Central 46 are a bunch of stubborn people.
They are obsessed with power.
Obviously, there was no evidence, yet they believe that Gosuke Shigure is Azashiro Soya's accomplice—and therefore guilty.
In a short period of time, the forty-six members of Central 46 successively questioned Gosuke Shigure.
Their words were sharp and fierce; not a single one of them spoke kindly.
Before Shigure, they tried to project a strong sense of authority.
Maybe it was because they had lacked any real presence in front of Azashiro before—this time, they seemed desperate to prove themselves.
Azashiro Soya was too honest.
Not only had he taken the initiative to surrender himself, but he had also confessed everything he had done.
Whether Central 46 believed it or not, in front of Azashiro they had appeared utterly insignificant.
Especially considering that, before his surrender, they hadn't even known that Kenpachi Azashiro had done those things.
Now that Gosuke Shigure was suspected of a felony, of course, they needed to interrogate him severely—
—to demonstrate their authority,
to show the world what it means to be a sage,
to prove what they call justice.
However, Gosuke Shigure's composure was astonishing.
No matter how much Central 46 interrogated him, he remained calm and steadfast.
He vehemently denied any involvement in what Azashiro Soya had planned.
Even when asked why he was the one accompanying Azashiro at the end, Shigure gave a perfectly reasonable answer.
He explained that he had noticed Azashiro's strange behavior recently, and that Kyoraku Shunsui had told him about the disappearance of Rukongai's souls. That was why he had begun to keep an eye on him.
He realized that something was wrong and followed him—finally discovering that Azashiro was attacking the souls of Rukongai.
When Azashiro discovered him and attempted to kill him, Shigure had no choice but to fight back, leading to their battle.
All in all, in Shigure's account,
he was not a sinner—he was a hero.
Central 46, of course, was unwilling to accept such rhetoric.
Because they had already decided that Gosuke Shigure was guilty.
To believe him would mean questioning their own authority.
So they continued their cross-examination.
However, the interrogation methods that had always been effective in the past were useless before Gosuke Shigure.
More importantly, they could not casually torture him.
After all, although he was under strong suspicion, there was still no conviction—and no evidence to prove his guilt.
Finally, after hours of fruitless questioning, the forty wise men and six judges of Central 46 seemed tired as well.
They decided to imprison Gosuke Shigure in the Palace of Repentance first, and then choose another day for retrial.
In this way, Shigure was imprisoned in the Palace of Repentance, receiving the same treatment once given to Kuchiki Rukia in the original records.
The environment of the Palace of Repentance was terrible.
Especially after being lined with sekkiseki—stones that suppress spiritual energy—staying inside felt unbearably suffocating.
It should be noted that the concentration of spirit particles inside Seireitei is extremely dense. Those without spiritual power living there are like people trapped in a pressure cooker, feeling constantly oppressed as the dense reishi weighs down upon their spirit and body.
In the records, Kuchiki Byakuya's wife, Hisana, had died only a few years after marrying him because she could not bear Seireitei's spiritual density.
Shinigami, of course, could easily endure such an environment due to the strength of their own spiritual power.
However, when that spiritual power was first suppressed by a binding object and then trapped within an environment lined with sekkiseki, even a Shinigami would feel the same oppressive suffocation as an ordinary soul.
Gosuke Shigure was feeling that now.
"What a subtle feeling." he murmured to himself.
Even he had never imagined that one day, he would experience life as a prisoner.
His Zanpakutō had been taken, his spiritual power suppressed.
It seemed like he was in an unprecedented desperate situation.
But Shigure knew that true desperation had not yet come.
The situation would turn.
He was waiting for that turning point to appear.
Of course, if that turning point never arrived, he was prepared to break free from the turmoil in his own way.
In this world, there is not only the Soul Society, but also Hueco Mundo and the World of the Living.
Even if his spiritual power was temporarily sealed—even if his Zanpakutō was confiscated—
he had lived far too long in his previous life to be helpless now. Even if he had died due to his own reckless "waves", he still had his own trump cards.
In this life, the reason he chose to follow the rules was simply to live a peaceful life.
If peace could no longer be maintained, Gosuke Shigure didn't mind breaking that calm himself.
In the blink of an eye, half a month passed since his imprisonment in the Palace of Repentance.
During that time, no one came to visit him.
After all, he was not Kuchiki Rukia.
Although Rukia had once been imprisoned there, she was a member of the noble Kuchiki family.
As the head of the Four Great Clans, the Kuchiki clan enjoyed certain privileges—so Kuchiki Byakuya and others could visit her from time to time.
It was for this very reason that so many people had been shocked when Rukia was sentenced to Sōkyoku in the historical record.
Because it had been unreasonable.
That was why some had investigated Central 46's judgment—only to uncover the truth that those wise men and judges had already been slaughtered.
Back to the present.
For half a month, although no one came to visit him, Gosuke Shigure did not feel bored.
He simply sat quietly in the Palace of Repentance every day.
Central 46 had not yet scheduled a second trial.
According to Shigure's own guess, they were still gathering evidence about what Azashiro had done.
And indeed, just as Shigure had expected, Gotei 13 was extremely busy during this time.
The matter of Azashiro Soya's surrender had already spread throughout all of Gotei 13 after the captain-commander convened a meeting.
The crime he had committed was not merely causing the disappearance of Rukongai's souls—
It was a felony of far greater magnitude:
He had attempted to shatter the balance between the souls of Soul Society and Hueco Mundo.
When the shinigami of the Eleventh Division learned of this, they were deeply shaken.
For more than a year, they had finally come to accept Kenpachi Azashiro.
And in the end, they discovered that he was not the rightful successor of Kenpachi, but a sinner.
In such circumstances, Gosuke Shigure—implicated by association and imprisoned in the Palace of Repentance—naturally became a forgotten name.
Of course, saying that no one cared did not mean that no one remembered Gosuke Shigure.
There were still those who remembered him — who worried in silence, unable to act against Central 46's decree.
*****
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