The Empire in the Shadows

First Division Barracks, Captains' Meeting.

This captains' meeting was unprecedented. The title of captain was not limited to the division captain; all the Soul Bleach of Seireitei with Captain-level strength participated in the meeting.

As for how to distinguish Captain-level, it's simple: whether they've Bankai and whether they're in their prime. There are very few guys like Yoruichi who don't rely on Bankai.

Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto originally disagreed with holding the meeting this way. The captains' meeting should only involve the thirteen divisions plus the newly formed part of Kyōraku's group, and the other Bleach should just follow orders.

However, the person who made this suggestion was Sawada Tsunayoshi, the one who could truly Tsuna Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto. After witnessing Tsuna's strength, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto seriously considered Tsuna's suggestion.

That means that in future crises, only those with Captain-level strength will have the possibility of fighting on the battlefield; the rest will mostly be cannon fodder.

Upon hearing of such a crisis, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto had no choice but to agree to Tsuna's suggestion. This led to a captains' meeting that was quite different from usual. Instead of being simply divided into two rows based on odd and even numbers, a huge conference table was added, with the captains of each squad attending, while the rest stood behind their respective squads.

On the Seireitei side, in addition to the usual thirteen captains, Aikawa Love attended on behalf of the newly established department, Hachigen was transferred back to the Kidō Corps as the current Kido- sama, representing the Kidō Corps, while Kukaku Shiba declined the Seireitei's invitation, as he had more important matters to attend to.

Standing behind each captain Bleach Seated Officer, namely: Chōjirō Sasakibe of the First Division, Renji Abarai of the 6th Division, Jin'emon Kotsubaki of the Seventh Division, Ikkaku Madarame and Yumichika Ayasegawa of the Squad 11, and Nemu Kurotsuchi of the Squad 12.

Yumichika and Nemu Kurotsuchi were added by Tsuna specifically. Throughout the entire Bleach, Yumichika has never been seen using Bankai, but it's hard to say that he really doesn't know how. Tsuna doesn't believe that someone who is so close to Ikkaku Madarame can't even master half of Bankai.

As for Nemu Kurotsuchi, she was too special. No one knew what Kurotsuchi Mayuri had put inside her. She was a character whose upper and lower limits were unknown, and she entered the meeting as a special existence.

Another one is Kotsubaki Jin'emon of the Seventh Division, a man once known as a swordsman, who still has the strength to fight.

That's all the fighting force of the Seireitei, which is just over twenty people.

Meanwhile, Tsuna participated in the past six months with Urahara, and Yoruichi and Ichigo friends from the World of the Living. They were relegated to a corner, and it was time for them to understand why Tsuna had been working so hard to improve his strength.

Isshin, on the other hand, was quite carefree. After instructing Toshiro, he finally felt relieved and ended his journey in Soul Society with his family.

Therefore, Isshin's opinions were entirely entrusted to Tsuna. He had great confidence in this kid he had watched grow up. This time, whether the world was destroyed or reborn, Isshin would face it together with his family.

After Tsuna took his seat, Urahara busied himself at the conference table for a while, and the meeting was about to begin.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi, can you tell me now? What exactly is the crisis ahead?" Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto said, lightly tapping his hand on the table.

In truth, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto was also hesitant. If Tsuna hadn't demonstrated combat strength that matched his own, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto would never have believed Tsuna's claims.

Today's meeting was somewhat beyond the scope of expectations, both in terms of the attendees and the agenda, not to mention that the content was beyond Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's control.

Everything is based on Tsuna's strength.

"Let me start with a brief introduction, Captain-Commander Yamamoto. Nearly a thousand years have passed. I wonder if you still remember the Quincy?"

As soon as Tsuna finished speaking, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's murderous gaze swept across the entire area, and then his terrifying gaze immediately focused on the corner where Ishida Uryū, dressed in white insignia, was Quincy.

Ichigo's expression changed instantly, and he immediately stood in front of Uryū. Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's eyes were indeed terrifying, but he didn't get angry. He believed that Tsuna wouldn't hurt them.

"Put your time, Captain-Commander, we're in a meeting." Tsuna said, slapping the table in annoyance. "You haven't forgotten that battle a thousand years ago, have you?"

"Of course I haven't forgotten!" Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto said proudly. "To be precise, it hasn't been a thousand years, but I'm certain that I led the Gotei 13 to bury Quincy entered the Soul Society!"

"Except for a few remnants of the Quincy remain in the World of the Living, they are no longer a threat!"

At this point, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto glanced at Ishida Uryū. They had even launched a siege against the Quincy in the World of the Living world. He didn't believe that one or two people like Ishida Uryū could threaten Soul Society.

"To be precise, it's still a little over two years, right?" Tsuna added, "A song was left behind among the Quincy."

"The sealed King of the Quincy, after 900 years, regained his heartbeat, after another 90 years, regained his consciousness, and after another 9 years, regained his power. Nine days after he regains his power, the Emperor will reclaim this world."

