"What 'Invisible Empire'? You don't even have evidence."
An unpleasant voice suddenly cut through the room.
"If it's just baseless speculation—nothing but rumors floating in the air—do we really need to gather this many people for a meeting?"
"And besides," the voice continued coldly, "anything related to shadows should be handled by the Shinigami Research and Development Institute. Unlike certain people who can only sneak around conducting shady investigations."
There was only one person who would speak like that at a time like this.
Mayuri Kurotsuchi.
Seeing Urahara Kisuke attending the captains' meeting already irritated him. Watching Urahara casually demonstrate research results in front of him felt like a direct insult to the Twelfth Division.
Being mocked twice in a row, Urahara had little to say.
Without concrete evidence, he could only give a wry smile and glance toward Tsunayoshi.
"My apologies, Tsunayoshi."
This meeting had been organized at Tsunayoshi's request so the truth could be revealed to everyone. By questioning Urahara's findings, Mayuri was indirectly challenging Tsunayoshi's credibility as well.
"It's fine," Tsunayoshi replied quietly.
Then he stood up and slowly scanned the room.
"I know most of you here aren't happy about this meeting."
"Something like: 'What Quincy? Just send a division to wipe them out.'"
"That's probably what the majority of you are thinking."
He paused.
"Unfortunately, I have some bad news."
"This Quincy King - Yhwach…"
"Neither your Commander-General nor I are confident that we can defeat him."
"Let alone kill him."
He glanced around the table.
"As for everyone else—no offense—but compared to him, you're only slightly better than cannon fodder."
"You're free to think I'm talking nonsense."
"I'm not some savior of the world, and I have absolutely no interest in interfering with the affairs of Soul Society."
"The only reason I came here and organized this meeting…"
"…is because I feel a certain personal attachment to all of you."
"I don't want to see you die on the battlefield in the future."
"That's all."
He shrugged.
"But if this entire meeting is unnecessary anyway…"
"Then there's no point continuing."
Tsunayoshi stood up and turned to leave.
The only reason he had gone through all this trouble was because of his personal affection for Bleach's world.
Among the Shinigami and Arrancar alike, there were many whose fates had always felt tragic to him.
Because of his arrival, the future of this world had already begun to change.
If possible, he wanted to alter some of those tragic destinies—just as he had already done for Shinji and the Visored.
Otherwise, he could simply focus on training Ichigo and Uryū.
There would have been no need to come to Soul Society at all.
But what Tsunayoshi hadn't expected was that even now, Yamamoto still couldn't unite the Gotei 13 completely.
In truth, Tsunayoshi's dissatisfaction wasn't directed at Sasakibe or Mayuri.
Those two were irrelevant.
His frustration was aimed squarely at Yamamoto.
"Sawada Tsunayoshi ," Yamamoto said coldly.
"I have not yet used my full power."
His voice carried clear dissatisfaction.
"Even a thousand years ago, I was able to cut Yhwach down."
"I can do so again."
Indeed—
The reason so many Shinigami dismissed the Quincy threat was because of Yamamoto's own confidence.
If he himself did not regard the Invisible Empire as a major threat, how could anyone else take it seriously?
This meeting had begun because Tsunayoshi demonstrated strength equal to Yamamoto's.
That strength had given him the authority to speak.
But the final direction of the meeting still depended on Yamamoto.
In essence, this was still a contest between Tsunayoshi and Yamamoto—
Just in a different form.
Isshin had seen through this immediately.
Which was exactly why he had wisely returned to the Human World before the meeting even began.
"Hah."
Tsunayoshi chuckled.
Instead of leaving, he sat back down.
"Commander-General…"
"You don't actually believe you can defeat Yhwach, do you?"
The moment those words were spoken, everyone could feel the temperature in the room rising.
Yamamoto's anger burned hotter and hotter.
"Sawada Tsunayoshi ," Yamamoto said through clenched teeth.
"Do not assume that sparring with me means you could survive a true battle."
"Relax," Tsunayoshi replied casually.
"We're talking about Yhwach, not me."
"Oh, right."
"Commander-General… you haven't forgotten his ability, have you?"
Yamamoto snorted.
How could he forget?
He had replayed that battle countless times in his mind.
"Various types of arrows… Blut techniques… some Quincy formations."
"His swordsmanship was decent as well—caused a bit of trouble."
"But the most troublesome ability was Auswählen."
"Every time I gained the upper hand, he would drain power from his Quincy subordinates and redistribute it to himself."
"You could say most of his own soldiers died because of him."
"If that hadn't happened…"
"…our newly formed original Gotei 13 might not have defeated the Quincy army."
Even now, Yamamoto's words carried a trace of lingering caution.
The Quincy army had been terrifying.
