Kisuke Urahara stood up, his gaze fixed on the eyeball that still seemed to be twitching. His expression was grave. "When you use Spiritual Energy to activate this blade, these tentacles pierce your skin and burrow into your spiritual pathways and blood vessels."
"It frantically drains the user's life force, converting it into a much more violent, unstable energy output."
"This conversion efficiency... allows a low-level, talentless Soul Reaper squad member to briefly erupt with combat power rivaling a Seated Officer."
"But the price is the user's life."
Urahara sighed and tucked his folding fan into his robes. "This overexertion is irreversible."
"Once a Bakkoto is used, the user's soul becomes polluted... The moment their life force is drained dry, they will burn their soul to death, losing even the chance at reincarnation."
"Because of this, the forging of Bakkoto was banned a long time ago. To think that now..."
"I see..." Asuka finally understood where the sense of dissonance he felt from the blade earlier came from.
"Asuka, do you understand the severity of the situation now?"
Urahara tossed the remains of the Bakkoto onto the ground. "These four assassins are nothing more than the vanguard sent by Gyokaku Kumoi."
"I have a rough guess. The Tsunayashiro Family spent a fortune to buy out the Soul Society's entire quota of Spirit-Sealing Sand for the next ten years... It must be for forging Bakkoto."
"With the Tsunayashiro Family covering for him, how many of these Bakkoto do you think... Gyokaku Kumoi can forge?"
"Forty? Four hundred? Or four thousand?"
Asuka's breath hitched.
Four thousand suicide soldiers with the combat power of Seated Officers?
Even if there were only a few hundred high-ranking Seated Officers artificially created through such wicked means, charging forward fearlessly like a swarm of bees...
Even a force as mighty as the Gotei 13 would absolutely pay a devastating price if they encountered such an army unprepared!
"You two... what if the ones wielding these Bakkoto aren't those talentless, ordinary squad members?"
"Manager Urahara, you mean..." Shinobu Kocho's heart skipped a beat.
"The Soul Society has never lacked geniuses," Urahara said coldly. "Within those massive aristocratic systems, there are many powerful Soul Reapers hidden in the shadows—whether due to bloodline, political stance, or simply because they disdain being bound by the rules of the Gotei 13."
"Among them, some already possess strength rivaling a Captain."
"What if Gyokaku Kumoi handed these Bakkoto over to these already formidable noble private soldiers?"
Hearing Urahara's words, Shinobu covered her mouth in shock, her purple eyes filled with horror.
Urahara didn't continue, but the answer was already self-evident.
Captain-level!
A mass-produced private army with Captain-level destructive power?!
"That's impossible!"
Kenryu, who had emerged from the Urahara Shop at some unknown point, retorted in horror. "How could Captain-level combat power be mass-produced by such crooked methods! If that were really possible, the Gotei 13 would have been overthrown long ago!"
"In the past, it was indeed impossible."
Urahara glanced at Kenryu, a trace of pity in his eyes. "Because back then, Genryusai Yamamoto was an insurmountable mountain suppressing everything."
"Any conspiracy attempting to subvert the Seireitei was nothing but a joke in the face of Ryujin Jakka."
"But now..."
Urahara looked up at the pitch-black sky.
"Asuka, my boy, I believe this is the true purpose of their alliance."
"They don't care about the threat of Aizen at all... What they want is to seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to completely overthrow the order forged under Captain-Commander Yamamoto's might!"
"They want to return to that dark era with no laws, no restraints, where only the nobles stood high above... the era of One King and Five Dukes!"
"If we don't stop them soon..."
"The Seireitei will erupt into an unimaginably brutal civil war of unprecedented scale!"
"When that time comes, it won't just be the Soul Reapers of the Gotei 13 and the countless innocent souls of the entire Rukongai..."
"I'm afraid even the World of the Living will be swallowed by the flames of war and turned into a purgatory!"
A deathly silence shrouded the dim street.
Kenryu had completely collapsed to the ground, his eyes filled with despair.
They originally thought this was just an internal power struggle within the family, never expecting that the Kasumioji Family could become the fuse to destroy the entire Soul Society.
Shinobu bit her lower lip tightly, the cozy little courtyard of the Ubuyashiki estate flashing through her mind.
If war really broke out, if those suicide soldiers wielding evil weapons charged into the Rukongai...
What kind of slaughter would those unarmed wandering souls—the family she had finally reunited with—face?
Shinobu subconsciously reached out and tightly gripped Asuka's sleeve.
Asuka didn't speak.
Those black eyes, which had softened slightly after spending a few peaceful days in the World of the Living, were now covered in a layer of frost once again.
Civil war? The destruction of the Gotei 13?
To be honest, Asuka still felt no real connection to these grand concepts. Even if the entire Gotei 13 were completely overhauled tomorrow, he wouldn't even blink.
But he also understood that once this massive fire was ignited, it wouldn't be picky about its prey.
He had finally found a sanctuary where he could rest in this riddled, broken world.
And now, a bunch of cowardly rats hiding in the shadows, driven by their ridiculous lust for power, were trying to bring the fire to his doorstep...
Trying to destroy the peace of the people around him?
Truly unforgivable...
At some point, Asuka's right hand had already grasped the hilt of Kakudatsu at his waist.
Crack, crack...
Due to excessive force, his knuckles let out a series of popping sounds.
The surrounding air temperature plummeted, and even the cracked asphalt road was covered in a thin layer of frost.
"This is..." Urahara looked in surprise at the environment, which had changed due to the outward release of the Spiritual Pressure Asuka had been suppressing.
"Asuka..." Shinobu sensed the awakening killing intent within Asuka's body and softly called his name.
Asuka backhandedly grasped Shinobu's cold hand and pulled her slightly behind him.
"Urahara, there's a change of plans."
His voice turned cold and murderous, but it wasn't as tyrannical and fierce as before.
"I don't care what kind of shit is filling those nobles' heads, and I don't give a damn if they're the Tsunayashiro Family or a sack of trash."
"Since they're so tired of living and in such a rush to die, I'll grant their wish."
"Before that so-called bullshit private army takes shape, before they bring the flames of war out of that broken courtyard..."
Asuka turned to look in Kenryu's direction, his gaze seemingly piercing straight through Kenryu's soul, making his back tingle with numbness.
"Lead the way."
"I'm going to take that old dog named Kumoi, along with his shady, gutter-dwelling weapons factory..."
"And smash them all to pieces."