As soon as the words fell, the forty-six wise sages and judges began to 'enthusiastically' exchange their own experiences with evil.
A middle-aged wise sage spoke: "I am Taniguchi Yuichi, Wise sage's Assistant, serving for four hundred and ten years."
"I have accepted bribes of gold Spirit Coins from nobles and merchant guilds over two hundred times, over seventy properties including houses and land deeds, and countless beautiful mistresses and curios."
"I used my deliberative power to eliminate seventeen competitors for my family's businesses, three of which were driven to bankruptcy, their clan leaders committing suicide."
"I altered or destroyed thirty-nine pieces of key evidence in cases unfavorable to the Taniguchi Clan, leading to one hundred and twenty-seven innocent people being convicted..."
A female Shinigami wearing glasses said: "I am Kuroda Rino, a judge, serving for six hundred and eighty years. To cover up a heinous incident where a son of my main family kidnapped a commoner girl in the Rukongai and brutally murdered her entire family of eleven..."
"I collaborated with the Corps of Punishment to falsify a 'Gillian swarm attack' scene, and framed, tortured, and executed five ordinary Shinigami who were patrolling nearby at the time as 'scapegoats'..."
A Shinigami with narrow eyes said: "I, Kobayashi Koichi, originally a lower noble, rose to my position by offering my daughter and enormous wealth to curry favor with a certain powerful wise sage of the Tsunayashiro Clan."
"I meticulously planned and secretly carried out the assassinations of two political rivals, and successfully framed their respective opposing families for it..."
A very old-fashioned looking wise sage said: "I am Yamazaki Masato, a judge, obsessed with the origins of Zanpakuto."
"To obtain 'pure' research samples, I used the pretext of 'special talent selection' to lure five exceptionally talented but humble students from the Shin'o Academy into a secret laboratory."
"Before their Asauchi had formed, I performed live dissection and soul extraction experiments on them, causing all five to have their souls scattered. The experimental data was then used to trade for benefits with other nobles..."
A middle-aged Shinigami smiled and said: "I was in charge of Rukongai public safety and population statistics. To lower the crime rate and unstable factors in my jurisdiction and obtain performance commendations..."
"I tacitly approved and secretly promoted the implementation of the [Rukongai Purification Plan], regularly secretly gathering the 'surplus population' from designated areas..."
"Sending them in batches through special channels deep into the Dangai to fend for themselves, or directly subjecting them to [Reishi Decomposition and Recycling]..."
One after another, case after case!
From accepting bribes, abusing power for personal gain, covering up relatives, to framing the innocent, killing to silence witnesses, annihilating entire families, to participating in forbidden research, conducting inhumane experiments, systematically slaughtering commoners!
Almost every 'wise sage' or 'judge' confessed to crimes that were appalling, soaked in blood and evil.
The entire Soul Society fell into a deathly, suffocating silence.
Then, like a volcano suppressed for millions of years finally erupting...
An avalanche of furious curses, wailing cries, accusations, and desperate roars of faith collapsing erupted from the Seireitei to the remotest corners of the Rukongai.
"Animals! These wolves in sheep's clothing!"
"My child was killed by them back then?"
"The people who regularly disappeared from the Rukongai... it wasn't Hollows, it was them!"
"This is the embodiment of the highest law and justice we have revered and feared for countless years?"
"Haha, wise sages? Judges? Pah! A bunch of filthy, base murderers, embezzlers, scumbags who deserve to be cut into a thousand pieces!"
"The sky of Soul Society has been controlled by a bunch of maggots like this all along? What kind of hell are we living in?"
The flames of rage frantically burned in the hearts of all souls witnessing this.
The sanctity and public trust the Central 46 had accumulated over countless years were ground to dust in this short time by the evils their own members confessed to.
Setsuna was not at all surprised by this outcome. Even the fifteen newly appointed wise sages and judges were not lacking in sin.
On the contrary, there were two wise sages who stood out like lotus flowers in mud, which genuinely surprised him.
"I, Genseki Hanyu, have served for nearly seven hundred years. I am slow-witted, timid and cowardly. In matters, I mostly go with the flow, always submissive."
"Fearing the powerful, I dared not speak out for justice. Witnessing injustice, I only dared to remain silent."
"I have been mediocre, drawing a salary without doing my job, failing the position of wise sage and the glory of my ancestors, ashamed before the support of Soul Society..."
Another relatively younger, somewhat meek-looking wise sage shook his head painfully:
"I am Fuminori Aoki, serving as an wise sage for one hundred and fifty years. I am a useless coward, only daring to mediate as best I could during final sentencing. I have failed those who once believed in me..."
Although these two dared not confront injustice, amidst the almost completely rotten filth of the Central 46, the emergence of two such wise sages was already rare.
After the last wise sage confessed his crime of slaughtering an entire remote Rukongai District to test some ancient forbidden art...
Snap!
A crisp snap of the fingers, like a signal releasing some invisible shackles.
The forty-six wise sages' vacant eyes quickly cleared.
Immediately after, boundless fear and shame, like a tsunami, swept through their consciousness.
"No... no!" One wise sage was the first to let out a piercing scream. "I didn't! I never did those things! It was an illusion! You controlled us!"
"Yes, you must have used some evil art to make us rave!" Another judge's face was paper-white, cold sweat soaking his magnificent robes.
Setsuna smiled slightly. "Honorable various great ones, when you were confessing just now, you spoke of the times, places, and processes of your crimes in perfect detail."
"Should I send people right now to verify at the places you mentioned? To see if it was you raving, or if the evidence is ironclad and you have no way to deny it?"
These words were the last straw, crushing the spines of all who tried to quibble.
They recalled the terrifyingly specific details they had uncontrollably revealed just now.
Any single one, if verified, would be enough to ruin them and doom them to eternal damnation.
Not to mention, all of this happened under the gaze of all Soul Society.
Thud!
The sounds of collapsing bodies came one after another.
One by one, the once lofty wise sages and judges, as if their bones had been pulled out, collapsed like mud on the cold floor.
Setsuna's gaze swept over them. "I said before, as long as you truly have a clear conscience, I promise not to harm you and to let you go."
"Now it seems, only Genseki Hanyu-sama and Fuminori Aoki-sama barely meet that condition."
"So, as for the rest of you, are you ready to accept real judgment?"
Hearing the killing intent in Setsuna's words, the forty-four wise sages and judges erupted in terrified screams and wails.
"You cannot kill us! According to the [Supreme Charter of Soul Society] and the [Chamber 46 Privileges Act], wise sages and judges enjoy judicial immunity!"
"The maximum penalty is only permanent imprisonment, not the death penalty! This is an iron law! A rule for a million years! You cannot break it!" The chief judge roared with his last strength.
Setsuna couldn't help but laugh. "This kind of shameless law, serving only a small group of parasites, could only be formulated and maintained by people like you with your thick faces."
He withdrew his smile, his tone cold: "However, don't worry. Death is too merciful for you."
"To atone for your crimes too numerous to record, I will have your souls endure eternal roasting and torment in the fires of karma!"