"Kyoya..."
Just as Kyoya was pondering how to elevate his abilities, Rangiku rushed into the Captain's office with reddened eyes.
"Gin left!"
"Kyoya, Gin said the 11th Division doesn't need him anymore… is that true?"
'That bastard Gin…!'
Hearing Rangiku's question, Kyoya could only curse Gin inwardly for his underhanded tactics.
After all, it was clearly Gin's own decision to get closer to Aizen to carry out the tasks assigned by Aizen, yet he had the nerve to shift the blame onto Kyoya.
'What a despicable move!'
Of course, Kyoya couldn't reveal the truth to Rangiku.
"Rangiku, don't listen to Gin's nonsense."
Kyoya shook his head: "In fact, the reality is the exact opposite of what Gin said."
"It's not that the 11th Division doesn't need Gin… it's that Gin no longer needs the 11th Division."
After setting the tone to calm Rangiku's emotions, Kyoya slowly pieced together an explanation in his mind, "Rangiku, you know that Gin is a genius."
"For someone like you, twenty years was enough to elevate you to the rank of a high-rank seated officer."
"So, do you really think Gin's strength would still be stuck at Lieutenant-level after twenty years?"
"In the 11th Division, to become Captain, you have to challenge me and defeat me in front of over two hundred division's members."
"Gin might have had that ambition before."
"But after witnessing my fight with Zaraki yesterday, he realized that surpassing me to become Captain in the short term was nearly impossible."
"So, to stand on equal footing with me someday, Gin decided to transfer to another division."
"He believes becoming a captain in another division is easier than becoming Captain of the 11th Division."
The more Kyoya spoke, the more he himself started believing this was the real reason Gin left the 11th Division.
"You know Gin… he might seem easygoing on the surface, but deep down, he's prouder than anyone."
"So that's how it is..."
After hearing Kyoya's explanation, Rangiku finally understood.
She knew that, as Kyoya said, Gin was incredibly prideful.
Though Gin, herself, and Kyoya were the closest of family...
Among the three, Kyoya was the Captain of the 11th Division, so his status, position, and strength were undeniably the highest.
Gin was also a genius. Back then, Kyoya had even been called the 'The Second Ichimaru Gin'.
Who could have guessed that Kyoya's strength would far surpass everyone's expectations?
Within just three days of joining the 11th Division, he defeated the former Captain, Kiganjo, and took his place.
From that moment on, it was no longer Kyoya being compared to Gin… it was the other way around. Gin became the one measured against Kyoya.
Had Kyoya not pulled Gin into the 11th Division, Kyoya might have become the mountain Gin needed to overcome before even attempting to assassinate Aizen.
Even after joining the 11th Division, Gin undoubtedly still harbored the desire to surpass Kyoya.
After all, at that time, Gin probably believed the most insurmountable figure in the Seireitei was Aizen. If he dared to set his sights on killing Aizen when he was still weak, what couldn't Gin aspire to?
"If Gin wants to move forward, then there's nothing we can do..."
Rangiku sighed, accepting Kyoya's reasoning.
Unlike Gin, Rangiku didn't feel burdened by having two incredibly strong family members.
If anything, because of Gin and Kyoya, the two prodigies whose talents and strength surpassed most, Rangiku felt her life was easier.
If not for Kyoya constantly pushing her to train, she might have long since slacked off.
"Rangiku!"
"Even though Gin left, your seat should technically move up by one."
"But you know, we had two new members join the 11th Division yesterday."
"Among one of them, I plan to appoint Zaraki as the new Lieutenant."
"Yeah, Zaraki's strength is overwhelming. Making him Lieutenant is something everyone can accept."
Rangiku nodded.
Yesterday's battle had shown the entire 11th Division the extent of Zaraki's power.
So even if Kyoya bypassed the usual rules and directly appointed Zaraki as Lieutenant, no one would object. After all, aside from Kyoya himself, no one in the 11th Division believed they could hold their position if Zaraki challenged them.
"Also, the other new member, Kusajishi Yachiru… though I won't give her any special treatment, her strength is enough to defeat everyone in the 11th Division except me and Zaraki."
"What?"
Rangiku was stunned.
"Yachiru is that strong?"
"Yeah. In fact, she might be even stronger than you think."
Kyoya nodded.
Yachiru was the manifested form of Zaraki's Zanpakuto.
Even though she was given the name 'Yachiru' by Zaraki and became an existence akin to a Shinigami, even possessing her own Zanpakuto...
At her core, she was still a Spirit born from Zaraki's soul, intertwined with him.
While Yachiru had a small figure, her Reiryoku was at least 3rd-class.
That alone placed her among the strongest below Captain-level.
If only she had mastered her Bankai, she would undoubtedly have the power of a Captain.
"Well, that's it for me..."
Rangiku clutched her head in despair, "I just became the fifth seat a few months ago, and now I'm getting demoted to sixth?!"
"Hah. Zaraki's appointment as Lieutenant will be announced tomorrow, along with Gin's transfer."
"As for Yachiru, she'll probably start her challenges once Zaraki returns from the 4th Division's treatment."
"If you don't want to lose your seat, train harder."
"Maybe you can make a breakthrough in these next few days and defeat the fourth seat to keep your position."
A division had twenty seated officers in total.
Among them, the last three were called [End Seats], while 11th–17th were [Lower Seats].
5th–10th were [Middle Seats], and anything above fifth was considered an [Upper Seat].
The gap between Upper and Middle Seats was significant.
Though not as vast as the difference between a Lieutenant and regular seated officers, every Upper Seat had two Lower Seats directly under their command.
Rangiku, who had grown used to delegating tasks to her subordinates while slacking off, couldn't imagine going back to doing missions herself.
Her talent wasn't lacking, it was just overshadowed by Kyoya and Gin.
If she weren't a genius, how could she have become the future Lieutenant of the 10th Division?
Furthermore, under Kyoya's guidance, her swordsmanship, Hakuda, Hoho, and Kido had all improved.
With a bit more effort and real combat experience, defeating the fourth seat wouldn't be difficult.
"...Fine."