A week later, the investigation team led by the Second Division finally found a crucial lead and successfully captured the "culprit" behind the tragedy involving the trainees in the 35th district of Rukongai.
A high-ranking noble who had escaped from the Maggot's Nest, Zendō Ryūji.
According to the trial results released by Central 46, Ryūji fully confessed to his motives and methods during interrogation.
A hundred years ago, the Zendō family, once an influential noble house, was massacred by a rival clan. Only one child survived, Ryūji.
Because of this, he developed deep hatred toward the Soul Society, believing it to be corrupt and unjust. Over the past century, he secretly trained, built his strength, and crafted his plan for revenge. At the same time, he established contact with Hueco Mundo and began his conspiracy.
The invisible Hollows that attacked the trainees were none other than Hollows he had tamed in Hueco Mundo.
Based on his confession, the investigation team also discovered a hidden base on the outskirts of Rukongai. The evidence matched his statements, thus the case was considered solved.
Ryūji Zendō was sentenced to death and personally executed by Central 46. The news quickly reached the Academy, and both students and instructors celebrated the conclusion of the tragedy.
Thus, the internship incident was, at least on the surface, brought to an end.
---
Fourth Division Barracks.
"Saitō-san, are you here?"
"Captain Unohana has been waiting for you for a while."
"My apologies, I ran into an old lady who got lost, so I was delayed."
After several days of rest at the Shin'ō Academy, Arata finally returned to the Fourth Division.
This time he met Isane, who no longer carried her enormous book. Instead, she was treating the wounded alongside other division members.
Arata noticed that some of the injured were not wearing standard Shinigami uniforms but black ones belonging to the Onmitsukidō, the Stealth Force. It seemed there had been resistance during the capture of the "culprit."
Thinking of this, Arata smiled faintly to himself.
It was very likely that Central 46 had already become a mere puppet facade under Aizen's control, and Zendō Ryūji was just a pawn sacrificed to divert attention.
After bidding farewell to Yūne, Arata went straight to Captain Unohana Retsu's training room. When he passed through the hidden door, he once again saw the familiar dojo with its stone floor covered in traces of battle.
Unohana was already prepared, dressed in her training outfit, a gentle smile on her face.
"Arata-kun, you're late," she said softly, but her tone carried a playful threat. "But don't worry. I know exactly how to make you make up for it."
Arata could already feel a cold sweat running down his back. Her voice sounded in his ears like the whisper of a demon.
He could already predict what the coming days would be like.
"Captain Unohana… please, be gentle today."
"Of course."
Twenty minutes later, the dojo floor was covered in sweat. Arata, who had started in training clothes, was now almost completely bare, kneeling on the ground.
His back was tense, his breathing heavy and deep. His muscles flexed and relaxed in rhythm with his breath. Sweat ran down his torso, gathering in the grooves of his muscles, reflecting the light shining from above.
Tick. Tick.
His right hand, completely overworked, barely held the wooden sword.
"I'm still too weak…"
Just when he thought he would collapse, a gentle hand supported him from behind. It was Captain Unohana's bare hand, which quietly rested against his chest.
"Arata-kun," she whispered, "don't underestimate yourself."
"Today, you lasted two minutes longer than last time. That's excellent."
Her words were like a soft ribbon wrapping around his heart. Perhaps because of her hobby, flower arrangement, every time she approached, he could smell a faint floral scent.
The aroma was sharp and slightly cool, instantly driving away all of Arata's fatigue.
He stood up with Captain Unohana Retsu's help, his lips trembling slightly.
"In comparison to you, my level is still far beneath."
His gaze fell upon Unohana before him. She wasn't as tall as he was, her head barely reached his chest, maybe around 160 centimeters.
Looking down, Arata's eyes unconsciously lingered on her hair, but to his disappointment, there were the recognizable braids that disrupted the purity of her beauty.
"It would look better if you let your hair down…"
Arata spoke almost automatically, and when he realized what he had said, it was already too late.
"Oh? So that's what Arata-kun really thinks?" Unohana squinted slightly, her tone half teasing, half chilling.
"You still have the energy for thoughts like that? It seems the training wasn't intense enough."
Arata immediately raised his hands in surrender. "Captain Unohana, my apologies. It was just a joke—"
"Oh? So you think it's not pretty?"
"N-no! That's not what I meant!"
"Arata-kun, you'll have to make that clear."
"I… I…"
Unohana stepped closer and closer, and Arata grew increasingly flustered, not knowing what to do.
In his previous life, he had been a loner. Since reincarnating, he hadn't had any experience dealing with women, especially not dangerous ones like Unohana Retsu. Her tone, her proximity, her direct teasing, it all threw him completely off balance.
Unohana noticed his hesitation and knew the teasing had gone far enough. She changed her tone and turned away.
"All right then, take a break. We'll continue in half an hour."
She paused at the exit of the secret room and called out to him, "And don't forget, clean the floor."
She left the dojo, quietly returning to her quarters. The training hadn't left a single trace on her, she wasn't even sweating. She had no need to change clothes.
But Arata's words and their brief physical contact stirred a strange feeling in her heart.
She stopped before a mirror, looked at herself, and her hands unconsciously reached for the braids on her chest. For a moment, she seemed lost in thought, as if something had crossed her mind.
Meanwhile, in the secret room, Arata quickly cleaned the area and sat down to rest.
"Hah…"
He let out a long sigh of relief. He was lucky Unohana hadn't attacked him for the foolish thing he had said.
Although he was now training under her and technically her student, he felt that he survived only thanks to his persistence and the powers inherited from his previous life.
Their relationship still wasn't strong enough for him to joke like that.
And more than that, he knew that Captain Unohana was, in truth, a deadly woman, a legendary killer from the past whose hands were soaked in blood long before she became a healer. All that gentleness and the smiling face, it was only a mask, imposed upon her by the Captain-Commander's orders.
Fortunately, Arata truly worked hard. Through superhuman effort and sweat, he managed to endure two days of her training and complete the entrance test. That was the reason she treated him somewhat more leniently now.
He knew that clearly.
Thinking about it, he still felt slight unease in his chest. He couldn't relax.
"Maybe… I should show her the Dark Flame Slash?"
It was a special move he had developed after the previous training. The purple-black spiritual pressure condensed into the blade and then released as a burning slash, it was a Hadō-like form of a combat-type Zanpakutō technique he had created himself, combining his inner reiatsu compression with inspiration from Yamamoto's Ennetsu Jigoku and Getsuga Tenshō from the original universe.
When they first met, Unohana's brutal mentorship had completely reshaped his basic kendo style. Combined with the pressure of death and his own theories, that synergy gave birth to a completely new fighting style.
Due to the short time available for refining it, he hadn't dared to show her the technique immediately, but he had tested it once during his next training session.
For a captain, such an attack was only a lower-tier technique, something ordinary. But for someone who hadn't even graduated from the Academy yet, it was a display of potential.
"If she sees that move, she definitely won't pay attention to the stupid thing I said earlier," Arata muttered to himself.
He was thinking about how to perform the technique, completely forgetting he wasn't alone in the room.
"Ah… I can't pretend I didn't hear that you said you're creating your own techniques."