After Aizen was imprisoned in the Underground Prison of the Shin'ō Academy, everything gradually returned to normal.
However, the Seireitei had significantly increased its practical combat training, with Tsunayoshi placed in charge.
In name, he was the person responsible.
In reality, he was merely there to give orders.
Most of the actual work was handled by the elite seated officers participating in the training. Tsunayoshi's main responsibilities were making sure nobody fought with genuine killing intent and stepping in if anyone was injured.
One day, while Tsunayoshi lay beneath the shade, yawning as he studied the recovery of his Hollow powers, the figure of Sparrow suddenly appeared in front of him.
"Didn't you go to the Shin'ō Academy with the old man?" Tsunayoshi asked, his eyelids drooping.
"Captain-Commander Kyōraku has been attacked. Captain Yamamoto has already returned to the First Division to take command of the situation..."
Sparrow hadn't even finished speaking when Tsunayoshi vanished with Shunpo, heading straight for the First Division.
At the entrance to the First Division, Tsunayoshi saw Yamamoto standing there with a grim expression.
In front of Yamamoto was the completely wrecked entrance to the division barracks.
"Old man, what happened?" Tsunayoshi asked as he leapt down from the sky.
"Shunsui Kyōraku was seriously injured and rendered unconscious. He has already been sent to Squad 4. The attack happened right here in the First Division. The culprit is outrageously brazen!"
Yamamoto struck the ground once with his cane.
A wave of scorching heat surged outward.
As far as he was concerned, this was an outright challenge to the authority of the Gotei 13.
The new Captain-Commander had only just taken office, and something like this had already happened. There was no way Yamamoto could swallow the insult.
"I've already sent people to investigate. Sawada Tsunayoshi, don't interfere. Let the Gotei 13 handle this!" Yamamoto believed that the matter of restoring their honor should not be entrusted to outsiders.
"I'm more interested in what kind of person could seriously injure Kyōraku."
Tsunayoshi was extremely curious.
If that old fox Kyōraku didn't want to fight someone, it would be extremely difficult for his opponent to do anything to him in a short amount of time.
And if the battle dragged on, other people would notice and arrive to support him.
Unless Kyōraku's opponent could trap him inside some kind of domain and kill him there—or simply kill him in an instant.
The latter possibility was particularly interesting.
There weren't many people capable of killing Kyōraku in an instant without anyone noticing.
"If the old man knew that, I wouldn't be standing here explaining things to you!"
Tsunayoshi felt that ever since the Soul King had reinforced the world and Yamamoto had mastered Beyond Bankai, the old man's temper had somehow become even worse.
In the past, whenever Yamamoto fought, he still had to worry about the damage his power might inflict upon Soul Society.
Now that he could fight at full strength without those concerns, he practically had nothing holding him back.
"Heh-heh. Then take your time looking."
Tsunayoshi was about to put some distance between himself and the human cannon when his footsteps suddenly stopped.
Although it was extremely faint, he sensed something unusual about the First Division.
A six-pointed star appeared as Tsunayoshi switched into his Earth Flame Mode, entering his Quincy state.
Now he was even more certain that his suspicions were correct.
"Sawada Tsunayoshi, what are you doing?"
"Have you noticed? The concentration of Reishi here is slightly higher than outside. It's extremely subtle, but I'm certain of it."
A Quincy's control over Reishi surpassed that of a Shinigami.
Something Yamamoto hadn't noticed became obvious the moment Tsunayoshi switched into his Quincy state.
Seeing Yamamoto's puzzled expression, Tsunayoshi condensed a small sphere at his fingertip.
"Come here."
The surrounding Reishi began continuously gathering toward Tsunayoshi under the sphere's gravitational pull.
The resulting change in the environment finally made even Yamamoto realize that something was wrong.
Because of Tsunayoshi's interference, the Reishi concentration inside the First Division seemed to have returned to normal.
"Residual energy from the battle?"
