I'm really not the number one slacker in Soul Society.

Shikatori Hakunsai spent her childhood in an extremely repressive atmosphere. Her father treated his wife and children... well, he should be called a breeding machine and a child slave. In short, when she was only four years old, she witnessed her eldest and second eldest brothers being beaten to death because they could not understand their father's brutal and incomprehensible teaching methods.

Chapter 175: Distant Past Events (Yamamoto Shigekuni)

When she was seven, her mother also died from long-standing injuries, leaving no last words, only a cold reality—the last person who would be kind to her was no longer alive.

“I didn’t know anything at the time. I went to bed the night before and woke up the next morning to find my mother dead in bed.”

Looking at the little girl crying by the bedside on the screen, Shikato Hakuunzai's lips twitched slightly. Unconsciously, her tightened fingers left a deep indentation on the armrest. Mima looked at her with some worry, but she quickly calmed down. Watching herself on the screen, she slowly accepted reality, getting used to the days without anyone to take care of her. Her expression became calmer day by day, as if she had completely lost her smile.

Then, one day when Shikatori Hakunsai was eight years old, her father began to teach her swordsmanship.

This was the most fatal mistake of Ryunosuke Shikatori's life.

To be fair, although Shikatori Hakunsai's father could be considered a large-scale non-combustible waste, his judgment of the situation was very accurate. He never offended any forces or people he couldn't afford to offend. It was precisely because of this shrewdness that he was able to live a comfortable life in that turbulent and chaotic era.

But he did not witness those real monsters.

—For example, his daughter.

The clean, sharp blade slashed down with unparalleled precision in a semi-circular arc.

Ryunosuke Shikatori stared in disbelief at the flower-like bloodstains blooming on his chest, but the slash that had struck him had destroyed his lock and soul lock, and his trachea had been ripped open, making it impossible for him to struggle or speak.

And so, the leader of the Shikatori Gym, who had dominated a corner of Rukongai for sixty-four years, fell down and lost his life without any suspense.

The girl standing opposite him was using only a... bamboo sword!

Goodbye, my...father.

Shikatori Hakuunsai picked up the knife from Shikatori Ryunosuke's hand without expression, then turned and left without looking back. He kicked over a brazier at the door, and a short while later, the historic Shikatori Dojo was reduced to ashes, along with the sins and sorrows within it, all buried in anguish.

That year, Rokuto Hakunsai was fourteen years old.

"To be honest, it's actually a very boring thing."

She watched herself in the video dismantle Ryunosuke Shikatori's sword, stomped on it, threw the scabbard and hilt into the fire to burn, and threw the blade into the river. Only the thin rope binding the scabbard was removed and used as a hair tie.

"Back then, I felt that this was a kind of... well, a farewell ritual. Destroying the knife meant that I was cutting ties with the past, leaving only this rope to remind myself where I came from—that's how it is when you're young. Later, you get used to it and become too lazy to throw it away."

"That's quite carefree." Mi Zhen gave a symbolic fist bump. "I admire you."

The two continued watching with normal expressions.

As for why Ryunosuke Shikatori died... there's really nothing to say about that.

At best, he's only at the vice-captain level, and even that's at the lower end. You can't say he's weak, he's just not strong enough.

Shikatori Hakunsai, on the other hand, was someone who transcended the definition of genius and could be considered a monster.

On the tenth day after she touched the sword, she had already memorized all the moves of the Shikatori-ryu style. A month later, her spiritual pressure had jumped from the level of an ordinary person to the ninth level of spiritual power. Half a year later, she had surpassed her father, who had fought in mountains of corpses and seas of blood for decades.

There are two kinds of geniuses (monsters) in the world. One kind is born with immense power, like Kenpachi Zaraki, while the other kind grows stronger as they mature, like Toshiro Hitsugaya. Shikatori Hakunzai belongs to the latter. As soon as she started training, the immense power that her father had dreamed of continuously manifested itself.

