It had already been half an hour since Higashino Shuuichi entered the room, and Kuchiki Byakuya, waiting outside, still hadn't seen any sign that the two people inside were about to finish their conversation—nor was there any sign of the talks breaking down.
This inevitably struck Kuchiki Byakuya as strange.
Wasn't Higashino Shuuichi already more or less a retainer of the Tsunayashiro family now?
How could he still be chatting so amicably with Kyoraku Shunsui for such a long time?
Having only recently inherited the position of head of the Kuchiki family from his father, he still didn't see the past events that had taken place in Soul Society, nor its current power structure, all that clearly.
Just then, Byakuya's wife, Kuchiki Hisana, came over carrying a pot of sake. Looking at Hisana's frail body, a trace of distress involuntarily surfaced in Byakuya's eyes.
"Hisana, why are you personally doing something like this? You can just leave this sort of thing to the servants."
Kuchiki Byakuya immediately stepped forward and took the tray from Hisana's hands.
"How could anyone else be allowed to come this close?
Even you, Byakuya, have to stand guard here and keep everyone away. Obviously, the two people talking in that room right now are extremely important. Of course it has to be me who comes in person~"
Hisana gave Byakuya a gentle smile as she spoke.
"You…" Byakuya stretched out his free left hand and gently caressed his wife's face. "Leave things here to me and go back to rest properly."
He then sent Hisana back to rest at once.
His wife had always been very smart, and of course Kuchiki Byakuya knew that. It was one of the reasons he had fallen for Hisana in the first place.
Unfortunately, because of the long years she had once spent wandering in Rukongai, Hisana's health was extremely poor, and she would often faint for no apparent reason.
Perhaps he should hurry and find his wife's lost younger sister, Rukia, for her. With her sister at her side, Hisana's mood might be better every day.
Watching Hisana's departing back, Kuchiki Byakuya silently thought this to himself, then turned and walked toward that room.
There was someone inside whose status was, of course, extremely significant, because he was a Shinigami who, under no circumstances, should have come alone to the Kuchiki estate in a situation like this. Byakuya could easily imagine just how violently the Tsunayashiro family, one of the other Five Great Noble Houses, would react if he were to leak today's events.
Thankfully, he was not that kind of man.
On top of that, the reason Kyoraku Shunsui had deliberately chosen the Kuchiki estate as the meeting place was precisely because around the estates of the Five Great Noble Houses there were no monitoring points belonging to the Eizō Hall, whose surveillance network spread throughout Soul Society and even had many observation posts in the World of the Living and Hueco Mundo.
Balancing the sake in his hands, Kuchiki Byakuya stood outside the door and took a deep breath. This was not the first time he had seen that somewhat legendary Shinigami of Soul Society. One could say that, in the last thousand years, that Shinigami had already reached the absolute limit of what a spiritually average commoner from Rukongai could achieve.
Only, Byakuya had a feeling that the Shinigami he was about to see might differ somewhat from the one he thought he knew.
"So you're saying this actually isn't the first time you've run into something like this?
Those guys even made a version of the Head Captain before?"
As soon as he slid the door open, Kuchiki Byakuya saw Kyoraku Shunsui frowning slightly, speaking with uncharacteristic seriousness.
He rarely saw Kyoraku Shunsui like this. For someone usually so carefree and unrestrained, anything that could make Shunsui wear that expression had to signify an extremely grave situation.
"Strictly speaking, it was a young version of the Head Captain. The spiritual pressure wasn't that strong, something I could handle even with the strength I had back then, and it didn't seem capable of Bankai (Final Release)—or, it may be that that body simply couldn't withstand the backlash from the Head Captain's zanpakutō bankai. In any case, that version of the Head Captain felt very stiff to me, exactly the same as Sakahone Saizō in his current state."
Higashino Shuuichi glanced at Kuchiki Byakuya, who had just slid the door open and come in, then looked back at Kyoraku Shunsui. Seeing that the latter's expression hadn't changed in the slightest, he understood that Shunsui was deliberately doing this to have Byakuya, head of one of the Five Great Noble Houses, vouch for him.
