Chapter 137: Dead of Night
His internal commentary was running nonstop, but nothing showed on his face.
Once the groups were finalized, both teams moved out quickly.
Hirako's group headed out through the north gate. Working from the map, they swept from left to right in overlapping passes, covering the ground methodically.
"Since we're outside Seireitei, a little 'going all out' won't get us a formal reprimand. So what we're doing is simple."
He raised his right hand and held up three fingers.
"First: no holding back. Release your reiatsu at full force and sweep with it. Saturation search. Comb the whole area."
For ordinary squad members this would be borderline reckless. Everyone had a finite reiatsu reserve, and blowing the whole thing on a search pattern left nothing in the tank for an actual fight. But every person standing here right now was at minimum vice-captain level. Their reserves were in a completely different category. As methods went, this one was simple and direct.
So why couldn't it be used inside Seireitei?
Hirako had said something a moment ago that carried a second layer of meaning.
Not permitted.
Which could also be read as: the nobles don't allow it.
This was something Matsushita Yusuke had only fully understood after taking the captaincy. The noble system, barely mentioned in canon, had its influence woven through every corner of Seireitei. Personnel transfers and appointments in the Gotei 13. Applications and approvals for every major project. The flow of funds and where they went.
Nominally, all of it passed through Squad 1's review process before anything was finalized.
But in practice, Yamamoto also ran things past the noble side for a second look. The Gotei 13 existed to protect Seireitei, and that protection nominally extended to the nobles living in it.
The Central 46.
In canon they had essentially no dignity as an organization, but they held real power. Their activities included but were not limited to: weighing in on the appointment and removal of captains, passing judgment on Shinigami who violated the rules. In actual combat terms, not one of them could have stood up to a random captain. But under a feudal social structure, even old Yamamoto gave them the minimum expected deference.
Matsushita Yusuke could only say: hard to fully explain, but deeply impressive in a baffling kind of way.
Also clarified, more or less, why Aizen had wiped them out the first chance he got.
No real ability, but throwing your weight around every single day? Did you think everyone had the patience of an old Yamamoto who'd spent a thousand years grinding his temper down to nothing?
A pure social Darwinist like Aizen, the moment an opening appeared, moved without hesitation. Made complete sense in retrospect.
His thoughts had scattered in about seven directions. Matsushita Yusuke reeled them back in. When he refocused, both vice-captains had already moved out, and Hirako Shinji was standing exactly where he'd been, staring directly at him.
"Squad 11 Captain. Were you listening just now?"
"I was, I was. Just got distracted for a second."
"Repeat it back."
"First: release reiatsu, saturation sweep. Second: if anything goes wrong, contact the group before doing anything stupid. Third... uh, third..."
Matsushita Yusuke scratched the back of his head.
Then it came to him.
"You never even said what the third one was!"
Hirako grinned and clapped him on the shoulder.
"Fair enough. Full marks."
The first two were solid. As for the third:
"The reason I didn't announce it is because this one only applies to you and me."
His expression settled into something more deliberate. He said it one word at a time.
"Before we left, I got the old man's sign-off. Under the right conditions... we have clearance to use Bankai."
Full Zanpakuto release.
As a Gotei 13 captain, there was one restriction that was genuinely frustrating: without explicit permission, nobody used Bankai inside Seireitei. The standard justification was that Bankai-level output affected the surrounding environment in ways that caused problems for the city.
"Because it's Rukongai, going wild is fine?"
Hirako's smile turned slightly sly. He looked like a fox for a moment.
"Exactly. And this time, since we have a captain-level disappearance on our hands, the old man opened up a lot of clearances. Hey, Squad 11 Captain. Chances to actually cut loose don't come along that often. Don't waste it."
Matsushita Yusuke nodded quietly and said nothing.
Then the operation began.
The search process after splitting up wasn't particularly complicated. The area was large, but with multiple people running saturation sweeps in parallel, only about half an hour in:
Whoosh... BANG!!
A signal flare. Something resembling a firework but purpose-built. A straight reiatsu blast was more visible, but this thing consumed less, and its color had a pre-agreed meaning.
"Red signal. Danger?"
Hirako turned to Matsushita Yusuke.
"Move. We go now."
"Yeah."
Two surges of reiatsu erupted outward. Shunpo deployed in the same instant.
At captain level, the sight they made was something else entirely. Columns of light cutting up through the night sky, the kind of reiatsu signature that was unmistakably captain-class.
In the course of closing the distance, Matsushita Yusuke picked up additional signals converging from other directions. Otoribashi Rojuro and Aikawa Love were also heading for the same point.
"Pulling everyone into the same spot at once. Not bad. Whatever we run into, the whole group can respond fast. In chess terms, this is basically putting someone in check."
He fell into step behind Hirako and glanced up once at the sky.
No clouds tonight.
The distance wasn't large to begin with. About half an hour, and they were on site.
From a distance, familiar figures were already visible.
Otoribashi Rojuro had his Zanpakuto released and appeared to be engaged with something...
Was that the enemy?
"No. Wait."
Hirako's eyes snapped to pinpoints.
A dull impact. Smoke and dust clearing. A figure launched through it, flying directly toward the two of them.
Matsushita Yusuke moved. A reiatsu barrier, formed on instinct, caught the incoming figure cleanly.
THUD.
The figure hit it and crumpled to the ground. In the moonlight, both of them made out the face clearly.
"That's... Kuna Mashiro?"