Starting as a pirate, he rose to become the strongest Shinigami in Soul Society.

Chapter 460 Soul Burial, Two or Three Things About Kyoraku Shunsui and the Void Silence Order

Soul Society: Seireitei.

The Thirteenth Division, the Soul Burial Ground.

Jushiro Ukitake and the members of the Thirteenth Division were chanting around Saito's immortal body. This was a purification ritual. After the chanting ended, a bonfire would be lit, ultimately sending Saito into hell.

Although that flat-chested loli was a dangerous element in Soul Society, she was wanted by the Gotei 13 before her death.

But after her defeat and death, Yamamoto Genryusai still came to see her off in person.

Not only Yamamoto Genryusai, but also Unohana Retsu was at the soul burial site.

The two of them stood side by side, watching Ukitake Jushiro personally light the bonfire leading to hell, their expressions unchanged, neither happy nor sad.

"From now on, the world has lost another friend," Sister Hua suddenly murmured with emotion.

Upon hearing this, Yamamoto Genryusai's eyes showed a slight change of emotion, and he said, "I actually foresaw this ending the moment I first met her."

Upon hearing this, Sister Hua tilted her head slightly and looked at Yamamoto Genryusai, saying, "It's not just her, is it?"

These words caused Yamamoto Genryusai to fall silent for a long time before he finally spoke, saying, "You're right, all of us sinners will end up like this."

Sister Hua nodded, then smiled and said, "I originally thought the same thing as you, especially me. I used to think that I might go to hell even earlier than Saito. But now my thoughts have changed. Maybe I can live for a very long time, in a way I never thought before, just like Baiyunzhai."

The first captains of the Gotei 13 met different fates. Most of them, like Saito who was immortal, died in battle, but some escaped unscathed.

That was the first captain of the 8th Division, Shikato Hakunsai.

She is a seemingly gentle and bespectacled girl. Back when Yamamoto Genryusai led the Gotei 13 to carry out changes, she foresaw the disaster that would follow and left the Gotei 13 in advance. Now she is the high priestess of the Seireitei Shinto Festival, has a good relationship with the Ise family, and has gone into Shintoism.

She wasn't on leave. At that time, the Gotei 13 had just begun to fully integrate with Seireitei, and there wasn't any rule about not being able to leave one's post and only being able to take a leave of absence. So, she was considered to have left the team.

She has never shown her face again over the years, and neither Yamamoto Genryusai nor Unohana Retsu have ever gone to the shrine to see her.

Perhaps, Shikatori Hakuryuu is the one who truly escaped the fate of the first Gotei 13.

"Bayunsai," Yamamoto Genryusai remarked with a sigh, "It's been such a long time since I've heard her name, and so long since I've thought of her."

Watching the flames, a symbol of hell, burn Saito's immortality to ashes, and then the flames begin to die down, Yamamoto Genryusai turned around and said, "Let's go, there's still the court council to attend."

Hana didn't reply, but turned around and followed Yamamoto Genryusai's back. Not far away, Ukitake Jushiro handed over the follow-up work to a few members, then put on his captain's haori and chased after them.

As soon as they left the Soul Burial Ground and stepped out of the Thirteenth Division's barracks, they saw several figures talking on the street outside.

Kyoraku Shunsui was standing with a man who looked somewhat like him, while Bane was whispering with a gentle, quiet woman wearing glasses.

As if noticing the arrival of Yamamoto Genryusai and the others, the gentle and quiet woman whispered something to Bane and then quickly walked to the side of the man next to Kyoraku Shunsui.

The man then took two steps forward and greeted Yamamoto Genryusai, saying, "Lord Genryusai, it's been a long time since I last greeted you. My younger brother is grateful for your care."

Yamamoto Genryusai also nodded politely to the man and said, "You're too kind, Head of the Kyoraku family."

Clearly, this man who bears a resemblance to Kyoraku Shunsui is Kyoraku Shunsui's elder brother and the current head of the Kyoraku family.

After a few brief pleasantries, Yamamoto Genryusai understood that because Kyoraku Shunsui was always away from home, his brother had come to inform him that he was about to marry the woman beside him, Ise Misaki.

We hope that Kyoraku Shunsui can take some time out of his "busy schedule" to attend their wedding.

Without wasting too much time, clearly realizing that Yamamoto Genryusai and the others still had things to attend to, Kyoraku Shunsui's elder brother, after ending these conversations with Yamamoto Genryusai, looked at Kyoraku Shunsui and said, "Sōzōsuke, please."

Kyoraku Shunsui scratched his head with a slightly awkward expression, looked at Ise Misaki, then at his brother, and finally didn't say anything, but nodded to show his attitude.

"Well then, Lord Genryusai, Lord Spirit Lord, we shall take our leave now." With a warm smile, Kyoraku family head Oki Banen greeted Yamamoto Genryusai, then turned and slowly walked away.

Bane and the others didn't linger and headed together to the First Division's headquarters to prepare for a council meeting.

Walking down the street, Bane looked at Kyoraku Shunsui curiously and asked, "Why does your older brother call you Sozo-sōsa?"

Kyoraku Shunsui's lips twitched slightly, as if he didn't want to speak.

