["You!"]
Mayuri Kurotsuchi hated having his intelligence questioned more than anything, but before he could start cursing, he heard the voice of Kyoraku Shunsui, ["All right, all right, both sides say a little less. Captain Rosse, what you did was completely correct. It's indeed unsuitable to keep someone in the World of the Living."]
Although the Seireitei could not monitor in real time, and could not even display images, it could still detect spiritual pressure levels.
And the intensity of Rosse's battle had already reached the level of second-class reiatsu.
Even among the current captains, very few could reach second-class.
This was even with both sides holding back. If they released their full power, they might really reach first-class reiatsu, the level of Kyoraku's full strength.
Only someone who was at that level themselves knew how strong a person of that level could be when serious.
If Rosse and that Arrancar had fought at full power, the whole Karakura Town would have been destroyed. Such a thing absolutely could not be allowed to happen by the Seireitei.
And if it reached that point, even if Rosse did capture the enemy, once he returned he would face a severe sentence.
As things stood, although Rosse would still suffer some criticism, this was already the best possible outcome.
And more importantly than the battle itself, what Kyoraku Shunsui cared about was what the opponent said before departing.
Generally, anyone whose strength had reached first-class reiatsu looked down on lying, and Hollows especially followed the belief that the strong were supreme.
In Shunsui's near thousand-year life, he had visited Hueco Mundo many times and interacted with Hollows there.
Although he had never seen one with such strong reiatsu, nor their appearance, the readings from the Department of Technology Development confirmed the opponent's reiatsu was undoubtedly Hollow.
And there was another important point: one hundred years ago, someone conducted Hollowfication experiments within the Seireitei, causing multiple captains and lieutenants to be harmed.
To this day, the true culprit had never been found.
He did not believe in the theory that Urahara Kisuke was the culprit.
Thus, in Kyoraku's view, the opponent's words were most likely an unintentional slip and probably true.
And that captain infiltrator from Hueco Mundo was very likely the true culprit behind the incident a hundred years ago.
Then came the question, 'Which captain is a problem?'
Kyoraku Shunsui quickly ran through the possibilities in his mind.
Since Harribel's words were true, Rosse could be eliminated first.
If the two were working together, there would have been no need to make such a show. They originally knew nothing, but now they knew, which only created trouble. Completely unnecessary.
Anyone with a normal brain wouldn't play it that way.
Rather than believing Rosse was a member of Hueco Mundo, Shunsui preferred to believe Harribel was throwing smoke bombs and that none of the captains had a problem.
Besides Rosse, Yamamoto, Sui Feng, Unohana, himself, Kuchiki Byakuya, Zaraki Kenpachi, and Ukitake Jushiro could also be excluded.
Some of them would never side with Hollows.
Some completely lacked the ability to have been the mastermind a hundred years ago.
Of course, he did not rule out that there could be more than one infiltrator, so he did not completely clear Sui Feng or Kuchiki Byakuya.
After eliminating eight captains, only five remained: Ichimaru Gin, Aizen, Sajin Komamura, Kaname Tosen, and Mayuri Kurotsuchi.
Although not captains a hundred years ago, all five had considerable strength back then. If they concealed their true ability and had help from Hueco Mundo, it was fully possible for them to commit that crime.
"Captain Kurotsuchi, I need to report to the old man immediately. Monitoring of the World of the Living is up to you. I will repeat once more: Captain Rosse did nothing wrong."]
Repeating the point again, Kyoraku Shunsui headed for Squad One, deeply troubled.
Among the remaining five, the most suspicious were three: Aizen, Kaname Tosen, Mayuri.
Mayuri already had a history of sacrificing lives for experiments, so doing something even crazier would not be surprising.
Aizen had been Fifth Division Lieutenant at the time. Shunsui had often heard Hirako Shinji complain that Aizen seemed… off.
He hadn't thought much of it back then, but looking at it now, that suspicion was justified.
After all, Shinji had barely said these things before he suddenly "fell victim" to the incident.
Then there was Kaname Tosen.
As the one who reported Tsuneyashiro Tokinade, Tosen knew exactly who had been involved.
Tsuneyashiro Tokinade not only killed his own wife back then but also mocked Tosen when he visited him.
And just a few days ago, the Tsuneyashiro family suddenly perished.
Meanwhile, the only survivor went to the World of the Living, and now a group called Hueco Mundo suddenly surfaced.
And more importantly, reiatsu had erupted in three places in the World of the Living earlier.
The strongest reiatsu in each place matched Harribel's reiatsu type, they were clearly strong members of Hueco Mundo.
At the other two locations, the Department of Technology Development detected reiatsu belonging to Tsuneyashiro Tokikawa and to Shinji and the others, though those reiatsu vanished quickly.
Even the department couldn't determine whether the others were defeated or killed.
Shunsui didn't believe in coincidences. This operation was probably an attempt to wipe them all out.
With all this piling together, Tosen looked more and more suspicious.
If he truly was the infiltrator, Shunsui could understand his betrayal, but he could not accept him siding with the Hollows.
Since the man had already taken revenge, if he really betrayed the Seireitei, then it would fall to Shunsui to avenge the Seireitei in turn.
This matter would not end here.
———
Although the battle in the World of the Living had quieted, the aftermath continued rippling through all realms, and undercurrents surged everywhere.
Meanwhile, as the instigator of it all, Rosse outwardly wandered the World of the Living with Matsumoto Rangiku, but that was only his physical clone, controlled with a small fraction of his consciousness.
His true spirit form had already returned to Hueco Mundo through a black cavity.
Inside the splendid and luxurious Hueco Mundo palace, cold white light illuminated the room brightly.
Kurosaki Masaki lay unconscious, curled forward on the bed, unable to move.
Rosse worked behind her, performing acupuncture to awaken her consciousness.
As her awareness gradually returned, Kurosaki Masaki slowly regained clarity.
'Ugh! Argh! It's painful!'
Not just the pain of losing her power...
'Wait... why does my mouth hurt too? I haven't eaten anything spicy...'
'And this feeling is so familiar yet strangely tense.'
Kurosaki Masaki struggled to open her eyes. Two streams of tears flowed down her cheeks.
'I knew it. Hollows aren't the creatures that keep their word.'
'But at least Isshin and Ichigo should be fine.'
'So be it.'
'It doesn't matter anymore.'
Even if she was being used as a toy, as long as Isshin and the children were unharmed, it was fine.
Kurosaki Masaki bit her lip and continued enduring. Without any spiritual pressure to mobilize, she couldn't even move.
Right now, all she could do was hope it would end soon.
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