Under the lead of the Tenth and Byakuran, the group of materialized Zanpakutō advanced without obstruction and smoothly arrived near the West Hakutōmon. Byakuya Kuchiki had already been waiting there for some time.
The Tenth, who was leading the group, slowed his pace. They had not encountered any Shinigami blocking their way, which was why they had arrived so quickly. However, even the Tenth had no way to determine whether the Byakuya Kuchiki before him was real or fake.
Seeing the Tenth's hesitation, Byakuya immediately understood what he meant. He placed his hand on the hilt of his sword and said softly, "Come out, Senbonzakura."
Several cherry blossoms drifted down from Senbonzakura. The petals gathered together, forming the figure of a man dressed in red Japanese armor. This was Senbonzakura's materialized form. Byakuya was using this method to tell Tsunayoshi that he was the real Byakuya Kuchiki.
After all, Zanpakutō spirits would not have such pleasant attitudes toward fake copies. They would never obey the orders of Reigai.
Not only that, Byakuya had also prepared another line to prove his identity.
"The yakuza in Japan are not as wonderful as you described. Unfortunately, there was not enough time, so I could not go to Italy to take a look."
This was something Byakuya Kuchiki and the Tenth had discussed when they became friends. The Tenth would often share stories about the Vongola Family helping one another. The contents of those stories had all taken place recently, so there was no way a Reigai could know them.
"It really is you, Byakuya?" The smile on the Tenth's face became somewhat embarrassed. "Sorry. I burned down your house earlier."
"I heard about it from Tsunayoshi. It does not matter. They were only one or two guest rooms. They can simply be rebuilt." Byakuya also revealed a smile. The immensely wealthy Kuchiki Clan would never care about one or two rooms.
"The Kuchiki Clan really is generous," Byakuran said as he leaned over with a sigh.
"If you are willing, Mr. Byakuran, you would also be an honored guest of the Kuchiki Clan."
"Forget it. I can't stand all those noble rules of yours. An izakaya suits me better." Byakuran waved his hand dismissively.
"Let's not waste time. We should hurry and support little Tsunayoshi and the others," the Tenth said.
With Byakuya Kuchiki using his identity to clear the way, the group of Zanpakutō passed through the Hakutōmon smoothly and entered the Seireitei.
"Can all of you sense the location of your masters' Reiatsu?" the Tenth asked.
The Zanpakutō all nodded in response. Now that they were this close, sensing their masters' positions was not difficult.
"Then move out. Reach your masters as quickly as possible and help them deal with their opponents." The Tenth turned to Byakuran. "Byakuran, I'll have to trouble you to send them on their way."
"Eh? That sounds like a lot of trouble." Byakuran puffed out his cheeks in displeasure. In truth, he was not even interested in the fighting inside the Seireitei. What he wanted most right now was to enjoy his carefree little life.
"After this, I'll talk to little Tsunayoshi and ask him to let you come out and play more often," the Tenth said.
He did not have many ways to restrain Byakuran. Their combat abilities were also extremely similar. The only thing he could think of was Byakuran's longing for so-called freedom.
"Deal. You said it!" Byakuran agreed immediately.
Byakuran understood very clearly that no matter how powerful he and the Tenth were, Tsunayoshi Sawada was the true master of that power. A single thought from Tsunayoshi governed everything about them.
And among the three manifestations of Tsunayoshi's powers, the Tenth undoubtedly had the best relationship with him. If the Tenth was willing to speak up, then the chances of Byakuran being let out for recreation next time would increase greatly.
"Hurry, hurry, hurry. Get moving. Your Lord Byakuran still has things to do."
Byakuran waved his hand and urged the Zanpakutō into action. The Zanpakutō could only curl their lips helplessly. After spending two days with him, how could they not know what kind of personality Byakuran had? What business could Byakuran possibly have? Wasn't he just in a rush to go play?
Forget it. They would treat it as helping their useless masters as quickly as possible. The Zanpakutō bid farewell to the Tenth one after another. After spending these past two days together, they had come to greatly acknowledge the Tenth's leadership style.
Tenken had even suggested imitating the associations in the Seireitei and letting the Zanpakutō form their own Zanpakutō Mutual Aid Association, with the Tenth as their leader. However, the Tenth had not agreed.
Only after the Zanpakutō had left did Byakuya Kuchiki ask, "What are you planning?"
Although they had not known each other for long, the Tenth and Byakuya got along surprisingly well. With one glance, Byakuya could tell that the Tenth had sent the others away because he had something else in mind.
The Tenth opened his palm. Lying inside was a Reishi particle stripped from a highly concentrated Rain Flame after it had hardened.
"This was separated from your Modified Soul. I want to make a trip to Squad 12 . My intuition tells me the technology behind the Modified Souls is connected to you," the Tenth said.
It was only because he had a good relationship with Byakuya that he even bothered with this matter. Otherwise, he would not have cared about someone else's business.
"Intuition?" Byakuya frowned, considering how reliable the Tenth's words were.
"In Vongola terms, this is called Hyper Intuition." The Tenth did not explain further. The matter only concerned Byakuya. Whether Byakuya believed him or not had no effect on the Tenth personally.
"Hyper Intuition?" Although he still had doubts, the friendship they had built made Byakuya choose to believe the Tenth. "Then we will make a trip to Squad 12 . However, Mayuri Kurotsuchi and Tōshirō Hitsugaya seem to have already gone there."
"That's fine. We are only going to preserve the relevant technology, in case they destroy the related data while cutting off the Modified Souls' escape route," the Tenth said.
"With Mayuri Kurotsuchi's mind, I believe Modified Soul technology should not pose much difficulty for him," Byakuya said. He did not like Mayuri's way of doing things either, but he had to admit Mayuri's ability in research.
