After the Battle / Graduation Ceremony

Xuanxin's nerves, which had been taut all night, finally settled completely. He struggled to raise the corners of his mouth, then his vision went black and he passed out in the teacher's arms.

That night, beneath the starry sky of the World of the Living, Shin'ō Academy's unparalleled genius had delivered a graduation performance to all of Soul Society that would go down in history.

Chapter 25: After the Battle

When Xuanxin opened his eyes again, the first things he noticed were the familiar smell of disinfectant and the familiar ceiling.

"Ah... what a familiar ceiling. It really does feel like home."

Xuanxin didn't even have to guess where he was. The Fourth Division had practically become his second home, and he had spent more nights in its wards than at the Shihoin Clan's residence. A crushing defeat for the Shihoin Clan!

While Xuanxin was still lost in thought, the ward door was pushed gently open, and a familiar figure walked in.

Fourth Division Captain Retsu Unohana stood before Xuanxin's bed, wearing her familiar smile as she said:

"Looks like you're recovering quickly. You should be able to get up and move around in a little while."

"All right. Sorry for the trouble, Captain Uno..."

Xuanxin had just been about to exchange a few pleasantries when, in the next moment, he keenly sensed that something was off about the air in the room.

Retsu Unohana took a few more steps toward the bed, then leaned down slightly, radiating an air of danger. Her narrowed eyes snapped open as she said:

"I heard from those students and the 11th Division that you apparently split a Gillian in two with a single slash, didn't you?"

"Uh... yes..." Xuanxin answered meekly.

Unohana's smile grew even brighter, and her voice became even gentler, as though she were coaxing a child.

"Still, I don't think I've ever seen such a stunning slash in any of our fights~ It seems... I haven't been putting enough pressure on you."

Retsu Unohana's voice was as gentle as could be, yet Xuanxin was trembling slightly. A chill shot straight from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

Xuanxin knew the woman before him all too well: she spoke the gentlest words while wielding the cruelest blade. Now that she had set her sights on him, she would probably chop even his bones to fragments during his future days in the dojo.

What if I went and uprooted that tree Old Man Yamamoto just planted in the First Division's courtyard? Would that get me a few more days in intensive care?!

While Xuanxin was lost in thought, Retsu Unohana straightened up and slowly walked to the ward door.

Hearing the hinges creak, Xuanxin came back to his senses and called out to her, "Um... Captain Unohana!"

Retsu Unohana turned to look at Xuanxin, tilting her head slightly.

"Captain Unohana, how are the teachers and students who went to the World of the Living with me? Is everyone all right?"

At Xuanxin's question, the playful look gradually faded from Retsu Unohana's face. Then she spoke in a voice full of compassion:

"Please don't worry. The teachers and students who were brought back are all out of danger. They simply don't have the power of your Zanpakuto, so they aren't recovering as quickly as you."

At that, Retsu Unohana paused, her voice growing a little softer. "But the others... I'm sorry."

She didn't finish, but both of them understood what she had left unsaid.

The Fourth Division could pull the wounded back from death's door, but those who had stayed in the forest forever would probably never come back.

The ward's previously lively atmosphere was instantly shrouded in a pall of sorrow.

With that, Retsu Unohana slipped out of the room, leaving Xuanxin alone to stare blankly at the ceiling.

"If I had been a little stronger, then maybe..."

While Xuanxin was still thinking, the door opened again, and Kisuke Urahara walked in.

"Yo~ Xuanxin, you're awake. How are you feeling?" Kisuke Urahara pulled up a chair and sat down, speaking in his usual lazy drawl.

"Thanks to Lord Kisuke Urahara, I'm not dead yet." After speaking, Xuanxin glanced toward the door.

Watching Xuanxin act like a statue waiting for his wife, Kisuke Urahara gave him a teasing smile and continued:

"My, my~ Someone hasn't even become the Shihoin Clan's son-in-law yet, and he's already worrying about her? How touching."

"..."

Two veins bulged on Xuanxin's forehead. He looked at the blond man speechlessly, not even bothering to retort.

Seeing Xuanxin at a loss, Kisuke Urahara chuckled and folded his fan, his expression gradually turning serious.

"Don't worry, Yoruichi's doing just fine. She's leading the Stealth Force in turning the whole Seireitei upside down like a madwoman, determined to find whoever tampered with the Senkaimon."

At that, Kisuke Urahara's hand paused slightly as he played with his fan, and his gaze suddenly grew deep.

"But... I think that even if the entire Stealth Force were mobilized, they'd probably have a hard time catching the real culprit."

Xuanxin fell somewhat silent at that.

Indeed, anyone who could plant a suicidal operative in Shin'ō Academy's group and tamper with the Senkaimon couldn't be an ordinary person, no matter how he looked at it.

Following Urahara's gaze, Xuanxin looked out the window with him at the seemingly peaceful Seireitei, where undercurrents were surging beneath the surface, and murmured softly:

"Yeah. Across all of Soul Society, there probably aren't many clans capable of something like that."

Meanwhile, at the Shihoin Clan's residence.

"Bang—"

A muffled crash rang out at Seigen's desk. Several shocking cracks had been smashed into the wooden desk he treasured.

Sure enough, just as Xuanxin and Urahara had expected, Yoruichi's investigation was soon called off.

"Why?! Old man, tell me why you ordered the Stealth Force's search authorization revoked!"

Trembling with rage, Yoruichi pointed a finger at Seigen and roared:

"This wasn't an accident! It was murder, plain and simple! So many teachers and students were killed by those rats hiding in the gutter! Xuanxin almost died too!"

