The Real Target Lies Elsewhere (Continued)
They were confident they could move freely through Seireitei's maze of rooftops and dark alleys, gathering the information they wanted without anyone noticing.
Yet these vermin, who had lurked in the gutter for too long, had forgotten the simplest of truths—
No matter how small a patch of darkness was, it had nowhere to hide beneath a true "blazing sun."
At that moment, inside the First Division Barracks at the very center of Seireitei, in a quiet room with a somewhat austere, old-fashioned decor,
Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai, hailed as the strongest Soul Reaper in Soul Society in the past thousand years, stood calmly before a wide writing desk, dressed in loose clothing.
His wrist suspended above the desk, Yamamoto held a writing brush with fingers as steady as a mountain, sweeping ink across the pristine xuan paper.
"Swish—"
Just as those dark figures swept across the sky above Seireitei, the Captain-Commander's brush paused ever so slightly on the paper.
No matter how skillful the scouts' concealment methods were, before the old man known as Soul Society's strongest Soul Reaper, all their disguises stood out as glaringly as drops of ink on white paper.
Even so, these insignificant "little mice" did not disrupt Captain-Commander Yamamoto's calligraphy practice.
The old man opened his eyes a little wider, and a calm as deep as an abyss flashed through those eyes marked by the ravages of time and scars from blades.
Then the brush in his hand continued moving across the paper, tracing the final strokes in a smooth, flowing motion, their force seeming to penetrate the paper itself.
"Tap."
As the final powerful stroke came down, Captain-Commander Yamamoto gently set the brush on the edge of the inkstone.
Without turning around, he called toward the empty doorway of the quiet room in a level but piercing voice:
"Sasakibe."
As soon as his voice fell, Chōjirō Sasakibe, vice-captain of the First Division, silently emerged from the shadows outside the door.
He bowed slightly, his expression solemn as he awaited orders.
Captain-Commander Yamamoto then turned around, clasped his hands behind his back, and walked slowly and steadily to the window.
Through the window lattice, by the faint moonlight in the courtyard, his gaze fell on the charred piece of wood from which a tender shoot had sprouted.
The old man silently watched that touch of fresh green, then spoke as though chatting with an old friend he had known for a thousand years, his tone tinged with both emotion and contemplation:
"Sasakibe... tell me, have I truly been too softhearted and lenient all these years?"
Chōjirō Sasakibe trembled slightly at the words, but his usually serious face betrayed little emotion, and he did not immediately reply.
But as Captain-Commander Yamamoto's utterly trusted confidant of a thousand years, Sasakibe understood the weight behind those words better than anyone.
He knew the Captain-Commander was reflecting on his actions.
Ever since that bloody battle a thousand years ago, the god of slaughter once known as the "Sword Demon" had forcibly confined himself within the framework of rules, all to preserve Soul Society's hard-won peace and order.
Yet not everyone had repaid that leniency with gratitude.
On the contrary, it had given the vermin hiding in Soul Society's dark corners a certain illusion.
They had grown bolder and bolder, their secret schemes spreading wildly in the shadows like poisonous weeds. Now, they even dared stir up trouble right under Seireitei's nose.
"It seems I've stayed quiet for too long this time. It's about time I made a small move and reminded certain people."
There was no change of emotion on Captain-Commander Yamamoto's withered, bark-like face, but his next words made the air throughout the First Division freeze in an instant:
"Sasakibe, go and relay my orders."
"Assemble the First Division's members immediately. From now on, temporarily take control of every major street surrounding the noble district. Tonight, a complete curfew will be imposed on Seireitei!"
"Tonight, anyone who attempts to go out and move about without my written authorization, regardless of status, will be treated as a rebel and killed on the spot!"
Hearing that ruthless order, Chōjirō Sasakibe lowered his head deeply, concealing the shock in his eyes.
Though it had only been a few short sentences, for a moment Sasakibe seemed to see Shigekuni Yamamoto as he had been a thousand years ago, leading the first generation of the Gotei 13, before he had the slash-shaped scar on his head!
"As you command, Captain-Commander!"
Without hesitation, Chōjirō Sasakibe dropped to one knee, then turned and vanished in an afterimage. He swiftly assembled the First Division's members and began the armed patrol for the night.
