Bleach: No cheat codes, he joined Aizen's side.

Chapter 1.1. The Vice-Captain of the Fourth Division

Soul Society, second floor of the 4th Division Barracks General Aid Center.

"Get out of the way, get out of the way!"

"Vice Captain Higashino, I need help here!"

Amidst the bustling crowd, a Grim Reaper whose body had been devoured by the Void was urgently carried up.

Soon, a male Grim Reaper who had been squatting in front of the hospital bed and performing a ritual stood up. Without turning his head, he instantly appeared in front of the Grim Reaper who had just been brought up.

"Leave him to me, you can go down and help the other Grim Reapers!"

The male Grim Reaper spoke gently, while spiritual particles danced in his hand, instantly alleviating the injuries on the wounded Grim Reaper in front of him.

As more and more Grim Reapers were treated, it gradually became late at night.

After finally managing to settle the last injured Shinigami, the members of the Fourth Division and the seat officers breathed a sigh of relief.

Similar situations occur almost every so often at this multi-purpose ambulance facility.

Therefore, everyone was used to it. The only thing that the members of the Fourth Division talked about was that their Vice-Captain Higashino was exactly like their Captain Unohana. Both of them were extremely gentle people.

Working with them always brings a sense of happiness.

However, these Grim Reapers will probably never know that the truth is far more complex than it appears on the surface.

In the early morning, the streets of Seireitei were quiet and peaceful, with only a few large trees swaying gently in the cold night wind.

A male Shinigami with short brown hair, brown eyes, black-rimmed glasses, and dressed in a Shinigami uniform strolled leisurely among them.

Suddenly, a short, gentle breeze swept by, and a figure landed precisely beside the male Grim Reaper.

"Lord Aizen, these are the spoils from this trip!"

The figure took out a transparent box from his pocket, inside which dozens of spirit particle clusters of various shapes could be seen.

As they spoke, the two happened to arrive under the moonlight. If any members of the Fourth Division were here, they would surely recognize that this Shinigami who had just arrived was their vice-captain, Higashino Shuichi.

"Ok!"

After listening, Aizen nodded slightly, took the box with one hand, put it into his sleeve, and then slowly walked forward again.

Having worked for Aizen for decades, Higashino Shuichi naturally knew that since Aizen hadn't used Shunpo to leave, he must still have something to say. Therefore, he followed closely behind Aizen by half a step.

The two walked like this for quite a while, until they were almost at the area where the noble mansion was located, before they stopped.

Aizen looked up at the magnificent buildings ahead. "I remember, you assassinated a nobleman because you couldn't stand his behavior."

"Yes, Lord Aizen, it was because of that incident that you noticed me and then led me onto this path of light."

Higashino replied respectfully, his head bowed.

"Thanks to your occasional 'warnings' afterward, for so many years, those nobles have only dared to rage helplessly at those criminals, but it seems that this state is about to be broken again."

Aizen said, squinting his eyes.

"Lord Aizen, I need you to remove all those overstepping nobles."

Before Higashino Shuichi could finish speaking, he saw Aizen in front of him gently shake his head.

"How many times have I told you, Shuichi, killing a few nobles won't change this corrupt Soul Society. Not only this time, but you must never take action against those nobles on your own again!"

"I understand, Lord Aizen."

Higashino Shuichi nodded obediently.

Then, Aizen gazed at the noble mansions ahead for a while before using Shunpo to leave. Throughout the entire process, Aizen did not mention any specific details.

However, Higashino Shuichi knew that since Aizen hadn't made any special mention of it, it meant that he, with his status, could easily find out about this matter. Therefore, Aizen wouldn't waste any more words and would only give a slight hint.

Sure enough, when the next morning arrived, before even Higashino Shuichi himself could inquire about it, several officers of the Fourth Division revealed the matter.

"Have you heard? Yesterday, the Ninth Seat of the Sixth Division got into an argument with a member during a mission, so he took matters into his own hands and killed the member and the Shinigami who tried to stop him!"

