Isshin Shiba was left speechless by Kazuma's words, but after thinking about it carefully, he realized that Kazuma did have a point.
After standing there in a daze for a while, he finally managed to squeeze out a sentence.
"Um… I'm not a Shinigami anymore, so what happens to the Tenth Division from now on?"
Kazuma patted Isshin Shiba on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Don't worry. All of that has already been arranged. Before coming here, I discussed it with the Captain-Commander. Publicly, we will announce that the captain of the Tenth Division, Isshin Shiba, unfortunately died in battle after being ambushed by a Menos Grande while carrying out a mission in the World of the Living. Everyone will mourn for you, so you don't need to worry."
Hearing this, Isshin still felt somewhat uncomfortable. After all, suddenly being declared dead was not exactly easy to accept.
However, he quickly adjusted his emotions and asked, "Then what about my successor? The Tenth Division can't be without a captain."
Kazuma smiled and answered, "As for your successor, that brat Tōshirō is pretty good. Although he's a bit young, his strength is solid, and his potential is great. We'll find a way to help him learn Bankai as soon as possible. When the time comes, he'll become the captain of the Tenth Division. Besides, Rangiku, that drunkard, will be there too. She's a very reliable lieutenant. With the two of them in the Tenth Division, there definitely won't be any problems."
"Wait!"
Kisuke Urahara's mind was still sharp, and he immediately caught the key point.
"Captain Kazuma, what did you just say? You discussed it with the Captain-Commander?"
"Kisuke, I know you're anxious, but don't be anxious. I'll talk about your matter separately later. Let me deal with Isshin's situation first."
Kazuma turned to look at Isshin Shiba.
"Isshin, do you have any other questions?"
Isshin Shiba shook his head.
"Not for now."
Kazuma teased him, saying, "Then from today onward, you're no longer a Shinigami. Enjoy living as an ordinary human. But you'd better find some kind of job, or you'll starve to death. Haha…"
Isshin Shiba looked embarrassed.
"I know. I'll figure something out."
He had not considered any of these things yet. Suddenly going from a captain of the Gotei 13 to an ordinary human still made him feel somewhat sad.
At that moment, Kazuma looked toward Kisuke Urahara.
"All right. Now we should talk about your situation."
Kisuke Urahara nodded, then turned to the black cat and said, "I almost forgot. Yoruichi-san, go inform Shinji Hirako and the others to come here too. This matter concerns them as well, so it would be better for them to listen."
Isshin Shiba suddenly felt as if the sky had collapsed.
"They're in Karakura Town too? So you bastards were all watching me nearly get killed by White, and not a single one of you chose to help me?"
Kisuke Urahara quickly said, "Oh my! But you're fine now, aren't you?"
Isshin Shiba said angrily, "Cut the nonsense. You all just wanted to watch me make a fool of myself!"
Kisuke Urahara smiled helplessly.
"All right, don't be angry. Once everyone arrives, we can discuss it together."
Time passed bit by bit. After Yoruichi left, she did not make Kazuma wait for long. Soon, she returned with Shinji Hirako and the others.
Kazuma looked at the group before him and felt somewhat emotional.
These people had once been captain-class figures. Now, they could only live in hiding here. It was truly a pity.
Among them were Shinji Hirako, Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi, Kensei Muguruma, Love Aikawa, Mashiro Kuna, Lisa Yadōmaru, and Hachigen Ushōda. All of them had been key figures in the incident back then.
"It really has been a long time," Kazuma said with a smile, a trace of nostalgia flashing in his eyes.
When Yoruichi had gone to find them earlier, they had already guessed that they probably could not avoid meeting someone from Soul Society today.
After all, the other party was the captain of the Seventh Division, an old monster who had lived for who knew how long.
Facing such an opponent, Shinji and the others felt tremendous pressure.
However, after hearing that Kazuma had no hostile intentions, they ultimately decided to meet him and learn what he wanted.
Shinji Hirako and the others knew very well that if they wanted to leave Karakura Town, Kazuma might move to stop them.
It was not that they were afraid of Kazuma, but acting rashly before understanding the situation was clearly not wise.
Therefore, they chose to trust Kazuma for the time being and hoped to obtain more information through this meeting.
"Captain Kazuma, everyone is here now. It's time to explain what is going on."
"After the incident a hundred years ago, both the Captain-Commander and I noticed that something was wrong."
Kazuma began speaking.
"That day, Kensei led the Ninth Division out and was the first to be attacked. As a result, the entire team was wiped out, and only that blind man Kaname Tōsen survived. That was the biggest inconsistency. If someone was setting up an ambush, shouldn't the first person they eliminated be him? Even you, Kensei, fell victim to the attack. So why was he able to escape?"
Everyone nodded after hearing this.
That was indeed a major flaw.
"And then there's another point. How was he so certain that Kisuke had attacked all of you? After the incident happened and the captains' meeting was held, Kisuke Urahara was clearly in the First Division barracks. What, could Kisuke split himself into two?"
Hearing this, everyone could not help drawing in a cold breath.
They realized that this matter seemed even more complicated than they had imagined.
"So, have any of you thought about why Kaname Tōsen suddenly betrayed Soul Society? And why he would join someone like Aizen?" Shinji Hirako asked.
"Maybe because he felt he had been treated unfairly," Kensei guessed. After all, Kaname Tōsen had been his subordinate, so there were some things he knew.
"But that still can't be a reason for him to betray Soul Society!" Shinji Hirako retorted.
"Well, Aizen was your lieutenant," Mashiro Kuna shot back.
"Ahem. Let me finish."
Looking at the chaotic scene in front of him, Kazuma sighed helplessly and interrupted them.
"Can you all stop arguing for now? Be quiet and listen to me for a moment, all right?"
Hearing this, everyone stopped arguing and turned their gazes toward Kazuma.
Only then did Kazuma nod in satisfaction and continue.
"There's another point. I have to say, Kisuke, you really made a wrong decision back then. How were you that stupid?"
Hearing this, Kisuke Urahara looked puzzled and asked in confusion, "I was stupid? How?"
Kazuma smiled and explained, "Kisuke, think carefully. Since Aizen wanted to conduct Hollowfication experiments on Shinji and the others, he definitely would not easily kill them. After all, they were precious experimental subjects. But because you were worried about them, you privately went to the scene."
"And what happened? Aizen appeared right after that and directly accused you of being the culprit. At that point, everyone found that you really were no longer in the Seireitei, so your crime was completely confirmed."
After listening to Kazuma, Kisuke Urahara's expression became extremely ugly.
He muttered to himself, "So that was it… I actually failed to consider that layer…"
Yoruichi, who was beside him, could not help secretly laughing and mocked him.
"Haha, Kisuke, I didn't expect you'd have a day like this."
Kisuke Urahara said dejectedly, "Fine, I admit I thought too simply back then. I did something stupid. I can only blame myself for being too young at the time."
Seeing Kisuke Urahara suffer a rare defeat like this, Kazuma felt secretly delighted, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously rose.
He thought to himself, "You're always acting so profound and mysterious. Now you finally know you were wrong."
But then again, if Kisuke Urahara had not made that mistake back then, the plan probably would not have been able to continue.
So even if Kisuke had not gone, Kazuma would have found a way to guide him there.
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