"Five captains stand guard over five directions. east, west, south, north, and the center.
They are known as the Five Royal Directions.
At the center of their domains lies the true heart of their authority…"
Gosuke Shigure's voice was calm, yet every word carried weight.
"The Soul King Palace."
He did not avoid the subject.
Once the Zero Division had been mentioned, avoiding the Soul King Palace would have been meaningless.
"The Soul King Palace…?"
Hirako Shinji's eyes widened slightly.
"Gosuke," he asked without hiding his curiosity,
"have you actually seen the Soul King?"
The moment the question was asked, several members of the Visored turned their attention fully toward Gosuke Shigure.
Some of them had been in the middle of Hollow training, but after Gosuke Shigure's arrival, they had abandoned it altogether.
What they were hearing now was far more important than training.
Before Gosuke Shigure could respond to Hirako Shinji, another voice cut in.
"Captain Gosuke!"
Sarugaki Hiyori leaned forward impatiently.
"Captain Hikifune
Kirio-san how is she doing in the Zero Division?"
Gosuke Shigure chuckled softly.
"There's no need to rush. I'll answer one at a time."
He first turned his gaze toward Hirako Shinji.
"I understand your curiosity regarding the Soul King," he said evenly.
"But for certain reasons, I cannot speak about the Soul King himself."
No one objected.
The very fact that Gosuke Shigure acknowledged the limitation confirmed that the truth was far more dangerous than they imagined.
Then he looked toward Sarugaki Hiyori.
"As for Hikifune Kirio she is doing very well."
"She has taken her place as the Southern Guardian among the Five of the Zero Division."
Sarugaki Hiyori froze for a moment then broke into a rare, genuine smile.
"Really…?"
"That's great…"
She had never truly understood what promotion to the Zero Division meant.
Even when Hikifune Kirio herself had spoken about it, Hiyori couldn't help but worry.
Now, hearing Gosuke Shigure's confirmation, her heart finally settled.
Gosuke Shigure continued.
"Among the five captains of the Zero Division, there is no formal hierarchy.
However, in terms of seniority…"
His tone became subtly heavier.
"The eldest among them is known as the Monk Who Calls the True Name."
"The oldest Shinigami in existence."
"All names in the world originate from him."
A quiet chill passed through the factory.
"Because he governs names," Gosuke Shigure continued,
"he can see truths that others cannot."
"Over a hundred years ago, he glimpsed a fragment of the future."
"And in that future, the Quincy were seen as the source of a calamity that could destroy the world."
"It was because of this that, one hundred years ago, the Gotei Thirteen carried out the Quincy extermination in the World of the Living."
Gosuke Shigure's gaze sharpened.
"I was one of the executors of that operation."
"At the time, I believed that action had eliminated the Quincy threat."
"But later after the discovery of the spirit subspace…
after witnessing the surviving Quincies with my own eyes…"
"Only then did I realize something terrifying."
"The Quincy foretold in the monk's vision were not the scattered remnants in the World of the Living."
"They were the Quincies hidden within the spirit subspace."
From beginning to end, Gosuke Shigure never spoke the monk's true name.
Not because he feared him
But because names themselves were power.
And even Gosuke Shigure had no intention of invoking something unnecessary.
The Visored were silent.
An ancient Shinigami older than the Soul Society itself.
A being who named all things.
A prophecy of world destruction.
Only the Zero Division could carry such weight.
After a long pause, Yoruichi spoke.
"So that's why, Sensei…
you regard the Quincy as the greatest threat."
"Because of that prophecy?"
Gosuke Shigure nodded.
"Not only because of the Zero Division's warning."
"But because I personally fought the Quincies of the spirit subspace."
"And afterward, I continued investigating the Quincy lineage."
"In the end…"
His voice lowered.
"I confirmed something unbelievable."
This time, Yoruichi did not speak.
Instead, Muguruma Kensei asked, unable to suppress his curiosity.
"What did you find?"
Gosuke Shigure glanced at him briefly.
Then, without embellishment, he spoke the truth.
"Yhwach is not dead."
The air froze.
"Yhwach…?"
Lisa, Hiyori, and several others exchanged confused looks.
They had never heard that name.
Even Muguruma Kensei and Ōtoribashi Rōjūrō
former captains were unfamiliar with it.
Only Hirako Shinji showed faint recognition.
Before anyone could ask further, Urahara Kisuke stepped forward and spoke gravely.
"Yhwach is the progenitor of the Quincy."
"Nine hundred years ago, he led the Quincies in an invasion of the Soul Society."
"At one point, the Soul Society itself nearly fell."
"It was only after Captain-Commander Yamamoto and the original Gotei Thirteen fought a battle soaked in blood…"
"…that Yhwach was finally defeated."
Urahara exhaled slowly.
"To think he's still alive…"
Now everyone understood.
A being who once pushed the Soul Society to the brink of annihilation.
A Quincy king.
Gosuke Shigure continued.
"The Quincies in the spirit subspace avoided direct conflict because Yhwach had not yet fully recovered."
"As the progenitor of all Quincy, he can reclaim the power of every Quincy at will."
"At that time, his incomplete state weakened them."
"That is why they abandoned the spirit subspace."
"But if the day comes when Yhwach is fully restored…"
His gaze swept across everyone present.
"Their power will no longer be suppressed."
"And with the hatred Quincies harbor toward Shinigami…"
Gosuke Shigure's voice turned cold.
"What awaits the three worlds will not be war"
"But annihilation."
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