"Kyoya-sama is the best!"
Hearing Kyoya's vision for the future, the many Shinigami cheered loudly.
Although their departure from the Seireitei was to follow Kyoya and, under his leadership, change the situation in the Rukongai that had persisted for millions of years.
But, no matter what, the Seireitei was still the core of the Soul Society.
If possible, they also wanted to live within the Seireitei.
What Kyoya said, whether it was building another city in Soul Society that rivaled the Seireitei or someday marching into the Seireitei to replace the Gotei 13, was a goal, a hope for all of them.
The group arrived at the White Road Gate laughing and joking. When the over-five-meter-tall Jidanbo saw Kyoya and the others, he was so frightened he nearly dropped the axe at his waist.
"K-Kyoya-sama..."
Large drops of cold sweat beaded on Jidanbo's forehead.
Not long ago, he had learned from Unohana's Tenteikura that Kyoya had defected, taking some Shinigami from the 11th Division with him.
At that time, Jidanbo had prayed in his heart that Kyoya and the others wouldn't pass through the White Road Gate he guarded.
If the defector were anyone else, even a Lieutenant, Jidanbo was confident he could intercept them here.
Even if he wasn't a match, he could hold out until reinforcements arrived.
But this was Kyoya!
The Captain with the greatest swordsmanship talent in the history of the Seireitei.
He completed his studies and graduated from the Shin'o Academy in less than a year, directly challenged and defeated the previous Captain of the 11th Division, breaking the record for the fastest promotion to Captain in the Soul Society's history.
It had been nearly forty years since Kyoya became captain of the 11th Division.
For a genius who could surpass 99.999% of Shinigami and stand at the pinnacle of the Gotei 13 after just one year of training, forty years of progress likely wasn't inferior to four hundred years of training for other geniuses.
It could be said that even among the Captains, Jidanbo doubted how many could be a match for Kyoya now.
"Jidanbo, open the gate."
Seeing Jidanbo like this, Kyoya smiled, "You should know that even if I don't make a move, you can't stop us."
Perhaps Yamamoto also knew that even lowering the Seireiheki above the Seireitei wouldn't stop Kyoya.
Thus, only Jidanbo was guarding the White Road Gate now.
Even if Kyoya didn't make a move, at least two or three of the Shinigami following him were stronger than Jidanbo.
"I'm sorry, Kyoya-sama!"
Though terrified, Jidanbo ultimately drew the Zanpakuto from his waist and pointed it at Kyoya and the others: "Guarding the White Road Gate is my duty."
"As long as I am standing, no one can pass through the White Road Gate!"
"Hahahaha, Kyoya-sama, leave this guy to me!"
Before Kyoya could speak, Ikkaku rushed out first: "Fighting a strong enemy who persists in upholding his will fills me with anticipation!"
"Let this be my farewell gift upon leaving the Seireitei!"
"Wait for me, Ikkaku!"
After Ikkaku charged out, Yumichika followed closely behind.
Seeing that it wasn't Kyoya coming to fight him, Jidanbo breathed a sigh of relief.
'As expected, a big shot like Kyoya-sama wouldn't normally make a move against a small fry like me.'
'Otherwise, what would be the point of the Shinigami following him?'
"Ha!"
Swinging his massive Zanpakuto down, and to prevent himself from actually killing Kyoya's subordinates, Jidanbo held back some of his strength.
However-
Although their sizes were on different levels, the result of this blade clash was the opposite of what Jidanbo had imagined.
His enormous Zanpakuto not only failed to repel Ikkaku but was almost knocked out of his hand by the force of the collision.
If he hadn't held back some strength, the tremendous recoil might have even torn the skin between his thumb and index finger.
"This bald guy is strong!"
With just one attack, Jidanbo knew this guy was a formidable opponent!
He was no match.
"Ha, not bad strength!"
The corners of Ikkaku's mouth turned up. Even in the 11th Division, few possessed strength of this level.