"Doesn't seem like it." Tsunayoshi shook his head. "The Reishi is gathering without dispersing. It feels more like someone deliberately waited here."
"Supergravity!"
The sphere at Tsunayoshi's fingertip suddenly collapsed into a black hole.
He immediately hurled it toward a corner of the courtyard.
The scenery in that corner twisted slightly, as though something were hiding there.
"Damn it! What the hell is this thing? It even has a gravitational pull!"
Although neither Tsunayoshi nor Yamamoto could see or hear the person hiding in the corner, they could determine from the distortions that the presence was humanoid.
"Let the old man handle this!"
A sea of flames erupted from Yamamoto's Zanpakutō.
When dealing with petty intruders, Yamamoto had never been stingy with his power.
He immediately unleashed the strongest sword strike he could use without activating Bankai.
"Not good!"
Seeing that he was about to be engulfed by flames while simultaneously being dragged toward the black hole, the hidden figure hurriedly waved both hands.
The moment his hands touched the courtyard wall, his entire body merged into it and disappeared.
Yamamoto's attack left the already damaged First Division even more battered.
He didn't continue attacking.
Thanks to Tsunayoshi's warning, he had also noticed that the figure had completely disappeared.
"We let him escape."
Yamamoto reluctantly returned his Zanpakutō to its sheath.
"It's not like we got nothing out of it. There aren't many people who possess an ability that lets them merge with Reishi like that. Have Squad 8 investigate. We should know soon enough."
Tsunayoshi offered his suggestion.
"Captain Yamamoto, Lord Sawada, Captain-Commander Kyōraku has regained consciousness!"
At that moment, a member of the Onmitsukidō suddenly appeared and knelt before them, delivering the news.
"Let's go. Rather than investigating ourselves, it'd be more practical to ask Kyōraku directly." Tsunayoshi said.
Kyōraku had been the former captain of Squad 8 and was the intelligence chief of the Seireitei.
He would certainly know the identity of his attacker.
Squad 4 — Recovery Room
As long as Kyōraku was lying inside, Yamamoto and Tsunayoshi were perfectly content to sit nearby drinking tea, while Retsu Unohana accompanied them.
"Ahem. Can't you show a little concern for me? I'm an injured patient here!"
Kyōraku protested against their blatant disregard for him.
"Captain-Commander Kyōraku, please don't question my medical skills."
Unohana quietly voiced her own objection.
"Exactly. You're clearly perfectly fine, yet you're still refusing to leave Squad 4. I suspect you're just trying to slack off."
Tsunayoshi immediately joined in.
Yamamoto remained silent.
He knew exactly what kind of person his disciple was.
Seeing that Kyōraku wasn't in any real danger, he couldn't be bothered to pay attention to the man who was always looking for opportunities to avoid work.
"Don't you want to know who was bold enough to attack the Seireitei?"
Kyōraku spoke with a hint of temptation in his voice.
"Forgive me for saying this, Kyōraku, but that's something only the Captain-Commander needs to worry about."
Tsunayoshi stabbed him without mercy.
"All right."
Kyōraku's expression became serious.
He released his Reiatsu, forming a barrier around the recovery room.
"I've met the person who attacked me."
"The Eighth Kenpachi—Kenpachi Azashiro."
"No. He should be called Sōya Azashiro now."
Only one person could bear the title of Kenpachi in any given era.
The current Kenpachi was Kenpachi Zaraki.
Even Retsu Unohana, the First Kenpachi, no longer used the title.
"Oh. So it's him?"
As a former Kenpachi herself, Unohana was familiar with the circumstances surrounding each person who had held the title.
The title of Kenpachi was unusual.
Someone could inherit it by challenging the current Kenpachi. Once victorious, the challenger became the next Kenpachi and simultaneously assumed the position of captain of Squad 11.
Sōya Azashiro had only recently made a name for himself in the Seireitei.
He had defeated the Seventh Kenpachi, Kenpachi Kuruyashiki, who had once even been invited to join Squad Zero.
