More Important Matters

"Soul King..."

Those two words exploded in Shunsui Kyoraku's mind like a thunderclap.

He turned sharply, his uncertain gaze locking onto his closest friend beside him.

Jushiro Ukitake's already pale face had gone even whiter. His lips were pressed tight, and he stood silent as a weathered stone statue.

Seeing that expression, Shunsui Kyoraku understood without needing any verbal confirmation.

Kurosaki Masaki was telling the truth.

The power that had kept Jushiro Ukitake's broken body hanging on all this time, allowing him to linger on in frail survival, had actually come from the Soul King's authority.

Shock surged over him like a tide, only to be swiftly suppressed by Shunsui Kyoraku's formidable rationality.

Now was not the time to pry into secrets.

Instead, this truth further confirmed a terrifying fact.

That omniscient and omnipotent being in True King's Palace might truly exist.

"What bait did Kisuke Urahara leave behind? And what is he planning to do?"

Almost instinctively, Shunsui Kyoraku's thoughts jumped to the crucial point.

At the exact instant that thought crossed his mind, Ross on that false stage asked nearly the same question.

In fact, Ross spoke a fraction faster than Shunsui Kyoraku could think.

Shunsui Kyoraku's mouth twitched slightly, and his expression froze completely.

An intense sense of absurdity and dread grew wildly within him.

He was really about to be driven insane.

Was Ross truly the mastermind behind everything?

From Soul Society's perspective, he instinctively hoped not.

Yet every clue pointed to Ross.

He could not convince himself otherwise.

"Master, everyone! Surely you have not forgotten the Hollowfication incident that shook everyone a hundred years ago?"

Fake Jūshirō's voice remained gentle and calm, as though he were discussing the weather rather than a tragedy.

He made no attempt to conceal anything and calmly turned his gaze