Delusion

But there was only one reason she had risen so early and was in such high spirits today—

Today, she and Xuanxin were going to the Great Spirit Book Gallery to look up information, under the highest order issued by Captain-Commander Yamamoto himself!

What did that mean?

It meant she could skip work today with a perfectly legitimate excuse and wouldn't have to deal with the mountains of paperwork at the Second Division! Not that she would have done any work even if she'd gone.

And since she and Xuanxin would be the only two people in the Great Spirit Book Gallery, how was that any different from finding a quiet, cool library for a long nap?

Most importantly, Xuanxin would be there to keep her company. It was the perfect paid vacation!

Xuanxin, in contrast to Yoruichi's slacking attitude, had eyes full of curiosity.

Xuanxin had brought countless questions with him. He was desperate to find the final answers in this place, which recorded all of Soul Society's secrets.

Before long, Chōjirō Sasakibe, vice-captain of the First Division, personally led them through layer upon layer of hidden barriers and long underground corridors to the entrance of the Great Spirit Book Gallery.

"Creak—"

With a heavy mechanical grinding that set their teeth on edge, the great doors, inscribed with countless ancient sealing runes, slowly opened to either side.

A profound aura, steeped in the weight of ages, washed over them in an instant.

Soon, an immense, three-dimensional circular space appeared before them, so vast that its boundaries were almost impossible to see with the naked eye.

Countless towering bookshelves spiraled upward and deep underground, while countless faintly glowing records floated silently through the still space like stars scattered across the sky.

"The Great Spirit Book Gallery is open."

Chōjirō Sasakibe stood outside the entrance and bowed slightly, his expression solemn as he said:

"The Captain-Commander has ordered that both captains may freely consult the records within. When your time is up, I will notify you by Hell Butterfly. Please, enter."

"Yes. Sorry for the trouble, Vice-Captain Sasakibe."

Xuanxin and Yoruichi then nodded and stepped into this ocean of knowledge.

Bang.

The bronze doors slowly closed behind them.

But as soon as they entered the gallery, Yoruichi saw that he and Xuanxin really were alone, and gave a great, languid stretch.

With a poof, the tall, dashing beauty vanished in an instant, replaced by a sleek black cat with glossy fur.

"Meow~"

The black cat then leaped up with practiced ease, landing lightly on Xuanxin's shoulder and curling up in the most comfortable position she could find.

Her long tail brushed the back of Xuanxin's neck. Then she closed her eyes and began purring without a care, ready to enjoy her wonderful vacation.

Feeling the familiar touch and weight on his shoulder, Xuanxin shook his head helplessly, though an indulgent smile curled at his lips.

He then collected his thoughts and raised a hand, releasing a faint trace of spiritual power to guide the ancient records floating in midair toward him.

The first thing he sought was the ultimate question that had troubled him for so long—the origin of the three realms.

As scroll after scroll of top-secret information, sealed away for thousands of years or even longer, unfolded in Xuanxin's mind, the "history" deliberately erased by the highest authorities lay bare before him like a blood-soaked painting.

In the primordial age, before the world had been divided, there was no distinction between life and death, nor any boundaries between the World of the Living, Soul Society, and Hueco Mundo.

All was chaos, and humans and Hollows lived together in a stagnant world without end.

That lasted until the birth of the great being known as the "Soul King."

The Soul King maintained the world's balance with his unrivaled power.

However, five human ancestors—the founders of what would later become the Five Great Noble Clans—

fearing this great power they could not control, betrayed the omniscient and omnipotent king with the Soul King's tacit consent.

The five founders joined forces and cruelly sealed the Soul King.

Not only did they strip the Soul King of his power, but to prevent him from changing his mind, they even forcibly severed his limbs and tore out his internal organs, carving him into a "wedge" that could neither speak nor move.

The three realms as they existed now operated on the foundation of that wedge. This was the origin of the three realms, the cornerstone of Soul Society, and the supreme being that generations of the Gotei 13 had sworn to protect with their lives.

Standing in the vast Great Spirit Book Gallery, Xuanxin finished reading about this deeply buried original sin, and his pupils contracted sharply.

Was he shocked? He certainly was.

Anyone's worldview would be shaken to its core upon discovering that the world order they had been willing to bleed and sacrifice to maintain was founded on such a treacherous crime.

Yet the shock lingered in Xuanxin's heart for less than a minute before he forcibly suppressed it.

"So that's how it is... no wonder the Tsunayashiro Clan acts with such impunity, and no wonder Central 46 is so corrupt and insular. The ruling class of this world was rotten to the core from the very beginning."

There was no anger or hysteria in Xuanxin's deep eyes.

He merely reached out and gently closed the crystal containing the record of the "original sin."

"The past is past."

Xuanxin's voice echoed softly through the silent gallery, as though he were speaking to himself, yet also making a declaration to this vile history.

"However despicable the acts those five committed a million years ago, the cycle of life and death they created has at least allowed countless souls to endure in this cruel universe to this day."

"So what matters isn't how the world was built, but... who will guide it in the future, and where it should go."

At that thought, Xuanxin's gaze grew even firmer.

He continued browsing through this treasury of knowledge, then began looking through records of the Gotei 13's history and some major events of recent times.

Before long, he found his own name among the vast sea of archives.

Xuanxin rubbed his chin, a flash of understanding in his eyes. "This really is interesting. It seems everything is recorded here, down to the smallest detail."

