Chapter 276: Let Us Look Forward to It

Chapter 276: Let Us Look Forward to It

What does he mean?!

Even with Senju Makoto's intellect, he felt like he had momentarily frozen.

Was that a warning? Or a threat? Even more absurd, the content of Aizen's threat was simply asking him to change his form of address? Are you kidding me?

Senju Makoto felt somewhat unable to comprehend.

However, seeing Aizen's expression, which didn't seem to be joking, he twitched his lips slightly and said, "Aizen-kun, you're quite humorous."

Aizen's eyebrows seemed to rise imperceptibly, and a smile appeared on his face, completely unconcerned about the latter half of Makoto's statement, which seemed more sarcastic than complimentary.

In Aizen's view, although he and Senju Makoto were truly equals, beings who could understand each other and walk together...

However, they were in different stages, so Aizen fully understood Makoto's wariness and hostility.

In the past, during his initial period after joining the Gotei 13, Aizen had also thought he could find someone among the Shinigami who could understand him.

However, reality was cruel! Just as ants could not comprehend the whispers of a dragon, even if the dragon lowered its head, the air stirred by its whispers would only be terrifying thunder to the ants.

Therefore, Makoto had not yet understood that loneliness, had not understood that only he was a true companion, which was understandable.

'For that, just a little more time is enough.'

Aizen made this judgment with certainty, and felt anticipation and joy.

"Makoto-kun, the journey to Hueco Mundo... let us look forward to it..."

Then, having seemingly achieved some goal, Aizen waved to Makoto and turned to walk towards his subordinates.

Aizen almost effortlessly returned to his usual gentle and refined perfect demeanor, handling various matters flawlessly.

Senju Makoto stood in place for a few moments, then waved to Rukia and the others from a distance...

Of course, Rukia's response to Makoto was merely an indifferent attitude, while Hinamori Momo and the other two were quite excited.

"Do your best, I hope to see you wearing shihakushō in the Seireitei next time!"

Makoto encouraged them loudly, then instantly disappeared from the spot, leaving Hinamori Momo and the others with eyes full of admiration and excitement.

In an instant, Makoto appeared on a high tower outside the abandoned steel factory, looking at Byakuya Kuchiki, who was wearing the Sixth Division captain's haori, and asked, "Byakuya, aren't you really going to go down and see Rukia?"

"There's no need. The matter has been resolved, hasn't it?"

Byakuya responded coldly, showing no sign of his previous urgency to get here quickly, even resorting to borrowing the upper-class noble's Senkaimon closest to the Spiritual Arts Academy.

It was precisely because of this that Makoto had arrived here earlier than Aizen had expected.

Having become accustomed to Byakuya's cold exterior and warm heart, Makoto didn't bother to persuade him further. He followed Byakuya's gaze towards Rukia and glanced at Aizen's back.

Resolved? No, things had only just begun! Makoto recalled Aizen's last words, realizing that the journey to Hueco Mundo might be even more troublesome than he had imagined.

The Soul Society wasn't suitable for battle, so were they planning to do it in Hueco Mundo?

At this point, Makoto felt that he and Aizen were almost in a state of semi-open cards with each other.

Regarding the incident where the first-year students of the Spiritual Arts Academy were attacked by a Menos Grande, although dozens of students were lost, it didn't cause much of a stir in the Seireitei.

It merely made the various divisions pay a little more attention to avoiding gaps in their duties when selecting elite Shinigami to form the expeditionary force.

...

A few days later, in the largest square in the Seireitei, thousands of elite Shinigami from different divisions gathered.

In addition to the shihakushō symbolizing their Shinigami identity, these elite Shinigami wore uniform gray cloaks, with the division's flower patterns and emblems on them to distinguish their original divisions.

For the Shinigami, these cloaks not only made them less conspicuous in the desolate desert environment of Hueco Mundo, but also had the effect of reducing their attraction to Hollows.

At the forefront of these elite Shinigami stood three captains, led by Aizen Sōsuke, and five vice-captains, led by Chōjirō Sasakibe.

It could be said that, given the unusually large number of terrifying Adjuchas in Hueco Mundo, the lineup of this expeditionary force was unprecedentedly luxurious.

Even Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni had specifically included his vice-captain, demonstrating the importance he placed on this expeditionary force and his determination not to allow it to suffer losses in Hueco Mundo.

Among them, Senju Makoto was also a member of the expeditionary force's vice-captains, leading fifty elite Fourth Division medical personnel as the expeditionary force's medical support.

Given the danger of this mission and to ensure that the Fourth Division's duties could be handled normally, so that Retsu Unohana wouldn't have to be burdened with tedious tasks,

Makoto had specifically left Isane Kotetsu and Risa Aoki behind, only taking Hanatarō Yamada as his main assistant.

Soon, under Mayuri Kurotsuchi's personal command, the Research and Development Institute opened a huge Garganta leading to Hueco Mundo.

Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni struck his cane heavily and spoke with authority.

"Gentlemen... good fortune in battle!"

Then, led by Aizen Sōsuke, who was the first to step into the Garganta, the elite Shinigami entered one after another, with the vice-captains entering last to deal with unexpected situations.

Soon, thousands of elite Shinigami had entered the Garganta in an orderly manner. Chōjirō Sasakibe looked around, then bowed towards Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni and said stiffly, "Let's follow them."

Then, Chōjirō Sasakibe entered the Garganta without hesitation, and the other vice-captains followed quickly, leaving only Senju Makoto, the vice-captain of the medical division, at the end.

Senju Makoto took a step towards the Garganta without hesitation, but felt a sudden premonition. He turned to look at the crowd sending them off, and almost instantly recognized Retsu Unohana's familiar figure.

"Unohana-sensei..."

Senju Makoto murmured, almost completely ignoring Isane Kotetsu and Risa Aoki standing on either side of Unohana Retsu, his eyes reflecting only Unohana Retsu's image.

(End of this chapter)