CH 35: DON’T TRUST EXTERNAL APPEARANCE (2)

‘Oh?’

Gojo wasn’t the only one surprised.

This morning, just before she received them, she sat in thought while being bored as always.

Since the day she resigned as the 1st Kenpachi, joined the 4th division, and changed her name from Yachiru to Retsu, she had reigned in most of her murderous impulse.

Even during the near extermination of the Quincy remaining on earth, she hadn’t acted.

After all, compared to the Quincy of nearly one thousand years ago who were led by Yhwach, the current Quincy were simply too weak to make her blood boil.

The last man who had truly excited her was the young Zaraki, just thinking about him made the scar he left on her chest throb.

Sadly, that boy was now nothing more than a husk of what he once was. Currently, he was so weak that she could kill him hundreds of times with her eyes closed.

She craved a fight, she craved death. Unfortunately, she could do nothing but stifle this burning craving deep within her.

That’s why she had learned healing techniques from her teacher, Tenjiro Kirinji, who was a member of Division 0 as well as the greatest healer in the Soul Society.

Everyone simply died too fast, so she decided to learn how to heal them as well as herself and make the fight last as long as possible.

So, she couldn’t help but wonder...What if she trained someone so that this person would become strong enough to fight her?

Fighting to the death against her own student should satiate her craving, right?

This was a thought she always nursed deep in her heart.

Initially, her target was Zaraki. If she went all out, he would without a doubt break all the stupid limitations he put on himself and go back to his true level.

Unfortunately, those old bastards of the central 46 refused to let her do so. The same happened when Yamamoto tried to teach Kendo to the kid.

Well, technically she was older than the member of the central 46 so she shouldn’t call them old, but she was a maiden at heart, so it didn’t matter.

Now, since training Zaraki was impossible, she had searched high and low for someone else, but few could satisfy her standards, and those who could didn’t join her division.

She had already long given up hope and was ready to live a life of boredom.

At least this was supposed to be the plan, but a genius joined her division.

She didn’t care about the title of ‘genius’. She had seen hundreds if not thousands of geniuses.

None of them had bathed in the blood of their enemies, and most of them would freeze in fear and die on their first battlefield.

Still, she was bored, and bored people do stupid things.

For the first time in nearly a thousand years, she released a part of her killing intent through her Reiatsu.

Of course, it was very targeted. If she used it indiscriminately, the weaker ones would directly kneel in fear or outright faint.

It was just a little test. Even if he failed, nothing would change. She would still welcome him with her motherly smile as she had done for a few centuries.

But,

‘He didn’t even stop.’

The moment the boy entered, she could see it.

This man wasn’t afraid.

Even though he showed preparation to take flight, this wasn’t out of fear but a simple understanding of his abilities.

This wasn’t the stance a trainee should have.

Even if he killed some hollows, it shouldn’t be enough to give him such poise.

‘This man should have been some sort of warrior or soldier when he was alive.’

For the first time in a long while, Unohana felt her heartbeat violently in her chest.

‘He might be the one.’

Nothing was certain, but if she succeeded, she would finally have a fight worth it.

"Welcome Satoru Gojo, I am Retsu Unohana, your captain. I hope you will have a good time here."

Looking at the smile that was completely opposite to the power she emanated, Gojo could only shake his head,

'Seems like I am facing a two-faced witch.'

Still, he wasn't new to masks and was quite adept at wearing them.

Raising his eye mask, he beamed his most shining smile,

"Happy to meet you, Captain Unohana. Satoru Gojo at your service."

Isane tilted her head as she looked at those two smiling,

'Why do I feel so cold even though it's so warm?'

Ignoring the confused Isane, Gojo asked,

"So, I was wondering what my duties would be?"

Unohana nodded, "Our division isn't a fighting one. Still, fighting is something necessary and unavoidable. So I will give you a choice."

She raised her hand and showed two fingers.

"Two months. I will give you two months. During those two months, you will only be considered as a trial member. If after those two months you wish to quit, then you will be allowed to join another division without any problems."

"What if I wish to continue?”

“If you wish to continue after those two months then — I will take you under my wing."

Gojo gave a daring smile, "Aren't you afraid that I will surpass you? Because I assure you that I will."

"Fufufu~ I would love nothing more than to be surpassed. I hope your words aren't empty boasting."

This was how the first meeting between Unohana and Gojo went.

'Uh!? Uh!? Heh!? What did I miss!?'

Meanwhile, Isane was as confused as ever.

(AN: So about memory. Do souls keep their memory when they go into soul society? The answer is yes they do. If you don’t believe me, remember the bird/soul Chad had at the start of the story? When Ichigo and Chad went to Rukongai to save Rukia, Chad met the boy who had possessed the bird previously and the boy clearly remembered Chad. During these parts, some souls also talked about their pasts. So yeah.)