"Cough, cough."
At just the right moment, a familiar light cough sounded from nearby, startling Shiba Kaien and Fūjin Taichi into immediately dropping their exaggerated behavior. They straightened their backs, stood at attention, and called out in unison:
"Captain!"
"Mmm…"
Ukitake Jūshirō nodded slightly. He glanced at Fūjin Taichi, then shifted his gaze to Shiba Kaien and said,
"Kaien, come with me to the captain's office."
"Yes, sir!"
Kaien replied. He shot Taichi a quick "seppuku" gesture behind his back before following Ukitake toward Ugendo.
"Kaien…"
Ukitake Jūshirō's face looked somewhat pale. His dark eyes fixed on Kaien as he said,
"We have confirmed with the Research and Development Institute—the Substitute Shinigami stationed in the Human World has indeed gone missing."
"What? You mean Kūgo Ginjō? That's impossible!"
Kaien exclaimed in shock.
"This matter is indeed suspicious,"
Ukitake said gravely.
"With Ginjō Kūgo's strength, he shouldn't have been eliminated without a trace. Therefore, I suspect that he may have…"
Ukitake paused briefly before quietly uttering two heavy words:
"Defected."
As the captain of the 13th Division, Ukitake Jūshirō was gentle, kind, and peace-loving, able to fairly judge the relationship between Shinigami and humans—
However, he was also the one who proposed the plan to monitor Substitute Shinigami using the Substitute Shinigami Badge. Any Substitute Shinigami found to have betrayed Soul Society would be executed without exception.
Ginjō Kūgo was the very first Substitute Shinigami officially recognized and granted a badge by Soul Society. Publicly, it was stated:
"This human has made outstanding contributions. As a reward, Soul Society grants him the authority to act as a Substitute Shinigami."
But in truth, the badge not only suppressed the Substitute Shinigami's spiritual pressure—it also monitored and recorded combat data to prevent rebellion.
From a theoretical standpoint, Soul Society's approach wasn't wrong. After all, Shinigami saw themselves as arbiters who "maintain the balance between the Human World, Hueco Mundo, and Soul Society."
For humans with overwhelming spiritual power like Ginjō Kūgo, there were only two options: control them—or erase them.
The most typical example was the millennium-long hatred between Shinigami and Quincy.
As guardians of balance, Shinigami absolutely could not allow the Quincy to exterminate Hollows completely, which led to countless wars between the two sides.
Eventually, a thousand years ago, Yhwach was defeated by Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, reduced to a living corpse, and fled with the remaining Quincy into the Schatten Bereich—the Invisible Empire.
Back to the present—
After Ukitake revealed his suspicions about Ginjō Kūgo, it took Kaien a long moment to recover. He muttered,
"But… why?"
"Perhaps…"
Ukitake sighed.
"Ginjō Kūgo misunderstood the true purpose of the Substitute Shinigami Badge… and believed that Soul Society was deliberately targeting him. Dissatisfied, he may have chosen to hide himself."
"Then, Captain… the Head Captain's decision is…?"
Kaien asked cautiously.
"The 10th Division has been ordered to form a search unit and enter the Human World to locate Ginjō Kūgo. If resistance is encountered—"
Ukitake's voice sank.
"Execute him on the spot."
"Captain, let me go,"
Kaien volunteered immediately.
"No,"
Ukitake gently shook his head.
"Such matters should be handled by the patrol divisions. Kaien, I have another task for you."
"What is it?"
"This is last month's casualty report from the purification squads. Take a look."
As Ukitake spoke, he handed Kaien a report.
"Naruki City's stationed Shinigami—Kurumada Yuzuru—was killed?!"
Kaien exclaimed.
"This is already the third one in half a year! And the cause still hasn't been identified?!"
"Mmm…"
Ukitake nodded slowly.
"The Research and Development Institute has expanded its surveillance coverage in Naruki City, but there have still been no results."
He sighed deeply and continued,
"Although the situation in Naruki City remains unclear, purification duties in the Human World must continue.
Therefore, we must assign new personnel to reinforce the purification unit there. As for the candidate…"
Ukitake paused, then handed over another document—a Deployment Authorization.
"The selection has already been finalized."
Kaien took the document, opened it, and was instantly stunned.
"Fūjin Taichi?!
Why Taichi?! Captain, he's a newly enlisted member—he hasn't even been in the division for a full year! Why him?!"
"I don't know either…"
"What is the Head Captain thinking?!"
Kaien couldn't help snapping.