"Time is running out; the King of the Quincy will soon return."

An image of a long-haired, unkempt old man with black hair was displayed on the conference table, with the words "Yhwach, Yhwach of the King of the Quincy" clearly written next to him. However, the abstractness of the image was comparable to Rukia's masterpiece.

"Impossible! Sawada... sir, do you have any evidence?" Chōjirō Sasakibe stepped forward and asked vehemently.

Few people present had the right to speak about this war that took place a thousand years ago, but Sasakibe, though the Vice-Captain, was one of the few who had participated in that battle and was therefore qualified to speak.

The reason why the Sasakibe was somewhat agitated was because the so-called King of the Quincy had died at Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's hands because of his backstabbing attack. He was an important contributor who could not be ignored no matter what.

"Evidence? The King of the Quincy possesses an ability called the Auswählen, which is the power to seize the lives and powers of other Quincy and redistribute them."

"About six or seven years ago, when I was nine years old, he launched the Auswählen, taking away the lives and power of all the Mixed-blood Quincy. Captain-Commander, you don't think that the Quincy remaining in the World of the Living could have done that, do you?"

While Tsuna asked Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto a question, his eyes, when looking at Sasakibe, held a hint of mockery.

The desktop image then transformed into a scene of humanoid creatures enveloped in beams of pale blue light— the Auswählen image drawn by Tsuna based on his own impressions.

"The Auswählen Yhwach... Yhwach is really still alive?!" Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's eyes were filled with coldness.

Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto was certainly aware of the ability of the Auswählen Seiya. If Yhwach hadn't used the Auswählen to strip away the power of his allies a thousand years ago in order to defeat him, his Zanka no Tachi wouldn't have been able to contain so many Quincy corpses.

Just as the atmosphere at the meeting became somewhat somber due to Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's deep thought, Ishida Uryū stepped forward and asked a loud question with a serious expression.

"Tsuna, when you were in elementary school, was your Mom also infected with the Auswählen?"

Uryū remembers the incident that happened to Hae Katagiri very clearly back then; it was also at that time that he first met Tsuna.

Uryū knew that after that incident in elementary school, his Mom's health had become very weak, but no matter how much he asked, his parents would not tell him the truth, only saying that Hae had fallen ill.

Both Ryūken and Hae believed that before Uryū had sufficient strength, any hatred would be detrimental to his growth. Now that Uryū had begun to grasp the power of the Saint Letters, it was time for him to learn the truth about what happened back then.

"Yes, not only Aunt Hae, but Ichigo's Mom was also affected by the Auswählen. If things had happened normally..."

Tsuna didn't continue speaking, nor did he need to. With a thud, Ichigo slammed his fist against the wall, cold sweat pouring down his face, his eyes filled with fear.

Ichigo recalled the memory from the photograph when he obtained the Bleach powers. Before he lost consciousness, he saw a Hollow, which meant that his Mom might have died in that the Auswählen!

Ichigo's commotion drew everyone's attention, and he asked with some difficulty, "Tsuna, back then..."

"Oh, just passing by." Tsuna casually said something only he and Ichigo could understand, "In fact, both your Kurosaki Residence and the Ishida Residence have a blood feud with that guy!"

As Tsuna's finger moved his gaze, Uryū and Ichigo focused their attention on Yhwach in the center of the table.

Now everyone present understood why Sawada Tsunayoshi had invited people from the World of the Living to participate in this meeting; if there was a grudge, even Quincy from the World of the Living could be considered allies.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi, where is Yhwach? Find him, and I'll personally send him to Hell!"

As Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto spoke, a wave of spiritual pressure emanated from him; although it was a fire-attribute power, it felt as cold as an ice cave at this moment.

Upon hearing Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's question, Tsuna gave a strange smile. He glanced at Urahara, Urahara, after receiving a signal, immediately began to operate the device.

The desktop display was cleared, and the structure of Seireitei appeared in the center of the Seireitei. Correspondingly, Urahara drew a pure black Seireitei below it, like its inverted shadow.

"If I told you that the Quincy have been hiding in the shadow of the Seireitei for nearly a thousand years, allowing them to develop into an invisible empire, what would you think, Captain-Commander?"

Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's brows furrowed deeply. He turned his gaze to Urahara Kisuke, but instead of getting angry or questioning him, he simply wanted to obtain evidence from Urahara first.

Urahara, looking somewhat troubled, pressed down on his hat and said, "To be honest, it's giving me a headache. These past few years, because I haven't been able to appear in Soul Society often, I've had to do some investigations secretly."

Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's forehead veins bulged even more; Urahara's complaint seemed to be related to him as well...

"Due to insufficient data, the number of experiments conducted was limited, and it remains inconclusive whether the Wandenreich exists within the shadows. However, there are indeed instances of abnormal Reishi within the Seireitei's shadows..."

What followed was a whole bunch of theories and data analysis, which Tsuna couldn't understand anyway. In the end, Urahara concluded that there were indeed strange things about the shadows of the Seireitei that needed to be investigated.