"Ikkaku, stop playing around. Our top priority right now is to leave the Seireitei!"
Seeing Ikkaku's expression, Yumichika, who was right behind him, quickly reminded him.
Ikkaku was a battle junkie.
But now was clearly not the time for a fight.
No matter how strong Kyoya was, he was only one person.
Earlier, Unohana had already conveyed Yamamoto's order, branding them as traitors to the Gotei 13.
Barring any surprises, Captains would probably arrive soon to intercept them.
Kyoya managing to break out from the encirclement of eleven Captains at the 1st Division didn't mean they could do the same.
It wouldn't take much.
Just three Captains: two to pin down Kyoya, and the remaining one could probably wipe them all out!
As much as he hated to admit it, the gap between Lieutenant and Captain was despairingly large.
Even though Ikkaku had already begun training for his Zanpakuto's Bankai, he probably couldn't last a minute against a Captain.
To prevent Ikkaku from getting carried away, Yumichika directly bypassed him and drew his own Zanpakuto.
"Bloom-"
"Ruri'iro Kujaku!"
Boom!
With Yumichika's roar, emerald green Reiatsu erupted from his body. The Zanpakuto in his hand, responding to his call, transformed into over a dozen gorgeous vines that rapidly spread towards Jidanbo, binding his hands and limbs.
"How is this possible?"
When Jidanbo tried to break free, he was horrified to discover that his Reiatsu was being rapidly absorbed by the vines restraining him.
In just a few dozen seconds, a few flower buds appeared on the vines of Yumichika's Ruri'iro Kujaku, which then bloomed.
Thud-
Having lost a massive amount of Reiatsu, Jidanbo naturally lost his strength.
Unable to even stand, he collapsed to the ground like a small mountain.
Seeing the enemy had been dealt with by Yumichika, Ikkaku could only suppress his fighting spirit and sheathe his Zanpakuto.
"Not bad."
Kyoya walked up to Jidanbo and nodded approvingly at Yumichika.
The 11th Division led by Kyoya did not have the bad habit, like Zaraki's, of only admiring direct-attack type Zanpakuto.
Thus, Yumichika didn't have to force his Zanpakuto to undergo a partial Shikai by calling out a color it disliked during normal times.
Of course, what pleased Kyoya even more was Yumichika's judgment of the situation and his ability to understand Kyoya's intentions.
"Jidanbo, you are a qualified guard."
Standing before Jidanbo, Kyoya spoke to him, whose head alone was almost as tall as Kyoya himself: "Even someone as strong as me cannot pass through the White Road Gate while you are standing."
Jidanbo felt like crying but had no tears.
He was starting to regret his earlier words.
Probably because he said those things, Kyoya decided to knock him down before leaving Seireitei through the White Road Gate!
"Everyone, let us bid a temporary farewell to the Seireitei."
"Next, let those nobles in the Seireitei see that Soul Society does not necessarily revolve around Seireitei!"
"Yes!"
"Captain Kyoya, why have you come?"
Rukongai, Kusajishi District.
Koga and Ichinose were very surprised to see Kyoya and his group.
Normally, if Kyoya was coming, he would inform them.
But this time, they hadn't received any news of Kyoya's visit.
'Also, what was with these dozen or so division's members from the 11th Division?'
'Weren't they on rotational rest?'
'Why did they come with Captain Kyoya?'
"Koga, Ichinose, I am no longer the Captain of the 11th Division."
"Huh?"
Hearing Kyoya's words, before Ichinose could react, Koga frowned, "Kyoya-sama, did those nobles in Seireitei do something that disgusted you?"
"Should I make a trip to Seireitei?"
"If I make a move, even Captain-Commander Yamamoto wouldn't be able to find any evidence."
The ability of Koga's Zanpakuto, Muramasa, allowed him to directly control other Shinigami's Zanpakuto to assassinate nobles without leaking any of his own Reiatsu during the action.
Thus, even if Seireitei discovered noble deaths, they couldn't find the culprit.
