The Sternritter Attack

Chiba Makoto did not answer immediately. His gaze was somewhat distant as he watched a tea leaf slowly spin in the cup before him.

"A tea leaf's rotation is never the tea leaf's choice, but the water's..."

Chiba Makoto spoke calmly.

"Since Captain Kurotsuchi also knows of the Sternritter from a thousand years ago, then you should understand that if they are the enemy, war cannot be avoided simply because we retreat."

"If we lack even the resolve to make sacrifices, then war can only end in defeat."

The exaggerated expression on Kurotsuchi Mayuri's face receded slightly, but his tone carried a trace of displeasure as he said.

"Isn't this all because that old man Yamamoto left behind a thousand years ago..."

"Watch your words, Captain Kurotsuchi."

Before Kurotsuchi Mayuri could finish, Chiba Makoto cut him off directly.

"Every generation has its own mission. Captain-Commander Yamamoto's contributions to the Thirteen Divisions and the Seireitei are beyond question. There is no need to say such things."

"Tch~"

Kurotsuchi Mayuri made a disgruntled sound.

However, when Kurotsuchi Mayuri saw the scrutinizing look Chiba Makoto cast his way, he hurriedly added.

"Lord Makoto, I have no objection to you. Your methods are naturally far more decisive and ruthless than that old man Yamamoto's..."

In an instant, Chiba Makoto's gaze upon Kurotsuchi Mayuri grew noticeably sharper, making him forcibly swallow the rest of his words.

As one of the few captains in the Thirteen Divisions who knew that Kurosaki Makoto and Chiba Makoto were the same person, Kurotsuchi Mayuri knew very well that the man before him was not as gentle and harmless as outsiders believed.

As an observer, Kurotsuchi Mayuri had seen with absolute clarity how the entire Seireitei had fallen into this man's hands. He understood even more clearly just how astonishing