"That's not all! I heard that his wife also tried to persuade him! But he didn't even spare his own wife!"

"No way? Why weren't any of them sent to us yesterday?"

"Is that even a question? Those Grim Reapers all died on the spot. The Ninth Division was the ones who captured them and collected their bodies!"

Through the conversation among these officials, Higashino Shuichi roughly understood what was going on.

Although the name of the Ninth Seat of the Sixth Division was never mentioned in their conversation, based on the specific events and the approximate timeframe, Higashino Shuichi basically guessed who was in charge of this incident.

Tsunayo Tokinada is one of the five noble families in Soul Society, and a member of the Tsunayo family who is mainly responsible for managing the Great Spirit Book Corridor.

He is also the third character after Yhwach to be worthy of being called a boss.

However, at this point, he was far from being qualified in terms of strength.

Furthermore, this timing and this event are merely intended to introduce a key figure in a future villainous antagonist: Tosen Kaname.

In this way, Higashino Shuichi instantly understood Aizen Sousuke's meaningful words from the previous night.

This was intended to reinforce his preconceived notions about nobles while also adding a sense of righteousness to what they were doing.

The reason why Higashino Shuichi has such an understanding is entirely due to the fact that he is not a native of this world, but a transmigrator who came from another planet.

Unfortunately, it seems he brought the wrong template when he transmigrated. He brought the same template as those transmigrators who transmigrated to ancient Earth, meaning that apart from the advantage of precognition, he had nothing else. The ordinary commoner Higashino Shuichi from Rukongai that he transmigrated into had nothing left except for a passable spiritual power aptitude.

You have to practice Hakuda (white-handed fighting), Kido (demon arts), and Zanpakuto (soul-slaying techniques) on your own, and you have to learn them slowly after joining the Shinigami Academy.

So after nearly a hundred years of hard work, Higashino Shuichi finally realized that he was not cut out to be a grim reaper at all.

Because his brain, filled with the thought processes of a modern person, was simply unable to comprehend the operating logic of these forces in the world of Bleach like other transmigrators.

For example, what kind of sword Zen is this, requiring him to communicate with the sword? Isn't it just a shallow sword? How is he supposed to communicate with it?
For example, he was completely baffled by things like the flow of spiritual particles and the control of spiritual particles.

As for the principles behind Instant Step, he could only imitate them blindly.

His only skill was cutting, since he had seen some of it in movies and TV shows in his previous life.

Even more tragically, the teachers at the Shinigami Academy don't care whether Higashino Shuichi lives or dies. They just show up for work and leave get out of class on time every day, regardless of whether you can learn anything.
If you can't learn it, it just means you don't have the talent.

So much so that Higashino Shuichi once suspected that these teachers might have gotten into the Shinigami Academy through back channels.

When Higashino Shuichi finally joined the squad, the vice-captain in charge of training the Shinigami simply read from the textbook and couldn't offer any effective solutions to the questions Higashino Shuichi raised.

This resulted in the fact that, in the end, almost none of Higashino Shuichi's signature moves were truly impressive.

He essentially wasted such a long time.

Having no other choice, Higashino Shuichi, through countless nights and the tearing of countless strands of his hair, made a decision that went against his ancestors' wishes.

He needs to find a way to join Aizen's side!
Because at this time, Aizen had not yet used hairspray or possessed the Hogyoku, and was even in a low-key incubation period.

There's no way they'd have any capable people under their command.

If he goes there now, even if he doesn't immediately reach the pinnacle of his life, at least Aizen will patiently answer his questions, right?
Who wouldn't love the joy of watching their loyal subordinates grow stronger?

As for questions like whether following Aizen would lead to the death of a god.

Higashino Shuichi doesn't consider himself a person of high moral character; he just wants to survive.

Death has a long lifespan. As long as he survives the critical period when the major bosses cause trouble in the future, he will be free to roam the world.