Having understood that, Xuanxin stopped dwelling on the political records.

He turned his attention instead to the research archives, which documented various experimental results, theories on the composition of souls, and the development of Kidō to its limits.

Opening a few notebooks on "soul reconstruction" and "Reishi concentration at the limit," Xuanxin looked at the densely packed formulas and experimental data and couldn't help drawing a sharp breath inwardly.

These things were an inexhaustible treasure capable of overturning common sense!

"If I took these things outside..." The face of Kisuke Urahara, with its ever-present dark circles, flashed into Xuanxin's mind, along with the desire Sōsuke Aizen had hidden behind his glasses that day.

"If a research genius of Kisuke Urahara's caliber were allowed in here, he could probably turn even the sands of Hueco Mundo into spiritual power batteries in less than a hundred years. And if Aizen saw these..."

At that thought, Xuanxin entered the name "Sōsuke Aizen" into the search sequence.

He then saw that everything about Aizen, from the moment he appeared in Soul Society up to the present, had been recorded in minute detail, even including his visit to the laboratory with Xuanxin that day.

In the records, Aizen's history was as flawless as the image he usually presented to everyone. Yet it was precisely that perfection that made Xuanxin suspicious.

And Xuanxin did not know that someone had deliberately erased a small portion from the end of the record.

Xuanxin then set the question of Aizen aside for the time being and continued browsing the recent records.

When he reached the last few pages, a top-secret experiment log that was still being updated in real time and had not yet been marked as complete caught his intense attention.

[Experiment codename: Reishi prosthetic bodies and soul-hosting technology]

[Lead researcher: Kirio Hikifune, captain of the Gotei 13's Twelfth Division.]

[Current progress: Attempting to construct "Gigai" technology capable of perfectly accommodating a Shinigami's soul and allowing long-term activity in the World of the Living without a rejection response...]

As Xuanxin read the brief entry, his gaze sharpened slightly and his mind raced.

"Kirio Hikifune... is researching this so-called Gigai technology... then does that mean..."

Xuanxin then recalled a fragment of a memory in which that unreliable fellow Kisuke Urahara seemed to have worn a Captain's Haori too, and on its back seemed to be written—Twelve.

Xuanxin then took a deep breath. He knew that beneath Soul Society's seemingly calm surface, the great gears of an era that would stir the entire world seemed to be turning faster once again.

Just as Xuanxin wanted to dig deeper into the underlying data on Gigai technology—

"Flutter, flutter—"

A Hell Butterfly, glowing with a faint black light, appeared out of nowhere inside the Great Spirit Book Gallery and circled Xuanxin twice.

It was a signal from Chōjirō Sasakibe. Apparently, their time was up.

Xuanxin reluctantly closed the record in his hands.

He turned to look at the black cat still sprawled on his shoulder, fast asleep and even snoring softly, and couldn't resist reaching out to pinch her cat ears.

"Wake up, Yoruichi. Our vacation's over."

"Mrrrow..."

The black cat grumbled in protest and stuck out her little barbed tongue to lick Xuanxin's finger.

With a soft poof, the black cat turned over in midair and transformed back into Yoruichi, with her voluptuous figure and Captain's Haori.

"Yawn—"

Yoruichi rubbed her sleepy eyes and stretched lazily, displaying her perfect curves. "It's over already? I don't feel like I've slept enough. So, did you find the answers you were looking for?"

"I found some of them, but I also have even more questions now."

Xuanxin smiled but offered no detailed explanation. The two walked side by side through the slowly opening bronze doors.

Outside, Chōjirō Sasakibe had already been waiting for some time. When Sasakibe saw them, he bowed slightly, then looked at Xuanxin and said:

"Captain Xuanxin, the Captain-Commander is waiting for you in the First Division's meditation room."

"All right, I understand." Xuanxin bowed slightly in return.

The First Division's simple, quiet meditation room.

Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai sat upright before a low table, his callused hands handling the tea set before him.

"You're here. Sit."

Hearing Xuanxin's footsteps as he entered, the old man did not open his eyes, merely speaking a few words in an even tone.

Xuanxin respectfully walked forward and sat down upright across from Captain-Commander Yamamoto.

Yamamoto then looked straight at the young disciple he valued most. Without any small talk or preamble, he asked a question that struck straight at the soul, in a tone so calm it was frightening:

"Xuanxin, in the deepest part of the gallery... did you see it all, the truth about this world?"

Xuanxin raised his head and met Captain-Commander Yamamoto's gaze without flinching, his clear black eyes steady. He replied just as calmly:

"Master, I saw it."

Not a ripple of emotion crossed Captain-Commander Yamamoto's face. He continued staring at Xuanxin and posed his second and most devastating question:

"Now that you know of the cornerstone forged from blood and betrayal, now that you've seen this world's ugliest original sin..."

The old man leaned forward slightly, and a faint pressure instantly fixed on Xuanxin. Then Captain-Commander Yamamoto said quietly:

"Then, faced with such a sinful world... Xuanxin, what are you going to do?"

Chapter 55: Delusion

After hearing Captain-Commander Yamamoto's question that struck straight at the soul, Xuanxin did not answer immediately.

Nor did Captain-Commander Yamamoto use the authority of his position to press him. Soul Society's strongest Shinigami in a thousand years simply picked up his beloved purple-clay teapot and slowly poured Xuanxin a cup of hot tea.