At the time, Soul Society had come dangerously close to catastrophe.
Over the past thousand years, Yamamoto had continued refining his Zanpakutō.
Eventually, he condensed his Bankai into its ultimate form—
Zanka no Tachi.
"So even if the Quincy army returns," Yamamoto declared firmly,
"I will still destroy them."
"The current Gotei 13 is stronger than it was a thousand years ago."
Tsunayoshi nearly laughed.
"Oh? Your confidence comes from Zanka no Tachi…"
"…and these captains' Bankai?"
Yamamoto said nothing.
But the faint movement of his eyebrows in the heat wave revealed his pride.
These powers were the shield he believed protected Soul Society.
Then Tsunayoshi spoke again.
And shattered that pride completely.
"What if I told you…"
"…that Yhwach never fought you at full strength a thousand years ago?"
"Or more accurately—"
"The man fighting you was trying to die."
SLAM!
Yamamoto's palm struck the table.
Flames spread across the surface like branching veins.
"Sawada Tsunayoshi !"
"I respect your strength, but if you continue speaking such nonsense—"
Yamamoto's nose nearly seemed ready to spit fire.
That battle had cost Soul Society dearly.
He would not allow anyone to mock the sacrifices of the past.
"The Almighty."
Tsunayoshi interrupted him calmly.
"You listed all of Yhwach's abilities."
"But you didn't mention The Almighty."
"Compared to arrows or swordsmanship…"
"That ability is his true trump card."
He leaned forward slightly.
"So tell me, Commander-General."
"When you fought him…"
"Did he ever use anything resembling The Almighty?"
Silence fell across the room.
Everyone present understood the meaning of those words.
Omniscience and omnipotence.
Even hearing the name alone hinted at terrifying power.
Finally, Kyōraku Shunsui broke the silence.
"Tsuna-kun… mind telling us how you learned about that ability?"
"Really?" Tsunayoshi replied lazily.
"I don't have any evidence."
"Just treat it as wild speculation."
"If it's speculation from you, Tsuna-kun," Shunsui laughed lightly,
"then it's still a valuable research direction."
Recently, Shunsui and Jūshirō Ukitake had been investigating the Tsunayashiro Clan.
That was why Kūgo Ginjō had not attended the meeting as a representative of the Fullbringers.
During their investigation, they had discovered that the Tsunayashiro family had indeed been conducting large-scale soul experiments.
That alone made Shunsui willing to consider Tsunayoshi's theories.
Tsunayoshi glanced at Shunsui and Ukitake before continuing.
"Quincy possess abilities known as Schrift."
"These are innate talents awakened within their souls."
"You can think of them as something similar to Zanpakutō abilities."
"And The Almighty…"
"…is Yhwach's Schrift."
"As for what it does, the name speaks for itself."
Then he looked directly at Yamamoto.
"So tell me, Commander-General."
"A thousand years ago…"
"You—and the Gotei 13—were weaker than you are now."
"So how exactly did you manage to ambush someone who possessed The Almighty?"
His gaze drifted briefly toward Sasakibe.
After all—
With Sasakibe's abilities, assassinating someone with such power should have been impossible.
"There's only one explanation," Tsunayoshi continued.
"The Almighty was sealed."
"And as for who sealed it…"
He raised a finger and pointed upward.
Those who knew of the Royal Palace immediately understood.
Those who didn't—well, explaining further would be pointless.
Yamamoto, however, thought of someone immediately.
The monk.
Ichibē Hyōsube.
"Assuming that premise is true," Tsunayoshi continued,
"then another question arises."
"Why would a weakened Yhwach attack Soul Society?"
"He couldn't even defeat the Gotei 13."
Tsunayoshi smiled faintly.
"My guess?"
"The condition of that seal was simple."
"He could never use The Almighty while alive."
"So Yhwach invaded Seireitei deliberately."
"Because he wanted to die."
"Die once."
"Break the seal."
"Recover his power."
"And then…"
"After nine days…"
"Take the entire world."
"Sounds terrifying, doesn't it?"
Yamamoto didn't respond immediately.
But hearing this theory made him suddenly recall something strange about that battle.
Several times—
Just as his Flames of the Sword were about to strike Yhwach—
Yhwach had paused for a brief moment.
During that instant, Yamamoto had felt as if his Zanpakutō might shatter.
Fortunately, Ryūjin Jakka had not broken.
And his attack had struck Yhwach as intended.
Thinking about it now…
Perhaps Yhwach had unconsciously tried to activate his power.
But because it was sealed—
He had failed to react in time.
The more Yamamoto analyzed the memory, the clearer the conclusion became.
A thousand years ago…
Yhwach had been holding back.
And the reason Yamamoto had won—
Was simply because Yhwach's true power had been incomplete.
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