Perched atop a house in the World of the Living, casually toying with a new plaything as he manipulated Kabuno Takuya to practice Quincy abilities, Higashino Shuuichi never expected that the first to come looking for him would be that man.
"You're saying your master, Tokinada Tsunayashiro, wants to meet me?"
Gazing at the Shinigami before him—dressed in shihakushō yet wearing a black face veil—Higashino Shuuichi understood his purpose after listening to his explanation.
"Yes. My master sincerely invites you to the Soul Society to meet him."
The Shinigami bowed his head respectfully.
Tsunayashiro Tokinada, huh.
To Higashino Shuuichi, that was a familiar name: the third proper big boss after Yhwach made a mess of things. But when he thought it over, he and Tokinada Tsunayashiro shouldn't have any ties.
The closest he had ever come to Tokinada since arriving in this world was back when he recruited Tōsen Kaname for Aizen Sōsuke. After Tokinada left, he saved Tōsen from several Shinigami.
It wasn't even time yet for Tokinada's move in the timeline, so why seek him out now?
And judging from how quickly the other side found him—he had only just returned from that fabricated future—the approach clearly wasn't accidental. It was premeditated, and they were confident.
Otherwise, from what Higashino knew, the time flow inside Akimi's fabricated future and reality differed greatly; he was gone for a full ten years. With such a span, unless they were certain, they wouldn't keep watching this place the whole time, would they?
"Meeting me is fine, but your master can't be unaware of my current status, can he? I'm a Soul Society traitor. After the last war they might even pin 'deliberately endangering the World of the Living' on me. If I run back to the Soul Society now, wouldn't that be walking into a trap?"
After issuing a mental command to Kabuno Takuya to get clear of Osaka Prefecture, Higashino looked at the Shinigami before him.
"Please rest easy, Higashino-sama. This is a special pardon proposed by Tsunayashiro-sama, hosted by the Tsunayashiro clan, and signed by the Central 46 Chambers. From today, your name will be struck from the Soul Society's traitor list. Even the Gotei 13 will be unable to act against you."
Higashino had been on guard for some underhanded trick from Tokinada—but that statement made him almost break composure.
A pardon?
Since when did the Soul Society have that?
And targeted at him alone?
He took the gilt-edged document from the Shinigami. The special seal of Central 46 was genuine. The whole thing looked fresh—rushed out in the last couple of days.
Opening it, he found only his name inside. In other words, this pardon had been hastily prepared specifically for him.
Wasn't that contradictory?
Higashino frowned.
On one hand, Tokinada had clearly watched this place for years—ten full years—or else he couldn't have pinpointed Higashino's location the instant he reappeared, given that Higashino had revealed himself only in that brief disoriented moment after returning from the fabricated future, and otherwise concealed himself using overwhelming control of reishi.
On the other hand, this pardon showed obvious rush marks.
What did that imply?
"It means he wasn't watching this place for me at all."
A wry smile crossed Higashino's face.
Maybe he really had overestimated himself.
Likely no one in the Tsunayashiro clan expected the one to return alive to be him.
In that case, their reason for watching this place was obvious.
Even if Akimi's construct was a false future, it could only be built after he had glimpsed the real one. The Tsunayashiro clan already held world-shaking recorders of past and present like the Great Spirit Book Corridor and the Eizō Hall, yet were still unsatisfied—they wanted the future from Akimi as well.
Unexpectedly, Akimi didn't come back. Higashino Shuuichi returned alive instead.
So they burned the midnight oil to convince the other nobles and Central 46, braving heavy pressure to rescind the charges against a Shinigami who was essentially on the Soul Society's red bulletin.
"Win my favor first, then fish future intel out of me?"
Higashino couldn't help laughing.
What was this? His identity as a transmigrator getting proven in a roundabout way?
From now on, no matter how absurd his actions, he could shut mouths with "I saw it happen in the future," right?
He looked at the Shinigami before him and wanted to say to those Tsunayashiro people:
"Do none of you guard yourselves against your own clan?"
If he hadn't pieced things together from these threads—and if he didn't know what kind of person Tokinada Tsunayashiro was—he might have been fooled by this shell game and ended up feeling grateful to the man.
Meanwhile, the rest of the Tsunayashiro clan would probably have been blissfully unaware they'd been sold out while still helping count the money.
