Southern Rukongai in Soul Society had become a living hell.
Civilians' wails, agonized pleas for help, and the despair of shinigami rank-and-file—
These sudden Reigai puppets carrying the power of First Generation captains, even without any self-awareness, were not something ordinary shinigami could resist.
Shiba Kūka and Shiba Ganju were doing everything they could to evacuate civilians.
But there were still countless people who would forever remain on the land that had once been their home.
"So this is the Tsunayashiro clan's trump card…?"
Shiba Kūka stared at the Reigai rampaging freely in the sky, a chill running down her spine.
Because according to the information Higashino Shuuichi had given her, this was only a small portion—unfinished products—of the Tsunayashiro clan's true reserves.
As for the Tsunayashiro clan's real trump cards… no one knew.
"Kūka-nee…"
Shiba Ganju clenched his fists.
Staring at that inhuman scene, he suddenly remembered something Higashino Shuuichi had once said to him—
"You think that helping a few Rukongai civilians every day means you can truly protect them? You can't. One day you'll realize that if you don't have enough power, your 'help' will be nothing but a joke."
Back then, Shiba Ganju hadn't understood what those words meant.
Now he did.
When true danger arrived, if he didn't have enough strength, everything he treasured would turn into foam and vanish.
Life—within Soul Society at this moment—was the cheapest thing of all.
"Higashino Shuuichi… this time, what the hell are you playing at?!"
The captains' response was swift. This time, even Head-Captain Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni didn't insist on guarding Seireitei—he came personally to stand before Higashino Shuuichi.
Because he knew it: in the current Soul Society, there weren't many shinigami who could stop Higashino Shuuichi.
Aside from himself, among the captains—excluding Unohana Retsu—anyone facing Higashino Shuuichi alone would end badly.
What Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni couldn't understand was this:
Higashino Shuuichi wasn't rampaging across this scarred land alongside those Reigai.
Instead, he had his subordinate, Kisaragi Shūsuke, trying to halt the attack of one of the Reigai.
And as for Higashino Shuuichi himself—
He sat atop a rooftop, quietly waiting for the captains to arrive.
"No tricks," Higashino Shuuichi said. "Everything I've done is simply to make you captains—especially you, Head-Captain—see the Tsunayashiro clan's true face."
"One of the former Five Great Noble Clans, the Tsunayashiro clan has long since rotted from the inside out."
"They no longer deserve the name of 'one of the Five.'"
Higashino Shuuichi was alone—he needed only himself—sitting below, looking up at the captains who had come with Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni.
He was the one surrounded, yet every captain present, without exception, felt crushing pressure.
Even Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni wasn't spared.
"Higashino Shuuichi, you've crossed the line!" Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni roared. "As a shinigami, you have no right to interfere in matters between nobles!"
"Whatever the Tsunayashiro clan is doing, whatever they're preparing—none of it concerns you!"
"You will answer for your own actions!"
"Heh… dear Head-Captain," Higashino Shuuichi sneered. "From the sound of it, you intend to turn a blind eye to these weapons the Tsunayashiro clan funded and had manufactured?"
"These Reigai will be handled by the Gotei 13," Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni said coldly. "But Higashino Shuuichi—don't think this excuses you."
"From the moment you brought these Reigai into Soul Society and began slaughtering civilians, you should've known what your end would be!"
Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni understood exactly what Higashino Shuuichi wanted to prove.
But to him, the Tsunayashiro clan was the Tsunayashiro clan's matter—
And Higashino Shuuichi was Higashino Shuuichi's matter.
It was Higashino Shuuichi who brought these Reigai here and caused the mass killing in Southern Rukongai.
On that point, Higashino Shuuichi had no defense.
Of course, Higashino Shuuichi had never intended to defend himself.
"Head-Captain Yamamoto, then you should also understand this," he said. "I could have stopped all of this in the World of the Living."
"I could even have told you in advance about the Tsunayashiro clan's setup in the West Administration."
"But what would the result have been?"
"The Tsunayashiro clan pushes a few scapegoats forward? The Tsunayashiro clan produces a few more 'shinigami' to be confined for a few hundred years?"
"Or the Tsunayashiro clan is completely overthrown?"
"The answer is obvious."
"If none of the tragedy happens, then you can't—and won't—condemn the Tsunayashiro clan based on a tragedy that might have happened."
"Nothing in the future would change."
Higashino Shuuichi rose from his seat.
The captains at Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni's side all sank into grim focus.
Kyōraku Shunsui, Ukitake Jūshirō, Komamura Sajin, Ichimaru Gin, Tōsen Kaname, Kuchiki Byakuya, Soi Fon—
They all understood what Higashino Shuuichi truly meant.
