Bleach: Starting with Marrying Retsu Unohana

The captain of the 'Ninth Division' even went out of the teahouse to check the room number of the private room. After confirming that it was the number Araki had reported when he invited him, he walked in with a frown.

"Everyone, could it be that you were all invited here by Captain Araki?!"

The captain of the 13th Division seemed to have noticed something amiss. He stroked his goatee and asked the captains of the 8th and 9th Divisions.

"This……"

"exactly."

The captains of the 8th and 9th Divisions were taken aback at first after hearing the words of the captain of the 13th Division, but then nodded vigorously, affirming what the captain of the 13th Division had said.

"As expected..."

Upon hearing this, the captain of the 13th Division's expression darkened slightly.

Just as the captains of the 8th and 9th Divisions had expected, Araki had only invited him, the original captain of the 13th Division, and he was quite pleased at the time...

If Araki only invited one person, it would mean that in Araki's heart, that person's status was absolutely different. However, things didn't go as planned. When he met the captains of the 8th and 9th Divisions, he felt extremely awkward. It seems that he really didn't have anything special about him.

"Ha ha……"

At this moment, the captains of the 8th and 9th Divisions were thinking similar things to the captain of the 13th Division. All three smiled awkwardly and then nodded slightly to each other.

"Please, everyone, have a seat!"

"Once Captain Araki arrives, we'll naturally know why he summoned us..."

In the end, it was the captain of the 13th Division who spoke to the other two captains with a smile.

"Alright!"

After listening to the words of the captain of the Thirteenth Division, the captains of the Eighth Division and the Ninth Division thought for a while and finally nodded. They didn't have a better solution than the captain of the Thirteenth Division at the moment.

"Serve some tea!"

In an instant, the three captains entered the private room, then gently waved to the teahouse staff and called out.

This time, the three of them were on the same page...

"Coming~"

Upon hearing the call, the teahouse staff immediately approached the three team leaders and recommended the teahouse's famous teas to them.

Of course, the teahouse wouldn't charge these three captains. After all, this was arranged in advance by Araki, and he wouldn't go so far as to charge these people for tea. Araki still had that much magnanimity...

This teahouse, of course, belongs to the 'Shifuin' family...

Araki would never hire anyone for a single penny! *cough cough*

Time ticked by, making the three team leaders, who had been waiting in the teahouse since early morning, suffer greatly!

Since Araki wasn't there, and the three belonged to different noble factions, none of them intended to speak to each other; they could only continue drinking tea...

"Wait, why isn't Captain Araki here yet?!"

"I have several meetings to attend this afternoon."

The captain of the 'Ninth Division' was already starting to get impatient.

Honestly, if we consider his past temper, if anyone dared to delay him for half an hour, he would have left long ago!

However, seeing that the two captains from different factions hadn't moved, the captain of the 'Ninth Division' naturally wouldn't leave either, fearing that Araki would be recruited by other factions. So he could only sit and wait.

Another half hour passed...

"Suck~"

The captain of the 8th Division, a high-ranking nobleman with glasses perched on his nose, had lost count of how many bowls of tea he had drunk. He only felt his lower abdomen growing increasingly bloated, and his face becoming more and more pale.

"Tsk~"

As for the captain of the 'Ninth Division' who was already planning to leave, he was becoming increasingly impatient. He had decided to wait for Araki for another half hour, and if Araki didn't arrive, he would simply leave. He didn't care whether Araki would be recruited by other noble factions...

"Haha~"

As for the captain of the 13th Division, he still had a smile on his face. Compared to the captains of the 8th and 9th Divisions, who were from upper-class noble families, he, a lower-class noble who had been lucky enough to be elected as the captain of the 13th Division, was much calmer. After all, he was used to this kind of scene...

This is nothing more than a common tactic used by high-ranking nobles to intimidate lower-ranking nobles. The reason why the captains of the 8th and 9th Divisions felt uncomfortable was simply because this was usually a tactic they used on others, and this time, this little "intimidation" tactic was being used on them, nothing more.

time flies……

About half an hour later, another half hour passed.

"I can't wait any longer!"

The captain of the 9th Division couldn't take it anymore. He stood up from his seat and prepared to leave.

"I'm leaving too..."

Seeing that the captain of the Ninth Division was about to leave, the captain of the Eighth Division also decided not to linger there any longer and naturally stood up from his seat.

"Haha~"

As for the captain of the 'Thirteenth Division', he remained seated, drinking his tea.

"Click~"

"Everyone's here?!"

Just as the captains were getting impatient, Araki finally arrived at the teahouse late, appearing before everyone, accompanied by the sound of a door being pushed open.

"Captain Araki..."

When the three captains inside the room saw Araki in person, they all immediately stood up and showed him basic respect.

"Please sit down."

Araki entered the teahouse and sat down in the main seat, nodding slightly to the three people standing there.

"This……"

Araki's nonchalant demeanor made the captains of the 8th and 9th Divisions feel uncomfortable. As members of the upper nobility, they had never been so disrespected.

"What? Is the tea not good?"

