Creak!
Just as the captains' meeting room had fallen into an eerie silence over the matter of the judge, the heavy wooden doors were once again shoved open violently.
Shiba Kukaku, dressed in a black shihakusho, stood at the doorway like a javelin, appearing in everyone's line of sight.
"Captain-Commander! Captains! I have an urgent matter to report."
Kukaku's voice was loud and forceful, completely different from Chojiro Sasakibe's earlier flustered state. She did not kneel on one knee to salute, but stood proudly upright, sharp light flashing in her eyes.
"What is it?"
Captain-Commander Yamamoto's half-closed, tiger-like eyes opened again, his brows knitting even tighter.
His gaze swept, seemingly unintentionally, over Rosse below, who looked calm and composed, a trace of suspicion flashing through the murky depths of his eyes.
The execution news from Central 46 had just been reported, and immediately after, Shiba Kukaku barged in with an urgent report. How could there be such a coincidence in this world?
Even with his thousand years of experience, he could not help but connect the two matters, suspecting that Rosse was stirring things up.
"Former Second Division captain and current most-wanted criminal of Soul Society, Shihoin Yoruichi, forcibly broke into the Second Division headquarters one hour ago. After seriously injuring several members, she forcibly abducted the criminal Inoue Orihime. Due to my insufficient strength, I failed to stop her. I have come to plead guilty and request reinforcements."
Kukaku's expression did not change as she altered "breaking into the Shiba residence" into "Second Division headquarters," and directly slapped the label of a violent prison break onto Yoruichi.
Of course, strictly speaking, Shihoin Yoruichi's actions were not much different from a prison break anyway.
It was just that Inoue Orihime was not being held in the Second Division's detention cells, and there had been no actual fighting between the two sides.
But the Second Division, just like the Tenth Division, now belonged entirely to Rosse. It was whatever they said it was.
As for where exactly Yoruichi had rescued the person from, that was not important at all.
As long as it was confirmed that Shihoin Yoruichi was the one who acted, that reason alone was lethal enough.
"Shihoin..."
Hearing that surname, Captain-Commander Yamamoto's brows nearly twisted into "lll". The suspicion in his gaze toward Rosse grew even heavier.
The Shihoin family's judge had just been about to announce Rukia's execution, and their former head suddenly jumped out to break someone out of prison.
Too coincidental.
So coincidental it was like a carefully scripted play, meant to make everyone think that the Shihoin family was launching a full-scale war against Rosse.
But the problem was, Captain-Commander Yamamoto knew very clearly that he himself had done nothing, and had certainly not instructed the Shihoin family to do this.
This matter was either connected to Aizen, or it was something Rosse had planned in secret.
In Yamamoto's heart, though, he leaned more toward Aizen.
Yet with a thousand years of composure, he did not even glance out of the corner of his eye toward Aizen's direction, instead focusing solely on Rosse.
"Captain Kyoraku."
Just as the Captain-Commander was pondering, Rosse completely ignored the pressure from above. He turned slightly, smiling but not quite smiling, and looked at Kyoraku Shunsui.
"Regarding this matter, I'd like you to give me a reasonable explanation."
"What explanation am I supposed to give you?"
Kyoraku Shunsui pressed down the brim of his straw hat, his tone carrying a hint of helplessness and confusion.
"I'm not the one who rescued anyone. Does this have to be pinned on me too?"
"According to technical intelligence provided by the Twelfth Division, some time ago you used your position to secretly travel to the human world, and had close contact with the group led by the wanted criminal Urahara Kisuke," Rosse stated this calmly, then turned his head toward Mayuri Kurotsuchi, who wore a strange grin.
"Kehehehe! I can testify to that."
Mayuri Kurotsuchi spread his mouth into a grin, flashing a full set of gold teeth as he excitedly pulled out a data tablet from his pocket.
"The Research and Development Institute kept complete spiritual pressure monitoring records. Captain Kyoraku, your movements were quite active."
He wished that Kyoraku and his people would get lost sooner rather than later, especially those high-and-mighty yet endlessly troublesome nobles.