And they also understood the real purpose behind what he had done.
"Higashino Shuuichi…"
Kyōraku Shunsui looked at him, wanting to remind him that according to their original plan, once things reached this point, Higashino Shuuichi's "task" was already complete.
Kyōraku Shunsui and Kuchiki Byakuya would do everything they could to preserve Higashino Shuuichi's life.
But before this moment, Kyōraku Shunsui had never expected Higashino Shuuichi to choose such a far more radical path.
Normally, as long as there was evidence the Tsunayashiro clan was secretly producing these Reigai—just like the old Kasumiooji clan—then it would already be enough to convict them.
But that would also be, exactly as Higashino Shuuichi said: treating symptoms, not the root.
"I don't care how you define me, Head-Captain," Higashino Shuuichi said softly. "A Tsunayashiro shinigami, a traitor of Soul Society—call me what you want."
"Even if you have other shinigami describe me as a schemer, an ambitious man—I don't care."
His body slowly lifted from the rooftop. A terrifying reiatsu seeped outward, bit by bit, from within him.
"Today, I've shown you the Tsunayashiro clan's evil."
"Just as I once couldn't stand to watch the Kasumiooji clan's evil."
"If you can't bring yourselves to destroy the Tsunayashiro clan—then hand it to me."
"All sin. All evil. I'll bear it alone."
"From today onward, there will no longer be a Tsunayashiro clan!"
He didn't speak fast.
Every word struck like a quake through every shinigami present.
Even Kyōraku Shunsui and Ukitake Jūshirō, after hearing it, showed him respect.
Was Higashino Shuuichi a villain?
From Soul Society's perspective—yes, of course.
Because he could have prevented the massacre in Southern Rukongai today… but he didn't.
Then was Higashino Shuuichi a good man?
Kyōraku Shunsui answered in his heart—
"No. A good man wouldn't do something that lets innocent people die."
"But Higashino Shuuichi… is someone worthy of respect."
"He did what countless shinigami wanted to do… yet never dared to."
From the moment he said those words, Kyōraku Shunsui knew—
The shinigami of Soul Society would all become Higashino Shuuichi's enemies.
Whether they wanted it or not, stopping Higashino Shuuichi from harming the nobles—harming the Tsunayashiro clan, one of the Five Great Noble Clans—was part of the very meaning of the Gotei 13's existence.
Steel sang in near-perfect unison.
Kyōraku Shunsui, Ukitake Jūshirō, Komamura Sajin, Ichimaru Gin, Tōsen Kaname, Kuchiki Byakuya, Soi Fon—
And countless other shinigami nearby who saw this, heard this.
They might not have the courage or resolve to do what Higashino Shuuichi was doing.
But giving him their final respect—
That, they could do.
It was a battle where no one could clearly say who was right and who was wrong.
There was only one option:
Fight with everything.
"Bankai: Kokujō Tengen Myō'ō!"
Even as an enemy, Komamura Sajin had to praise Higashino Shuuichi's spirit.
But different positions meant they could never be friends.
A colossal black-armored warrior appeared in the sky.
"You are a true warrior," Komamura Sajin declared, lifting his Zanpakutō. "But today's result will be a tragedy—for you!"
He launched the first strike.
Yet before his blade could fall, Higashino Shuuichi was already in front of him.
That eerie speed was something Komamura Sajin had never heard of—never imagined.
Higashino Shuuichi raised a single finger and pressed it to Komamura Sajin's chest.
With his current reiatsu, a slight push was all it would take for Komamura Sajin's life to gutter out like a candle in the wind.
But Higashino Shuuichi chose another method—
And returned to Komamura Sajin a "famous scene" that had always belonged to him.
"Hadō no Kyūjū: Kurohitsugi (Way of Destruction #90: Black Coffin)!"
A massive coffin rose from nothingness, darkness swallowing Komamura Sajin whole.
The giant black-armored Myō'ō in the sky still hadn't realized what was about to happen—
Cracks spread across its armor. Its body began to topple.
Before it could swing even once, it vanished with a thunderous collapse—together with its master's fall.
"Komamura-taichō?!"
Soi Fon stared in shock at Komamura Sajin as he tumbled out of the slowly opening Kurohitsugi. He didn't look dead… but he didn't look far from it, either.
"Did he… one-shot a captain in Bankai with a single Kurohitsugi?"
Ichimaru Gin narrowed his eyes.
The current Higashino Shuuichi was a whole tier stronger than the Higashino Shuuichi from when he still served as Grand Blade-Hunting Chief in Soul Society.