In Koga's view, Kyoya's departure from the Seireitei couldn't be Kyoya's fault.
It must be that Kyoya was utterly disappointed with those nobles, leading him to focus his efforts on the Rukongai.
Wasn't he himself the same?
Even he had become completely disappointed with Ginrei.
Other nobles were even less worth mentioning.
In that case, he might as well kill a few nobles to vent Kyoya's anger.
"Koga, calm down."
"Me leaving Seireitei has little to do with those nobles."
"If such fellows disgusted me, I would have erased them myself."
It had to be said that the nobles who had survived in Seireitei for so many years had some self-awareness.
Although Kyoya also knew Seireitei wasn't entirely righteous, and the 'evil' of those nobles was almost on par with the Celestial Dragons in the One Piece World, this 'evil' had never appeared before Kyoya.
Clearly, they also knew that if Kyoya, who possessed [Kenpachi] Privileges, truly acted against the nobles, even if Kyoya was eventually captured or killed by Yamamoto, the nobles killed by Kyoya wouldn't come back to life.
Precisely because of this, the nobles were very conscious of avoiding Kyoya's circles. Anyone who might interact with Kyoya would be tacitly removed from their persecution list.
At least, in the over forty years Kyoya had been Captain of the 11th Division, he truly hadn't found an excuse to act against the nobles.
"Koga, Ichinose."
"Please notify the division's members in the Rukongai."
"This time, when I left the Seireitei, I also brought them with me."
"Probably by now, the Seireitei has already labeled everyone staying in the Rukongai as 'traitors.'"
"Gather everyone together. I must provide everyone with assurance."
"Yes, Kyoya-sama!"
…
"Kyoya-sama, all 221 members of the 11th Division's Rukongai have been assembled."
"Very good, Ichinose, thank you for your hard work."
Nodding to Ichinose, Kyoya looked down at the neatly assembled Shinigami below him.
"Everyone, I apologize for gathering you all at this time."
"Here, I first want to apologize to you all."
"Without obtaining your consent beforehand, I took the liberty of telling Yamamoto that I would take you all away from the Seireitei."
"Barring any surprises, since five hours ago, all of you, like me, have become 'traitors' of Seireitei."
Here, Kyoya paused.
Contrary to his expectations, after hearing they had become 'traitors' of Seireitei, although the expressions of these Shinigami changed significantly, they didn't break formation or start shouting and scolding Kyoya.
Clearly, as Kyoya's subordinates, they all believed that Kyoya would not abandon them.
"To prevent Seireitei from looking down on us, before leaving Seireitei, I sparred with the other Captains at the 1st Division."
"The result of the battle was that not only did I not encounter any interception, safely bringing out the resting members of the Rukongai Detachment from the 11th Division's barracks, but I also successfully made the Gotei 13 and the nobles of the Central 46 forget about the Zanpakuto you all carry."
At this point, understanding smiles appeared on the faces of the present Shinigami.
For a Shinigami, the Zanpakuto was undoubtedly their second life.
Of course, control over Zanpakuto within Seireitei was also very strict.
Students of the Shin'o Academy could only 'borrow' a Zanpakuto upon reaching the fifth year.
If they failed the graduation exam, the students' Zanpakuto would be reclaimed.
Only after joining the Gotei 13 and becoming a true Shinigami did the Zanpakuto truly belong to the Shinigami themselves.
Even so, after Shinigami of the Gotei 13 retired, they had to leave their Zanpakuto with the Gotei 13.
This shows how strict the Gotei 13, or rather the nobles, were regarding Zanpakuto ownership.
Kyoya's single sparring match at the 1st Division allowed over two hundred members of the 11th Division to leave Seireitei with their Zanpakuto. This shows how much pressure Kyoya exerted on the Gotei 13 during that battle.
Barring any surprises, Seireitei would likely handle their defection with a low-profile approach, preventing the news from spreading.
Simultaneously, any wanted notices might only exist on paper.