I'm really not the number one slacker in Soul Society.

—However, before leaving, Mima made a hole in the table, and such an exciting scene was definitely not to be missed.

Before long, Unohana and Ukitake arrived at the playground one after the other.

"What a touching reunion." Shikatori Hakunsai smiled as he looked at Unohana. "How about it? Yachi... no, Retsu, it's been almost a thousand years. You must have thought of me a few times, right?"

Then he looked at Ukitake: "Not bad, that greenhorn from back then has become a pillar of the Seireitei—but where is Shunsui? Is he ashamed to see me?"

Unohana remained silent, and Ukitake hesitated, but ultimately couldn't utter a word.

In the current situation, the so-called reminiscing is ultimately a joke. The two sides are already on different sides. If it weren't for the hundreds of students in the hall and the entire Seireitei as hostages, they should have started fighting as soon as they met.

After an awkward silence, the old man stared at him and slowly asked a cold question.

"What exactly do you want to do?"

Rokuto Hakunsai looked at his two old friends and a junior with a leisurely expression. He pursed his lips almost imperceptibly, and a trace of sadness flashed in his eyes, but he quickly concealed it and continued to say in a nonchalant manner, "No matter what, we have been friends for hundreds of years. Can't we sit down and talk about the past?"

"Our positions have changed, Shikatori-senpai..."

Ukitake's expression was full of difficulty: "If you didn't do those things..."

"Still the same as always, Ukitake."

Shikatori Hakunsai sneered: "Are you going to condemn me for falling into evil ways? Just because I killed a few incompetent fools? I just can't stand this about you. You know I did nothing wrong, yet you insist on clinging to that ridiculous order—does the Seireitei represent the righteous path? Ask what's behind you. What's wrong with destroying something that's rotten to the core?"

"Enough!" the old man shouted. "These things have been said enough eight hundred years ago, you..."

Lu Qubaiyunzhai frowned, and with a bang, smashed the sturdy wooden table to pieces. She shouted angrily, "Yuanliuzhai! Look at this Seireitei! Is this the kind of thing you wanted to build?! Can you still pat your chest and repeat the grand ambitions you made when you recruited me?!"

Four terrifying spiritual pressures of second-grade or higher spiritual power lingered within the small area of ​​the True Central Spiritual Arts Academy. Even if they had no intention of doing so, the terrifying pressure they created easily shrunk the surrounding land by more than an inch. Some students hiding in the hall were so frightened that they lost control of their bladder or foamed at the mouth, and the scene was extremely chaotic for a time.

"You elderly folks should take it easy..."

Mima's lips twitched a few times as he used his spiritual pressure to protect the team members and students around him, and two drops of cold sweat dripped down his forehead as appropriate.

Senior Shikagiri, don't be too impulsive... We're going to wait for an opportunity to make things irreversible, and then everything will be settled. You can have as much of a dramatic argument with your old friend as you want, but for now, you absolutely need to stay calm...

The terrifying standoff continued on the playground.

The side with even greater momentum... was actually Rokuto Hakunsai!

Her rebuke was not an act, but a heartfelt statement compiled from what she had seen and heard after escaping from prison.

Is she right? Perhaps her remarks are biased in some aspects, but she is definitely on the side of moral high ground.

The old man's face turned very ugly for a moment. Although he quickly returned to normal, both Unohana and Ukitake could clearly notice that his shoulders slumped slightly.

This is a long-standing problem, but no one has ever dared to bring it up in front of him.

The story dates back to the chaotic era more than two thousand years ago, the very beginning of the Gotei 13.

There are many speculations about how Old Man Shan subdued the twelve captains. The most popular one is the "power theory." These people believe that Old Man Shan forcibly brought the twelve strong men from all sides under his command with his sword and fists. There was no warmth or righteousness in the process, only blood and fire fighting.

but it is not the truth.

To paraphrase Gin Ichimaru's famous saying, Ryujin Jakka's power is indeed terrifying, but merely burning people to ashes is not enough to subdue those unruly madmen. Some people would rather die than submit to others, even if they are beaten to death.

Among the first captains, half were subdued by sheer power, but the other half were captivated by the future that the old man described to them—the peaceful Soul Society.

