At the highest point above the Seireitei, the normally smooth surface of the Shakonmaku suddenly rippled as though a stone had been dropped into still water.
A moment later, a slender Tenchūren came hurtling down from the sky at astonishing speed.
It tore straight through the defensive barrier with almost no resistance and slammed into the Seireitei with a thunderous impact that sent dust rolling across the surrounding streets.
The doors slowly opened.
Six figures stepped out.
Five belonged to Squad Zero.
The sixth was Abarai Renji.
Renji stood there for several seconds, staring at the ruined city around him.
"Can someone tell me what the hell happened?"
He rubbed his eyes hard, apparently hoping the destruction would disappear if he looked again.
He had only gone to the Soul King Palace to get Zabimaru repaired.
That was it.
Yet somehow, in the relatively short time he had been away, the Seireitei had been reduced to shattered streets, collapsed buildings, and entire districts that looked as though a natural disaster had passed through them.
Renji was not the only one confused.
The five members of Squad Zero were equally taken aback.
They had descended because the spiritual pressure coming from Soul Society had become violently unstable, with fluctuations intense enough to be felt even from the Soul King Palace.
They had expected trouble.
They had not expected to arrive and find the Seireitei looking as though someone had tried to erase it from the map.
Before anyone could begin asking questions, a figure in a captain's haori approached at high speed.
Renji recognized her first.
"Rukia?"
Kuchiki Rukia came to a stop near the Tenchūren and looked him over.
"Your Zanpakutō fixed?"
Renji stared at her.
Then at the haori.
Then back at her.
"R-Rukia?"
His jaw practically dropped.
Unless he was seeing things, she was wearing a captain's haori!
That made absolutely no sense.
Rukia, of course, knew exactly what he was thinking.
She gave the haori an exaggerated little shake.
"What? Is there a problem?"
Renji continued staring.
Before he could come up with an answer, ten more figures arrived.
Every one of them wore a captain's haori.
And every one of them carried spiritual pressure powerful enough to immediately change the mood around the Tenchūren.
The current captains and the Visored followed soon afterward.
Yamamoto had only recently placed the entire Seireitei under Level One combat readiness, so the sudden appearance of several unfamiliar high-level spiritual pressures had naturally drawn every available captain toward the source.
Squad Zero looked across the newcomers.
Then several expressions changed.
"You…"
They recognized the ten captains almost immediately.
The original captains of the Gotei 13.
People who were supposed to have been dead for centuries.
Ichibē Hyōsube folded his arms across his chest.
His eyes remained almost closed, his chin raised as though the people around him should already understand that his arrival took precedence over everything else happening in the Seireitei.
"Where is Yamamoto Shigekuni?"
His voice carried through the gathered captains.
"Squad Zero has descended personally, and this is how the Gotei 13 receives us?"
Several of the Visored immediately frowned.
Kensei glanced toward the others.
"Squad Zero?"
His eyes narrowed.
"So these are the Royal Guard?"
They had all heard stories about Squad Zero, but few among them had ever seen its members in person.
Their first impression of its leader was not especially favorable.
Ichibē's attitude made it sound as though he had descended to inspect servants who had failed to line up properly for his arrival.
Then a large, round figure suddenly hurried forward.
Hikifune Kirio spread both arms and grabbed Hirako Shinji in a crushing embrace before he could react, immediately pinching and rubbing his cheeks with both hands.
"Shinji! It's been forever!"
Her booming laugh filled the area.
Shinji stiffened in shock.
Then recognition hit him.
"Hikifune… Captain Hikifune?!"
He stared at her.
"No way!"
His eyes moved over her current figure, apparently struggling to reconcile the woman in front of him with the image in his memory.
Compared with Ichibē, Hikifune's attitude was considerably easier to deal with.
After finally releasing Shinji, she turned toward the captains with a polite smile.
"Where is Captain-Commander Yamamoto? We came down because there are several things we need to ask him directly."
Now that was more reasonable.
Several captains were already irritated enough with Squad Zero.
Yhwach and the four founders had invaded the Seireitei and nearly torn Soul Society apart, and Squad Zero had not descended to help during the fighting.
Arriving after everything was over and immediately acting like the Gotei 13 owed them unquestioning obedience was not exactly winning anyone over.
Shunsui stepped out from the crowd, wearing his usual mild smile as he tried to keep the situation from becoming more hostile.
"Yama-jii is at the Fourth Division right now."
His expression became a little more serious.
"The Captain-Commander was badly injured and is receiving emergency treatment. Captain Hikifune, you and the others may want to wait until things settle down."
Shunsui had no interest in seeing two branches of Soul Society's military turn on each other when everyone had only just survived an invasion.
Ichibē frowned.
"Injured?"
He looked across the assembled captains.
"Then who is currently in command of the Gotei 13? Bring whoever is responsible here immediately."
He still had no idea that Yamamoto had retired and therefore naturally assumed that the injured Captain-Commander Shunsui referred to was Yamamoto himself.
That tone finally pushed Saitō Furofushi past the limit of her patience.
"Enough."
Her reiatsu exploded outward.
From the moment Squad Zero arrived, Ichibē had acted as though everyone around him existed to follow orders.
Saitō had never been especially tolerant of arrogance.
She certainly was not going to start now.
Ichibē's eyes opened.
"The one being insolent is you."
His own spiritual pressure erupted in response.
The force rolled toward Saitō like an enormous wave, far heavier than anything an ordinary captain could have endured comfortably.
Squad Zero stood above the Gotei 13 within Soul Society's formal hierarchy, and Ichibē clearly saw no reason to treat a captain speaking against him as an equal.
That was his mistake.
"Arrogant bastard."
The original captains reacted immediately.
One spiritual pressure after another erupted across the battlefield.
Ten separate reiatsu signatures surged toward Ichibē at once, overlapping and reinforcing one another until the combined pressure became overwhelming.
Even Ichibē had not expected that much force.
His expression changed.
Then his knees hit the ground.
Thud.
The leader of Squad Zero was driven downward under the combined spiritual pressure, his body pitching slightly forward as he was forced to brace himself.
For several seconds, Ichibē simply stared.
The disbelief on his face was almost comical.
He had descended from the Soul King Palace expecting to stand above everyone present.
Instead, ten supposedly dead captains had forced him to his knees without even drawing their swords.
The surrounding captains fell silent.
Hikifune Kirio, Nimaiya Ōetsu, Kirinji Tenjirō, and Shutara Senjumaru immediately became serious.
They could feel it clearly now.
The spiritual pressure of the original captains was no weaker than their own.
In fact, one or two of them felt even stronger.
If an actual fight started here, Squad Zero would not simply be dealing with the current Gotei 13.
They would be facing the original captains, the modern captains, and the Visored all at once.
The numerical disadvantage alone would be severe.
The four members of Squad Zero shifted into fighting stances almost simultaneously, watching the original captains carefully and preparing for the possibility that the confrontation was about to become very real.