Lines of dark-golden text shimmered before Asano Kiyoshi's eyes, the script weaving through his Zanpakutō's scroll as waves of pure, mysterious energy continuously reshaped his body — purging impurities from his soul and elevating the very structure of his spirit form. As the power coursed through him, he felt every pore of his being bloom with a sense of rebirth.
He took several deep breaths to suppress the excitement welling up inside.
His eyes fell once more on that golden seal — the Ōin fragment he'd absorbed. With that, his final shred of hesitation vanished.
The piece he'd absorbed was only a spiritual avatar of the Royal Seal's true power — the physical vessel remained hidden in place. That way, when the Tsunayashiro family next checked on it, they wouldn't find it missing.
Settling his mind, Kiyoshi recalled the instructions Yamamoto had given him before he entered the Great Spirit Book Archive:
"Remember — gather whatever information you can about the Tsunayashiro family. Anything at all. Their ambitions have grown too blatant lately, and you ruined one of their plans. They'll hold a grudge against you for that. The more you know about them, the more leverage you'll have if they ever try to set you up. Do you understand?"
The old man's words echoed in his mind as Kiyoshi began searching the shelves.
After a careful hunt, he finally found some records tucked away in a corner — files covering the Tsunayashiro family's activities over the last ten years.
The documents were astonishingly detailed — from daily expenses to internal reforms and personnel shifts, to precise breakdowns of family assets. But buried in all that dry data were hints of deeply suspicious gaps. For instance:
"Spiritual Era 2043: Natural disaster, severe drought, territorial harvests plummet, financial deficit declared. Family petitions the Golden Seal Council for a tax reduction.
Result — approved. Tax burden reduced by 13 million kan this year, plus a 2 million kan subsidy from the Golden Seal Council to 'help the Tsunayashiro family weather the hardship.'"
At first glance, it looked straightforward. But reading closer, it felt slippery — ambiguous.
The Tsunayashiro clan's main income came from rents on dozens of shopping streets and taxes on textiles. A drought might hit agriculture — but textiles? That year's drought was mild in other nobles' records, too. Small aristocratic houses whose entire livelihood depended on farming didn't report major losses — so how did this massive noble clan supposedly end up in deficit?
Yet other signs did suggest they genuinely faced a cash shortage that year. So where had all the money gone?
Coincidentally, Spiritual Era 2043 was the year when the infamous Mass Zanpakutō Disappearance occurred. Normally, when squad members died, their Zanpakutō were collected, recorded, and at the year's end sent off "to Heaven" by the First Division.
But that year, blades went missing under bizarre circumstances — abandoned or "lost" for strange reasons. In total, 147 Zanpakutō vanished. On the black market, each blade could fetch around 100,000 kan.
Such a loss couldn't be ignored — Yamamoto himself ordered a full investigation. But that was when things turned sinister.
The probe hit resistance on all fronts from the nobility. Gaining permission to search a noble's estate required a permit from the Central 46. The Chamber refused, claiming that to protect Soul Society's honor, the Gotei 13 must first present sufficient evidence.
And what counted as "sufficient evidence"? According to the Central 46:
"You must find records in the noble's household ledgers proving they possess deceased squad members' Zanpakutō."
A laughable standard — which infuriated Yamamoto. Under his immense pressure, the Central 46 finally granted two search permits.
But when the squads set out to search, the nobles closed ranks. Many banded together to protest the Gotei 13's "insulting behavior."
Yamamoto didn't care. He personally stormed the estates under strongest suspicion and found 27 stolen Zanpakutō.
As for the rest, the ledgers and cash flow data strongly pointed toward the Tsunayashiro family. But the Five Great Noble Houses were Soul Society's face — even Yamamoto had to weigh carefully whether to bring one down.
Then, that same night, the Tsunayashiro family's accounting office "accidentally" burned to the ground. Their excuse? An "unexpected fire."
It was absurd. A great clan with elite private guards couldn't contain a simple blaze — and stood by as decades of records turned to ash.
Even more absurd, when the smoking evidence was undeniable, the nobles brazenly shoved a handful of household servants forward as scapegoats — claiming they'd stolen and resold the Zanpakutō without their masters' knowledge. The nobles solemnly offered to pay 50,000 kan per missing blade as compensation.
Yamamoto saw right through them — but with the nobles unified, pushing them further risked Soul Society's fragile stability. In the end, the matter was buried: Tsunayashiro's "unexplained cash flow," the missing Zanpakutō, dozens of "guilty" servants who all "confessed" and then "committed suicide from shame." The final page read:
"All the confessing servants, tormented by guilt, took their own lives to atone. The nobles mourned deeply and accused the Gotei 13 of possible abuse and coercion."
Taken alone, any of these records might look innocuous. But when pieced together, any fool could see the truth. The tragedy was that the Thirteen Court Guard Squads had no way to gather information at this depth themselves.
The 12th Division's surveillance microbes were numerous — but they could barely infiltrate noble estates. Black market dealings and financial flows were tightly guarded by the aristocracy's collective power. The Gotei 13's intelligence network was stifled at every turn.
What Yamamoto wanted was simple: Kiyoshi would return with these pieces — not perfectly complete evidence, but a rough map pointing the way forward. Even that would be enough to launch new investigations.
Because the gap between what you know — and what you don't — can decide the life or death of an entire empire.
T/N: For up to 30 chapters ahead on most of my translations, become a p@tron at p@treon.com/LordHipposApostle