The Purpose of the King's Seal

Seireitei, First Division Barracks.

Tsuna walked effortlessly to Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's office without even needing to announce his arrival. Of course, when he reached the vicinity of the First Division, Tsuna deliberately released his spiritual pressure so that Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto could sense it.

Just as Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto finished brewing the tea, Tsuna opened the door to Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's office right on time.

"What brings you to see me?" Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto asked leisurely, brewing his tea.

"What the hell is the King's Seal?" As he spoke, Tsuna casually tossed Toshiro's letter to Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto.

After quickly scanning the files, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto set it ablaze, reducing it to ashes. He looked at Tsuna, pondered for a moment, and then said, "Captain of the 10th Division, Hitsugaya, has been ordered by the First Division to conduct an investigation and is temporarily relieved of his captaincy."

"Toshiro Hitsugaya completes his mission and reports to the First Division without any issues, he will resume his position as captain of the 10th Division."

"The Seireitei's arrest warrant for Toshiro Hitsugaya is lifted, and the confinement order for the 10th Division is lifted. The 10th Division will be temporarily managed by Vice-Captain Rangiku Matsumoto."

Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's words were addressed not only to Tsuna but also to everyone else. Outside Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's office, there were always Bleach) on standby, ready to issue Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's orders at any time.

After finishing his work, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto answered Tsuna's question, "The King's Seal is merely a symbol of a portion of the Soul King Palace's power. Why are you asking about that?"

Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto found it odd. Tsuna didn't seem like the type to meddle in team affairs, so why was he asking about the King's Seal? Did Captain Hitsugaya have that much personal charisma?

"It's nothing, I was just tricked by the thief who stole the King's Seal," Tsuna said through gritted teeth. However, his injuries had already healed, so Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto couldn't tell.

"Oh?" Tsuna became interested after Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's words. "Tell me more about it."

"Even your full-force spiritual pressure couldn't completely restrain my movements, but the spiritual pressure emanating from the King's Seal did control me for a fleeting moment."

Tsuna had been secretly trying to figure out if all the creatures from the Soul King Palace were this powerful.

"If you knew the power of the King's Seal, you wouldn't have such doubts." Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto looked calm; he had already guessed why Tsuna was able to be controlled.

"The King's Seal has the power to control space. Whether it's temporarily binding your body or teleporting you over a large area, it can do it as long as the King's Seal approves," Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto said.

Tsuna suddenly understood; he had been bound by the spatial restraints of the King's Seal. "Such a powerful thing, and you only sent this few people to escort it?"

Tsuna couldn't understand where those two Arrancar and Sojiro Kusaka got the confidence to steal the King's Seal from the escort team.

The only explanation is that neither the Seireitei nor the Soul King Palace took the escort of the King's Seal very seriously; everything was done as a matter of routine and following the rules.

"Ahem, this thing is just an unusable dead object. Who would have thought that someone could actually use the power of the King's Seal?" Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto said somewhat awkwardly, admitting that he had indeed made a mistake based on experience.

"Inanimate objects? And you've been transporting them around with such fanfare?"

"Those are ceremonial items, just like in your World of the Living, when you're doing diplomacy with different countries, the outward appearances always have to be done properly."

"Soul Society has diplomacy?"

This piqued Tsuna's interest. Since the establishment of the Gotei 13, the Soul Society hadn't changed for nearly a thousand years. Who else could they be diplomatic with?

"It's all orchestrated by the Soul King Palace." Tsuna had come to the right person; apart from Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, very few people in the Seireitei truly understood the significance of transporting the King's Seal.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi, are you aware that Soul Society has two divisions, East and West, and the location of our Seireitei is called the East Bureau?"

East Bureau, West Bureau? Tsuna frowned, as if trying to grow a brain, feeling like he had heard this term somewhere before, but couldn't quite place it.

"When Soul King established Soul Society Soul Society, it was so vast that it had to be divided into two departments for management."

"As time went on, the East and West Bureaus gradually diverged, and the Soul Society also experienced instability for some reason."

"Because Soul King is already stationed in the skies above our East Bureau, we in the East Bureau do not need to worry about any problems arising from the instability of Soul Society."

"In contrast, the West Bureau- Bureau, being farther away, is more independently managed and free, and the Soul King Palace cannot command them."

"However, in order to prevent the Soul Society where they reside from being destroyed, the Soul King Palace will stabilize their space once every hundred years, and the carrier of this stabilizing power is the King's Seal."

Tsuna unconsciously opened his mouth as he absorbed Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's new settings into his mind. These things, which he had never even heard of before, were no different from listening to gibberish to him.

After Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto remained silent, Tsuna asked after a long pause, "So the King's Seal's spatial control ability exists to stabilize the Western Soul Society?"

"Like I said, is it really that important to send such a weak honor guard to transport it?"