Kyoraku Shunsui was telling Higashino Shuuichi in his own way not to worry about the consequences of betraying the Tsunayashiro family—that when the time came, the Kuchiki family would stand behind him.
As things stood, the Kuchiki family was indeed one of the two Five Great Noble Houses that actually held real power in Soul Society, and they had the strength and confidence to do so.
This was something the other noble houses—such as the Kabuma family, the Shiba family, and even the Shihōin family, already greatly weakened by their former head's "betrayal" of Soul Society—could not compare to.
"If I remember correctly, you also said that Sakahone Saizō wasn't in his current state from the start—that he originally looked more like a living Shinigami?"
Kyoraku Shunsui asked.
Higashino Shuuichi shot a glance at Byakuya, whose eyes were full of confusion, knowing that Kyoraku Shunsui was giving him a bit of background.
"Not just that. His spiritual pressure wasn't affected at all in the Dangai. It was as if it would never run dry. The constant, crushing pressure that the Dangai exerts on us Shinigami simply didn't seem to exist for Sakahone Saizō—at least from what I could sense. And I felt the same thing back in Osaka Prefecture, when I faced that young version of the Head Captain."
Higashino Shuuichi nodded slightly. To be honest, this was exactly what had been troubling him all along—something that even Aizen couldn't explain.
Let alone Kurotsuchi Mayuri. The current Kurotsuchi had already shelved further progress on the Modified Soul Project and was instead devoting himself single-mindedly to researching that Sakahone Saizō body.
"An unlimited supply of reishi? That sounds…"
Kuchiki Byakuya muttered after thinking for a moment.
"...pretty ordinary—at least for the vast majority of us Shinigami. Most of the time, whether we're in Soul Society or Hueco Mundo, where reishi is abundant, we don't really have to worry about running out of power. When we use our abilities, we're basically using our reiatsu to draw on external reishi directly, not draining the reiryoku inside our own bodies."
Higashino Shuuichi had already guessed what Byakuya was trying to say.
"It really is a special ability that sounds terrifying on paper, but in actual combat the performance is a bit underwhelming.
But like I just said, that 'underwhelming' judgment is based on the premise that our battles with them happen in Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, or the World of the Living. In those places, their 'advantage' basically doesn't exist for us. What if the fight happens in a place like the Dangai?"
Higashino Shuuichi's concern was not without basis.
From the documents he had found in Kurotsuchi Mayuri's hands, he could tell that research into the Dangai had begun nearly a thousand years ago, back when the Gotei 13 had just been founded.
Back in that still-primitive era, the first generation Captain of the 12th Division, Uhin Zenjōji, had already started considering how to conquer the Dangai.
Unfortunately, because of Yhwach's invasion, that first-generation captain gave his life to resist him, and research into the Dangai also ground to a halt in that era.
After all, aside from that first captain, no second Shinigami had been able to freely enter the Dangai to conduct research.
That situation didn't change until Yushima Ōko appeared out of nowhere.
Originally, in the "original storyline", the future Yushima Ōko was also supposed to seize control of the Dangai and become its master after Aizen successfully fused with the Hōgyoku and destroyed the Kototsu within it.
But now, if what Sakahone Saizō said was true and the captains of the first-generation Gotei 13 could really be dragged back into the present world, then under the efforts of that first 12th Division Captain Uhin Zenjōji—who likewise could freely travel in and out of the Dangai—there was every possibility they might seize control of it.
"T-that's impossible…"
Kuchiki Byakuya said in disbelief. For someone still as young as he was, this sort of thing was simply too shocking.
But for Kyoraku Shunsui, who had lived from a thousand years ago up to the present, such things were quite within the realm of possibility.
"Perhaps, Shuuichi, it's about time you called Kisaragi Shūsuke and the others back!"
After a moment of silence, Kyoraku Shunsui looked at Higashino Shuuichi and said this solemnly.
Those words instantly stirred Higashino Shuuichi's emotions.
"What do you mean by that?"
