A Reason That Could Not Be Refused

News of the Thirteenth Division's desperate resistance and eventual complete purge swept through the entire Seireitei at astonishing speed like a biting cold wind tinged with the stench of blood.

More than a thousand division members had died in that battle alone.

In the Gotei 13's thousands of years of history, there had never been casualties on such a massive scale.

In the past, even a fully staffed division might not have had that many members, let alone such brutal infighting among comrades.

The shock caused by these casualties far surpassed any previous upheaval.

Even though the Seventh Division and Ninth Division had listed Kurosaki Ichigo's heinous crimes, and even though the Captains and seated officers of every division were doing their best to soothe and mediate, the bloody smell hanging in the air still left countless Shinigami unable to move on.

What made people shudder the most was the cause of this disaster.

Kurosaki Ichigo had clearly been the one to commit the crimes, and he himself had long since taken the chance to flee, yet the Thirteenth Division members who remained behind had suffered a devastating calamity.

In the entire Seireitei, only three people knew that the seated officer who had been the first to draw his blade against the Seventh Division during the standoff was actually a planted agent Ichimaru Gin had arranged long ago.

But in the eyes of ordinary Shinigami, all they saw was the cold, hard truth.

The Thirteenth Division had been forcefully massacred by the Seventh Division and Ninth Division simply because their Captain had made a mistake.

With certain people fanning the flames, a terrifying thought quickly took root in the darkest corners of the Seireitei.

If a Captain erred, the division members would share the blame.

At first, this idea had