That night, Kaien Shiba lost the wife he loved most.
Of course, if Captain Ailin had not arrived in time, even if the few of them had survived in the end, they would likely have been crippled.
Leaving the others aside, Kukaku had lost an arm and suffered severe head trauma. Those were already established facts.
Therefore, Kaien Shiba was sincerely grateful to Captain Ailin and Rukia.
However, precisely because of what had happened, both Kukaku and Ganju Shiba had become even more resistant toward the Shinigami.
Over the years, Kukaku Shiba would rather clumsily teach Ganju Shiba the Shiba Clan's secret techniques herself than allow him to enter the Seireitei and become a Shinigami.
Kaien Shiba had no right to force his younger brother and sister over this matter.
After all, even he himself had little fondness for the Seireitei or the Shinigami.
At this moment, Kaien Shiba finally understood why his family had devoted their entire lives to revealing the truth from a million years ago.
This Seireitei, built upon sin, had not changed in the slightest from a million years ago until now.
Though it appeared peaceful on the surface, it had long since been utterly shrouded by the darkness of those nobles behind the scenes.
Even though Captain-Commander Yamamoto had torn open a gap in that darkness with overwhelming strength a thousand years ago and established the Gotei 13 within the Seireitei to guard the Soul King Palace, he had still failed to eradicate the nobles' sins.
He had merely forced those sins to hide even deeper.
However, while Kaien Shiba did not give Shunsui Kyōraku a pleasant look, he smiled and nodded at Ise Nanao.
From Rukia, Kaien Shiba had also learned that Ise Nanao, the Vice-Captain of the Eighth Division, had nearly been taken