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"Ishikawa!"
"I heard, Ishikawa, your suspicion has been cleared."
"Does that mean everything is completely fine now?"
"That's great, I knew Ishikawa couldn't possibly do anything to harm Seireitei!"
"…"
Wearing black work clothes and black boots, the long-unworn casual attire made Ishikawa feel extremely comfortable.
He was surrounded by Fourth Division Squad Members, who had him completely encircled. Each person's face showed a heartfelt joy, which gradually dispelled the slight impatience rising in Ishikawa's heart, and he patiently began to answer everyone's questions.
"Oh, by the way, Ishikawa, I heard from someone in the Seventh Division… that you defeated Captain Komamura?"
"Is that true or false? Ishikawa, were you always that strong?"
"Ishikawa has always been impressive, okay."
"That's different. Kaido is powerful, but it doesn't help in combat at all."
"…"
Ishikawa shook his head: "I didn't defeat Captain Komamura. Captain-level strength is extremely terrifying. I merely used a trick to trap him at the time. How can you even talk about defeating him…"
Ishikawa did not elaborate on the details of his battle with Komamura Sajin. He didn't want the Fourth Division Squad Members to go around proclaiming that he had personally admitted to defeating Komamura Sajin.
Although Komamura Sajin's favorability wasn't very useful, Ishikawa still understood basic human etiquette.
Bidding farewell to the Fourth Division Squad Members, Ishikawa walked out of the Comprehensive Relief Station. The long-awaited sunlight made Ishikawa squint his eyes involuntarily.
"Don't just stand there like an idiot."
A voice came, and Ishikawa wasn't surprised. He just said, while basking in the sun, "What do you mean, standing like an idiot? I'm performing photosynthesis."
"Then should I send someone to the public restroom to find you some fertilizer?"
"No one will think you're mute if you don't speak."
Ishikawa glared at the person who spoke, then looked around for him, sighing slightly: "Why is it that after being hospitalized for so long, the first person I see after being discharged is a fatso?"
"…"
Ōmaeda Marechiyo's face darkened, and he glared fiercely at Ishikawa: "Don't forget, although Central 46 agreed to Nayura's request to allow you free movement, that doesn't mean the charge of offending a Captain and forcibly entering a restricted area has disappeared. It's just that the higher-ups don't have the energy to deal with you for now."
"Besides, I didn't come specifically to pick you up from the hospital. I just happened to pass by here while on patrol!"
"Then I truly thank Vice-Captain Ōmaeda for taking the time out of your busy schedule to visit a prisoner like me."
Ishikawa chuckled and walked over to Ōmaeda's side.
Thinking back, it seemed that every time he was discharged from the hospital, he would coincidentally encounter Ōmaeda patrolling nearby.
He had to admit, this guy could be quite endearing sometimes.
"Are Kiyohara Tsumugiya and the others okay? Were they not implicated because of me?"
"How could they not be implicated? The Supervisory Team's surveillance privileges have been temporarily suspended, and now the Supervisory Team is only responsible for managing prisons; but you don't need to worry too much. If responsibility is to be pursued, it should be pursued from the Shinigami Research and Development Institute. Their reaction was even slower than ours."
Hmm?
Ishikawa was slightly taken aback by the words.
"Although I don't know what their Director was thinking, the alarm was originally sent out by our Onmitsukidō, but the Shinigami Research and Development Institute seemed to be watching a show and didn't send out an alarm immediately after discovering it."
Kurotsuchi Mayuri?
Ishikawa nodded, not thinking deeply. It was better not to delve too deeply into a madman's thoughts.
"In short, Kiyohara Tsumugiya and the others are in a much better situation than you are. At least they won't be held accountable afterwards."
Ōmaeda said this, then looked at Ishikawa: "Kiyohara Tsumugiya and the others were actually planning to pick you up from the hospital, and there were many others who wanted to come, but the Sages and Judges of Central 46 explicitly forbade them from having too much contact with you."
"According to them, although you forcibly entered a forbidden area out of concern for the safety of Central 46, since you could forcibly enter Central 46 this time because of a request, next time you might do something that endangers the stability of Seireitei because of a request."
"In a way, although you have regained your freedom now, you have already been blacklisted by Central 46. More strictly speaking, if it weren't for Nayura's lobbying, you wouldn't have gotten your freedom at all."
"Although she hasn't gone through the inheritance ceremony yet, with the former Sage dead, she is now not much different from a formal Sage and already has some say in the Central 46."
