Chapter 29: The Captain’s Meeting

"Teacher Unohana, do you hear what you're saying?"

"How could I possibly resemble Aizen? I'm a good person!"

Makoto quickly handed himself several "good person" cards, his face adorned with the pure smile of a well-meaning individual, though there was a hint of embarrassment in his voice.

"Teacher, how could I compare to Vice-Captain Aizen? Even if you want to build my self-confidence, this is just too exaggerated."

Unohana's beautiful eyes fixed on Senju Makoto, her gaze unwavering in its certainty, as she responded, "No, there are indeed some similarities. However, you do have one very clear difference from Vice-Captain Aizen."

Senju Makoto, taken by surprise, asked, "What is it?"

Unohana Retsu's lips parted slightly, and she replied, "Loneliness. The kind of loneliness that sometimes feels utterly out of place in this world…"

Senju Makoto… was momentarily stunned.

Loneliness?!

His smile faltered, as a deep and intense sense of solitude suddenly washed over him. The weight of it felt almost too much to bear.

In Unohana's eyes, a brief flicker of pity flashed by, though she did not press further. Instead, she simply stood and left the courtyard, heading off to attend the monthly Captain's meeting.

For an individual, loneliness is the curse that cannot be fully escaped.

One arrives in this world alone and will eventually leave it in the same solitude…

Between these two kinds of loneliness, everyone wanders aimlessly, lost in their solitary souls.

For Shinigamis, whose lifespans stretch across centuries, this loneliness is magnified by time itself. It becomes a vast void, needing to be filled or soothed by something "different or the same."

Once, Unohana chose to combat that loneliness through slaughter, finding her sense of self in endless killing, and eventually becoming so consumed by it that it replaced her loneliness.

Now, in Unohana's eyes, Makoto still hadn't found his own way to truly integrate into this world and soothe his loneliness.

Though Makoto's loneliness was sometimes overly intense, Unohana, as his teacher, chose not to disturb him, instead offering her gentle silence.

After a brief moment of her departure, Makoto exhaled slowly, adjusting his state of mind.

Loneliness…

He hadn't expected Teacher Unohana's observational skills to be that sharp. Or perhaps he had unwittingly let it slip?

Makoto pondered quietly, unconsciously pressing his lips together.

But, he knew well where his sense of loneliness stemmed from—it was the absence of kin, the loneliness of not having a true "kindred spirit."

The memories from his past life made him realize that, in a sense, he was an outsider in this world.

However, Makoto didn't pay too much attention to such matters. Time… would heal all wounds. Sentimentality was not part of his nature.

Instead, he gave a faint smile, feeling a growing sense of anticipation for what lay ahead in his gynecology practice.

With Unohana's praise, he imagined patients would soon begin seeking him out. In other words… after two months of silence, it was finally time to "plant seeds" again.

As for how to make the patients bleed…

The wound appeared, and Makoto had already formulated a plan in his mind: acupuncture.

Of course, what Makoto meant was not just any needle, but acupuncture—whether there was an illness or not, he'd offer a free needle first.

The thought that his "Seeds of the Forest" would soon begin to take root in the Seireitei, flourishing in large numbers, made Makoto's mood significantly improve, and the loneliness in his heart seemed to dissipate a little.

"Indeed, these past months have been lonely and depressing. It's probably because I couldn't plant seeds. My spiritual power hasn't been accumulating as quickly as I'd like…"

"Just one needle, planting one seed—how could there still be loneliness?"

"Only happiness, no other emotion."

Makoto murmured to himself. After quickly finishing his breakfast, he hurried toward the gynecology department, eager to embrace the new day.

---

Meanwhile, on the other side, it was time for the Seireitei's monthly Captain's Meeting. All the captains of the Gotei 13, accompanied by their Vice-Captain, gathered early at the First Division.

As the gates of the First Division slowly closed, it marked the beginning of the meeting—a gathering of authority second only to the Central 46, whose decisions could sway the entire Soul Society.

Inside the vast and imposing conference room, captains dressed in the distinctive haori of their respective divisions stood in two rows. The different division numbers were clearly visible on their backs, each representing a different aspect of their power and status.

Twelve figures stood firmly in the room, and each one exuded a spiritual pressure so intense that ordinary souls could hardly bear it.

Finally, as the ancient bell of the meeting rang outside, signaling the start of the session, the elderly captain at the head of the room, his face marked with jagged scars and a purple sash tied around his chest, slowly opened his narrowed eyes. The symbol of the First Division was stitched into his white haori, and he cast a sweeping glance over the eleven captains before him.

Except for the position of the Tenth Division captain, which remained vacant, all other captains were present. The elderly captain spoke in a steady voice.

"Captains, the meeting shall now begin…"

---

Nearby, in the Vice-captain waiting room adjacent to the conference room, a group of vice-captains who had come with their captains gradually relaxed as the terrifying spiritual pressure from the meeting room began to fade.

"That was terrifying. I have to say, the Captains are on a whole different level. Even the slightest leak of their spiritual pressure makes me feel in awe," said the lively 9th Division Vice-Captain, Mashiro Kuna, a woman with short green waves of hair and a red scarf, as she patted her chest and sighed in relief.

The 3rd Division Vice-Captain, Chikane Iba, a tall and robust woman with an air of extreme discipline, nodded in agreement. "Of course. The Captain-Commander is someone entirely different from ordinary Shinigami. I doubt we could even stand properly in front of the Captain-Commander's imposing presence if we tried."

However, for Mashiro Kuna, a vice-captain who was attending the meeting for the first time, her boredom began to show. She slapped her lips and muttered, "Ugh… How long are we going to be stuck here? It's so boring."

Meanwhile, the First Division's Vice-Captain, Chojiro Sasakibe, with his distinctive short white hair and black mustache, turned to silence her with a serious expression. "Please, be quiet, 11th Division Vice-Captain. The length of the meeting depends on the matters to be discussed. As those who hold the vice-captain's duties, we should patiently wait here and assist as needed."

But as Chojiro Sasakibe finished speaking, he couldn't help but notice the small, pink-haired girl in front of him, blinking her large, confused eyes. His serious expression faltered as he tried to maintain his composure.

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