Everything Is for the Seireitei

Shiba did not make things difficult for Yato, and the matter of his Soul-Cutter Sword was quickly resolved.

Fujita Ayaka, who handled matters related to Asauchi, made a detailed record and officially finalized it.

Kaien Shiba did not stay long. He had just returned from Hueco Mundo, and there was still much waiting for him to handle within the division.

"Where are we going next, Yato?" Byakuya Kuchiki asked as they left the reception hall.

Uchiha Yato chuckled.

"I was originally planning to go back and continue my Sword Zen training, but now that Scarlet Eye's matter has been settled, I'm in a good mood. Let's go have something nice to eat."

"Let's go together."

"Oh?" Yato deliberately teased him.

"I remember the last time you didn't come home all night, the head of the Kuchiki Clan gave you a thorough scolding. You nearly got punished by family law..."

Byakuya stiffened his neck, making himself look even more resolute.

"So this time, come to my house as a guest! I meant to tell you after our match, but Kaien Shiba happened to arrive, so it got delayed until now."

"Fine, fine." Yato grinned as he threw an arm around Byakuya's shoulders.

"Young Master Kuchiki has invited me. How could I possibly refuse? Let's go!"

Over the past six months, Yato had visited the Kuchiki Estate quite often.

Byakuya was a great noble who lived in the Seireitei. Though he had a dormitory at Shin'ō Academy, he returned home every night, essentially making him a commuting student.

Whenever the two wanted to spar and test the results of their training, Yato would go to Byakuya's home and use the Kuchiki Clan's training grounds.

During that time, he had even met Yoruichi Shihōin twice.

By now, Yato was already quite familiar with the Kuchiki Estate.

Familiarity aside, however, this was still the first time he had been formally invited to a banquet.

As an ancient great noble house whose history was intertwined with that of Soul Society itself, the Kuchiki Clan certainly knew how to put on a grand display.

They laid out a "Grand Feast Cuisine," striving for perfection in flavor, presentation, and meaning. It was elegant without being aloof, refined yet accessible, with strict etiquette tempered by a touch of rustic charm.

During the meal, Byakuya's elders, Ginrei Kuchiki and Sōjun Kuchiki, also came over to greet Uchiha Yato according to custom.

"Yato," Byakuya introduced respectfully.

"This is my grandfather, Ginrei. This is my father, Sōjun."

Yato hurriedly rose to his feet and spoke to the two respectfully.

"Yato, is it? You're quite impressive." Ginrei Kuchiki stroked his snowy-white beard, his fondness for the youth plain to see.

"Our Byakuya mentions you often. Steadfast and outstanding, remarkably gifted... That boy of mine is proud and impulsive. He must have caused you trouble."

Yato repeatedly said that he did not deserve such praise.

Sōjun Kuchiki, standing beside them, also smiled and spoke.

"There is no need to be modest. It is precisely because the Seireitei has young people like you that the Three Realms can be protected."

This Sixth Division vice-captain, who had received little description in the original work, was the sort of handsome man who made people look twice.

Sōjun Kuchiki was strikingly handsome and born into a great noble house, yet he lacked the family's inherited arrogance. Instead, he was gentle and approachable. Combined with his slender frame and slightly pale complexion, he possessed the air of a beautiful man weakened by illness.

He spoke softly with Yato for a long while. At last, he smiled and pointed at the Soul-Cutter Sword at the youth's waist.

"She is Scarlet Eye?"

Perhaps feeling that the question was too abrupt, Sōjun Kuchiki lowered his head apologetically.

"When you entered Shin'ō Academy, Yato, you caused quite a stir. A genius capable of completing Shikai before even enrolling was enough to make the Gotei 13 salivate. Everyone has been betting on which division you will join after graduation... Hahaha. In any case, both you and your Soul-Cutter Sword are quite famous."

"Lord Sōjun, I was merely fortunate." Yato modestly brushed it off, then drew Scarlet Eye and spun the blade in a flourish for Sōjun Kuchiki to see.

"Excellent!" The gentle, frail-looking man applauded repeatedly.

"It truly is a fine blade."

Ginrei Kuchiki and Sōjun Kuchiki were both elders of high status. Knowing that the two young men would surely feel awkward with them present, they instructed Byakuya to play the proper host before leaving the banquet directly.