What surprised Higashino Shuuichi wasn't that Kyoraku Shunsui knew of Kisaragi Shūsuke; Shūsuke, Matsumoto Rangiku, and the others had once fled with him to the World of the Living, and that was no secret in Soul Society.
What struck Higashino as strange was that this time, Shunsui had chosen to center the conversation on Kisaragi Shūsuke instead of on Urahara Kisuke, whose name he usually had on his lips.
This showed that Kyoraku Shunsui understood very well that Kisaragi Shūsuke and his group—including Higashino himself—were not on the same side as Urahara Kisuke.
"There are some things you may not know. After you disappeared from Osaka Prefecture, the head of the Kabuma family brought some Fullbringers back to Soul Society. I met with Lady Kabuma Sayako, and with her permission I went to the World of the Living and had a talk with Kisaragi Shūsuke there."
Kyoraku Shunsui slowly recounted that bit of past that Higashino Shuuichi had never known, and at the same time resolved another long-held puzzle in Shuuichi's heart—namely, why Kisaragi Shūsuke and the others had gone to the West Administration after he vanished.
Logically speaking, given Kisaragi Shūsuke's personality and his dissatisfaction with Urahara Kisuke, there was no way he would have taken Matsumoto Rangiku and Kabuma Sayako to the West Administration to seek out Urahara after Higashino disappeared.
Besides, with him gone, Kabuma Sayako no longer had any reason to remain in the World of the Living; by rights she should already have returned to Soul Society.
According to Kyoraku Shunsui's account, he had a very "friendly" exchange with Kisaragi Shūsuke in the World of the Living and, relying on his own strength, successfully convinced Shūsuke that he truly bore no ill will toward Higashino Shuuichi and the other Shinigami who had rebelled against Soul Society.
Taking advantage of the ambiguous attitude Higashino had shown toward Soul Society at the time, Shunsui managed to talk Kisaragi Shūsuke into going to the West Administration to investigate, on his behalf, where that batch of missing asauchi had ended up.
The promise Kyoraku Shunsui made to Kisaragi Shūsuke was that once the matter was done, he would do everything in his power to free Higashino Shuuichi from the label of "traitor Shinigami" and bring him back to Soul Society.
Listening to this, Higashino Shuuichi couldn't help admiring Kyoraku Shunsui. That trick of "presenting Buddha with borrowed flowers" and "going with the flow" was truly played beautifully. An honest kid like Kisaragi Shūsuke, with the information so lopsided, had been completely taken in by this old fox, left dumbfounded time and again.
He was the perfect example of someone who has been sold out yet is still helping count the money.
But it wasn't really Kisaragi Shūsuke's fault. From his perspective, he honestly was thinking of Higashino Shuuichi's sake.
As for Kabuma Sayako, she had probably just gone along out of a desire to see something new.
And Matsumoto Rangiku? She had most likely simply been carried along by the tide. With Higashino Shuuichi gone, her only two bonds in the World of the Living were Kabuma Sayako and Kisaragi Shūsuke.
What even Kyoraku Shunsui hadn't expected was that once Kisaragi Shūsuke left, it would end up being almost twenty years with still no sign of his return.
Even so, Shunsui believed that after nearly twenty years, Kisaragi Shūsuke must have gotten a handle on some information over at the West Administration.
"That may be, but I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you, Shunsui. I have no way to contact Shūsuke and the others. If I did, I would have reached out to them long before hearing what you've told me today!"
After hearing all this, Higashino Shuuichi felt no resentment toward Kyoraku Shunsui's actions.
Objectively speaking, in Shunsui's position he hadn't done anything wrong—and in the years of Higashino's absence from Soul Society, Kisaragi Shūsuke and the others going to the West Administration had undoubtedly been a good thing.
If they had stayed in the East Administration instead, then without him or Urahara Kisuke there to back them up, Kisaragi Shūsuke and Matsumoto Rangiku would very likely have ended up under Aizen's eye.
Aizen was not the sort to care whether Kisaragi Shūsuke and the others had been following Higashino Shuuichi.
In order to find out what had really happened to him, why he had suddenly disappeared, and where Urahara Kisuke and his group were, Higashino believed Aizen would absolutely do such things.
