After some very frank negotiation, they eventually settled on five shares: two for the Gotei 13, with the Kuchiki, Shihōin, and Shiba Clans each receiving one.
Control of the Great Spirit Book Gallery would also be transferred directly to the Gotei 13.
Once the agreement was finalized, Kazuma waved toward the door.
"Go wait in the meeting hall. I'll join you shortly."
Then he looked at Unohana. "Unohana, stay."
The others filed out, leaving the two of them alone.
Unohana regarded him for a moment before her smile sharpened.
"So? You disappear for a while and come back weakened?" Her eyes narrowed slightly. "Can you still fight? And what exactly do you need me to do?"
Kazuma gave a helpless laugh. "Of course you noticed."
The fight with the four founders had cost him most of his accumulated immortal power, and he was nowhere near fully recovered.
More importantly, Yhwach was still hidden somewhere in the shadows of the Seireitei.
Moving openly against the Tsunayashiro Clan would inevitably create unrest, and Kazuma needed to remain at headquarters in case someone tried to take advantage of the chaos.
That meant someone else would have to lead the operation.
Kazuma looked at Unohana, and a faint grin appeared on his face.
"So tell me. Can you still hold a sword?"
Unohana blinked, then smiled—not her usual soft, vaguely unsettling smile, but something bright and fierce.
"What do you think?" Her eyes sharpened as a trace of her old killing intent slipped into the room.
"I'm the first Kenpachi."
Kazuma grinned. "Good. But I'm not sending you out like this. First, you're getting a buff."
"A… buff?" Unohana tilted her head, clearly having no idea what ridiculous thing Kazuma was about to do now.
Kazuma opened his Hokushin Ryōiki, and the manifestation of Hokushin Raitei rose behind him as he repeated the same process he had already performed on the other original captains.
In truth, he had decided long ago which star power suited Unohana best.
The Northern Dipper governed death, while the Southern Dipper governed life.
For Unohana, one of the greatest masters of Kaidō in Soul Society, the power of Nanto Rokusei, the Six Stars of the Southern Dipper, was an obvious fit.
At the same time, within that power lay Shichisatsusei, the Seven Killings Star, whose overwhelming killing nature suited the first Kenpachi just as perfectly.
Kazuma could barely suppress his grin.
Unohana Retsu, the first Kenpachi, empowered by the Southern Dipper.
The Tsunayashiro Clan was going to have a very bad day.
Unohana closed her eyes as the new power entered her body, and almost immediately, color rose into her cheeks.
She had been waiting for this.
Ever since learning that the other original captains had received Kazuma's star power, she had watched their strength climb one after another.
Genryūsai had transformed, Batsu'unsai had grown vastly stronger, and Unohana had simply waited.
And waited.
But Kazuma never brought it up!
Her pride would never allow her to ask, but that didn't mean she wanted the power any less.
Now, at last, it was hers.
The Southern Dipper's power surged through her, warm and potent, flowing through every part of her body as her reiatsu rose with it.
The pressure continued climbing until it finally crossed into the threshold of a transcendent.
Unohana opened her eyes.
The atmosphere inside the office had changed completely.
"So this is the power Genryūsai and the others received…"
Then she laughed.
"Hahahahaha!"
Her excitement was impossible to hide, and her smile widened into something far more suited to the first Kenpachi.
"With this kind of strength, I'll say it right now—forget one or two opponents. I'll take ten at once. Let them come. We'll see who walks away alive."
"..."
"Hahaha! Then I'll leave the Tsunayashiro Clan to you. Come on—the others are still waiting in the meeting hall."
Kazuma couldn't have been more pleased.
The Gotei 13 was stronger than it had ever been; between the captains he had empowered and the original captains he had brought back, even Yhwach—or the unknown god working behind the noble founders—would have to think twice before challenging them head-on.
"Leave it to me," Unohana replied with effortless confidence, as though wiping out the Tsunayashiro Clan were little more than an afternoon errand.
The two soon reached the First Division meeting hall, and the moment they entered, the chatter stopped.
Every captain stared at Unohana.
Something about her had changed.
Her steps were measured and assured, but the pressure behind them was impossible to miss.
The gentle, approachable captain everyone knew seemed to have vanished, replaced by something sharper—a drawn blade that no longer bothered hiding its edge.
"Captain…?"
Kotetsu Isane stared at her in disbelief.
Unohana smiled. "What's wrong, Isane? Don't you recognize me?"
The smile was familiar.
The chill behind it was not.
Her gaze swept across the room before settling briefly on Shunsui and Ukitake.
Shunsui murmured, "So the first Kenpachi is back…"
Ukitake nodded quietly.
Several nearby officers froze.
First Kenpachi?
Unohana?
