"The best form of protection is never stubbornly staying still like stagnant water."
Rosse stood within the rain of blood, his black Hollow King robe spotless.
He watched the two figures falling rapidly and quietly delivered the final judgment:
"Even I admire your determination to protect everything at any cost. But after a million years of comfort, how much vigilance toward the unknown and reverence toward power is left inside you?"
"When a truly powerful enemy crosses the boundary sea and arrives, that will be the day of your destruction."
As Rosse's calm words fell, the ruined bodies of Ichibe and Nimaiya Oetsu dropped from the sky like two dim meteors and slammed heavily into the pit below, completely turning to dust.
"Rosse! Your strength really has surpassed us by countless steps. But I can't agree with what you just said," At that moment, a very abrupt voice broke the silence.
Kirinji Tenjiro, who had been fighting Zaraki Kenpachi in a bloody battle the entire time, suddenly sheathed his sword without warning.
Ignoring Kenpachi's dissatisfied roar, he used Shunpo to leave the battlefield.
He pulled out another reed from his clothes and bit it between his teeth. With a flash, he appeared beside the still-warm bodies of Ichibe and Nimaiya Oetsu.
He bent down and gently closed their still-open eyes with blood-covered hands.
Then he raised his head. Though his trademark pompadour was messy, his eyes were unusually sharp as he stared directly at Rosse.
"I'd like to hear the details."
Rosse did not become angry at being interrupted. Instead, he put away his sword, crossed his arms, and revealed a trace of interest, like a patient listener.
"You call us stubborn and closed-minded. Fine, that part is true. But at least they protected this world for a million years using this seemingly foolish conservative method."
Kirinji spat out the bloody foam in his mouth and loudly argued back, "If people like you ruled the world with these radical ideas of pursuing evolution at any cost, Soul Society probably would've already been erased hundreds of thousands of years ago after endless expansion and internal conflict brought enemies it couldn't handle."
At the very least, the Royal Guard and the Soul King as the lynchpin truly guaranteed this world's peace for a million years.
That was an undeniable fact no philosophy could erase, and it was the basis for his rebuttal.
He even suspected the world Rosse and the others came from might not have existed as long as Soul Society.
"A million years?"
Hearing that number, Rosse not only failed to be shaken, he instead spread his arms, raised his head, and let out a low, pleased laugh.
"Kirinji, both you and I are grains of sand within this vast cosmic ocean. If you look down from the endless river of time and the sea of countless worlds, is there truly any difference between a million years and a fleeting instant?"
Rosse lowered his head. A longing light shone in his eyes.
"To hear the Path in the morning, and die in the evening without regret."
"This is the truth I pursue by crossing countless worlds, and also the ultimate meaning behind my evolution. I enjoy every bit of power I gain while climbing upward. I do everything I can, even using whatever means necessary, to embrace and seize everything in this world. Even if this radical path brings destruction, I do not care."
Rosse smiled. The calmness and tolerance coming from him made everyone present feel uneasy.
"But..."
Rosse changed his tone, and his voice suddenly became extremely soft and calm.
"I have never thought about using my beliefs to convince anyone else. Because as long as it is a choice made by a person, then it is not wrong."
Hearing that acknowledgment, Kirinji froze.
"Not only are you right. Ichibe was not wrong either. He willingly died to maintain balance, and fulfilled his duty. Head Captain Yamamoto was not wrong. He burned away his final light and heat for the rules. Kuchiki Ginrei and Byakuya were not wrong either. They used their lives to defend noble honor. Even Kyoraku Shunsui and the others who committed suicide earlier were not wrong."
Rosse's gaze swept across the battlefield covered in corpses, and there was even a rare trace of respect in his eyes.
"I sincerely admire every single person here. Because every one of you shone brilliantly for the path you believed in, enough to make me take notice and leave me amazed. This performance was excellent. I liked it very much."
Hearing this, the reed in Kirinji's mouth quietly slipped out.
His entire body seemed struck by lightning as he sank into a long silence like death itself.
