A Blow to the Heart
Even Kisuke Urahara put aside his usual carefree manner and replied seriously, "All right, Xuanxin. Leave it to me."
Beside him, Yoruichi swiftly raised a hand and released a pitch-black Hell Butterfly, sending orders to Shaoling Fon, who had remained behind at the Second Division.
Yoruichi told her to secretly escort the prisoners captured outside the tavern to the First Division Barracks at once and wait outside.
After making all the arrangements, Xuanxin turned and fixed his gaze on Aizen, who stood behind the others. His voice was gentle, but carried an irresistible authority:
"All right, Aizen. Come back with us. As for everything that happened here, I want you to keep it strictly confidential for the time being."
Xuanxin paused briefly, a meaningful smile curving his lips. "Once the trouble that follows has died down, I'll find some time to have a proper talk with you about what you gained today."
Aizen pushed up his glasses and discreetly tucked his left hand, which held the small black notebook, behind his back. He nodded respectfully. "I understand, Teacher."
Without further delay, Xuanxin set off.
He led the group swiftly out of the underground stronghold filled with evil. They became streaks of light, racing toward the First Division in the Seireitei.
Chapter 51: A Blow to the Heart
Xuanxin and his companions wasted no time, immediately setting out for the Seireitei.
As they neared the Seireitei, Xuanxin stopped.
He turned to look at Sōsuke Aizen, who had followed silently at the very back of the group, and said:
"Aizen, tonight's extracurricular lesson ends here. What comes next is no longer something a student of the Spiritual Arts Academy should be involved in.
"Go back to the academy first. Remember what I just told you, and keep silent about everything you saw tonight."
Aizen pushed up the black-framed glasses on his nose. His left hand, hidden in his loose sleeve, quietly tightened around the small black notebook he had stolen.
Then he bowed with utmost respect and gave a disciple's greeting without a single flaw. "I understand, Teacher. Thank you for your instruction tonight, Teacher Shihoin."
Aizen then departed in the direction of Shin'ō Academy. As Xuanxin watched Aizen's figure gradually recede beneath the moonlight, a meaningful glimmer flashed through his deep eyes.
He withdrew his gaze and led Ginrei Kuchiki and Yoruichi straight to the First Division Barracks.
Yet the moment they actually entered the Seireitei, even Xuanxin and the others, who had prepared themselves, could not help being shaken by what they saw.
The Seireitei, which should have been silent in the depths of night, was now gripped by a suffocating atmosphere.
The broad flagstone streets were brightly illuminated by a dense sea of torches.
Squad after squad of fully armed elite soldiers crisscrossed the area on intensive patrols, like wolves prowling their territory.
Yoruichi surveyed the tight security around them, a cold smile curling her lips. "Looks like the old man's really angry this time. Those idiots from the Tsunayashiro Clan have walked right into the line of fire."
Before long, Xuanxin and the others encountered Vice-Captain Sasakibe, who was personally leading a squad stationed along the only road to the First Division.
"Captain Xuanxin, Captain Yoruichi, Captain Kuchiki." Sasakibe immediately came forward when he saw them, his stern face expressionless.
"The Captain-Commander and the other captains have been waiting in the First Division's grand assembly hall for some time. Please follow me."
Xuanxin and Yoruichi exchanged a glance, then nodded.
When they arrived outside the First Division Barracks, Soi Fon was already waiting quietly at the gate with several Tsunayashiro Clan prisoners.
"Lady Yoruichi! Lord Xuanxin!" Seeing Yoruichi and Xuanxin return safely, Soi Fon's cool eyes flashed with eagerness, and she immediately dropped to one knee in salute.
"Well done. Bring these witnesses and the physical evidence. We're going in," Yoruichi said approvingly, patting Soi Fon on the shoulder.
"Yes!! Lady Yoruichi!!"
Creak—
The two heavy ancient wooden doors of the First Division's grand assembly hall slowly swung open.
The moment Xuanxin, his two companions, and Soi Fon entered the hall with their prisoners, the hushed conversations throughout the assembly hall abruptly ceased.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Several gazes converged on them at once. Along the sides of the hall, even Shunsui Kyōraku and Jūshirō Ukitake had arrived and had been waiting there for some time.
At the highest point at the front of the hall, Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai sat motionless in the seat of honor, both hands resting on his wooden cane.
A terrifying storm capable of burning the three realms to ashes churned in his half-closed eyes.
"Shihoin Genshin, Yoruichi Shihōin."
