For Soul Society, the chaos brought about by materialized Zanpakutō was something that couldn't be resolved in a short time.
For Higashino Shuuichi, amid what Tsunayashiro Kamihara had laid out—
"Aizen-sama."
After dealing with the Shinigami's materialized Zanpakutō here, Higashino Shuuichi came up behind Aizen, watching him fiddle with some things he couldn't quite make sense of, and spoke softly.
"Your pace is a little slower than I expected, Shuuichi."
Aizen didn't turn around.
"It's mainly because this time Tsunayashiro Kamihara dragged some ordinary Rukongai civilians into it. Saving a few of them along the way, and removing the chaotic spiritual pressure interference from the Dangai, took a bit of time," Higashino Shuuichi replied truthfully.
Kira Izuru hadn't been a special case—there were always a few lucky ones who could hold on until Higashino Shuuichi arrived.
"Judging by your tone, you don't seem surprised at all that I'm here?"
Aizen seemed to have finished his setup. After restoring the device Tsunayashiro Kamihara had prepared, he installed it back into place.
From the outside, it looked almost identical to the "finished product" Tsunayashiro Kamihara had demonstrated.
"At Yamada Seinosuke's sōtaichō succession ceremony, I'd already figured out that the 'Aizen-sama' there was Gin Ichimaru in disguise," Higashino Shuuichi said, stopping at that.
"Heh." Aizen turned around and adjusted his glasses with his left hand. "I knew it. Gin's acting can fool ordinary people, but fooling you, Shuuichi? That's far too hard."
"By the way, Aizen-sama… I'm also curious about your actions this time. It feels like you knew everything that would happen today—down to the smallest detail?"
Higashino Shuuichi's gaze met Aizen's.
This was exactly what Higashino Shuuichi hadn't anticipated earlier.
He'd thought Aizen had merely guessed Tsunayashiro Kamihara would pull something, so he hid himself to watch what Tsunayashiro Kamihara was trying to do in the dark.
But the truth was that Aizen hadn't just predicted Tsunayashiro Kamihara's move—he even seemed to have foreseen Kuchiki Kōga's move as well. Otherwise, Aizen wouldn't be this calm and unhurried while tampering with Tsunayashiro Kamihara's device here.
This was clearly preparation—premeditation.
After hearing Higashino Shuuichi's question, Aizen gave him a smile that carried layers of meaning.
"You really want to know?"
At the same time, within Seireitei, at the Kuchiki estate, Kuchiki Byakuya finally used the family head's secret order to summon back his uncle by marriage—Kuchiki Kōga, who currently served in the First Division.
"Kuchiki Kōga, I'm asking you as the head of the Kuchiki Clan—was this Zanpakutō materialization incident in Seireitei caused by your own hand?!"
The moment Kuchiki Kōga stepped into the study, the door shut on its own. In the center of the room, Kuchiki Byakuya stood there with a stern expression, demanding an answer.
"Murasaki… told you everything, didn't she, Byakuya."
When Kuchiki Kōga received that urgent secret order from Kuchiki Byakuya, he'd already guessed the outcome, so now he looked utterly composed.
So composed that at the corner of Kuchiki Kōga's mouth, Kuchiki Byakuya even saw a trace of smug satisfaction.
How dare he?!
"Kuchiki Kōga! I'm warning you— even if you're my uncle by marriage, don't think you can use the Kuchiki name to do as you please in Soul Society! Do you have any idea how much trouble this will bring to all of Soul Society—to the Kuchiki Clan—"
Kuchiki Byakuya was furious, but before he could finish, Kuchiki Kōga cut him off.
"Trouble? What trouble? Are you planning to hand me over, Byakuya?"
"What do you mean, 'hand you over'? Kuchiki Kōga, don't tell me you think I can hide something like this all by myself."