But how long had it even been?
A month.
Just one month.
What had Higashino Shuuichi experienced in that single month?
None of the captains knew.
"Sorry, Shuuichi," Ukitake Jūshirō said, stepping into the unavoidable path between Higashino Shuuichi and the Tsunayashiro estate. "The Tsunayashiro clan's matter belongs to noble affairs. We can't allow you to deal with it like this."
He spread his twin blades, several sacred divination tokens revolving before him.
"Flow, all waves—become my shield. Flash, all lightning—become my blade…"
"Sōgyo no Kotowari."
In truth, Ukitake Jūshirō, like Kyōraku Shunsui, always held to a justice of his own.
But their justice had been bound, from beginning to end, by the noble identity they carried.
Ukitake Jūshirō envied Higashino Shuuichi—because in him he saw someone who would throw himself into "justice" without hesitation.
Yet he still had to stop him.
Because Higashino Shuuichi's vow to erase the Tsunayashiro clan was shaking the very foundation of Soul Society.
But with Ukitake Jūshirō's physical condition, he could never be the main attacker.
Kuchiki Byakuya glanced at Kyōraku Shunsui and saw, in his eyes, both affirmation and helplessness.
This was Higashino Shuuichi's choice.
But they had their responsibilities, too.
"Bankai—scatter… Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."
Kuchiki Byakuya moved to Ukitake Jūshirō's front-left, released his Zanpakutō, and let the blade sink straight down into ripples on the ground before vanishing.
Then, on both sides of Kuchiki Byakuya, thousands of enormous sword-blades rose like pillars.
"We will stop you, Higashino Shuuichi!"
Kuchiki Byakuya spoke toward Higashino Shuuichi.
Higashino Shuuichi lifted his head, his eyes cold as he returned the gaze.
And then, almost in the same instant—
The once-silent Ninth Division captain, Tōsen Kaname, had appeared near Higashino Shuuichi without anyone noticing.
"Bankai: Suzumushi Tsuishiki: Enma Kōrogi!"
Jet-black reiatsu poured along Tōsen Kaname's blade, forming a massive oval-shaped barrier overhead and sealing both Tōsen Kaname and Higashino Shuuichi inside.
"In my Bankai, your hearing, sight, smell, and spiritual senses will vanish completely—only touch will remain, so you can feel the pain of being slaughtered by me!"
Within that pitch-black space, it was as if Tōsen Kaname was "explaining" it to Higashino Shuuichi.
But in reality, Higashino Shuuichi couldn't hear a word.
Senbonzakura's blades whirled within the space. Tōsen Kaname's Zanpakutō carved freely across Higashino Shuuichi's body.
Whenever Higashino Shuuichi tried to use his abilities to resist, Ukitake Jūshirō used the divination tokens to absorb it.
Everyone knew Higashino Shuuichi's healing power was absurd. No one dared to relax.
Could they grind him down like this?
Of course not.
After obtaining the Soul King's left leg—the fragment that symbolized the power of support—from Miyazaki Sakai Masato, Higashino Shuuichi no longer had that final layer of hesitation.
To the current Higashino Shuuichi, aside from "rule-based" powers that could still threaten him, ordinary physical attacks were little more than scratching an itch.
But even "rule-based" powers—
Everyone knew: a battle between shinigami was, in the end, a battle of reiatsu.
Higashino Shuuichi's colorless eyes regained their light with a single thought.
"Even the strongest ability still needs enough reiatsu to match it."
"Ninth Division Captain Tōsen Kaname… you're simply not qualified."
As he spoke, the oval black barrier that confined him began to splinter, cracking inch by inch under Higashino Shuuichi's overflowing reiatsu.
The blades circling in the air crumbled into dust.
Even the divination tokens between Ukitake Jūshirō's twin blades developed fractures.
Their absorption had a limit.
Under normal circumstances, no shinigami would ever reach that limit.
But the reiatsu Ukitake Jūshirō had absorbed in that moment was already so overwhelming that he could only abandon the absorption entirely.
Otherwise, the reiatsu spilling back onto him would become a weight his body simply couldn't bear.
"Bankai: Kamishini no Yari."
A silver flash streaked through the sky.
Ichimaru Gin—waiting for this moment—unleashed his Bankai on Higashino Shuuichi.
A thrust that approached the speed of light—
Stopped.
Higashino Shuuichi raised his left hand and braced it in front of himself, catching it.
"Shuuichi-sama…"
Soi Fon stared at the scene, unable to find words for what she felt.
That terrifying suppression.
That effortless composure.
Was this… really still a shinigami?
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