"There aren't many incidents left. I feel that an incident related to you will arrive very soon. There is no time for Mayuri Kurotsuchi to experiment through trial and error. Using existing data directly would be the most convenient option."
The Tenth and Byakuya Kuchiki rushed toward Squad 12 at high speed. Meanwhile, the other Shinigami who had returned to the Seireitei were also reclaiming their respective barracks according to plan.
However, what these people had not expected was that within the various squad barracks, they did not encounter the enemies they had imagined. Instead, all the squad members had been gathered inside the barracks, and everything appeared orderly.
"This is kind of strange, Tsunayoshi. Aside from some low-grade impostors, we haven't encountered any captain-class copies at all," Kensei Muguruma shouted through the communication channel.
"It's the same with Squad Three," Rose agreed. "Official duties are proceeding as usual. It doesn't look like we've been overthrown."
"In that case, among the captain-class combatants everyone has encountered, the only one is Renji?" Tsunayoshi asked.
After defeating his own copy, Renji had immediately reported the situation.
"Yes. And the other guy wasn't inside Squad Six. Instead, it looked like he was heading somewhere," Renji replied. He had run into that impostor on the road.
"Mr. Renji, can you tell us exactly which direction the person you encountered was heading?" Kisuke Urahara's voice sounded. As the strategic mind of this operation, he was currently inside a newly built laboratory near Yamamoto.
Renji quickly reported the copy's route to Kisuke Urahara. Urahara frowned and analyzed it.
"Strange. There shouldn't be anything particularly noteworthy in that direction…"
"Unless it's the barrier!"
Connecting this with the battle Renji had encountered shortly after entering the Seireitei, Kisuke Urahara immediately understood.
"Their target is the Seireitei's barrier. Could it be…?"
"Everyone, please head to the nearest barrier point from your current position. Tsunayoshi, take a group to the Kidō Corps. I suspect Inaba's goal is to destroy the Seireitei's barrier," Kisuke Urahara ordered at once.
Inside the Seireitei, the only group closely connected to barriers was the Kidō Corps.
Now that there were no signs of the captains inside the Seireitei, the only explanation was that Inaba had dispatched all of them elsewhere. As for sending Tsunayoshi to the area where the Kidō Corps was located, it was because Urahara suspected that place had the highest concentration of copies.
"What does that mean? What benefit would destroying the barrier bring Inaba?" Tsunayoshi glanced at the girl following behind him. Logically speaking, Inaba's target should be Nozomi Kujō.
Urahara sighed. "With your strength, do you think Kagerōza Inaba still has any chance of taking Nozomi away? I suspect his current thinking is that if he cannot get what he wants, he will smash the jar and take all of Soul Society down with him."
As he said this, Urahara glanced at Yamamoto, who stood at the highest point of the Seireitei not far away. Yamamoto also perceived Inaba's intention from Urahara's words.
"Do not worry. The power of Zanka no Tachi is not so easily used. For a copy made from a single source of Reishi, the Blazing Fire Sword is already its limit," Yamamoto said.
From Urahara's words, it was clear that he suspected Inaba intended to use the Bankai power of Ryūjin Jakka to destroy all of Soul Society along with himself.
If he could not achieve his goal of obtaining Nozomi Kujō, then he would simply destroy the world with him.
Others might not know, but Yamamoto himself understood the power of Zanka no Tachi extremely well. When he used Zanka no Tachi, he had to squeeze every single Reishi particle within his body to the absolute limit.
And now, a Modified Soul created from a mere scattering of leaked Reishi wanted to use Zanka no Tachi to destroy Soul Society? That was underestimating the thousand years of effort Yamamoto had put in far too much.
Whether this so-called copy could even fully unleash the power of the Blazing Fire Sword was still a question. Zanka no Tachi? Yamamoto only found the idea laughable.
"As long as you are confident, Captain-Commander." Urahara offered a lukewarm compliment, then continued, "Tsunayoshi, make the trip anyway. If you encounter the Captain-Commander's copy, kill it with everything you have."
Urahara still decided to cut off this dangerous possibility before it could grow. Yamamoto also heard the slight distrust hidden in Urahara's words and added his own order.
"Chōjirō, reclaim Squad One quickly. Find my copy and kill it!"
"Yes… Captain-Commander!"
Chōjirō Sasakibe's firm voice was mixed with heavy breathing. The faint sound of thunder could also be heard. His situation was very poor. The other Shinigami had not encountered enemies in their own barracks, yet he alone had encountered his own copy inside Squad One.
And it was not only Sasakibe's copy. Gonryōmaru, who had always been dissatisfied with Sasakibe, was there as well. Without even greeting him, Gonryōmaru directly activated Kōkō Gonryō Rikyū and attacked him.
Sasakibe could only swallow the bitter fruit he had created himself. Worse still, there were two Kōkō Gonryō Rikyū in play. He could only struggle to survive within the forest of lightning.
Yamamoto fell silent. After so many years, how could he not understand Sasakibe? Unless something unexpected had happened, Sasakibe had already run into trouble. This subordinate of his was certainly gritting his teeth and stubbornly holding on right now.
Yamamoto still felt a trace of sympathy. Since the other squad barracks were not in danger, he could move toward Squad One.
Honestly, Sasakibe had followed him for so many years, yet how was he still so poor at Jinzen training? He was not even comparable to Renji Abarai. At the very least, Renji's Zanpakutō would not completely defect to the enemy.
Gonryōmaru and Chōjirō Sasakibe. It was about time both of them received a proper beating. As for surpassing Bankai or anything of the sort, Yamamoto no longer expected Chōjirō to train to that level. He should just behave himself and remain a lieutenant.
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