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

Chapter 72. 72. You're trying to trick me.

Oki is an ordinary member of the 13th Division of the Gotei 13. His usual duty is to guard an unnamed island in the ocean.

The island is surrounded by the sea and is uninhabited by any modern humans. Even if modern ships occasionally pass by, they will not choose to linger on this desolate and nameless island.

In short, being stationed at this surveillance point is a very tedious job.

Daiki even suggested to his captain that they should just remove the surveillance point, since there wouldn't be such a horrible place as Xulai anyway.

"Another boring day~"

Standing on the edge of the island, with the sea breeze blowing, Da Mu stretched and paused to look out.

He truly envied his teammates who could be stationed in populated areas of the real world.

Although the work may be a bit tough, the leisure life is also quite fulfilling.

"You who reign supreme! Masks of flesh and blood, myriad things, soaring wings, things bearing the name of mankind! Scorching heat and strife, rising southward across the sea, marching forward!"
"Hado #31, Red Fire Cannon!"

With nothing else to do, Daiki could only repeatedly practice the Kido techniques he had learned at the Shinigami Academy.

The fireball left a trail of mist on the sea surface, which dissipated completely in less than a hundred meters.

Just as Daiki was about to chant the next Kido, a rift was torn open in the air behind him, and a chilling spiritual pressure burst forth from the unknown creature.

"what's the situation?!"

Daiki exclaimed in surprise and immediately began chanting a dharma mantra towards the creature.

He was just an ordinary team member who hadn't even completed the Shikai of his Zanpakuto. Kido was one of the few combat techniques he could use.

But before he could finish chanting, the dark creature flew to him like a shooting star.

A pair of flexible arms, like flat tentacles, lashed out directly at Oki.

Numerous clods of earth flew up, and Daiki's body was completely embedded in the surveillance point.

With his last remaining shred of consciousness, Daiki stared at the strange creature that pounced on him, completely obscuring his vision. With his last bit of strength, he sent out an alarm to the other surveillance points in the real world.

Neon, Akihara Town.

After a relaxing and enjoyable picnic, Higashino Shuichi led Matsumoto Rangiku and the others into town.

Although the principle of the Gikai has been researched by Kiryu Hikifune, the captain of the 12th Division, the first prototype of the Gikai has been produced.

However, as of now, there are no portable artificial bodies like those of the future, so for now, Higashino Shuichi and others can only appear in the present world in the form of spirit particles.

In other words, ordinary people in the modern world cannot see Higashino Shuichi and his friends.

Are cities in the real world this bustling every day?

Looking at the endless stream of people around her, Matsumoto Rangiku asked curiously.

"No, normally it wouldn't be this lively, but today seems to be the city's Suwon Festival. People only go out in groups to celebrate on such important holidays."

Higashino subconsciously turned sideways and brushed past a passerby in the real world, saying this.

There are indeed very few traditional festivals like these in the human world within the Soul Society.

Are all these people ordinary citizens?

After observing several humans nearby, Kisaragi Shusuke asked them a question.

"Of course, those daimyo and samurai wouldn't participate in such low-class activities."

"Higashino Shuichi smiled."

"Even Xiuyi thinks this kind of activity is boring?"

Soi Fon tilted her head listlessly and looked at Shuichi Higashino.

For her, watching a group of people perform a ritual was utterly boring, far less enjoyable than the exhilarating training on the training ground. "On the contrary, Koya, these kinds of activities are where the fun of life lies~"

As they spoke, Higashino Shuichi had already arrived at the center of the festival, where a shrine maiden was dancing gracefully amidst the crowd.

"Oh, I see, sir. This is called 'being so happy that you forget your homeland,' right?"

Kisaragi Shusuke stared at the dancing shrine maiden for a long time, then suddenly realized something.

"Don't be so 'amuse'! Don't use words if you don't understand anything! Sit over there and enjoy the show!"

Higashino Shuichi rolled his eyes at Kisaragi Shusuke. This kid was obedient, but he always overthought things and loved to show off.

"Haha! Serves you right for pretending to know what you don't, Shusuke? Here, the specialty of North Rukongai, persimmon wine!"

