The next day, Kanbaru held a public vote, and both he and Matsumoto Rangiku unanimously agreed—Shiba Isshin should be used as bait.
Shiba Isshin: "???"
What the hell?
Why me?
Shiba Isshin almost spat out a mouthful of old blood.
What kind of grudge did these two have against him? Using him to lure out Menos?
Are they trying to get me killed?!
"Rangiku, am I not your captain?" Isshin asked, clutching his chest as if betrayed.
"Of course," Matsumoto Rangiku replied cheerfully.
"Then Kanbaru kid, aren't I your friend?" Isshin turned to Kanbaru hopefully.
"Barely counts," Kanbaru said with a straight face.
"Then why are you both using me to attract Hollow monsters?!"
Isshin howled with an expression of disbelief and outrage. He genuinely wanted to punch someone.
"Eh? When did we say something like that?"
"Captain Isshin, don't spread baseless rumors," Matsumoto replied, arms folded, smiling like nothing had happened.
"You did say it! Just now! Don't gaslight me, dammit!"
Since when were these two so close? Singing the same tune, ganging up on him—this was bullying, wasn't it?
"Aren't good friends supposed to stab each other in the ribs?" Kanbaru asked, feigning confusion.
"…"
That's not how friendship works, Isshin thought, face twitching in frustration.
"Hang him on a tree!"
"Before we fatten the pig, let's make use of the pig!"
With a wave of her delicate hand, Matsumoto Rangiku unleashed her full onee-san energy.
"Keep it up and I'll really hack you both to death," Isshin warned with a dark expression.
"…Maybe that's a bit much. Let's drop the idea," Kanbaru reconsidered, shaking his head. Isshin was just starting to feel relieved when Kanbaru added:
"Let's just leave him behind. He can handle the Menos Grande alone."
"…"
Why leave me behind alone?
I'm supposed to be the main force!
Isshin was silent for a beat, then suddenly stood up and shouted, "Isn't it just a Vasto Lorde-level Arrancar?! Fine, I'll do it! Hang me on the tree—no, I'll volunteer as bait!"
---
Elsewhere, deep underground—
"…Ah, I still ended up asking him for help."
Ichimaru Gin stood before a monitor, smiling faintly as he observed Karakura Town through surveillance footage.
Based on the screen alone, it was clear: Shiba Isshin had recruited Kurosaki Kanbaru—the mixed-blood Quincy—as backup.
Truthfully, there was no better reinforcement.
Whether as a natural enemy of Hollows or someone with spiritual pressure on par with a Gotei 13 captain, Kanbaru fit the bill perfectly.
Moreover, no other captains could descend to the Human World right now.
"No matter who comes, the outcome's already set," Tousen Kaname said with composure.
Ichimaru shrugged, then suddenly turned around with a grin. "Still, it's scary, huh? Captain Aizen predicted their moves again."
"It's not prediction, Gin."
Aizen's gentle voice cut in, his tone serene.
Smiling softly, Aizen approached the monitor and spoke calmly:
"It's simply deduction—projecting future behavior from known variables."
He stopped in front of the screen, eyes quietly absorbing every detail.
On one side, his ultimate creation—Hollow White, the prototype Arrancar and Hōgyoku-based hybrid.
On the other, a unique mix: a Quincy with a Shinigami's body, bound to the world of the living.
Such a hybrid composition might yield fascinating results.
"Perhaps," Aizen mused aloud, "this time something truly interesting will be born."
---
At the same time, in a division barracks in the Seireitei—
This was the headquarters of the 13th Division of the Gotei 13.
"Captain Ukitake."
"What are you thinking?"
"We've received word from Captain Isshin himself: a Vasto Lorde-level Arrancar has appeared in Karakura Town. So why haven't we sent reinforcements?!"
The speaker was a man with spiky black hair and a tattoo of the Shiba clan crest—"Cracked Spiral"—on his left wrist. His tone was intense and impatient.
"It's not our captain's call, Vice-Captain Kaien."
A quieter voice came from behind him.
Shiba Kaien spun around and blinked. Someone had approached silently—without him even noticing.
"Captain Kyoraku!" Kaien said, straightening up.
A captain-level Shinigami. He hadn't even sensed his reiatsu!
"It's Shunsui," Kyoraku corrected gently.
In a recliner not far off, a man with long white hair and a pale face coughed lightly, blood staining his hand.
Jūshirō Ukitake sat up slowly.
"Jūshirō… your health—" Kyoraku said, concern in his eyes.
"It's fine," Ukitake said with a wry smile. "After decades of careful recovery, I'm much better now."
"Though I'm ashamed to say, as the captain of the 13th Division, I still burden Kaien with most of the division's affairs."
"Please don't say that," Kaien replied quickly. "I'm your vice-captain. It's my duty to support you."
"But Captain Kyoraku… What did you mean just now?"
A few days ago, Isshin had covertly returned to Soul Society through the Shiba clan's Senkaimon, reporting the appearance of a Vasto Lorde-class Arrancar in the Human World.
A threat beyond even most captains!
Naturally, reinforcements should've been dispatched.
But no one came. No reinforcements, no support. Nothing.
To Kaien, that made no sense.
"I meant exactly what I said," Kyoraku replied, tipping his bamboo hat down. "Yamamoto-soutaichō didn't forbid us from assisting Isshin."
"…Then why hasn't anyone gone?" Kaien asked, frowning deeply.
"It's Central 46."
Ukitake shook his head, standing up with quiet resolve.
"Central… 46?" Kaien's expression stiffened.
The Central 46 Chambers—Soul Society's highest judicial authority.
They judged all criminal matters in the world of the living and the Soul Society, and not even the captains could overrule their decisions once handed down.
Their methods were rigid, bureaucratic, and generally disliked by most in the Gotei 13.
But still…
The Gotei 13 and Central 46 were supposed to be independent of one another.
So why was Central 46 preventing captain-level support from being sent?
"Yeah," Kyoraku said, his tone sharp beneath the lazy smile. "I don't know what those cold-hearted bureaucrats are thinking either."
The moment he received Isshin's request, he had personally asked Old Man Yama—Yamamoto Genryūsai—for permission to intervene.
But his request was rejected.
In truth, it wasn't Yamamoto's will that stopped him.
It was interference from Central 46.
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