"Everyone, since we've all finished mourning, it's time we discuss business."
Shunsui Kyoraku stepped into the center of the group, his gaze sweeping over them with solemnity.
Jushiro Ukitake, Byakuya Kuchiki, and Toshiro Hitsugaya—the three active captains.
Along with Yoruichi Shihoin and Kaien Shiba, two former members of the Gotei 13, all turned their attention to him.
"I believe everyone has many questions regarding Aizen's defection," Shunsui Kyoraku said in a deep voice. "But right now, we are facing a crisis far more fatal than just one Aizen."
Tension gripped everyone present.
Shunsui Kyoraku looked at Byakuya Kuchiki, who had remained silent. "Captain Kuchiki, Jushiro and I were intercepted below by the escaped Soya Azashiro, so we couldn't witness the battle here firsthand."
"I heard a few fragmented words from Vice Captain Kira, seemingly implying that Head Captain Yamamoto..."
Before Shunsui could finish his sentence, Byakuya closed his eyes and spoke flatly.
"It is true." Byakuya's voice lacked any fluctuation. "Sosuke Aizen used a special sealing artifact, combined with the Complete Hypnosis of his Zanpakuto, to seal the Head Captain the moment he released Zanka no Tachi..."
A collective gasp echoed.
These words were like a bomb detonating in everyone's minds.
"What did you say?! Old Man Yama was sealed?!" Yoruichi's golden cat-like eyes widened in sheer disbelief. "That's Shigekuni Yamamoto! An unrivaled monster! How could he be sealed by a tiny box?!"
Although Yoruichi and the others had already realized that the Head Captain's situation was likely grim, they never expected an outcome like this.
Toshiro clenched his fists. "That bastard Aizen... just how far ahead did he plan?!"
Although Ichigo Kurosaki did not have a deep understanding of the Soul Society's power structure.
From the Soul Reapers he had interacted with over the past few days, he knew just how terrifying the old man known as the Head Captain truly was.
If even a monster like that had been sealed, didn't that mean the Soul Society was now completely leaderless?
"He wasn't just sealed," Byakuya added. "He used some kind of Kido capable of tearing through space to banish the Head Captain into an unknown alternate dimension."
"An alternate dimension?" Jushiro Ukitake asked anxiously. "Where exactly is this alternate dimension you speak of? Is it the Dangai, located in the crevice between the World of the Living and the Soul Society? Or is it the Valley of Screams, drifting outside the cycle of reincarnation?"
If it was only the Dangai or the Valley of Screams...
With the power of the Gotei 13, there was still a chance to find the coordinates and rescue the Head Captain.
Byakuya shook his head. "To be honest, I do not know."
"The method Aizen used to open that space was neither the Senkaimon nor the Garganta used by Menos, which I am familiar with..."
Byakuya recalled the magic circle drawn with insect blood, his brows furrowing tightly. "Trying to track the destination of that rift by merely standing here and guessing is futile."
"You're right," Shunsui Kyoraku nodded. "We must mobilize all the resources of the Department of Research and Development to analyze the residual Reishi from that spatial tear."
He immediately ordered the still-despondent Izuru Kira to pull himself together and contact the Twelfth Division to have them rush over.
But this was only an attempt; no one could guarantee they would actually find Head Captain Yamamoto.
And without Genryusai Yamamoto's absolute martial suppression, without his prestige that acted as a stabilizing pillar...
Shunsui Kyoraku glanced at Jushiro. Having known each other for centuries, a single look was enough for them to understand each other's worries.
"It's not just the issue with Old Man Yama..."
He let out a long sigh. "As you all likely know by now... the sages and judges of Central 46 have all been murdered by Aizen."
"Which means..." Jushiro Ukitake picked up the thread, "the current Seireitei lacks both the Head Captain, who represents the highest military might, and Central 46, which represents the highest authority."
A power vacuum. What did this mean?
The captains present were all old monsters who had lived for hundreds of years. They knew better than anyone the darkness hidden beneath the Soul Society's glamorous exterior.
It was a dark history that even the current Shin'o Academy no longer taught, a past that the Head Captain had sought to cover up.
"Could it be..." Byakuya Kuchiki's expression changed.
As the head of the Kuchiki Family, one of the Five Noble Families, he immediately realized the terrifying consequences this power vacuum would bring.
