Chapter 88: Is This the Future of the Soul Society?
Even though the highest level training method of Genryujutsu made Takeru and Ichigo miserable, they were still in pain and happy.
Only the afternoon division duties could not be solved by grit alone.
Third Division Barracks.
Kira Izuru sat in the position that used to belong to Gin Ichimaru, handling official duties as vice captain and acting captain. While he was buried in paperwork, the third seat assisting him led an unexpected visitor into the office.
"Takeru kun? Why are you here?"
Kira stared at the young man in front of him, confused.
"You know that Brother Kurosaki and I are temporarily working for the Captain Commander in the First Division, right, Vice Captain Kira?"
Takeru dropped onto the sofa casually, without a trace of restraint.
"Mm."
Kira nodded, a little stiffly.
It was not that he did not know. The First Division was the political center of the Seireitei now. Documents and personnel flowed through it every day. Even without official announcements, news still spread fast.
And a genius who had just made a name for himself, constantly wandering around the First Division, talking to outsiders, and meddling in division work was not exactly subtle.
So nothing stayed secret for long.
Within two or three days, the truth had come out. Even Kira, who had been shutting himself in his office and using work to distract from everything, had heard about it. Even the Third Division member who delivered reports had already completed handover procedures with him.
Could it be something was wrong with that report?
"Do not worry," Takeru said, blunt as always. "No problems have been found in your self assessment report for now. But what you mentioned in the report, about sustained low morale in the division affecting work quality and being difficult to improve, caught the Captain Commander's attention. He sent me to confirm whether it is true."
"I can only say the situation is worse than you think," Kira said quietly.
His mood was just as heavy. He was almost forcing himself to speak on responsibility alone.
"Captain Ichimaru…"
After Gin left, everyone's reaction had been extreme. Verbal fights broke out, then physical ones. Kira had spent a huge amount of effort barely calming things down, but the estrangement did not disappear. If anything, it was starting to split.
"I no longer know what to do," Kira admitted, voice low. "If this continues, the Third Division will fall apart. Even if that person is no longer here, I do not want that. So I sincerely requested the Captain Commander to intervene and reorganize."
"In your opinion," Takeru asked at once, "how should it be reorganized?"
Kira answered without hesitation, as if he had already reached the end of his thoughts.
"I will step down as vice captain. All seated officers will be transferred out. Some squad members with extreme behavior will be expelled. Then a batch of new elites will be transferred in from other divisions. That way nobody has a reason to cause trouble anymore."
"A complete overhaul. Good idea."
Takeru murmured to himself, then stood and placed an appointment letter on the desk in front of Kira.
"This is…?"
"The Captain Commander's appointment letter," Takeru said. "It is not appointing me as captain of the Third Division. It is asking me to solve this problem."
He paused, then added casually, "Of course, it is also possible that once I finish and he is satisfied, he might just make me the captain."
Kira's heart lurched. His mouth fell open. The gloom on his face cracked, turning into a bitter, helpless smile.
"Takeru kun… since it is the Captain Commander's order, I will obey unconditionally. But how do you intend to handle this?"
"First, gather all squad members who are not on duty," Takeru said. "Does the Third Division have a training ground big enough for that many people to move freely?"
"Yes, there is…"
"Then give the order. Have them bring their swords. Also have someone prepare enough healing medicine for everyone. And send a message to the Fourth Division. Ask them to send a few medical teams over."
Takeru was already walking out as he spoke.
Kira froze behind him, a bad feeling crawling up his spine.
Less than half an hour later, it proved correct.
Over a hundred squad members gathered on the training ground. They did not understand why they were called, and that did not stop them from venting. Some seated officers did not stop it either. A few even started arguing themselves.
It was about to turn into a brawl.
Then Takeru and Kira arrived, walking along the corridor under the eaves and stepping into the open training ground paved with wooden boards, like a place built in the wilderness.
The dull sound of footsteps did not catch anyone's attention.
The spiritual pressure that followed did.
It slammed down and pinned everyone in place, forcing heads to bow.
"This is…!"
"Such terrifying spiritual pressure!"
"Who is it?!"
Faces flushed from shouting turned pale. Faces that had sneered at their companions' ideals ran cold with sweat. Loyalists who hated their captain's betrayal dropped to their knees. The silent ones trembled.
It became quiet. Unnaturally quiet.
Kira stood behind Takeru, watching with a complicated expression, but he did not interfere.
Takeru walked to the center of the ground at an unhurried pace. His gaze swept across the crowd with open disdain.
