Restricted Death

Chapter 151 Pleasing
First team team building.

Second Division Captain Soi Fon was listening to a report from her subordinates along with Captain-Commander Yamamoto.

"A search is underway within the Seireitei, but no trace of the target has been found so far."

The mobilization of the Criminal Investigation Corps could not be kept secret from Soi Fon, and she, as the Commander-in-Chief of the Criminal Investigation Corps, was needed to assist in its command.

“The large-scale operation of the Criminal Investigation Department will be noticed, and this matter will likely be noticed by many captains as well,” Soi Fon said.

Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni's face was ashen. Some time had passed since Unohana Retsu and Tachikawa Shin disappeared, and they still hadn't been found. This made him wonder if they had made many preparations for this.

Chojiro Sasaki hesitated for a moment and said, "Could it be that the two of them have already left Seireitei? Since they have the means to evade the surveillance personnel and pass through the Shishinmon Gate unnoticed, it seems possible now."

Soi Fon pondered, "If we are to conduct another search of Rukongai, the Executioners alone won't be enough."

The area of ​​Rukongai is much larger than that of Seireitei, with a total of 80 districts. Even if all the members of the Gotei 13 were mobilized, it would still take a considerable amount of time to search it.

Captain-Commander Yamamoto was silent for a moment, then said, "Summon the captains of the 8th and 13th Divisions immediately."

Kyoraku Shunsui and Ukitake Jushiro arrived as quickly as possible after receiving a message from the sagabe's Kido Tentei Kōra. After learning the details of the matter from the sagabe, both of them showed surprise.

"They still..." Ukitake murmured, suddenly feeling a pang of regret. He had the chance to persuade Unohana Retsu again; if only he had persisted a little longer back then.

Kyoraku pondered, "It might not be the worst-case scenario. So far, we haven't detected any spiritual pressure fluctuations from the two of them. With Captain Unohana's spiritual pressure strength, if they were to actually fight, the spiritual pressure she unleashed wouldn't be something that any ordinary Kido barrier could conceal."

Soi Fon frowned and said, "Then why did they suddenly disappear? It couldn't have been just to find a private place to have a heart-to-heart talk, could it?"

She has always despised people who disregard the rules and laws of the Seireitei, even though one of them is Retsu Unohana, and now the Second Division has to help clean up her mess and find her.

Yamamoto said, "We haven't found any trace of the two in Seireitei yet. We need to search Rukongai, but we must keep this matter quiet and only use the pretext of searching for suspicious Kido barriers."

He had thought it through carefully. If Unohana Retsu and Tachikawa Shin were to fight, they would definitely need a Kido barrier to shield their spiritual pressure.

Although the Seireitei's management of Rukongai is somewhat lax, Rukongai is always within the surveillance range of the Thirteen Divisions. If any abnormal spiritual pressure fluctuations occur in Rukongai, the Thirteen Divisions of the Gotei 13 can detect them immediately.

Soi Fon glanced at Kyoraku Shunsui and suddenly asked, "Isn't there another way?"

Everyone looked at her at the same time.

Soi Fon said, "The worst-case scenario is that the two have already fought somewhere, and even decided the winner. Sending people to spread across so many areas of Rukongai would take a lot of time. But there is one place that can find out their whereabouts immediately."

"Where?" Ukitake asked.

"The Great Spiritual Book Corridor".

This answer surprised everyone present.

The Great Spirit Book Corridor, located in the underground council chamber of Central Room 46, is a vast and complex database containing a series of major events and secrets of the Soul Society from ancient times to the present. All the records there are unrelated to the will of the Shinigami; they are forcibly collected and recorded to contain all the events and information of the Soul Society.

To put it bluntly, all the information inside is automatically recorded by the Great Spiritual Library itself.

It is also one of the important foundations for the Seireitei to rule and manage the Soul Society. It has always been guarded by the top noble family, Tsunayoshiro, and entering such a place requires extremely high authority.

Of the captains present, only Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni and Kyoraku Shunsui were qualified to enter, and they needed prior approval from the Central 46.

None of them expected Soi Fon to give such an answer, and they all fell into deep thought.

Kyoraku Shunsui shook his head first: "No, even the Great Spirit Book Corridor has a certain lag in its records. Events that happened in such a short time may not have been recorded. Moreover, if this matter is to go through the Central 46 Chambers, then the matter of Tachikawa taking over as captain of the 10th Division may be rejected by the Central 46 Chambers again."

Soi Fon was quite surprised upon hearing this: "Tachikawa Shin to take over as captain of the 10th Division? The Central 46 has already agreed?"