Perhaps Ryunosuke Shikatori's mind was clouded by wine and women, or perhaps his arrogance towards the weak prevented him from accurately assessing the situation. He actually believed that Hakunsai Shikatori was just a descendant with some talent and that his strength could never surpass his own.

The result is self-evident.

By the time Shikagiri Hakunsai turned fourteen and decided to kill him, her spiritual pressure had reached the level of a third-grade spiritual power, which is now commonly known as the captain level.

How could the captain lose to the vice-captain? Impossible.

One morning, she arrived at the backyard of the Shikatori Dojo, picked up a bamboo sword, and went to find Shikatori Ryunosuke. She politely explained her intention to kill him—then got into position, went up and killed Shikatori Ryunosuke with a single blow.

In fact, Shikatori Hakunsai even gave Shikatori Ryunosuke a chance. She was using the lowest quality bamboo sword, which would break after a couple of swings. If Shikatori Ryunosuke reacted quickly enough, desperately blocked the first blow, and then turned and ran, she wouldn't chase after him—consider it repayment for the meals she had provided over the years.

However, Ryunosuke Shikatori clearly did not appreciate his daughter's good intentions. Instead, he flew into a rage and drew his sword to cleanse the sect—and ended up using his own life to understand a glimpse of his daughter's strength. Perhaps he could say that he died without regrets.

"Speaking of which, why did you wait until he was fourteen to make your move, senior?" Mima asked casually. "You seemed to have been absolutely certain of killing him since you were nine, so why wait another five years?"

“There are two considerations,” Shikaku Hakunsai replied. “I grew up in the dojo and have almost no contact with the outside world. I need to use his platform to build the most basic knowledge. Secondly, there is the psychological trauma. I can’t even remember how many beatings I received from him before I was seven years old. Even if I became stronger later, this kind of psychological trauma is not something that can be easily overcome.”

She paused for a moment, then her tone suddenly became cheerful: "But then I realized that he was really weak, so I chose the anniversary of my mother's death to make my move."

"Is this considered a kind of ritual?"

"Yes, a sense of ritual."

Yama nodded in deep agreement with Shikatori Hakunsai's answer.

A sense of ritual is indeed very important, and throughout history, which great achiever has not paid attention to this aspect?

Fashionability is a powerful asset!

As they spoke, the images on the screen continued to move forward, soon showing the long years that Lu Qu Bayunzhai had spent wandering the world.

But this part... can only be described as extremely boring.

Because Shikatori Hakunsai is too strong.

Although two thousand years ago was generally an era of warring states, the so-called "warring states" were actually quite unreliable. While some strong figures, such as Yama-no-Too and Unohana, possessed extremely high qualifications, there were also many charlatans who lowered the average level. In any case, as long as someone was even slightly capable, anyone could find a mountain to establish themselves as king.

As for just how good they are at fighting... that's a debatable question.

Simply put, the minimum standard for "Heroes" is the level of a seated official, which is equivalent to the level of a sixth to fifth grade spiritual power.

For Shikatori Hagensai, who was already a captain at the time, it was basically a matter of one-hit kills...

From "The Woman Who Married the Mountain" to "Dragon's Diary," this turn of events truly left Mi Zhen speechless.

Many more years passed in this dull and monotonous way. Shikatori Hakunsai experienced a lot, obtained a Zanpakuto, traveled half of Soul Society, and read many books. Although she had no intention of causing trouble, Shikatori Hakunsai still earned a very notorious reputation. Perhaps due to her father's influence, she never left any survivors when she took action. When she killed an entire family, she would even slash the dog at the door twice. Wherever she went, if it was not exactly a scene of corpses strewn across the land, it could at least be described as a scene of rivers of blood.

But this approach was very effective, and soon no one dared to provoke her anymore.

According to her own plan, she intends to wait until the situation stabilizes a bit, then find a place to realize her previous dream, either by opening a bookstore or simply by going into seclusion and living a leisurely life, which would be wonderful.

Then, Old Man Shan arrived...

