Makoto had no inkling that, as his trio departed the Seireitei, another group was quietly slipping away from the gate.
At their head stood Tsunayashiro Ogata.
Strapped to his waist was a second pure-white spirit-infused blade.
He wasn't alone.
Every member of this unit bore an identical standard-issue short sword at their hip.
Their faces were impassive, devoid of emotion, their movements crisp and disciplined.
They marched straight toward the Genji School headquarters in District 64.
At the vanguard fluttered a tall, pristine white emissary banner.
Though the conflict between the Genji School and Seireitei had long escalated to a kill-or-be-killed impasse, basic wartime etiquette still held, emissaries could traverse territories unmolested.
Even the most fervent Genji School civilian Shinigami wouldn't touch them.
This was the loophole Tsunayashiro exploited.
From District 1 to District 64.
Their numbers dwindled with each step.
By the time they reached District 64, glimpsing the mountain range cradling the Genji School headquarters, only three remained beneath the banner led by Tsunayashiro Ogata.
The bastard son lifted his gaze to the sprawling complex atop the peaks and sighed softly.
Before him, Genshirō Okikiba awaited.
"Tsunayashiro-sama."
"Captain-Commander Yamamoto requests your presence for discussion."
Tsunayashiro Ogata nodded faintly, "My thanks."
---
The Genji School's scenery hardly dazzled with opulence. Compared to the grand palaces Tsunayashiro Ogata had known it was starkly modest.
Even the Genji School's headquarters was a mere dojo.
Students milled about, training in the open spaces.
Unlike the sheltered Yorita Shiba, Ogata saw the chasm between Genji School and Seireitei with seasoned eyes.
The divide between top and bottom.
That such a force couldn't topple the rotting Seireitei would be the true anomaly.
He allowed himself a wry, self-deprecating smile.
As he approached the dojo, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto sat steadfast at its heart.
No guards flanked him.
Or rather, his world-shaking Ryūjin Jakka and those iron fists were the mightiest sentinels imaginable.
Once Ogata was ushered to his seat, Yamamoto spoke slowly,
"What brings Tsunayashiro here?"
As established.
The Seireitei and Genji School were locked in a death struggle.
The Genji School's very existence aimed to scour the Seireitei clean.
What more was there to say?
Yet Ogata exuded calm confidence, replying evenly.
"I come for peace."
"Speak."
Yamamoto gestured with an open hand.
Ogata's voice barely wavered, "As stewards of the Soul Society, the Tsunayashiro has reached a decision."
"Effective today, we'll cede the outer forty of Rukongai's eighty districts to Genji School jurisdiction. In exchange, release the landed nobles back to the Seireitei, and peace can resume."
"The people would be spared further bloodshed."
"Moreover, the Genji School may nominate five candidates to join the Central 46 as Wise Man."
"This is our clan's sincerity."
"I urge Captain-Commander Yamamoto to consider your followers."
His words settled.
Yamamoto's brow furrowed, wrinkles stacking like storm clouds. A flicker of confusion shadowed his gaze.
Then, a low scoff escaped the grizzled man, not rage, but amusement.
"Tsunayashiro…"
"Are you mocking me?"
The instant his voice dropped, Yamamoto's eyes snapped wide.
In that heartbeat, a monstrous presence loomed behind him, its killing intent alone enough to shred sanity.
A torrent of suffocating reiatsu erupted from him, warping the air into visible distortions, darkening the edges of vision.
"For years, Genji School sons have fought and bled!"
"You dare think I, and they, crave mere power?!"
"How dare you Tsunayashiro insult me!!"
His thunderous roar struck like a sledgehammer to the chest as if it could crack skulls open. The fearsome visage bespoke an affront too vile to bear.
A lesser soul standing before him would've been crushed to a pulp.
Yet Ogata who'd cast life and death aside, held his reason before this monster.
He met the old man's gaze calmly, asking solemnly.
"So..."
"You refuse?"
"What will you do?"
