"Right now, your Reiryoku is only at the 6th rank, and the ash mist formed by your Zanpakuto is just a thin layer."
"When the time comes that you can release your Zanpakuto and the ash mist spreads like a sandstorm, covering the sky and earth, there will be very few in the entire Seireitei who can match you."
"Hehe, hehe…"
Hearing the future Kyoya described, Rangiku couldn't help but giggle foolishly.
When she first entered the Shin'o Academy, Rangiku was also called a 'genius'.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have been placed in Class A.
But even among geniuses, there were levels.
Someone like her, who reached the 6th-class Reiryoku and achieved Zanpakuto release in six years, could be considered an ordinary genius.
As for Gin Ichimaru… he was the peak of genius.
Meanwhile, Kyoya...
Well, even a genius like Gin was merely the baseline to meet him.
In front of Kyoya and Gin, Matsumoto Rangiku didn't feel like a 'genius' at all. Instead, she felt as dull as a rock. Among the Rokushiki techniques Kyoya taught her, she only managed to learn Soru and Geppo, which, combined with Shunpo, significantly boosted her speed both on the ground and in the air. (T/N: I changed the Rokushiki techniques to their Japanese's names from now on.)
Gin, on the other hand, had mastered all six techniques.
Even his Tekkai, which Gin was least skilled in, had reached a level where it could block ordinary sword strikes.
"Focus on raising your Reiryoku first before daydreaming!"
Seeing her like this, Kyoya shook his head and stopped making further demands of Rangiku.
After all, her limits were set. Unless the fragment of the [Soul King's Nails] was retrieved to restore her soul, Rangiku would almost certainly never reach the 3rd-class Reiryoku.
That said, Kyoya didn't actually expect Rangiku to become that strong. He just hoped that if a crisis arose in the future, she'd be able to hold out long enough for him to intervene.
Of course, Kyoya could keep Rangiku by his side at all times for protection. But he also knew that Rangiku was her own person… she had her own thoughts and desires for freedom.
Right now, it was fine, as Gin was still in the 11th Division, so Rangiku didn't have much else on her mind.
But once Gin left the 11th Division, Rangiku's temperament would inevitably change.
If, by then, she remained as lazy as she was in Kyoya's memories, she might replace Gin as the 11th Division's Lieutenant. But if she decided she wanted to forge her own path, Kyoya wouldn't force her to stay.
As long as she was within the range of his Observation Haki, he could act at any time.
'Besides, if nothing went wrong, that man would probably be joining the 11th Division soon, right?'
'I wonder how many of my strikes the current Zaraki could take?'
Clack-clack-clack...
Suddenly, the sound of wooden mallets striking boards echoed through the air, freezing every Shinigami who heard it in place.
"This is… the emergency assembly order?"
"Did something big happen again?"
"Hurry, hurry… assembly, assembly, assembly!!"
Instantly, Shinigami across the Seireitei scrambled in chaos, rushing back to their respective divisions.
In the 11th Division, Shinigami continuously arrived with Shunpo, landing in the training grounds and quickly falling into formation.
"Ichinose, I'll leave the division to you."
"I'm taking Gin to the 1st Division for the Captains' Meeting."
Frowning slightly, Kyoya gave Ichinose a brief instruction before nodding at Gin, "Gin, let's go!"
Whoosh! Whoosh!
With a few flashes, Kyoya and Gin vanished from the 11th Division.
"Gin, has Aizen been less restrained in his actions lately?"
As they rushed toward their destination, Kyoya asked Gin without turning his head.
"Yes. Just in the time I've been involved, thirteen Shinigami have died in Aizen's experiments."
Keeping pace behind Kyoya, Gin explained calmly, "Captain Kyoya, do you think this emergency assembly is because Aizen's actions have been exposed?"
"Unlikely."
Kyoya shook his head.
In his memories, it wasn't until over a hundred years later, when Aizen sought to obtain Kisuke's Hogyoku, that he finally stepped into the open.
Before that, even someone as brilliant as Kisuke or as powerful as the Shihoin Clan had been thoroughly outmaneuvered by Aizen.
Kisuke and Yoruichi had been forced to flee the Soul Society and take refuge in the human world.
In other words, for the first half of his life, Aizen had relied on 'intellect' to toy with everyone.
Only after perfecting the Hogyoku and fusing with it did Aizen discard 'intellect' and resort to 'overwhelming power'.
So, even if this emergency assembly was related to Aizen, there was no way it would actually implicate him.
In fact, Kyoya suspected that Aizen might have noticed something and was using this opportunity to conduct more experiments… before ultimately pinning the blame on someone else.
This is Aizen's current specialty.
