Restricted Death

Chapter 181 The Target of the Letter
For the Seireitei at present, the death of a Fourth Seat is already a very significant event.

The First Division investigated the situation in great detail, but since Shin had already killed the Hollow, the matter had to be dropped.

Due to the special nature of the funeral ceremony and the need for approval from higher authorities, Shin could only hold a very simple funeral for Hoshino Toru, the fourth seat of the 10th Division, and the two members who sacrificed their lives. During the funeral, in addition to the members of the 10th Division, some of the deceased's friends from other divisions also came to pay their respects.

Aizen is here too. It's normal for him to come. Shin thinks it would be strange if he didn't come at this time, given his public persona.

He walked to the letter with a melancholy expression and said something to the letter about regretting Hoshino Shisei.

Shiba Kaien also arrived.

"What brings you here?" Shin asked him first. "Do you know Hoshino and the others?"

Shiba Kaien said, "We're not very close. I just heard about it and came to see you."

Xin chuckled softly without saying a word.

After the funeral was over, Shin, having arranged everything, approached Shiba Kaien and said, "Please buy me a drink."

"it is good."

Shiba Kaien didn't say much. He felt that Shin must be sad right now, after all, his subordinate had died, but he just wasn't showing it on the surface.

You owe me a life.

At the dinner table, Shin suddenly spoke to Shiba Kaien.

Shiba Kaien asked cheerfully, "How is this determined?"

Xin shook his head again and said, "There should be two."

And we also have to include his wife, Shiba Miyako.

With one hand holding a glass and the other resting on his cheek, Shiba Kaien casually said, "Fine, if you say you owe me, then you owe me."

He said slowly, "For people like us, death is actually a very distant thing. Apart from that, there is the departure of friends. Xin, you are too young. Even if you have extraordinary strength, your experience is limited. There are many things that you can't understand without experiencing them."

Xin glanced sideways and said, "Are you lecturing me?"

Shiba Kaien chuckled: "Who told me to be your senior? I'm just giving you advice."

Do I look like the kind of person who can't think straight?

"A bit like."

Xin couldn't help but roll his eyes.

There weren't many customers in the izakaya at this time. The two sat by the window, glancing outside from time to time. They didn't talk much today.

It was raining heavily outside.

The world has changed a lot because of Shin's interference. Shiba Isshin stepped down early, Shiba Kaien became the captain of the Third Division, Hinamori joined the Tenth Division, and so on.

There's no guarantee what changes might happen in the future, but Shin suddenly felt that he seemed to have fallen into some kind of misconception. In his view, there were still several decades before Aizen's rebellion in the original story, and those decades should be more than enough for him to improve his strength.

However, he was not some reclusive master who cultivated alone in the deep mountains. Because of the system, he was already closely connected with many people in Seireitei.

"How much do you know about Gin Ichimaru?" Shin suddenly asked.

"Why are you suddenly asking about him?" Shiba Kaien looked surprised, and after thinking for a moment, said, "There aren't many. Although that guy always has a smiling face, he's actually quite aloof. Although we were born in the same year, there are several years between us. It's just that people always compare us."

"It's nothing," Xin said, changing his tune.

#
The 10th Squadron barracks.

Although the funeral was over, the atmosphere in the 10th Division remained somewhat somber.

After taking over from Shin to handle the aftermath of the funeral, Matsumoto Rangiku returned to her office and stared blankly at the stack of unfinished documents on her desk.

After a long while, she suddenly scratched her hair in frustration. At that moment, Hitsugaya suddenly pushed open the door and walked in.

"what's up?"

"Regarding the street patrol, the captain hasn't given any detailed instructions in the past few days, but the tasks still need to be done, so I came to ask you about it," Hitsugaya said.

"You can arrange it as you see fit," Matsumoto Rangiku said.

Hitsugaya sighed helplessly: "Why is it always me who's in charge of the arrangements? I'm just a third seat, and now the two of you are ganging up on me, aren't you?"

Matsumoto Rangiku, unusually, didn't argue for herself. After sitting there lost in thought for a while, she suddenly asked Hitsugaya, "Toshiro, why don't you become the vice-captain?"

Hitsugaya paused for a moment upon hearing this.

"No," he said.

Matsumoto Rangiku chuckled: "You haven't even heard my reasons yet, why are you refusing so easily? Didn't you always say you wanted me to give up my position to you sooner?"

“Indeed,” Hitsugaya said. “I say this because I feel that I am already stronger than you, but that only applies to strength. In other areas, you may be slightly stronger than me. So I am not in a hurry to become the vice-captain. Moreover, you are suspected of stepping down to shirk responsibility.”

Matsumoto Rangiku was silent for a moment, then suddenly glared at the other person: "You brat, you have no modesty at all!"

"I'm just stating some facts," Hitsugaya shrugged.

Matsumoto Rangiku sighed and then lay down on the chair.

"When will the captain be back?" Hitsugaya asked.

Matsumoto Rangiku said slowly, "He's in a bad mood. Let him recover for a few days. If he needs anything, he can come to me."

Hitsugaya looked surprised: "It's really unexpected that these words came out of your mouth."

Snapped!
A pen was thrown precisely at Hitsugaya's face, but he blocked it with his hand.

"Then you go ahead and do your work."

#
After that, Xin didn't do anything extra and seemed to quickly recover from the "sorrow" of his subordinate's death.

Shin promoted the fifth seat of the 10th Division to the fourth seat.

Aside from that, the only strange thing Shin did during this period was to take the initiative to visit Captain Ukitake at the 13th Division.

However, during their meeting, Shin only chatted with the other person casually.

Gradually, the deaths of Hoshino Toru and the others seemed to be forgotten and no one cared anymore.

The truth is that Shin hesitated about whether he should do more planning regarding Aizen.

After careful consideration, Xin decided to temporarily abandon the idea.

Not to mention what kind of changes would occur in Soul Society after he revealed Aizen's matter, even Shiba Kaien couldn't guarantee what the other party could do, let alone Ukitake.

Once Ukitake learns of even the slightest movement, he will undoubtedly inform Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni immediately, as the Captain-Commander is far more trustworthy than himself.

Although they will eventually be on the same side when it comes to dealing with Aizen, Shin is not yet fully prepared.

Compared to all these thoughts, learning Bankai as quickly as possible is the most important thing.

[Zanpakutō unlock progress: 59%]

Bankai... going a step further.

Xin carefully examined the many characters on the leaderboard in his system interface, pondering which one might be easier to target next.

(End of this chapter)