"If the Royal Palace doesn't work out, then we'll think of a solution ourselves. In the end, relying on others is never as good as relying on ourselves," Rosse made the suggestion.
His proposal was very reasonable. Even Kyoraku Shunsui and Ukitake Jushiro, after hearing it, only felt that Rosse was speaking from Soul Society's perspective. They did not think he was deliberately sowing discord.
And in truth, even if there was some hint of provocation in Rosse's words, Kyoraku Shunsui and the others still felt it was understandable.
They had all witnessed the entire battle. From their perspective, at the very least, Rosse and Tosen Kaname had still swung their blades and charged toward Shutara.
Although those attacks were all futile and were quickly pushed back by the fabric of Shutara's Bankai, at least they had tried.
In comparison, aside from some initial resistance at the beginning, the three members of Squad Zero had spent most of the time merely watching.
According to Nimaiya Oetsu, he had not expected Captain-Commander Yamamoto to lose.
And given Captain-Commander Yamamoto's personality and strength, there had been no need for them to join the battle anyway. They only needed to prevent Shutara from escaping.
But who could have imagined that Shutara would defeat Captain-Commander Yamamoto while appearing almost completely uninjured?
Judging by the spiritual pressure Shutara was emitting at the time, she was still capable of using Bankai one more time.
Although her spiritual pressure no longer supported her fighting at full power, with her strength, once Captain-Commander Yamamoto had fallen, the three members of Squad Zero would have had absolutely no way to deal with her.
After all, the three of them were still bound by the blood oath.
For any one of them to activate Bankai, the other two would have to offer themselves as sacrifices and commit suicide.
If only one person remained, Nimaiya Oetsu could not guarantee they would be able to stop Shutara.
Since that was the case, there had been no need at the time to forcibly keep Shutara at the risk of Seireitei and the Gotei 13 being completely wiped out.
"Let's wait and see. If Squad Zero gives us a clear answer, we'll have Captain Mayuri and Captain Unohana think of a solution," Kyoraku Shunsui's face was filled with melancholy. The fall of the invincible Captain-Commander Yamamoto was bound to stir up countless waves.
Just within Soul Society alone, the deaths of most of the sages had already caused undercurrents to surge in the dark.
"Captain Rosse, during this period we may need to stay by Captain-Commander Yamamoto's side. As for the Gotei 13, we'll need your help keeping an eye on things. I'll have Little Nanao and Senior Sasakibe coordinate with you," Kyoraku Shunsui spoke seriously.
Captain-Commander Yamamoto's fall, without his immediate death, instead made the situation extremely troublesome.
Just because Shutara had not killed Captain-Commander Yamamoto at the time did not mean he was safe now.
Within Soul Society, there were quite a few noble families who wanted Captain-Commander Yamamoto dead, so that the order of Soul Society could revert to the Pre–Gotei 13 era, when the nobles ruled everything.
Older noble families all had several captain-level figures as their foundation.
Those captains might only be around Sui Feng's level in strength, but if left unwatched, they could easily break in and completely kill Captain-Commander Yamamoto.
"No problem. Everyone in the Gotei 13 is very cooperative. Does this count as my good luck, getting to temporarily fill in as acting Captain-Commander?", Rosse smiled as he joked.
But inwardly, he let out a cold laugh.
In his view, the real reason Kyoraku Shunsui stayed here was not, at its root, to guard against the nobles, but rather his distrust of Unohana.
No one knew whether Unohana, the god of slaughter from a thousand years ago, would make a move against the current Captain-Commander Yamamoto.
Unohana had existed for far too long. When she rose to fame, Kyoraku Shunsui and Ukitake Jushiro were not even reishi embryos yet.
The two of them had no confidence in controlling Unohana, yet they absolutely needed her to stabilize Captain-Commander Yamamoto's injuries. So they could only remain in this stalemate.
Of course, Ukitake Jushiro could absolutely spare the effort to serve as acting Captain-Commander.
