CH 54: JUSHIRO UKITAKE

After Gojo gave a bottle of medication to Jushiro, he invited them to drink some tea.

The accommodations in the house were rather simplistic. So much that it was inconceivable that a captain lived in such a condition.

The first time he came here, he had been clearly surprised, but Kaien then explained to him the reasons.

It seemed that most of the salary of the captain was used to ameliorate the living condition of those living in the Rukongai.

Souls with negligible amounts of Reiryoku did not need food to survive. But, the problem was that even though most souls could not reach the level necessary to enter the academy and become Shinigami, they had some modicum of energy, at least enough to develop the need for sustenance.

To such souls, their powers were nothing more than a curse. 

Jushiro tried to develop different ways to help the poor.

Of course, no matter how high his pay was, he was just one captain. The amount of help he could bring was negligible. But this never stopped him.

It was truly admirable. Even though Gojo would never sacrifice himself for a bunch of people he had no relation with. 

At the same time, it was extremely laughable.

The fact that the well-being of the population was not assured by the ruling power but rather the members of the army showed to Gojo how most nobles acted.

People like Soi Fon and Byakuya were without a doubt the exception to the rules. 

Those two did not look down on the poor, they simply looked down on the weak.

Looking at the distance, Jushiro began to speak,

"Nowadays, the number of shinigami is constantly lowering. I do not know why, but since about 100 years ago, cases of shinigami mysteriously vanishing or being killed while fighting variant hollows have been constantly on the rise."

'Why is he bringing this up?'

"Satoru-san, five years ago, during your outing on earth while in the academy, you faced a group of variant hollows. What is your opinion about that matter now that you have seen other types of hollows?"

Gojo thought back to the past event

"Well, even though I thought of them as rather weak back then, now I can honestly say they were above average. In terms of pure power, they were incredibly close to Gillians."

Gillians was the first step of the evolution of Menos. They were created from the amalgamation of thousands of hollows.

For one hollow to come close to that level.

"It is as I thought."

Sighing, he continued, "I plan to make a proposal to Central 46 soon."

"Oh?"

"Did you know, on earth, there are more and more high spec humans appearing? People able to see and even exorcise Fuyurei[1]; Jibakurei[2] or Tsukirei[3]. The same goes for the number of fullbringers who are able to face hollows, albeit with difficulty."

Fuyurei were a type of spirit that had no particular attachment to the living world, they were just waiting to slowly dissipate and join the Soul Society, or be lucky enough to meet a Shinigami that would accelerate the process. Of course, the unlucky ones were transformed into hollows or were eaten by hollows.

Jibakurei and Tsukirei on the other hand were ghosts full of attachment bound to either a place or a person. Because of this, they were easier targets for hollows since they couldn't move around.

This topic interested Gojo. He couldn't help but wonder what would happen if some humans learned his cursed techniques.

Even though he still wasn't able to recreate Limitless nor any of the secret techniques of the other great clans, he was slowly creating his own style of combat that was outside of the conventional Kido.

Jushiro, unaware of Gojo's thoughts, continued, 

"As such, I wondered, what if we used the help of those humans?"

"But most humans who are able to use Reiryoku are unable to make proper rituals. Their powers are too destructive against souls."

Jushiro nodded excitedly, "This is why I was wondering if we could lend our power to humans. We could easily triple or quadruple our numbers. They would not even need to fight hollows. Just giving them the means to send spirits to the soul society would help greatly."

Gojo tilted his head, "This is good and all, but isn't it against the law? Pretty sure the punishment was execution."

Gojo knew personally how much the higher-ups liked to give execution orders. 

This was why one of the first things he memorized was the set laws of the soul society.

Though calling them laws was a stretch. It basically boiled down to:

Don't fuck around and don't go against us. Otherwise, you will be imprisoned or executed.

"That is indeed the case."

Jushiro grimaced, but the fighting spirit in his eyes did not diminish, 

"Even so, I will still make the proposal. We could begin with some samples. A trial run with one or two humans. I even already decided on a name for the system."

Clearing his throat, he said with pride, "They will be called--Substitute Shinigami...What do you think?"

Kaien shrugged, "A little too direct but it isn't a bad name."

Gojo wanted to say that it sucked ball, but seeing the joy on Jushiro's face, he sighed, 

"Your naming sense is so abominably bad it's impressive."

How could he use vulgar words in front of a captain?

*Snicker*

Kaien hid a laugh, while Jushiro looked dumbfounded before he exploded with laughter.

"You really got me good! *Cough* *cough*"

Jushiro was someone who could take a joke. Though seeing him cough sometimes was disturbing.

Gojo even wondered if the man was born with a heavenly restriction. Though he doubted that this system existed in this world.

After this, the three of them continued to joke around when a black-haired woman appeared next to them with shunpo.

"Captain. I am here to report."

Gojo recognized her as the wife of Kaien and 3rd seat of the 13th division.

"Oh? Miyako, what's the matter?"

"My team reported the activities of an unknown type of Hollow in the vicinity of our territory. We believe that it should be a variant type. I have decided to form a recon team to obtain more information on the target."

Both Kaien and Jushiro frowned, 

"This could be very dangerous."

"Do not worry. We will be careful to not engage the target even if we find it."

Kaien gritted his teeth, but ultimately did not try to stop his wife. She had her own pride and he knew that he would undermine her authority if he always followed her around.

It was then, 

"Hum...What would you think if a very good and very very handsome healer came with you?"

It has been some time since he last observed a variant. This could be interesting.

[1]: Wandering spirit

[2]: Earthbound spirit

[3]: Possessive spirit

(AN: Welp. As of now, I have officially fucked up the Canon of bleach by saving that woman. You wouldn't believe how much the life or death of a minor character like her can affect the story. Also for those who forgot or didn't reach that part, Jushiro was really the creator of the substitute shinigami system. Though that system failed in an epic way.)