"Come on," he said. "Draw your swords. Let us fight."
The invisible mountain lifted.
But the squad members only stared at him in shock.
Why were they being called to battle?
And against someone with that kind of spiritual pressure?
And more importantly, who was he?
"My name is Shimiya Takeru," Takeru said, mocking them without mercy. "Compared to you nobodies, I am fairly famous. So I plan to do something big while I have the chance."
He smiled like he was about to commit a crime in broad daylight.
"As an Academy student, I will take down an entire division by myself."
He let that sink in, then continued, voice even colder.
"It will brand you with shame for the rest of your lives. But it does not matter. You can just transfer out afterward."
"What did you say?!" a seated officer shouted, furious.
"Did you not hear?" Takeru replied. "I am here to stir trouble. The Third Division and Ninth Division are leaderless. Perfect targets to establish authority. Kurosaki Ichigo, my contemporary, should be in the Ninth Division right now doing the same."
Takeru drew his Zanpakuto, still sheathed, and tapped it lightly on his shoulder.
The stance was relaxed.
The killing intent was not.
"Do not joke around! Nobody will allow you to insult the Third Division like this!"
The shout had not even finished when Takeru struck.
Even with the sheath on, the blow dropped the man to his knees. A kick to the chest sent him flying backward, tumbling into others like a bowling ball through pins.
"Who is joking with you?" Takeru said, voice sharp as steel. "Do not forget, I helped the ryoka disrupt an execution. I survived a struggle with a group of captains. I killed a high level Menos Grande. Zaraki Kenpachi ended up in the hospital because of me. What do you think I would not dare do?"
He moved through them like a storm, sheathed blade and heel coming down without mercy.
"For you lot, it is just a beating. What consequences could there be?"
He laughed softly, almost conversational.
"I can even say I am helping you restore morale to avoid responsibility. Even if the Captain Commander knows, I will only get a light punishment."
"Damn it!"
Rage shook them, but none could refute him.
Because they understood it too. With his strength and his value to Soul Society, he would never be severely punished for something like this.
"Run! Hurry, run!"
The ones with clearer heads tried to flee.
Takeru's Shunpo shattered their plans.
They were cut open by the sheathed sword, beaten until blood ran, yet not allowed to lose consciousness. The force was perfectly controlled.
The physical pain was fierce. The humiliation was worse.
And mixed with the restless, suffocating atmosphere of the past few days, it began to twist into something else.
Little by little, fear was replaced by fury.
Then the squad members finally drew their blades.
"Ah!"
"Follow me!"
"Damn it, do not get in the way!"
"You are the one in the way!"
In the face of a single overwhelming enemy, even those who had been arguing earlier instinctively fought shoulder to shoulder.
Kira suppressed his own spiritual pressure and kept a low profile so no one noticed him. He stared blankly, fists clenched so hard they trembled.
He never expected one report to lead to this.
He wanted a major overhaul, yes, but not by draining the old blood with a beating before new blood even arrived.
Hundreds of squad members, eyes red, surged forward like madmen.
Takeru struck them down with a sheathed sword.
His technique was like a whip. Each hit tore skin and flesh without shattering bone or rupturing organs. At first glance it looked like restraint.
Nobody believed it.
Because it was too painful.
More painful than being cut.
The intact bones, the ability to get back up and keep fighting, was part of the calculation. Anyone who stayed down too long got kicked until they vomited, tears and snot streaking their faces.
The one sided abuse continued until the Fourth Division medical teams arrived.
Only then did Takeru release the hair of a certain seated officer and let him collapse to the ground.
"Do not… do not go!"
As Takeru turned to leave, the man grabbed the hem of his shihakusho.
"It is not over yet! Are you trying to escape?!"
"That is right," Takeru said.
The honesty hit like another strike.
He looked up at the squad members sprawled across the ground, still furious, still afraid.
"I have been defeated by your shamelessness."
His eyes narrowed.
"You are so weak, yet you will not retire quietly. I do not understand what you are trying to do."
The seated officer's hand loosened on its own.
Expressions froze all around.
By the time Takeru vanished from the training ground, the division finally seemed to wake up. Silence settled, complicated and heavy. Then, after bandages were applied, they helped each other to their feet and left.
Later, at the entrance of the Third Division barracks, Takeru met Kira again.
"Was it necessary to go that far?" Kira asked.
Instead of answering directly, Takeru rolled up his sleeve, revealing an arm lined with scars.
"This is…?"
