"Aren't you... Lord Suzuki's deputy?"
Rukia recognized the person; on the day the Yellow Turban Army marched through, this woman had been following behind Suzuki Makoto.
"Didn't that guy say not to let you call him that?"
Black Jeanne muttered under her breath and nodded.
"That's right. I am Suzuki Makoto's deputy, and also the Captain of the Yellow Turban Inspection Team. How about it? Are you two willing to join the Inspection Team?"
"This Inspection Team you're talking about, what exactly does it do?"
"It involves patrolling everywhere within the territory under our rule. From Hollow invasions to supervising certain camps for signs of corruption, guiding refugees into various camps, and surveying the terrain. In short, there's quite a lot of work."
Currently, the local militia units were basically composed of the people left over after Suzuki Makoto's killing sprees, so their strength wasn't particularly high. At most, they could drive away wild beasts or deal with fleeing thugs. Consequently, the Inspection Team had practically become a fire brigade; compared to the duties for which it was originally established, it clearly had far more combat missions.
"But didn't Lord Suzuki say he doesn't accept minors?"
"That applies to ordinary army soldiers. As for the Inspection Team, the standard is twelve years old, and it requires extremely high talent in spiritual power. You two... just happen to meet the standard."
Rukia and Renji both became excited. They hadn't expected to find such a glimmer of hope in their desperate situation.
"Of course, the prerequisite is that you pass the elementary school graduation exam and can proficiently master writing and arithmetic."
A single sentence dampened their enthusiasm again.
The corners of Black Jeanne's mouth curled up in a mischievous smirk; this was already one of her few pastimes aside from killing.
"However, considering the special nature of the Inspection Team members, Suzuki Makoto has decided to treat all reserve Inspection Team personnel as his personal retinue, and he will personally teach all the coursework."
"Ah!"
Renji suddenly yelped, because the girl beside him had pinched his arm hard.
"Is is is it really true that we can follow Lord Suzuki Makoto?!"
The girl stammered her question. She hadn't expected that something she didn't even dare to dream of when joking with Renji earlier was now being offered just for signing up.
"Of course. So, what is your answer? Will you stay here to attend the newly built school, or will you join?"
"We'll join!"
The two of them unhesitatingly gave the answer Black Jeanne had expected.
"Then come with me."
The two followed her closely, step by step, arriving at the temporary garrison of the military camp outside. They waited cautiously inside a tent, terrified that this was just a cruel joke.
Footsteps sounded outside the tent, and then the curtain was lifted. The unforgettable man appeared before Rukia and Renji.
"Are you the ones who signed up to join the reserve Inspection Team?"
"Yes! Lord Suzuki!"
"Alright, don't call me Lord. You can call me Suzuki or Makoto."
"Eh? Then... is 'Your Excellency' okay?"
"Whatever you like."
Suzuki Makoto felt somewhat helpless. It seemed this was their limit; asking them to address him as Black Jeanne did would be akin to asking for their lives.
However, when he scrutinized the boy and girl before him, he felt a trace of familiarity.
"What are your names?"
"I'm Rukia, and he's Renji!"
Oh, so it was these two.
Suzuki Makoto could vaguely recall that Rukia was only found by Byakuya Kuchiki after entering the Shin'ō Spiritual Arts Academy. Before that, she had indeed been a street urchin mixing with Renji in the 70s districts.
Half a year after arriving here, Suzuki Makoto was finally able to pinpoint his current timeline—approximately fifty years before Ichigo Kurosaki's raid on the Soul Society.
Decades had passed since the "defection" of Kisuke Urahara, Yoruichi Shihoin, and the others. Sosuke Aizen was already the Captain of the 5th Division, and his subordinates Gin Ichimaru and Kaname Tosen would soon be promoted to Captains as well. Furthermore, the Hueco Mundo conquest plan should have already begun, meaning Aizen's schemes had entered a period of rapid development.
This was, of course, good news for him. It meant Aizen was no longer just making petty preparations but had started to expand his power on a large scale. The entire Gotei 13 was in a constant state of chaos during this period; either a new Hollow appeared here, or a Lieutenant went missing there. Even someone like Isshin Shiba, a member of the Five Great Noble Houses and Captain of the 10th Division, was made to disappear by him.
The more chaotic the Seireitei was, the less attention they would pay to the situation in the Rukongai. The only potential trouble was that Aizen might come to the Rukongai to collect souls.
However, Suzuki Makoto was not worried about running into Aizen before he obtained the Hogyoku. The battles of Shinigami were fundamentally battles of Reiatsu. And as for his own Reiatsu... one might as well ask about the amount of Reiatsu required to sustain a Zanpakuto in a permanent state of Bankai.
Moreover, for him, Kyōka Suigetsu was actually the technique he needed to worry about the least.
Because he had hacks enabled.
A rational mastermind like Aizen was actually the scenario Suzuki Makoto worried about the least. As long as he proved his strength, the other party would definitely reassess their relationship rather than blindly striking the moment hostilities begin.
So, compared to Aizen, Suzuki Makoto actually felt a bit of pity for Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto. This old man did not resist the orders of the nobles much, especially those coming from Central 46. Moreover, due to the unique nature of his Zanpakuto, if he stubbornly decided to go to war with the Yellow Turbans, the Soul Society might fall into a great drought before a winner was even decided between them.
Retracting his wandering thoughts, Suzuki Makoto smiled at the two before him.
"Since you want to join the Yellow Turban Inspection Team, you should already understand some of the Inspection Team's duties, right?"
The two nodded.
"That's good. But this is just the beginning; there will be many things you need to learn. By the way, can you read?"
The two shook their heads with embarrassed expressions.
Fortunately, with Black Jeanne as a precedent, Suzuki Makoto was already accustomed to facing such situations. After all, this was a perfectly normal phenomenon; things like compulsory education were still a bit too progressive for the Soul Society.
"It doesn't matter. Miss Jeanne can teach you these things. She also just completed her graduation exam, so she can understand the difficulties you might encounter in your studies."
"Miss Jeanne?"
"That would be me."
Black Jeanne lifted the door curtain and walked in carrying two cloth bundles.
"Here, these are your uniforms and textbooks."
Rukia and Renji hurriedly took them and opened them. Seeing the heavy yellow color on the clothes and the characters for 'General of Heaven', the joy on their faces was beyond words.
"Rukia, Renji, I hope you will never fail this uniform, nor these two words."
"We definitely won't!"
_____
New Story: Bleach: Dominating Soul Society in One Sting
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