At worst, he would just live a secluded life in the real world like a certain shop manager (a rather unrealistic fantasy of Higashino Shuichi at the time).

More importantly, judging from Aizen's attitude towards Gin Ichimaru and Kaname Tōsen, Aizen treats his own people well, if not exceptionally well, and he truly gives them good things.

Moreover, as long as Shuichi Higashino doesn't do anything stupid or make any idiotic requests like Kaname Tosen, Aizen most likely won't take his life voluntarily.

As for Yhwach, Higashino Shuichi also had a plan in mind: never interfere, and if necessary, facilitate the birth of Kurosaki Ichigo.

The kind of "I'm in my own hands, not in the heavens" roars that other transmigrators have are nonexistent in his case.

Just like what a bronze dragon in a certain online game said in my past life, since there is a result that is destined to be won, why should he change the process?
All Higashino Shuichi needs to do is carefully protect himself during that process.

As for the others? Well, they were all "necessary sacrifices" made out of necessity for the final victory.

That's right, Higashino Shuichi's moral bottom line is that flexible.

Originally, Shuichi Higashino intended to replace Kaname Tosen in the original story. However, when he joined Aizen, Aizen's research on the Hogyoku had not yet reached the point of using "the souls of ordinary people with Shinigami aptitude." At that time, Aizen was still on the path of researching the power of Shinigami itself, so he needed a large number of Shinigami spiritual particles as materials.

However, the efficiency of collecting materials by ordering Hollows to attack Shinigami was too low. Out of necessity, Shuichi Higashino volunteered to join the Fourth Division in order to prove his value.

Then, under the guise of healing the Grim Reaper, they extract spiritual energy from them.

And so they did it for another sixty years.

As Higashino Shuichi gradually rose from an ordinary member to the fourth vice-captain, his true strength also improved from being inferior to even a low-ranking officer to reaching the level of a typical captain.

Hakuda, Shunpo, Zanjutsu, Kido, and other techniques were finally, with tears in their eyes, honed under Aizen's tutelage and all became capable of fighting.

At least, Aizen proved to Higashino Shuichi that Higashino Shuichi was just a little lacking in spiritual power aptitude and had a poor understanding of the power system of this world, rather than being a complete waste.

It's fair to say that he would be capable of taking over as captain right now.

Unfortunately, the captain of the fourth division, the healing squad he currently belongs to, is not someone to be trifled with.

Therefore, in the Fourth Division, Higashino Shuichi was extremely cautious and would never give Unohana Retsu the chance to extract the Shinigami Spirit.

As expected, when the afternoon arrived, their Fourth Division also received a notification from the Central 46th Chamber—in principle, Fourth Division Captain Retsu Unohana was to attend today's trial meeting for Tsunayoshi Tokinada.

But in reality, those who know, know. In principle, saying "let go" means that one doesn't have to go. Naturally, Unohana Retsu wouldn't have any interest in this kind of meeting.

Therefore, the responsibility of attending ultimately fell to the vice-captain, Higashino Shuichi.

Higashino Shuichi could actually have skipped the meeting, because one of the main reasons for having members of the Fourth Division attend was to prevent any unforeseen circumstances from escalating and to facilitate timely treatment.

Unless something unexpected happens, no one will hold him accountable afterwards.

However, Shuichi Higashino wanted to meet his future boss, and he also knew that this meeting would definitely not be so simple.

Otherwise, Aizen wouldn't have needed to bring it up last night.

Aizen probably meant for him to go in his place as the vice-captain of the Fourth Division.

There's nothing we can do about it. Aizen was only recently transferred to the Fifth Division by the captain of the Fifth Division, Hirako Shinji, and is currently still the last in the Fifth Division, a nobody that no one cares about.

"Let me go and see this trial that can be called a 'beacon of hope'."

Higashino Hideichi's lips curled into a sneer. He then folded the reply in his hand and handed it to the team member outside the door.

(End of this chapter)