I'm in Bleach, starting with Unlimited Blade Works.

Gin Ichimaru raised his head, slightly opened his eyes, and looked at Aizen: "Although Captain Erin is my teacher, his teachings to me are no different from those of the teachers at the Shinigami Academy. The strength I possess is all due to my own hard work and training."

"Right now, my strength improvement has hit a bottleneck. If I were in the Eleventh Division, it might take me more than twenty years to reach that level."

"However, if I join the Fifth Division under Lieutenant Aizen, I think I can complete my Bankai training in less than ten years, right?"

That's right, wanting to gain even greater power as quickly as possible—this was the excuse Gin Ichimaru came up with after tracking down the Shinigami who had joined Aizen's ranks.

Those who joined Aizen's ranks experienced rapid increases in strength every so often.

As far as Gin Ichimaru knows, many ordinary Shinigami have already become elite Shinigami, and some have even completed the creation of their Zanpakuto and been promoted to Seat Officer.

"It seems that the Fifth Seat of Ichimaru has good intelligence gathering capabilities. I agree to your request."

"However, since you are Captain Erin's disciple after all, we still need to communicate with Captain Erin to transfer you from the Eleventh Division to the Fifth Division."

"Here's what I'll do. I'll go back and discuss it with our captain today. Once I get Captain Hirako's permission, I'll ask Captain Erin to transfer you to the Fifth Division."

"Then I'll have to trouble Captain Aizen."

"Yin is still the vice-captain..."

……

"Oh? Captain Hirako is looking for me?"

At the Kuchiki residence, Erin was lying in the courtyard playing chess with Haruko when a servant of the Kuchiki family came to inform them that the captain of the Fifth Division, Hirako Shinji, had come to visit.

"Why did Hirako Shinji come to see me?"

Getting up from Haruko's lap, Erin was puzzled, so he smiled and said to Haruko, "Haruko, I'll go see what Captain Hirako has to do. Let's call this game a draw for now."

After saying that, Erin, under Haruko's disapproving look, "accidentally" messed up one of the pieces on the chessboard.

"hey-hey……"

Over the years, Erin has been with Haruko, and putting aside everything else, her attitude towards relationships has become several times thicker than it was a few years ago.

At the very least, his defense against Haruko's "eye roll" attacks is already maxed out.

Who would have thought that Haruko, who had no talent for cultivation, would be a master at playing chess?

Chess, Go, Gomoku, and other board games—as soon as Erin taught Haruko, Erin was transformed from the perpetrator into the victim within three days.

Haruko was particularly fascinated by these games, and she would play several rounds with Erin every day.

After losing too many times, the wins and losses between Erin and Haruko have become a matter of whether Erin can find various reasons or excuses to "not lose" before a game is over.

Having guests visiting today is a perfectly reasonable excuse.

On the way to see Hirako Shinji with his servants, Erin still couldn't imagine that he had any connection with Hirako Shinji.

In Soul Society, the stronger a person's spiritual pressure, the longer their lifespan.

Even the Shinigami, who have just joined the Gotei 13, have a lifespan of two hundred years, which can be considered as "long-lived species".

Therefore, under normal circumstances, the pace of life in Seireitei is very slow, and it is quite normal that there will be no change for hundreds or thousands of years.

In Seireitei, apart from the areas where the nobles live, the Gotei 13 are distributed throughout the Seireitei. Each squad has its own responsibilities, and unless there is an overlap in their missions, everyone generally handles the duties of their own squad.

The Eleventh Division is a combat division. The divisions that have dealings with the Eleventh Division are the Eighth Division's intelligence unit, the Second Division's intelligence unit, and the Twelfth Division's surveillance unit.

When the troops of these three divisions detect the arrival of a Hollow, they will report the location of the Hollow to the Eleventh Division, which will then organize its members to purify the Hollow.

The Fifth Division is a rescue team, and the Thirteenth Division's purification team has connections with the Fifth Division.

The Purification Squad of the 13th Division is responsible for guiding the souls of people who have died in the human world to the Soul Society, and for cleaning up Hollows that descend into the human world and devour human souls.

Often, the Purification Squad members encounter Hollows whose strength or numbers are beyond their control. In such cases, they relay the message back to the Twelfth Division, whose intelligence unit then forwards the distress call to the Fifth Division. The Fifth Division then travels to the human world through the portal to provide assistance.

The Eleventh Division is the strongest division among all the divisions. Moreover, most of the Shinigami in the Eleventh Division are battle maniacs. Even if they are outmatched, they will only ask for help from their own division members and will not send the request for help to the Fifth Division.

So, what could it be that Hirako Shinji suddenly came to find him?

With these questions in mind, Erin met Hirako Shinji in the Kuchiki family's hall.

"Captain Hirako, you are quite a rare guest."

Erin and Hirako Mako didn't have much private communication; they only met a few times at captain meetings.

"I wonder what brings Captain Hirako here to see me?"

After inviting Hirako to sit down, Erin asked directly.

"Captain Erin, how much do you know about your disciple, Gin Ichimaru?"

"silver?"

Erin was taken aback, not understanding why Hirako Shinji was asking about Gin's situation. He immediately paused, then asked, "Captain Hirako, is it because Gin has offended you in some way?"

"If that's the case, I apologize to you on behalf of Yin."

"Do not."