Captain-Commander Yamamoto's aged, commanding voice rang through the hall like a great bell. "Show all the captains everything you uncovered tonight, exactly as it happened."
"Yes, Captain-Commander."
Xuanxin stepped forward without a hint of stage fright. Under the gazes of the many veteran captains, his tall figure appeared exceptionally composed.
At a gesture from Xuanxin, Soi Fon immediately pushed the prisoners forward. Xuanxin then took the evidence found in the laboratory from his robes and displayed it all before the captains, holding nothing back.
His steady, forceful voice rang out in the hall, mercilessly cutting through the Tsunayashiro Clan's hypocritical facade like a sharp blade:
"Captains, after days of a joint covert investigation by my 11th Division and the Second Division, we have found that the Tsunayashiro Clan, one of the Five Great Noble Clans, was behind the recent frequent Hollow attacks and disappearances of wandering souls in Rukongai."
"This physical evidence and these witnesses show that the Tsunayashiro Clan not only secretly captured wandering souls in large numbers as 'consumables' in an attempt to replicate Sōya Azashiro's experiments, but also plotted to overthrow the entire Soul Society!"
The entire hall fell deathly silent. Then came a chorus of uncontrollable gasps!
"Sōya Azashiro?!"
At the name, many captains' expressions changed instantly. He was the terrifying figure who had nearly overturned the entire Seireitei by himself!
The Tsunayashiro Clan had actually sought to meddle with that diabolical technology, which the Central 46 Chambers had strictly forbidden?
Shock, anger, disbelief... all manner of complicated emotions crossed the captains' faces.
"Bastards! They're utterly deranged!" A hot-tempered captain could not help cursing aloud.
Even in the depths of the ever-compassionate Retsu Unohana's gentle eyes, a cold glint flashed.
"I am already aware."
Captain-Commander Yamamoto then struck the floor heavily with his cane. The dull thud instantly silenced all the noise.
The old man slowly opened his previously closed eyes. In those bloodshot eyes, killing intent had become almost tangible:
"By my personal order! Effective immediately, the Tsunayashiro Clan is to be placed under formal investigation at the highest level, and every member arrested! Anyone who dares make a move is to be executed on the spot!"
"Yes!"
With that command from Captain-Commander Yamamoto, the Gotei 13, a vast machine of violence, began to operate in full.
A great number of elite soldiers surged toward the noble district like a flood through a broken dam.
However, to preserve the Soul Society's dignity, the operation was publicly conducted under the pretext of "protecting the Tsunayashiro Clan from attacks by Rukongai rebels," while the clan's entire main residence was surrounded so tightly that nothing could get through.
The night was deep.
Under layers of "protection" from the Second Division's Stealth Force, Yoruichi Shihōin and Soi Fon personally led their forces and kicked open the luxurious gate of the Tsunayashiro Clan's main residence.
Before long, the Tsunayashiro Clan head, who only hours earlier had been plotting to control everything from his secret chamber, was "invited" into the First Division's grand assembly hall by Yoruichi and Soi Fon, one on either side of him.
The once-overbearing head of the great noble clan entered the hall and saw the rows of captains watching him coldly like judges.
He also saw the experiment files laid out in the center of the hall and the scouts he had sent out, and his steps faltered slightly.
Yet to everyone's surprise, faced with conclusive evidence enough to have his clan's property confiscated and every member put to death, the Tsunayashiro Clan head showed no sign of panic or hysteria.
He did not foolishly shout excuses. Instead, he calmly accepted the fact that his plot had been exposed, with an air of composure and even a touch of a superior's arrogance.
"The victor becomes king, the loser an outlaw. I have nothing to say."
The Tsunayashiro Clan head gave a cold laugh. His gloomy eyes swept over everyone present, and a sickening sense of security lay hidden deep within them.
He knew the Gotei 13 too well. He also knew the old man sitting in the seat of honor before him too well.
As he saw it, although Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai possessed the power to destroy everything, he was above all an unwavering supporter of the rules that kept the Soul Society at peace.
The Five Great Noble Clans were an important part of the foundation underpinning the Soul Society's stability. If the Tsunayashiro Clan were wiped out entirely, the other nobles would inevitably fear for their own safety, and it might even trigger an all-out civil war in the Soul Society.
For the sake of overall stability, Old Man Yamamoto would never dare uproot the Tsunayashiro Clan! At most, he would make the clan head step down and offer up a few scapegoats to appease the public's anger.
