August 3rd, early morning.
Due to the Ryoka invasion, the entire Seireitei had been bustling for a whole day. Logically, it should have been a time of dead silence and well-deserved rest.
However, whether it was the squad members on overnight patrol or the Captains bearing heavy responsibilities, everyone remained in a state of high tension.
Seireitei, First Division Assembly Hall.
A skin-scorching dryness permeated the air. It was the result of Head Captain Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto unintentionally releasing his Spiritual Pressure, influenced by his current mood.
The heavy doors stood wide open, and the flames of the eternal lamps on both sides flickered constantly under the influence of the Spiritual Pressure.
Aside from the Eleventh Division Captain, Kenpachi Zaraki, who was still undergoing treatment and self-training, and the Thirteenth Division Captain, Jushiro Ukitake, who was on sick leave...
...all the Captains of the Gotei 13 were present.
They stood in two rows, their expressions varying, but all eyes were focused on the white-haired and white-bearded old man.
"Everyone."
Head Captain Yamamoto opened his eyes slightly, his gaze bottomless.
"I have convened this meeting overnight because I received emergency reports from multiple parties."
"The severity of the situation has far exceeded the Ryoka invasion itself."
He struck his walking stick heavily against the ground, producing a muffled thud.
"Although the Ryoka's offensive has been halted thanks to the strenuous efforts of the Captains, and most of the intruders have been captured and imprisoned..."
"...the orange-haired boy who is the ringleader remains missing after defeating Captain Zaraki. This is truly concerning."
Head Captain Yamamoto's gaze swept across the crowd, finally landing on the Second Division Captain, Soi Fon.
"Soi Fon."
"Here," Soi Fon replied, quickly bowing her head as she awaited the Head Captain's orders.
"It is impossible for that boy to vanish without a trace within the Seireitei. Mobilize everyone in the Onmitsukido and find him."
"Yes, sir!"
At this point, the Head Captain's gaze shifted slightly, falling upon the Third Division Captain, Gin Ichimaru, who stood opposite Soi Fon.
"Ichimaru."
"Yes, I am right here, Head Captain."
Gin Ichimaru kept his hands tucked inside his sleeves, his fox-like face still bearing that elusive, unreadable smile.
"I order you to lead the Third Division to assist Captain Soi Fon. Conduct a joint search throughout the Seireitei. You must drag that ringleader out before the execution at the Sokyoku begins!"
"Oh my, what a strict mission," Gin Ichimaru said with a chuckle, his eyes narrowing as he turned to look at the stern-faced Soi Fon. "Then I look forward to working with you, Captain Soi Fon. Our Third Division is quite fragile, you see. We'll have to rely on the esteemed members of the Onmitsukido for such grueling work."
Soi Fon shot him a cold glare, having no intention of entertaining the glib man.
She bowed respectfully to the Head Captain. "The Second Division will not fail you."
Head Captain Yamamoto could see the discord between the two, but he ignored it and continued, "The second matter."
The Head Captain's gaze turned to Mayuri Kurotsuchi, who stood at the end of the line.
"It has been reported that during the chaos of the Ryoka invasion, the Department of Research and Development was infiltrated by an unidentified individual. Mayuri, report the situation."
Mayuri Kurotsuchi stepped out of the formation, his black-and-white painted face practically screaming the word 'fury'.
"Hmph, a bunch of arrogant rats who don't know their place."
"Yesterday afternoon, my special laboratory was invaded by the Ryoka, and they destroyed a precious experimental subject I was in the middle of tuning..."
At this point, Mayuri suddenly rolled his eyes, staring fixedly at Sosuke Aizen standing opposite him.
"Speaking of which, Captain Aizen," Mayuri's tone became sharp and eccentric. "It truly is a pity, isn't it? That was the result of years of our combined painstaking research."
"The destruction of Nemuri Hachigo is not just my loss, but yours as well."
"Perhaps you could help me analyze this? What was their objective?"
Aizen maintained his gentle and refined demeanor, as if the destruction Mayuri just mentioned had absolutely nothing to do with him.
He simply pushed up his glasses slightly, his face full of regret. "That is truly a pity, Captain Kurotsuchi."
"To think they would be so ruthless as to not even spare such a place. Perhaps it was to create more chaos and draw our attention."
"However, please rest assured, Captain Kurotsuchi," Aizen said with a faint smile. "As long as the core theory remains, we will always have the chance to start over."
"Start over? Hehehe..." Mayuri let out a spine-chilling, low chuckle.
He stared intensely at Aizen's hypocritical face, sneering repeatedly in his heart.
'Keep pretending. Just keep pretending.'
'From the very beginning, when I designed the Nemuri Hachigo experimental project, aside from genuinely wanting to optimize the experiment, my other goal was to observe Aizen's reaction.'
'It's just that he has been so incredibly diligent all these years. It looked as if he truly intended to work on the project with me, which left me quite baffled.'
'However, from start to finish, I intentionally left flaws in Nemuri Hachigo's laboratory.'
'I just wanted to see what grand scheme this Aizen—the man Kisuke Urahara is so wary of—was plotting, and what kind of "backdoor" he would leave in this experimental subject.'
'The situation turned out exactly as I expected.'
The moment that thief entered the laboratory, she was already captured by Mayuri's surveillance systems.
He had already confirmed that the intruder was Nichika Ubuyashiki of the Fourth Division, someone well-acquainted with Aizen.
The series of disturbances she triggered were also entirely under Mayuri's monitoring.
What he couldn't understand, however, was why Aizen had gone to such great lengths, only for his ultimate goal to be...
'The King's Seal?'
That was a clue regarding the Soul King's secret treasure, which Mayuri had expended considerable effort to restore from the abandoned archives of the Tsunayashiro Family.
'Though it's called a secret treasure, to me, it's practically worthless.'
The so-called King's Seal could be considered a type of amalgamation of the Soul King's fragments.
Some said The King's Seal possessed spatial manipulation abilities capable of transferring any event to another dimension.
Others said it held the power to pause, accelerate, or even reverse time.
In extreme cases, it could supposedly even interfere with the existence of spiritual bodies, reversing life and death.
It sounded miraculous, but no one had ever verified it, and Mayuri was not particularly interested in it either.
It wasn't that he lacked curiosity about this power, but rather that every hundred years, the noble families would change the storage location of The King's Seal.
If it were ever discovered stolen, the entire Seireitei would be thrown into an uproar.
'I finally managed to get out of the Maggot's Nest and can now conduct my favorite experiments without restraint. Why would I risk all that for something that might not even be real?'
'Unless I plan to betray the Soul Society, holding onto such a troublesome item would only ruin everything else I try to do.'
'So, Aizen, what exactly are you trying to do?'
'Did you go to all this trouble just to find the legendary King's Seal?'
Mayuri was truly fixated on this—so fixated that he almost wanted to interrogate him right there in public...
"Enough."
Head Captain Yamamoto interrupted the eerie atmosphere between the two.
He did not care about Nemuri Hachigo or Android 18; to him, it was just another one of Mayuri's many insane experiments.
"Since it was a security flaw in the Department of Research and Development and it did not cause any greater losses, Mayuri, you will repair it yourself."
"Now, onto the third matter."
At this, Head Captain Yamamoto's expression darkened.
The already oppressive Spiritual Pressure in the room now felt like a massive, erupting volcano, bearing down so heavily that all the Captains present found it difficult to breathe.
"This is the primary reason I have summoned you all tonight."
"Not long ago, in the lowest level of the Central Great Underground Prison, Muken."
"A prison break occurred."