Northeast of Zaraki District

"Nodt Futz, male, twenty-four years old at the time of death, arrived in Soul Society one hundred and fifty-two years ago."

"Fidier, male, thirty-three years old at the time of death, arrived in Soul Society one hundred and forty-six years ago."

Hongjiang spoke while pulling a sheet of paper from his robes. He unfolded it, turned the side with writing face up, and tossed it directly toward Tsunayashiro Daisuke. "The sixty-nine people listed here are all Quincy. Their time in Soul Society varies, but none of them were over forty when they died!"

"If this is true, they were indeed all too young." Tsunayashiro caught the paper, muttered to himself, and passed it to Shinji-no-Miya beside him. He continued, "But this alone is not enough!"

Quincy are not ordinary humans. Aside from Soul Reaper, Hollow, and their own kind, there is almost nothing in the living world that can threaten their lives.

For the past thousand years, there have been no reports of conflict between the Soul Reaper stationed in the living world and the Quincy. If they died due to Hollow or internal strife, their souls would not come to Soul Society. This leaves two possibilities: either they were mortally wounded by Hollow, or...

"This is only a portion; there are certainly others like them! I don't know the cause of death, but it is highly probable they took their own lives." Hongjiang met the eyes of the six people opposite him one by one and said in a deep voice, "Everyone, with such an obvious transfer of combat power, I don't think I need to explain what they are plotting, do I?"

"A very interesting conjecture, but as evidence, it is insufficient."

Kuchiki Ginrei took over from Shinji-no-Miya and continued, "Stop beating around the bush and tell us everything you know."

Hongjiang was not offended. He had intended to take it step by step to spare their hearts, but it seemed that was no longer necessary—time to drop the bomb!

"Sternritter Fortress, a holy city in the words of the Quincy, is currently located in the northeast deep within the Zaraki District!"

"Impossible!" Shihoin Dozo spoke up suddenly, interrupting Hongjiang. "Unless you completely wrap the city in Seikiseki, it is impossible to build a city there safely! And..."

"And Seikiseki has always been firmly controlled by Seireitei. You couldn't possibly have failed to notice such a movement, right?"

The five heads of the great houses nodded in unison. The function of Seikiseki is to block and decompose spiritual power, and it is primarily used for the outermost barriers of Seireitei. It is a vital strategic resource for Seireitei, strictly controlled by them; it is impossible for it to have leaked out.

As mentioned before, a large gathering of spiritual bodies, especially Soul Reaper, emits spiritual power that easily attracts Hollow. This is the greatest difficulty in establishing a base in the Plain of Slaughter, and the only solution is Seikiseki.

Hongjiang did not rush to explain. He raised his right hand in a sword-finger gesture, sketching two spiritual power rings—one large and one small—in mid-air.

"The inner one is the Sternritter Fortress," Hongjiang said, moving his finger to the larger outer circle and tracing it. "And this is a zone devoid of spiritual power, created by the power of the Quincy. It is less than five centimeters thick and has a radius of fifty kilometers. Completely devoid of spiritual power! I believe you can all imagine what that leads to."

A brief silence fell over the room. A zone without spiritual power does not exist in the perception of a Hollow, so unless they were bored enough to wander through the Plain of Slaughter, a Hollow would never enter it.

"When did it appear?" Yamamoto spoke, interrupting their thoughts.

"I am not sure, but it has existed for at least two hundred years!" Hongjiang shook his head and continued, "The timing aligns well with the appearance of large groups of young Quincy."

"One last question: in all this time, has no Soul Reaper ever stumbled upon this place by accident?"

"Some have, but I suspect most died before they even saw the fortress~" Hongjiang said, lifting his chin toward the pile of people in front of him. "Weren't they the ones who stumbled upon it? They ended up attracting a Gillian and nearly lost their lives!"

According to Hongjiang, when a Soul Reaper wanders in, the damage to the non-spiritual zone causes a very obvious fluctuation in spiritual power, turning it into a giant spice jar. At the same time, Hollow from Hueco Mundo instinctively follow the scent. The spiritual fluctuations are masked by the Negacion opened by the Hollow, leaving the stray Soul Reaper in a predicament from which few survive.

"Even if someone with great strength manages to survive, they are subsequently persuaded to leave or killed by the arriving Quincy. Afterward, the Hollow are dealt with, but because the rescue was not timely, everything looks fine and no one is suspected," Hongjiang said, spreading his hands with a mocking tone.

At these words, the faces of the heads of the Shiba and Shihoin houses turned ugly. Tsunayashiro stared at the two circles in mid-air, his brows locked tight. Even Shinji-no-Miya, who had not shown a single ripple of emotion, had his cheeks slightly bulging.

"It seems that for hundreds of years, we have lived too comfortably." Kuchiki Ginrei glanced left and right before saying calmly, "I do not know what the rest of you think, but our Kuchiki house agrees to war!"

"The Shihoin house agrees to war!"

"The Shiba... agree to war!"

The consecutive declarations from the three houses finally allowed Hongjiang to breathe a sigh of relief. He had been truly afraid that someone would ask him to "prove the existence of the Sternritter Fortress," at which point he would have been helpless—he couldn't exactly move the city over, could he? Fortunately! Fortunately, these people were not senile!

"Starting tomorrow, Seireitei will enter a state of war readiness. Yamamoto will be fully responsible, with Central 46 providing oversight. This authorization will be secretly communicated to the captains of each division, and the formal order will be issued after the war readiness phase concludes."

Tsunayashiro's words signaled that everything had been settled, and the storm that had lasted for over a hundred years surrounding Yamamoto and Hongjiang had finally subsided.

"The little one has suffered injustice, and now he can collect a bit of it back." Shinji-no-Miya looked at Hongjiang, the corners of his mouth lifting in what could be considered a smile. He pointed at the pile of people in front of him and continued, "Among these people, who was the one who spread the false information back then?"

From the initial framing of two Soul Reaper to the later public execution of seven people, these two rumors had made Hongjiang a sinner of Seireitei, wanted by the entire Soul Society for one hundred and forty-three years.

The second rumor was something Hongjiang had done intentionally, so that was beside the point. But the first was a genuine frame-up, and it was the catalyst for the reshuffling of power in Seireitei. As a Soul Reaper, regardless of his motives, the accuser's actions were unforgivable!

To spread such news, one had to ensure the truth was known by as few people as possible, so the accuser was undoubtedly one of the seven people present at the scene back then.

However, how many of them were the accuser? Or were all seven of them? For a moment, Hongjiang could not decide.

"Did the families of these seven people have anyone in Seireitei spreading the news back then?"

"Naturally not, little one. You must pay more attention to what your elders have said."

Shinji-no-Miya's words left Hongjiang completely confused. What did "pay attention to what your elders have said" mean? Did what they said have anything to do with his question?

"Among these people, who was the one who spread the false information back then?" This sentence Shinji had spoken flashed through his mind. Was this what he was supposed to pay attention to? Was there some hidden meaning in it?

Hongjiang lowered his head, silently reciting the sentence word by word in his heart. When he reached the fifth word, he suddenly realized the truth. He looked up with a joyful expression, meeting Yamamoto's kind gaze. "I presume you elders have a list in your hands as well?!"

"Not stupid after all~" Shinji-no-Miya said with a smile—a real smile this time.

Yamamoto said nothing, pulling a scroll tied with a thin purple ribbon from his robes. At this moment, the melodious sound of wooden clappers drifted in from outside once more.

"The hour of the Ox, all plants and trees are asleep, the hundred demons walk the night~!"