If a few more of them died and became experimental material for him, that would be simply delightful.
"Well? Captain Kyoraku, do you still want to argue?"
Rosse pressed forward step by step, his gaze sharp as a blade.
Everyone knew that Urahara Kisuke and Shihoin Yoruichi were extremely close, and that Inoue Orihime was the human who had just been taken from the Eighth Division yesterday. The logic chain could not have been clearer.
Kyoraku Shunsui colluded with Urahara Kisuke. Urahara Kisuke instructed Shihoin Yoruichi to break someone out.
At this moment, everyone's gaze became subtle.
Looking at the serious-faced Kyoraku Shunsui, Rosse laughed inwardly.
He naturally knew all about Kyoraku going to the human world. Back then, he had even deliberately dragged Mayuri in to keep evidence, precisely so he could trip up this future Captain-Commander at certain moments.
Who would have thought that this idle, seemingly useless move would turn into such an interesting play today?
Of course, he also knew that this kind of accusation would have no real effect on Kyoraku Shunsui. It was merely paying him back for the verbal advantage he had just taken.
"I don't want to argue anything. If someone wants to accuse you, why worry about lacking words," Kyoraku Shunsui sighed and said frankly.
"This matter has nothing to do with me, and I knew nothing about it."
"Besides," His tone shifted, his eyes turning sharp, "If we're talking about cooperation, Captain Rosse, weren't you previously allied with the Shihoin family as well? Not long ago I even heard that you personally stepped in to clarify Captain Sui Feng's situation, as a gesture of goodwill toward the Shihoin family."
"That is indeed the case."
Rosse nodded openly, admitting it without hesitation. Then a look of heartfelt pain appeared on his face, the dagger finally revealed.
"But judging from the results, it's clear that I trusted the wrong people. The Shihoin family put on one face in public and another behind the scenes. On one hand they showed goodwill toward me, and on the other they secretly colluded with wanted criminals to break someone out, and even intended to deliver a fatal blow to our Gotei 13 members through Central 46."
His voice suddenly turned cold, echoing throughout the meeting room.
"Therefore, I propose this! In accordance with the Seireitei Internal Management Regulations, to impose military sanctions on the Shihoin family! The charge is: colluding with wanted criminals and armed interference with the judicial fairness of the Gotei 13!"
"Are you insane?"
Kyoraku Shunsui abruptly raised his head, staring at Rosse in disbelief.
"You want to wipe out the entire Shihoin family? That's one of the Five Great Noble Houses!"
Only at this moment did he fully realize how deep Rosse's layout truly was.
Among the seemingly tedious internal regulations Rosse had issued over the years, there was one inconspicuous rule: The Gotei 13 and Central 46 must not interfere with each other. If one side violates this and interferes, the other side has the right to initiate self-defense countermeasures and sanctions.
In the Rukia incident, this rule had once been the shackles binding the Gotei 13.
Kyoraku Shunsui had once thought Rosse was too young, that he had let those old nobles exploit a loophole.
Who could have imagined that this was a foreshadowing Rosse had planted long ago?
He intended to use Yoruichi's prison break as a pretext to uproot the entire Shihoin family in one fell swoop, openly and legitimately.
If he really succeeded, not only would the Shihoin family be drenched in blood, but these thunderous methods alone would be enough to intimidate the entire Seireitei.
As for the proposal to execute Rukia, those nobles probably would not dare mention another word of it.
After all, a family was wiped out the moment a proposal was raised. No one's neck was that hard.
By then, those bullies who feared the strong and preyed on the weak would probably rush to propose that Rukia was innocent.
Most critically, this kind of open scheme left Kyoraku Shunsui realizing that he had no way to stop it.
Because everyone was fighting within the rules.
Rosse was not using force to seize power. He was counterattacking in a reasonable and lawful way.
It was the Shihoin family that initiated the proposal first, and it was the Shihoin family that launched the prison break. Rosse was merely exercising the Gotei 13's right to impose sanctions.
Once they broke the rules first in order to protect the Shihoin family, who knew what even more extreme actions Rosse might take?
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