What Shoulder and What Art Could Twist the Sinews of Thy Heart?

And what shoulder, & what art, / Could twist the sinews of thy heart?--William Blake<Songs of Experience>(1794)

In the Fourth Division's operations room

Shunsui Kyōraku sat in his seat, his pink haori jacket draped over the back of the chair, his straw hat resting on his lap, his usually languid face unusually devoid of any frivolity.

Jūshirō Ukitake sat beside him, his pale face still bearing the weariness that lingered from his return from High Bridge.

Sylvan leaned on his jet-black cane, with Rain resting quietly on his shoulder. He sat opposite Kyōraku with Ichigo, their two swords, one black and one white, crossed and resting beside their chairs. The half-black, half-white Shihakusho gleamed faintly in the candlelight of the conference room.

"So, the materialized Zanpakuto are all controlled by Muramasa?" Kyōraku tapped his fingers lightly on the table.

Ichigo nodded, then shook his head, his brows furrowed.

"This is not as simple as manipulation. Uncle Zangetsu told me that Muramasa's power is less about Brainwashing and more about amplifying and manipulating the dissatisfaction that Zanpakuto usually feels."

The Zanpakuto are not controlled to attack their masters; they genuinely believe that they should do so.

"Compared to puppets that are manipulated and lack Ego- awareness, Zanpakuto that fully retain Ego- awareness but have extreme ideologies are much more difficult to deal with," Sylvan continued. "Manipulated puppets only execute orders, but Zanpakuto that is incited can think, judge, and actively choose the most effective way to attack."

Ichigo turned and glanced at him, then continued, "Moreover, to reclaim your Zanpakuto, you must fight it, subdue it once more, and make it acknowledge you again."

Ukitake tapped his chin lightly with his fingers. "It's roughly the same information as what Sylvan provided. However, in this case, to quell this rebellion, we'll need to get every Soul Reaper to find their Zanpakuto and reclaim it."

"But," Kyōraku leaned back in his chair, pinching the bridge of his nose, "It takes time for everyone to find their Zanpakuto and subdue it once again. They're not going to be stupid enough to just wait for us to find them. Muramasa is hiding somewhere with those Zanpakuto right now. If we chase after them one by one, when will we ever get to the end?"

Even with insufficient information, Kyōraku, as the acting commander-in-chief, had to make decisions. Overwhelmed by countless uncertainties, he felt deeply exhausted.

"Even so, we have no choice but to bite the bullet and do it." Ichigo said resolutely. He had seen a lot in the Fourth Division, and he was eager to do something for everyone. "No matter how long it takes, it's better than doing nothing."

Kyōraku looked at the boy, and after a moment, a smile appeared on his lips, "That makes sense. It's almost time for the Captains' Meeting, so let's all take a break. We'll discuss the specific plans after all the team captains Lieutenant have arrived."

Ichigo nodded, stood up and walked towards the door, with Sylvan following behind him on his cane. Only Kyōraku and Ukitake remained in the operations room.

Kyōraku leaned back in his chair, let out a long breath, and closed his eyes. "Since it's unclear what will happen to Zanpakuto that has been defeated by another Soul Reaper, the only option is to have the Zanpakuto rush to the corresponding location to retrieve it once it's discovered."

However, this approach would make quelling the rebellion far too inefficient and time-consuming. But if the Zanpakuto is directly harmed regardless of its wielder, could it cause the Soul Reaper to lose their Zanpakuto...?

Old Man Yama, I still can't bring myself to make this decision that might cost me an arm. Why are you not here at this crucial moment...?

Ukitake seemed to have noticed something, and came over to Kyōraku, reaching out to pat him on the shoulder.

When Ukitake's warmth seeped through the fabric, Kyōraku opened his eyes. Before him was Ukitake's reassuring smile, "It's alright, Kyōraku, there's always a way."

With her friend's comfort, Kyōraku's worried expression finally eased a bit. "Thank you, Ukitake."

Ichigo followed Sylvan through the dimly lit corridor of the Medical Station, where the occasional creaking of the beds as wounded soldiers turned over could be heard from the wards on either side.

The two arrived at the Fourth Division's rest room. Sylvan took two glasses of water from the water station and handed one to Ichigo: "Have some water. We'll probably need you to explain the situation to the representatives at the division Captains' Meeting later."

Ichigo took the water glass but didn't drink it. He held the glass and stared straight at Sylvan, his brows furrowed.

Sylvan took a sip of water, noticing Ichigo's gaze lingering on him. "What's wrong, Ichigo? In this situation where the enemy is in the dark and we are in the light, as long as they don't come out, no matter how much you charge out, it won't make a difference."

Ichigo shook his head. "No, I understand all of that, but that's not what I care about."

"So what's bothering you?" Sylvan continued drinking water, the glass obscuring the lower half of his face. He was extremely thirsty after running around all afternoon and needed to drink more water to replenish his fluids.