Someone invited by Squad Zero naturally possessed extraordinary strength.
Yet Azashiro had killed Kuruyashiki in an instant.
Though, at the time, Kuruyashiki had not used Bankai.
Because he had witnessed his older sister being killed by a Hollow, Sōya Azashiro harbored an intense hatred for Hollows.
Later, after becoming captain of Squad 11, Azashiro proposed turning the residents of Rukongai into weapons and using them to launch an assault on Hueco Mundo.
For some unknown reason, he subsequently turned himself in to the Central 46 and was imprisoned in Muken, the deepest level of the Underground Prison of the Shin'ō Academy.
Unohana briefly shared what she knew about him.
"Azashiro's methods are rather strange. He clearly hates Hollows, yet he suddenly turned himself in. His plan was simply too horrifying, which is why he was imprisoned in Muken."
Tsunayoshi suddenly understood.
He had almost forgotten that Soul Society had another monster like this.
"So it was him."
"You know someone from Muken too?" Kyōraku asked curiously.
Tsunayoshi waved his hand without explaining.
"Take down the barrier. Doing this kind of thing in the Seireitei is pointless."
"What do you mean?"
Kyōraku was confused, but he still followed Tsunayoshi's instructions and dispelled the barrier around the room.
"Come out and talk, Sōya Azashiro."
Tsunayoshi spoke in the same casual tone one might use when greeting an old friend.
"Why did you attack Kyōraku? And that person in the First Division... That's your Zanpakutō, isn't it?"
"He's nearby?"
Kyōraku didn't even bother remaining in bed. He quickly flipped himself up, drew his dual Zanpakutō, and went on guard.
"Well, I don't actually know."
Tsunayoshi wasn't embarrassed in the slightest.
"Azashiro's Bankai has merged with all the inorganic matter in the Seireitei. You could say that the Seireitei is him, and he is the Seireitei."
"Talking beneath someone else's ears while trying to hide things from them... Isn't that just making a fool of yourself?"
After hearing Tsunayoshi's information, even Yamamoto couldn't remain calm.
He stood up and carefully watched everything in the room, as though Azashiro might emerge from any corner at any moment.
"Sheesh! Does this mean that while I'm Captain-Commander, I'll also have to oversee relocating the entire Seireitei?"
Kyōraku suddenly felt another mountain of responsibility crushing down on him.
It wasn't that he wanted to relocate the Seireitei.
It was that someone had completely infiltrated it, and there could be some unknown entity hiding beneath their feet.
How was he supposed to sleep at night?
"There's no need for such trouble, Captain-Commander Kyōraku. I have no intention of doing anything that would harm the Seireitei."
From a corner of the recovery room came a voice.
A dignified man with an elongated face, a tall topknot, small eyes, and two strands of hair resembling lobster whiskers was sitting formally on his knees.
He was Sōya Azashiro, the man behind the incident.
Yamamoto's hand was practically gripping his cane hard enough to break it.
Given his temperament, his first instinct upon seeing an enemy reveal himself would have been to beat him into the ground and ask questions afterward.
But considering that Kyōraku was now the Captain-Commander, Yamamoto decided to follow Kyōraku's preferred method of handling things.
He sat back down and resumed his tea.
"Azashiro, may I ask why you attacked me?"
Kyōraku stared at Azashiro.
"It was nothing more than a small lesson."
Azashiro answered seriously.
"That woman, Shishihara Mizuho, often tells me that you complain about how exhausting your work is. So I thought I'd lend you a hand."
"You weren't seriously injured, and you received plenty of rest."
"Am I correct, Captain Unohana?"
"Kyōraku Shunsui's injuries are indeed merely superficial."
Unohana's answer further confirmed that Kyōraku had come to Squad 4 mainly to slack off.
"Ahem."
Kyōraku coughed awkwardly.
"Let's not talk about that. Azashiro, what exactly was your purpose in leaving Muken?"
Azashiro raised his eyes slightly.
His gaze was devoid of emotion.
"Revenge."
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