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

Chapter 33. Who exactly is the villain?
The next day, the snow stopped and the sky cleared.

The morning sunlight streamed into the bedroom. Higashino Shuichi stretched lazily on the bed and then grabbed a coat from the bedside table.

With a whoosh, only a figure remained in place.

Half an hour later, Higashino Shuichi arrived at the Fourth Division barracks.

"Morning! Show me one or three seats!"

"Lord Shuichi, you're back from your vacation?!"

……

On the way to the target's rest room, several members of the Fourth Division greeted Higashino Shuichi with surprise, and one of the female members even tugged at Higashino Shuichi's clothes.

"Captain Xiu, you're finally back! You have no idea how impatient Vice-Captain Yamada was when he was teaching us how to return to our original position. He would yell at us all the time!"

Higashino Shuichi stopped and looked at the round-faced female Shinigami with some freckles. He said with a wry smile, "Yoko, I'm no longer the vice-captain. Captain Unohana only made an exception and let me continue teaching everyone because everyone is used to my teaching. As for Vice-Captain Yamada, that's probably just his personality. Don't blame him."

"But everyone just doesn't like Vice-Captain Yamada. He always has a gloomy face and speaks very coldly... And clearly, Vice-Captain Shuuichi, you're much stronger than Vice-Captain Yamada..."

Yoko pouted, looking unhappy.

"Shh~" Higashino Shuichi made a shushing gesture.

"Alright, I understand everyone's thoughts. How about I go talk to the captain about it today?"

Higashino Shuichi comforted her softly.

He felt that using this incident as a starting point might be a good choice.

Yoko, having received Higashino Shuichi's "guarantee," instantly narrowed her eyes into crescent moons.

"Then we'll wait for your good news, Lord Shuichi!"

After saying that, Yoko happily skipped away.

Watching his departing figure, Higashino Shuichi couldn't help but secretly despise Yamada Seinosuke.

How bad must one be at interpersonal relationships to have served as deputy captain for two years without winning over anyone's hearts?

He's even more like a villain than he is.

At the same time, as if on cue, Higashino Shuichi hadn't taken more than a few steps when he saw Yamada Seinosuke, with a gloomy expression, arriving at the Fourth Division to clock in for work.

"You actually came back?"

"What?"

Higashino Shuichi's eyebrows twitched involuntarily.

"You took three days longer than the planned vacation. I thought you'd been killed by a Hollow in the real world!"

"I'll be blunt," said Seinosuke Yamada.

"Don't worry, even if you get scammed, I won't."

Higashino Shuichi showed no weakness. He didn't need to give Yamada Seinosuke a friendly look, otherwise the latter would only take advantage of him.

"That's hard to say."

"It's cold," said Seinosuke Yamada.

Goodness, based on just a few words from Yamada Seinosuke, Higashino Shuichi has no doubt that if this guy were a villain, he would have taken action immediately.

Unfortunately, he isn't, and given how foul-mouthed this guy is, how did he manage to live so long?
"Then I'll look forward to that day... I'm going to see Captain Unohana now, do you want to come along?"

Higashino Shuichi knew that if he went up against this guy, it would never end today. Given Yamada Seinosuke's personality, he would definitely not mind arguing with him for a whole day.

"You're going to see the captain?! What are you planning to do?!"

Just as Higashino Shuichi predicted, Unohana Retsu was Yamada Seinosuke's Achilles' heel. He only mentioned Unohana Retsu briefly, and Yamada Seinosuke immediately flew into a rage.

"Huh? Lieutenant Yamada doesn't know? During my leave, the captain went to the 13th Division to inquire about me, supposedly because he had something to discuss with me. Really? Lieutenant Yamada doesn't know about this?"

Higashino Shuichi looked at Yamada Seinosuke with a smile and said.

"I……"

With a gloomy expression, Yamada Seinosuke could be heard gritting his teeth even from a distance.

"It's unnecessary for the captain to notify the vice-captain every time something happens, and it's not necessarily a good thing for the captain to come to you personally!"

Seinosuke Yamada tried to save face.

Little did he know, in a way, he had made the right decision.

"Then could I ask Vice Captain Yamada for passage? I got up early this morning because I wanted to see the captain as soon as possible and find out what the captain wanted to see me about."

Seinosuke Yamada stared intently at Shuichi Higashino. After a long while, he reluctantly turned his body to the side, making room for Higashino to pass.

Higashino Shuichi originally wanted to thank Yamada Seinosuke.

However, as he passed by the latter, he decided to stop and not provoke Yamada Seinosuke any further. Otherwise, if the latter acted rashly, he might actually be forced to rebel, and then Higashino Shuichi would only be causing trouble for himself.

However, when Higashino Shuichi arrived at Unohana Retsu's captain's rest room, he did not see Unohana Retsu there. He waited for nearly half an hour before Unohana Retsu finally arrived.

"You're back?"

Upon entering, Retsu Unohana took off the long brown scarf hanging around her neck and spoke softly.

"Yes, Captain. Captain Yoruichi of the Second Division wanted me to join their Second Division, but I refused. Perhaps Captain Yoruichi felt that I didn't give her face, so she forcibly dragged me to the Second Division and gave me a lecture. I was quite injured and didn't come back until my injuries had healed."

Higashino Hideichi briefly described his experiences over the past few days since his return, which were 90% true and 10% false, and were so convincing that no flaws would be detected.

"Is that so? Thank you for your hard work, Shuichi."

Retsu Unohana walked to the window, tending to the flowers she kept there, and replied.

There was absolutely no indication from Unohana Retsu's tone that she intended to hold anyone accountable.

Is it a test of patience?
Higashino Shuichi took a deep breath.

He knew that Aizen's analysis of Unohana Retsu was probably pretty accurate; Unohana Retsu simply had no evidence and was merely suspicious of him.

Therefore, Retsu Unohana's approach was exactly the same as that of the Fifth Division Captain Shinji Hirako, both intending to keep potential threats under their watchful eyes.

Neither of them said it aloud, but they both harbored suspicions.

"Besides that, there is one more thing I would like to report to the captain!"

Upon hearing Higashino Shuichi's words, Unohana Retsu's movements as she tended to the flowers instantly ceased. She then turned to look at him and said, "Speak~"

"After my battle with Captain Yoruichi, I discovered that my spiritual pressure seems to have broken through to the captain level."

Yes, even if he were to confront Retsu Unohana, he couldn't just make up some excuse. Although Aizen didn't say it, Shuichi Higashino himself knew that he needed a reasonable reason.

Otherwise, if he directly tells Unohana Retsu that he has been hiding his true abilities and that he actually already has captain-level strength, it would only confirm his suspicions about Unohana Retsu.

After all, Higashino Shuichi was already a suspect, and if he were to reveal his hidden strength now, even Higashino Shuichi himself wouldn't believe that he wasn't involved in anything.

So last night, after tossing and turning, Higashino Shuichi finally found an explanation that, at least on the surface, seemed reasonable.

Coincidentally, at the end of his sparring session with Yoru Shihouin that day, he remembered that he couldn't help but briefly release his true spiritual pressure.

In this way, even if Retsu Unohana went to Yoruichi Shihouin to verify, she probably wouldn't be able to find any clues.

On the other side, Retsu Unohana focused her gaze and slowly uttered three words.

"Captain level?"

(End of this chapter)