"Let's go, we're setting off."
Tatsuma activated Teleportation Magic, teleporting himself and Est together into Lucifer's Palace.
After greeting the guards at the entrance, the two easily made their way to the top floor.
"Tatsuma, Est, you're here."
Inside the room, Sirzechs and Ajuka were standing in front of a map, their expressions serious.
Seeing Tatsuma and Est arrive, Sirzechs temporarily stopped what he was doing and greeted them.
"The Old Satan Faction is acting again?"
Tatsuma walked over and glanced at the map.
Starting ten days ago, members of the Old Satan Faction began large-scale activities. While causing destruction in various areas of the Underworld, they also incited the Sacred Gear users under the Devils to rebel.
Because he was controlling his physical clones to run around in various areas of the Underworld, he had encountered these people several times.
When he came to the Lucifer Palace to tell Sirzechs about this at that time, the other party was standing in front of this map making records. Compared to then, the map was now filled with red Xs, making the situation look very intense.
"Actually, it only looks serious, but the situation is already under control."
As if seeing Tatsuma's thoughts, Sirzechs explained.
"The areas where chaos occurred have all been suppressed. The main work now is searching for the Old Satan Faction's strongholds."
"Oh, right, Tatsuma. How is your progress? Have you found the culprit who attacked the monsters?"
Tatsuma said, "I found him, it's a member of the Old Satan Faction."
"The Old Satan Faction?"
"Yes, I checked the culprit's memory. He did this to anger the monsters and cause chaos."
"But you don't need to worry. The monsters' emotions have been soothed, and the culprit has also been dealt with by me."
Tatsuma spoke nonsense with a straight face.
After two weeks of action, he had visited most of the monster strongholds in the Underworld.
The remaining monsters either lived alone or wandered around within the Underworld. He could find them if he searched carefully, but it wasn't cost-effective.
Therefore, the action of 'fleecing' the monsters could temporarily come to an end.
Making up an excuse and throwing the blame onto the Old Satan Faction, Tatsuma successfully extricated himself from this matter.
As for Sirzechs, he didn't suspect too much. On one hand, it was his trust in Tatsuma, and on the other hand, the Old Satan Faction had been very active recently.
No matter how special the reason, as long as it was related to the Old Satan Faction, it was understandable.
However...
"Let's discuss the Old Satan Faction later, we have other things to do today."
Putting away the map on the desk, Sirzechs took out a key from his pocket and inserted it into the air.
Accompanied by a faint Reiatsu fluctuation, a gate leading directly to Soul Society appeared in the room.
"Tatsuma, are you ready?"
"Of course, I've been ready for a long time."
Tatsuma chuckled lightly and led the way towards the Dangai gate.
Today was the day Rukia was to be taken to Sōkyoku Hill for execution.
Soul Society, Sōkyoku Hill.
After more than a month, the confinement order was finally lifted.
Ukitake and Shunsui left the barracks together and arrived at Sōkyoku Hill to gather.
Not far ahead, Rukia, dressed in a white prison uniform, had already been escorted onto the Sōkyoku platform.
After several seconds of eye contact with Rukia across the distance, Ukitake turned his head to look aside. "Shunsui, how are the preparations?"
Shunsui pulled down the straw hat on his head and replied in a low voice, "Everything that needed to be done has been done. Now it depends on the actual situation."
For the past month, he had been hiding his tracks, wandering between various barracks, and meeting with Devils from time to time.
To deal with Aizen and confront the Wandenreich, he had prepared several plans and united all the forces he could.
However, considering the information provided by Sirzechs, he still felt a faint sense of unease.
The power to see the future.
In the face of such an enemy, do prepared plans really matter?
As if seeing Shunsui's thoughts, Ukitake spoke to comfort him, "If worse comes to worst, we still have our final trump card. Don't be too nervous."
Shunsui nodded slightly and walked towards the Captain's formation not far away.
Ukitake did the same, following Shunsui and standing in place.
At this moment, all the Captains and Vice-Captains of the Gotei 13 had arrived. Led by Yamamoto, everyone stood in three rows.
The Vice-Captains stood in the back, in the third row.
The Captains stood in the middle, in the second row.
Yamamoto stood in the very front, in a single row by himself.
Seeing Shunsui and Ukitake arrive, he narrowed his eyes, swept a glance over them, and then announced the official start of the execution.
Arriving in front of the Sōkyoku platform, Yamamoto looked at Rukia, who was bound to the support frame.
"Criminal Rukia, do you have any last words you wish to say?"
"The Central 46 were not killed by me."
"Hmph, still trying to argue at this point." Yamamoto snorted coldly, a look of displeasure appearing on his face.
A heavy aura slowly emerged from him, and a vast Reiatsu enveloped the entire Sōkyoku Hill.
"Since you want to protect those Quincy, I'll send you on your way first."
Yamamoto raised his hand and grabbed the Sōkyoku that was stuck in the ground.
Accompanied by the injection of Reiatsu, the Sōkyoku entered its release. Reiatsu materialized and continuously surged from the Sōkyoku, transforming into a golden-yellow phoenix in mid-air.
The true form of the Sōkyoku Spear—Kikōō!
Torrential flames surged from Kikōō, and the temperature of Sōkyoku Hill slowly rose.
Under the gaze of the Captains, Kikōō rushed straight towards Rukia.
However, just as the two were about to make contact, Kikōō suddenly made a 180-degree turn and crashed towards the Captains below.
"Huh?"
"Wait! What's going on!"
"Captain, be careful!"
The Vice-Captains standing in the third row widened their eyes and let out exclamations.
Several of the Vice-Captains reacted quickly, activating Shunpo in the first instance, pulling their comrades with them and disappearing from their original positions.
At the same time, the Captains standing in the second row also began to act.
"Bakudo #61: Rikujōkōrō."
"Bakudo #63: Sajō Sabaku."
"Bakudo #75: Gochūtekkan."
Amidst the frequent Reiatsu fluctuations, the Bakudo, cast without incantation, activated instantly.
Led by Shunsui and Ukitake, several Captains simultaneously activated Bakudo, binding Aizen, Ichimaru and Kaname.
"Hmm?"
"Wait a minute, what are you doing!"
Looking at this scene, Zaraki and Sajin, who were also standing in the Captains' ranks, were momentarily stunned.
One was confused, the other shocked. They completely failed to understand the situation before them.
However, before they could question further, Kikōō in the sky had already arrived before them.
Ukitake and the others disappeared from their original positions.
Soi Fon and Shunsui activated Shunpo, arriving on either side of Sajin and whisking him away.
Boom!
A deafening roar sounded, and Kikōō, emitting terrifying high temperatures, completely descended.
Thick smoke and dust spread across Sōkyoku Hill.
Not far away, Sajin's expression was grim as he looked at the two beside him.
Everything happened too suddenly.
From Kikōō changing direction and attacking, to Shunsui and the others activating Bakudo and taking him away from his original position, the entire process took only about a second.
In just one second, the situation reversed completely. No matter how smart Sajin was, he couldn't understand what had happened.
***
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