Seireitei Underground Prison, deepest section, the Special Confinement Area.
Here were imprisoned criminals of special status, those with major crimes, or those with dangerous abilities.
The Reishi lights were dim, the air damp and cold. Only the occasional faint clink of shackles and suppressed breaths could be heard.
In one of the cells, the blind, serene-faced Tosen sat cross-legged.
From the adjacent cell, a voice dripping with endless malice came, belonging to Tokinada.
"Heh, lowly one, still mourning for your laughable justice and your dead Kakyo?"
"Look at yourself now, like a wild dog with its fangs pulled and eyes gouged out. Truly delightful."
Tosen remained unmoved. He had long grown accustomed to Tokinada's daily verbal torture.
Just then, several prison guards escorted a new prisoner and locked him in the empty cell opposite Tokinada.
"Oh?" Tokinada's voice immediately turned to the new neighbor. "You're Kuchiki Koga, the one who killed that idiot Tokiomi?"
"Hahaha! I never thought we'd become neighbors so quickly. I really must thank you!"
Koga frowned, looking towards the source of the voice: "You know what happened outside?"
"Of course I do~" Tokinada's tone was frivolous. "Prison is an eternal cage for you lowly wretches who can only be bound by rules."
"But for me, it's just a slightly quieter vacation villa, suitable for contemplation."
"As long as I want, people outside will naturally find ways to get information to my ears."
"Ha." Koga sneered, his eyes full of contempt. "Indeed, the Central 46 and you nobles really are birds of a feather, acting in collusion!"
"Well said!" Tokinada actually applauded in agreement. "But this precisely shows how stupid and naive you righteous types are."
"You always place your hopes in rules, systems, justice... forgetting that these things themselves are maintained and interpreted by those who created them."
"When the creators and maintainers themselves are vested interests, or even criminals, everything you believe in is just a joke."
He paused. "This is where you will never measure up to that bastard Chiaki Setsuna. Although I wish I could cut him into a thousand pieces, I have to admit..."
"That guy, back when he was still at the Shin'o Academy, had probably already seen through the essence of this game played by the Central 46 and the nobles."
"So he never places hope in others' justice. He only believes in his own fists and his own principles. Tsk tsk, this kind of insight and decisiveness is truly both hateful and... somewhat admirable."
Just then.
Tap, tap, tap...
Leisurely footsteps came from the depths of the dim corridor.
"Heh, I didn't expect you to think so highly of me. I'm truly flattered."
Accompanied by this light laugh, Setsuna appeared at the cell door.
"Chi... Chiaki Setsuna?" Tokinada's face paled, all previous composure gone. "You... how can you be here?"
"How can I be here?" Setsuna's smile didn't change. "Is that even a question? I'm here to rescue people, of course."
"Rescue people?" Koga and Tosen both exclaimed simultaneously.
An indescribably complex emotion surged in their hearts… shock, gratitude, and a trace of instinctive fear.
"Captain Chiaki!" Koga said urgently. "This is a maximum-security prison! Breaking someone out is a serious crime!"
"You have already helped me too much. I cannot implicate you further. I am not worth you doing this!"
Tosen also said urgently, "Captain, you cannot ruin your own future for a useless person like me!"
Setsuna gently shook his head. "It has nothing to do with you. I've had enough of those stupid nobles myself. I've had enough of this dark world."
"So, this time, I'm here to turn things upside down."
"To thoroughly stir up this stagnant pool, to flip out those maggots hiding in the shadows, and let them bask in the sunlight!"
Of course, there was also a deeper reason.
The research on the Hogyoku took time. Aizen's side still needed to lie low and accumulate.
He didn't have the patience to wait here for a hundred or two hundred years, watching the plot develop slowly.
Hell was the real treasure trove for quickly 'leveling up' and strengthening his soul origin.
Go there first and 'eat' his fill. When he returned, perhaps many years would have passed in Soul Society. That would be the moment he truly controlled Omega Shenron.
Thoughts racing in his mind, Setsuna's hands moved without stopping.
With two soft clicks, the cell doors of Koga and Tosen were easily opened.
The complex Sekiseki Locks and Barriers were like paper before Setsuna.
"Captain Chiaki!" Koga trembled with excitement. He stepped out of the cell and bowed deeply to Setsuna.
"You saved my life, and you helped clear my name! From this day forward, I, Kuchiki Koga, will vow to follow you! Through fire and flood, I will never retreat!"
Tosen Kaname also silently walked out and, facing Setsuna's direction, bowed solemnly.
He could never repay the Captain's kindness!
Tokinada felt a sense of foreboding but still forced a smile, saying:
"Haha, actually, I also deeply detest those fools in the Central 46 and the Tsunayashiro Clan. Why not take me with you..."
Setsuna, however, just smiled. "Tosen, the time for your complete revenge has come."
Tokinada's heart seized with terror. He forcibly calmed himself and said:
"I have already been judged by the Central 46 and received the punishment of the law! You have no right to execute vigilante justice on me!"
Setsuna shook his head slightly.
"When the law cannot bring justice to the involved parties, private revenge from this moment onward becomes justifiable, even noble."
He handed a Zanpakuto, taken from one of the guards, to Tosen. "Do what you must, Tosen."
Tosen gripped the sword, his body trembling slightly.
The hatred and pain accumulated over countless days and nights had finally awaited the moment of judgment.
He 'looked' towards the direction of Tokinada's cell. Though darkness was before his eyes, his Reikaku had long locked onto the aura of that demon.
"No... don't! Tosen, listen to me! What happened before was a misunderstanding! I can compensate you! I can..." Tokinada begged incoherently.
But Tosen could no longer hear anything.
Relying on his sense and Reiatsu, he walked step by step towards the cell door.
"No!"
A flash of cold light!
Tokinada's pleas stopped abruptly.
Tosen's blade had precisely pierced his soul.
Watching all this, Koga's heart filled with even greater awe and loyalty towards Setsuna.
He asked, "Captain Chiaki, what should we do now? The prison break will probably be discovered soon."
Setsuna withdrew his gaze, a sharp light swirling in his eyes. "What should we do? Since we've started, let's take it all the way."
"Next, we go 'visit' those wise sages and judges of the Central 46 who just delivered their 'fair verdict'."