The problem was that Higashino Shuuichi had no way around it either. Back then he had had no idea such bizarre Fullbring abilities would ever appear, much less thought to leave Kisaragi Shūsuke and the others some way to contact him in advance.
"You don't actually have to worry about that, Shuuichi. Lady Sayako has already told me how to contact them."
Kyoraku Shunsui said with a smile.
Higashino Shuuichi was taken aback. Sayako had a trick like that up her sleeve? How had he never known?
But after Kyoraku Shunsui explained the method to him, Higashino could only let out a wry laugh.
So he had known this method all along—he had just never thought to apply it that way.
Now that they had a way to get in touch, Higashino Shuuichi believed that under his influence, Kisaragi Shūsuke and the others would definitely return soon. How to arrange things for them then became a new question.
Kyoraku Shunsui's solution to that was extremely simple.
—the Katana-gari-shū, the Blade-Hunting Corps!
Kisaragi Shūsuke and Matsumoto Rangiku were practically the perfect candidates to be members of Higashino Shuuichi's current Katana-gari-shū.
"Heh, I thought you'd suggest putting them back into the Gotei 13's ranks, Shunsui. That way you'd have another layer of leverage over me.
Should I be taking this proposal as… aiding the enemy?"
Higashino Shuuichi laughed aloud.
Kyoraku Shunsui's proposal actually aligned perfectly with Higashino's own thinking; in his original plan, Kisaragi Shūsuke and Matsumoto Rangiku were always meant to join his Katana-gari-shū.
"That would require us to be enemies in the first place. But as I see it, at least for now, we share a common enemy, don't we?"
Shunsui said, smiling as he raised his cup.
Higashino Shuuichi wasn't sure whether the "common enemy" Kyoraku Shunsui spoke of meant the people behind Sakahone Saizō, or Tokinada Tsunayashiro.
Or perhaps, in Shunsui's mind, those two groups were actually one and the same?
Higashino felt that most people probably wouldn't go that far—but Kyoraku Shunsui… he couldn't rule out the possibility.
"In that case, there's a phrase I picked up in the World of the Living: 'a courtesy should be reciprocated.' You've given me so much information today that I'd feel bad if I didn't give you something back, so I'll let you in on one more thing.
From what I know, the mastermind behind the Osaka Prefecture incident back then should be just as you've suspected.
I'm guessing that after Urahara Kisuke stepped down as Captain of the 12th Division, you rarely went back there, did you, Shunsui?
In the current 12th Division Captain Kurotsuchi Mayuri's lab defense network, there's a creature very similar to the Sakahone Saizō we see now—only that one is wearing a face I absolutely hate: the face of 3rd Division Captain Ichimaru Gin.
And I also learned an interesting piece of news from Kurotsuchi: this technology of his wasn't something he developed himself. It was passed on to him by a former 12th Division Captain who once defected from Soul Society—someone by the name of Miyazaki Sakai Masato."
This was information Higashino Shuuichi had learned from Kurotsuchi Mayuri when he first returned to Soul Society from that fabricated future.
He had originally thought it was a trivial tidbit, but now it seemed that the name Miyazaki Sakai Masato would likely appear frequently in the Soul Society of the future.
As an old-guard captain, there was no way Kyoraku Shunsui could be unfamiliar with that name.
Especially since that man had once been a captain of Soul Society.
"...I understand."
Once again, Kyoraku Shunsui's eyes filled with gravity.
For a new-generation Shinigami like Higashino Shuuichi, the weight of that name might not be obvious, but Kyoraku Shunsui knew very well what kind of waves its owner had once stirred up in Soul Society.
That man was an extremely dangerous Shinigami!
Standing to the side, Kuchiki Byakuya, upon hearing all this, finally became certain that Higashino Shuuichi was a high-level undercover agent Kyoraku Shunsui had planted within the Tsunayashiro family.
Truly worthy of being the Head Captain's favored disciple—what a brilliant move!
With genuine admiration in his heart, Kuchiki Byakuya looked over at Kyoraku Shunsui.
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