Chương 95: The First Encounter with Aizen

Swish—

The white captain's cloak fluttered in the wind on Ailin's body.

Six years after being demoted, Ailin once again wore the captain's cloak. However, compared to before, Ailin's head lacked the two hairpins, his neck no longer had that ruby windflower worth the price of a house.

At the same time, the "six" on his back had also changed to "eleven."

From being the captain of the 6th Division representing "order," he had become the 11th Division Captain representing "battle." Ailin didn't know what this meant.

But he knew one thing. If he wanted to properly protect Haruko during these tumultuous two hundred years, he needed to let some people know his true strength. If they really provoked him, even the will of the Soul King would not work on him.

Stepping onto the platform, Ailin turned to look at the Shinigami below, their eyes full of burning fighting spirit, and slowly spoke.

"From today onwards, I will become the 9th Kenpachi of the 11th Division, Ailin Kenpachi!

The 11th Division is the combat division. If there is battle, I will lead the charge, and not stop to wait for you. If you lag behind, one day, you won't even be able to see the captain's cloak on my back! If you want to follow me, then go all out in battle, in slaughter, in advancing forward!"

"Battle!"

The 11th Division is the combat division of the Gotei 13, with its members averaging the strongest overall strength.

In the 11th Division, there was basically no such thing as division duties.

Every day, they only needed to follow the information provided by the 12th Division to eliminate the Hollows descending into various districts of the Rukongai.

And Ailin, just as he said on the day he took office, would never stop to wait for the 11th Division members whenever there was a battle.

The faster ones could still get some leftovers. As for the slower ones, by the time they arrived at the battlefield, the battle would already be over.

It was precisely because of Ailin's ferocious killing efficiency that the 11th Division sparked a craze for Shunpo training.

Which of the Shinigami entering the 11th Division wasn't a battle-crazed fighter?

For them, having a battle end before they even reached the battlefield was the greatest humiliation. And so, after a period of time, while the 11th Division members' other abilities were difficult to assess, their progress in Shunpo was tremendous.

In terms of speed, they were not inferior to even the Stealth Force of the 2nd Division that Ailin had been a part of.

After all, if they couldn't reach the battlefield before Captain Ailin killed all the enemies, then their existence would truly only amount to the shameful task of cleaning up the battlefield.

Of course, in order to maintain the 11th Division members' fighting spirit, Ailin had always done a good job of controlling the battles.

In every battle, Ailin would adjust his killing efficiency based on the members' speeds.

Basically, from initially killing ninety percent of the Hollows before the members arrived, as he sensed their progress in Shunpo, he gradually reduced it to eighty percent, seventy percent of the Hollows killed.

Of course, no matter how few, Ailin would always maintain killing over fifty percent of the Hollows. He had said he wouldn't stop to wait for the members, which wasn't entirely true, but not entirely false either.

For those who could keep up, he would allocate time to train them to become stronger. As for those who couldn't keep up, they should just work hard to catch up to the group behind him before receiving his guidance!

Under this positive competition, the 11th Division did indeed produce some talents. First was the 3rd Seat Kiganjo, whose strength could be said to be the strongest in the 11th Division aside from Ailin himself.

After catching up in Shunpo training, his number of Hollows slain in each battle was second only to Ailin.

Then there was one called Maki Ichinose. Although not as strong as the 3rd Seat Kiganjo or the Vice Captain Gosuke, his mastery of Shunpo surpassed theirs.

Every time, he was the first to arrive at the battlefield, and his number of Hollows killed ranked in the top five.

After a few such instances, witnessed by Ailin, Kiganjo defeated Gosuke to become the new Vice Captain of the 11th Division. And Maki Ichinose successfully defeated the 6th Seat to become the new 6th Seat.

***

At the Shin'ō Academy, a group of students excitedly discussed the star figures of the Gotei 13.