This matter was top secret even among the team leader; she was unaware of it beforehand.

What surprised her even more was that it seemed she was the only one present who didn't know about this.

Fortunately, she also knew that Kyoraku Shunsui and Ukitake Jushiro were both veteran captains who were far more experienced than she could be. Even Sasakibe Chojiro had been by the Captain-Commander's side since the founding of the Gotei 13.

Therefore, the matter of Tachikawa Shin serving as the captain of the 10th Division is considered a higher secret among the Gotei 13...

Seeing this, Chojiro Sasaki knew that the matter had been exposed, so he said, "This proposal has been approved by the Central 46, but it is still confidential and has not been made public yet. I hope that Captain Soi Fon will also keep this matter confidential afterward."

Soi Fon nodded silently. She guessed that this was probably the Captain-Commander's idea, and that it would just be a formality of having all the captains jointly recommend it in the future.

She didn't actually like this approach. There was more than one person in the thirteen teams who was qualified to be the captain. Although the other one was not as strong as Tachikawa Shin, it should at least be fair.

Moreover, the reason for this grand display is the selfish motives of Unohana Retsu and Tachikawa Shin. Judging from the expressions of the people present, it seems that they intend for Tachikawa Shin to continue serving as captain.

Soi Fon suddenly said, "How can we allow Tachikawa Shin to continue serving as the captain of the 10th Division, given his blatant disregard for the laws of Soul Society? If we allow him to remain in a high position in the future, who knows what trouble he might cause? Captain-Commander, I hope you will reconsider whether Tachikawa Shin truly has the ability to be a captain."

After she finished speaking, none of the people present responded, which made Soi Fon even more irritated.

In the end, Captain-Commander Yamamoto said, "We cannot be sure what the two did yet. Let's find them and find out the truth first. If they have made a mistake, they will be punished in another way."

He then said to Kyoraku and Ukitake, "Send men to Rukongai immediately to conduct a search."

Kyoraku Shunsui and Ukitake Jushiro obeyed the orders and then each relayed them to their adjutants via the Hell Butterfly.

#
The Fourth Division team building.

Kotetsu Isane was also feeling anxious about the sudden disappearance of her captain and Shin. She recalled that the sudden visit of the vice-captain of the sagabe club earlier seemed to indicate that he knew something.

She also went to Xin's house and the captain's house, but couldn't find anyone.

Where have the captain and Shin gone now...?

Yongyin recalled what Shin had told her before. Surely nothing bad had really happened between him and the captain.

Shin is about to become the captain of the 10th Division, and his future is bright. Why did he have to choose this moment to cause trouble? Didn't he think about what kind of punishment he would face afterward?

"Vice Captain, we haven't found him."

Qinglu then returned to report.

"I understand, you can go ahead and get busy." Kotetsu Isane appeared quite calm. She didn't encourage too many people to go search, only selecting a few, and she only asked them to find the letter.

After Aoshi left, a look of worry reappeared in Kotetsu Isane's eyes.

#
The 10th Squadron barracks.

Rangiku Matsumoto was sitting in her office, lost in thought.

Hitsugaya walked in and placed a stack of documents on the table in front of her: "Now that we're without a captain, you'll be taking over the captain's duties. Stop spacing out." Matsumoto Rangiku seemed to be worrying about this matter, and upon hearing this, she frantically rubbed her hair.

"What bad luck! It feels like life is against me from every angle," Rangiku said helplessly.

Hitsugaya said, "Alright, I feel the appointment of the new captain will be announced soon."

Rangiku, who was lying on the table, glanced at him upon hearing this and asked, "How did you know?"

Hitsugaya shrugged slightly and said, "Currently, there are two people in the thirteen teams who are qualified to be captains: one is the vice-captain, and the other is the third seat."

Rangiku naturally guessed who Hitsugaya was talking about, and then remained silent for a moment in thought.

Who do you think it could be?

“We’ll be the guild leader, right?” Hitsugaya said casually.

Rangiku pouted: "Why not...the other one?"

“Didn’t Vice-Captain Ichimaru lose to our Chairman at the previous Gotei 13 Shinigami Exchange Tournament? Although some time has passed, I think the difference in their strength hasn’t changed much,” Hitsugaya explained his reasoning.

Rangiku couldn't help but argue, "Lieutenant Ichimaru's strength doesn't seem to be much worse than Shin's. Besides, if you're going to be a captain, you can't just look at strength. Lieutenant Ichimaru has been a vice-captain for decades, while Shin has only been a Shinigami for a little over two years."

Hitsugaya asked in surprise, "You have a prejudice against our guild leader?"