"Exactly," Shunsui Kyoraku nodded, a flash of vigilance in his eyes.
"If we cannot stabilize the situation and find a solution quickly... the Soul Society will likely regress to that dark past."
"The era of One King and Five Dukes."
The moment this term was spoken, even the usually lawless Yoruichi's face turned extremely grim.
Seeing everyone's expressions as if they were facing a mortal enemy, Ichigo couldn't help but ask, "One King and Five Dukes? What's that? It sounds like some code name for a gang war."
"...It's ten thousand times more terrifying than a gang war," Kaien explained to Ichigo with a bitter smile.
As a scion of the Shiba Family, he was also well aware of that history.
"Before the establishment of the Gotei 13, the Soul Society did not have the relatively stable order it has today."
"At that time, standing above all souls were the Five Noble Families who served the indifferent Soul King and wielded immense power—the so-called Five Dukes."
Kaien's voice grew low. "Back then, there was absolutely no law or order."
"Souls gathered together and formed settlements. From these settlements emerged the first group of people to awaken Soul Reaper powers, becoming the earliest Soul Reaper nobles."
"These nobles roped in more and more souls, forming armed factions that attached themselves to the absolute power of the Five Families."
"The Five Noble Families stood apathetically at the center of the Soul Society, having these noble factions serve them while carving up the Soul Society's resources... Private wars between nobles were tacitly permitted, and the entire Soul Society was shrouded in endless flames of war and slaughter."
"It wasn't until Head Captain Yamamoto's original Gotei 13 suppressed the era with absolute military might, and united the various factions of the time to form Central 46... that those arrogant nobles were finally forced to lay down their arms and establish the current set of rules."
Jushiro Ukitake added with deep concern, "Now that Sensei Yamamoto is gone, and Central 46 has suddenly died en masse... there is no consensus on who will succeed them."
"The shackles suppressing the nobles have already begun to loosen."
Shunsui Kyoraku pointedly glanced at Byakuya Kuchiki.
Although the Kuchiki Family had always strictly adhered to the rules, in the face of an absolute power vacuum, no one could guarantee what the other families would do.
It had to be known that the captains of the Gotei 13 were not the only powerhouses.
Too many nobles, after graduating from the Shin'o Academy, were intentionally kept away from the Gotei 13's center of power to prevent them from colluding and regaining control of armed forces.
When the Head Captain was around, he could work alongside heads of the Five Families like Byakuya, as well as lawful noble families like Kyoraku's, to suppress their dissatisfaction.
But now...
At the very least, the ambitious Tsunayashiro Family... would not let this opportunity slip by...
Shunsui analyzed coldly, "If they take this chance to seize control of the Seireitei, the pursuit of Aizen will undoubtedly be shelved, and the entire Soul Society will plunge into a dark reign of noble dictatorship..."
"When that time comes, Soul Reapers will no longer be emissaries maintaining balance, but will once again become butchering knives in the hands of the nobles."
"That absolutely cannot be allowed to happen!" Toshiro, who hailed from the Rukongai, gripped Hyorinmaru tightly, categorically rejecting such a future.
Just as this group of Soul Reaper captains was fraught with worry and gloom over the Soul Society's political crisis and future destiny.
Asuka, standing behind Shinobu Kocho, picked his ear with a hint of impatience.
"Are you done talking?"
Asuka's cold voice abruptly interrupted this serious high-level meeting.
Everyone turned their heads to look at the man who had nearly cleaved Sokyoku Hill in half just moments ago.
"I've been listening for a while, and the gist of it is that your boss got sealed, and all your managing lords got slaughtered by Aizen."
"So now you're completely leaderless and terrified that the Soul Society will descend into chaos, right?"
"And you are..." Byakuya Kuchiki furrowed his brows.
He maintained a constant vigilance toward this man of unknown origin who possessed captain-level strength.
"Who I am isn't important." Asuka waved his hand, directly cutting off Byakuya's probing. "I only care about one thing."
He turned his head to look at Shinobu Kocho beside him, who had been tightly gripping the hem of his clothes the entire time.
His black eyes, which had been filled with impatience, softened slightly upon meeting hers.
Asuka said coldly:
"When is this farce going to end?"
"In other words, when can the two of us leave?"