Faced with his daughter's fury, which seemed ready to tear the study apart, Seigen remained shocked. Then he looked at the desk with a pained expression and said:

"Because the Stealth Force isn't the Shihoin Clan's private army. Letting you search as you pleased these past few days was already the greatest concession I could make."

"Besides, you haven't found any useful evidence these past few days. How could I let you keep running around like a headless fly? So the public investigation must stop too!"

At those words, most of Yoruichi's anger was immediately doused.

Just as she was feeling disappointed and unwilling to accept it, her keen intuition suddenly caught a loophole in her father's words.

Yoruichi exclaimed in delight, "Wait! Old man, what do you mean, 'the public investigation'?!"

Seigen let out a long sigh, then clapped his hands. A figure immediately appeared in the room.

"You're here. Tell the young lady what the investigation uncovered."

"Yes, Clan Head, Young Lady." The black-clad figure dropped to one knee and spoke respectfully.

"Our investigation found that the teacher assigned to protect the young lady was the illegitimate son of an ordinary noble under the Tsunayashiro. It would seem the Tsunayashiro Clan is likely behind this. However, we're still investigating the evidence..."

"Good. You may go. Continue to keep a close watch on the Tsunayashiro Clan," Seigen said with a wave.

"Yes." As the voice faded, the figure vanished into the shadows.

Seigen rubbed his throbbing temples and looked at his daughter, who did everything on sheer passion. With a considerable headache, he said:

"Sigh~ Can you really take charge of the Shihoin Clan like this? Of course I won't let them get away with hurting my daughter and my future son-in-law, but we still have to maintain appearances in public. Do you understand, Yoruichi?"

But Yoruichi merely tilted her head, her eyes full of confusion at such roundabout behavior.

Yet when she thought back to her father's words, "future son-in-law," a trace of awkwardness flashed across her usually carefree face.

Seeing this, Seigen took a deep breath, instantly furious at her lack of progress.

"You've got the nerve to blush?! You're really useless! It's been so long, and that boy has even killed a Gillian. How come you still haven't gotten him to take the Shihoin name?!"

Hearing her father shift the blame, Yoruichi's ears reddened slightly, but she still shot back coldly, "Is that so? I wonder who it was that kept interrupting me back then!"

Hearing that, Seigen coughed hard several times, then said without batting an eye, "Ahem! Is that so? I don't know what you're talking about."

"..."

A few minutes later, an even louder commotion erupted from Seigen's room.

Chapter 26: Graduation Ceremony

The situation afterward developed just as Seigen had expected.

The public investigation was hastily declared over after a highly bizarre incident.

One ordinary night, the entire family of the instructor who had been the mole—more than seventy people—"committed suicide" together in their residence!

As a result, the trail went completely cold.

Central 46 took advantage of the situation, blamed everything on the Soul Reaper's jealousy, and hastily declared the case closed.

However, although the public investigation had ended, the struggle between the Shihoin and Tsunayashiro Clans had completely shed the respectable trappings of nobility and moved entirely into the darkness of Soul Society.

During this time, the Shihoin Clan's assassins and the Tsunayashiro Clan's suicidal operatives clashed and skirmished in secret countless times.

In the end, the confrontation between the two noble clans came to a close when a "rising star" of the Tsunayashiro Clan was accidentally hacked to death by "criminals" in Rukongai.

It was a forceful retaliation in kind, as well as a merciless warning from the Shihoin Clan to the Tsunayashiro Clan.

In this confrontation, the Tsunayashiro Clan not only lost a member of its direct bloodline but also suffered a severe blow to its reputation.

After all, everyone knew the truth behind the entire lesser noble family's forced "suicide." No one wanted to follow a master who might treat its vassals as disposable pawns at any moment.

Thus, after the turmoil, quite a few lesser nobles who had already been wavering secretly switched allegiances and quietly joined the seemingly more honorable Shihoin Clan.

Faced with this situation, the Tsunayashiro Clan could only swallow its anger and lie low, waiting for its next opportunity.

Of course, the bloodshed between the nobles did not affect the normal workings of Soul Society on the surface.

As time passed, it was only when the last injured student left the Fourth Division's hospital that the gloom hanging over the academy truly and completely lifted.

The Shin'ō Academy graduation ceremony everyone had been eagerly awaiting finally arrived.

This graduation ceremony, however, was different from those before it. Before the ceremony began, there was a solemn observance to be held.

At that moment, before the memorial at Shin'ō Academy.

A light drizzle fell from the sky. All the teachers and students in the academy wore pure white uniforms and stood solemnly before the monument, attending a memorial service for the fallen teachers and students.

The students who had survived the expedition had all been placed at the very front of the group.

Without anyone deliberately organizing it, the crowd naturally gave the three places in the very center to Xuanxin and his two companions.

As representatives of the graduating class, they would offer flowers at the memorial.

When Xuanxin and his two companions carried the pure white flowers onto the path leading to the monument, everyone's eyes converged on the three of them.

More precisely, their gazes converged on Xuanxin, who had been placed in the center. The looks directed at him were filled with an intense fervor that bordered on faith!

He had been the commander in that battle where death was certain and survival impossible, and even more so the hope that had allowed them all to return home alive.

Under everyone's breathless, intent gazes, Xuanxin and his two companions walked steadily up to the memorial.

The three of them bent slightly and solemnly placed the bouquet of white flowers at the base of the monument.

Then they took half a step back, closed their eyes, and lowered their heads.