The Hueco Mundo Expedition Team was finally assembled a month later.
It was led by Vice-Captain Shiba Kaien and consisted of the Eleventh Division's Third Seat, Fifth Seat, Ninth Seat, Eleventh Seat, Fifteenth Seat, and Eighteenth through Twentieth Seats, along with over a hundred ordinary Soul Reapers.
Yes, the seated officers were actually ranked from First Seat to Twentieth Seat, but those ranked below Tenth Seat were really just slightly stronger Soul Reapers. They were considered lower-ranking seated officers and were usually barely noticed.
They didn't even awaken Soul Abilities, so Gaoyu hadn't paid them any mind.
Getting to Hueco Mundo was no easy task. Soul Reapers from Soul Society rarely entered Hueco Mundo, and their abilities didn't allow them to travel freely between the Three Realms.
Soul Reapers used the Senkaimon to travel between the realms. Locating the Human World was easy enough, but pinpointing Hueco Mundo was more difficult.
So a Senkaimon leading to Hueco Mundo had to be specially constructed, a task entrusted to the Twelfth Division.
By the time the Hueco Mundo Expedition Team was assembled, the Senkaimon was ready too.
Before they set out, Jūshirō Ukitake notified Gaoyu.
Gaoyu paid a visit to the Shiba Family.
The Shiba Family was one of the Five Noble Clans of Soul Society, but it was an outcast among them—or, more accurately, the weakest of the Five Noble Clans.
Apparently, the Tsunayashiro Family, the foremost of the Five Noble Clans, had led the effort to ostracize the Shiba Family. As a result, the family had fallen further and further into decline.
Even so, the Shiba estate was still quite impressive. It couldn't compare with the Kuchiki Family's or the Tsunayashiro Family's, but it still showed the depth of a great clan's heritage.
"Gaoyu, you're here!"
Shiba Kaien was glad