"Even if what he said is true, how did he know these things?"
"The Invisible Empire has remained hidden for thousands of years without leaving even the slightest trace. Even if he knew many things, he shouldn't have known about this."
Byakuya finally spoke, questioning Shunsui.
He did not doubt the authenticity of what Shunsui had said. Since the head-captain had personally asked Shunsui to explain the matter, it meant that the truth had already been verified. More importantly, Shunsui had mentioned one particular person.
Urahara Kisuke.
During the battle against Aizen, it was Kisuke who had turned the tide and ultimately helped defeat Aizen.
Among the captains of Soul Society, their feelings toward Kisuke were complicated. Nevertheless, it had to be admitted that everyone acknowledged his intelligence. If even Kisuke believed the existence of the Invisible Empire was real, then it was very likely true.
The only reason Byakuya spoke up was because Shunsui had mentioned Mazuru.
That alone made him particularly concerned.
"According to what he said, he learned about it from a quincy named Ishida Soken."
Naturally, it was Kisuke who later told Shunsui this part of the story. During Mazuru's conversation with Shunsui in Hueco Mundo, the two had only exchanged a few words. At that time, they already stood on opposing sides, so Mazuru had not explained everything in detail.
"Ishida Soken… him?"
If anyone in the room was most familiar with Ishida Soken, it was undoubtedly Mayuri.
As the last pure-blood quincy known in this world, Mayuri had secretly monitored Soken for a long time, waiting for an opportunity to capture him and turn him into an experimental subject.
Unfortunately, before he could act, Soken had been attacked by a Menos Grande and dragged into Hueco Mundo.
At that time, Mayuri had assumed that Soken had already died.
Mayuri's voice immediately drew the attention of many captains and vice-captains in the room. However, he paid them no mind and continued speaking.
"In the past, Ishida Soken was besieged by a group of Menos Grande and ultimately dragged into Hueco Mundo by one of them. I thought he was already dead, but now it seems he didn't die at all. Instead, he must have fallen into the hands of that guy."
Calculating the timeline, Hueco Mundo had long since fallen under Aizen's control. Soken's disappearance had happened years ago, so it would not be strange for him to end up in the hands of Aizen or Mazuru.
As for why those two would keep Soken alive…
Well, after all, he was the last known pure-blood quincy in the world of living.
It was even possible that the Menos Grande kidnapping him had been orchestrated by Aizen and that man from the very beginning.
Returning to the matter itself, this could explain why Mazuru knew about the Invisible Empire.
As a pure-blood quincy, Soken might truly have known some hidden truths.
Jushiro looked at Shunsui again and said,
"Before the quincies even attacked, Head-captain had already given us the medicine that could reclaim stolen Bankai. And in order to prepare for the coming war, he conducted numerous training exercises. On the surface, it seemed as though those preparations were meant to deal with Hueco Mundo… but the real purpose was to prepare for the quincies, wasn't it?"
"Correct."
Shunsui did not hide anything.
"Although I had already suspected it, hearing the truth still feels a bit unbelievable." Jushiro sighed.
As for why Yamamoto had finally chosen to reveal the truth rather than continue hiding it, the reason was not difficult to understand.
The quincies had already declared war.
Once war was imminent, there was no longer any reason to conceal the truth.
For thousands of years, the quincies had hidden in the shadows, gathering information about Soul Society. Now that they had finally revealed themselves, there was little the shinigami could do in such a short time.
All that remained was to prepare themselves mentally and physically for the coming battle.
Fortunately, they were not completely helpless.
Chojiro's battle had already proven that the medicine distributed earlier was effective.
It could prevent the quincy from stealing Bankai.
Without that preparation, if their Bankai had been taken during battle, the shinigami would have lost their greatest card, and defeat would have been almost inevitable.
At present, although they still lacked detailed intelligence regarding the quincy and the Invisible Empire, they were not powerless to resist.
After all, Yamamoto had once led the shinigami to defeat the invading quincies a thousand years ago.
Surely, he could do the same again.
Afterward, everyone began carefully reviewing the information Chojiro had provided.
The basic abilities of the quincies, such as manipulating spirit particles to fight and creating flying projectiles, were not particularly surprising.
Although many shinigami had little prior knowledge about quincy, the intelligence gathered by the Eighth Division had already been distributed. With a little reading, everyone would understand the basics.
What truly drew everyone's attention was something Chojiro had mentioned.
When a shinigami released their Bankai, if the quincy aimed a star-shaped device at them, they could steal their Bankai.
Furthermore, in addition to that ability, the quincy also possessed another form known as the "Vollständig".
After activating it, their strength would surge dramatically.
Much like a shinigami's Bankai, it was likely their ultimate trump card.
The quincy who attacked Chojiro also possessed an ability known as "Schrift".
Through this ability, he could increase his power by killing large numbers of living beings.
Those quincy corpses found at the battlefield had not been killed by Chojiro.
They had been slaughtered by their own leader.
However, it was still unclear whether this ability called Schrift was possessed by all quincies, or whether it belonged only to certain individuals.
The war had arrived suddenly.
When the order to prepare for battle spread throughout the First Division, every shinigami was shocked.
Although they had already been preparing mentally for war, the sudden confirmation still surprised them.
What shocked them even more was that the enemy was not Hueco Mundo, as many had expected.
Instead, it was a force known as the Invisible Empire.
The enemy were the quincies.
Soon afterward, the shinigami also learned more about Wandenreich, the Invisible Empire.
Only then did they understand how powerful the quincies were.
At the same time, many of them were deeply unsettled upon realizing that the quincy had been hiding beneath their feet, in the shadows of Seireitei, for thousands of years.
This meant that everything about the shinigami had likely been known to the quincies all along.
In the Human World, the members of the Visored also received an urgent message from Soul Society.
Inside an abandoned factory, Muguruma Kensei looked at Hirako Shinji and asked,
"Are we really going back to Soul Society?"
After all, they had left Soul Society many years ago.
The sages and judges of Central 46 did not even recognize their identities as shinigami anymore, to them, they were no different from hollows.
Shinji's eyes flickered slightly before he finally made a decision.
Although many people in Soul Society now rejected them and believed they were no longer shinigami, they had once served as captains of the Gotei 13.
They had once sworn to protect Soul Society.
And that oath had never truly changed.
Thus, on that day—
the Visored finally returned to Soul Society.
*****
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I am working on the following projects:
✓ Killed For 100 Years in Hueco Mundo, Aizen Invited Me To Soul Society!
✓ Naruto: Senmei Asahi
✓ Naruto: Uchiha's Intelligence Dealer
✓ Naruto: The Fifth Hokage Is Naruto's Uncle
✓ Naruto: Who Made Him a Ninja?
✓ Bleach: In My Second Reincarnation, I Became The Ninth Kenpachi
✓ To Love-Ru: Spoiler Route [R-18]
✓ Naruto: The Accidental Incubus [R-18]