Meanwhile, the situation was unfolding exactly as Xuanxin had expected.
Xuanxin had long guessed that, given the Tsunayashiro Clan head's suspicious nature, he would inevitably send more scouts to check on the situation after receiving no word from the tavern or the stronghold for a long time.
So the Second Division's Executive Militia elites had already laid an inescapable trap along this route, which anyone traveling from the Tsunayashiro estate to the outskirts had to take.
The Tsunayashiro Clan's confident second group of scouts had barely leaped beyond the noble district, before they even had time to use the concealment techniques they were so proud of, when the Executive Militia appeared like ghosts and completely surrounded them.
There was no sound, and no chance to resist.
Like clay oxen cast into the vast sea, the scouts were secretly arrested one after another without making a single splash, vanishing into Soul Society's night.
Time passed, second by second.
In the secret chamber of the main residence, the Tsunayashiro Clan head's already gloomy face finally darkened when no reply came from the second group of scouts.
He knew something had gone wrong.
All his scouts had disappeared without a trace. That meant the Tsunayashiro Clan's entire intelligence network had been completely cut off and isolated tonight!
Unable to endure it any longer, he flung open the door to the secret chamber and frantically summoned the clan's fighters.
He personally ordered them to go to the backup stronghold in Rukongai at all costs, to provide support and try to salvage the experimental data, or silence everyone connected to the laboratory.
But before this murderous private army could even charge off the noble district's broad bluestone streets, the approaching First Division blocked its path.
At both ends of the street, torches lit up the night sky.
"Halt!"
Chōjirō Sasakibe stood at the very front of the First Division, his hand on the hilt of his Zanpakuto as he coldly regarded the nobles' private army before him.
The Tsunayashiro Clan commander leading them turned livid. He naturally recognized the First Division's vice-captain, but with the clan head's strict orders weighing on him, he could only brace himself and step forward, trying to use his noble status to exert pressure:
"Vice-Captain Sasakibe! We are from the Tsunayashiro Clan. On the clan head's orders, we have urgent business to attend to outside the city. Please, have the First Division make an exception and clear the way. The Tsunayashiro Clan will reward you handsomely afterward!"
But faced with the threat and inducement, Chōjirō Sasakibe acted as though he had heard nothing. Without even lifting an eyelid, he coldly repeated the Captain-Commander's strict order:
"The Captain-Commander has ordered a complete curfew in Seireitei tonight. Anyone who goes out without written authorization will be charged with rebellion! Return to your estate, or... you will be killed!"
At the words "charged with rebellion," a flicker of panic crossed the Tsunayashiro commander's eyes.
But they had no way back. If they did not go to the stronghold's aid, the Tsunayashiro Clan would be doomed all the same once the evidence of the experiments came to light!
"If the First Division won't show us any consideration, then don't blame us for what happens next! For the glory of the Tsunayashiro Clan, charge through!"
At the commander's furious roar, the Tsunayashiro Clan's deathsworn fighters drew their Zanpakuto, and fierce waves of Reiatsu erupted across the narrow street.
The First Division's members refused to back down and instantly drew their own swords.
The two sides stood ready to fight, and bloodshed was about to erupt on the streets of Seireitei!
"Boom—!!!"
Yet at that critical moment,
A terrifying, scorching Reiatsu, as though it could set the entire sky ablaze, surged toward the heavens from the direction of the First Division Barracks without warning!
Not only was this Reiatsu vast beyond words, it also carried an aura of pure destruction. In an instant, it bore down on everyone present like a mountain crashing onto their heads!
"Thud! Thud! Thud!"
Under that terrifying pressure, which seemed capable of melting their very souls, the Tsunayashiro deathsworn who had just been shouting to charge could not even muster a thought of resistance. Their bodies trembled violently, and they could not lift their heads.
Cold sweat instantly soaked everyone's clothes.
At that moment, whether it was the arrogant noble private army or the other Soul Reapers awakened by the disturbance, only one thought remained in everyone's minds, a thought that made their souls tremble:
Captain-Commander Yamamoto... has made his move!