In this world, there has always been no first place in literature but no second place in martial arts. In that chaotic era, whoever was the strongest was the boss. Without a doubt, apart from the two old men in the Zero Squad, the old man was the strongest guy in that version.

Known as the "Sword Demon," Yamamoto Shigekuni (before he became Genryusai) was incredibly powerful in the Soul Society in his youth, slashing and hacking his way from east to west, with no one able to withstand a single blow from him. After all, back then, the old man Yamamoto was really dirty with his methods, not caring about the environment at all. He would seize any opportunity to deliver a Rising Sun Blade to someone's head. The Shinigami who were still honestly fighting with their swords had never seen such a scene before, and they all chose to die or submit. As a result, the name "Sword Demon" became unparalleled.

"Genryusai... how should I put it? When I first came out of the Abyss, I looked at the history of these past years and almost thought he had been replaced by some mysterious force." Shikatori Hakunsai chuckled nostalgically. "You didn't experience that era, so you might find it hard to understand how ruthless Genryusai was back then. Ryujin Jakka acted faster than he thought, and he killed more Shinigami than Quincy—you see, that's how he was. The Shinigami of today probably can't imagine it, right?"

In the scene, the old man of the mountain (young version) barges alone into the residence of Shikatori Hakunsai and declares in words that are not at all like admonition.

"Follow me and build a great empire, or die here."

He held Ryujin Jakka horizontally in front of him and said without hesitation, "Choose one."

........................

"In the history books I've read, the process of Yuan Liuzhai establishing the Thirteen Gotei is described as a long but exciting journey, involving finding suitable individuals from various factions and then persuading them with lofty ideals and so on."

Lu Qubaiyunzhai pointed to his bewildered self on the screen and chuckled nostalgically: "In reality, it wasn't that rosy. The truth is, he found a noble force to form an intelligence network, screened out powerful 'rebels,' and then visited them one by one. If he could recruit them, he would recruit them; if not, he would kill them."

Chapter 176: Distant Memories (Reunion)

“Listen…it sounds like something the Captain-Commander would do.” Mima’s lips twitched a few times. “I did check. The list of thieves compiled by the four noble families back then had a total of thirty-two names, but in the end, the Gotei 13 was formed. Although it’s not explicitly stated in the book, the fate of the other twenty probably wasn’t good, right?”

"Well... although the first Gotei 13 was essentially an assassin organization, and there wasn't a single normal person in it, including myself, their overall style of doing things was actually somewhat restrained," Shikatori Hakunsai said. "Because the truly incurable madmen had all been burned to ashes by Genryusai, otherwise the chaos in Soul Society would never have been quelled so quickly."

“In chaotic times, harsh measures are necessary; this is quite normal.”

Perhaps Shikaku Hakunsai had a very deep impression of this experience, because it was played at 1x speed.

Old Man Shan was clearly there to cause trouble, so Lu Qu Bayunzhai was naturally not going to give him a friendly look. Having developed a strong sense of violence during her travels, she knew that while violence could not solve problems, it could solve the problem of the person who raised them. So she did not hesitate to draw her sword and give the arrogant person who was spouting nonsense a good beating.

But the old man from the mountain, quite lacking in martial ethics, immediately let out a loud shout.

"Swastika: Can Huo Tai Sword!"

Then he rushed forward and swung the Rising Sun Blade at the head, cutting the newly pulled-out Qitongmaru in two as easily as cutting tofu. If Shikatori Hakunsai hadn't instinctively taken a step back, he would probably have been cut in two from head to toe on the spot.

Even among monsters, there are differences. Although Shikaku Hakunsai was already a top-notch master at the time, the old man of the mountain was still stronger than her, which was something that could not be helped.

“…?” Mima slowly typed out a question mark. “This is what they call recruitment? They’re not here to kill people?”

"Although it looks a bit scary, I've reviewed the situation, and I don't think Yuan Liuzhai's knife will actually come down... well, maybe."

