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

Chapter 10. The Crisis from Retsu Unohana

The following month was an extremely busy one for all the members of the 4th Division of the Gotei 13.

Because of the combined attack by those Hollows, not only did many nobles suffer casualties during the last noble hunt, but the entire Gotei 13 also suffered heavy losses.

The reason is not only because the ancient Hollow Barragan in Hueco Mundo has such abnormal abilities, but also because he alone was able to withstand the combined attack of as many as four captains.

Furthermore, this time, the one attacking Soul Society alongside him was a terrifying Arrancar, a man who called himself Koyatai Stark.

Actually, the Grim Reaper side wasn't entirely without a way to deal with these two Arrancar and the Hollow army they brought.

However, Captain-Commander Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni was initially worried that other Hollows might take advantage of the situation and launch a surprise attack on Seireitei. Therefore, he left nearly a third of the Shinigami, as well as five captains including himself, inside Seireitei.

So much so that after it was confirmed that only two Arrancar were involved in the attack on Soul Society, it was too late to send the remaining captains to provide support, as the two Arrancar had already fled back to Hueco Mundo with the Hollows who had participated.

At the same time, the two Arrancars who attacked this time, as well as some Adjuchas-class Hollows, also used two abilities that had never been known to the Shinigami before. One of them was an ability called "Dead Knot," which could absorb all the abilities that Shinigami used in the direction of Dead Knot, including not only Zanpakuto abilities but also Kido.

Only domain-specific capabilities or materialized capabilities can achieve a breakthrough.

Another ability is known as "crash." Whenever a Shinigami engages in close combat with a Hollow, a portion of their spiritual particles are ejected from their body, and it is extremely difficult to replenish them.

This meant that the longer the battle lasted, the more weakened the Grim Reaper's side became.

It was precisely because of these two new abilities that the Grim Reaper was caught off guard and suffered heavy casualties.

The Fourth Division has spent the past month treating the Shinigami who were injured in this great battle.

As the third seat of the fourth division, Higashino Shuichi was naturally no exception.

With a skill level that is second only to captain Retsu Unohana and vice-captain Seinosuke Yamada in the team, he has been so busy that he can hardly leave the ground for the past month.

As a result, he didn't even find a suitable opportunity to secretly meet Aizen once during that month.

After finally reducing the last seriously injured soldier to a minor injury and handing him over to a regular team member for care, Higashino Shuichi finally stepped out of the Fourth Division barracks a month later, and could finally breathe in the fresh air of the Seireitei.

Little did they know, within the Fourth Division, a pair of eyes had been watching Higashino Shuichi until his figure completely disappeared into the streets of Seireitei.

"Hey, Yachiru-neechan, this isn't how you treat a guest! You promised to show me your flower arrangement, but ever since I arrived, your gaze has been fixed on the outside... Could it be that you've finally found a male Shinigami who can make your heart flutter?!"

Inside the Fourth Division Captain's lounge, a purple-haired, brown-eyed, extremely voluptuous, sexy and beautiful female Shinigami leaned back in her chair with an air of nonchalance, gazing at Unohana Retsu by the window and jokingly teasing her.

"Are you tempted?" Retsu Unohana smiled. "Just interested."

Upon hearing this, the female Shinigami inside the room immediately sat up straight, her mouth agape, about to speak, when she was interrupted by Retsu Unohana, "Kiryu, have the results of the comparison records I asked you to come out yet?" If any members of the Twelfth Division were here at this moment, they would surely recognize that the female Shinigami inside the room was none other than their captain, Kiryu Hikifune.

"I knew it! You didn't really call me over just to show me how to arrange flowers~" Kiryuu pouted symbolically, but after realizing that Retsu Unohana wasn't buying it, he immediately reverted to his usual carefree self. "Well, it's a bit different from what you guessed, but we can't completely rule out that the two are completely unrelated. After all, in terms of technique, the basic principles are actually the same~"

As he spoke, Kiryuki placed the two thick reports he was holding on the table.

"But I still don't understand. The report on the left is from more than 50 years ago. There were only a few incidents at that time. If I hadn't wanted to give Hiyori some practice, those incidents wouldn't have even been taken to our 12th Division for research. Sister Yachiru, why did you suddenly think of this two years ago?"
And you actually went so far as to try to connect this with this incident.”

After hesitating for a moment, Kiryu finally voiced the question that had been on his mind.

Actually, Kiryu had wanted to ask this question two years ago, but at the time she thought it was just a whim of Retsu Unohana.

But this time, after Unohana Retsu once again earnestly asked her to analyze and compare, Hikifune Kiryu could no longer deceive herself that this was just Unohana Retsu's hobby.

"I was just a little curious. Can coincidences really exist in this world?"

Retsu Unohana simply smiled and answered, not intending to reveal her true thoughts.

But as someone who was partly involved in the whole process, Kiryuki Hikifune still guessed a little bit about it.

"Is it related to that Shinigami that you showed me two years ago for comparative analysis, the one that was almost eaten by a Hollow?"
If I remember correctly, although that Shinigami's body appeared to have fully recovered, there were indeed some near-permanent damages, much like those Hollow attacks more than fifty years ago. However, the Shinigami in those attacks suffered more severe damage; even after treatment, they were essentially unable to fulfill the duties of an ordinary Shinigami.

Unohana Retsu didn't answer Kiryu's question. Instead, she asked another question, "So, Kiryu, if you had to choose, would you be more inclined to believe that this is a natural evolutionary phenomenon or something deliberate?"

The room fell silent. Kiryu looked at Retsu Unohana, a strong feeling telling her that his next answer would determine many things, and might even change the fate of some people or things.

After a long silence, Kiryuu Hikifune slowly said, "I think, if I had to choose, I would choose the latter."

"Is that so?"

After listening, Retsu Unohana didn't say anything more. Instead, she went to the window again and looked out of the barracks at the place where someone had disappeared.

"Is it just a coincidence that you've healed every Shinigami who's been attacked by those phantoms, or...?"

Unohana Retsu murmured in a voice only she could hear.

She knew it was too early to draw conclusions, but that didn't stop her from doing the necessary work.

(End of this chapter)