Bleach: Watch Closely, This Is How You Use a Zanpakutō novel Chapter 368

Chapter 368: Chapter 368: The Greedy One

The overall structure of Gatonden perfectly reflected Kirio Hikifune’s personality.

As she put it herself, the mountains, rivers, sky, and earth—all of nature’s scenery—served a single purpose: to provide her with ingredients.

But Masatsuki Aozaki saw it differently. To him, this scenery existed just as much for her as it did for her cooking.

Kirio Hikifune was not someone who cared about dressing up.

Senjumaru Shutara would at least apply some light makeup when making an appearance, but Kirio had no such inclination.

Whether she was spending time with Masatsuki, attending Gotei 13’s captain meetings, or even at the last welcome party, she remained entirely herself—unpolished, untouched by embellishments.

Senjumaru had once suggested teaching her how to apply makeup, and she had gone to Masatsuki for his opinion.

His response?

"You’re fine just the way you are."

Since then, she had never once entertained the thought of wearing makeup.

And, standing under the warm sunlight, her natural beauty only enhanced the peaceful charm of the moment.

Masatsuki had never wanted to change that about her.

Not because he thought makeup was unnecessary, nor because he opposed the idea of self-improvement.

It was simply because, to him, Kirio Hikifune was already perfect.

Her beauty was pure, untainted, requiring no embellishment or alteration.

Her unrefined, effortless charm blended seamlessly with the nature around her, making her part of the landscape—its most beautiful part.

It was good for her to remain as she was.

Of course, there was nothing wrong with embracing things that could make one better, but Masatsuki still hoped she would never lose this part of herself.

It was a selfish contradiction.

When faced with something as beautiful as Kirio, he couldn’t help but want to preserve her as she was, untouched.

And in doing so, he felt an even deeper urge—to keep her all to himself.

That was the greed of Masatsuki Aozaki.

A possessiveness that, strangely enough, was always seen as a virtue in the eyes of his lovers.

Who was truly at fault for that? He had no idea.

It was an amusing mystery.

...

By midday, the two had wandered to a tranquil lakeside nestled within the dense forest.

Masatsuki retrieved a set of outdoor cooking tools from his shadow space and turned a few of the local cute little creatures into a delicious lunch.

Unsurprisingly, the rising smoke attracted the attention of the Divine Soldiers patrolling the area.

Upon seeing that it was just Kirio and Masatsuki, they exchanged a few pleasantries before sensibly deciding not to intrude, quickly retreating to their posts.

As Masatsuki watched the fully armed Divine Soldiers patrol their own territory, he shook his head.

Kirio blinked in confusion at him.

Masatsuki chuckled.

"If Retsu saw this, she’d be thrilled. Every time I go on a date with her, the first thing we clash with is our swords."

Kirio shuddered at the thought.

Masatsuki affectionately ran his fingers through her hair, grinning.

"But her hobbies are way too violent—don’t go picking up any bad habits, okay?"

"...Mm."

Kirio nodded obediently.

The truth was, she and Retsu Unohana had always had a good relationship.

As two of the oldest captains in the Gotei 13, they had known each other for centuries.

And if there was one thing everyone knew, it was that scientific research often led to accidents.

No one understood this better than Masatsuki Aozaki and Kisuke Urahara.

After all, whenever the 12th Division’s experiments went horribly wrong, the injured would flood into the 4th Division for treatment—sometimes even more frequently than members of the 11th Division, who actually sought out danger.

Naturally, over time, they had all grown familiar with each other.

Spending so much time together inevitably led to some friction, but for the most part, Kirio and Retsu had no real personal grudges.

...Or so one might think.

Kirio stole a glance at Masatsuki.

Retsu had claimed him for herself.

Meanwhile, she had held onto the title of his "girlfriend" for decades and had barely even seen him. The furthest they had ever gone was kissing.

The thought irked her.

To be fair, Retsu had met Masatsuki first.

She had been intrigued after hearing rumors that the Captain-Commander had taken an interest in him and decided to check him out for herself—going so far as to drag Jūshirō Ukitake out of Shin’ō Academy in the process.

But that didn’t matter.

She had been the first to confirm her relationship with him.

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