"It's nothing important. Since ancient times, no one has been able to use the power of the King's Seal, not even its forger. Who knew that someone like Sojiro Kusaka would appear?"

Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto was somewhat speechless. To him, the King's Seal guards were just going through the motions, but it turned out that someone was actually coveting the power of the King's Seal.

"Forging? Could it be?"

"Just as you think, the Sword God and the Monk," Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto added. "The King's Seal will only have one fate: to be destroyed after it goes to the West, so that the King's Spirit it contains can suppress the stability of the space."

"So what did the Soul King Palace say?"

"We've received word that we need to retrieve the King's Seal, and at the same time, they're starting to forge another King's Seal," Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto said.

That's about enough for now. As for Toshiro's defection, he'll have to figure it out on his own. As for Sojiro Kusaka, nobody cares about his life or death except for Toshiro.

Even the King's Seal Seireitei didn't care anymore, since the Soul King Palace would ultimately protect them.

There was a knock on Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's door, and an old man with white hair slicked back and a black vertical bun walked in. He was Genjirō Ōko, who had been entrusted by Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto to handle the daily team affairs.

As for Chōjirō Sasakibe, he spent all his time in the training ground and only occasionally received Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's favor.

"Captain-Commander, Urahara Kisuke requests an audience," said Genjirō Ōko.

"Urahara Kisuke?" Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto glanced at Tsuna; he hadn't called Urahara the First Division.

"Oh, I called him. Please bring him over." Tsuna said.

After arriving in Soul Society, Tsuna sent a message to Urahara before coming to the First Division. Judging by the timing, Urahara arrived at the First Division Barracks at that moment with the things Tsuna wanted.

"Captain-Commander Yamamoto, Tsuna, hello there." Urahara greeted them with a smile as he entered, holding a transparent katana in his hand.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi, what are you doing?"

"This is a man-made Zanpakuto developed by the shopkeeper based on the souls of Gillian and Bleach. However, due to the lack of the key technology of the Sword God, it is currently just an empty shell." Tsuna flicked his finger, and the katana made a metallic sound.

"You want to make Asauchi?"

"It's not that simple. Reverse engineering the core technology of the Soul King Palace is quite difficult. This empty shell is enough for now."

"I've observed the Hyōrinmaru of Toshiro and Sojiro Kusaka, and I've discovered that their swords are incomplete, each possessing a portion of their own spiritual pressure."

Before Tsuna could finish speaking, Urahara Kisuke understood Tsuna meaning. "You've got your eye on that sword called Sojiro Kusaka? That's why you asked me to bring an empty shell?"

"Why not give it a try? It won't hurt you. And if it can fix the flaws in Hachi's Zanpakuto, wouldn't that be even better?" Tsuna retorted.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi, why do you have such thoughts?"

"Hachi said that when he obtained Hyōrinmaru, Kusaka was also by his side, so I suspect that Hachi's strength was simply too weak at the time, and Hyōrinmaru had to distribute some of its power to another person."

"Later, the duel between Hachi and Kusaka became even more absurd. If Hyōrinmaru Hachi the beginning, then Hyōrinmaru wouldn't have been his Zanpakuto at all. In other words, the outcome of the duel was predetermined, regardless of whether Hachi was willing to draw his sword or not..."

"The efforts of that Sojiro Kusaka will only benefit Toshiro Hitsugaya."

"This... is truly a story tucked away in one's back," Urahara said casually. "Does Captain Hitsugaya know about it?"

If the speculation is accurate, then Toshiro's tragedy is largely caused by his Zanpakuto. Torn between his friends and his own power, it's a difficult choice for anyone.

"There are some guesses, aren't there? With his Captain-level combat strength, finding someone Sojiro Kusaka wouldn't be difficult. His insistence on leaving the Seireitei's ranks and going on his own can be seen as a heart-to-heart talk between him and Hyōrinmaru."

"All we need to do is prepare the equipment for Hachi, and when he comes to his senses, we can hand the swords to him." Tsuna stood up, waved his hand, and said, "Let's go, Old Man Yamamoto, you can put the sword away."

"Is Toshiro Hitsugaya worth you going to such lengths?" Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto suddenly asked. In his view, Tsuna and Toshiro were just casual acquaintances; such deep trust couldn't be built overnight.

Tsuna paused for a moment, then said in a low voice without turning around, "I've always believed that Toshiro Hitsugaya is one of the best Bleach of the future, and he deserves the Soul Society's complete trust."

Watching Tsuna's swaying figure, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto became more and more convinced that Sawada Tsunayoshi was the future leader of Soul Society. Just as Sawada Tsunayoshi believed in Toshiro Hitsugaya, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto also believed in Sawada Tsunayoshi.

Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto wasn't in a hurry; he and they had plenty of time.