Ukitake Jushiro, standing to the side, chuckled and said, "Because Shunsui's full name is 'Kyoraku Jiro Sozosuke Shunsui,' and his relationship with his brother doesn't seem to be very harmonious. His brother always calls him 'Sozosuke,' so later he simply dropped the middle part of his name and called himself Kyoraku Shunsui."

"What a mischievous fellow," Bane chuckled, teasingly remarking.

Kyoraku Shunsui glared at Bane and said, "This is a sad story of the second son in an upper-class noble family, not some kind of mischief."

Although Bann didn't remember that Kyoraku Shunsui had a full name, he did have some impression of his story. Kyoraku Shunsui's relationship with his older brother was indeed not very harmonious from childhood, and it only improved after his brother got married. After that, Kyoraku Shunsui would go to his brother's place to have fun whenever he had nothing to do.

But his brother died soon after.

"The Ise family has never engaged in marriage alliances; they have always sought sons-in-law to marry into the family. This time..." Yamamoto Genryusai suddenly said this for some reason.

The Ise family is quite special. They are a priestly family that has served the gods for generations. Perhaps it is because of the need to worship the gods, or perhaps it is due to some other factor. In any case, the Ise family, with its long history, is one of the few matriarchal noble families in Soul Society.

According to records, the Ise family bloodline only produces female infants, meaning that if you marry into the Ise family, you will inevitably have a daughter.

Moreover, it seems there is a curse from the gods, as husbands of the Ise family often die young after having children following marriage.

Because of these strange factors, the Ise family never intermarried with other noble families and always sought sons-in-law.

Putting aside the fact that they can only have daughters, many noble families in Soul Society are quite open-minded. They only value whether someone is a direct descendant or not, and do not care about gender. As long as your bloodline is pure enough and your status is noble enough, you can inherit the position of head of the family regardless of gender.

Examples include Yoruichi Shihōin, Chika Tenshōin, and Saitō Immortal, who once had the potential to become the head of the Kuchiki family.

If this is the case for the great nobles, then it goes without saying that it is even more true for the lesser nobles.

But the strange curse is hard to say. Every time a child is born, the husband will die young. Who can bear that?

How could the nobility, in particular, possibly accept such a thing?

Therefore, the Ise family basically recruited sons-in-law to marry into the family.

Kyoraku Shunsui had obviously heard of the curse as well, and he said, "Miss Misaki intends to sever ties with the Ise family through marriage, so he's not considered to be marrying into the family, and shouldn't be cursed, right?"

"The matter of curses is ethereal and unfounded," Jushiro Ukitake wanted to say something comforting, but then he thought about his own identity and realized that it wasn't really appropriate.

After all, he is a being related to God.

Kyoraku Shunsui sighed softly, "Anyway, I can never change his mind. Let him do whatever he wants."

Bane didn't continue the conversation, but instead started chatting with Sister Hua.

"Yachiru, how's that Kuruyashiki guy doing?" Bane asked.

"It's nothing serious. He's incredibly strong. Even if he doesn't receive my treatment afterward, he'll recover in a few days," Sister Hua said with a gentle smile.

Seemingly unwilling to discuss her brother's affairs with Yamamoto Genryusai and the others, Kyoraku Shunsui immediately chimed in after hearing that Bane and Hana had changed the subject, saying happily, "Luckily you arrived in time, otherwise there would have been one more person at the Soul Burial today, and I would have had one less person to drink with."

"But I didn't expect Saito-senpai's strength to be so formidable. He almost killed that Kuruyashiki Kenpachi." Ukitake Jushiro also remarked with emotion.

"Alright, let's stop discussing that guy." Yamamoto Genryusai waved his hand, interrupting the discussion about Saito's immortality.

It's quite obvious that Yamamoto Genryusai has already discussed the matter of blurring out the image with Bane.

According to the resolution of the Central 46th Chamber, this matter will be covered up in accordance with the previous regulations of the Seireitei, so it is best not to discuss the matter of Saito's immortality, lest we accidentally let something slip.

All other relevant personnel have been placed under a gag order.

Kyoraku Shunsui, Ukitake Jushiro, and the others clearly had no idea about anything like Hollowfication.

I had some doubts, but I didn't ask any more questions.

However, Bane didn't really believe that this matter could be kept secret, because too many people had witnessed Saito's immortality and Hollowfication at the time.

The entire Sixth Division and the entire Eleventh Division witnessed this scene.

Perhaps those Shinigami members who lacked relevant experience didn't understand the situation at first, but Kuchiki Aojun, who was anxious to remind Kenpachi Kushiyashiki, shouted out the term "Hollowfication".

Then Saito Immortal also chimed in with a few words.

The gag order issued by these hundreds of people may have some effect in the short term, but given enough time, it is almost inevitable that the news will leak out.

Unless we kill them all!

But this is obviously impossible. The vast majority of the members of the Sixth Division are of lower-middle-class noble birth. If one of them were to be killed, the whole situation would be affected. Who would dare to kill them all?

As for the Eleventh Division, it is the most powerful division of the Gotei 13. Even if the Central 46 issued an order to silence him, Yamamoto Genryusai would never carry it out, otherwise he would be cutting off his own arms.

Therefore, in Bane's view, the matter of Hollowfication would eventually be impossible to conceal.

Amidst their laughter and contemplation, the group arrived at the First Division's headquarters.

(End of this chapter)