"No way." Rangiku refused to admit it. She did have some inclination, but it wasn't because she disliked Shin.

Hitsugaya was puzzled: "What you said is true, but our guild leader is not inferior to Vice-Captain Ichimaru in other aspects..."

"Alright, alright, stop talking." Matsumoto Rangiku suddenly interrupted him impatiently.

Hitsugaya pointed to the documents: "Remember to handle the work; some of them require your review."

Matsumoto Rangiku suddenly stood up and walked out of the office.

"Where are you going?"

"Fourth Division."

She decided to go find the letter herself to see what he thought.

When he stepped out of his own barracks, he found that the Seireitei was not quiet at the moment.

"The Covert Commando... what happened?"

She watched the black-clad figure darting swiftly through the streets and rooftops, muttering to herself.

#
Within the secret space beneath the double curse.

The spiritual barrier flickered like a candle in the wind, and Unohana Retsu's spiritual pressure continued to assault the blood-red dome. Her overflowing spiritual pressure had nowhere to dissipate and was trapped in this space, making the spiritual density here increasingly viscous. The blood swamp boiled and surged beneath their feet.

Prolonged exposure to areas with high spiritual particle density can place a slight burden on the spirit of Death.

Just as Shinigami can easily stand in mid-air and fly freely in the human world, they cannot do so in the Soul Society.

Xin felt his breathing rate quicken slightly compared to before, as the aftershocks from each clash of their blades accelerated the depletion of his spiritual energy.

The spiritual pressure consumed in the battle with Retsu Unohana was terrifyingly high. In fact, the spiritual power consumed by the Zanpakuto itself was not much; most of it was used to maintain the spiritual particle barrier of this space.

The space covered by this spiritual barrier was quite large, and it was constantly being impacted by Unohana's relentless spiritual pressure from within.

The spiritual pressure that Retsu Unohana unleashed without restraint during the battle was also a terrifying level. If it weren't for the spiritual particle barrier he created to shield her, she would have inevitably broken through the limits of this copy space.

Xin realized that if this battle continued like this, he would be the first to be exhausted before a winner was decided.

But even with his confidence, he couldn't bring himself to say anything about a quick and decisive victory when facing Retsu Unohana.

Moreover, his condition is currently declining.

"What, have you reached your limit?" Unohana Retsu's cold voice rang out, and the light on the Zanpakuto in her hand, which had transformed into a blood-red blade, became increasingly eerie.

She suddenly spun around and unleashed an arc of blood-red light, the spray of blood transforming into countless sharp needles and bullets that rushed toward the area where Xin was.

Xin didn't dodge, letting the barrage of bullets hit him, yet he wasn't left with a single scratch.

Given his condition, if he were to hastily dodge, he would inevitably invite an even fiercer attack from Unohana Retsu.

His eyes were fixed on the woman walking through the blood swamp, his gaze flickering. The next moment, the spiritual barrier that had been glowing on his body suddenly collapsed.

This sudden change caused Retsu Unohana's eyes to flicker. She then sensed a sharp aura emanating from Shin, who did not appear to be about to exhaust his spiritual pressure. Unlike his previous restrained and composed demeanor, Shin now seemed extremely sharp.

At the same time, she finally felt the spiritual pressure emanating from Shin.

exuberant!

This is the full strength a captain of the third-rank Spirit Might level should possess.

A hint of surprise flickered in her eyes. "What did you do?"

After fighting for so long, even she had expended a considerable amount of spiritual pressure, let alone Shin.

However, the feeling one gets at this moment is that although his spiritual pressure is not as high as hers, it is still at the same peak level.

Xin replied calmly, "It's nothing, I just didn't want the upcoming battle to be a downer."

He used the power of his Zanpakuto to regress his physical functions to their initial peak state and also stabilizing his spiritual pressure at that point.

It doesn't mean he can maintain peak spiritual pressure indefinitely; the consumption of spiritual pressure won't decrease at all. It just means that he will be at his peak every second from now on.

Once his spiritual pressure is exhausted, he will instantly become weak and feeble.

Unohana Retsu's blood-stained lips curled up slightly, making her even more alluring.

She didn't care about the underlying principles; what she was certain of was that the upcoming battles seemed to keep her satisfied.

Unohana Retsu swung her blood-red blade, her figure flashing through the blood swamp like a blur, suddenly appearing in front of Shin. Her pure white haori, mostly soaked in crimson, billowed up, and a bright, bewitching smile graced her face as she brought the blood-red blade down with her.

"Good boy, keep trying to please me."

(End of this chapter)