"So…"
Ōmaeda said with a strange tone: "You've really latched onto a powerful backer this time. Why didn't I notice before that you had the potential to be a kept man?"
"Get lost!"
"Haha, but before your adopted sister officially becomes a Sage, you'd better be careful not to let them catch you doing anything wrong."
Ōmaeda shook his head: "Because too many things have happened recently, Central 46 simply doesn't have time to deal with you. Their main priority now is Kuchiki Rukia's severe first-degree offense."
"How is Kuchiki Rukia?"
Ishikawa hesitated for a moment before asking: "Has the verdict for her changed?"
"How could it change? Although many Sages and Judges have been replaced, the verdict for Rukia is something everyone agrees on, including the surviving Sages and Judges."
Ōmaeda said this, carefully observing Ishikawa's expression, somewhat hesitant whether to continue.
Because as far as he knew, Ishikawa also had a good relationship with Kuchiki Rukia.
Combined with what this scoundrel did not long ago, he realized that Ishikawa might actually be capable of breaking someone out of prison.
Moreover, Captain Soi Fon, to prevent this, had already stripped Ishikawa of his right to enter the Second Division, sending a message to inform Ishikawa that he was forbidden from privately going to the Onmitsukidō before Rukia's execution.
As for whether to restore his acting Captain position, Soi Fon had not given a definite answer.
But in the end, Ōmaeda sighed, because the matter he was about to talk about, even if he didn't say it, Ishikawa would be able to find out the details just by asking around.
"Not only has Kuchiki Rukia's verdict not changed, but her execution time has been moved up."
"Historically, prisoners sentenced to Sōkyoku execution have always had a one-month reprieve, but the recent upheaval in Central 46 has caused them to break this rule, scheduling Kuchiki Rukia's execution for seven days from now."
"Before I came here, the Supervisory Team Squad Members had already departed to transfer Kuchiki Rukia from the Sixth Division prison to Deep Cell No. 4 of the Palace of Penitence, awaiting her execution a week later."
At this point, Ōmaeda stared intently at Ishikawa, and only after seeing no significant reaction from him did he breathe a sigh of relief and continue:
"Captain Tosen's crime this time was truly too severe. If it weren't for your big commotion, which drew everyone's attention in the Gotei 13 to Central 46, they would probably all be wiped out by now."
"Your commotion not only attracted Captain Unohana's attention, but also many Captains participated in the investigation. As far as I know, there were Captain Soi Fon, Captain Ukitake, Captain Kyōraku, Captain Aizen, and Captain Kucihki—five Captains. It's said that even Captain-Commander Yamamoto was secretly observing Central 46."
"It can be said that the remaining Central 46 Sages were all saved by you."
"Heh heh, their attitude towards me now doesn't seem like the attitude towards a savior," Ishikawa chuckled softly.
Ishikawa was not surprised by this at all. If all attention hadn't been focused on Central 46, Aizen wouldn't have used this method to escape.
His plan was able to proceed smoothly precisely because the Gotei 13 had never paid attention to Central 46 from beginning to end, nor had they ever suspected it.
Coupled with the commotion caused by a group of travelers, which attracted most of the attention, his plan ended perfectly.
Ōmaeda sneered: "Be content. Those important figures won't feel gratitude towards you. In their eyes, protecting Central 46 is the duty of all living beings in Soul Society. Not only will they not thank you for it, but they will instead blame you for not fulfilling your duties, leading to the deaths of so many Sages!"
"If this matter hadn't caused such a huge uproar, with everyone from Captains to ordinary Squad Members knowing the details, making it impossible to seal off the news, they might have even used this as an excuse to convict you and throw you into the Palace of Penitence to keep Rukia company. That's not entirely impossible."
"But even under such circumstances, they still revoked the pass authority that Commander Yamamoto granted you, which means from now on, you can only move around the outer areas of Seireitei, just like when you first arrived."
Ōmaeda paused, then continued: "The reason I am here is precisely to inform you of this, lest you unknowingly enter forbidden areas without permission."
"Huh? Didn't someone just say he just happened to be patrolling here?"
"I was indeed patrolling, I just happened to run into you. After all, the Central 46 has strictly forbidden Shinigami from having too much contact with you; walking with you now is merely me, as the Patrol Corps Captain, fulfilling my duty. I believe you might make moves harmful to Seireitei, so I am accompanying you to monitor."