Only when that Reiatsu, like the blazing sun itself, truly bore down on them did the Soul Reapers who had joined the Gotei 13 later, and the nobles who had long occupied lofty positions, finally recall a fact that had gradually been forgotten, as though they had suddenly been enlightened:
The original Gotei 13 had never been a judicial organization that maintained peace. It had merely been a violent organization composed of a group of utterly vicious killers!
And the man who led those killers was the very old man now releasing this destructive Reiatsu!
Meanwhile.
The clan head stood in the courtyard of the Tsunayashiro main residence. When he felt the scorching Reiatsu bearing down from afar, his face, twisted with anger moments before, instantly turned as pale as paper.
The arrogance in his eyes was utterly drained away, replaced by deep despair.
He knew that when Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai personally stepped in and sealed off the entire noble district with such absolute force, it was all over.
Before absolute military power, any plot or political calculation, every struggle, was futile.
His ambition to make the Tsunayashiro Clan rule the three realms became a laughable pipe dream at that moment, under the old man's pressure.
As though every bone had been pulled from his body at once, the Tsunayashiro Clan head staggered back two steps and finally collapsed helplessly onto the cold stone steps of the courtyard.
He seemed to have aged ten years in an instant.
He raised his head and glanced at the cold moon obscured by dark clouds, then gave a despairing order in a deathly quiet voice to the confidant standing silently beside him:
"Go... make preparations for the next clan head's... succession ceremony."
While Captain-Commander Yamamoto's Reiatsu had the entire noble district cowed into silence,
In an extremely remote area at the edge of Rukongai,
Xuanxin, Yoruichi, Ginrei Kuchiki, and Aizen, who followed silently at the rear, had also arrived without a sound at the outskirts of the Tsunayashiro Clan's stronghold.
In the overgrown grass, Kisuke Urahara, who had been lying in wait for some time, saw that the important figures had finally arrived. He hurriedly dusted himself off and stepped out of the shadows.
"Oh my, my lords, you finally made it."
Looking at Xuanxin and Yoruichi, Kisuke Urahara teased them in his somewhat lazy, complaining tone:
"I've been feeding the mosquitoes here for half the night. I've already set up barriers around every entrance and exit to the stronghold, even the gaps in the underground waterways. I guarantee not even a fly can get out.
"Now we're just waiting for the word from our two Shihoin lords, and we can shut the door and beat the dogs."
Listening to Kisuke Urahara's somewhat exaggerated report, Xuanxin smiled and stepped forward, reaching out to pat his rumpled shoulder. With teasing encouragement in his voice, he said:
"Thanks for the hard work, Kisuke. You did a beautiful job today. Keep it up!"
With that, Xuanxin put away his smile and turned to Ginrei Kuchiki, who had stood silently to one side. He bowed slightly, his expression solemn.
"Captain Kuchiki."
Looking at this old-fashioned noble clan head, renowned throughout Soul Society for his rigor and adherence to rules, Xuanxin spoke earnestly:
"We went to such lengths to ask you to come in person tonight not only to use your status as cover at the tavern, but also to have you serve as a 'witness' to this incident."
Xuanxin's gaze swept over the underground stronghold ahead, which gave off an air of evil, as he continued:
"All of Seireitei firmly believes that the Kuchiki Clan makes it its duty to uphold Soul Society's rules.
"If you personally witness the Tsunayashiro Clan's deranged, illegal soul experiments, it will not only shut those old fellows in the Central 46 Chambers up. It will also establish an ironclad verdict on this incident at a future Golden Seal Conference, one that cannot be overturned.
"So... sorry for the trouble, but we'll be relying on you for what comes next."
At those words, sincere appreciation for Xuanxin's meticulous thinking flashed through Ginrei Kuchiki's world-weary eyes.
He did not claim all the credit or monopolize the gains, using an open strategy to tie every force he could use to his own chariot. This young Kenpachi's political acumen was far more mature than Ginrei Kuchiki had expected.
"I understand."
Ginrei Kuchiki nodded solemnly. Then his gaze drifted, seemingly deliberately or perhaps not, to Aizen, who stood silently behind Xuanxin. He said nothing more, merely drawing the Zanpakuto at his waist.