Ōmaeda, giving a slight smile.
"Thank you for your congratulations. You must be very busy now that you've just been promoted to Second Division Captain, right? Go get back to work! You don't need to worry about things here."
After listening to Sōgo's words, Marechiyo Ōmaeda nodded repeatedly and then spoke softly.
"Haha... then I'll take my leave. No need to see me off."
Sōgo nodded slightly to Marechiyo Ōmaeda, then stood up and walked towards the gate of the Ōmaeda Family.
Marechiyo Ōmaeda escorted Sōgo to the door, and the two exchanged a few pleasantries. After watching Sōgo leave, Marechiyo Ōmaeda returned home.
"Ha ha..."
As Marechiyo Ōmaeda home, he couldn't help but burst into laughter. He knew that the Ōmaeda Family would continue to rise steadily under the protection of the Shihoin Family, and that was enough for him.
On the other hand, since Sōgo officially took over as Second Division Captain, he has carried out a complete reform of the entire division. First of all, after communicating with Marechiyo Ōmaeda, Sōgo handed over all the work related to the vice-captain of the Second Division to Shaoling Fon. Now, Marechiyo Ōmaeda is only nominally the vice-captain and no longer actually performs the duties. According to Marechiyo Ōmaeda and Sōgo's plan, after a period of time, Marechiyo Ōmaeda will announce his retirement and completely hand over the position of vice-captain to Shaoling Fon.
Secondly, after Sōgo became the Second Division Captain and the governor of the Execution Force, he carried out a major reshuffle of the entire Second Division and even the Stealth Force.
First, the entire Second Division Seated Officer a complete reform, with all members from the Second Division Captain up to the Seventh Seat being replaced.
Second Division Captain Sougo Shihouin, Vice-Captain Aya Hachisho, Third Seat Kokushiro (Kenpachi Kuruyashiki alias), Fourth Seat Lilynette Stark, Fifth Seat Tia Harribel, Sixth Seat Szayelaporro Granz, Seventh Seat Tsunayoshi Tokinada...
As is customary, the governor of the First Division of the Stealth Force Execution Force is concurrently held by the governor of the entire Stealth Force, namely Sōgo Shihoin, who is also the Second Division Captain.
The squad leader of the Stealth Force Second Division is Shaoling Fon, who is also the vice-captain of the Second Division.
The squad leader of the Stealth Force Third Division is Kuruyashiki Kenpachi, who is also the Third Seat of the Second Division.
The squad leader of the Stealth Force Fourth Division is Tier Harribel, who is also the Fifth Seat of the Second Division.
The squad leader of the Stealth Force Fifth Division is Tsunayashiro Tokinada, who is the Seventh Seat of the Second Division.
At this point, the entire Second Division and the Stealth Force were like an indestructible fortress, their power unbelievable.
The underground conference room of Central 46 Chambers, in the Great Spirit Book Gallery.
Tsunayashiro Tokinada frowned as he looked at the contents. He searched through the entire Great Spirit Book Gallery for everyone connected to Yoruichi Shihōin and Kisuke Urahara, but still couldn't find a single clue. This was completely impossible under normal circumstances, because the Great Spirit Book Gallery would forcibly record everything in Soul Society. Yet now, this absolutely impossible thing had happened right before his eyes.
"Master... are you sure that no one except you entered this place at the time of the Hollowfication Incident?"
Tokinada Tan asked his family head repeatedly.
"..."
"It may sound unbelievable, but the truth is that no one except me entered this place at the time of the incident. However, this is the biggest inconsistency. Before you came here to investigate, I had already reviewed all the data and found that it had been altered. Tokinada, you should know that the only people who have the ability to modify the Great Spirit Book Gallery are us or Tsunayashiro. Therefore, I suspect..."
The head of the Tsunayashiro family frowned deeply, his face as gloomy as a storm cloud amidst flashes of lightning.
"Is there an enemy spy in our Tsunayashiro Clan?"
Tsunayashiro Tokinada's expression changed, and he asked.
"No, I've been controlled by the enemy."
The head of the Tsunayashiro Clan gently shook his head at Tokinada, revealing a shocking and cruel truth.
"What... did you say?"
Upon hearing the words of the Tsunayashiro Tokinada Tsunayashiro Clan head, a look of disbelief flashed across Tsunayashiro's face. Although the family head before him looked frail, he was indeed a true master of the same era as Kuchiki Ginrei. But now, a master of this level was saying that he was being controlled by someone else? How chilling was that?
"Whether you believe it or not, this is a fact. After all, I didn't always live in this basement. Since I'm leaving, there's a chance the enemy could secretly attack me. Psychological suggestion, Kidō, all sorts of bizarre Zanpakuto abilities, and so on—these are all possible inducements to manipulate me into altering the truth... Now is not the time for us to deny or deny that I'm being controlled, but to investigate the truth of everything."
Thus preached the koan of the Tsunayashiro Clan head.
"Is that so? By the way, what exactly was Aizen... that is, Sōsuke Aizen, the current Fifth Division Captain, doing at the time of the incident?"
After hearing the family head's words Tsunayashiro Tokinada nodded secretly. He knew that his family head was right. Then, he suddenly thought of a man who was very close to Sōgo and had his own plans.
"That man was organizing the Fifth Division at the time... However, after Kisuke Urahara defected, he did visit Kisuke Urahara's laboratory once, seemingly looking for something... But that's understandable, since he and Kisuke Urahara are similar types of people."
Upon hearing the name Aizen, the head of the Tsunayashiro Clan's eyes flashed with an unnatural light, and then he began to speak.
"Yeah?"
"I see."
After hearing the head of the family's words, Tsunayashiro Tokinada nods slightly and then turns to leave.