Ichigo put down his water glass and looked him over, at the young man who was so thin he was practically skin and bones.

Ichigo glanced again at Rain, who was perched on Sylvan's shoulder—the Blue-Violet Raven was preening the feathers at the base of its wings with its beak.

"You're Hikari, right?" Ichigo's tone sounded like a question, but his expression clearly indicated that the person claiming to Sylvan was Hikari!

Sylvan was bringing his water glass to his lips when he heard those words and his movements suddenly stopped. He choked on the water, which went straight into his trachea. He bent over and coughed violently, almost dropping the glass from his hand.

Rain was startled by the sudden turn of events and flinched violently. The beak of the bird, which was preening its feathers, pierced its wing. "Ouch—that hurts! Sylvan, don't flinch, it's stuck in your wing!"

As it pulled the beak from its wing, it fluttered off Sylvan's shoulder and landed on the table, rubbing its pricked wing root with its claws.

Seeing the chaotic scene, Ichigo quickly stood up and patted Sylvan on the back. "Hey, you two, don't be nervous. If you have to survive in this state, I can't say I can't accept it."

"Isn't it a bit inappropriate to just use a fake name to fool your friends? They'd all be so happy to know you're still alive."

Sylvan coughed for a while, covering his mouth, before he recovered. He looked up at Ichigo's face, which was full of complacency, and a thought popped into his head, "How can this guy be so perceptive?"

Once his breathing had calmed down a bit, Sylvan asked Ichigo, "How did you notice that?"

Ichigo scratched his head, his short orange hair sticking up slightly. "When you entered my Inner World, I felt your Reiatsu was very familiar. And in that Inner World, I felt that you and that bird were completely the same soul, even though it was as if they had been forcibly shattered."

He paused, as if recalling a past scene, "And back in the World of the Living, you used the Phantom Blade to stabilize my Reiatsu once. This unique method has been used on me again, so it's no wonder people are suspicious, right?"

Sylvan then realized that by intruding into the other person's Inner World, his own soul state would be completely exposed to the other person's perception.

In High Bridge 'Ichigo Inner World, Ichigo probably already saw through everything, but the situation was too urgent for him to say anything at the time.

He raised his hand, wiped the water from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve, took a deep breath, and straightened his body again. "I am only a part of Amber, my strength is only one-tenth of what it used to be, I am not qualified to call myself Amber yet, so for now I act under the name Sylvan."

Sylvan remained calm, offering no self-pity, but simply stating a fact, which caused Ichigo to frown.

Rain jumped up from the table, flapped his wings, and landed on Ichigo's head. "Ichigo, my name is Rain. I'm not some Big Bird. I'm just a part of Amber. Don't talk to me like I'm an accessory."

Its powerful claws gripped Ichigo's hair tightly, its beak close to his scalp, "Unless you want to go bald."

Ichigo felt the force on his scalp. "I understand, sorry." He promptly admitted defeat.

Rain released his grip with satisfaction and flew back onto Sylvan's shoulder.

Just then, the door to the lounge was pushed open.

Rangiku Matsumoto was the first to walk in, rubbing her shoulders. Her long, golden hair appeared somewhat disheveled in the white light of the Reishi lamp.

"Ah--the whole day of patrol is finally over, I'm so tired. I'm never this tired during patrols usually." She said as she walked towards the water station.

Following behind Rangiku, Tōshirō Hitsugaya entered the rest room, arms crossed. "You usually hand over your duties to your subordinates after a short patrol and then go off to slack off, right? It would be the Miracle if you didn't slack off today and patrolled diligently all day."

He didn't even glance at his Lieutenant while speaking, clearly taking the topic for granted.

"No, Little White, you can't talk about your Lieutenant like that." Momo Hinamori peeked halfway out from behind the door after Tōshirō came in.

"Exactly, how can you talk to your own Lieutenant like that?" Rangiku replied without turning her head, and walked to the water dispenser to get a glass of water.

She picked up her water glass to drink when, as if by some telepathy, she froze for a moment, then abruptly turned her head to look at the corner of the room.

Sylvan felt the sudden gaze and turned his head, his eyes meeting Rangiku's in mid-air.

Rangiku's usually languid eyes were wide open now. Holding the glass of water in her hand, she stared blankly at Sylvan as she walked over step by step.

Sylvan panicked and reached out to grab Ichigo, who was standing next to him, hoping to get help, but when he grabbed, there was nothing there.

He turned his head and saw that Ichigo had somehow run to the other side of the room.

"Yo, Ikkaku." Ichigo greeted Ikkaku Madarame, who had just walked in from the door, his voice a few decibels louder than usual.

"Hey, isn't this Ichigo? You're here too. By the way, what's with your outfit? Why are you half black and half white?" Ikkaku heard Ichigo's voice and walked over with Yumichika.