As Shinigami candidates, the students of the Shin'ō Academy would receive invitations to join various divisions of the Gotei 13. Some exceptionally talented and powerful students could even receive multiple invitations.

In such cases, a popular star captain or member could influence these outstanding students' decisions on which division to join.

Therefore, every so often, the Shinigami of the Gotei 13 would recount some events or battles that occurred in their divisions to the students, allowing them to gain an understanding of the functions and personnel of the various divisions. This played a decisive role in helping them choose which division to join after graduation.

In the past two years, the one with the most prominence was undoubtedly the new 11th Division Captain, Ailin Kenpachi.

From the members of the 11th Division who came to teach Zanjutsu and Shunpo at the Shin'ō Academy, everyone knew that due to this generation's Kenpachi taking office, the recruitment standards for the 11th Division had been greatly raised.

Previously, as long as one's Reiryoku was qualified and Zanjutsu met the standards, they could receive an invitation to the 11th Division. Now, those who failed in Shunpo wouldn't even get a glance from the 11th Division.

There was no choice—according to the personality displayed by the current 11th Division Captain Ailin Kenpachi, those who failed in Shunpo wouldn't even get the chance to clean the battlefield, so what, should they make them ornaments in the 11th Division?

On the training ground, Haruko Kuchiki, wearing a white student uniform, listened as her classmates chatted about the new 11th Division Captain. After returning to Soul Society, Haruko had entered the Shin'ō Academy to study, with the aim of reaching the standard to accompany Ailin-kun as soon as possible.

In theory, Haruko Kuchiki didn't need to study at the Shin'ō Academy. After all, what Byakuya Kuchiki or Ailin had mastered was far more profound than what was taught at the Shin'ō Academy.

But there was no choice—besides being the 28th head of the Kuchiki Family, Byakuya Kuchiki was also the captain of the 6th Division. Going out early and returning late every day, the time he could teach Haruko was very limited.

As for Ailin, since entering Soul Society, the two of them hadn't met again. In Haruko's own words, she wanted to use her longing for Ailin to motivate herself to train harder.

So for Haruko, the best place to train was still the Shin'ō Academy. If there was anything she didn't understand, she could go back to the Kuchiki Family and ask Ailin or Byakuya.

At the academy, Haruko basically heard her classmates discussing Ailin every day. She knew that this was Ailin's way of telling her that he would always accompany her.

Otherwise, with Ailin's lazy nature, how could he be so passionate about battle as those members described?

***

Recently, the number of Hollows entering the Rukongai from Hueco Mundo hadn't decreased, but they were quite scattered. This led to the 11th Division having to split into several squads to patrol the Rukongai.

This excited those 11th Division members who usually washed the floors or didn't even have floors to clean. After a year, they finally had a chance to be useful!

Because the locations of the Hollow descents were so scattered, even Ailin had to run around.

There was no choice—the recent movements of the Hollows in Hueco Mundo lacked any pattern. Even Ailin could only rush to the scene after sensing the spatial disturbances of the Garganta.

This situation was very abnormal. But there was nothing that could be done—even though everyone knew that the Hollows in Hueco Mundo wouldn't descend into Soul Society without reason, and that these Hollows were Hueco Mundo's means of disrupting the Shinigami, the Expeditionary Force in Hueco Mundo hadn't detected any new developments from there. The captains in Seireitei could only remain vigilant.

Of course, as the combat division, the 11th Division had basically spent this year in the Rukongai. They were either in battle or on their way to battle.

"Swish!

Suddenly, the sky over the 72nd District of the Rukongai was torn open by a large black hole, and several Hollows fell out.

Bang! Bang!

After crashing onto the ground, these four Hollows raised their heads and let out joyful roars.

"Aaah..."

"Tch."

However, before those four Hollows' roars could even fully sound, they were cut off by a disdainful click of the tongue.

Although the Hollows' roars were louder, that soft disdainful sound was like a sharp blade, instantly bisecting their roars.

Swish!

Blood splattered...