After all, right now Tokinada was a nobody—an insignificant branch family member. For him to sway the decisions of the soaring Tsunayashiro clan? The sun would have to rise in the west.
Even so, Higashino would extend due respect to Tokinada Tsunayashiro. He was very curious: why go to such lengths to curry favor? Surely not the same as the clan—chasing the misty future?
He was certain Tokinada wasn't that kind of person.
"Notify Soul Society and have them open the Senkaimon (World Gate)."
Higashino stood on the rooftop.
He was light as a feather now, free of baggage—able to leave the moment he decided.
Ten years had passed. Finding Kabuma Sayako and the others quickly was basically impossible. But if he could return to the Soul Society's system, then with its power—and Aizen's means—finding Kabuma Sayako and company shouldn't be too hard.
Besides, in the World of the Living his actions wouldn't necessarily be more convenient than those of the Quincy-shaped Reishi construct he'd crafted, Kabuno Takuya.
Soon, at the Tsunayashiro retainer's notice, members of the nearby 13th Division arrived and opened a Senkaimon for Higashino.
Time truly was the best file to wear away traces. Not a single 13th Division squad member recognized him.
Stepping through the gate, he emerged in Rukongai, and under the Tsunayashiro retainer's lead, entered Seireitei.
Clearly, the Tsunayashiro clan worked efficiently. In less than two days, not only had they obtained his pardon, they had also quietly handled the easily overlooked barrier checks around Seireitei.
As he expected, upon reaching the Tsunayashiro compound, the first person to receive him wasn't the clan head—it was Tokinada Tsunayashiro.
Which showed how loyal that messenger Shinigami was to Tokinada.
Higashino judged that within the Tsunayashiro's employed Shinigami, such diehards were likely numerous.
Otherwise, the future's horrifying Tsunayashiro massacre wouldn't happen—where, in a single night, nearly the entire clan was slaughtered by assassins arranged by Tokinada, leaving only Tokinada alive.
Its brutality rivaled that of a certain red-eyed clan.
"First time meeting, Higashino Shuuichi. You probably know my identity already—Tokinada Tsunayashiro, a branch nobody from the Tsunayashiro clan."
Walking into the room where Tokinada was "confined," Higashino didn't expect those to be his first words.
Was he out of touch?
Since when did people in the shadows start playing it straight?
"So what that Shinigami said earlier was all false?"
Higashino was silent for a moment, then spoke.
"If you think it's false, it's false. If you think it's true, it's true. For me, it doesn't matter. I only care about one thing—that it helped bring you here to see me. Now that you're here, those words have fulfilled their purpose."
Tokinada watched him with a half-smile.
Fine. That was very Tokinada. "So you wanted to see me. Why?"
Tokinada stood and slid open an inner screen. Higashino saw a device like a film projector. Tokinada placed a reel inside.
Soon, film-like images flickered on the opposite wall.
"Why?
There are many reasons. First, back when the Kasumiooji affair was first exposed, you should have gone to North Rukongai's Zaraki District. Instead, you went to East Rukongai's 62nd District.
More interesting, that district's 'story' had four leads: the current 3rd Division Captain Ichimaru Gin, 5th Division Captain Aizen Sōsuke, Soul Society traitor Matsumoto Rangiku, and you, Higashino Shuuichi~
Second, these are little snippets I clipped from the past centuries of your life—secretly using Reishi constructs to collect Bakkōtō, quietly killing certain Shinigami, and, back when you were still an ordinary Shinigami, carefully planning an assassination against the nobles…"
As Tokinada gazed, almost intoxicated by the images while reciting Higashino's deeds like prized collectibles, an odd release washed through Higashino—being "found out" at last.
"Watching centuries of my life… doesn't that bore you?"
He didn't follow Tokinada's gaze to the wall. He half-closed his eyes as if resting, voice utterly calm.
"Ha-ha-ha-ha!" Tokinada applauded his composure. "As expected of you, Higashino Shuuichi—so calm even now."
"These things you're showing might have mattered before I defected. For the current me, they're nothing. Worst case, I run back to the World of the Living again.
Besides, as you just said, you're only an insignificant branch offshoot of the Tsunayashiro, right?"
Higashino's tone stayed cool.
"True. For the current you, the threat is limited. But for me, it's plenty.