"Leaving aside the sōtaichō and Kyōraku Shunsui-taichō of the Eighth Division… just the fact that you slapped the Tsunayashiro Clan in the face this hard—do you really think the Katana-gari-shū under the Tsunayashiro Clan, that Grand Blade-Hunting Chief Higashino Shuuichi, will let you off?"
"I think that after serving in the First Division for so long, you should understand better than I do just how terrifying a Shinigami Higashino Shuuichi can be!"
Kuchiki Byakuya snapped.
Kuchiki Kōga answered him with a bright, booming laugh.
"Byakuya, you don't understand. You understand nothing! As long as you don't speak, and I don't speak, then that Higashino Shuuichi is the true culprit behind this incident!"
"What are you talking about? How can this possibly be pinned on Higashino Shuuichi?"
Kuchiki Byakuya frowned deeply.
"Then we'll have to start from not long ago…"
Standing by the river, Higashino Shuuichi looked out into the distance. Aizen stood beside him. The two of them talked as they strolled here at an unhurried pace—and under the enhancement of Kyōka Suigetsu (Mirror Flower, Water Moon), no one noticed anything unusual.
Higashino Shuuichi's mood was complicated.
Because he'd been calculated by Aizen.
No—more accurately, Aizen's real target was the Tsunayashiro Clan. It was just that Higashino Shuuichi, as the Tsunayashiro Clan's most visible top enforcer, was a piece Aizen couldn't bypass.
All in all, it wasn't complicated: during one routine visit to the Great Spirit Book Corridor to check records, Aizen accidentally discovered the Bankai (Final Release) ability of Kuchiki Kōga's Zanpakutō.
Then, after the incident involving the first-generation captain Sakahone Saizō, Aizen realized the Tsunayashiro Clan was a massive unstable factor—one that could very likely interfere with his plans for the future.
So, adhering to the principle of never being passive, Aizen decided to turn defense into offense: personally orchestrate an incident to ignite the Tsunayashiro Clan's powder keg, just like what had once happened to the Kasumiooji Clan.
However, for Aizen, there was a slight difference between dealing with the Tsunayashiro Clan and dealing with the Kasumiooji Clan.
With the Kasumiooji Clan, the goal had been: the bigger the commotion, the better.
But with the Tsunayashiro Clan, Aizen didn't want things to spiral out of control.
He wanted it to end—ideally—without causing major losses to Soul Society.
Because as things stood, if Soul Society suffered another major disaster, it might truly fracture beyond repair.
And that was something Aizen did not want to see.
So Aizen needed to find a pressure point—one that would provoke the Tsunayashiro Clan hard enough, yet not so hard that it completely knocked sense out of them.
Without question, the strongest trump card in the Tsunayashiro Clan's hand right now—Higashino Shuuichi—was the perfect breakthrough.
Making a move around Higashino Shuuichi would make the Tsunayashiro Clan feel both insulted and urgently pressured, yet wouldn't push them into the kind of "burn it all down" desperation.
With that in mind, Aizen set a trap of his own, letting Tōsen Kaname contact Kuchiki Kōga.
And Aizen had Tōsen Kaname, as if casually, subtly mention to Kuchiki Kōga the grand "prize" Higashino Shuuichi had once used as a reward for the Hirugetsu Class assessment.
"I heard it's a miraculous tool that can help a Shinigami master Bankai (Final Release) quickly."
"Seriously, I'm not joking. After Grand Blade-Hunting Chief Higashino's Hirugetsu Class assessment ended last time, I planned to publish it in our newest issue of the Seireitei News… but you know what happened during that assessment. In the end, even that mysterious grand prize never got handed out. My article could only die on the vine."
"How exactly it helps a Shinigami master Bankai quickly, I don't know. But there are only three steps to mastering Bankai: first, materialize the Zanpakutō; second, obtain the Zanpakutō's acknowledgment; third, learn its true name from it."
"So if I had to guess, the 'quick' part can only be in the first two steps, right?"