Many people take it for granted that the old man in the "Sword Demon" era was a bloodless and heartless killer who only became more benevolent after establishing Seireitei. However, this view has a clear flaw: for a powerful killer, chaos is the best stage to unleash his abilities, while peace becomes a constraint, making it difficult for him to act recklessly.

Therefore, from the era of "Yuanzi Academy" to the establishment of the Thirteen Gotei 13, and now, what has changed about the old man is only his style, not his personality.

When recruiting powerful figures from all sides to form the Gotei 13, he would explain to those he was recruiting what he planned to do and what kind of world he intended to create—of course, the other party only had two options: join or be killed.

The vision itself... despite its many limitations, is still beautiful.

There will be no more chaos, no more disregard for human life, and everyone can live and work in peace and enjoy the peace that becomes their daily life.

For example, Lu Qubaiyunzhai was first subdued by beatings, and then inspired by this ideal, which is why he has been following the old man of the mountain ever since.

However, this situation has been fatally contradictory from the very beginning.

—To quell the chaos, it is difficult to do without the support of the nobility, but if the nobility are relied upon as a backer, true peace is impossible to achieve.

It's a very simple principle: as time goes by, the nobles will recuperate, regain their strength, and then rightfully stand in the position of rulers, continuing to regard the people of the world as pigs and sheep, and themselves as gods.

Old Man Shan's choice was obvious.

Why did the nobles choose to support him? It's simple: because he was the most powerful fighter and could reach a partial consensus. At the time, the nobles were teetering on the brink of collapse due to the loss of their ancestors, almost to the point of desperation. After all, the Zero Division was only responsible for matters related to the Soul King, and even if Soul Society was destroyed, it wouldn't concern them. Therefore, they desperately needed a powerful figure comparable to their ancestors to stand on their side—so the old man was their only choice. Under this mutual need, the two sides quickly reached an agreement.

However, the hidden dangers have naturally remained to this day.

This is the core argument that Rokujo Hakunsai refuted.

—The current Seireitei is indeed far removed from the old man's dream.

Old Man Shan can choose violence in any situation, but not this one.

"Shikatori-senpai, these things... our teacher understands." Ukitake said with a heavy expression, "But don't you know why our teacher chose to let things remain as they are? If things were done according to your ideas, more people would probably die than during the chaos of the past! The Gotei 13 are the power to protect Soul Society, how can they be used..."

He didn't say what he was going to say directly, but everyone knew what he meant.

The nobles' power is deeply rooted, having lingered and intertwined in the Soul Society for millions of years, becoming an established fact. If their help is refused and they are instead uprooted, the impact will likely extend beyond the Eastern Frontier Bureau, or even beyond the Soul Society itself, and the resistance will inevitably become terrifyingly powerful.

Old Man Shan wasn't without opportunities to do so, but in the end, he softened his heart...

Just then, the pendant on Shirokuba Yunsai's chest flickered twice in secret.

This was the secret signal that Mi Zhen and she had agreed upon. Once the black crystal started flashing, it meant that he and Jinghua Shuiyue had succeeded, and the explosion in the 46th meeting room was entering its one-minute countdown.

Is it time to begin...?

Lu Qubaiyunzhai sighed inwardly.

"So you're always like this."

She sighed softly, stood up, and looked towards the direction of the conference room in Room 46: "Yuan Liuzhai, last time I chose to respect you, but so many years have passed, and you are still compromising and afraid to face the real problems, so I have to make another choice."

Chapter 193: Declaration of War

The old man keenly sensed that she seemed to be implying something, and immediately became wary, asking, "What do you mean?"

"Heh... let's just treat it as a riddle."

While speaking in a joking manner, Lu Qubaiyunzhai's expression turned icy: "Since this isn't a reunion, why do you think I would deliberately come here to expose myself? Or to put it another way, Yuanliuzhai, aren't you curious about how I managed to evade your search?"

The old man's expression changed drastically in an instant: "You have accomplices?!"

“It’s obvious.” A chill crept into Rokujo Hakunsai’s smile. “You know my purpose, so what kind of person do you think I would cooperate with?”

Ukitake suddenly turned around: "Oh no! Room 46...!"