"Naruki City is dangerous right now! Veteran Shinigami should be assigned there—why would the Central Office—"
"No… that's not it,"
Ukitake slowly shook his head, an unusual expression appearing on his face.
"This reinforcement order didn't come from the Head Captain…"
He spoke each word carefully.
"It came directly from the Central 46."
"What?!"
Shiba Kaien was greatly shocked. After all, Central 46 was the highest judicial authority in Soul Society, normally responsible only for judging and ruling on major incidents within Seireitei. For them to bypass the Gotei 13 and directly interfere in 13th Division affairs like this was unprecedented!
"I don't really know the exact reason either,"
Ukitake Jūshirō said softly, lifting his gaze to the clouds drifting across the sky.
"Since it's Central 46—"
"…"
Kaien clenched the authorization document bearing the name Fūjin Taichi tightly in his hand. After a long moment, he lowered his voice and replied:
"Yes, sir."
...
Two days later, at noon.
The sun blazed overhead, and the air was completely still.
In front of the Senkaimon (Tunnel World Gate) in Seireitei, Fūjin Taichi—dressed in a black shihakushō and carrying his two Zanpakutō, Kyūjūkyū (Ninety-Nine), on his back—stood silently, staring at the towering gate before him.
The Senkaimon was the exclusive passage used by Shinigami to travel between Soul Society and the Human World. From the outside, it resembled a massive shrine gate, flanked by two square wooden pillars rising high into the sky.
However, when opened on the Human World side, it looked more like a traditional Japanese sliding door divided into grid patterns. As long as a Shinigami possessed a valid authorization, they could insert a legally registered Zanpakutō to open the gate.
In theory, this was the only legal passage between Soul Society and the Human World.
In practice, many mid- and high-ranking noble families possessed their own private Senkaimon.
As long as they paid a substantial monthly fee to Seireitei, Soul Society would tacitly allow nobles to maintain private gates—one of their many privileges.
Even so, for safety reasons, even the Four Great Noble Houses were required to report each use of their private Senkaimon—
with the exception of a few particularly reckless Shinigami…
"Come to think of it… this is my second time using the Senkaimon,"
Taichi thought to himself.
"Hopefully nothing strange happens like last time…"
"Congrats, Taichi! You finally get to go mess around in the Human World!"
Abarai Renji strode over casually and slapped Taichi on the shoulder.
"Renji, I'm going to work!"
Taichi corrected him.
"And… I'll be gone for ten years. That's not easy."
"Tch, ten years is nothing—blink and it's over!"
Renji laughed.
"Tch, what do you know?"
Taichi shook his head, then looked to the side—and saw that all his friends from Soul Society were there:
Kuchiki Rukia, Kira Izuru, Hinamori Momo, Shiba Kaien, Shiba Miyako—
even Kurumadani Zennosuke had come!
"Taichi, I made these rice crackers myself…"
Rukia said, her eyes slightly red as she stuffed a small floral-wrapped bundle into his hands.
"Eat them on the way…"
"Hey, Rukia, I'm just going to the Human World for work,"
Taichi frowned.
"I'll come back eventually!"
"Taichi, once you're in the Human World… don't push yourself too hard,"
Kaien said solemnly, placing the authorization document into Taichi's hand.
"If you encounter danger, request support from the 5th Division!"
"Yeah, right…"
Taichi tucked the document away and thought to himself,
Honestly, going to that shady shop owner seems more reliable—at least he won't screw me over to death.
"Taichi, I wish you smooth sailing on your assignment!"
Hinamori said cheerfully as she stood on tiptoe and tied a golden four-leaf clover charm onto his chest.
"Thanks, Hinamori,"
Taichi replied, then turned to Kira Izuru and extended his hand.
"Kira, lend me some money."
"Huh?!"
Kira, who had just been about to give Taichi a farewell hug, froze in shock.
"I still owe Kaien ten thousand kan in wedding gift money,"
Taichi whispered into Kira's ear.
"Cover it for me—I'll pay you back when I return."
"Ah… ah… okay!"
Kira replied hesitantly, ever the honest soul.
"Alright then—I'm off, everyone!"
Taichi turned and walked toward the Senkaimon, waving as he shouted,
"See you in ten years!!"
BOOM
Taichi's figure vanished into the massive passageway. The two enormous doors of the Senkaimon slammed shut with a thunderous sound.
"Don't die, Taichi…"
Rukia stared at the now-empty gate, repeating silently in her heart, again and again:
I'll be waiting for you to come back.