With Kyoka Suigetsu controlling the entire situation, for Aizen, whether the 'culprit' is truly guilty or not doesn't matter… as long as everyone believes the 'culprit' is the real one, that's enough.
Upon arriving at the 1st Division, Gin and Kyoya separated.
The Lieutenants went to the waiting room, while the Captains proceeded to the conference hall for the Captains' Meeting.
Tap, tap, tap…
The moment Kyoya stepped into the meeting room, he felt a heavy pressure weighing down on his entire body, as if a mountain had been placed on his shoulders.
His steps faltered slightly.
Though this level of spiritual pressure had no real effect on him, the fact that it was being emitted by Captain-Commander Yamamoto made it different. Normally, Yamamoto's control over his Reiatsu was flawless, so there was no way he would accidentally let it leak out like this.
Clearly, this incident was something Yamamoto took very seriously.
Entering the room, Kyoya saw that six Captains had already arrived.
But under the oppressive weight of Yamamoto's Reiryoku, no one was in the mood for idle chatter. They merely exchanged silent nods before Kyoya took his place at the far left of the line.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The sound of rapid movement continued as, within a minute, the remaining five Captains arrived one after another.
However, the moment they stepped into the meeting hall, each of them instinctively adopted a solemn expression and took their positions.
Even the usually lively Yoruichi was as quiet as a quail, waiting silently for Yamamoto to speak.
Thud.
Once all the captains had gathered, Yamamoto opened his eyes and lightly tapped his cane against the floor.
"Everyone, last night, a serious incident occurred in the Seireitei."
"An intruder broke into the Kasumioji Clan's estate and launched an attack on this upper-tier noble house."
"This is a failure on the part of the Gotei 13!"
"The Central 46 issued an order this morning, demanding that the Gotei 13 swiftly apprehend the culprit and deliver justice to the nobility."
"My apologies, Captain-Commander. This is my failure."
The one who stepped forward to take responsibility was Aikawa, the Captain of the 7th Division.
There was no helping it… the 7th Division was the Internal Security Force, tasked primarily with protecting the nobles residing in the inner districts.
If an intruder attacked a noble house and the 7th Division failed to capture them, it was undeniably a dereliction of duty.
That said, Aikawa himself was completely baffled.
As the Captain of the Internal Security Force, he often had to interact with the nobility, so he was well aware of their usual behavior.
If someone offended a noble, retaliation was inevitable.
Even if the noble themselves had no intention of pursuing the matter, their underlings would act to eliminate the offender in order to curry favor.
Normally, Aikawa and the 7th Division would step in before conflicts escalated, temporarily detaining those who clashed with nobles. This wasn't out of bias toward the nobility… it was to protect the people involved.
Thanks to this approach, there had been very few rumors of nobles persecuting people to death within the Seireitei over the years.
But now, out of nowhere, he found himself shouldering the blame for this mess.
What made it worse was that last night, he had clearly sensed the Reiatsu Fluctuations from the Kasumioji Clan's estate and rushed to the scene… only to be blocked by the Kasumioji Clan from entering to assist.
When the intruder fled, Aikawa's division encountered numerous obstructions and ultimately lost track of them.
Hearing this, Kyoya already understood the reason behind this emergency summons.
In the history of the Soul Society, Zanpakuto were not originally the only weapons used by Shinigami.
Back then, the ancestor of the Kasumioji family had worked alongside Oetsu to research Shinigami weapons.
However, their approaches differed.
Oetsu's Zanpakuto were designed with the Shinigami as the main force and the sword as the support.
Thus, for most Zanpakuto, when the Shinigami died, the spirit within the sword would also perish, reverting to its original Asauchi form.
Only the strongest Zanpakuto could retain their consciousness after their wielder's death, waiting for the next compatible Shinigami.
The Kasumioji Clan's ancestor, however, had a different philosophy.
He believed that Shinigami were expendable, but weapons could be passed down through generations.
Thus, he designed weapons where the Shinigami were the fuel and the weapon itself was the main force, using the Shinigami's Reiatsu to forge indestructible, legacy weapons.
These weapons were called Bakkoto.
At the time, the Seireitei was divided over which weapons Shinigami should use.
For most nobles, what they wanted was power to protect themselves, while the lives of Shinigami were just kindling, expendable and replaceable.
But for those nobles who genuinely cared about the future of the Seireitei, the Bakkoto were too dangerous. If Shinigami were allowed to wield them, it might lead to catastrophic consequences.
Coincidentally, around that time, the Kasumioji Clan's Bakkoto-wielding guards went berserk, causing significant chaos in the Seireitei.
In the end, Oetsu's Zanpakuto became the standard weapon for Shinigami.