CH 120: DIVISION 0
"Senjumaru Shutara."
In Unohana's office, Gojo quietly muttered the name.
"Before I continue, what do you know exactly about division 0?"
"Honestly? Not much."
Gojo did have some information, but compared to the knowledge of Unohana, it would be pathetic. It was better to shut up and listen.
"I see...Humm. Well, I guess telling you this isn't a problem since you will most likely be called by them after you become a captain."
Unohana tapped the table for a while before continuing,
"Firstly, you must understand that the Soul King's Palace is basically in another dimension above the Seireitei. There lives the 14th division of the Gotei 13 - The Division 0, also known as royal guards."
She snickered when she thought about what they were supposed to guard. The so-called—Soul King.
'Well, he doesn't need to know anything about this now. Seeing it for himself will be better.'
"Currently, division 0 only has five members. But all of them — aside from one — were captains of the Gotei 13 at one moment or the other. All of them were elected to become members of the Royal Guards after they made great achievements or brought radical changes to the Soul Society."
Unohana frowned when she thought about the leader of Division 0. The only one out of the four who never was part of Gotei 13 for the simple reason that his existence predates that of the Soul Society.
"The five members are;
The Divine General of the East and the 1st officer, Tenjiro Kirinji, also known as the Hot Spring Demon. He was the first captain of the 4th division and entered division 0 after he created Bakudo [1]. He is also my master in a way."
Unohana showed a soft smile as she remembered the man with a kind but awful temper.
"Then there is the divine general of the south, Kirio Hikifune also known as the Ruler of Grain. She was the captain of the 12th division before Kisuke Urahara and entered Division 0 after creating the first artificial soul."
Gojo whistled. Artificial souls were the bread and butter for Shinigami working on earth. In a way, they were the spiritual version of Artificial intelligence.
It seemed that even before the creation of the research department, the 12th division was already the cradle of great scientists.
"The third one is Oetsu Nimaiya, the Divine General of the West, also known as the God of Sword. He is the first captain of the 2nd Division and entered Division 0 after accomplishing the splendid feat of creating…Zanpakuto."
[Oh? So that guy is kinda my father?]
{Haha! So what does it make me? Your mother?}
[....What a horrible thought.]
{I known, right?}
The mention of Oetsu really intrigued Gojo. He knew that shinigami could fight without relying on zanpakuto. Soi Fon and Yoruichi were the prime examples of that rule.
Still, there was no denying that Zanpakuto themselves were simply too useful. A Shikai or a Bankai once revealed could completely turn the direction of a battlefield. Furthermore, Gojo believed in one simple truth.
'If someone can do it, then I can do better.'
It was a really arrogant and shortsighted thought, but he didn't care. It was this belief that supported him and allowed him to reach greater heights.
Furthermore, if he wanted to create his own version of Gotei 13, it was imperative to create his own weapons.
"Then we have Senjumaru Shurata, who is the Divine General of the North. What do you think was her accomplishment?"
Unohana smiled and pointed at him—More precisely at his clothes.
"Senjumaru is known as the Great Waves Guard. She was originally the captain of the 9th division and became a member of the Royal guard after creating the Shihakusho [2], uniform all Shinigami wear. She also created a device called the Shurata Scale. It is an alert system that is used to monitor the world itself."
Unohana did not explain more about the Shurata Scale. After all, while she liked Gojo quite a bit and was willing to break some rules for him, there were limits to it. Still what she said was enough for Gojo to understand that Senjumara wasn't just a simple seamstress.
"I must say that Division 0 seems really awesome. A division that regroups the greatest freaks of the Soul Society. But…You forgot someone, right? Such a group could never function without a powerful leader… Who is he?"
For the first time, Unohana hesitated a little. After all, the moment she uttered his name, he would become aware of it. Still, it wasn't as if they were doing anything illegal currently. So it should be alright.
"You are indeed right. The leader of the Division 0, known as the <<Monk who calls the Real Name>>, is the oldest and most likely strongest Shinigami in existence—Ichibe Hyosube [3]"
—
[Royal Palace.]
Sitting on a praying mat, a bald man with an impressive build and a thick black beard who was previously in meditation opened his eyes and looked around.
"Why did Unohana utter my name?"
His title of <<Monk who calls the Real Name>> was not just for show. As the one who named all the things in the Soul Society, his own name carried a curse on it.
Those he deemed unworthy could not utter it and of those who could, if anyone did, he would be immediately warned of it.
As one of the founding members of the Gotei 13, even though she was but a child in front of him since her age did not even amount to a fraction of his[4], Unohana was still someone worthy of respect.
If she called his name despite knowing the curse put on it, it means that she judged that it was something worth doing.
Caressing his beard, he stayed in thought for a while before catching the hint as his name was uttered a second time.
'Oh? who is that young lad? I seem to have seen him somewhere.'
Despite his power, it wasn't as if he was omniscient or all-knowing. Still, it didn't take long for him to remember who he was.
Gojo Satoru. One of the candidates who could receive the honor of becoming a member of the Royal Guard.
Though he really wondered if it was such a great honor nowadays.
"Sigh. I was first rejected by Sosuke Aizen. Though it was for the best since he created something like the Hogyoku. Then it was Kisuke Urahara. Followed by Mayuri Kurotsuchi. It isn't easy getting new blood."
Ichibe laughed heartily while muttering information that would shock anyone who heard it.
Still, for Ichibe, it was nothing problematic. There were few things that could escape the eyes of the royal guards. After all, they had to be constantly aware of the situation of Seireitei in order to better protect the Royal Palace.
As the one who gave the name <<Zanpakuto>> to the creations of Oetsu, followed by <<Shikai>> and <<Bankai>> and as such brought those two concepts into reality, he knew the name of absolutely all Zanpakuto in the Soul Society as well as what their true abilities were.
If not because the Royal Guards never interfered in the problem of the Gotei 13, he would have flattened Sosuke Aizen long ago.
Who could have imagined that Aizen could create something like the Hogyoku by gathering the scattered Nails of the Soul King?
Though, in the end, this didn't matter. It was Yamamoto's job to deal with that rebel and only if he failed, would he be free to destroy the insolent bastard that dared to insult the Souls King.
"Now that young boy is the true problem."
Compared to Aizen, the silver-haired boy was the true source of headaches for Ichibe. More precisely, it was his Zanpakuto—Tengoku no Kogo.
Even now, he couldn't understand how it was possible for such a Zanpakuto to be born.
In the first place,
'How could a Zanpakuto emanate the aura of the Soul King?'
[1]: Healing spiritual art
[2]: Garment of dead souls
[3]: There are always debates about Ichibe vs Yamamoto. For me, in terms of pure destruction. No one can beat Yamamoto. Zanka no Tachi is without a doubt the most powerful Bankai in bleach (aside perhaps Ichigo's and perhaps Aizen but Kubo cucked us and didn't show Ichigo's new Bankai. Same for Aizen). Anyway, Zanka no Tachi is powerful. But compared to Ichibe who controls all names and all that is dark...yeah. Ichibe doesn't win in pure power. But overall, his skills are sick.
[4]: Ichibe is the oldest shinigami alive and is a few million years old…
(AN: I personally think it's kinda dumb how they never helped kill Aizen. But I am pretty sure that when the Aizen arc was in full swing, Kubo hadn't created the concept of Division 0, yet. Or perhaps he did? It doesn't really matter in the end)
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