Chapter 125: Satoru's Foresight
2nd Division Training Grounds.
Under everyone's gaze, Satoru stood in the center of the arena wearing his Shinigami Uniform.
"...In summary! Effective immediately, Satoru officially becomes a member of the 2nd Division, a member of the Onmitsukidō, and will serve as the direct guard to the Corps Commander!"
"Simultaneously, he is appointed to the position of 3rd Seat of the 2nd Division!"
With Marenoshin's resounding voice, Satoru officially transitioned from a Shin'o Academy student to a Shinigami of the Gotei 13.
Though he received what amounted to a "rocket promotion" immediately upon joining, none of the members were surprised.
As members of the Onmitsukidō, they had a natural sensitivity to information.
Long before this, they had heard about Satoru's various glorious achievements.
If nothing else, just serving as the promotion examiner for the new 9th Division Captain was enough to prove Satoru's capabilities.
For such talent, it wouldn't be excessive to directly appoint him as a Vice-Captain in any division, so what was a mere 3rd Seat?
The Gotei 13 was a place that valued strength, not seniority.
Especially now, with Soul Society in turbulent times, the more capable individuals like Satoru who could be parachuted in, the better.
In the crowd, Suì-Fēng maintained an expressionless face as she raised her hands to clap.
Every time she looked at Satoru now, she felt an urge to hit someone.
Last night, this guy had taken Lady Yoruichi out drinking again and didn't return all night.
If not for his own quick-wittedness in going out to find people before dawn, specifically checking their usual hangouts, today's squad induction ceremony might have proceeded without both its main participant and witnesses!
Meanwhile, Kisuke wore a genuine smile as he applauded Satoru.
With this guy now having Shinigami duties, the time he could spend exploiting me should decrease significantly.
The thought of his video game development hell finally coming to an end made Kisuke's smile grow even brighter.
This joy lasted until that very evening.
As the sunset faded, Kisuke stretched lazily, planning to enjoy a satisfying meal at the cafeteria.
But halfway there, he was intercepted by a member of the Onmitsukidō.
"Officer Urahara, orders have arrived."
Hearing this, Urahara wiped the relaxed expression from his face and stood at strict attention.
"Effective immediately, Urahara is hereby relieved of intern duties in the Surveillance Squad and reassigned as a direct subordinate under Third Seat Satoru."
"All actions must follow Third Seat Satoru's commands."
"That is all."
After announcing the appointment, the Onmitsukidō member nodded and vanished with a swoosh.
Kisuke: "..."
Staring in the direction the Onmitsukidō had disappeared, he collapsed to his knees like a defeated boxer, utterly unable to rise again.
...
...
Although Satoru had officially joined Squad Two as a Shinigami, he felt his daily life hadn't changed much from before.
With Yoruichi's leniency, his workload remained light.
Most of his days were spent sparring and training with Yoruichi in Squad Two.
During their free time, they'd head to Rukongai to enjoy some cheerful drinking.
After drinking, the two would play with Suì-Fēng together.
It was all very harmonious.
When not in Squad Two, he was almost always with Aizen.
Whether it was having someone to share experimental data with or the superior materials obtained from Hueco Mundo, Aizen's research progress advanced by leaps and bounds.
Just yesterday, he finalized a set of experimental conclusions.
By fusing and modulating Hollow Reishi, a Shinigami's power could be dramatically enhanced.
He had already tested this on over thirty rebel subjects with remarkably clear results.
Those with lower combat capabilities could skyrocket from ordinary Shinigami to low-ranking seated officers.
The stronger ones could even jump directly from mid-level to high-level seated officers.
The only drawback was the irreversible nature of the procedure.
To date, every enhanced Shinigami had experienced uncontrollable self-destruction of their internal Reishi, eventually losing sanity and strangling themselves to death inside cultivation tanks.
For someone as pure-hearted as Satoru, these scenes were rather sanity-draining.
Aizen had recently been pouring all his energy into understanding the underlying principles, to the extent that he temporarily set aside studying Satoru's Zanpakutō.
Recalling the Hōgyoku's mechanics from the anime, Satoru looked at Aizen with sympathy.
Unless something unexpected happened, Aizen would ultimately fail to solve the Hollowfication puzzle alone—all his strenuous efforts would end up being in vain.
But upon second thought, Satoru felt relieved.
The path of scientific research is inherently paved with accumulated futile efforts.
The process itself is a precious treasure for any researcher.
That guy Aizen was probably enjoying himself thoroughly anyway.
Compared to his own leisurely pace, the Soul Society was far from tranquil.
With his beloved grandson dead, Tsunayashiro Senzaemon had completely lost his mind.
At the Central 46 meeting, he desperately tried to win over neutral families, seeking to exact severe revenge on the Kuchiki Clan.
However, facing a well-prepared Kuchiki, his tactics proved largely ineffective.
Perhaps due to the heavy blow he had suffered, Senzaemon abandoned political maneuvering.
Under his direction, swordsmen across the Soul Society who defied the Gotei 13 began emerging like mushrooms after rain.
Yamamoto immediately dispatched teams to suppress them in various regions.
But the Soul Society was vast.
With eighty districts in each of the four directions—east, west, north, and south—
even if each district was only the size of a county, their combined scale was immense.
Relying solely on four or five thousand Shinigami, it was impossible to cover every corner.
For instance, Aizen's laboratory had been located in West 79th District for so long without ever being noticed, which clearly demonstrated how lax the management of Rukongai was.
Under the relentless assaults of the rebels, Rukongai descended into chaos.
Many districts that had previously maintained decent public order began implementing curfews.
The Second Division, naturally, was one of the hardest-hit areas.
Severely wounded comrades were gathered in large numbers and treated collectively within the Second Division.
Those with particularly complicated injuries were sent to the Fourth Division.
Satoru even personally led teams to deliver several batches of injured to the Fourth Division.
Seeing the Onmitsukidō members on stretchers, brutally slashed and bloodied, Satoru couldn't help but frown.
If this continued, the entire Soul Society would fall into disarray.
After a long, thoughtful silence, he turned and left.
...
...
"TEACHER!!!!"
A certain someone's shouting echoed through the First Division barracks.
Chōjirō's eye twitched, his blood pressure spiked slightly, then gradually settled back down.
Nothing unusual—he was used to it.
Inside the barracks, Yamamoto was holding a brush, writing something on paper.
Seeing Satoru rush in, he couldn't help but frown.
"Fool, be more composed! How many times must I tell you?"
Satoru shook his head, ignoring the remark.
He ran up to face Yamamoto, his expression serious.
"Yamamoto-sensei, I have a sincere suggestion."
Under Yamamoto's puzzled gaze, Satoru raised his thumb.
"From my observations, that old bastard Tsunayashiro Senzaemon is definitely brewing some massive conspiracy!"
With a grave expression, he made a throat-slitting gesture with his thumb.
"To avoid being caught off guard later, why don't we just take him out first, you and me!"
Yamamoto: "???"