The father and son passed through covered corridors and around artificial hills, arriving at the bedchamber deep within the Kuchiki Estate.

"Urgh!"

Once there, Sōjun Kuchiki could no longer endure it. He coughed up a mouthful of blood and slumped into a chair.

He gave a bitter laugh, then sighed weakly.

"...It truly is a fine blade."

"Sōjun!"

Ginrei Kuchiki hurried forward and pulled open his son's collar.

At the vital point on his chest, the wound that had penetrated deep into his organs seemed to come alive, blood constantly seeping from it.

That mortal wound had been inflicted by Scarlet Eye.

No... at that time, she had not yet been named. She had only been an Asauchi.

And the youth gripping that Soul-Cutter Sword had been Moritora Shiba!

Tonight's events left Sōjun Kuchiki somewhat dazed.

It was as though he had returned to that night three years ago, when he had gone alone into Hueco Mundo to ambush and kill Moritora Shiba.

"Father... the ways of the world truly cannot be predicted. That Asauchi has appeared before me again, bearing witness to the fate of my coming death."

"Sōjun, do not speak too much. Your organs can no longer withstand it."

"It is useless, Father. That year, I killed Moritora Shiba in Hueco Mundo despite suffering grave injuries. A few months ago, I dealt with that Adjuchas as well. My body has already reached the point of no return."

After resting for a long time, Sōjun Kuchiki finally caught his breath.

"This wound cannot be cured. Moritora Shiba truly was a genius. If he had continued to grow, the Shiba Clan might really have produced three captains in a single generation."

"Sōjun..." Ginrei Kuchiki closed his eyes in pain, unable to bear looking at the scar on his son's body, deep enough to expose bone.

"How did it come to this?"

"Father, you understand." The frail man swallowed down blood and slumped limply in his chair.

"It was not that I could not tolerate the Shiba Clan growing stronger."

"As fellow members of the Five Great Noble Houses, I would even have been glad to see such a spectacle."

"That was why, when the head of the Tsunayashiro Clan approached me and proposed joining forces to devise Moritora Shiba's death, I refused without hesitation."

"But at that noble council meeting, I accidentally overheard a conversation between Moritora Shiba and the head of the Shiba Clan."

The gentle man, sickly and declining, clenched the armrest tightly. A chilling cold filled his eyes, and killing intent surged within them.

"He actually... he actually declared that he would release the Soul King, reshape the order of the Three Realms, and let Hollows, humans, and Soul Reapers all live in a free land without conflict."

"That idea is unimaginably dangerous. More terrifying still, the Shiba Clan may truly be capable of accomplishing it."

"When that happens, the Three Realms will be overturned. Hueco Mundo, the World of the Living, and Soul Society will merge into one, returning to the state of ancient times—no life, no death, no advance, no retreat!"

"All the effort and sacrifice the Soul King and we have made will vanish into nothing!"

After saying all that, Sōjun Kuchiki was already gasping for breath and coughing blood without end.

"I do not have many years left, Father... I am deeply sorry to make you attend your son's funeral."

Ginrei Kuchiki was overcome with grief, but he consoled him slowly.

"Sōjun, you will live. I will send a letter to Squad Zero and have them take you to the Soul King Palace. Only the Kidō there can heal you."

Yet Sōjun Kuchiki merely shook his head upon hearing this.

"There is no need, Father. A life for a life is also a rule of the Kuchiki Clan."

"Let everything end with me. There is no need to tell Byakuya the truth. His heart is bright, and he is a true noble at his core. That is good. Unlike his father, who always resorts to underhanded schemes because of his weak body."

"There is no need to trouble Uchiha Yato either. The Kuchiki Clan is not so petty that we would take our anger out on a child."

"I only hope that, after this, those people of the Shiba Clan will understand that the Soul King is of immense importance and cannot be spoken of lightly in terms of rebellion."

"The Kuchiki Clan is not a group of stubborn moralists, but neither can we stand by and watch the Three Realms be overturned!"

"But if the deaths of Moritora Shiba and myself still cannot awaken them, then we can only follow the head of the Tsunayashiro Clan's proposal and join forces with the Shihōin Clan and Squad Zero to destroy the Shiba Clan, to destroy the Shiba..."

He closed his eyes and said nothing more.

Yet though his breath was faint as a thread, the powerful, razor-sharp will in his words had not weakened in the slightest.

"Everything... is for the Seireitei."

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