Chapter 33: Prelude to the war & High-end hunters often appear as prey.

Sixth Division barracks.

A violent spiritual pressure, like water suddenly brought to a boil, erupted as Araki, radiating the aura of an unrivaled, fierce god, burst through the main gate of the Sixth Division barracks.

"You... you're Captain Araki of the Eleventh Division?!" A startled Sixth Division Shinigami stammered, backing away.

"Isn't the Eleventh Division Captain the new Kenpachi-sama?" another whispered.

"The new captain's name is Araki, right? So, he is Araki 'Kenpachi,' then? Why would such a formidable man come to the Sixth Division?"

"Need you even ask? I'm afraid our captain has done something... remarkable again," a third muttered, glancing nervously towards the captain's office.

"Shh! Keep your voices down," hissed a senior officer. "Don't get yourselves dragged into something we shouldn't be involved in."

The members of the Sixth Division, recognizing Araki's imposing presence and knowing their captain's penchant for attracting trouble, retreated, fearing they'd be caught in the crossfire.

Knowing Saitō's tendency to be found in her office, Araki proceeded directly there. With a resounding bang, he kicked the door open.

"Hm?" Inside, Saitō Furōfushi, Captain of the Sixth Division, lay sprawled across her desk, seemingly napping amidst a pile of documents. The force of the door slamming open rattled her. "Who dares disturb my nap?!" she grumbled, not yet bothering to look up.

"Hehe," Araki responded with a chilling sneer, vanishing from the doorway in a burst of speed.

"Hmm? I thought I just saw Araki... must have been my imagination," Saitō mumbled, still half asleep.

"You were the one who told Captain Batsu'unsai that my... treasure could regenerate like a gecko's tail, weren't you?" a bone-chilling voice whispered directly into her ear.

Saitō froze, instantly recognizing the voice.

'It seems I wasn't mistaken...' Cold sweat trickled down Saitō's forehead. It was indeed Araki.

"Ah!" Before she could react, she felt a sharp tug on her twin ponytails. The sudden pain jolted her fully awake.

"I was wrong! I didn't mean to tell Katori! It was just a drunken joke." Saitō blurted out, instinctively surrendering to the immediate threat.

Araki seethed, pulling her hair harder. "Go find Batsu'unsai and explain everything, and give me back my lost innocence."

"I know, I know." Saitō whimpered, thoroughly chastened.

Outside the Sixth Division captain's office, a Shinigami pressed their ear against the door, listening intently. "What's going on in there?" he whispered to his comrades, his face a mixture of fear and morbid curiosity.

"Just... wait," one replied nervously. The others simply exchanged uneasy glances.

"Are we, the officers of the Sixth Division, just going to stand here and watch our captain get bullied by another division's captain?!" an officer exclaimed, his voice laced with indignation. "Don't we have any pride?"

"You want to be a hero? Go ahead and save her," an officer retorted dryly. "Maybe she'll make you her lieutenant if you do." The others simply scoffed.

The officer quickly backpedaled. "I mean, listening is fine. Nothing wrong with that." He wisely decided to abandon his brief surge of courage.

'Nonsense!' he thought. 'The man manhandling our captain, grabbing her by the hair, is the current Kenpachi. The strongest Shinigami in Soul Society besides Captain-General Yamamoto. If I go in there alone, I'll be dead. If we mobilized the entire Sixth Division, maybe... just maybe... we could buy enough time for Captain-Commander Yamamoto to intervene... But no one else is moving, so I'll just keep quiet.'

A few minutes later, the door to the captain's office was flung open, and Araki emerged, looking considerably less agitated. 

He left behind a disheveled and thoroughly humiliated Saitō.

"Woo…" The Sixth Division soldiers lowered their heads as Araki passed, not daring to meet his gaze.

With a ripple of spatial distortion, Araki vanished, leaving only a faint scent of his spiritual pressure behind.

"Well..." The soldiers exchanged glances, then, with long sighs, resumed their duties. ''We didn't see anything.''

Time passed. Several months went by.

During this time, Araki made frequent visits to the Sixth Division to "chat" with Saitō. The Sixth Division soldiers grew accustomed to his presence. 

Saitō, as instructed by Araki, had also reluctantly explained the situation to Katori. After much groveling and the "gift" of ten volumes of the latest questionable novels (at Saitō's expense), Katori's anger was appeased.

It seemed everyone had a happy ending, except Saitō, who was left to bear the consequences of her actions.

But the truth was...

Inside the Sixth Division barracks, Saitō mused, 'Now Araki comes to "chat" with me every month... 'A strange smile played on her lips. High-end hunters often appear as prey after all...

Just like the Aizen incident in the future, before he revealed his true nature, almost no one among the captains suspected him.

Unlike Saitō, who seemed to find a twisted enjoyment in the situation, Araki was growing weary. 

He was already exhausted from constantly using his observation Haki and training with Unohana Retsu. Now, he also had to make monthly visits to Saitō, he felt utterly drained.

One day, Araki leaned against the window in his office, dozing off. Suddenly, a vision, like a rapidly flashing slideshow, jolted him awake. It was a warning from his advanced observation, Haki.

"It's finally here... My months of waiting... were worth it."

He faced the vision in his mind and raised his left hand.

Ink-like markings spread across his arm, and a transparent barrier with a black circular pattern materialized before him. 

Simultaneously, every Shinigami within the Seireitei who was sensitive to his spiritual pressure heard a message in their minds...

In the First Division barracks, within the kendo dojo, Captain-Commander Yamamoto lowered his wooden sword. "Is it time?" he murmured, taking Ryūjin Jakka from a nearby Shinigami.

"They've made their move," Chojiro said, his hand tightening on his Zanpakuto.

In the Sixth Division barracks, Saitō grinned. "Oh! Oh! Time to let my name echo throughout Soul Society," she declared, eager to prove her strength.

In the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Seventh, Eighth... every division, the captains of the Gotei 13 gripped their Zanpakuto. 

The air crackled with anticipation.

On this day, dark clouds gathered over the Soul Society. 

The first drops of rain began to fall, heralding the beginning of a war between the Quincy and the Shinigami, a conflict destined to end only in the destruction of one side.

The sky seemed to sound a horn of apocalypse. 

The shining Sternritter, their glorious Wandenreich, led by their Majesty—a figure akin to a god, seemingly all-knowing and all-powerful—finally set foot in the realm of the Shinigami. 

The Sternritter were convinced that their Majesty would not only become king of the living world but would also unify Soul Society and Hueco Mundo, becoming the true ruler of all three realms.

The war had begun.

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I deserve your powerstones after this no?

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