Those were two things most of them had never imagined hearing in the same sentence.
Captain Unohana—the soft-spoken healer who had led the Fourth Division for as long as anyone could remember—was that legendary first Kenpachi?
Surely there had to be some mistake.
Kazuma stepped into place beside her.
The time for questions would come later; for the Tsunayashiro Clan, the clock had already started ticking.
"Silence."
Kazuma struck the floor with the end of his Zanpakutō, and the room immediately settled.
For the first time, he understood why Yamamoto had always thumped his staff before meetings.
Without it, everyone just kept talking.
How the hell was anyone supposed to run a meeting like that?
Kazuma cleared his throat. "The Tsunayashiro Clan has been working to undermine the stability of the Seireitei and the Gotei 13. After reviewing the evidence and consulting the heads of the other Great Noble Clans, I've made my decision."
His expression hardened.
"The Tsunayashiro Clan will be dismantled completely."
The hall erupted.
Most of the captains and lieutenants had known nothing about the investigation, and Kazuma wasn't talking about disciplining a handful of nobles.
He intended to destroy one of Soul Society's oldest and most powerful families.
Worse—or perhaps more tellingly—the other Great Noble Clans had already agreed.
Even Yamamoto had rarely moved this aggressively against the nobility.
Still, no one openly objected.
Kazuma had already given them the reason: the Tsunayashiro were deliberately destabilizing the Seireitei and undermining the Gotei 13. For a military organization, that went well beyond ordinary political maneuvering, and anyone choosing this moment to defend them would immediately invite questions about where their own loyalties lay.
Kazuma continued. "Here are your assignments."
"Seventh Division Captain Kuchiki Kōga and Tenth Division Captain Hitsugaya Tōshirō will remain inside the Seireitei with their divisions and maintain order."
"Second Division Captain Suì-Fēng and Shihōin Yoruichi will lead the Onmitsukidō in surrounding the Tsunayashiro estate. Remove their outer sentries before the main assault and make sure no one escapes."
"Fourth Division Lieutenant Kotetsu Isane will command the medical teams and prepare to receive casualties."
"Eleventh Division Lieutenant Kusajishi Yachiru will take the entire Eleventh Division into the main assault against the Tsunayashiro Shinigami."
"Twelfth Division Lieutenant Kurotsuchi Nemu will oversee the Department of Research and Development. Cut every line of communication connected to the Tsunayashiro estate and provide technical support throughout the operation."
"Thirteenth Division Captain Ukitake Jūshirō, First Division Lieutenant Kuchiki Rukia, and Eighth Division Lieutenant Ise Nanao will temporarily take command of the Kidō Corps. Once the estate is surrounded, establish a barrier around the battlefield and prevent the fighting from spreading."
"Ninth Division Lieutenant Hisagi Shūhei and Third Division Lieutenant Kira Izuru will keep their divisions ready as combat reserves and support the Eleventh Division as needed."
Kazuma's gaze moved across the captains.
"Sixth Division Captain Kuchiki Byakuya, Eighth Division Captain Kyōraku Shunsui, Ninth Division Captain Komamura Sajin, Eleventh Division Captain Zaraki Kenpachi, and Twelfth Division Captain Kurotsuchi Mayuri will support Fourth Division Captain Unohana Retsu in eliminating the Tsunayashiro Clan's strongest combatants."
"As for me, I'll remain at First Division headquarters. First Division Lieutenant Iba Tetsuzaemon and Fifth Division Lieutenant Hinamori Momo will stay here with me."
Finally, Kazuma looked toward Unohana.
"Captain Unohana will have full command of the operation in the field."
He had mobilized virtually the entire Gotei 13.
The Tsunayashiro Clan warranted that kind of force, but the operation served another purpose as well.
Yhwach and the Quincy army hidden in the shadows of the Seireitei would eventually return.
Kazuma intended to use this battle as a live exercise—a chance to see how the current Gotei 13 performed when every division had to operate together under real combat conditions.
Unohana regarded him for a moment. "Captain-Commander, what happens if members of the Tsunayashiro Clan surrender?"
She wanted to know exactly what kind of campaign he was ordering.
Kazuma fell silent for a moment before his expression turned cold.
"No survivors."
The words landed heavily across the room.
He had already decided that once he moved against the Tsunayashiro, he would remove the threat completely.
Half measures would only leave people behind to seek revenge later, and while most survivors might amount to little more than minor nuisances, enough nuisances could still become a problem.
Kazuma looked at Unohana. "The front line is yours."
Unohana smiled. "Easy enough."
She turned toward the assembled captains. "You stay here, have a drink, and wait for the report."
Kazuma's decision didn't surprise her in the slightest.
They were members of the original Gotei 13, after all.
Mercy had never exactly been what they were famous for.