Shikatori Hakunsai sighed, "There's nothing we can do about the intelligence gap. Back then, although I had heard that there was a samurai nicknamed 'Sword Demon' who was waging war everywhere, I was always on the fringes of Rukongai and wasn't very interested in what was happening outside. Meanwhile, Genryusai had Senri thoroughly investigate my background beforehand. At that time, I wasn't proficient in using Bankai, and my ability release speed was much slower than it is now. Given that he was caught off guard, it's only natural that I lost."

"One thing to say, one thing to say, indeed."

This might be what they mean by "hesitation leads to defeat."

In the scene, the old man holds his blazing, fiery katana in front of Shikatori Hakunsai, his tone still cold and resolute: "What is your choice?"

After a period of silence, Shikato Hakunsai threw away the half-broken Kito-maru, raised his hand, and decisively surrendered.

"If you can't beat them, surrendering isn't shameful."

She explained, "Although I didn't have any ideals or pursuits at the time, I wasn't so empty that I wanted to die."

And so, Shikato Hakunsai followed the old man to Seireitei and became one of the leaders of the "Gotei 3" at that time.

The old man's theory was not new; it was nothing more than the old idea of ​​restoring order and ending the chaos. However, he was significantly different from other dreamers in that he had strength. His formidable personal martial prowess gave him the capital to deal with any challenge, and the support of the nobility provided him with the funds and resources to make a name for himself. With these two factors combined, he was naturally able to achieve great things.

Although the regime that was eventually established was a feudal dictatorship, a stable feudal society, no matter how backward, was still more comfortable than a chaotic world of fighting for power. This was a fact that people at the time generally acknowledged. Thus, the old man's "Third Guardian Team" gradually expanded to the "Seventh Guardian Team" and eventually became the Thirteenth Team. This powerful team of assassins crushed all resistance forces as easily as a steamroller going down a mountain, laying the foundation for order with irresistible violence.

As one of the original three founding members, Shikato Hakunsai didn't have any ambition to seize power. She had only joined the Gotei 13 because she was forced to by Zanka no Tachi, so she wasn't very motivated. During her work, she would simply ask where to go, who to kill, and how many to kill. Occasionally, she would miss missions because she was engrossed in reading, causing quite a few troubles.

"We're doomed." Mima covered her eyes in sorrow: "It seems the tradition of the Eighth Division is really just slacking off..."

“That seems to be true…” Shikatori Hakunsai pondered for a moment and said, “I originally wanted to find Ukitake to be my vice-captain, but he wasn’t interested in clerical work and later went to the 13th Division. On the contrary, Shunsui tried very hard to squeeze into my position.”

That's perfectly normal; it matches Mizhen's impression of Chunshui.

The Eighth Division's duties are reconnaissance and intelligence management. In peacetime, it's a relatively easy job, but it becomes extremely important in emergencies. Such a job is practically tailor-made for someone like Shunsui, who likes to slack off but is also capable of accomplishing great things.

Among the Gotei 13, the captains of the 1st and 8th Divisions have changed the fewest times.

The former goes without saying, and the latter has only been replaced once. After Shikato Hakunsai entered the Mugen, Kyoraku Shunsui has been in office ever since, which shows how consistently he slacked off.

After a brief chat, Shikaku Hakunsai steered the conversation back on track: "Generally speaking, my job back then was very boring. I was either killing people or on my way to kill people. Every day I would hear news of another rebellion breaking out somewhere. I was busy with all sorts of things and didn't have much free time. As you can see, the first thirteen members were all very strange. For a long time after the team was formed, they spoke to each other with barbs. If it weren't for Genryusai's intimidation, they would have been fighting each other to the death long ago."

Mima had always found it hard to imagine how the old man had managed to get the first captain to obey his commands, but Shikato Hakunsai's experience gave him a boring yet reasonable answer, which also resolved his long-standing doubts.

—If a colleague disobeys, beat him until he obeys.

Indeed... sophisticated methods of governance are often simple and unpretentious.

After a rather dull killing spree, the fast-paced footage suddenly slowed down.

In the picture, Shiroku Hakunsai is sitting in his room reading a book.