Chapter 35

"Disgraceful!" The tip of the captain commander's cane slammed down on the ground with enough force to leave a crack on the ground and made every person in the meeting wince in their own way, more due to the elderly shinigami's rage rather than the sound.

"Seven Ryōka, no, seven children! That's the force that none of the members of our squads that have managed to defeat and capture. One of which who have shamed us by defeating a captain and escaping another one by himself!" Spit flew out of Yamamoto Genryuusai's mouth, he wasn't sure when was the last time he had been this mad at his captains. Maybe a hundred years ago during that awful hollowification incident?

"I apologize captain commander, and wish to take full responsibility for letting the Ryōka escape." The captain of the tenth squad said with a bow and Yamamoto cursed as he felt his anger mellow out as he gazed at the youngest captain. He would never admit it to anyone bu he had something of a soft spot for Hitsugaya Toshiro. Maybe it was because of how much he reminded him of Ukitake in his youth, even if his sickly student was never as intense as the young man, or how he wielded the Zanpakuto that had the potential to rival his Ryuujin Jakka or due to the fact that he was one of the less bothersome captains with his work ethic; but he just couldn't be mad at him as much as the others.

Skilled, disciplined, morally just and powerful. He might actually be a better candidate as the next captain commander than his own students. Still...

"That isn't good enough!" That didn't mean Yamamoto had calmed down that much. But before he could start ripping into them any further, the doors opened and revealed captain Soi Fon; who still had lots of bandages over all four of her limbs and over one of her eyes and was clearly favoring her left leg.

"Captain Soi Fon, why are you not back in Squad Four for your treatment?" And her appearance definitely did not please Unohana, who was emitting a deathly aura with her smile on.

"I am good enough to walk, captain Unohana. And relaying the information I have is more important." That poor fool, the captain commander wouldn't be surprised if Unohana gave the smaller captain enough sedatives to keep her under till she was healed and more after this.

"Speak." She did get beaten by one of the intruders so he didn't have much pity for her though.

"The Ryōka I fought against is called Cain Walter, he's a Quincy."

"...what?!" Yamamoto barked, not happy with this revelation.

He knew that there were still Quincies, that wasn't the reason for his shock. Hell, he was the one that had stopped the Central 46 from ordering a complete genocide against them two hundred years ago and placed the survivors under protection; even if that was also about monitoring them. No, what shocked him was the fact that there was a Quincy strong enough to defeat a captain. There hadn't been a Quincy strong enough to do that in one thousand years with the exception of those that used their secret technique in order to sacrifice their powers for a momentary boost in power.

"Are you sure, captain Soi Fon?" A fact that Unohana knew as well, going by her frown that was closer to a scowl.

"Yes, he declared himself to be one. He used a gun instead of a bow like the Quincies that I know of though."

"Most Quincies might use bows but there were those who used different projectile weapons. They were just rarer." Yamamoto said, deliberately not mentioning the one Quincy that used a sword instead of a ranged weapon.

"Captain commander, this Quincy is dangerous."

"Trying to save your pride after being beaten? How amusing." Mayuri said with a grin showing his yellow teeth, yet his words did not seem to have affected the captain of the second squad at all.

"Captain commander, Cain Walter possess the raw power to fight a captain. But the real danger is that he is willing to use any means to win. The actions that one would not expect from an honorable enemy are the ones he is likely to take, and that is without mentioning hşs power that allowed him to create shockwaves."

"I can support captain Soi Fon's words." Captain Hitsugaya said. "The Quincy faked a retreat in order to lower our guard and unleashed an impressive amount of power against captain Soi Fon in order to defeat her. He's a powerful and cunning enemy."

"So that's what happened to all those walls and pillars." Kyoraku Shunsui, his troublesome student, said with a hand on his chin.

"Enough!" Yamamoto yelled as he slammed his cane down once more. "In accordance to captain Soi Fon and captain Hitsugaya's words, I revoke the ban on using bankai against the intruders and will permit lethal force against Cain Walter. The rest of them are still to be captured alive." If only so that they could be properly punished by the law. "Dismissed!"

After that last order, every captain left the room. Except for one.

"There are certain things that people associate with power." Unohana said with her eyes closed. "Pride and honor are merely two of those things, but they are most connected to power for Shinigamis. Which creates a belief that the strong should fight a certain way, with no room for dirty tricks. A sense of beauty that people are obsessed with." She said as she finally opened her eyes, revealing ice cold irises that he hadn't seen in centuries.

"Those who possess power but are not chained down by that sense of beauty... they are dangerous. I hope you remember that."

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