Yamamoto's fury bore down on him.
As steadfast and resolute as he could be, the soul of the Soul Society's mightiest fire-type Zanpakutō burned with the world's fiercest ferocity.
But Ogata's next move defied the old man's expectations.
Kneeling before Yamamoto, he drew the spirit-infused blade from his waist.
Yamamoto sneered dismissively, only to freeze as Ogata reversed the grip, plunging it toward his own chest with a whistling gust.
Yamamoto's eyes widened.
In a flash, the old man stood behind him.
His Zanpakuto, drawn unnoticed, struck.
With peerless Shunpo, faster than Ogata's hands could move, he severed both wrists with surgical precision.
"You think you can die before me?"
Yamamoto growled, irritation seething within.
But Ogata's face twisted into a mocking smile.
"Captain-Commander Yamamoto."
"Just as you'd give your life to shield the lowly of Rukongai…"
"The Tsunayashiro have reasons worth dying for."
That resolute tone earned a flicker of respect from Yamamoto.
Yet in the next breath, the blade, fallen with his wrists, rose into the air.
Its tip shot toward Ogata's chest with a sharp whoosh.
Yamamoto swung again, brow knit.
But the blade met nothing.
It wasn't solid?!
The spirit-infused dagger pierced Ogata's chest in an instant.
He laughed raggedly, locking eyes with Yamamoto,
"My apologies."
"Captain-Commander."
The moment the blade struck, Ogata's body dissolved into countless spiraling reishi fragments, scattering skyward.
A spirit-infused blade's basic function is to shatter a spirit's equilibrium.
Even an instructor's reiatsu could form a bomb far more potent than this.
But his aim wasn't to kill Yamamoto.
A colossal pillar of reiatsu erupted, piercing the sky and engulfing the Genji School.
And beyond...
Simultaneously, across Genji School territories centered on West District 64, matching pillars flared to life.
They linked into a vast circular zone, severed by reiatsu, with the Genji School at its heart.
In an instant, countless souls were ensnared.
The fragile barriers of the three realms quivered.
In this premeditated strike, the seams between worlds tore open, bound by spiritual chains.
The Tsunayashiro, keepers of the Soul Society's boundaries for generations, knew its weakest nodes intimately.
At these points, fifty synchronized reiatsu surges could carve out a finite rift.
Now, that rift had birthed a sprawling overlap of Soul Society and Hueco Mundo.
A massive crack zone.
A passage for countless spirits and Hollows alike…
A crack.
This was the bastard son's true mission.
---
"What's happening?!"
Makoto's group, halfway through their return, looked up. Beams of spiritual light pierced the distant sky, and jagged black fissures yawned around them. Bewilderment seized them.
Only Yorita, versed in the Dangai, recognized it instantly,
"Garganta!"
"How are so many opening at once?!"
The Garganta was a portal threading the Dangai through the three worlds.
Yet even Yorita, steward of those pathways, had never seen such a sprawling outbreak.
Sasakibe reacted first, peering into the distance.
"That's… the Genji School's direction!"
"Trouble!"
"Makoto, Shiba-san, full speed back!"
"Right!"
But as the trio flashed across a mountain ridge with Shunpo, they halted at the sight ahead.
A tidal wave of Hollows poured from a rift, an endless swarm stretching beyond sight.
At its core loomed several Gillian, towering over a hundred meters.
A serene village stood in their path, swallowed in an instant by the relentless horde, no soul escaping.
They'd barely arrived, yet were already encircled.
As Makoto gaped at the spectacle, Sasakibe stepped forward, facing the tide, his voice steady,
"You two."
"Stay behind me."
The moment his words fell, golden lightning crackled across his frame.
His asauchi morphed into a rapier.
"Pierce him, Gonryōmaru."
***
Bonus Chapter:
100 Power Stones = 1 BC
300 Power Stones = 2 BC
500 Power Stones = 3 BC
700 Power Stones = 4 BC
1000 Power Stones = 5 BC
***
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