Seireitei – Squad One Headquarters
Tsunayoshi walked into the First Division barracks as if it were his own home. He didn't even bother reporting his arrival.
Of course, when he reached the area near Squad One, he deliberately released a trace of his Reiatsu so that Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto could sense his presence.
By the time Tsunayoshi reached the office, Yamamoto had just finished boiling water for tea.
Almost on cue, Tsunayoshi pushed open the door.
"What brings you here?" Yamamoto asked calmly as he poured the tea.
"What exactly is the Ōin?" Tsunayoshi asked directly, casually tossing Hitsugaya's letter onto Yamamoto's desk.
Yamamoto quickly opened the letter and skimmed through it. After reading it, he burned it to ashes with a small flame.
After a brief moment of thought, he spoke:
"Captain of Squad Ten, Hitsugaya Tōshirō, has departed on a special investigative mission under orders from Squad One. During this time, he will temporarily relinquish his captaincy."
"Upon completing the mission and reporting back to Squad One without issue, he will resume his position as Captain of Squad Ten."
"The arrest order issued by Seireitei against Hitsugaya is hereby revoked. The confinement order placed on Squad Ten is also lifted. Squad Ten will temporarily be overseen by Lieutenant Rangiku Matsumoto."
These words were not only directed at Tsunayoshi.
Outside Yamamoto's office, Shinigami were always stationed on standby, ready to relay the Head Captain's orders throughout Seireitei.
Once the administrative matters were settled, Yamamoto finally answered Tsunayoshi's question.
"The Ōin is merely a symbol of a portion of the power belonging to the Royal Palace. Why do you ask?"
Yamamoto found it strange. Tsunayoshi was never someone interested in interfering with Gotei affairs. Why was he suddenly asking about the Ōin?
Did Hitsugaya really have that much charisma?
"It's nothing," Tsunayoshi replied through clenched teeth. "I just got ambushed by the thief who stole the Ōin."
His injuries had already healed, which was why Yamamoto hadn't noticed anything unusual.
"Oh?" Yamamoto's interest was immediately piqued. "Explain."
"Even if someone releases Reiatsu stronger than yours at full force, it still can't completely restrain my movement. But the Reiatsu emitted by the Ōin actually immobilized me for a moment."
On his way here, Tsunayoshi had been thinking about it the entire time.
Was everything connected to the Royal Palace this powerful?
"You wouldn't find it strange if you knew the ability of the Ōin," Yamamoto said calmly. He had already guessed why Tsunayoshi had been restrained.
"The Ōin possesses the power to control space. Whether it is briefly restraining your body or performing large-scale spatial transfers, as long as the Ōin acknowledges the action, it can accomplish it."
Now Tsunayoshi understood.
The attack he suffered earlier had been a spatial restraint from the Ōin.
"With something that powerful, you only sent a handful of escorts to guard it?"
Tsunayoshi truly couldn't understand.
How could two Arrancar and Sōjirō Kusaka possibly believe they could steal the Ōin from its escort team?
The only explanation was that neither Seireitei nor the Royal Palace had taken the escort mission particularly seriously. Everything had simply been done according to routine.
Yamamoto coughed awkwardly.
"Well… it was considered nothing more than a useless object. No one ever imagined someone could actually use the power of the Ōin."
"A useless object? Then why go through the trouble of transporting it?"
"That's ceremonial protocol," Yamamoto replied. "Much like diplomatic exchanges in the Human World. Sometimes appearances must be maintained."
"Soul Society has diplomacy?"
That genuinely intrigued Tsunayoshi. Since the founding of the Gotei Thirteen, Soul Society had remained largely unchanged for nearly a thousand years.
Who exactly were they conducting diplomacy with?
"It's mainly directed by the Royal Palace," Yamamoto said.
Tsunayoshi had unknowingly asked the right person. Aside from Yamamoto, very few people in Seireitei truly understood the meaning behind the Ōin transport ritual.
"Sawada Tsunayoshi , do you know that Soul Society is divided into two regions, east and west?"
"The location of our Seireitei is known as the Eastern Branch."
"The Eastern Branch… and the Western Branch?"
Tsunayoshi frowned as if trying to force his brain to process the unfamiliar information. The terms sounded vaguely familiar, yet he couldn't place them.
"When the Soul King first established Soul Society, its territory was far too vast to manage as a single domain. Thus, it was divided into two administrative regions."
"As time passed, the two regions gradually diverged. Certain instabilities also began to appear within Soul Society itself."
"Because the Soul King resides in the sky above our Eastern Branch, we don't need to worry about those instabilities."
"But the Western Branch, being farther away, developed a much more independent system of governance. Even the Royal Palace cannot directly command them."
"However, to prevent their portion of Soul Society from collapsing, the Royal Palace stabilizes their spatial structure once every hundred years."
"And the vessel used for that stabilizing power… is the Ōin."
Tsunayoshi stared blankly, his mouth slightly open as Yamamoto poured this flood of new information into his brain.
To him, it sounded almost like listening to a lecture in an entirely foreign language.
After a long pause, he finally spoke.
"So the Ōin's spatial control ability exists specifically to stabilize the Western Soul Society?"
"But again—if it's that important, why send such a weak ceremonial escort?"
"Because historically, no one has ever been able to use the power of the Ōin," Yamamoto replied. "Not even its creators."