But his body, bedridden for years, meant his strength could never convince the other captains.
Unless Captain-Commander Yamamoto woke up and personally issued the appointment.
But if it became known that Captain-Commander Yamamoto had lost all his spiritual pressure and might become crippled in the future, whether the other captains would harbor ulterior motives was hard to say.
Under these circumstances, Kyoraku Shunsui chose the least bad option.
Taking the opportunity to test him, pushing him to the front to take on the role of acting Captain-Commander.
Whether he had ambitions or not, once he knew that Captain-Commander Yamamoto might become crippled, he would have to dutifully perform the role of acting Captain-Commander.
After all, if Captain-Commander Yamamoto truly stepped down, then whoever occupied the acting position would have the highest chance of being confirmed.
Naturally, Kyoraku Shunsui was also guarding against him.
To become Captain-Commander, one either needed strength on par with Captain-Commander Yamamoto, or the recognition of most captains or nobles.
In Kyoraku Shunsui's eyes, Rosse clearly met neither condition.
His strength was great, but not so great that he could suppress all the captains working together.
His relationships with other captains and nobles were good, but not better than Kyoraku Shunsui's own relationships with them.
If Captain-Commander Yamamoto truly could not continue and a new Captain-Commander had to be chosen, Kyoraku Shunsui would have a very high chance of beating him out.
And assigning Vice-Captain Ise Nanao and First Division Vice-Captain Sasakibe Chojiro to follow him, while nominally assistance, was in fact a division of authority, ensuring that he could not monopolize all the powers of the Captain-Commander and preemptively bringing the situation under control.
When it came to checks and balances, Kyoraku Shunsui might not compare to Captain-Commander Yamamoto, but he was still quite competent, at least far smarter than the brutes in Rosse's own world.
"Haha! If you do well, Rosse, it's not impossible for you to be confirmed. You've seen the old man's situation. For now, only you can keep the situation stable."
Kyoraku Shunsui smiled, casually tossing out a tempting promise.
He did not trust others to guard Captain-Commander Yamamoto, so he would stay by his side until he woke up.
Once Captain-Commander Yamamoto awakened, even if news of his loss of spiritual pressure spread, most people would not dare act recklessly.
After all, no one knew whether that news was true or false.
The prestige Captain-Commander Yamamoto had accumulated over two thousand years was enough to keep most petty schemers from making a move.
After chatting a bit more, and coordinating with Sasakibe and Ise Nanao who arrived later, Rosse finally left the Fourth Division.
During this time, perhaps to avoid suspicion, or perhaps to express dissatisfaction, Unohana never appeared from start to finish.
However, Rosse could still sense that Unohana had been staying in the tea room next door the entire time.
If he showed even the slightest intent to make a move, Unohana would absolutely be the first to rush in with blade in hand and kill every enemy in front of him.
After leaving the Fourth Division, Rosse looked at the man and woman beside him and said with a smile, "Vice-Captain Ise, Vice-Captain Sasakibe, Seireitei is bound to be unstable these next few days. I'll have to trouble you for your help."
"It's my duty. I'll organize the intelligence for Captain Rosse and deliver it to the Tenth Division for you to make decisions."
Ise Nanao adjusted her glasses and nodded, completely businesslike.
She knew her own captain far too well and understood exactly how she should deal with Rosse.
"Leave the internal matters of the First Division to me. I won't let those old men cause trouble for Captain Rosse," Sasakibe Chojiro nodded as well and gave his assurance.
Almost everyone in the First Division was among the group that most revered Captain-Commander Yamamoto. If they learned that Rosse had become acting Captain-Commander, they would certainly have their complaints.
Before dealing with external threats, one must first secure the internal situation.
The Gotei 13 could no longer withstand turmoil. As one of the few people who had followed Captain-Commander Yamamoto since before the Gotei 13 was founded, Sasakibe Chojiro's words still carried considerable weight.
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