Seeing that Erin seemed to have misunderstood, Hirako Shinji shook his head: "Captain Erin, Ichimaru Gin did not offend me in any way, it's just..."

Shinji Hirako frowned slightly, seemingly considering how to explain to Erin: "My vice-captain Aizen Sousuke recommended Gin Ichimaru to me yesterday, hoping that I could speak to Captain Erin and transfer Gin Ichimaru to the Fifth Division."

“However, Captain Erin, I do not trust my vice-captain Aizen Sousuke. I always feel that there is something wrong with him, but I have not been able to find his weakness.”

"Oh?"

Erin raised an eyebrow.

Hirako Shinji didn't trust Aizen, and Erin knew that.

……

I've obtained the "Habitual Burst" badge for writing 10,000 words in ten days.

Next up, aiming for the "10,000 words per day" badge, a milestone achieved in thirty days.

Chapter 110 The Ten-Year War

However, what puzzled Erin was why Hirako Shinji would tell him that he didn't trust Aizen.

At that moment, Erin feigned confusion and asked, "Captain Hirako, since you don't trust Vice-Captain Aizen, why did you make him your vice-captain?"

"It is precisely because I do not trust him that I want to keep him under my watchful eye."

Upon hearing Hirako Shinji's words, Erin also mourned for Aizen Sousuke.

It must have been tough for Aizen to work under Hirako Shinji's nose.

Fortunately, Aizen's Zanpakuto was powerful enough to allow him to gradually break free from Hirako Shinji's attacks and eventually outmaneuver Hirako Shinji, turning the tide of the battle.

Thinking of Aizen Sousuke's words that Hirako was too wary of him, which is why he was easily fooled by Aizen's Kyoka Suigetsu and mistook a stranger for him, Erin's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Captain Hirako, I don't know how you determined that Lieutenant Aizen was problematic."

"However, I know this saying—"

"If a bad person pretends to be a good person their whole life and never does a bad thing until they die, is that person a good person or a bad person?"

"Perhaps, in Captain Hirako's eyes, Lieutenant Aizen is that villain."

"But, in all these years in your squad, Captain Hirako, Lieutenant Aizen, that villain, has never done a single evil deed. Captain Hirako, have you ever considered that if Lieutenant Aizen has never done anything evil, would he still be a villain?"

"Captain Hirako, the fact that you keep Lieutenant Aizen under your nose proves that you believe you can take him down no matter what evil things he does."

"In that case, why doesn't Captain Hirako give Lieutenant Aizen more trust?"

"Well then, didn't Lieutenant Aizen say he wanted to transfer Gin to the Fifth Division?"

"As long as Yin agrees to this, I have no objection."

"Captain Hirako, how about we start by building some trust in Captain Aizen, beginning with this matter?"

"If Lieutenant Aizen betrays Captain Hirako's trust in the future, I think Captain Hirako wouldn't have any qualms about taking action against Lieutenant Aizen, right?"

This was the first time Hirako Shinji had heard such words, but he had to admit that Erin's words made sense.

Hirako Shinji nodded: "Indeed, I was too wary of him before."

"I will try to give him more trust in the future."

"Thank you, Captain Erin."

"No, I'm the one who should be saying thank you."

"Gin is my disciple. If he goes to the Fifth Division, I hope Captain Hirako will take good care of him."

"Of course, if he is willing to stay by Vice-Captain Aizen's side, and Captain Hirako has discovered Aizen's weakness, then I would like to ask Captain Hirako to give me the honor of personally seeing him off."

After finishing their business, the atmosphere between Erin and Hirako Mako became much more relaxed, and the two chatted about some interesting things.

"Sigh, Captain Erin must be the most relaxed captain in the Gotei 13, right?"

After a pleasant conversation, Hirako Shinko felt envious and jealous of Erin's current life.

Throughout the entire Gotei 13, the other captains all have to handle some squad affairs to varying degrees, and when they encounter Hollows that their subordinate Shinigami cannot deal with, they need to take action themselves.

Among the Eleventh Division, there is Zaraki, whose strength is no less than that of the other captains, and Oni Ichiro, the "weak captain-level" Fourth Seat who has completed Bankai. Erin's existence seems to have become a mere decoration.

"Haha, I learned all of this from Captain Yoruichi of the Second Division."

Erin smiled and said, "Captain Hirako, you know that I was the vice-captain of the Second Division back then. At that time, Captain Yoruichi was often not in the division, so almost all the division affairs were handled by me and the current vice-captain Soi Fon."

"So, since I can easily become the captain, why should I look for more things to do?"

"Transparent."

Hirako gave Erin a thumbs up. "It seems I really should give Vice-Captain Aizen some trust. Let's start by letting him handle team affairs!"

"gone."

"Yes, Captain Hirako, take care."

After seeing Hirako Shinji off from the Kuchiki family, Erin hummed a little tune as she walked back.

I wonder if letting Hirako Shinji trust Aizen more will make Hirako realize that the person behind him isn't actually Aizen?

Or perhaps, because of Hirako Shinji's trust, Aizen had to spend more time dealing with Hirako Shinji, delaying his time to create the "Hogyoku".

As for Silver, Erin had already taught him everything he needed to know.

Everyone has their own life, and Erin will not interfere with Gin Ichimaru's decisions just because she likes him.