"For the past six months, I have been secretly investigating the Five Elders. At first, it was only intuition, but now I can be certain—they are no longer human, at least not entirely."
Fujitora frowned. "What evidence do you have?"
Kizaru tapped the projection device, switching the display to a set of surveillance recordings. "Look here. When they believe no one is watching, their movements become unusually stiff or overly fluid, almost as if they are imitating human behavior. Even more worrying is..." He brought up another set of footage. "At certain moments, under specific lighting, their pupils reflect an unnatural purple glow."
Chief of Staff Tsuru drew a deep breath. "I noticed some abnormalities as well. Recent orders have become increasingly... extreme." She opened the folder before her and took out several documents. "These are internal directives issued over the past three months. Many of them completely violate the Navy's principles of justice."
Ryokugyu stopped pacing, his expression grave. "I have worse news. According to my intelligence network, the Celestial Dragons in Mary Geoise are secretly gathering for an event they call the 'Ascension Ritual.'"
"Ascension Ritual?" Fujitora asked in a low voice.
"The details are unclear, but according to informants, it seems connected to some ancient power," Ryokugyu continued. "More disturbingly, the Navy personnel who have recently gone missing were most likely sent to Mary Geoise."
Silence descended over the conference room. The news was more serious than anyone had expected.
Fujitora cleared his throat, breaking the silence. "While carrying out missions, I did sense some... unusual energy fluctuations. At first, I thought there was something wrong with my senses, but now it seems..."
"It's Void Energy," Kizaru picked up. "Our science division has confirmed that abnormal incidents worldwide are connected to this energy. It seems capable of