"If you ask me, I'd lean toward Zanpakutō materialization. Because if you could directly do the later two steps, then it wouldn't be 'master quickly' anymore—wouldn't it just be 'master directly'?"
Content like that, coming from Tōsen Kaname— a taichō who founded the Seireitei News—naturally carried a certain credibility.
If anything, Higashino Shuuichi felt Aizen might even have to thank Gin Ichimaru. If not for that earlier "reconciliation" performance Gin put on, Higashino Shuuichi would probably still be openly hostile with Gin Ichimaru and Tōsen Kaname, which would've made it impossible for Aizen to use Tōsen Kaname for this job.
The facts proved Aizen's scheme hit its mark.
As a member of the Kuchiki Clan—especially as the current head's uncle by marriage—Kuchiki Kōga found it effortless to access the Great Spirit Book Corridor and "verify" it.
Of course, what Kuchiki Kōga saw was content Aizen had tampered with.
After that, it became even simpler: Aizen only needed to have Tōsen Kaname "remind" Kuchiki Kōga—just a little—how significant Yamada Seinosuke's sōtaichō succession ceremony was to the Tsunayashiro Clan and to Higashino Shuuichi's Katana-gari-shū.
The rest was merely a question of whether Kuchiki Kōga had the guts.
For Aizen, he was fortunate—Kuchiki Kōga truly did.
"Still… if things only went this far, it seems it wouldn't be enough to drag the Tsunayashiro Clan fully into the mud. After all, the pseudo-Tenshintai (Soul Separation Body) you remade for me doesn't have the power to materialize Shinigami Zanpakutō on a massive scale. That's something anyone could confirm with a single attempt."
"At most, Kuchiki Kōga could use that flimsy excuse to shift the conflict. But if you really want to corner the Tsunayashiro Clan—force them to accelerate their moves—this probably isn't enough."
"Besides, with the Kuchiki Clan's current influence in Seireitei, trying to withstand the Tsunayashiro Clan's pressure while painting black as white… is difficult."
Higashino Shuuichi didn't wallow for long. After understanding the whole process, he could tell the impact on him wasn't actually that big.
After all, he already carried the label of "Soul Society traitor"—it had only been temporarily removed because of the Tsunayashiro Clan.
As long as the Tsunayashiro Clan didn't fall, a few more inconsequential smear jobs like this didn't matter.
Still… Aizen had again gone behind his back to do something, and that was—just a little—hard to bear.
But what could he do? Who told him he was just that considerate toward Aizen?
Any boss who had an underling as understanding as him had to be blessed by eight lifetimes of accumulated fortune!
"Indeed. Just this isn't enough," Aizen said with a smile, looking ahead as if he could see the future at a glance. "But who can say for sure… that the main characters of this incident are only us?"
On the other side, after hearing Kuchiki Kōga's explanation, Kuchiki Byakuya shut himself alone inside the study.
Kuchiki Kōga's reasoning was airtight. On the surface, there truly was physical evidence that could hammer Higashino Shuuichi to death—and Kuchiki Kōga also promised him that Tōsen Kaname-taichō of the Ninth Division had already agreed to testify and point the finger at Higashino Shuuichi.
It seemed like Higashino Shuuichi being labeled the mastermind was already a done deal.
But in Kuchiki Byakuya's heart, a thread of unease refused to fade.
Would that Higashino Shuuichi really surrender so easily?
Would the Tsunayashiro Clan really allow them to splash filth all over Higashino Shuuichi's name like this?
Wait… was he forgetting something?
Higashino Shuuichi… seemed to be one of their people?
Kuchiki Byakuya suddenly recalled a scene from some day before—Kyōraku Shunsui-taichō of the Eighth Division had specifically invited Higashino Shuuichi to his home as a guest.
Kuchiki Byakuya remembered: though Kyōraku Shunsui didn't say it outright, everything he implied carried one meaning—Higashino Shuuichi was actually an undercover agent Kyōraku Shunsui had planted within the Tsunayashiro Clan.