Even though Rosse had displayed his arrogance countless times throughout this war, no matter how many times one witnessed it, when this man truly revealed that vast heart standing above all things, capable of accepting and affirming every belief held by his enemies, people could not stop themselves from feeling convinced deep inside.
"To hear the Path in the morning, and die in the evening without regret..."
Kirinji bitterly repeated those words in his heart.
Back when he first made a name for himself in Soul Society, hadn't he also carried this same kind of spirit, where he could risk even his life for medicine and power?
But when exactly had he become this lazy, slippery person who simply drifted through life?
Even he could not find the answer.
But perhaps the Rosse before him could give him the final answer.
"If none of us were wrong..."
Kirinji took a deep breath and raised his head. His eyes carried the confusion and stubbornness of someone seeking the truth before death.
"Then where exactly did things go wrong for Soul Society to end up completely destroyed today?"
"If you look at things from the perspective of endless time and space, the birth and destruction of a world is as unavoidable as flowers blooming and falling," Rosse chuckled lightly, his tone calm.
"Today, this world was invaded and reshaped because it encountered me. Even if I had never come, ten thousand years later, or perhaps a hundred thousand years later, it still might have been destroyed by some even stronger existence."
"It's just that you happened to face me today, instead of letting your descendants face enemies they could never resist ten thousand years from now."
Rosse looked into Kirinji's gradually dimming eyes and delivered the final verdict.
"Your beliefs were not wrong, and your protection was not wrong either. If there must be a reason for today's destruction, then it can only be said that... your luck simply wasn't very good."
"Since you chose a broken human pillar a million years ago in exchange for the comfort of standing still, then when you encounter a dimensional strike that comfort cannot resolve, you must calmly accept the price brought by that choice."
Rosse slowly turned around, presenting his back to Kirinji as he looked toward the end of the heavens. Calmness filled his voice.
"At the same time, it also cannot be denied that aggressive plunderers like me may exist for far less time than Soul Society's million-year history. In fact, I might not even live to a fraction of your current age."
"But this is the Path to the heavens that I chose for myself. Even if I step into the gate of the next unknown world and encounter a monster stronger than me, only to be crushed and killed instantly, I, Rosse, will not feel even the slightest regret. I absolutely do not believe my Path is wrong."
Rosse slightly tilted his head and glanced at the Soul Reapers below out of the corner of his eye, leaving behind one final murmur, "Because being able to give everything for your own ambition, and ultimately die on the road you firmly upheld, for any living being, perhaps that itself is the greatest kind of fortune."
"Seriously... dazzling and overbearing like the sun."
Kirinji Tenjiro raised his head and looked at the calm figure in the sky, unable to stop himself from speaking softly.
The hostility in his usually unruly eyes had completely faded, leaving behind only pure admiration.
He bit down on another dried reed that he had no idea where he pulled from and smacked his lips twice.
If they had not been mortal enemies standing on opposite sides, perhaps he, Kirinji, would also have willingly admired this man's spirit the same way Aizen did.
"Hey! Rosse!"
Kirinji suddenly raised his voice, breaking the silence among the ruins. His carefree manner returned as he shouted loudly, "If you can let Soul Society continue existing, then I can stop resisting with my sword. I can even join your side and work for you. What do you think?"
After all, saying one sentence cost nothing. Softening his attitude didn't require money.
What if it worked?
Deep down, Kirinji was a practical man. He did not want to stubbornly die for the dignity of the old era like Ichibe or Kyoraku Shunsui.
Earlier, he opposed Rosse because he viewed him as Soul Society's great enemy, and because he believed they still had a chance to win.
But looking at the current situation, he was already the strongest person left alive here. What was there left to fight with? Was he supposed to suddenly power up and kill Rosse?
Rosse was the enemy, yes.
But if lowering himself could preserve Soul Society, then Kirinji truly could not find any reason to keep resisting stubbornly.
"Oh?"
Hearing this, Rosse leaned slightly forward.
Floating in midair like a god examining mortals, he quietly looked at Kirinji with a meaningful smile.
