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

Mi Zhen raised an eyebrow and tentatively asked, "Absolutely no regrets?"

“Very close.” Rokutoku Bayunzai chuckled. “My answer is… I haven’t done enough.”

Mima rolled her eyes: "That leaves me speechless..."

But that's... not surprising.

After the Quincy War, Shikatori Hakunsai once again fell into the loneliness of his childhood.

Of course, she has many people to talk to, including her colleagues who are still alive and her subordinates in the Eighth Division. These people can be her "acquaintances" or her "friends," but they can't become her "close friends."

Friendships are such unreasonable things. It's not that others have wronged Shikato Hakunsai in any way. In fact, as the first captain, she enjoyed extremely high prestige. After the war, in addition to her role as captain, she also served as an instructor at the Shinigami Academy. Over the decades, she had countless students, and her honors and money had become so numerous that they were meaningless numbers.

But as Aizen said, longing is the furthest distance from understanding.

One by one, the original captains, who were still on relatively good terms with each other, left. Of the six who survived, Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni took command of Seireitei, Unohana Yachiru changed her name to "Retsu" and gradually withdrew from worldly affairs, Shigemitsu Taketsuna died from a serious illness, Hisamii Kente committed suicide, Iwahara Kinroku disappeared without a trace, and Shikatori Hakunsai secretly harbored rebellious intentions. In the end, none of these original captains, who were both assassins and guardians, could live out their remaining years in peace, each with their own misfortunes.

“Yuan Liuzhai… just did what he could. I didn’t criticize his stance. Yaqianliu has her own pain, and I can’t interfere.”

“I don’t hate the team members. They admire my skills, so they look at me with great enthusiasm, which brings me a sense of honor, and that sense of honor also benefits me. But they can’t understand me, they don’t know what I’m living on… To be frank, Chunshui has noticed something, but his position is completely different from mine, so even if he understands me, it doesn’t mean much.”

As they were talking, Shikaku Hakunsai suddenly changed the subject, turned around, and fixed his gaze on Mima. After a brief silence, he said, "Having watched for so long, would you mind if I asked you for your thoughts on watching?"

Knowing that the key point was coming, Mima nodded calmly: "Hmm... well, that depends on what aspect it is."

Lu Qu Bayunzhai tilted his head: "It's nothing, just consider it... a test?"

Mi Zhen smiled slightly: "The quality of the test will be reflected in the rewards and punishments. I wonder what you have prepared for me, senior?"

"It's not really a punishment. Even if you don't answer well, I won't be angry, and the contract will remain the same." She tapped her chin with her finger, then traced it to her chest where her heart was, and gently pressed there. "But if you answer well... I'll consider 'helping you wholeheartedly.' How about that? A pretty good deal, right?"

"Looks like I'll have to work harder on the questions."

Mima seemed slightly more invigorated: "Go ahead and ask, senior."

"Now you know my background and history. I've told you before why I started this uprising."

Shikato Hakunsai extended his right hand to Mima, took one of his hands, and kept them interlocked.

It could be considered a somewhat ambiguous action, but neither of them had time to think about that kind of thing.

Mima didn't feel her spiritual pressure connected to anything, which meant... she wasn't using her ability.

"Then the question is..." Shikatori Hakunsai looked into Mima's eyes with a cold gaze, then calmly asked, "What kind of state of mind propelled me to that point?"

Mizhen didn't think, but only let out a barely perceptible sigh.

The subtext of Shikaku Hakunsai's words... no, this is already a completely explicit implication.

"If you understand me, I will be your companion."

They are not "partners," but "companions."

The reason she made this choice was not because Mima helped her in her time of need. In fact, the real reason is not hard to guess; the history shown on the screen has already given him the answer.

“If you don’t think it’s embarrassing for me to say this, I’d be happy to answer.” Mima tightened her grip on their interlocked fingers. “Hmm… it’s a rather complicated question. I’ll explain it point by point.”

“In the beginning, it was fear—your father was like a sword hanging over your head, ready to kill you at any moment. So after you were certain of your abilities, you killed the source of the fear and responded to it with anger.”

"Then comes emptiness. You entered the chaotic world with nothing but power. The sense of security of having a sword in your hand made you no longer afraid, but you also fell into a 'vacuum' that no one dared to approach. In the end, although the environment in which you grew up was quite strange, you are still a 'normal person' who needs social interaction. You can't live in a blood pool hell like Captain Unohana. However, the world a thousand years ago was too harsh. All that came to you was trouble and desire, so you once again chose to respond to this malice with anger. Fame and wealth were just byproducts."

