Chapter 10: The Battle Between Old Yinbis
Two days later, within the First Division garrison.
Su Xiao placed eight bottles of Soul Spirit Potions on the wooden table before him. According to his agreement with Unohana Retsu, someone would come daily to collect the potions on schedule and attend to Su Xiao's living arrangements.
After a round of negotiations, Su Xiao had basically stabilized his position in the Soul Society. He was now a special member of the Fourth Division, holding no actual authority, but ordinary Shinigami wouldn't dare provoke him.
Or rather, Su Xiao was a specially assigned member of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. He was only under the direct jurisdiction of two people: Yamamoto Genryusai and Unohana Retsu. No other captain had the right to command him in any matter.
As the sole creator and developer of the Soul Spirit Potion, Su Xiao had easily secured these privileges. Although he was stationed in the First Division garrison and appeared unfree, that wasn't actually the case. As long as he completed his daily quota of potion production, no one would restrict his movements.
From the moment he entered the Soul Society until now, Su Xiao had acted harmless and lazy. If Yamamoto Genryusai had forced him, the old man would have long since seen through his disguise.
Yamamoto Genryusai wasn't that kind of person. Even though Su Xiao was stationed in the First Division, the old man ultimately said nothing, merely deploying ghost-like barriers around Su Xiao's room, forming a formation that reinforced the room's defensive capabilities.
Interestingly, when Yamamoto Genryusai summoned the other captains to discuss matters, he could often be heard praising Su Xiao's potion-making skills. The old man had grown accustomed to these captains, after all, since they were all recipients of the Soul Spirit Potion. The Soul Spirit Potion could raise the upper limit of a captain's spiritual pressure, and for captains and above, the Soul Spirit Potion only had a restorative effect, unable to permanently enhance spiritual pressure.
Inside the temporarily converted alchemy laboratory, Su Xiao was developing a new type of alchemy bomb. At that moment, the room's sliding wooden door was pushed open, and a small head poked into the room.
From this tentative action, it was clear the visitor had experience, knowing that Su Xiao's laboratory could explode at any moment.
"Lord Bai Ye, I've arrived."
The visitor stuck her head through the door crack, blinking her large, pitch-black eyes. A few strands of black hair fell along her cheeks.
"Come in, Nanque."
Su Xiao looked up at the visitor, a 'warm' smile appearing on his face.
The visitor was named Nanque, a female Shinigami, not old in age, with strength at the mid-level of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. She had a lively personality but was somewhat timid at critical moments, which was the main reason she had never been given important duties.
Hearing Su Xiao's words, the young girl Nanque revealed a toothy smile, looking youthful and radiant.
Nanque took small, quick steps to the wooden table, carefully gathered the potions on the table, then quickly ran back to the door. She hid her body behind the sliding door, only poking her head out—this was a lesson she had learned from experience.
In the eyes of this lively girl Nanque, Su Xiao was a pretty good superior. His tone wasn't particularly kind, but his smile was very gentle. Importantly, he wouldn't have any strange thoughts about her. The only flaw was that her superior often researched explosives.
"Lord Bai Ye, I'll go prepare lunch."
As she spoke, Nanque had already skipped away, but she soon wilted, because Yamamoto Genryusai was approaching from the distance.
Su Xiao helped the Soul Society produce potions, nominally for free, but that wasn't actually the case. He could earn Soul Society reputation by handing over the Soul Spirit Potions.
[Tip: The Hunter has gained 800 points of Soul Society Reputation.]
After Nanque left, a notification appeared. Su Xiao glanced at it. So far, he had gained 1,900 points of Soul Society Reputation.
How other Contractors gained Soul Society Reputation, Su Xiao didn't know, but 1,900 points was no small amount.
From entering the Bleach world until now, Su Xiao had been in the Soul Society for three days. During these three days, he had barely gone out, either researching new models of alchemy bombs or making potions.
