"Nodt Futz, male, twenty-four at the time of his death. He arrived in the Soul Society 152 years ago."
"Fidier, male, thirty-three at the time of his death. He arrived in the Soul Society 146 years ago."
As he spoke, Hongjiang pulled a sheet of paper from his robes and unfolded it. He turned the writing faceup and tossed it straight to Tsunayashiro Daisuke. "All sixty-nine people listed here are Quincies. They arrived in the Soul Society at different times, but none was older than forty at the time of death!"
"If it's true, they really are all very young," Tsunayashiro murmured, catching the paper. He passed it to Shinji beside him and continued, "But that alone isn't enough!"
Quincies weren't ordinary humans. Apart from Soul Reapers, Hollows, and their own kind, almost nothing in the World of the Living could threaten their lives.
And over the past thousand years, there had been no reports of Soul Reapers stationed in the World of the Living clashing with Quincies. If they died to Hollows or in infighting, their souls wouldn't come to the Soul Society. That left two possibilities: either they'd died from wounds inflicted by Hollows, or...
"This is only part of it. There must be others like them! I don't know what caused their deaths, but they most likely took their own lives!" Hongjiang met the eyes of the six across from him in turn and spoke gravely. "Everyone, this is a clear shift in military strength. I don't need to spell out what they're plotting, do I?"
"An interesting theory, but it isn't evidence."
Kuchiki Ginrei picked up where Shinji-no-Miya left off. "Don't keep us in suspense. Tell us everything you know."
Hongjiang wasn't offended. He'd planned to take things step by step, sparing them a shock, but it seemed there was no need. He might as well drop the bombshell!
"The Sternritter Fortress, a holy city according to the Quincies, is now deep in the Zaraki District, to the northeast!"
"Impossible!" Shihoin Dozo cut him off. "Unless the city is completely enclosed by Seikiseki, there's no way it could be built safely out there! And besides..."
"And besides, Seikiseki has always been firmly controlled by the Seireitei. You couldn't possibly have missed something like this, right?"
The five heads of the clans nodded in unison. Seikiseki blocked and dispersed spirit energy, and was mainly used in the outermost barriers of the Seireitei. It was a vital strategic resource, kept under strict control by them. There was no way any of it could have gone missing.
As mentioned earlier, a large gathering of spirits—especially Soul Reapers—gave off spirit energy that easily attracted Hollows. That was the biggest challenge to establishing a base on the Plain of Slaughter. The only solution was Seikiseki.
Hongjiang didn't rush to explain. He raised his right hand, extending his index and middle fingers together, and traced two spirit-energy circles in midair, one large and one small.
"The inner circle is the Sternritter Fortress." As he spoke, he moved his fingers to the larger circle and traced around it. "This is a spherical zone with no spirit energy, created by Quincy power. It's less than five centimeters thick, with a radius of fifty kilometers. Absolutely no spirit energy! I'm sure you can all imagine what that means."
The room fell silent for a moment. A zone without spirit energy didn't exist to a Hollow's senses. So unless one happened to be wandering around the Plain of Slaughter, a Hollow would never go inside.
"When did it appear?" Yamamoto asked, interrupting their thoughts.
"I'm not sure, but it's been there for at least two hundred years!" Hongjiang shook his head, then continued, "The timing also fits with the arrival of large numbers of young Quincies."
"One last question. Has no Soul Reaper ever stumbled across this place in all this time?"
"Some have, but I'd guess most died before they even saw the fortress." Hongjiang lifted his chin toward the crowd in front of him. "They stumbled across it, after all, and ended up attracting a Gillian. They barely made it out alive!"
According to Hongjiang, when a Soul Reaper wandered in, damage to the spirit-energy-free zone caused a conspicuous surge of spirit energy, turning the area into a huge bait jar. Hollows in Hueco Mundo would instinctively follow the scent, while the black voids they opened concealed the spirit-energy fluctuations. The lost Soul Reapers were left in dire straits, and few survived.
"Even if someone strong enough managed to survive by chance, the Quincies who arrived would either talk them into leaving or kill them. The Hollows would be dealt with afterward, but because rescue took so long, no one would suspect anything." Hongjiang spread his hands, sounding almost amused.
At those words, the heads of the Shiba and Shihoin clans immediately darkened. Tsunayashiro stared at the two circles in midair, his brows knitted tight. Even Shinji-no-Miya, whose expression hadn't shifted once, now had his cheeks bulging slightly.
"Looks like we've all been far too comfortable for the past few centuries." Kuchiki Ginrei glanced from side to side and said calmly, "I don't know what the rest of you think, but the Kuchiki Clan agrees to war!"
"The Shihoin Clan agrees to war!"
"The Shiba Clan... agrees to war!"
The agreement of three clans in a row finally let Hongjiang breathe a sigh of relief. He'd truly feared someone might say, "You have to prove the Sternritter Fortress exists." Then he'd have been stuck. It wasn't as if he could move the city over here. Thank goodness! Thank goodness these people weren't senile!
"Starting tomorrow, the Seireitei will enter a state of readiness for war. Yamamoto will take full charge, with Central 46 supervising. The authorization will be secretly conveyed to the captains of each squad. The official order will be issued once the state of readiness ends."
Tsunayashiro's words marked the end of the matter. The storm that had raged around Yamamoto and Hongjiang for over a century had finally subsided.
"The injustice done to you, young man, can now be partly avenged." Shinji-no-Miya lifted the corner of his mouth at Hongjiang, managing something that might pass for a smile. He pointed at the crowd before him and continued, "Which of these people spread the false report back then?"
The first rumor had accused him of harming two Soul Reapers. The second claimed he'd publicly slaughtered seven people. Together, these rumors had made Hongjiang a criminal in the Seireitei, hunted throughout the Soul Society for 143 years.
The second rumor had been deliberate on Hongjiang's part, so that could be set aside for now. But the first had been a genuine frame-up, and it had triggered the reshuffling of power in the Seireitei. Whoever had made the false accusation was a Soul Reaper, and whatever the motive, the crime was unforgivable!
To spread a rumor like that, they'd have had to make sure as few people as possible knew the truth. So the accuser had to be one of the seven people present that day. There was no doubt about it.
But how many of them were responsible? Or had all seven conspired to spread the lie? For a moment, Hongjiang couldn't decide.
"Did any of the families these seven belonged to spread the rumor in the Seireitei back then?"
"Of course not. Young man, you should pay closer attention to what your elders have told you."
Shinji-no-Miya's words left Hongjiang completely baffled. What did he mean, pay attention to what the elders had said? How did that have anything to do with his question?
"Which of these people spread the false report back then?" Shinji-no-Miya's words flashed through Hongjiang's mind. Was that what he was supposed to pay attention to? Was there some hidden meaning?
Hongjiang lowered his head and silently repeated the sentence, word by word. When he reached the fifth word, he suddenly understood. He looked up with delight and met Yamamoto's kindly gaze. "I imagine you elders have a list of your own, too?!"
"Not bad," Shinji-no-Miya said with a smile. This time, he was genuinely smiling.
Yamamoto said nothing. He pulled a scroll tied with a thin purple cord from his robes. Just then, the melodious sound of wooden clappers rang out again from beyond the room.
"The hour of the Ox, right on the stroke. All plants and trees asleep, a hundred demons on the prowl!"
Before you continue