In the courtyard of First Division, the depressing atmosphere seemed to have solidified.
The body of Chōjirō Sasakibe has been carefully carried away by team members Fourth Division.
But the blood stains remaining on the ground, as well as the gradually dissipating thunder and lightning Reiatsu, still remain in everyone's perception.
Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto stood in place, the crutch in his hand not moving even half a minute.
Yoriichi stood beside him, also silent.
Not long after, there was a sound of slight footsteps outside the courtyard.
Soon, a figure walked into the damaged courtyard.
Mayuri Kurotsuchi is still wearing the outfit that is so exaggerated that people cannot understand the aesthetics. The black and white oil paint on his face is particularly dazzling in the ruins.
Nemu Kurotsuchi followed him, lowering his head and saying nothing.
"Ouch."
Mayuri Kurotsuchi glanced at the surrounding ruins, and his golden teeth were exposed a little at the corner of his mouth.
"First Division was destroyed like this."
"It seems like those Quincy have really done incredible things."
His tone sounded like he was sighing.
But there was no emotion that should have been expressed in that face.
Yamamoto turned around slowly.
His eyes fell on Mayuri Kurotsuchi, and his old eyes seemed to hold a sea of fire that could erupt at any time.
"Mayuri Kurotsuchi."
"I need an explanation."
Just a very calm word.
The temperature in the courtyard suddenly became the Heat.
Standing in the distance, Team First Division lowered his head subconsciously, not even daring to breathe too heavily.
Nemu Kurotsuchi also lowered his eyes slightly.
Only Mayuri Kurotsuchi spread his hands as if he didn't feel any pressure at all.
"Explain?"
"Captain-Commander is referring to the incident Rukongai?"
Yamamoto did not answer.
Silence itself is the answer.
Mayuri Kurotsuchi let out a weird laugh.
"Hehehehe."
"Since Captain Yoriichi has brought the news back, I no longer need to pretend not to know."
He stretched out a slender finger and lightly tapped his temple.
"In recent times, the virtual number of Hueco Mundo has decreased abnormally."
"A large number of voids have been destroyed, the soul circulation is unbalanced, and the balance between Three Realms has begun to shift."
"If we continue to let it go, the boundaries of Soul Society, World of the Living, and Hueco Mundo will be affected."
"If it's serious, it's not completely impossible for Three Realms to collapse."
Mayuri Kurotsuchi grinned even wider when he said this.
"How ironic."
"When those Quincy destroyed the void, they didn't consider whether the soul could re-enter the cycle."
"They will just wipe out the void completely."
"Then the trouble fell on us smart people."
Yoriichi looked at him.
"So you killed Rukongai's soul."
Mayuri Kurotsuchi turned his head and looked at Yoriichi.
"Correction."
"It's not killing."
"It's an adjustment."
"In order to maintain the balance of Three Realms, the number of souls on the Soul Society side must be reduced."
"And Rukongai those floating souls that have no number, no position, and no value are the most convenient parts to deal with."
He said it very naturally.
It's like working with a batch of excess material in a lab.
Yoriichi's eyes did not change.
But his hand holding the knife has slowly tightened.
"Does it have to be solved with the life of an ordinary drifting soul?"
Mayuri Kurotsuchi suddenly laughed as if he heard something ridiculous.
"Hahahahahaha!"
"Yoriichi Captain, you are as naive as ever."
He raised his hand and dangled his long nails in the air.
"It is their great blessing that the soul's life can solve the problem of Three Realms and be stable."
"They have no ability to make any contribution to Soul Society."
"Now I can at least become a part of maintaining the balance of the world in a quantitative way."
"Judging from the results, isn't this very reasonable?"
Yoriichi looked at him and said calmly, "Life is not a number."
"Of course it's numbers."
Mayuri Kurotsuchi interrupted him without hesitation.
"In the face of Three Realms balance, all lives can be converted into numbers."
"Soul Reaper is a number, Rukong is a number, and Kyon is also a number."
"It's just that some numbers have value and some numbers have no value."
"I just chose the plan with the least loss."
Yoriichi didn't speak immediately.