Checking his current mana, he still had 4,356 points left. This mana was enough for emergencies. Su Xiao set down the half-finished alchemy bomb in his hand and stood up to walk out of the room.
When Su Xiao walked out of the First Division garrison, the Shinigami guarding the entrance only glanced at him, not blocking him, not even asking the most basic questions.
A gentle breeze blew as Su Xiao walked along the nearly spotless streets. Patrols of Shinigami passed by from time to time, but when they saw the ornament hanging from Su Xiao's clothes, no one came forward to question him.
Su Xiao's destination this time was the Sixth Division. He planned to check what items were in the 'Reputation Shop.' If there were good things, he would slightly increase his potion output to gain more Soul Society Reputation.
Just as Su Xiao turned a corner, he nearly collided head-on with a Shinigami wearing a white haori. But with Su Xiao's Instinct ability, could such a coincidence really happen?
"So it's Captain Aizen, what a coincidence."
The one who nearly collided with Su Xiao was Aizen Sosuke.
"Indeed. You came out for some air—that's rare."
Aizen smiled politely, his 'good-natured guy' personality fully displayed.
"I was planning to go to the Sixth Division, but I've only been in the Soul Society for a short time and I'm not familiar with the area."
"Oh?"
Hearing Su Xiao's words, Aizen's expression didn't change at all. He just pushed up the glasses on his nose.
"It just so happens I have nothing to do. How about I guide you?"
"This... how could I trouble you?"
"It's a small matter, Bai Ye. No need to be polite."
"Since that's the case, I'll trouble you."
Listening from an outsider's perspective, the conversation between Su Xiao and Aizen had no issues. Su Xiao gave other Shinigami the impression of being lazy and gentle, while Aizen was the good-natured guy. These two would seem like close friends with good personal relations.
At this moment, Aizen wasn't alone. Behind him followed a young girl with short, refreshing brown hair. Her name was Hinamori Momo. She looked weak overall, but she was actually the captain of the Fifth Division, meaning Aizen's assistant. Her strength wasn't weak, and she greatly admired Aizen.
Hinamori Momo looked at Su Xiao and Aizen, a smile involuntarily appearing on her face. In her eyes, Su Xiao and Aizen clearly had compatible temperaments.
Was that really the case? Removing the disguises, the actual situation was indeed so. If Yamamoto Genryusai and Ukitake Jushiro only suspected Su Xiao had issues, still in the observation stage, then Aizen had certainly already confirmed Su Xiao had problems. Because the two were very similar in nature, they could easily discover each other's kind.
"This way."
Aizen stepped forward, his pace unhurried.
"Hinamori, you go ahead and..."
Aizen's voice grew softer. After a moment, Hinamori Momo nodded.
"Leave it to me, Captain Aizen."
"Then I'll leave it to you."
"Yes!"
Hinamori Momo quickly walked away.
"Bai Ye, you might very well become a Shinigami in the future."
The corners of Aizen's mouth lifted as the two walked side by side.
"Who knows."
"Don't lose heart. With your potential, it's still very possible."
A conversation with no substance began. Hearing Aizen's line 'you might very well become a Shinigami in the future,' Su Xiao had already guessed the other's intention.
If Su Xiao wasn't mistaken, the 'good-natured guy' Aizen's following conversation would go like this: first talk about matters related to Shinigami, then mention Zanpakuto, and finally, Aizen might even introduce knowledge about Shikai and Bankai, while incidentally hypnotizing Su Xiao to make it easier to control him later.
Half an hour later, when Su Xiao and Aizen arrived in front of the Sixth Division garrison.
"Thank you for your guidance, Captain Aizen. It was very enlightening."
"It was just a small favor."
As Aizen spoke, he came in front of Su Xiao and carefully observed Su Xiao's pupils. This was, of course, a very incongruous action.
Yet, for some reason, Su Xiao stood still in place, still speaking as if chatting with some non-existent person.
"There... that should be no problem."
Aizen turned and walked away, no longer having the appearance of the good-natured guy from before.