CH 146: PROMISED BATTLE
*Bam*
"Gin Ichimaru, in the light of your crimes and the fact that you may have been indoctrinated as a child by the criminal Sosuke Aizen, you are hereby sentenced to 2000 years of imprisonment in Muken.[1]
Of course, should you give any information about Gojo Satoru's movements and words before he fled, your sentence may be lightened."
Standing up in a completely dark room with his body restrained by ten of seals, Gin Ichimaru listened calmly as his punishment was announced.
"I have nothing to say."
He answered with his usual smile. He indeed had nothing to say.
While surviving 2000 years of prison would be hard, it wouldn't be impossible with his power level. But if he snitched on Satoru, he would really die.
The members of the Central 46 grew slightly irate but didn't push on. In any case, they didn't believe that Gojo would have shown any sensitive information in the presence of Gin.
"Dismissed."
After Gin was taken away by a guard, silence filled the room before one of them shouted.
"We need to find that bastard!!"
Even though raising their voices in such a way was unbecoming of them, no one berated the man who did so.
After all, they were sharing the same feeling.
The events of a few weeks ago had been a complete humiliation for the Central 46. The influence they wielded had been irreparably affected and dropped sharply.
Even Yamamoto, who had never resisted their orders, was showing signs of rebellion, making them more restrained in the way they acted.
All of this was because of the instigator of that event, Satoru Gojo.
"What about Retsu Unohana, is she talking?"
"She said she knew nothing about his plans."
Retsu was the proof of their waning authorities. They had initially ordered for her to be imprisoned but had to change their orders because all the members of Gotei 13 nearly rioted.
In the first place, the influence of Unohana was no joke. Nearly 80% of Shinigami owed her their lives, whether it br directly or indirectly.
Furthermore, she had also healed many nobles.
The worst was that even the Shihoin family had expressed their support to her.
Now all they could do was interrogate her but that was proven to be another fruitless endeavor.
As if it wasn't enough, the Kuchiki family as well as the Ise family were also acting. Even the Shiba family that had stayed quiet in Rukongai was rallying support.
In short, everything was going to hell.
It wouldn't be wrong to say that the actions of Gojo Satoru had brought a complete revolution.
They had tried to take down the Curtains Gojo created but were impeded in all the ways.
Gojo's money was also divided under the name of Captain Jushiro, Captain Byakuya, and Captain Unohana and they were the ones using it by investing in Rukongai.
Every day, Central 46's power was dropping. There was even some talk about changing the way the members were elected and opening the admissions to people outside of nobility under a voting system open to all.
How could such craziness be allowed?
"My, oh my, it seems like you guys are in quite the bind."
"Who's there!?"
The door of the conference was opened and a black-haired man with a sardonic smile entered.
"Hahaha. Did you already forget me? I am Tokinada Tsunayashiro."
The council members gasped. Tokinada Tsunayashiro was a nasty man by all standards.
Back then, they had waived his sentence because of the influence of his family, but even for them, the way he killed his wife and had no remorse over it was bone-chilling.
Even so, "Shouldn't you be under house arrest?"
Even though Tokinada had escaped prison, he had still been put under house arrest by the leader of the clan.
"Heh. Don't mind the small details. I am here for a deal "
"A deal?"
"Yep. Gotei 13 should be understaffed, right?"
Understaffed was an understatement. They had suddenly lost three captains and had no one to replace them. If Gojo and Gin were added, it would be five captains.
As if it wasn't enough, over the day following Gojo's departure, some high-grade Shinigamis had also vanished, clearly following him.
"How about having a new captain?"
Tokinada's smile as he said this, was like one belonging to a devil.
—---
[4th Division.]
While Tokinada was enticing the members of the Gotei 13, in the 4thDivision Division, the atmosphere was hard to explain.
While the shinigami there didn't know all the details, none of them were against the fact that Unohana had helped Gojo.
Satoru Gojo was without a doubt the most popular member of the 4th Division and his popularity could even faintly surpass Unohana herself.
He may act a little arrogantly and in an infuriating way, but he always did his job well and had saved many people from assured death.
Currently, even though Unohana hadn't been sentenced to prison, she had still been put under house arrest until further notice.
"....I believe that is all."
After finishing her report of the day, Isane Kotetsu, the vice-captain of the 4th division looked up at Unohana while fidgeting.
"You are doing a wonderful job."
When the report ended, Unohana praised Isane.
During Unohana's absence, the one who had been commanding the division was none other than Isane.
"It must have been hard."
Isane sniffed a little to hide her tears and shook her head.
"No! Not at all."
The reason Isane cried was that she could feel that the moment of parting with Unohana was coming closer. She could feel it in her gut. Currently, Unohana didn't even have her hair done in the usual front braid.
The one standing in front of her wasn't Retsu Unohana, but rather Yachiru Unohana.
"I see."
Yachiru smiled again and stood up before taking her blade next to her.
"I have taught you everything I know in the art of healing."
"Yes."
"Even without me, the 4th Division will still proudly work and heal all the soldiers fighting and risking their lives for the sake of our justice."
"I will not disappoint you."
"Then…I guess this is a farewell."
Kneeling on the ground with her forehead hitting the floor, Isane cried.
"Thank you for everything. Thank you for taking care of me all those years."
A soft light shined in Yachiru's eyes as looked at Isane. After she left the 11th division and became captain of the 4th division, Isane had been her vice-captain ever since then.
More than a thousand years of service. For her, Isane was both a little sister and a daughter she was proud of.
Since ten years ago, the moment she began training Gojo, she had also prepared Isane to take her place as captain.
Unbeknownst to most, Isane had already reached a level near that of Bankai and it would just take her a few more years to awaken it.
"Take care of yourself."
With those last words, Unohana walked away.
Looking up at her back vanishing, Isane muttered through her tears.
"I believe in you, Satoru, don't disappoint me, please."
…
…
…
When Unohana appeared once again, she found herself in a large cave underground.
Facing her was none other than an infuriating silver-haired man with the upper part of his face covered in white bandages.
"Yaho~!"
Yachiru ignored his frivolous greeting as she opened her mouth.
"I thought that you forgot our promise."
Gojo grinned in response.
"How could I, it's just that moving had been quite time-consuming. But now, I am here to do it. We promised to fight all out once I officially became captain, right?"
He chuckled, "I have challenged Sosuke Aizen, Captain of the 5th division, and won under the witness of more than 200 shinigami. Officially, I am now Satoru Gojo, captain of the 5th division."
Yachiru tilted her head before letting out a quiet laugh, she had never thought of it, but he was indeed right.
"You became a fugitive the same day, you became Captain. I guess you broke another record."
"What can I say? I am special."
The light banter stopped abruptly as soon as he began and the tension quietly rose.
"You know? This place brings back a nostalgic feeling."
"Indeed. This is the cave where I brutally destroyed you and allowed you to access your Shikai."
"Hahaha! That's right. You know, while I was lying down and bleeding back then, I thought that one day, I would beat you up as brutally as you did one day."
"Do you believe that you have the skills to do so now?"
Unohana quietly unsheathed her sword as she asked.
"Why don't we give it a try?"
Gojo smiled as he took off his bandages.
This will be the last clash between the two of them.
[1]: Aizen was sentenced to 18800 years of prison in the Canon.
(AN: When you think the action is finished, time to bring up it another level.)