At this point, a subtle change appeared in Rokuto Hakunsai's expression.

"Then, you were recruited into the Gotei 13 by Captain-Commander Yamamoto. The goodwill of Captain Saito and his team... well, it's a bit abstract, but let's just consider those things as goodwill. That goodwill gave you a little satisfaction in your emptiness—but this satisfaction didn't last long before it was destroyed by the Quincy. So you were more angry than ever before, but this anger was destined to end in vain, because in the eyes of the people at the time, Yhwach was already dead, and you couldn't even find someone to vent your anger on."

“Well said, very scathing.” Shikatori Hakunsai sighed, though her movements were small, she did clench her fist slightly. “The battlefield is a matter of life and death, so I didn’t mean to condemn Yhwach, I just wanted to kill him—but you’re right, at that time, Yhwach was already dead, so no matter how angry I was, it was useless.”

Mima nodded and continued, "Then... let's go back a bit. You came from a poor background, but you didn't need to flatter the higher-ups, so you were naturally incompatible with nobles and the like—after all, the reason for your unhappy childhood was essentially the chaos caused by the backlash against the nobles' oppressive policies over the past million years. Of course, Captain Saito's existence is an exception, but it is precisely this exception that makes you increasingly dissatisfied with the noble autocracy, because she was a tool, or rather a sacrifice, pushed out by the nobles to test the new system. You were friends with her, so of course you would feel dissatisfied because of your friend's misfortune, which is why you hate the 46th Chamber even more."

"So far, the conclusions have been accurate." Rokuto Hakunzai lowered his eyes. "If the full score is one hundred points, you have already obtained sixty points."

"Thank you for the compliment." Mi Zhen smiled. "As for the last point... I'll be frank. The reason you launched the rebellion was clearly 'misplaced anger'."

"Taking the blame out on someone else...?"

"From what I've seen, it's true that you say you 'can't stand stupid people who lack self-awareness.' Your time in Rukongai has cultivated that kind of personality, but that's definitely not the reason you started the rebellion—at least not the main reason."

"Because you obviously prefer a quiet life, or more precisely, a quiet life with your friends, so if Captain Saito were still alive, you would never do anything like assassinating the 46th Chamber. Instead, you would find an opportunity to retire and enjoy your retirement."

“Retirement… that’s a bit much.” Lu Qubaiyunzhai retorted with a meaningless detail, “I used the Tongtian Wanhua Daqi to extend the lifespan of many prisoners. Even if I do nothing, I still have several thousand years to live.”

"Awesome." Mima's lips twitched twice, then he got back to the point. "Captain Saito and some of your close friends are dead, so your first idea has no room to be realized. Naturally, you can only settle for second best and eliminate some idiots you can't stand—obviously... because of your childhood experiences and the influence of Captain Saito, you set your sights on the 46th Chamber, which led to the later rebellion."

"Crack, snap, snap."

Lu Qu Baiyunzhai clapped his hands repeatedly.

A hint of relief appeared in her eyes as she looked at Mizhen, then she leaned back, slumped into the chair, and whispered with her eyes closed.

"Well said, full marks."

Although she concealed it well, Mima still noticed the subtle glint of tears in the corner of her eyes.

Just thinking about it is so despairing—a person who has hardly ever laughed sincerely in more than three hundred years from childhood to adulthood. She didn't crave much, just peace and friendship, but she had them and then lost them, and in the end, she didn't hold onto anything.

The screen was showing the rebellion of Shikatori Hakunsai—it was a very sunny day when she skipped the work arranged by the old man and stormed into the meeting room of the 46th Chamber in broad daylight. In front of seven captains, she killed nearly half of the members of the 46th Chamber in an instant, and was then subdued by the old man and Unohana who had recovered.

This confirms Mi Zhen's speculation.

Did she really need to assassinate the 46th Chamber in such a foolish way? With her abilities, she could have easily stood outside the city walls and silently crushed those old bastards one by one. Why did she have to get so close?

There's only one answer... She did it for her two remaining friends.

Although not as profound as Saito's immortality, Yamamoto and Unohana are still her friends. She certainly has the ability to wipe out the 46 Chambers from afar, but that would mean personally destroying the hard work of the first captains and kicking Soul Society back into the dark chaos.