Rukongai and those disappeared Reiatsu appeared in his mind.
No name.
There are no bodies.
No one even mourned them.
It's like they were wiped from the world by an invisible hand, without even the qualification to leave any traces.
This is more silencing than death itself.
When Mayuri Kurotsuchi saw Yoriichi's expression, the sarcasm on his lips became even stronger.
"What?"
"Do you still want to lecture me?"
"If you don't know the impact of Three Realms offset, you can check it yourself."
"I am too lazy to explain to you."
"Or are you planning to let Three Realms be buried with you for tens of thousands of wandering souls?"
Yoriichi raised his eyes.
"If the only way to solve a problem is to sacrifice the weak."
"That just means the person responsible for solving the problem is not strong enough."
Mayuri Kurotsuchi The smile on his face froze slightly.
The next moment, his expression became even colder.
"Heh."
"What beautiful words."
"As expected of a genius valued by Captain-Commander."
"It is always easier to speak from a moral high ground than to actually deal with the problem."
"You are so strong, why don't you go and make up for it yourself that was erased by Quincy?"
"You are so compassionate, why don't you stop all Quincy from continuing the cycle of destruction?"
"Can't do it?"
Mayuri Kurotsuchi spread his hands.
"If you can't do that, don't look at me like that."
"I am cleaning up the mess left by Quincy."
"Rather than accompany you to have a child-like discussion of good and evil."
Yoriichi Take a half step forward.
Yamamoto's crutch fell heavily at this moment.
Bang.
The cracked stone slab once again spread outwards with a gap.
"That's enough."
The voice of Yamamoto sounded.
Yoriichi stopped.
Mayuri Kurotsuchi also closed his mouth, but the expression on his face still showed no trace of respect.
Yamamoto looked at Mayuri Kurotsuchi.
"I won't pursue the matter this time."
"After the Wandenreich matter is over, I will settle matters with you properly."
Mayuri Kurotsuchi tilted his head.
"Oh yeah."
"That uncle is really scared."
He spoke of fear, but there was not even a trace of fear in his tone.
Even a little impatient.
Yamamoto's eyes darkened.
The heat in the surrounding air rose again.
Mayuri Kurotsuchi looked at Yamamoto.
"Captain-Commander, if nothing happens, I will go back first."
"This time Quincy attacked Seireitei, and Twelfth Division did not detect any abnormalities in advance."
"This is a dereliction of duty on my part."
"I'll go back and do some research."
He pointed to the top of his head.
"They were able to enter Seireitei without warning and were able to evacuate collectively in a short period of time."
"This shows that our existing monitoring system has little effect on them."
"Today is just a declaration of war."
"Next time, it may be a full-scale attack."
When he said the last sentence, the smile on Mayuri Kurotsuchi's face finally faded a little.
Crazy is crazy.
But he's not stupid.
The technology and capabilities displayed by Wandenreich are enough to threaten the entire Seireitei.
For Mayuri Kurotsuchi, this is also a provocation.
A group of Quincy who had been hiding for thousands of years came and went freely within his monitoring range.
This was like tearing down the Research and Development Institute sign in front of him.
Can't bear it.
Totally intolerable.
Rather than liquidating Captain-Commander, he now wants to capture a few of those Quincy and cut them open.
Yamamoto said nothing.
Mayuri Kurotsuchi did not continue to wait for a reply.
He turned around and left.
The sound of footsteps gradually faded away.
Only Yamamoto and Yoriichi were left in the courtyard.
The soldiers in the distance still didn't come close.
First Division Barracks Under the broken eaves, the wind blew the broken wood pieces, making a tiny crackling sound.
Yoriichi looked at the direction Mayuri Kurotsuchi left.
His eyes were still calm.
But beneath that calmness, there seemed to be something unspeakable.
Yamamoto did not speak immediately.
He just stood there, his back still straight.
After a long time, he slowly said, "Yoriichi kid."
Yoriichi turned to look at him.
Yamamoto held the crutch, and the old voice sounded again.
"Do you want to ask why I don't hold Mayuri Kurotsuchi accountable?"