As soon as he finished speaking, an extremely intense blue-white flash of light illuminated the conference room in Room 46.

The buildings were easily blown away, even evaporated, by the massive, tsunami-like explosion, like sandcastles. A mushroom cloud, over two hundred meters high, rose slowly, and the powerful shockwave and sound didn't reach us until several seconds later.

Without a doubt, the place that was once the meeting room of Room 46 has been bombed into a white wasteland.

Lu Qu Bayunzhai... was just bait!

“This is a declaration of war, Yuan Liuzhai.”

She said coldly, "Since none of you intend to change the status quo, then let me and my companions do it."

"Shikatori, you...!"

Filled with shock and anger, the old man's spiritual pressure deepened even further, causing the air to distort.

Just as he was about to draw Ryujin Jakka, a sudden change occurred!

A strange creaking sound slowly rose from the emptiness.

Behind Shikatori Hakunsai, a door to hell suddenly opened!

Black and reddish-brown miasma from hell slowly poured out from the doorway, which was as tall as a person, while inside the doorway was a chaotic scene.

"hell?"

Amidst indescribable shock, the old man felt a long-lost tension.

If his opponent were merely Shikatori Hakuryuu, he could anticipate the worst-case scenario before the battle even began—the entire Seireitei would crumble and be destroyed because of her contract. Although that would be an unbearable trauma, it would still be "controllable." If he had no other choice, he would naturally use his Bankai to kill her first.

But if Shikaku Hakunsai were to cooperate with the forces of Hell, that would be a completely different story!

Things are different now. After the deaths of the noble progenitors, Soul Society's understanding of Hell quickly plummeted to an extremely vague level. They could only vaguely understand what was there in general, but knew nothing more detailed, such as the composition of the forces and personnel.

The only thing that can be said for sure is that "the power of hell must be extremely strong".

If Shikatori Hakunsai were to join forces with Hell to disrupt the order of Soul Society... it would likely be a catastrophe no less devastating than the Quincy War!

We absolutely cannot let that happen!

Then, a dull thud of thunder suddenly resounded across the playground!

The blade of Ryujin Jakka turned bright red at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the temperature of hundreds of thousands of degrees instantly created turbulent currents in the air. The spiritual pressure, which was even stronger than during the confrontation, even partially "materialized" and became streams of flames wrapped around the old man. Unreserved rage enveloped the entire Seireitei in that instant, and an abnormal temperature rise occurred in an area with a radius of more than one ki li.

This was the wrath of the Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13. Even before using Bankai or Shikai, he was able to kill most of the vice-captains, and even the weaker captains, with sheer spiritual pressure. Ukitake, who was already weak, was even forced back a few steps by this intense heat, and the ends of his hair, which were protected by spiritual pressure, were scorched and curled up.

"are you angry?"

With a casual wave of his hand, he brushed aside the rising steam and rocks, and faced the place that was about to turn into a sea of ​​lava with an indifferent smile. He held up the Gates of Hell behind him with one hand and said loudly, "Don't be so impulsive, Genryusai. How about I introduce you to a few companions?"

As soon as the words were spoken, crisp footsteps echoed from the Gates of Hell.

"It's so hot. Is Seireitei such a place?"

"It must be the power of Yamamoto Genryusai. It's really frightening."

"Is that so? It really makes me want to fight him right now."

Accompanied by light-hearted conversation, two women clad in black robes slowly emerged from the Gates of Hell. One wore a wild smile, while the other had a serene expression—what they had in common was that their spiritual pressure was tinged with an ominous blackish-red, just like…hell itself!

The visitors were naturally Mi Zhen and Jing Hua Shui Yue.

Because of the possibility of colliding with the Ukitake, Mima specifically removed the torrent of anger from this body.

Anyway, unlike Shihouin Hyakugetsu, he didn't treat this thing as a panacea, just inserting it whenever he wanted, so it was quite convenient.

This was also the first time he appeared in public in Seireitei as Saki—as a villain.

It seems like I've already secured my position in the underworld, but I really want to be a good person... It looks like I'll have to find a way to make Sashio's character more like a champion of justice in the future.

Why did it turn out like this?.jpg

"Ha, aren't we about to be driven into a corner?"