The discovery of the Wandenreich, and the confirmation that a large number of Quincy survivors still existed despite being believed extinct, had already become the most serious incident the Soul Society had faced in centuries.
Once the matter reached Central 46, an immediate directive was issued.
The Gotei 13 was ordered to act at full capacity—
search, track, and apprehend all surviving Quincy without delay.
After all, no one could remain calm knowing that an enemy race, once nearly annihilated, had been living for centuries in the shadows beneath the Seireitei, quietly observing everything.
Based on the evidence recovered so far, it was clear that the Quincy had not merely hidden—they had been monitoring the Soul Society for a very long time.
How many secrets had been seen?
How many movements recorded?
No one could say.
And under such circumstances, if the Soul Society wished to preserve its secrets, the only rational response was to eliminate the witnesses entirely.
Yet, reality proved far harsher.
Despite the entire Gotei 13 operating at maximum efficiency, not a single Quincy trace could be found.
No reishi residue.
No shadow distortions.
No spatial anomalies.
Nothing.
If not for the remaining shadow domain and the still-standing remnants of the Quincy palace, some might even have begun to doubt whether the enemy had truly existed at all.
Inside the Eleventh Division barracks, Gosuke Shigure sat quietly, reviewing everything that had happened.
"…Exposing the Wandenreich too early might not have been the best outcome."
Long ago, he had already informed Urahara Kisuke of the strange abnormalities he sensed within the Seireitei's shadows.
Urahara, living up to his reputation, had successfully confirmed the existence of the shadow domain and located its entrance.
But what Gosuke had not expected
Was just how decisively the Quincy would abandon it.
They barely resisted.
After only a brief clash, they vanished completely.
But thinking about it more carefully, the result was not truly surprising.
From the Quincy perspective, they were not ready for war.
Nine hundred years ago, Yhwach had been defeated by Yamamoto Genryūsai and sealed into a state of deathlike slumber.
According to the ancient Quincy prophecy:
• 900 years to recover his heartbeat
• 90 years to regain his consciousness
• 9 years to reclaim his power
At the current point in time, even the first stage had not yet been completed.
Yhwach had not recovered his heartbeat.
Which meant
He had not yet begun actively distributing power.
Although some Quincy still possessed Schrift, they were almost certainly the remnants who had fought alongside Yhwach nine hundred years ago.
Even so, Gosuke Shigure had personally confirmed during the battle in the shadow palace that their power was far weaker than expected.
Not even close to the strength displayed during the Thousand-Year Blood War.
Which led to an unavoidable conclusion.
Either:
• Schrift had natural limits at this stage
Or:
• The strength of Schrift was directly influenced by the condition of its giver—Yhwach himself
Schrift was not power born from nothing.
It was granted through Yhwach's soul distribution ability, a process by which fragments of his soul unlocked and amplified the latent potential of Quincy.
And because that power originated from him
It could also be reclaimed by him.
If Yhwach remained dormant, it was only logical that the power flowing through his subordinates would be incomplete.
Weakened.
Unstable.
Under such conditions, launching an all-out war against the Soul Society would have been suicide.
Thus, Haschwalth's decision to retreat was rational.
He sacrificed:
• A nine-hundred-year-old base
• A perfectly hidden shadow empire
• A palace built with incalculable effort
But in exchange
He preserved the Quincy bloodline.
As long as the Quincy survived, retaliation remained possible.
Many Quincy likely viewed that decision as cowardly.
But from Gosuke Shigure's perspective
Haschwalth had made the correct call.
Without sufficient Schrift bearers, and with weakened elites, a war against the Gotei 13 would have resulted in total annihilation.
And worse
It would have delayed Yhwach's eventual resurrection.
"In Captain Ukitake's words…"
Gosuke exhaled softly.
"We weren't fully prepared either."
Yamamoto's decision to personally lead a small group of top-tier captains into the shadow domain had not been wrong.
It was the safest way to investigate an unknown threat.
The real miscalculation was the speed of discovery.
No one had expected the Quincy to react so quickly or that they existed in such numbers.
Had the full truth been known beforehand, a large-scale Kidō barrier sealing spatial movement could have been deployed around the shadow domain.
It would have been difficult but not impossible.
After all, that space existed within the Seireitei's shadow, not outside the Soul Society.
Gosuke shook his head and smiled faintly.
"There's no such thing as a perfect outcome."
He had done what he could.
The Wandenreich had been exposed a hundred years early.
Their greatest advantage—absolute secrecy was gone.
Even if they rebuilt elsewhere, they could no longer repeat the original strategy of materializing directly inside the Seireitei and bypassing its outer spiritual defenses.
The Sekkiseki barrier and spiritual membrane protecting the Seireitei would not be so easily circumvented again.
In the original timeline, the Shinigami suffered devastating losses precisely because the enemy attacked from within.
This time
That path had been cut off.
"If the next war is still as catastrophic as the original one…"
Gosuke Shigure's eyes hardened slightly.
"…Then that would only mean one thing."
"That the Soul Society wasted an entire century."
"And that would be unforgivable."
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