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

Chapter 14. The Burial Captain (Part 14)

Sengoku Ryu, born into a lower-ranking noble family, once served in the 10th Division. Thirty years ago, he mastered Bankai. Since there were no vacancies for captains in the Gotei 13, he volunteered to go to the Expeditionary Force to fill the captain's position.

He discovered the clues behind the Hollow attack on Soul Society and then reported the situation to Soul Society.

Unfortunately, most of the members of the Central 46 at the time did not believe that intelligence, because Hueco Mundo had been quiet for too long, and the nobles had forgotten the terror of the Hollows.

Fortunately, there was the Captain-Commander. He believed the intelligence and made timely arrangements; otherwise, the losses to Soul Society would not have been so great.

Of course, the current outcome is also quite disastrous.

The nobles' anger was ignited, and Sengoku Ryu and his expedition team were doomed. Not only that, but his old superior was also dragged down with them.

The reason was that the nobles blamed Sengoku for using only the wording "possible" rather than "certain" in his intelligence report. It was precisely because of that ambiguous wording that Central 46 made the wrong judgment.

The captain of the 10th Division was sent to Hueco Mundo to do this thankless task because he was defending Sengoku Ryu.

Fortunately, that attack seemed to have really depleted most of Hueco Mundo's manpower. Over the past month, their expedition team and the members of the 10th Division have easily completed their target of capturing Gillian.

The goal of having only twenty Adjuchas seems like a pipe dream.

"Do you really think Adjuchas-class Hollows are as common as cabbages? Besides, this is Hueco Mundo, not Soul Society. If those Hollows really want to run away, do you think we can stop them?"

Sengoku Ryu was speechless. As the captain of the expedition team who had been struggling in Hueco Mundo for so many years, he knew all too well how ridiculous the order from Soul Society was.

However, his former superior, the captain of the 10th Division, didn't seem to think that way.

As a commoner captain from Rukongai, he executes orders from the Central 46 Chambers with absolute meticulousness.

It is said that the captain's dream was to marry a noblewoman.

So at this moment, Sengoku Ryu stood on the barren earthen slope, looking towards the distant direction of Hueco Mundo. He didn't know whether he should pray for his old superior or pray for something else.

It's been said that Las Noches is the territory of Barragan, the King of Hueco Mundo. Although there are many Adjuchas-class Menos Grande there, you should still consider your own strength before going there and see if you can defeat Barragan!
"Captain, are we just going to watch the 10th Division Captain walk by like this?"

The expedition's vice-captain, Zuo Niaoming, approached Qian Shiliu and asked him with concern.

"What else? We have an understanding with Barragan. We won't touch his Las Noches, and he won't interfere with our hunting of ordinary Hollows in Hueco Mundo. If this understanding is broken, the Soul Society will have to pay a heavy price if it wants to send people to Hueco Mundo to hunt Hollows in order to maintain the balance of the three worlds."

Sengoku Ryu was a shrewd man. He knew the true mission of his expedition. Helping the nobles capture Hollows to vent their anger was a minor matter. The fundamental task was to maintain the balance between the Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, and the Human World by hunting Hollows.

"But what if the captain of the 10th Division is attacked by Barragan?"

Zuo Niaoming was still worried.

"No, if he wants to escape, it would be very difficult for a mere Barragan to really kill one of our captain-level Grim Reapers. The title of captain carries a lot of weight!"
Moreover, with us here providing support, as long as we can escape back here, Barragan will understand our stance when he sees us, unless he truly intends to drag the entire Hueco Mundo into a full-scale war with Soul Society!

Sengoku Ryu said confidently.

His vice-captain, Zuo Niaoming, was speechless. However, he secretly thought to himself, "Does this mean they've brought their entire families to fight in Soul Society? Doesn't that mean they want to start a full-scale war?"

Zuo Niaoming knew that his captain was just like that, and that was precisely the source of Qian Shiliu's personal charm. Therefore, after confirming that his captain was not without consideration, Zuo Niaoming decided to step down and return to their expeditionary force, so that the other members could prepare to provide support. After all, he and Captain Qian Shiliu were indeed somewhat out of sync at the moment.

While this location is arguably the best place to support the 10th Division captain, it's still too far from where the expedition team is currently stationed. If anything were to happen to the expedition team, neither he nor Captain Sengoku Ryu could immediately return to their aid.

However, Zuo Niaoming stopped after walking less than 500 meters.

"grim Reaper?"

Before him stood a male Shinigami with brown eyes, short black hair, dressed in a Shinigami uniform, and a dark green Zanpakuto embroidered with dragon and phoenix patterns at his waist.

Zuo Niaoming tried hard to search his memory, but found no recollection of this Shinigami. Even among the dozen or so members of the 10th Division who had come to Hueco Mundo with the 10th Division captain, none of them matched up.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Higashino Shuichi. I became the vice-captain of the Fourth Division twenty-one years ago, and I am now the third seat of the Fourth Division."

Higashino Shuichi gave Satoki Akira a warm, spring-like smile.

He could have chosen a different approach that had a higher success rate and a greater safety factor.

But at the last moment before his departure, he gave up.

Because Higashino Shuichi felt that in order to survive, he could indeed lower his moral standards indefinitely, but when facing an enemy who was not as strong as him, especially when the other party was an "innocent person" in the standard sense, he did not need to practice that set of dark rules.

Otherwise, if one day his heart turns completely cold and he tries desperately to live on, what's the point?

Therefore, giving Higashino Shuichi that seemingly meaningless respect was his last act of kindness.

Unfortunately, Zuo Niaoming was unaware of all this, but based on his intuition developed from years of fighting in the expeditionary force, he instinctively sensed that Higashino Shuichi was extraordinary.

Regardless of whether what Higashino Shuichi said was true or not, after Higashino Shuichi finished speaking, Zatori Akira still took a step back, while placing his left hand on the hilt of his Zanpakuto.

"So, Third Seat Higashino, can you tell me why you're here? I don't recall Soul Society sending you, the Third Seat of the Fourth Division, this time!"

As expected of a member of the expedition team, this memory is far superior to that of ordinary Shinigami in the Gotei 13 of Soul Society.

Without a doubt, this expeditionary force from Soul Society is an elite force, and its true combat strength is likely no less than that of any regular division of the Gotei 13.

The reason why it failed to shine in the future
"There must be another reason?"

Higashino Shuichi shrugged lightly. It didn't matter anyway. Those who were destined to die would die anyway. Whether they died at someone else's hands or at his hands, it made no difference.

However, Higashino Shuichi's self-centered behavior clearly puzzled his opponent, Sato Akira. From the beginning, this self-proclaimed third seat of the fourth division had been behaving very strangely.

Just as Zuo Niaoming was still hesitating whether to make a move or turn around to remind his captain, Dongye Xiuyi made his move.

And before taking action, Higashino Shuichi still showed his final mercy.

"I came here to kill the expedition leader, Sengoku Ryu. You were unlucky; you happened to be with him when he was alone, so I'm sorry."

As Higashino Shuichi said this, his tone instantly turned cold, and his eyes sharpened from their previous languidness. "You'll die here too!"

"Attack, warriors!"

(End of this chapter)