"Well, that's a long story—"

As she spoke, Rangiku blocked Sylvan's path, looking down at him with a complex mix of emotions in her eyes—reassurance, joy, relief, and anger. "Found it. I didn't expect Gin to be telling the truth."

"This doesn't seem like a friendly move. Sylvan, you'd better pray for yourself." Rain spread his wings, preparing to take off from Sylvan's shoulder, but the next second, a slender hand precisely gripped his throat.

"Gah!" Rain let out an extremely vulgar scream, his wings flapping desperately on Rangiku's wrist, but the hand remained motionless.

"Where are you going?" Rangiku pulled Rain close to her, her eyes narrowing slightly, and a chilling smile playing on her lips.

She placed her other hand directly on Sylvan's head. The pressure wasn't heavy, but the warmth from her palm made Sylvan freeze in place.

"You and Gin are truly exemplary in quietly accomplishing great things. When it came time to settle scores with you, one of you ran off to Hueco Mundo and the other faked his death and hid. Well done!"

Rangiku's voice was very low, so low that only Sylvan and Rain could hear it, but her words carried an indescribable weight—an emotion that had been building up since the day the battle ended, with nowhere to be vented.

"What are you saying?" Sylvan was still trying to play dumb, but fine beads of sweat were already forming on his forehead.

"Still playing dumb in front of me? You think I—"

Before Rangiku could finish speaking, the door to the lounge was suddenly flung open, and an Inner Court Corps member, covered in wounds and with several Bee-Crest Flower marks still visible on his Shihakusho, stumbled in.

His breathing was extremely erratic, clearly from running all the way. He leaned against the door frame to keep his balance, his chest heaving violently. "Captains, Lieutenant —something terrible has happened!"

Muramasa... Muramasa led a group of Zanpakuto in an attack on the Twelfth Division an hour ago!

Our Inner Court Corps suffered heavy losses when our messenger unit was intercepted by Soi Fon squad led by Captain Suzumebachi's Zanpakuto, during our mission!

After he finished speaking, he seemed to have all his strength drained away, and he fell straight forward.

The air in the lounge suddenly froze. Tōshirō was the first to react. He Shunpo forward and caught the soldier, gently placing him on a chair nearby.

Hinamori immediately stepped forward to check the injuries, and the expressions on both of their faces tightened simultaneously.

Hurried footsteps echoed down the corridor as Kyōraku and Ukitake ran past from outside the lounge, clearly having also received the message from the Inner Court Corps.

"Looks like now isn't the time for a Captains' Meeting." Tōshirō turned around, his youthful face radiating decisiveness. "Everyone, rush to reinforce the Twelfth Division!"

"Yes!"

A group of Soul Reapers rushed out of the lounge, their footsteps echoing rapidly on the stone pavement.

The wounded in the Medical Station all looked up, watching the group of captains and Lieutenant fly past down the corridor, the hems of their Shihakusho fluttering in the wind.

The reinforcements sped through the ruins of Seireitei.

Moonlight filtered through the broken rooftops and collapsed walls, carving out interlocking lines of light and shadow on the rubble-strewn streets.

Several belated Lieutenant arrived from different directions to join the team. As the team passed through a plaza damaged by Zanpakuto, a dark figure darted out from the side and joined the team.

As Fon Shaoling arrived at Kyōraku's side, the Captain's Haori fluttered in the night wind. Behind her, Sakiro and dozens of members of the Onmitsukidō silently emerged from the shadows.

As Kyōraku ran, he ordered Fon Shaoling: "Soi Fon, the members of the Inner Court Corps have been intercepted by Suzumebachi. This level of interception efficiency is very likely due to Suzumebachi leading a group of Zanpakuto from the Second Division."

Take your Onmitsukidō and deal with it—the influence of Zanpakuto will be lifted once the wielder of the Muramasa is defeated again, so face the battle with confidence!

Fon Shaoling nodded slightly and waved to the Onmitsukidō behind her. "Let's go."

"Yes!" Sakiro led dozens of Onmitsukidō close behind. The group of black figures moved quickly through the ruins and soon disappeared into the depths of the night.

Kyōraku turned around, his gaze landing on Ikkaku Madarame: "Ikkaku Madarame, your captain's mission outside the palace is over. Go to the Hakutōmon and bring him here!"

Ikkaku grinned and said, "Understood. Yumichika, let's go!"

"Good!"

The two used Shunpo to break away from the group and sprang towards the direction of the Hakutōmon.

Kyōraku watched the figures recede into the distance, took a deep breath, and said, "The other squads, follow your wartime deployment and take up your positions immediately upon arrival at the battlefield! This time, we must Zanpakuto in one fell swoop!"

"Yes!" the Soul Reapers answered in unison.