After easily slaying those four Hollows, Ailin continued strolling through the Rukongai. Suddenly, as he passed by a small grove of trees, Ailin sensed a ripple of Reiatsu from within.

"Hmm? Who's there?"

Letting out a questioning shout, Ailin walked towards the small grove. In the night, Ailin also saw a wisp of blue spirit particles emanating from within the trees. However, before he could approach, a fireball rapidly shot out from the trees towards him.

"Oh? The 31st destructive spell, Shakkahō?"

Seeing this fireball, Ailin raised his eyebrows, but didn't stop, instead accelerating towards the grove. Facing the incoming Shakkahō, he raised his left hand.

"Bakudō #39 - Enkōsen!"

Hum!

A raging wind spun rapidly in front of Ailin's left hand, forming a one-meter-wide circular defensive shield.

Boom!

After colliding with Ailin's wind-formed Enkōsen, the Shakkahō fireball erupted with a roar. Breaking through the flames, Ailin immediately saw two figures clad in black hooded robes ahead.

One of them was crouched on the ground, taking a blue light point from an unconscious person's body. The other was the one who had just attacked Ailin.

"Hadō #54 - Haien!"

Pale blue flames gathered in this person's hand and rapidly attacked Ailin.

"Hmph!"

With a cold snort, Ailin used Shunpo to instantly appear behind the black-hooded figure, his hand already on the hilt of his Zanpakutō.

Swish—

Two streams of blood suddenly spurted from the black-hooded figure's body. Swaying a few times, he collapsed to the ground.

Senka!

This was a technique combining Zanjutsu and Shunpo, using a spinning Shunpo to avoid the enemy's line of sight, appearing behind them to lock and destroy their Saketsu and Hakusui, robbing their resistance.

After using Senka to defeat this black-robed figure, Ailin casually kicked towards the other crouching black-robed one.

Swish!

"Oh? Not bad strength."

His kick missed, and Ailin raised an eyebrow in slight surprise, praising aloud. It was only then that Ailin began observing his surroundings. And with that one look, Ailin knew who he had encountered.

Lying on the ground was a girl around ten years old, her clothes tattered and dirty, but that orange hair and lovely face allowed Ailin to recognize her.

The poster girl of the Soul Society, whose beauty only Orihime Inoue could rival—Rangiku Matsumoto!

As for the two before him, Ailin knew their identities too.

The one he had just severely injured was likely one of the 5th Division members following Aizen. As for the one who had evaded his attack, it was the Shinigami world's most "compelling villain" — Sōsuke Aizen.

Of course, to Ailin, who had made contact with the Soul King's will, whether Aizen was a "villain" or not was not for those outside to comment on.

The Soul King's will was on the verge of collapse, seeking death as liberation.

Could the one who granted the Soul King's wish for liberation be considered a "villain"?

Aizen didn't go to kill the Soul King without any preparation. On the contrary, he made thorough preparations.

Whether it was creating the complete Hōgyoku, waiting for his full fusion with the Hōgyoku, or creating the Ōken, Aizen took one step at a time to increase his strength.

Everything he did was to ensure that after bringing liberation to the Soul King, he would still have the ability to maintain the stability of the world. From beginning to end, Aizen's goal was never to "destroy the world."

Knowing the true identities of the black-robed figures, Ailin couldn't help but smile.

Two hundred years later, Aizen had said that his Reiatsu had reached the limit for Shinigami, and that he created the Hōgyoku in order to break through this limit.

It remained to be seen how much of that strength the current Aizen possessed compared to two hundred years later.

Thinking of this, Ailin waved his hand, erecting a barrier around Rangiku Matsumoto.

"Heh, so that's why the Hollows entering Soul Society recently have been randomly appearing in various districts of the Rukongai. It turns out someone was trying to build the foundation while digging the tunnel.

You're able to make the Hollows in Hueco Mundo act according to your will, which means you're traitors to Soul Society?"