Araki looked at the captains of the 8th and 9th Divisions, whose faces were grim, and asked them, feigning ignorance.

"No, this tea is just right for my taste."

Upon hearing this, the captain of the 8th Division waved his hands repeatedly.

"Oh? You startled me! I thought I hadn't been hospitable enough. It's good that the tea is tolerable!" Araki pretended to be relieved upon hearing this, and then continued to ask the captain of the 8th Division, "However, if it's not a problem with the tea, why do you all look so pale?"

"Captain Araki, what is the purpose of summoning us here today?!"

Before the captain of the 8th Division could speak again, the captain of the 9th Division asked Araki a question first.

"Hey, it's nothing, it's not really a big deal that I came to see you this time..."

"My disciples recently returned from their training at the Spirit King Palace, didn't they? We happen to need a few squad leaders for the Gotei 13. I think the positions you're currently in are quite suitable for my disciples. Why don't you all step aside?"

Araki sat in his chair with an air of authority, giving the three captains in front of him a slight smile.

"what?!"

As Araki finished speaking, the expressions of the three captains all changed.

The three captains thought to themselves at the same time, "Oh no! We've really gotten ourselves into trouble this time!"

Chapter 112 Araki: Sorry, my rules are my rules.

"Ha ha ha ha……"

As Araki finished speaking, the atmosphere in the entire teahouse became incredibly strange, and the captains of the 8th, 9th, and 13th Divisions all looked extremely uncomfortable.

After a while, the three captains suddenly burst into laughter.

"Captain Araki, you must be joking with us..."

The captain of the 8th Division looked at Araki and spoke with a livid face.

Although the captain of the 8th Division was seething with anger, he still maintained basic restraint in front of Araki, trying his best to smile at him...

After all, Araki's identity is what it is. 'Officially', Araki is a member of the 'Royal Special Agents' 'Zero Squad'. 'Privately', Araki is a disciple of 'Gotei 14 founder' Yamamoto Genryusai, and he also has close ties with the 'Shihouin' and 'Shiba' families, two of the 'Five Great Noble Families'! No matter which of these identities Araki has, it is not one that he can afford to offend.

"It was just a joke..."

Upon hearing this, the captain of the Ninth Division secretly gave a thumbs-up to the captain of the Eighth Division, and then continued speaking, following the lead of the Eighth Division captain. At this point, the captain of the Ninth Division hoped that Araki would be sensible enough to accept the situation and back down, without causing any further trouble…

"Hahaha……"

"To be honest, Captain Araki's joke was really scary! It almost scared me! It made me think that all the rumors about Captain Araki were true! But I've always said that Captain Araki isn't that kind of person."

The captain of the 13th Division immediately tried to smooth things over, praising Araki repeatedly.

In fact, the reason why the captain of the 13th Division said this was to take advantage of Araki's psychological factors. Based on the experience of this captain of the 13th Division in dealing with various nobles, people who are praised by him in this way will usually restrain themselves even if they are really as unreasonable as rumored, for fear of confirming the rumors.

"Hahaha..." Araki glanced at the three captains, each with their own ulterior motives, and simply chuckled. Then he said to them, "Do I look like I'm joking with you?!"

"Forehead……"

As Araki finished speaking, the expressions of all the captains changed instantly.

"You're the captain of the 'Thirteenth Division,' right?! It seems you've heard quite a few rumors about me outside? To be honest, I'm quite curious about my image in public. Why don't you tell me about it here?"

"Oh, by the way, you just said you didn't think I was that kind of person. What exactly do you mean by 'that kind of person'? I'm also curious about that, so why don't you tell me about it?"

Immediately afterwards, Araki looked at the captain of the 13th Division alone. Araki had a faint smile on his face as he looked at the other person and asked softly.

"I……"

Upon hearing Araki's words, the captain of the 13th Division's expression changed drastically. He opened his lips slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but under the immense pressure from Araki's icy amber eyes, he ultimately kept his mouth shut.

"Ugh……"

The captain of the 13th Division pondered for a long time, and finally just lowered his head and sighed deeply. What could he do? He had neither powerful 'influence' nor strong 'background'! At this time, it was better to show weakness for the time being.

However, while the captain of the 13th Division could hold back, the captains of the 8th and 9th Divisions, who were already in a bad mood and were also the most outstanding captains among the upper-class noble forces, were not so easy to talk to.

"Captain Araki, although you are a highly respected disciple of Captain-Commander Yamamoto and a prominent figure in the Zero Division, you must understand that this is not the Soul King's Palace but the Seireitei!"

“You’re just a captain of the 11th Division in the Gotei 13. You’re at most our equal. You have no right to order us to take a break from the squad…”

"If you have any complaints about our role as captains of the 'Gotei 13', you can go directly to Captain-Commander Yamamoto to discuss it. However, even Captain-Commander Yamamoto does not have the right to dismiss all three of us captains without any reason."

The captain of the 8th Division frowned, but his attitude towards Araki was still polite. It was best not to offend someone like Araki. In the captain's view, if he wanted to secure enough benefits for the noble forces behind him, the fewer enemies the better.