If I don't kill them, I feel uneasy; if I do kill them, my conscience is uneasy. It's as if whatever I do is wrong.

In the end... she chose the least efficient approach.

It was less of an assassination attempt and more of a suicide mission.

To end things in this way... or to escape one's own suffering.

The so-called "I didn't do enough" is not regret for not succeeding in the assassination, but rather that he is not strong enough to escape this predicament.

Even after escaping, it's the same. If she wants, as long as the people in Chamber 46 are within her spiritual pressure range, she can make them explode on the spot at any time. But... can she really bring herself to destroy the order that Old Man Shan has painstakingly maintained for over a thousand years?

I'm afraid not.

Unable to vent her anger, she once again chose to escape, and that's how she ended up by Mima's side.

So, the reason for choosing to tell him these things is quite obvious.

Seeking recognition, or rather... understanding.

But in the next instant, Shikaku Hakunsai's words startled Mima.

"You must be thinking that the reason I'm talking to you about these things is because I'm lonely and seeking recognition and understanding."

Holy crap, this senior can even read minds?

Judging from your expression, I think I guessed right.

Lu Qubaiyunzhai looked at him with a half-smile and said, "Of course, I don't deny that this factor exists, but it's not the whole story."

"Ahem..." Mi Zhen coughed lightly to ease the awkwardness, "I'd like to hear the details."

“It’s very simple,” Lu Qubaiyunzhai readily replied. “You’re a good person.”

Mima: "?"

A little bewildered by the sudden gift of a credit card, he scratched his head and asked, "A good person? Me?"

“We’ve talked many times over the past few months,” Lu Quba Yunzhai said leisurely. “From the details of your words and your taste in books, I’ve determined that you’re a good person—it’s a very simple logic. If a good person wants to subvert rather than destroy something, they must have already figured out how to make it better; otherwise, they would never do it.”

"Your logic is quite bizarre..." Mi Zhen gasped. "So I'm... a virtuous traitor?"

“No matter what, I can’t do that,” Rokuto Hakunsai continued. “Destroying the aristocratic system would only plunge the world into chaos. I know that, but I can’t solve it. But you are different. I can see that you have a way to make the order that is rebuilt after destruction even better.”

“While that’s true…” Mima hesitated for a moment before telling the truth, “I’m just talking theory; I haven’t actually done it, so I can’t be sure if I can successfully build a better world.”

“That’s enough.” Lu Qubaiyunzhai pursed his lips and said softly, “That’s enough…”

"After all, only future generations can judge our merits and demerits." Mi Zhen shrugged and extended her hand again. "So... we're friends now?"

"friend."

Shikaku Hakunsai smiled, nodded in agreement, and then took his hand.

Then, the tone abruptly shifted, becoming inappropriate for children: "If you're looking to develop other kinds of relationships, it's not impossible, after all..."

Chapter 180: A Transitional Chapter Without a Name - Second Generation

"Cough!" Mima shouted loudly to stop the car wheel from running over his face. "Atmosphere, senpai, watch the atmosphere!"

"Really? I thought this was a good time to talk about this." She tilted her head, puzzled. "I think Chunshui did the same thing to the girls in the academy back then."

Mima covered her face in despair: "Don't be like him..."

“Alright then, let me put it another way.” Shiroku Hakunsai still seemed not to understand, but she nodded. “I will do my best to help you, but in return, please do me a favor.”

"If it's possible."

“Now that I’ve seen it with my own eyes, I can’t let the immortal be trapped in hell.” She said solemnly, “I can’t get her out of there on my own, but you might be different—if you have a solution, please tell me.”

So that's how it happened...

"..." Mima raised a finger, making a rather insincere vow gesture, "I... will try my best?"

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

At that moment, in Aizen's laboratory within Soul Society.

"How is it, Yin?"

After stepping through the gate, Aizen took off the grass robe he used to conceal his presence and walked straight to the experimental table.

For those under the influence of Kyoka Suigetsu, this garment makes it impossible for them to discern Aizen's appearance and form. At the same time, the material of this garment can also serve as a medium for casting certain special Kido techniques. Aizen's warehouse is filled with many similar small inventions. Although their applications are not ideal, it is still good to use them occasionally.

"The situation is stable."

Gin Ichimaru replied first, but his gaze was fixed on the mysterious woman behind Aizen who looked just like him.

...What's going on? Does this guy have a twin sister?

He couldn't understand it, but he was deeply shocked.