"When something happens, don't let yourself lose your footing."
Captain-Commander Yamamoto glanced at Kirinji and gave a slight warning before slowly saying, "Not long ago, Kyoraku sent word that Sui Feng secretly left the Ninth Division prison and retrieved her own zanpakuto. As for the timing, it should have been around when Shutara lost contact."
"She went to Hueco Mundo?"
Kirinji's heart tightened, and the words almost burst out of his mouth.
Sui Feng, the spy planted in the Royal Palace of Hueco Mundo, disappeared, and then Shutara Senjumaru disappeared as well. There was no way things could be that coincidental.
"But if she was already able to leave, then why would she come back?", Kirinji asked in confusion.
If it were him, once his whereabouts were exposed, he would hurry up and leave. Why return to Soul Society at all?
"Heh! The charge against Sui Feng was attacking a noble. The reason was that Shiba Kukaku knew the whereabouts of the criminal Shihoin Yoruichi," Captain-Commander Yamamoto said calmly.
In a certain sense, Sui Feng's actions were completely without fault.
After all, Shiba Kukaku was connected to the criminal Shihoin Yoruichi. As the commander of the Punishment Force, Sui Feng had the authority to question Shiba Kukaku.
It was just that she neither had the permission of Central 46 nor obtained his approval, and instead directly forced her way into the Shiba household. That was the real reason she was arrested. It had nothing at all to do with the spy matter.
And precisely because of this, Central 46 had room to maneuver. Those nobles who had been infiltrated by the Royal Palace of Hueco Mundo, and even by the Fon family, all wanted to declare Sui Feng innocent or reduce the matter to something minor.
"So that means, in the end, there's a very high chance Sui Feng will be fine?"
Kirinji was an old Shinigami himself and could still understand the subtext in Captain-Commander Yamamoto's words.
Back when he was still in Soul Society, that was when the nobles were at their most powerful. At that time, the Five Great Noble Houses were heaven itself. Aside from them, no one dared provoke them, including the Gotei 13.
"In theory, there shouldn't be a problem. But since she's already been confirmed as a spy of the Royal Palace of Hueco Mundo, then let's use her to probe them. We know too little about the Royal Palace of Hueco Mundo, and we also need a way to understand them," Captain-Commander Yamamoto said evenly.
"Then why not send a spy to them instead?", Kirinji asked.
"Heh! How would you contact them? And how would you make them believe you're not a spy? Or rather, how would you ensure that the person you choose hasn't already become a spy of the Royal Palace of Hueco Mundo?", Captain-Commander Yamamoto threw out three questions.
And Kirinji couldn't answer a single one of them.
With his kind of brain, making him think about scheming and strategy like this was already making things difficult for him.
A person's wisdom doesn't grow with age. Someone unwilling to think deeply about matters wouldn't think more even if they lived ten thousand years.
What's more, the Royal Palace had countless fun things that could realize all sorts of his whimsical ideas. Who would still have the time to think about intrigue and power struggles?
"Then we're being far too passive."
Kirinji grunted for a long time, and in the end only voiced his persistence in a very weak tone.
"Shutara's outcome is the result of us taking the initiative. Since we lost this round, we have to bear the consequences of failure. On the chessboard, the pieces interlock, come and go, back and forth again and again. Until the very last moment, who can say who wins and who loses?"
Compared to Kirinji's impatience, Captain-Commander Yamamoto was far too calm.
On the surface, they seemed passive.
But in Soul Society, they still held absolute initiative.
Moreover, he didn't think that Hollow King was all that strong, at most evenly matched with him.
If the opponent were truly formidable, they should have already stormed the Royal Palace long ago, instead of squatting in Hueco Mundo playing king of the mountain.
At their level, if one wanted to take another step forward, the only path was to draw closer to the Soul King.
And the fastest way to draw closer to the Soul King was to directly devour the Soul King.
Therefore, those kings of Hueco Mundo, once they felt their strength was sufficient and harbored ambitions to rise higher, would step into Soul Society and ascend the Royal Palace.
Since that Hollow King dared not directly climb the Royal Palace, it meant the opponent's strength was still not enough.
Being able to kill Shutara was nothing more than using some special means.
Such a person could be called a great enemy by Soul Society, but was still far from enough to make them panic.
"Chojiro!"
"Yes, Captain-Commander!"
With Captain-Commander Yamamoto's call, the figure of Sasakibe Chojiro appeared in the Captain-Commander's office, kneeling on one knee as he awaited orders.
"Call Kyoraku over for me. After all these days, he still hasn't figured out what he should do. Looks like he needs some extra lessons. Oh, and notify Unohana and Ukitake as well. Have them come together," Captain-Commander Yamamoto said calmly.
These three captains were, in his view, absolutely loyal to Soul Society and also the strongest among the captains.
In the future, if they wanted to hunt down visitors from the Royal Palace of Hueco Mundo, they couldn't do without the help of these people.
"Yes! I'll take care of it immediately."
Sasakibe Chojiro vanished in an instant.
———
Night, beneath the hill of Sokyoku Hill—
"Hehehehe!"
Unohana's laughter gradually shifted from an initially suppressed tremor into unrestrained, wild laughter.
That laughter was filled with the satisfaction and pleasure of reveling in slaughter.
Her disheveled black hair whipped through the air like a waterfall, rising and falling with her movements. Her sharp nails dug into Rosse's back, carrying her spiritual pressure.
Each time they raked across, even with Rosse's spiritual body, they left behind a streak of blood.
Among all the women Rosse had met, Unohana was always the most insane one.
Every time a battle reached its final stage, she would enter a kind of deranged state.
To ordinary people, this was hell.
But to Rosse, it was nothing more than a seasoning called excitement.
After a long while, Unohana slid down to the ground, lazily slumping there.
Because of the fierce slaughter just now, her face was flushed with a sickly yet alluring redness.
As she panted heavily, those eyes that had just held boundless killing intent were now shimmering with moisture, gazing at Rosse in a hazy, unfocused way, "You really imprisoned that woman Shutara?"
"She has a mole here."
The corner of Rosse's mouth lifted as he poked Unohana at the hollow of her waist with his finger.
"Heh! Then it seems it's true. That woman seems not to have come to Soul Society for several hundred years. Back when I bathed together with her a thousand years ago, there really was a mark there."
The pleasure on her face deepened even more.
There was no reproach, no jealousy, only the purest worship and submission toward a strong person.
If he could even take down Shutara after she was promoted to the Zero Division, then it was all the more worthy of her offering everything from the bottom of her heart.
After resting a little, Unohana then spoke about Captain-Commander Yamamoto's summons earlier that day.
Being brought along by Captain-Commander Yamamoto to listen in was not something she would take as trust.
If Captain-Commander Yamamoto's strength were damaged, the first person he would likely force to death would be her.
The reason he sought her out was merely that her existence was old enough, old enough that she would not easily betray Soul Society.
But unfortunately, the current her had already found a reason to betray Soul Society.
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
[email protected]/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining P@treon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through P@treon.