Secret

"Mm, there were a few matters that required Captain Ailin's assistance."

Although Ailin had married Haruko Kuchiki and become the Kuchiki Clan's son-in-law, the strength he had displayed had earned him recognition from both the captains of other divisions and the members of the Sixth Division. They all acknowledged that Ailin possessed the ability to become a captain.

Thus, everyone addressed Ailin as "Captain Ailin," rather than "Captain Kuchiki."

This represented their recognition of Ailin himself as the captain of the Sixth Division, rather than his identity as a member of the Kuchiki Clan.

This was completely different from the situation of Kuchiki Hyōga in Ailin's memories.

Ailin remembered that the reason Kuchiki Hyōga had rebelled in his memories was, firstly, because before joining the Sixth Division, he had never displayed great strength before its members. The impression everyone had of him was more that of "the Kuchiki Clan's son-in-law."

So, even after he gradually revealed his strength, performed more meritorious deeds, and rose to become Vice-Captain, everyone had grown accustomed to viewing him as "the Kuchiki Clan's son-in-law."

And that left the highly prideful Kuchiki Hyōga feeling stifled.

When he was framed by nobles secretly coveting the Kuchiki Clan, Kuchiki Hyōga finally erupted. He broke out of prison and killed the nobles who had framed him. In the end, his temperament changed drastically. He slaughtered countless Soul Reapers, became a traitor to Soul Society, and was ultimately sealed away by Ginrei Kuchiki and Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto.

"Ah, this mission is somewhat troublesome, so I wanted to ask Captain Ailin to work with us and complete it."

Hearing Shihoin Yoruichi begin discussing official matters with Ailin, Ginrei Kuchiki led Byakuya Kuchiki away from the backyard so as not to disturb them.

"Oh?"

Ailin raised a brow.

What kind of mission could make Shihoin Yoruichi find it troublesome?

"Lord Yoruichi, perhaps you should first explain what kind of mission this is?"

"Mm, that's true. Then I'll explain it first."

Yoruichi nodded, folding her arms as she leaned back against the cherry blossom tree.

"More than nine hundred years ago, besides Soul Society, there was another force in this world that slew Hollows entering the Human World from Hueco Mundo to hunt and protected humanity."

"That force was called the 'Light Empire.'"

"The warriors of the Light Empire were known as 'Quincies.'"

"Because their ideals differed, more than nine hundred years ago, the first generation of the Gotei 13, led by Captain-Commander Yamamoto, fought a great decisive battle against the Light Empire. In the end, they successfully exterminated the Quincies of the Light Empire."

Ailin nodded. He knew this history.

Moreover, he might have known even more than Shihoin Yoruichi did.

He even knew that before the great decisive battle with the Gotei 13, Yhwach, the leader of the Light Empire's Quincy faction, had negotiated with Ichibei Hyosube, guardian of the Soul King Palace. In the end, Ichibei Hyosube had used the Spirit King's right hand to seal Yhwach's ability to see.

"For nearly a thousand years, Soul Society has been searching for the remnants of the Light Empire's Quincies, seeking to wipe out the Quincy bloodline completely."

"Not long ago, the intelligence unit of the Eighth Division gathered the hiding place of the remaining Quincies in the Human World. Captain-Commander Yamamoto personally issued an order for the Second Division and Thirteenth Division to head to the Human World together and eliminate the remaining Quincies."

"Wait..."

Hearing Yoruichi reach this point, Ailin could not help raising a hand to interrupt her. "Lord Yoruichi, are these remnant Quincies really that powerful? With both you and Captain Ukitake taking action, you still find this troublesome?"

Ailin could not be certain just how powerful Shihoin Yoruichi was at present.

But she was definitely not as powerful as she would be two hundred years later, after developing Shunkō: Raijin Senkei and the Thunder Beast Combat Form.

Yet Jūshirō Ukitake, Old Man Yamamoto's prized disciple and the Spirit King's right arm, was currently at the peak of his strength.

Among all the current captains of Soul Society, his strength was enough to rank in the top five.

Other than Captain-Commander Yamamoto, Retsu Unohana, Jushiro Genpachi, and Shunsui Kyōraku, the other captains truly were no match for Jūshirō Ukitake.

Even Kiryuo Hikifune, captain of the Twelfth Division, had not been Jūshirō Ukitake's opponent before she was promoted to the Royal Guard and had her spiritual bones replaced.

Of course, because he had sacrificed one of his lungs, Jūshirō Ukitake would occasionally suffer a severe loss of strength due to illness. But even with his strength greatly diminished, Jūshirō Ukitake remained stronger than most captains.

As far as Ailin knew, after the truly powerful Quincies of the Light Empire had been defeated by the Gotei 13, they had all been drawn into Soul Society's shadows by Yhwach's other half, Haschwalth, where they lay hidden.

From that day onward, the Light Empire had become the unseen empire, also known as the "Wandenreich"!

"Mm..."

When Ailin asked that, Yoruichi fell silent for once.

As one of Soul Society's Four Great Noble Houses—no, as the head of the Shihoin Family among the Four Great Noble Houses—Shihoin Yoruichi knew how she had obtained her position as a "great noble."

It had been through betrayal!

In ancient times, there had been only one world: the Human World.

At that time, there was neither life nor death in the Human World. There was neither progress nor regression. Even becoming a Hollow was part of the cycle of reishi transformation.

However, as the Hollows formed from reishi transformation devoured human souls, fewer and fewer souls remained to reincarnate in this world. One day in the future, all souls in the Human World would be devoured by a single Menos, becoming one enormous Hollow and causing the world to stagnate.

At that time, the world gave birth to the Spirit King. The Spirit King, born from the world, possessed the "Almighty." He transformed his Almighty into Quincy's power and annihilated the Hollows, resolving the world's crisis and allowing souls to begin reincarnating once more.

But although the world was no longer in danger, those who had witnessed the Spirit King's power did not approve of such a world.

Thus, the five heads of the Tsunayashiro Clan, the Shihoin Family, the Kuchiki Clan, the Shiba Clan, and one other family intended to persuade the Spirit King to create a world where life and death were separated—the three realms of the Human World, Hueco Mundo, and Soul Society.

However, during their discussions with the Spirit King, the head of the Tsunayashiro Clan joined the heads of the other three families in attacking the Spirit King and sealing him within crystal.

The Spirit King seemed to have seen the future through his power and thus did not resist the harm inflicted by the three families. He chose self-sacrifice, allowing the heads of the three families to steal his power and divide the chaotic world into three realms.

Yet even though the Spirit King had given up resisting, aside from the Shiba Clan, the other three families still did not trust the one who had surrendered. They feared that one day, the Spirit King would seek revenge against them.

Thus, through the tacit understanding of the three families, after countless years, the Tsunayashiro Clan dug out the Spirit King's heart, cut off his feet, severed his arms, sliced open his internal organs and removed them from his body, stripped them of their power, and cast them down to the lower world.