TN: (I just feel like throwing a bunch of chapters today cuz why not)
"Yes, Captain. I believe I've reached captain-class reiatsu."
Higashino Shuuichi's voice was steady, confident.
"So what?"
Unohana Retsu's expression softened back into its usual gentle mask as she returned to arranging flowers.
"I've heard Head Captain is selecting a new 10th Division captain. I thought… perhaps I could—"
He licked his lips, a bead of cold sweat trickling unnoticed down his temple.
This was the crucial moment.
"Leaving aside whether having captain-class reiatsu qualifies you, Shuuichi—do you remember what you told your captain when you first requested transfer here to the 4th?"
Adjusting a pot of purple lilies of the valley, Unohana's tone was calm, almost caring.
"I remember, Captain. I said I was tired of watching my comrades die one after another. I wanted to save them at their most desperate, not stand helplessly on the side and weep."
Higashino paused to recall, then repeated his own words from years ago.
"Then tell me—why now do you seek the captaincy of the 10th Division?"
Her voice was even, but in her burning gaze he read the weight of accusation.
He knew: if his answer failed to satisfy, she would immediately link him to the mysterious losses of reishi in the wounded Shinigami.
"Because after all these years in the 4th… and after the Gotei 13 lost two captains in Hueco Mundo, one of them my own former captain, I realized—medicine cannot save Shinigami. Only as a captain, with my own body as their shield, can I hope to keep them from the claws of the Hollows!"
His words shook with conviction, breath heavy, body trembling with emotion.
This time, it was Unohana who fell silent.
Had she been wrong to suspect? Could a man with such resolve truly be guilty of betrayal? Perhaps those injuries really had come from Hollows?
She had imagined countless ways he might respond, but never this one. In that moment, Higashino seemed more like a righteous Shinigami than she herself.
She remembered every occasion he had thrown himself into danger to heal comrades, even when he was a mere unseated member fresh from the 10th. He had never once faltered.
"Could I really be mistaken?"
For the first time, Unohana doubted her own suspicion.
But then she thought of those incurable hidden wounds, and her resolve hardened again.
Even if Higashino was innocent, she would not tolerate secrets under her nose. It wasn't about the Gotei anymore—it was about her pride, her power.
Until the truth was found, no one who had treated those victims would leave the 4th—not even if they had captain-level strength.
Higashino couldn't know the storm of doubt and resolve that had raged in her heart in those few seconds. He only knew that when she finally spoke, his long-held tension eased.
"If you truly have that resolve, then fine. Give me everything you have. Earn my recognition.
But if you cannot even win that, then your talk of protecting others is nothing but a joke."
She neither rejected nor struck immediately. That meant his words had passed her test. For now, he had cleared this stage.
What lay ahead, he didn't know. But the present was enough.
He lifted his head, eyes burning with fire.
Fight. That was all that mattered.
Aizen had given him full permission to unleash everything, to probe Unohana's strength.
From Higashino's view, his power might not even force her to fight seriously. But this was the first time since his arrival in this world that he could release his true strength without restraint.
An hour later, in the 4th Division training grounds.
Unohana had dismissed all duties, leaving only the two of them.
Looking at Higashino's eager, burning gaze, even her long-stilled heart stirred faintly.
"Then, Captain—allow me the first strike!"
No referee's whistle. His words were the signal. He stepped forward, hands pressed together.
"Hadō no 67, Raikōhō (Thunder Roar Cannon)!"
A torrent of lightning burst from his palms, ionizing the air. In a flash, the training ground was drowned in light. Mist rolled out, swallowing his form completely.
"This chaotic reiatsu…"
Unohana frowned.
She knew Raikōhō, but never used this way.
Not only was Higashino's form hidden, his lightning scattered wildly across the mist, cloaking the battlefield. Even her perception could not pierce through to read his movements.
"Interesting."
It burned his stamina, his reishi reserves—but she admitted it was clever. Unless she brute-forced it with overwhelming reiatsu, she could not sense him at all.
That meant whatever he prepared within, she could not counter in advance.
But what did it matter?
She smiled faintly.
Once, as a feared criminal, she had lived this way. And she had absolute confidence in her blade.
No matter what he prepared, all it would take was—
"One strike."
Her hand pressed her hilt, blade drawn upward in a smooth, effortless arc. A blast of kidō flying from the mist was split apart without resistance.
But that was not all.
"Captain—you've left an opening!"
His voice came from behind her.
Silver flashed. His zanpakutō was already descending toward her head.
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