"The Captain Commander's work," Takeru said, meeting Kira's eyes. "I did not expect to restore the Third Division's cohesion by creating a common enemy."
He spoke evenly.
"I truly went there to pick a fight, to enrage them, and to beat them."
"Because the Captain Commander told me that when you lose your fighting spirit and feel lost, do not think. Grip your sword hilt. Take a deep breath, hold it, and swing down."
"The sword that falls might not kill the enemy, but the breath you inhale becomes courage for the second swing."
"With courage, a sword that keeps swinging will eventually resolve the enemy or the problem in front of you."
Takeru's gaze sharpened.
"But I do not think that is enough."
"Many people, including you, do not truly resent Gin Ichimaru, because he did not truly harm you. You are angry at being deceived. Confused because you realized you never truly understood your captain. And other divisions' biased views pushed you into turmoil, until you turned on each other."
"So I inflicted pain in Gin Ichimaru's stead."
His tone was matter of fact.
"Pain sobers people. It forces them to decide what they should do, whether that is revenge, firming up their stance, or something else. Either way, they will not lose control and clash with their comrades so easily again."
"After being beaten like that, they will not have the energy to cause trouble."
Takeru took a breath.
"Now it is your turn, Vice Captain. When you visit them, you should say this…"
He outlined a series of steps to win hearts and restore morale. Kira listened, secretly alarmed, and somehow full of reverence.
When Takeru finally turned to leave, Kira could not stop himself.
"Wait, Takeru kun… no, Shimiya sama!"
"What?"
"Thank you," Kira said, bowing deeply. "For helping me and the Third Division. I am truly grateful. If the Captain Commander intends to make you a captain, please consider our Third Division."
"That depends on the Captain Commander's arrangements," Takeru replied. "I personally do not care."
He paused, then waved a hand and walked off.
Only after his footsteps faded did Kira straighten and take a deep breath.
"I need to work harder too," he murmured. "No matter who the new captain is, I cannot let them see the Third Division, or me, like this again."
On the other side, Takeru returned to the First Division, ready to report that the mission was completed.
But the moment he reached the door, he heard the old man's furious roaring.
"What is going on with the Ninth Division's latest Seireitei Bulletin?! I sent you to help Hisagi share division duties, but you and he published nothing but chaos! The Gold Seal Association's complaint letters have reached me!"
Takeru did not rush in. He waited calmly outside.
Soon after, Ichigo stormed out, face dark.
"Yo," Takeru greeted. "Chewed out again?"
"Takeru… stop being sarcastic," Ichigo snapped. "Only after leaving the First Division did I realize how troublesome division duties really are. Without you to give ideas, I can only do manual labor."
He exhaled hard.
"Today I got sent to the Ninth Division to help. I suggested to Hisagi nii that we use the Human World's news media experience to increase the Seireitei Bulletin's popularity. And some noble complained about me too!"
"So what did you do," Takeru asked, arms folded, "that got you complained about?"
Ichigo scratched his cheek.
"Hisagi nii thought the origins of the Four Great Noble Houses and the history of Soul Society had huge value. He wanted to create a special issue to help everyone understand how great Soul Society is, increase popularity, and wake up everyone's love for it, build belonging."
His voice grew more frustrated the longer he spoke.
"The interview application he submitted to the Gold Seal Association got rejected. Not only rejected, they sent three complaint letters to the First Division."
"I do not get it. If they disagree, fine. But is that kind of extreme reaction necessary?"
Takeru's mouth twitched. For a moment, he did not know what to say.
"Forget it," Ichigo said, shaking his head. "Even you cannot guess what they are thinking. More importantly, how did things go on your end?"
"Everything went smoothly," Takeru answered.
"As expected of you."
Ichigo watched him step into the office with a hint of envy.
Then, almost immediately, a roar shook the doorway.
"Takeru! You brat! A Hell Butterfly from the Fourth Division came and told me you beat the Third Division so badly they ended up in the General Relief Station! Now the Fourth Division is condemning your violent behavior!"
"You wrong me, Captain Commander," Takeru said, voice perfectly sincere. "You know me. I never fail a task. Trust me. They will definitely bounce back."
"…Take the documents and get out!"
A moment later, Takeru stepped back out with a new mission in hand.
He was not surprised to see Ichigo still there. Instead, he lifted his chin slightly, as if to say, See? Smooth.
Ichigo looked speechless, then raised a thumb anyway.
Under the stunned stares of the guards, the two walked off together, feeling oddly refreshed.
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