Chapter 670 Don't Cry Yet, I Haven't Told You Your Wife Was Captured

'Damn it! There were more?!'

'Just how many fronts had those Hollows attacked simultaneously tonight?'

Standing among the crowd, Tosen was biting his lip hard, the muscles beneath his goggles twitching violently.

'Hold it in! Can't laugh yet!'

His enemy, Tsunayashiro Tokinada, was a high-ranking member of the Tsunayashiro Clan and the murderer of his close friend.

But he had never been able to avenge her.

Now that the Tsunayashiro Clan had been destroyed, he was naturally the happiest person.

His only regret was that he hadn't done it himself.

Yamamoto's hands were trembling slightly.

He wished he could open a Senkaimon and rush to Hueco Mundo himself, to skin Makoto and his little brats alive.

But he knew he had to stay in the Seireitei to maintain order.

Once again, he forced his anger back down and asked Ginrei through gritted teeth, "Are there any other survivors of the Tsunayashiro Clan?"

Kuchiki Ginrei bowed slightly. "There are three survivors, including Tsunayashiro Ishida's second son, Tsunayashiro Tokinada."

Hearing this, Tosen, who had been cheering inwardly just a moment ago, was no longer smiling.

The gratitude he had briefly felt toward Makoto turned into suppressed fury.

'Damn it! What the hell were those Hollows doing?!'

'They had killed off eighty percent of the Tsunayashiro Clan, but why did they leave the one most deserving of death?'

Hearing this, Yamamoto Genryusai made a decision without much thought: "Then he shall succeed as head of the Tsunayashiro Clan."

Hearing this, Tosen nearly fainted from rage.

Tsunayashiro Tokinada, as a second son, hadn't been eligible to inherit the headship under the Four Great Noble Families' succession laws.

But by pulling this off, Makoto's group had actually elevated that murderer to the position of the Tsunayashiro Clan's formal head.

'Were these people deliberately going against me?!'

Then, Yamamoto Genryusai made an announcement.

"What happened today will be classified as the highest-level secret of the Seireitei. No one is to reveal it to outsiders."

Everyone remained silent. No one objected.

They all understood.

If the lower-ranked members learned that the enemy possessed such power, it would cause great panic.

And right now, the Seireitei, even the entire Soul Society, couldn't afford any more turmoil.

Just then, Kyoraku adjusted the brim of his conical hat, stepped forward, and suggested, "Hey, Old Man Yama, how about talking to Central 46 about releasing Urahara Kisuke and Tsukabishi Tessai?"

Although these two were currently the prime suspects in the Hollowfication Incident, in terms of strength, they were definitely qualified to fill the current combat power gaps.

In the future Thousand-Year Blood War, to compensate for the power disparity between friend and foe, Kyoraku had dared to release even Aizen from the Muken. Let alone Kisuke and Tessai, who were still only suspects without any concrete evidence.

Yamamoto was silent for a while. Ryujin Jakka had already reverted to its cane form. After thinking it over, he replied, "I'll discuss this with Central 46."

The power balance between the Captain-Commander and Central 46 was roughly fifty-fifty.

This wasn't surprising. After all, Central 46 itself was a supervisory body created by Yamamoto after establishing the Seireitei, formed by voluntarily giving up a portion of his authority.

The main reason was that Yamamoto feared his own power would become too great, leading to an imbalance in the judicial and administrative systems.

In that regard, Yamamoto was indeed a qualified leader.

Unlike leaders like Hiruzen or the Five Elders, who would just proclaim themselves emperors.

Because of Makoto's group's forceful intervention, the trial against Kisuke and Tessai was urgently suspended.

The two were temporarily held in the third level of the Central Great Underground Prison, [Shugo].

For reference, in the original work, after his defeat, Aizen had been held on the eighth level, [Muken].

After directing his subordinates to clean up the battlefield and tally the casualties, Yamamoto himself first arrived at the Central Underground Conference Hall.

Everyone's expressions were grim.

Yamamoto and Central 46 engaged in a closed-door negotiation lasting several hours over the handling of Kisuke and Tessai. He proposed temporarily releasing the two, with his own personnel under 24-hour surveillance.

The Seireitei urgently needed Captain-level combat power. It would be a waste to keep two capable fighters locked up.