From that moment on, Tsunayashiro Tokinada realized one thing: even his family head's words weren't necessarily accurate, and the enemy was everywhere. What he needed to do now was to observe secretly and find out the real culprit behind the scenes for Sōgo.
Perhaps it was Sōgo's powerful return and his unabashed overhaul of the entire Second Division that caused panic among countless forces. They were all wondering what Sōgo was up to and fell silent, secretly waiting for another opportunity to strike.
And so, Sōgo and his crew spent a very peaceful month in Soul Society...
That peace in Soul Society was shattered when Sōgo submitted an application to the Central 46 Chambers.
Central 46 Chambers.
Do you all know why we have gathered here?
The six judges looked at the application in their hands with a headache, and said helplessly to the sages.
"Perhaps it was an application submitted for that young boy from the Shihoin Family?"
A wise man spoke up in response.
"That's right. So, does the Sage know what kind of application this brat from Shihoin submitted?"
The judge continued to preach to the wise man.
"It's nothing more than his sister's matter; we'll agree to investigate."
A wise man, after hearing the judge's words, spoke disdainfully.
"If only that were the case... Unfortunately, this application he submitted has absolutely nothing to do with his sister, though not entirely."
The judge spoke with a helpless expression, his anxious voice filled with worry about the future of Soul Society.
"Oh?"
What exactly happened?
The group of sages were all taken aback by the judges' words, and they were all curious about what kind of application had led to the six judges being tortured in this way.
"Please look, everyone..."
The judge kept wiping the sweat from his forehead with a tissue at his side as he conveyed Sōgo Shihoin's application to the other sages.
"I'd like to see what kind of application this ignorant child can write..."
One sage, who didn't believe in superstition, calmly took a sip of tea and began to read through Sōgo Shihoin's application.
"Puff..."
The very next second, he spat out all the tea he had just drunk.
"Cough cough cough... What nonsense! This is..."
The sage coughed incessantly, his forehead covered in sweat as he looked at the letter in his hand.
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
"How could a man from the prestigious Five Great Noble Clans, one of the Shihoin Family families, write such an absurd application? It's utterly incomprehensible!"
Countless sages cried out in unison, declaring it impossible, simply because Sōgo Shihoin's application might directly shake their rule over Soul Society.
"The problem now isn't whether we believe it's an application from the Shihoin Family. The fact is, it is an application from the Shihoin Family. What we should be thinking about now is how to deal with this application. Since it's the application of the Second Division Captain, concurrently the Governor-General of the Stealth Force, and the first in line to inherit the Shihoin Family, we absolutely cannot treat it lightly like we would with other applications. Sigh... this is very troublesome!"
The six judges said somewhat helplessly that they felt their heads were about to explode.
Just when the Central 46 Chambers was going bald, all the squad captains received applications from Sōgo Shihoin. In short, Sōgo wanted all the Soul Reaper to protest with him!
"For the sake of Soul Reaper's physical and mental well-being, we should advocate for an eight-hour workday, aligning it with World of the Living systems, and promoting holidays and weekends off. Hahaha... This is going to get out of hand."
Shunsui Kyōraku burst into laughter upon seeing Sōgo's application. When he first received the letter, he had assumed Sōgo intended to use the Shihoin Family's appeal to force him, as a member of the aristocratic faction, to join Sōgo's side, and then pressure the Central 46 Chambers to withdraw the arrest warrants for Sōgo's sister Yoruichi Shihōin. But now it seemed he had been overthinking things...
" Sōgo Shihoin, what exactly is going on in your head? It's really intriguing..."
Sōsuke Aizen glanced at the application in his hand and smiled bitterly. He felt that the most difficult thing for him to figure out in his life was Sōgo's thoughts. Giving Soul Reaper a vacation was something only Sōgo could come up with. Wasn't he afraid that if the Soul Reaper took a vacation, the World of the Living would become a playground for the Menos Grande?
Meanwhile, it's unclear who instructed them or where the news leaked, but Sōgo's application became known to all the Soul Reaper in the entire Seireitei, and even the rebellious Soul Reaper had heard about Sōgo Shihoin's application...
"What..."
The man, who was like the Soul Reaper of the defectors, was sweating profusely as he looked at the secret letter he had received in his hand, located in the base of the Rukongai.
"What's wrong, brother?"
Seeing the man's flustered appearance, everyone was puzzled and couldn't help but ask.
This is terrible!
The leader of the defectors' expression slowly changed, and he looked quite dazed.
"What exactly happened to my brother?"
Soul Reaper continued to question the group of defectors.
"If we don't start a revolution... then there's no point in having a revolution!"
The leader of the defector Soul Reaper spoke in a panic, though he found it unbelievable, it was the truth.
The reason these Soul Reaper rebelled was because they couldn't bear the endless oppression of the Soul Society. Lesser Soul Reaper like them didn't even have time to rest, working every single day... But now, what they never expected was that one of the Five Great Noble Clans, the oppressors, had actually started leading a revolution. This was truly... too surreal.
"Are you kidding me? Why should I, one of the Five Great Noble Clans, work? I'm already invincible, why should I work? Shouldn't my duty as a noble be to play, play, play... is there anything else to play?"
Meanwhile, Sōgo Shihoin, who had written the application, sat in the office of the Second Division Captain, casually tossing a stack of documents aside. He then roared angrily, "After forcing myself to adapt to the rhythm of life in Soul Society for Sōgo month, Sougo has finally revealed his true colors! From today onwards, everyone must live according to my pace. As for the reason... well, I'm invincible, you can figure it out!"
That's right, Sōgo simply doesn't want to work.
The name of Sanka Shihoin in the previous chapter was taken from Okita Mitsuba Okita, the Sōgo Okita Sougo. I changed the leaf to a flower, hoping that the flower will bloom forever~
(End of this chapter)