"I only represent the will of the Kuchiki family."
Kuchiki Byakuya's reply was calm and firm, without the slightest hesitation:
"As for whether Captain Rosse wants to go a step further, that's his ambition. It has nothing to do with me. But if our goals happen to be the same, I believe Captain Rosse wouldn't mind having one more ally."
He had no intention of waving the flag for Rosse, willingly becoming his follower and even helping him recruit support.
This was an independent decision made after careful thought by him and the Kuchiki family, pure and proud.
No matter what calculations Rosse had in his heart, it would not shake the Kuchiki family's choice.
Because even without Rosse's existence, just the suppression the Captain-Commander would bring down on the Kuchiki family after waking, and this insistence on pushing the Central 46 trial while ignoring the fact that Rukia had not committed any serious wrongdoing, already meant that the two sides were bound to stand against each other sooner or later.
If even the Shihoin family had the courage to face death calmly for the sake of their family's honor, then how could the Kuchiki family, who considered themselves the head of the nobles, lack the resolve to break their own boats and burn their bridges?
If they lost, it would only mean they were inferior in skill. They would accept the result of the gamble.
That did not stop them from choosing a side for the sake of a new era, nor did it contradict their willingness to die to uphold their principles.
"Is that so? Then I understand."
Aizen looked at Kuchiki Byakuya's face, stubbornness written all over it. On the surface, he merely nodded thoughtfully, but deep inside he could not help marveling once again at Rosse's almost monstrous methods.
Rosse had clearly not used any shady tricks. Every step he took was out in the open, bright and upright.
Carrying out reforms, expanding military strength, improving treatment for commoners.
Yet relying solely on these solid achievements, he had completely won over the proud Kuchiki family, even making them willing, at this moment of life and death, to step forward on their own and face off against Captain-Commander Yamamoto for Rosse's sake.
Of course, his own contribution was not small either.
After all, the way Rukia's situation had developed to this point was the result of a silent understanding between him and Urahara Kisuke.
Still, he could only be counted as half a player. Rosse was the one truly overlooking the entire board.
As for how the script would unfold in the future, that was not up to them.
'Trying to force me to leave Soul Society?'
A trace of mockery flashed through Aizen's eyes.
'No, no, no. The one who will leave this stage will definitely not be me.'
"Since Captain Kuchiki is being so frank, why not talk about another interesting topic."
Aizen changed the subject, his tone carrying a hint of probing:
"What does Captain Kuchiki think about the rumor that 'Captain Kyoraku Shunsui is an undercover agent of the Royal Palace of Hueco Mundo'?"
"Captain Kyoraku…", Hearing that name, Kuchiki Byakuya's calm expression paused noticeably, and his brows drew together ever so slightly.
Yesterday, the woman named Kurosaki Masaki, after showing that despair-inducing power, had clearly stated that Kyoraku Shunsui was from the Royal Palace of Hueco Mundo, only belonging to a different faction than her.
If that statement had come merely from an invader, it would most likely have been dismissed as a laughable attempt to sow discord.
After all, although Kyoraku Shunsui usually acted carefree, in recent days he had always operated under the premise of maintaining Soul Society's stability. No matter how one looked at it, he seemed completely unrelated to the Royal Palace of Hueco Mundo.
But the problem was… When facing Kurosaki Masaki, Kyoraku Shunsui's battle performance had been terrible to the extreme. And afterward, his obvious absent-mindedness, as if he were deliberately holding back, indeed filled the whole matter with suspicion.
For a seasoned veteran captain to perform so poorly against a powerful enemy was in itself the biggest inconsistency.
After pondering for a moment, Kuchiki Byakuya slowly spoke, "From my perspective alone, I truly cannot give a precise conclusion. But I believe Captain Unohana and Captain Rosse already have a clear judgment in their hearts."
This was not an attempt to dodge the question, but a logical inference.
To judge whether Kyoraku Shunsui was loyal, there was actually the simplest and most direct breakthrough point. Captain-Commander Yamamoto.
As long as it could be confirmed that the Captain-Commander's years-long coma had been the result of human manipulation rather than mere post-war trauma, then Kyoraku Shunsui, who had stayed by his side and handled related matters all that time, would absolutely not be able to escape responsibility.
Looking back now, the timing of the Captain-Commander's awakening was far too coincidental.
He did not wake early, nor late, but precisely at that sensitive moment when a Menos suddenly invaded the Human World, Kurosaki Ichigo exposed his Shinigami powers, and Rukia's whereabouts were revealed.
All of it was like a carefully arranged script, as if the Captain-Commander's awakening had been meant to target Rukia, to target this new force led by Rosse.
Call it a coincidence? Not even a three-year-old child from Rukongai would believe that.
This was clearly a massive conspiracy aimed at the existing order of Soul Society.
The hidden meaning in Kuchiki Byakuya's words was something Aizen naturally saw through at a glance.
After all, he was not only a spectator of this grand drama, but also half a player in it.
"Captain Kuchiki means…"
Aizen pushed up his glasses and, without the slightest restraint, tore away the last thin layer covering the truth:
"If Captain Kyoraku really is a man of the Royal Palace of Hueco Mundo, then everything becomes clear. He personally orchestrated this internal strife within Soul Society."
"First, taking advantage of Captain-Commander Yamamoto's severe injuries, he artificially prolonged his coma, even secretly pushing Captain Rosse into the position of authority, thereby establishing a new order and undermining the old foundation."
"Then, just as Captain Rosse's power was about to reach its peak, just as he was about to truly take control of Soul Society, he suddenly awakened Captain-Commander Yamamoto."
Aizen's voice was low and filled with temptation, as if telling a chilling tale, "Using that to forcibly create a fatal conflict between the old and new leaders, tearing Soul Society apart from within and plunging it into complete turmoil and internal exhaustion?"
This tightly linked and logically rigorous line of reasoning made Kurosaki Ichigo, hiding in the shadows, scratch his head nonstop, his mind practically tying itself into knots.
'What is all this supposed to mean?'
'Isn't Rosse that guy the real lackey of the Royal Palace of Hueco Mundo?'
'How did it suddenly get dragged over to that Kyoraku Shunsui?'
'And from the sound of it, he's some even higher-level mastermind behind the scenes?'
Still, even though Ichigo could not untangle all these complicated twists and turns, judging by his simple sense of good and evil, that Kyoraku Shunsui definitely was not some good person either.
Just the fact that he teamed up with Urahara Kisuke and dragged Inoue Orihime into all this was enough for Ichigo to label him as a bad seed.
As for whether he was as bad as Rosse, that he could not be sure.
Compared to Ichigo's total confusion, Kuchiki Byakuya's reaction was far more direct.
He looked at Aizen, nodded lightly, and a trace of appreciation flashed in his eyes, as if he had met a kindred spirit:
"Correct. That is also the speculation in my heart."
Aizen's words had precisely voiced his own thoughts.
The reason he was certain that Unohana and Rosse knew the truth was that when Captain-Commander Yamamoto had been gravely injured and on the verge of death back then, the one responsible for his first treatment had been Captain Unohana Retsu of the Fourth Division.
Even if the treatment process had been brief, with the insight and medical skill of the first Kenpachi, determining whether someone's coma was due to physiological damage or suppression by some external force would still have been effortless.
The fact that Unohana had remained silent until now, and had even firmly stood on Rosse's side, already spoke volumes.
As long as there was even the slightest doubt in this matter, Kyoraku Shunsui would never be clean.
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