As long as the clan's foundations remained, the Tsunayashiro Clan could still rise again in a few hundred years!
At that thought, the Tsunayashiro Clan head looked at Xuanxin and Yoruichi standing to one side, a hint of appreciation even appearing in his gaze, and slowly spoke in a hoarse voice:
"This time, I was careless. I never thought that after scheming all my life, I would come to grief at the hands of two youngsters still wet behind the ears. Shihoin Clan, you truly are... impressive. But the game isn't over. This was merely a small setback."
With that, he clamped his mouth shut and arrogantly refused to cooperate, saying nothing more.
Seeing the Tsunayashiro Clan head's brazen, unrepentant attitude, many of the captains in the hall clenched their fists, fury blazing in their eyes.
Yet Captain-Commander Yamamoto, seated in the place of honor, remained expressionless as he looked down at the self-satisfied noble.
"Tsunayashiro, you seem to have some foolish misunderstanding of where I draw the line."
Captain-Commander Yamamoto's voice was quiet, yet it rang like a death knell deep within the Tsunayashiro Clan head's soul. "Since you made your choice, your entire clan will receive the punishment it deserves."
The old man slowly closed his eyes, sparing the clown no further glance. He merely waved a hand. "Take him away and keep him under strict guard. The final judgment will be announced tomorrow morning."
The long, oppressive night finally passed.
When the next day's first rays of dawn pierced the clouds, the First Division formally announced the final judgment on the shocking conspiracy.
As the result spread to every corner of the Seireitei through Hell Butterflies and public notices, every noble was left speechless with shock!
This time, the Gotei 13, led by Captain-Commander Yamamoto, had done something unprecedented: they had bypassed the corrupt supreme judicial authority of the Central 46 Chambers entirely and forcibly passed judgment under military law!
And the subject of that judgment was none other than the Tsunayashiro Clan, one of the mighty Five Great Noble Clans!
The final verdict, however, was indeed as the Tsunayashiro Clan head had predicted the previous night.
To maintain the Soul Society's fragile balance, to avoid completely shattering the appearance of peace that the Gotei 13 had maintained for nearly a thousand years, and to prevent the nobles from taking desperate action and triggering an all-out civil war, Captain-Commander Yamamoto had indeed refrained from the most extreme option of "exterminating the entire clan."
But the Tsunayashiro Clan's monstrous crimes had to be met with a severe punishment enough to deter the three realms.
Thus, after Captain-Commander Yamamoto's repeated deliberations, a verdict that took the balancing of power and suppression to their limits was presented to the world:
First, the current head of the Tsunayashiro Clan was to be immediately deposed and imprisoned in Muken, the Underground Great Prison, never to rise again.
Second, effective immediately, the Tsunayashiro Clan was to be stripped of all its seats in the Central 46 Chambers, as well as every privilege placing it above the law as a great noble clan!
Third, the Tsunayashiro Clan was to be stripped indefinitely of its control over the Great Spirit Book Gallery, the Soul Society's most highly classified repository, which it had managed for generations. The First Division would temporarily take over its custody and administration!
Fourth, and most devastating of all: to reflect on its sins, the entire Tsunayashiro Clan must seal off its main residence. For two hundred years, all core clan members must remain secluded from the world and were strictly forbidden from interfering in any of the Soul Society's internal affairs!
When the written judgment was delivered to the Tsunayashiro Clan head, the man who had felt so secure the previous night was struck as though by a bolt from the blue.
He stood utterly stunned in his dark cell, staring fixedly at the glaring words "two hundred years," his whole body trembling violently.
"No... impossible! How could this happen?! You old bastard Yamamoto, how cruel can you be?!!"
His shrill, despairing scream echoed for a long time through the corridors of the First Division's temporary prison.
Indeed, although the first two punishments, or even the first three, would deal the deeply rooted Tsunayashiro Clan a crippling blow, as long as its bloodline survived, it would eventually have a chance to slowly regain its influence over the following centuries.
But that final clause, "two hundred years of seclusion," was a true dull blade that killed without drawing blood!
Two hundred years!
In a Soul Reaper's long life, two hundred years might not amount to much. But for the Seireitei's present circumstances, two hundred years was enough to change everything!
How old was the Shihoin Clan's prospective son-in-law, Shihoin Genshin, now? He had only just succeeded to the title of Kenpachi, yet he had already displayed such terrifying strength and astonishing political cunning.