Higashino Shuuichi, I know you resent the current order of this world. You loathe this rotten, sinful system—the injustice nobles inflict on you, the distrust Shinigami cast on you, the indignities you're forced to swallow. Join me. We'll crush it all and remake it."
Watching Tokinada's fervor, Higashino felt the man had him wrong. When had he ever been that misanthropic?
Everything Tokinada listed was true—but each deed had a concrete benefit behind it. It wasn't emotion driving him, as Tokinada imagined.
"What do you want to do?"
Still, being misunderstood this way wasn't necessarily bad.
On the other side, hearing Higashino's question, Tokinada knew he'd taken the bait.
As it should be. As it must be!
A Shinigami like Higashino was wasted under Aizen Sōsuke—a small-time schemer. That was the conclusion Tokinada reached after reviewing the footage.
Higashino Shuuichi deserved a larger stage—one Aizen couldn't give, but Tokinada could.
"This world is rife with falsehoods, most of all the Soul Society. We will lay every truth bare and return the world to its original form!
Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, and the World of the Living will be melded back into one, and we will build a new order!
In that new world, there will be no sin. Everything will be justice!"
Tokinada declared his grand ideal, full-throated.
After viewing Higashino's complete past, he had no doubt—Higashino would understand him.
Because this Shinigami was cruel enough, cold enough, patient enough, and mad enough—
Just like him.
Sure enough, Higashino didn't object. He even seemed to ponder Tokinada's "great ideal" seriously, then asked:
"How do you plan to achieve that, concretely?"
Tokinada smiled like a child. To him, that question was assent—acknowledgment.
Kindred spirits indeed!
"There are two obstacles before us. One is the Soul King in the Soul King Palace, protected by the Royal Guard (Zero Division). The will of the world itself is shackled to him. The other is the Gotei 13.
We can deal with the Soul King later. Right now, there's a perfect moment to strike the Gotei 13!"
Tokinada felt as if he'd met Higashino too late.
"What moment?"
Higashino had zero interest in Tokinada's ideals. If necessary, he didn't mind cutting Tokinada down before he made his move.
"Over a decade ago, inspired by the Kasumiooji affair, the Tsunayashiro clan secretly began cultivating Fullbringers. If successful, like the Kasumiooji we'd induct them as a private force directly under our noble house. If it failed, we'd dispose of them entirely—leave no trace.
Since we already had cooperation with the West Administration, once the Fullbringers joined, the plan advanced smoothly and quickly reached the final trial phase.
The initial condition was: as long as they could defeat three captains or more, we would lay our cards on the table with Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni and incorporate the Fullbringers as a formal armed wing."
"You just didn't expect me to almost single-handedly wreck that plan, did you?"
Higashino spoke, a little embarrassed.
He had guessed Osaka Prefecture was a trap back then—he just hadn't realized it was the plan's core.
Tokinada nodded and continued, "Yes. Most critically, after that operation in the World of the Living left the Fullbringers decimated, our contact with them waned. Fearing our retaliation, they withdrew entirely to the West Administration's controlled territory.
By all accounts, the clan's plan failed."
At that, something didn't sit right with Higashino. "So where's the 'perfect moment' against the Gotei 13? Didn't your plan fail?"
"You're mistaken, Shuuichi-kun. The Tsunayashiro plan failed—the nobles' plan did not," Tokinada shook his head. "Two failures won't extinguish their desire. They only sharpen it."
At that point, Higashino remembered a question Aizen once asked him on a day he returned to Seireitei:
"Shuuichi, what do you think a nobles' private army should be called?"
So Aizen had foreseen this day back then?
"For nobles, all they want is a private force that obeys. What it's made of isn't important, right?"
Higashino sneered, staring at Tokinada, whose expression said plainly, "You get me," and continued:
"A cohort of Bakkōtō-wielding pseudo-Hollow Shinigami works. So do disregarded Fullbringers from the World of the Living. And someone like me—a former Soul Society traitor—why not?
As long as we appear loyal to the nobles in name, that's enough. Isn't it?"
"Next, the Tsunayashiro clan head will summon you. You know what to do, Shuuichi-kun."
Tokinada had never doubted Higashino's intelligence. The footage had proved it countless times.
"Of course." Higashino flashed him a bright smile. "I've even got the name."
In that instant, the scene overlapped with the day Higashino spoke to Aizen.
"Let's call it Katana-gari-shū."
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