[ FEND ]: sender adopts a defensive position that stops the receiver from launching an attack on them.
The war was over. For the Gotei 13, it had been but mere months. For the wrongly exiled, it had been a full century. Yet, no matter how long one had waited, it was now finally over. Thanks to the valiant efforts of one Ichigo Kurosaki, Sosuke Aizen had finally been defeated. Plans of universal conquest from an egomaniacal madman were finally brought crashing down by a yet living teenager and those who had supported him most. At long last, victory.
Now came the aftermath. With the great evil defeated and the Living World now secure, Yamamoto's priorities had to return to Soul Society. There would need to be rebuilding, restructuring. They'd need to ensure that something like this couldn't happen again. Aizen had come too close. His schemes had exposed a weakness in Soul Society that Yamamoto couldn't afford to ignore.
That being said, such a thing would take time, and before that, he had more immediate things to take responsibility for. The exiles-now calling themselves the "Visored"-had deigned to remain after the battle, if only to recover from the exaustion afflicting them all. Or perhaps, simply taking the time to let it sink in that it was finally over. Regardless, Yamamoto had words for them.
The Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13 had gone to each of the Visored, swallowed his pride, and had bowed his head and apologized. He admitted that the sentencing they had received was wrong, accepted responsibility for allowing and enforcing it, and swore that it would be revoked as soon as he returned to the Seireitei. They would be free to return to Soul Society as they pleased, and if they chose to do so, they would be welcomed back to their old positions that rightfully still belonged to them. He swore all of this on his pride as the Captain-Commander.
He had not expected any of them to entertain the notion. They had been horribly mistreated by the Gotei 13; even with Aizen defeated, that would not change. It would only make sense for them to spit in his face for what he had allowed (though he doubted any of them would go quite that far). Still, the apology and acceptance of responsibility both had to be made, as did the offer to return to their old positions. The individual's justice could never outweigh the world's justice, but luckily, the world's justice had more important things to focus on than this.
As it turned out, they surprised him; Shinji Hirako, Rojuro Otoribashi, Kensei Muguruma, and Mashiro Kuna had all elected to return to their old posts. They had not come to their decision immediately, but the fact that they had chosen to return at all was still shocking to Yamamoto. He was not sure he would have been a big enough man to do the same, had he been in their position.
Even so, their return-while unexpected-was as far from unwelcome as such appointments could be. Of course, the fact that three of the returnees were Captains meant that they had to pass a Captaincy Exam. It was the barest formality; Soul Society couldn't afford to turn them away, and besides, Yamamoto had already promised the jobs to them and he would not renege on that. However, allowing them back without such a formality could create...complications if the newly-appointed Central 46 decided to be difficult later on down the line. Sometimes, one had to go through tedium in the present in order to prevent problems in the future.
So it was that Yamamoto and Captain Otoribashi found themselves opposite one another in a specially prepared facility. This exam was very simple; show that his skills had not declined, and he passed. Considering the coordination he'd shown during the battle at the fake Karakura Town, Yamamoto wasn't too terribly concerned. And, well, even if he did fall short, Yamamoto would pass him anyway. The performance didn't matter as much as the fact that he had performed at all.
The initial clash had proven Yamamoto correct when the one others closer to him called "Rose" successfully warded off his initial strike and proceeded to take a stance that made a follow up difficult.
"It is good to see that your skills with a whip have not diminished, Rojuro Otoribashi."