"Then in what way do you wish for Soul Society to continue existing, Mr. Kirinji? You should understand that different levels of continuation require completely different prices," Rosse's gaze felt almost tangible.
Earlier, when Sasakibe Chojiro knelt and begged, all he asked for was survival for himself and the 147 followers of Head Captain Yamamoto.
Sasakibe's own value alone was enough to pay the price for all of them to survive.
In Rosse's internal system of calculation, one Soul Reaper's value roughly equaled three Soul Reapers of the same level.
In other words, if a Soul Reaper sincerely surrendered to him, he could accept them bringing along three Soul Reapers of equal rank without conditions.
But what Kirinji was asking for now was different. He wanted the continuation of all Soul Society.
The difference in weight between the two was enormous.
"A price? What price can I even still pay?"
Kirinji was stunned for a moment, then gave a bitter laugh and slapped his broad chest, producing a heavy sound.
"Besides this hundred kilos of rough meat and these healing skills that can still barely save people, I don't have anything else worth offering. Don't tell me you'd actually accept even that?", Kirinji was genuinely surprised.
He had even prepared himself to be harshly mocked by Rosse.
After all, his request was outrageous, while he himself was nothing more than a defeated prisoner.
What right did someone with nothing left have to negotiate prices with a god?
This god was a little too selfless and fair.
"You are being too modest, Mr. Kirinji," Rosse smiled lightly.
"Your healing abilities and your unique methods of reconstructing spirit particles are not weak. In my eyes, your personal value is roughly equal to ten Rukongai districts."
"Only ten?"
The reed in Kirinji's mouth almost fell out.
He stared with wide eyes. He truly had not expected that one day, he, the First Divine General of the Royal Guard and founder of Soul Society's healing arts, would be openly priced like merchandise.
And Soul Society had eighty districts in each of the east, west, south, and north, centered around Seireitei. That totaled three hundred and twenty Rukongai districts.
"Isn't ten districts looking down on me too much? Then what about the remaining three hundred and ten districts and the entire Seireitei? Is my life really worth so little?", Kirinji raised a brow, instinctively asking back with some dissatisfaction in his voice.
"Too little? Then how many Rukongai districts do you think your life is worth?", Rosse asked with a smile, not offended at all. Then he casually stretched out his right hand.
The next second, the spirit particles throughout heaven and earth suddenly boiled violently.
Whoosh!
An enormous golden scroll woven entirely from highly concentrated spirit particles suddenly unfolded across the sky without warning.
Golden light flowed from it like a divine decree descending from the heavens, instantly illuminating the dark battlefield.
Under the shocked, nearly stunned gazes of the people below, the mountains, rivers, cities, and terrain of the entire Soul Society appeared upon the giant scroll as if they had come alive, displayed as an extremely precise miniature holographic projection.
To outsiders, Soul Society's structure looked simple.
Seireitei stood at the center, with eighty Rukongai districts spreading outward in each direction.
They were called districts, but in reality, because Soul Society had absorbed souls for a million years, any one of those districts covered an area no smaller than a large city in the living world. From bustling towns to barren wastelands, all kinds of terrain existed there.
Standing before the glowing grand map, Rosse lightly moved his finger across it while cold numbers calmly left his mouth one after another, "Excluding several districts recently destroyed during the unrest..."
"The district with the smallest current population is East District 80, with a total surviving population of 512,492."
"The district with the largest population is South District 11, with a total surviving population of 8,521,590."
Rosse's voice echoed through the empty battlefield like heavy blows striking Kirinji's heart.
"If calculated by land area, the largest is West District 80, covering 690,000 square kilometers. The smallest is North District 1, which still covers 50,000 square kilometers."
Rosse withdrew his hand. His eyes once again locked onto Kirinji, who stood frozen in place, while a smile curved onto his lips.
"So now, taking into account the actual weight of these lives, calculate it carefully again. How many Rukongai districts do you think your hundred kilograms of rough meat are truly worth, Mr. Kirinji?"
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