Chapter 276 276 I Need You!
Senzaikyu's cell.
4th Division's Lieutenant, Isane walked in hurriedly.
"Ca-Captain Hitsugaya, greetings!" Seeing Toshiro, Isane quickly greeted him.
"Hello. Originally, I just intended to request the Advanced Medical Team, but I didn't expect it to be you, Lieutenant Kotetsu," Toshiro said.
"Well... that... Initially, we planned to send the Advanced Medical Team. But Kiyone was so worried about Rukia that she begged me to come." Isane scratched her head, looking embarrassed.
"Kiyone, huh?" Toshiro understood.
Kotetsu Kiyone, one of the two 3rd Seats of the 13th Division, Isane's younger sister, respected or perhaps adored Ukitake.
Earlier, she and the other 3rd Seat, Sentaro, had been secretly following Ukitake. Toshiro had noticed them before but didn't mention it.
Otherwise, Ukitake would have had Kiyone and Sentaro go to the 4th Division to get someone, preventing Toshiro from sending Ukitake away to extract the Hogyoku from Rukia.
"That Kiyone... she was secretly following Captain Ukitake earlier and got accidentally discovered when Captain Ukitake came to our division. Then, she insisted I personally come to treat Rukia-san." Isane explained to Toshiro.
"Is that so? Where's Jushiro?" Toshiro asked.
"After Captain Ukitake came to the 4th Division and had us send someone to treat Rukia, he went with Captain Unohana to see Captain Aizen's body, saying he wanted to see Captain Aizen one last time."
"One last time, huh?" Toshiro said in an unreadable tone.
Then, Toshiro bid farewell to Isane. "Alright, since you're here, I'll leave Rukia in your care. I'll be going now."
"Yes, Captain Hitsugaya. Please take care."
"Mhm." Toshiro nodded and left the Senzaikyu directly.
4th Division, a lounge.
Zaraki, Yachiru, Ikkaku, Yumichika, and Orihime were gathered here.
Zaraki came to the 4th Division due to injuries from his earlier battle with Ichigo, accompanied by Yachiru. Yumichika also came to visit Ikkaku.
As for why Orihime was here, it was because she happened to run into Yachiru earlier.
When they invaded the Seireitei from the sky using the Flower Crane Cannon, Ichigo and the others got separated. Orihime had been acting together with Uryu.
But not long ago, Orihime and Uryu, disguised as Shinigami, were discovered and encountered Mayuri.
Uryu stayed behind to fight Mayuri, while Orihime was forcibly taken away by an 11th Division's member present at the scene, Aramaki Makizo. Then, Makizo and Orihime happened to run into Yachiru.
Thus, Orihime ended up in the hands of Zaraki and the others.
"Hey, Inoue Orihime, right? Tell me, is Ichigo still alive?" Ikkaku was the first to ask.
"Uh... that... I don't know either..." Orihime answered weakly.
"Hey, Ikkaku, stop asking that. Ichigo is alive. I'm sure of it." Zaraki's mouth curved into a ferocious grin. "And not just alive. He's probably gotten even stronger now. He's really an interesting guy."
In their earlier battle, at the start, Zaraki stood still and let Ichigo slash him, yet Ichigo couldn't wound him. But during the fight, Ichigo grew stronger and stronger, finally becoming evenly matched with Zaraki.
Although Ichigo ultimately lost, Zaraki wasn't much better off.
Such a thrilling, all-out battle was something Zaraki hadn't experienced in a long time, so he was very interested in Ichigo now, even eagerly wanting to fight him again.
"Hey! Woman, I need you!" Zaraki suddenly stood up and walked over to Orihime.
"Eeek!!" Orihime screamed in fright.
"Chattering non-stop is so annoying!"
"Woman, listen! I need your help. If I follow you, I can meet Ichigo again soon, right?" Zaraki said with some excitement.
"Ah... Oh, so that's what you meant. Geez, Captain Kenpachi, you should have said it clearly." Orihime couldn't help but sigh in relief, patting the two little rabbits on her chest.
"Huh? What? Did I not say it clearly? Need me to say it again?" Zaraki asked, puzzled.
"No, no need..." Orihime said awkwardly.
…
5th Division.
After leaving the Senzaikyu, Toshiro returned to the 10th Division, then brought Rangiku and a few other members to the 5th Division.
Earlier, after jointly issuing the 'Level One State of Emergency' with Yamamoto, Toshiro was entrusted by Yamamoto to fully investigate 'Aizen's Death'.
As Captain-Commander, Yamamoto needed to stay at the 1st Division. So, generally, major tasks needed to be handled by Vice-Captain-Commander Toshiro.
However, Toshiro took a trip to the Senzaikyu to extract the Hogyoku from Rukia and only now began investigating 'Aizen's Death'.
"You all, go find members of the 5th Division. Have them guide you in carefully searching the 5th Division's barracks. Immediately report to me if you find any clues." Toshiro instructed his subordinates.
"Matsumoto, come with me to Aizen's room. Let's see if we can find any clues." Toshiro said to Rangiku.
"Yes, Captain," Rangiku nodded.
Aizen's room.
Toshiro searched carefully but found nothing.
"Nothing? Did Aizen not leave a letter like in the original work?" Toshiro murmured to himself.
In the original work, after faking his death, Aizen left a letter in his room for Momo, accusing Toshiro of being the mastermind behind everything and urging Momo to kill Toshiro to avenge him.
But now, Toshiro didn't find any letter in Aizen's room… no letter or any other items that could be considered clues.
"Well, some things are already different from the original work. Now the 5th Division doesn't even have a Lieutenant. Presumably, Aizen didn't have much need to leave a letter." Toshiro muttered.
In this life, Momo didn't join the 5th Division and had no interactions with Aizen. Aizen also never found a suitable person to serve as the 5th Division's Lieutenant, so for years, the Lieutenant's position in the 5th Division, like the 13th Division's, had been vacant.
"Captain, we found absolutely nothing. It seems Captain Aizen didn't leave any clues in his room." After searching, Rangiku reported to Toshiro.
"If there's nothing, then forget it," Toshiro said indifferently.
At that moment, other members came to report to Toshiro.
"Captain, we searched the entire 5th Division but found no clues."
"If nothing was found, then wrap it up," Toshiro said.
"Oh, right, Captain. Due to Captain Aizen's sacrifice, the 5th Division has accumulated a large amount of unhandled work. The 5th Division's members would like you to temporarily handle it. What do you think?" A 10th Division member asked.
"Is that so? In that case, I'll handle it temporarily," Toshiro said after some thought.
Toshiro wasn't kindly helping Aizen with work… he just wanted to see if he could discover any of Aizen's secrets through the 5th Division's duties.