As soon as Mirai finished speaking, the smile on Yoruichi's face disappeared.
Her expression turned serious.
Shiba Kaien spoke softly to Kūkaku, who was still leaning against Yoruichi:
"Kūkaku, take Ganju to the next room and play for a while. We adults need to talk."
Kūkaku nodded sensibly.
She slipped down from Yoruichi's side and took Ganju's hand. He was still looking around with curiosity.
The two siblings quietly left the living room.
After the two children were far enough away, Yoruichi lowered her voice and spoke in a serious tone:
"This time, things have gone too far."
She paused, as if choosing her words carefully.
"This does not feel like a simple struggle for power and profit.
It feels like someone else is behind the scenes, stirring things up.
They are pushing everything in a more violent and uncontrollable direction."
Shiba Kaien also nodded.
He looked at Mirai with a heavy expression.
"That's right.
Even though the Shiba family has been out of the noble council for a long time, we still understand the basic pattern.
In the past, even when seats changed or power shifted, the scale of the conflict stayed limited.
Large numbers of deaths were rare.
Everyone still followed certain unwritten rules.
But this time, everything is a complete mess."
"Rules?" Mirai looked slightly puzzled.
In a fight over a top noble seat, something tied to core interests, could there really be rules at all?
Shouldn't everyone be using every method they could?
Yoruichi took over and explained:
"There has always been friction and change among the nobles.
But it was usually kept within a very small range.
Most of the time, no one even died.
It was more about exchanging resources, political compromise, and symbolic shows of force.
But this time..."
Her eyes darkened.
"In such a short time, so many Shinigami have been killed or injured.
Even someone with Kuchiki Sōjun's status died.
That is far too abnormal.
This does not look like competition.
It looks more like a purge, or someone deliberately creating chaos."
She paused, her tone firm.
"There has to be someone hiding in the shadows.
They are deliberately making things worse.
They are amplifying the greed and fear of those competitors and pushing them toward madness."
The reason she had been coming to the Shiba house so often was that she feared those unhinged nobles might target Kūkaku and Ganju.
To be honest, with Shiba Kaien's current strength, he likely could not protect his family if they were attacked by an organized group of noble private soldiers.
Yoruichi already had a vague guess in her heart.
In noble circles, there were only a few people with both the ability and the motive to do something like this.
If it were really one of them, Squad 2's intelligence network should have picked up at least some trace.
As the Stealth Force, Squad 2 had eyes in every corner of Soul Society.
They even had informants inside Central 46.
But this time, the intelligence reports were unusually vague.
The only place that could avoid Squad 2's close watch and make it difficult for her to track movements was the Gotei 13 itself.
In other words, the hand pushing everything from behind was very likely connected to the Gotei 13.
That thought passed through her mind, but she did not say it aloud.
Some suspicions were not suited for a conversation in the Shiba family living room.
Shiba Kaien's face was also filled with worry and guilt.
"I never expected that stepping down from the nobility would trigger such a huge chain reaction.
It has already led to so many deaths.
The number has already passed a thousand."
"It is not over yet," Mirai cut in calmly, stating his judgment based on the current situation.
"At this rate, if no one steps in with overwhelming force, the final death toll will likely exceed ten thousand."
Hearing that, Shiba Kaien's body trembled slightly.
He lowered his head, and his hands clenched tightly.
"This is not your fault," Yoruichi said, reaching out and patting his shoulder.
Her tone softened.
"Even if you had not stepped down, those people would still have looked for ways to weaken the Shiba family or remove it entirely so they could take that seat.
If that happened, they might have targeted Kūkaku and Ganju directly.
The result could have been even worse."
She understood the situation clearly.
The current head of the Shiba family, Kaien, was around Fourth-Class Spiritual Pressure.
His strength was not weak, but it was nowhere near enough to frighten off everyone who wanted what the Shiba family had.
Kūkaku and Ganju were still children, and the Shiba family did not have powerful branch houses acting as support.
With that level of strength, they simply could not hold onto the status and resources of one of the Five Great Noble Houses.
Although there were strong people among the Shiba branch families, the noble system would never allow someone from a branch house to inherit the name of the main family.
If the Shiba family opened that door, the other four Great Noble Houses would probably lose sleep worrying that their own branch families might try the same thing.
Shiba Kaien raised his head, and his eyes became firm again.
"I stepped down to protect them.
That was all."
The living room fell silent for a moment.
Then Mirai suddenly spoke and turned his gaze toward Yoruichi.
"Yoruichi, do you suspect that the one behind this is on our side?
Inside the Gotei 13?"
Given Yoruichi's hints about the intelligence network and his own observations, that guess was not difficult to make.
Yoruichi nodded and did not deny it.
"The chances are not low.
So you should stay alert too.
This whole mess is more dangerous than it looks."
Mirai frowned slightly and thought quickly.
Inside the Gotei 13, who had both the motive and the ability to do something like this?
Shunsui Kyōraku wanted to rise higher?
Probably not.
He had no reason to do it.
He was Captain-Commander Yamamoto's prized student and already a high-ranking noble.
Then who could it be?
After a while, the tension in his brow eased, and he returned to his usual calm.
"There is no need to worry too much.
As long as the Captain-Commander is still here, the moment that hidden hand shows itself, there will only be one outcome."
"Yeah, I think so too." Yoruichi smiled again.
"That is why I feel safe coming here to hide and relax."
Mirai stood up and said to Shiba Kaien, "I still have patrol duties, so I will not stay any longer."
He paused, his gaze passing over Yoruichi, then said to Shiba Kaien:
"During my future patrols, if I pass through this area, I may stop by now and then for a cup of tea.
I hope that will not be a problem."
"Oh?" A bright smile appeared on Shiba Kaien's face.
Some of the gloom from earlier faded.
"You are welcome anytime, Fifth Seat Mirai.
Our Shiba family may not have much else, but we do have plenty of tea."
Mirai looked at Yoruichi again.
She winked at him and nodded with a smile.
Then he turned and left the Shiba house.
Back on the quiet streets of Rukongai, the night wind was slightly cool.
Mirai understood very well why Yoruichi had brought him to the Shiba house.
On one hand, she wanted to smooth over that small and unimportant grudge with Shiba Kaien.
More importantly, she hoped that he, as Squad 9's Fifth Seat and the one responsible for patrolling this area, would keep a closer watch on this place.
Yoruichi was the Captain of Squad 2 and was constantly busy.
It was impossible for her to watch over the Shiba house all the time.
But if Mirai could give the Shiba family extra attention during his regular patrols, their safety would rise considerably.
"A favor I owe..." Mirai murmured to himself as he kept walking.
For the next stretch of time, it seemed he would have to move faster.
He needed to complete his patrol duties, and at the same time, he had to keep working on communicating with Raijin Seisho to push his strength even further.
With everything becoming more unstable, every bit of added strength gave him more confidence in facing whatever came next.
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