Although Central 46's members were all old-fashioned nobles, after learning of the Gotei 13's current remaining combat power, they also felt that releasing Kisuke and Tessai was an unavoidable option.

But immediately, other Central 46's members voiced objections.

One councilor asked, "Captain-Commander Yamamoto, if Urahara Kisuke is released, who will take responsibility for the Hollowfication incident and the Tsunayashiro Clan massacre?"

His question hit the heart of the problem. Kisuke hadn't been imprisoned just because he was suspected of wrongdoing... more importantly, someone needed to take the fall.

Hearing this, Yamamoto's expression subtly changed.

He had been too hasty just now, thinking only of how to replenish the Seireitei's combat power, and had completely overlooked this aspect.

The opposing councilor, seeing his hesitation, pressed harder, "The situation has escalated this far. Someone must bear the responsibility. Surely you don't expect the Captain-Commander himself to take the blame?"

Hearing this, the old man also fell silent.

He wasn't a politician like Hiruzen who would package himself as a pure kind old man. Otherwise, he wouldn't have voluntarily given up his power to establish Central 46, binding his own hands.

And his refusal to accept Inoue Orihime's healing after the future Karakura Town battle also showed this thousand-year-strongest Shinigami's upright character.

In his view, involving a human like Orihime in the conflict between Shinigami was itself a disgrace.

A leader with strong self-respect would normally step up and take the blame at a time like this.

But the problem was, at this critical moment, if the Captain-Commander stepped forward to confess, how would the lower ranks hold steady?

That left only one solution: cut off the tail to save the body.

Whether Kisuke had actually done it or not, this blame had to be pinned on him.

After a long silence, Yamamoto Genryusai asked Central 46, "Has that Urahara kid confessed?"

A Central 46 councilor replied, "He insists it was 5th Division's Lieutenant, Aizen Sosuke."

"What?"

Old man Yamamoto's brow shot up sharply.

The councilor continued, his tone dripping with undisguised contempt: "Pure nonsense."

Another elderly female councilor added, "We've already investigated. Last night, Lieutenant Aizen spent the entire night at the 5th Division's barracks handling division affairs, never once leaving the Seireitei. Multiple division members can testify to this. Clearly, Urahara Kisuke blamed the wrong person."

Yamamoto's brow furrowed deeper and deeper.

He felt something was deeply wrong with this whole affair.

After a long while, Yamamoto opened his mouth to say something more.

But Central 46 had already issued a dismissal order, telling Yamamoto to return and reorganize the Gotei 13, while they would handle Kisuke's matter entirely.

Yamamoto stood at the meeting hall's entrance for a few seconds of silence, then turned and left without another word.

Whether Kisuke had done it or not, he was definitely going to take the blame.

A few days later, Central 46 reconvened the final trial against Kisuke and Tessai.

The verdict was announced to a small circle within the Seireitei: Tessai was sentenced to the third level of the Central Great Underground Prison, [Shugo], for a thousand years.

Kisuke was sentenced to the sixth level, [Ennetsu], for five thousand years.

When he heard that Aizen had spent the entire night at the 5th Division's barracks, Kisuke knew he had been thoroughly outplayed by Aizen.

No matter how much he protested, it was useless.

But just before being escorted into the underground prison by the executioners, Kisuke braced his cuffed hands against the cell door frame and pleaded with the Central 46 judge, "You can lock me up, but please let me treat Hirako and the others. Their bodies are being eroded by Hollowfication. If we don't intervene in time—"

Shinji and the others, after being framed by Aizen and their bodies eroded by Hollowfication, had already been on the verge of life and death.

Now several more days had passed. Kisuke didn't dare imagine how much worse their condition had become.

But the executioner responsible for escorting Kisuke just lowered his head and said in a reluctant tone, "I'm sorry, Captain Urahara. Captain Hirako and the others... have already—"

The executioner didn't finish the sentence, but Kisuke had already heard the answer in his tone.

Instantly, Kisuke's tears burst forth. His shoulders trembled slightly. Finally, he squeezed out a name: "Damn it... Aizen..."

If the executioner had also told him that Yoruichi had been captured and taken to Hueco Mundo by Makoto, who knew how much more he would have cried.