"What I'm saying is absolutely true, you know. This matter is also related to Captain Kuchiki and Captain Ukitake. Keh! Keh! Keh!"
Mayuri Kurotsuchi pinched his fingers together in an affected pose, his mocking gaze unconsciously sweeping toward Kuchiki Byakuya and Ukitake Jushiro.
His relationships with his fellow captains were not particularly good.
If there was some entertainment to be had at a colleague's expense, he was more than happy to enjoy it.
As someone who did research, his intelligence was hardly lacking. He just did not usually feel like playing those games of intrigue and scheming.
Now that Head-Captain Yamamoto had suddenly awakened, and with Rukia's matter added on top of it, he was genuinely looking forward to seeing how the Kuchiki family and Ukitake Jushiro would react.
"Captain Mayuri, if you have something to say, then say it plainly. Please explain how this matter is related to me," Kuchiki Byakuya looked at Mayuri and spoke coldly.
He did not believe that either he or the Kuchiki family had done anything wrong.
Besides, becoming captain-level in one month was the kind of genius that did not even appear in the records of the Kuchiki family.
Even that uncle of his who had been sealed somewhere in the world of the living had been nowhere near this level in either strength or talent.
"That's right. Captain Mayuri, please speak frankly," Ukitake Jushiro's tone was much gentler, but his gaze was likewise fixed firmly on Mayuri standing opposite him.
The moment Mayuri mentioned him and Kuchiki Byakuya, he had already thought of something, but he still could not be certain in his heart.
"Tsk! Tsk! Looks like you really don't know."
A playful smile crept onto Mayuri's lips. He glanced at Head-Captain Yamamoto seated at the highest position, and spoke with a tone full of mockery.
"That captain-level individual is named Kurosaki Ichigo. He was originally an ordinary human from the world of the living, and obtained Shinigami powers one month ago. And at that time, the only person in the world of the living who could grant him Shinigami powers was Kuchiki Rukia, who was stationed there."
"Impossible!"
Ukitake Jushiro frowned and instinctively began defending Rukia.
Rukia was his subordinate. No matter what, he was definitely going to protect her.
In fact, if Head-Captain Yamamoto had not awakened, this matter would not have been particularly troublesome.
Under Rosse's management, the authority to deal with squad members had basically been returned to each individual division.
Unless it was a major offense, or unless a vice-captain or even a captain committed a mistake that required multiple captains to discuss punishment, most minor offenses by regular squad members were handled internally by their own division.
Something like Rukia's case would not have been something Rosse would concern himself with at all.
If it had remained within the Thirteenth Division, Ukitake Jushiro would certainly have handled it lightly in the end.
But now that Head-Captain Yamamoto had awakened, the situation was different again.
Head-Captain Yamamoto needed precisely an incident like this to shake the prestige that Rosse had accumulated over the past few years.
And this incident just happened to occur in his Thirteenth Division. On top of that, he himself was Head-Captain Yamamoto's disciple, and Rukia was a member of the Kuchiki family.
Ukitake Jushiro understood very clearly that the timing of this incident was far too perfect.
By making use of this matter, even without recovering his spiritual pressure, Head-Captain Yamamoto could reclaim most of his authority and prestige.
If he himself were not one of the parties involved, Ukitake Jushiro might have thought this was a setup planned by Head-Captain Yamamoto from the start.
"Tsk! Tsk! How is it impossible? Kuchiki Rukia hasn't contacted Soul Society for a very long time, you know. Under normal circumstances, would a full month of lost contact really happen? Especially when her relatives and friends are all in Soul Society. According to the data from the Research and Development Institute, among Shinigami stationed in the world of the living who have relatives in Soul Society, the number of cases where they failed to contact Soul Society in their first month is, up to now, zero."
Mayuri spoke with great enthusiasm, completely ignoring the increasingly grim expressions on Kuchiki Byakuya and Ukitake Jushiro's faces.
In the past, he would not have bothered with such trivial matters.
But Head-Captain Yamamoto's return was very likely to affect his experiments.
If his experiments were called to a halt, the losses would be enormous.
Since that was the case, he might as well find something to keep Head-Captain Yamamoto busy.
"Head-Captain Yamamoto!"
Just as all the captains had expected, Kuchiki Byakuya stepped forward and looked toward Head-Captain Yamamoto at the highest seat.
"This matter concerns the Kuchiki family. I request your approval to allow me to go to the world of the living to investigate Rukia and Kurosaki Ichigo."
"Captain Kuchiki, if Captain Mayuri's conjecture is verified, what do you intend to do?", To everyone's surprise, Rosse spoke up and asked.
The other captains had expected Rosse to step in at some critical moment, but they had not expected him to stand up before the matter had even been concluded.
Aside from Aizen and Unohana, who understood Rosse to some extent, everyone else felt that Rosse was stepping in a bit too early.
Of course, there was also a reckless type like Zaraki Kenpachi, who did not care at all. He just felt everyone else was being far too noisy and wanted to hurry up and leave the First Division to go cut someone.
"If the conjecture is verified, I will bring Rukia back for the family to handle, and according to Seireitei law, I will kill the youth named Kurosaki Ichigo," Kuchiki Byakuya said coldly and without emotion.
Even though Kurosaki Ichigo had easily dealt with an Adjuchas, he did not take it seriously.
A captain-level who had been rushed into existence in a single month might have excellent talent, but his growth time was far too short.
With that little amount of development, he could easily take him down.
Lose? He had not even considered such a thing.
"That won't do," Rosse's quiet objection was like a thunderclap, drawing the attention of all the captains.
No one had expected that Rosse would choose to oppose this at this moment.
"Captain Rosse, please give me a reasonable explanation," Fortunately, Kuchiki Byakuya was a man of composure. He did not show anger, only asked Rosse for the reason with a cold expression.
"Bringing Rukia back is a matter between you and Captain Ukitake. I won't interfere. But killing the youth named Kurosaki Ichigo is not acceptable," Rosse spoke with a smiling expression.
"What relationship does that person have with you, Captain Rosse?", Ukitake Jushiro frowned and stared at Rosse as he asked.
Not just him. Everyone else was also curious how Rosse could be connected to an ordinary human from the world of the living.
"You should all know that a few years ago, I once went to the world of the living," Rosse said with a smile.
"Oh! Oh! I remember now. So that's how it is. Tsk! Tsk! I didn't even make the connection before. That youth named Kurosaki Ichigo is the child Captain Rosse saved back then, right? His mother was a Quincy who was taken away by Hueco Mundo," Mayuri spoke with great excitement.
He had done quite a bit of in-depth investigation into the events of that year.
Although he had not discovered that Kurosaki Isshin was Shiba Isshin, he did know that the mother and son back then had some connection to Rosse and Matsumoto Rangiku.
Moreover, he knew that Rosse had taken Matsumoto Rangiku to the world of the living multiple times.
After all, the technology of the Research and Development Institute was not just for show. That much could be found out.
Over the years, looking after the children of some old acquaintances from back then had become a perfectly human thing to do.
No wonder that youth could have such strength. Perhaps he had even trained in Quincy abilities.
Although in Mayuri's eyes, Quincy abilities were far inferior to Shinigami powers, if you stacked them on top of Shinigami powers, trained for a month, and also had some prior foundation, then having captain-level combat power was not all that surprising.
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