The grand gift he spoke of would actually be...
Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's corpse?!
The Head Captain's corpse?!
This moment, all the captains froze completely.
Their minds began involuntarily replaying everything that had happened tonight.
Initially, they'd gathered here after receiving a Hell Butterfly transmission personally sent by Head Captain Yamamoto.
The spiritual pressure aura within that Hell Butterfly—they absolutely couldn't have mistaken it.
So naturally, no one had any doubts about it.
Aside from Kenpachi Zaraki, who'd sent Ikkaku Madarame as his replacement because he didn't want to move, basically all other divisions had captains leading their lieutenants here.
But after arriving and some brief conversation, they suddenly discovered—not a single person knew the Head Captain's whereabouts or purpose.
From this point on, it already differed from every previous assembly.
In any past emergency Gotei 13 gathering, they'd basically receive some advance notice.
At worst, someone would inform them beforehand.
But this time, what awaited their arrival was the critically wounded 1st Division Lieutenant, Chōjirō Sasakibe.
This meant they basically couldn't obtain any information about this assembly.
Next, Muramasa appeared and began bringing out the rebellious Zanpakutō.
But at this moment, Shunsui Kyōraku still focused on the missing Head Captain. So at his questioning, Muramasa gave an answer—
He said that because Ryūjin Jakka refused to join the rebellion, he'd used three manifested Zanpakutō with a special method to seal Yamamoto.
Though this answer seemed rather incredible.
And both Mayuri Kurotsuchi and Shunsui Kyōraku expressed great doubt.
But later, in Nanao Ise's investigation, they truly couldn't find any trace of Yamamoto.
Moreover now, even Segawa Shigure and Soi Fon, whose whereabouts were previously unknown, had arrived.
Logically speaking, with this level of battle happening at Sōkyoku Hill, it could be noticed from anywhere in the Seireitei.
As Head Captain of the Gotei 13, Yamamoto always led from the front. There was no reason for him not to come.
So—
Right now, his continued absence actually proved he might have encountered some mishap!
This was something any captain or lieutenant could easily deduce through simple reasoning.
So after hearing Muramasa's words, everyone's expressions grew extremely grave.
Their gazes all fixed on the transparent Muramasa in the ruins, exceptionally grim.
This moment, even Shunsui Kyōraku and Jūshirō Ukitake had to start considering the truthfulness of Muramasa's words.
The missing Yamamoto—could he really have been sealed?
But at this moment, Muramasa, wearing that bizarre smile, completely vanished.
His figure didn't become spiritual particles but directly turned transparent, disappearing in place.
Before vanishing, his gaze remained fixed on Shigure's face, never shifting once.
At this moment, the other Zanpakutō around also began disappearing one after another.
Aside from Candle Dragon, even on the ground, Sakanade and Kinshara, who'd long lost consciousness, began fading.
From the method, one could tell they were all affected by the exact same spatial transfer technique Muramasa used.
The instant Shigure saw this, he naturally understood.
This spatial technique was similar to the one Kaname Tōsen had used during Aizen's betrayal.
Similarly, it required inscribing a seal at another fixed location beforehand.
Then, Muramasa utilized the gap when the Zanpakutō attacked together to perform the technique, allowing him to take away all his designated targets, directly transferring them to the preset position.
In other words, from the start, he never intended to stay here.
And this perfectly matched Muramasa's purpose in Shigure's memory.
Shigure's eyes flickered slightly. The captains and lieutenants all turned their gazes toward the opposing Zanpakutō.
Undoubtedly, after that combined attack just now, they could basically judge each Zanpakutō's power.
So now, their gazes locked onto their respective Zanpakutō, until the opposing figures completely faded.
Of course, except for Shunsui Kyōraku, Retsu Unohana, and Jūshirō Ukitake.
They could indeed sense their respective Zanpakutō could no longer respond, meaning they'd truly been turned by Muramasa.
But Sōgyo no Kotowari, Katen Kyōkotsu, and Minazuki—these three weren't present here right now.
These circumstances seemed to confirm Muramasa's words from various angles.
Also invisibly increasing the mental pressure on Unohana and the other two.
After all, Yamamoto wasn't just the Gotei Head Captain—he was the greatest pillar in the entire Seireitei.
Once he fell, the Seireitei would face a long period of turmoil and unrest.
The consequences of such turmoil might be unimaginable.
But even so, they naturally wouldn't make hasty judgments about the situation based solely on Muramasa's words.
At this moment, Retsu Unohana also dispersed the barrier surrounding the wounded, withdrawing her hand. Looking up toward Shigure and Shunsui Kyōraku, her expression grave, she called out:
"Captains."
"Since the enemy has now fled, we should first bring all the wounded back to 4th Division barracks for treatment."
"Then discuss countermeasures afterward. What do you think?"
Hearing this, everyone above looked down.
After a moment, Jūshirō Ukitake nodded lightly, first to speak:
"Captain Unohana is right."
"Right now we should arrange treatment for the wounded as soon as possible, then begin developing strategies against the enemy."
Since Muramasa's location was currently unknown, naturally they should prepare first.
On this point, the captains naturally had no objections.
Shigure naturally had no objections either. Though he knew Muramasa's general plan, he didn't know their location either.
Clearly, following their approach for now was fine.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
Read up to (100+ ) advanced chapters on Patre\on
Visit us here: patreon.com/DarkGolds
Happy reading, everyone!