Seeing that they could stop and rest, Matsumoto Rangiku immediately pulled out a bottle of persimmon sake that she hadn't finished drinking from her broad chest, and, pulling Soi Fon whose face was full of reluctance, the three of them started drinking heartily again.

Only Gin Ichimaru did not come along, which was obviously something the two of them had planned.

"You want to see me for something?"

Seeing this, Higashino Shuichi could easily guess the deeper meaning behind it. He glanced at Ichimaru Gin, who had silently moved closer to him, and said.

“Yes, Lord Shuichi,” Gin Ichimaru nodded in agreement. “The teachers at the academy said that at my current pace, I will be able to graduate from the Shinigami Academy in three months, along with the seniors who graduated in the sixth year.”

Higashino Shuichi raised an eyebrow slightly. Although he had known this for a long time, it had only been less than a year.
Back then, how long did it take him just to unleash the Shikai of his Zanpakuto?
How much time did it take you to learn Kido, Slash Technique, and Shunpo?

It's true what they say, comparing yourself to others is infuriating.

"You want to ask me which squad I should join after graduation?"

Higashino Shuichi could probably guess what Ichimaru Gin was thinking.

"Yes, I heard that after joining the Gotei 13, the teaching work is mainly carried out by the vice-captains. So I would like to ask you in advance what the vice-captains of each division are good at, so that I can decide which division I want to join."

"Ichimaru Gin replied."

After hearing this, Higashino Shuichi wanted to laugh. It was really amazing that Ichimaru Gin could come up with such an excuse. Wasn't he just trying to find out about Aizen Sousuke?

And they still played this little trick of trying to cover it up with him.

"Is that so? Let me think... The vice-captain of the first squad's sparrow club should be good at hand-to-hand combat and swordsmanship. I haven't seen him use Kido much."

Lieutenant-Captain Ōmaeda of the Second Division, well, I'm not sure how to evaluate him, but he should be fairly well-rounded, right?

The current vice-captain of the Third Division, Senetsu Iba, was just promoted from the Third Seat, so I don't know much about him.
I am the vice-captain of the Fourth Division. I know a little bit about everything, from sword fighting and demon walking to the return path.
The fifth division's vice-captain, Aizen Sousuke, is probably similar to me; we both know everything from sword fighting to demon fighting, and we're both a little bit better than me.
Sixth Division

Higashino Shuichi didn't point it out and earnestly began to analyze it for Ichimaru Gin.

Actually, this was a small task assigned by Aizen.

Recalling that day at his own home, Aizen deliberately made this request in front of Matsumoto Rangiku, who was under the influence of Kyoka Suigetsu.
"Guide Gin Ichimaru to join the Fifth Division."

This led Higashino Shuichi to suspect that Aizen might have some strange fetish of "committing crimes in front of women".

However, this has nothing to do with Shuichi Higashino. Aizen likes to court death, that's his business. As an employee, he should just diligently complete the tasks assigned by his boss.

As expected, after pretending to choose, Gin Ichimaru still chose "balanced development" and, after apologizing to Hideichi Higashino, chose Aizen Sousuke, who was described by Higashino as being slightly better than him in every aspect.

He even shamelessly asked Higashino Shuichi to help him elaborate on Aizen Sousuke's resume.

To this, Higashino Shuichi naturally held nothing back, praising Aizen as much as he could. After all, Aizen usually acted like a nice guy, and there were plenty of people who couldn't see his true colors, so he wouldn't make a difference.

Just as Higashino Shuichi was engrossed in watching Ichimaru Gin's unique teasing as he racked his brains to get information out of him, a regular member of the 13th Division, dressed in a Shinigami uniform, suddenly rushed over from a nearby monitoring point.

"Something terrible has happened! Vice Captain Dongye! A major incident has occurred!"

To be honest, I was quite apprehensive about laying this thread, but I really like Kubo-sensei's imagination regarding it.

Although I heard that the new project proposal has been approved and I'm likely to be proven wrong soon, I still couldn't help but start writing, hoping that I won't be too badly disappointed.
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(End of this chapter)