So-Called Genius

Facing Sosuke Aizen's faint test, Akira's heart tightened almost instinctively.

A "test" was only used on targets with value, or targets who had aroused some kind of suspicion.

So the moment Aizen said those words, Akira understood that this terrifying man had truly noticed him.

Whether this encounter was coincidence no longer mattered.

His thoughts spun rapidly, while his face showed just the right amount of youthful awkwardness in response to praise. "Lieutenant Aizen, you give me too much credit. I am only a newcomer."

If nothing else, during the two months since joining the Fourth Division, acting young, harmless, and innocent had almost become Akira's instinct. No matter how many thoughts churned inside him, almost none of it showed on the surface.

After a short pause, he shifted the topic and subtly tried to seize back the initiative. "Lieutenant Aizen, you seemed to know my name just now. Have you heard of me?"

To Akira, this was almost a meaningless question. On the surface, it was not something he should pursue. Avoiding more suspicion and finding a way to get away from Aizen quickly should have been the priority.

After all, this was the Fourth Division barracks. It was not very likely that Aizen would make a direct move inside Seireitei.

But Akira understood that for Sosuke Aizen, who wielded Kyoka Suigetsu, the strongest illusion-type Zanpakuto, no one knew how many Shinigami's five senses were already under its control.

In Akira's view, facing Aizen alone was extremely dangerous.

Still, first, he needed to shift the center of the conversation onto Aizen himself and divide the man's attention.

Second, Akira had to think from the position of an ordinary Shinigami. If a lieutenant-level Shinigami called out his name in the middle of the night and started talking to him, asking how the lieutenant knew him would be a perfectly natural doubt.

Aizen smiled gently at Akira's question.

"How could I not know your name, Akira-kun? Captain Unohana's disciple. The genius Captain Unohana personally acknowledged as possessing a talent for Kaido and medicine no less than her own. Also, the first male Shinigami in Seireitei's history to join the gynecology department."

Akira stared.

Was this how Retsu Unohana bragged outside?

Akira did not consider himself a genius at all. For the past two months, he had studied desperately every day, and even then he could only barely survive Unohana's daily guidance.

He had even used many medical concepts from his previous life.

Unfortunately, although Akira had been a newly graduated medical student in that previous life, Soul Society's medical system and the medical system he remembered were completely different concepts. More importantly, a physical body and a spiritual body were utterly different.

Because of that, the medical thinking from his previous life only gave him a few additional angles to consider most of the time.

'Honestly, Teacher. If you want to brag outside, why drag me into it?'

While he complained inwardly, on the surface he looked as if he had been startled. With helpless sincerity, he said, "Lieutenant Aizen, that must be a rumor. I have only been in the Fourth Division for two months. At present, I have barely finished the necessary Kaido and medical texts for the gynecology department."

Aizen raised an eyebrow slightly. "Akira-kun, did you not know? For ordinary Fourth Division Shinigami, it usually takes three to five years to smoothly grasp even part of the Kaido and medical skill required by a department. Shinigami who lack talent may never fully master it at all."

"What?"

This time, Akira was genuinely surprised.

No one had told him this common sense.

He had never gone through the Fourth Division's unified basic training in the morgue. Unohana had sent him straight into the gynecology department. After that, he had discovered that Risa Aoki, who had also just joined the department, had already perfectly mastered its required Kaido and medical knowledge.

That had created the mistaken impression that his own talent sat at an ordinary level within the Fourth Division.

"No wonder... Teacher Unohana directly permitted Risa Aoki to join a relief team. She must have been studying Kaido and medicine since childhood. She is probably talented herself..."

Akira murmured quietly and instantly understood several small details he had overlooked.

"Akira-kun, what did you say?" Aizen asked, sounding curious.

Akira scratched his head and answered like an innocent boy who had just realized something. "Nothing. I only realized I seem to have misunderstood something before."

Aizen stepped forward and patted his shoulder, acting warm and approachable. "Akira-kun, your talent is quite remarkable. From now on, I hope you will look after the Fifth Division as well."

Akira perfectly displayed the reaction of a simple boy overwhelmed by favor, someone who had not seen much of the world and had focused only on studying Kaido and medicine. He responded to Aizen's warmth as if slightly unable to handle it.

For a time, the atmosphere between them looked extremely harmonious and friendly, almost like a warm senior indulging a respectful junior.

Then, just as Akira felt the timing was about right and prepared to find an excuse to put distance between himself and Aizen, the man who had been actively speaking with him seemed to mention something in passing.

"Akira-kun, if one wanted to separate a Zanpakuto from a spiritual body, what method could accomplish that?"

Akira froze slightly. Then he looked at Aizen with surprise. While remaining secretly alert, he played dumb and answered, "Lieutenant Aizen, does that even need to be asked? You reach out, pick up the Zanpakuto, and set it on the ground."

"No."

Aizen adjusted his glasses. The lenses caught the light, making it difficult to see his eyes. His voice, however, remained very mild.

"Not that kind of separation. I mean complete separation, extracting a Shinigami's power from a normal spiritual body."

Akira was shocked.

Was it truly appropriate to ask him something like this so directly?

Anyone who did not know better might think the two of them were co-conspirators planning to do something enormous in secret.

At once, Akira reacted in a way that suited his persona. He looked both flustered and serious as he warned, "Lieutenant Aizen, that is an extremely dangerous idea. Seireitei would never permit it."

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