"…This is getting complicated."
Kuchiki Byakuya hesitated for less than half a second before sending out his Hell Butterfly.
Less than an hour later, Kyōraku Shunsui-taichō arrived at Kuchiki Byakuya's room.
The amount of information a Hell Butterfly could carry was limited, so it took Kyōraku Shunsui nearly ten full minutes to digest what Kuchiki Byakuya had sent.
"First, Kuchiki-dono, I can tell you with absolute certainty—Higashino Shuuichi is one of ours."
"Now then… tell me your thoughts, Byakuya."
Kyōraku Shunsui shed his usual frivolous air. Sitting upright and formal across from Kuchiki Byakuya, he looked directly at him.
"Haa… Although this incident began with my uncle by marriage acting on his own—he couldn't endure the combined suppression in the First Division by nobles from the Tsunayashiro Clan's sphere of influence, and on top of that, Higashino Shuuichi's Katana-gari-shū had just been named a suspect in some vicious incident recently."
"With those two things stacked together, he lost control of his emotions and committed this mistake. But I'm thinking… is it possible to use this opportunity to strike at the Tsunayashiro Clan's momentum?"
Kuchiki Byakuya spoke carefully.
In truth, there was another meaning hidden in his words—he was also trying to reduce Kuchiki Kōga's guilt, which was why he framed it this way.
Kyōraku Shunsui only gave Kuchiki Byakuya an extra look at the start, and then made no further comment.
Kuchiki Byakuya's small intentions couldn't possibly escape Kyōraku Shunsui's eyes. But because Kyōraku Shunsui wanted to maintain good relations with the Kuchiki Clan—and because Kuchiki Kōga had been restrained in the end, causing enormous chaos but not many Shinigami casualties—Kyōraku Shunsui could afford to turn a blind eye.
At the same time, Kyōraku Shunsui also knew: the truth of this incident could never be allowed to reach his teacher—the current sōtaichō of the Gotei Thirteen, Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni-sama.
Because with Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni-sama's temperament, he would never spare Kuchiki Kōga.
"You want Higashino Shuuichi to cooperate with us?"
Kyōraku Shunsui tapped his fingers lightly on the table.
To be honest, he didn't want to.
Because right now he still had no hard evidence of the Tsunayashiro Clan's crimes. If he exposed Higashino Shuuichi—this trump card—over something like this, then all his past efforts would be equivalent to going to waste.
More importantly, how many undercover agents of Higashino Shuuichi's caliber could Kyōraku Shunsui possibly find?
But for Kyōraku Shunsui, staying on good terms with the Kuchiki Clan was also necessary.
After all, anyone with eyes could tell the direction Soul Society was heading: among the Five Great Noble Clans, if the Tsunayashiro Clan fell, then the Kuchiki Clan would inevitably stand alone at the top—while the other three great clans simply didn't have the strength to contend with them.
"What is it, Shunsui-taichō?"
Kuchiki Byakuya clearly saw Kyōraku Shunsui's hesitation, though he didn't yet understand how far-reaching the consequences of this idea could be.
He was only looking at the benefits from the perspective of a clan head.
If handled well, it could greatly relieve the Tsunayashiro Clan's steadily tightening pressure on the Kuchiki Clan.
Silence was Kyōraku Shunsui's answer. For a while, he couldn't make his judgment.
Until, much later—night fell.
After spending the day putting out fires all over the place, Higashino Shuuichi returned to his residence, dragging a body that wasn't tired at all—if anything, it was faintly excited. A Hell Butterfly perched on his fingertip, carrying a message from Kuchiki Byakuya.
Higashino Shuuichi's lips curved into a smile.
"The true main character… is stepping onto the stage."
//Check out my P@tre0n for 20 extra chapters on all my fanfics //[email protected]/Razeil0810