"And yet someone like Sōjirō Kusaka suddenly appears."
Yamamoto himself seemed somewhat speechless.
To him, guarding the Ōin had always been a purely procedural matter. He never expected someone would actually covet its power.
"Creators? You mean…"
"Yes," Yamamoto said.
"The God of the Sword, Ōetsu Nimaiya, and the Monk of the Royal Guard."
"The ultimate fate of every Ōin is the same. Once it reaches the Western Branch, it is deliberately destroyed so the King's Reiatsu contained within it can stabilize the spatial structure."
"So what does the Royal Palace say about this incident?"
"They've already sent word. We are to recover the stolen Ōin. Meanwhile, they will begin forging another one."
At this point, the discussion had essentially reached its conclusion.
The matter of Hitsugaya's "defection" would be resolved once he settled things in his own heart.
As for Sōjirō Kusaka, aside from Hitsugaya himself, no one in Seireitei particularly cared whether he lived or died.
Even the stolen Ōin wasn't causing much concern.
After all, the Royal Palace would ultimately handle the problem.
At that moment, the door to Yamamoto's office opened.
An elderly man with swept-back white hair and a thin black braid stepped inside.
He was Chōjirō Sasakibe, Yamamoto's loyal lieutenant, responsible for handling many of the administrative duties of Squad One.
"Head Captain," Sasakibe said respectfully,
"Urahara Kisuke requests an audience."
"Urahara Kisuke?"
Yamamoto glanced at Tsunayoshi. He certainly hadn't summoned Urahara.
"Oh, I called him," Tsunayoshi said casually. "Please bring him in."
Before coming to Soul Society, Tsunayoshi had already sent Urahara a message. By the timing, Urahara had likely just arrived with what Tsunayoshi requested.
A moment later—
"Head Captain Yamamoto, Tsunayoshi—good afternoon."
Urahara greeted them with his usual relaxed smile.
In his hand was a transparent katana.
"Sawada Tsunayoshi ," Yamamoto said, frowning slightly. "What is this?"
"This is an artificial Zanpakutō prototype developed by the shopkeeper here using the souls of Menos-class Hollows and Shinigami," Tsunayoshi explained, flicking the blade lightly. A metallic ring echoed from the weapon.
"But without the key techniques of the God of the Sword, it's currently just an empty shell."
"You intend to create Asauchi?" Yamamoto asked.
"It's not that simple," Tsunayoshi said. "Reverse-engineering the Royal Palace's core technology is far too difficult."
"But for now, this shell is enough."
"I observed the Hyōrinmaru belonging to both Hitsugaya and Sōjirō Kusaka."
"And I noticed something interesting."
"Their blades are incomplete. Each one carries only a portion of the Zanpakutō's true Reiatsu."
Before Tsunayoshi could continue, Urahara had already understood.
"So you've set your sights on Kusaka's blade," Urahara said. "That's why you asked me to bring this empty shell."
"Why not try?" Tsunayoshi shrugged. "It's not like we'll lose anything."
"If we can use it to fix the defect in Hitsugaya's Zanpakutō, that would be even better."
"Why would you think something like that?" Yamamoto asked.
"When Hitsugaya first obtained Hyōrinmaru, Kusaka was beside him," Tsunayoshi said.
"So my guess is that Hitsugaya was simply too weak at the time."
"Hyōrinmaru had no choice but to divide part of its power and place it within another person."
"Later, the duel between Hitsugaya and Kusaka was completely absurd."
"If Hyōrinmaru had always chosen Hitsugaya as its true master, then Kusaka never truly possessed that Zanpakutō."
"In other words, the outcome of that duel was decided from the very beginning."
"No matter how hard Kusaka struggled…"
"His efforts would only become Hitsugaya's stepping stone."
"…That really is a tragic story," Urahara said quietly.
"Does Captain Hitsugaya know?"
If Tsunayoshi's theory was correct, then Hitsugaya's tragedy had been orchestrated by his own Zanpakutō.
On one side was his friend.
On the other was the power that defined him.
Anyone would struggle with such a choice.
"He probably suspects something," Tsunayoshi replied.
"As a captain-level fighter, finding Kusaka wouldn't be difficult. Yet he deliberately left Seireitei and pursued him alone."
"You could say it's a journey for Hitsugaya and Hyōrinmaru to confront their hearts together."
"Our job is simply to prepare the equipment."
"When Hitsugaya reaches his conclusion, we hand him the blade."
Tsunayoshi stood and waved his hand.
"I'm leaving. Old man Yamamoto—keep the sword safe."
"Does Hitsugaya Tōshirō truly deserve such trust from you?" Yamamoto suddenly asked.
From his perspective, Tsunayoshi and Hitsugaya were barely more than acquaintances.
Such deep faith was not something built overnight.
Tsunayoshi paused.
Without turning back, he said in a low voice:
"I've always believed that Hitsugaya Tōshirō will become one of the greatest Shinigami in the future."
"He deserves the full trust of Soul Society."
Watching Tsunayoshi's departing figure disappear down the hallway, Yamamoto felt his conviction grow stronger.
Just as Tsunayoshi believed in Hitsugaya—
Yamamoto believed in Sawada Tsunayoshi .
After all, they still had plenty of time.
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