Ōmaeda finished, shaking his head: "In short, Kuchiki Rukia's verdict will not change. Central 46 wants to execute Kuchiki Rukia as quickly as possible, and after dealing with this matter, they will immediately proceed with filling the vacant Sage positions."
"If it weren't for the many preparations required to activate Sōkyoku, Rukia's execution might have been even earlier."
Ishikawa nodded. He had long anticipated that Rukia's execution time would be moved up.
It just happened even earlier than Ishikawa had expected.
As for the matter of filling the Sage positions, Nayura had already told him about it before he left the Fourth Division.
Shortly after the 'truth' of Kaname Tōsen and Inaba Kageroza's incident was revealed yesterday, Central 46 sent someone to notify Nayura, hoping she could quickly go to the Central 46 to accept the appointment ceremony.
But at Ishikawa's suggestion, Nayura refused Central 46's invitation, of course giving the reason that: now was not the time for a grand appointment ceremony; she would undergo the appointment along with the newly appointed Sages after Kuchiki Rukia's execution.
To this, the Central 46 had no objections, because from every perspective, Nayura's request was reasonable and proper.
At a time like this, Ishikawa would absolutely not hand Nayura over to Central 46.
After the 'Kaname Tōsen' rebellion, no one would suspect Central 46 anymore; just as Ōmaeda had said earlier, if Central 46 truly wanted to deal with him, then even if the Gotei 13 thought he had saved them, they wouldn't care about the consequences of dealing with him.
Soul Society's highest judicial body!
This wasn't just talk. If Nayura hadn't been on his side, they… or rather, the one impersonating them, would definitely not have hesitated to use this authority to cause him trouble.
The regrettable thing was…
He hadn't gotten close enough to Kaname Tōsen's corpse, because after he regained his freedom, Kaname Tōsen was transferred to the Shinigami Research and Development Institute. Ishikawa hadn't inspected him, only glimpsed him from afar.
From his perspective, the transported corpse was indeed Kaname Tōsen, and his Reiatsu had completely vanished, with no signs of life whatsoever.
From every angle, Kaname Tōsen could be confirmed as dead.
Ishikawa initially also leaned towards Kaname Tōsen being dead.
But…
When he saw Kaname Tōsen's corpse, Ishikawa became suspicious.
Because there was Kyōka Suigetsu's illusion on him, although under the illusion, it wasn't another corpse, but the real Kaname Tōsen.
But since he was already dead, why would Aizen leave an illusion on him?
To cope with Unohana Retsu's inspection?
But even with him seeing through the illusion, Kaname Tōsen still showed no signs of life.
Moreover, it was too coincidental.
Just as he left the Fourth Division, Kaname Tōsen was sent to the Shinigami Research and Development Institute, as if deliberately letting Ishikawa see him.
As for the lack of vital signs…
That doesn't prove he's dead!
Because Ishikawa could also make someone feign death.
The simplest method was…
—Hakufuku!
This is a special Kido that combines Hado and Bakudo, which can put a person into a state of suspended animation and make their Reiatsu completely disappear.
Although this Kido can only be mastered by Kido masters, there are quite a few people in the Gotei 13 who know this Kido.
So, without a detailed examination of the corpse, Ishikawa could only assume that Kaname Tōsen might still be alive.
"Hmm?"
Ishikawa suddenly stopped, abruptly looking up in the direction of the Byakudo Gate.
"What's wrong?"
Ōmaeda, walking ahead, asked with some confusion.
And just then, urgent alarm bells suddenly rang throughout Seireitei. The alarms made Ōmaeda's face change, and he quickly looked back at Ishikawa.
That's not right…
Ishikawa was right behind him, so where was this alarm coming from?
"Warped surface reaction detected in Western Rukongai. Alert issued from Districts Three to Eight."
"Repeat!"
"…"
Warped surface reaction?
Ōmaeda was slightly stunned, then his face changed.
Because the four characters 'Warped Surface Reaction' rarely appeared in Seireitei, as they represented…
Someone from outside Soul Society had opened a Senkaimon leading to Soul Society!
Simply put, a warped surface reaction meant…
Invasion!
And it was an invasion by non-Soul Society beings.
Hollows?
Ishikawa, on the other hand, was gazing into the distance. He could clearly feel several presences rapidly approaching Soul Society in the Dangai, which connected the Human World to Soul Society.
Have they finally arrived?
join p atreon.com/KeyofStars and become a Sequence 9: Reader for advance chapters | Every 100 powerstones = 1 extra chapter | Report issues @discord.com/GVBdncd9Wr