“Captains, Long Time No See!”

Within the Seireitei of Soul Society, deep inside the grand hall of one of the Five Great Noble Houses, the Tsuneyashiro estate, an unprecedented meeting was underway.

Standing alone in the center of the room, Higashi Shuuichi was surrounded by nobles in elaborate traditional garb. As he swept his gaze around, he realized nearly every influential noble family in the Seireitei had sent a representative to attend.

Seated alone at the head of the hall was Tsuneyashiro Kamihara, the current head of the Tsuneyashiro family.

"Shinigami Higashi Shuuichi, you know why you were summoned here, don't you?"

Even though they required something from Higashi, Kamihara retained an air of aristocratic superiority.

"I do. Lord Tsuneyashiro, you had the Central 46 issue me a special pardon, erasing my status as a traitor to Soul Society. Naturally, I've come to express my gratitude."

Inwardly, Shuuichi sneered. Outwardly, he played the role with perfect grace.

"Good. As long as you understand the effort we made. Now then, there's something I need you to tell us in full detail."

Kamihara wasted no time, revealing his urgency.

"Ask away, my lord. If I know it, I will answer."

Shuuichi bowed in respect.

"Do you know the true identity of the grey-eyed man you fought in Osaka ten years ago?"

"Yes, my lord. His name is Akisada. He was a Fullbringer..."

Shuuichi's explanation was cut short.

"You only know part of it," Kamihara interrupted coldly. "Akisada wasn't just any Fullbringer. His eyes—those grey eyes—are the discarded eyes of the Soul King. Surely, after hearing of ex-Captain Kirio Hikifune's promotion to the Zero Division, you grasp what that means?"

"Yes, my lord. I understand well."

He had long suspected Akisada's eyes weren't ordinary. How could a typical Fullbringer wield such terrifying power?

To carry over power gained in an imagined future back into the real world, intact and unfiltered—that wasn't just a strong ability. In another world, they'd call it "cheating."

But if it came from the Soul King—an actual fragment of his body—then it all made sense.

Calling it a cheat? No.

It was simply a strategic application of granularity.

"That pair of eyes can perceive the real future and, based on it, build a fabricated one. But due to Akisada's physical limitations, he can only use that power once in his life.

What you experienced in that world may not be the true future—but it's not far off.

Now tell me, Higashi Shuuichi: What did you see?"

Every noble in the hall perked up their ears. Some even began scribbling notes.

"I saw a Shinigami... who, in the near future, slaughtered the entire Central 46.

I saw the same Shinigami murder Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, the Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13, with his own hands.

I saw that Shinigami single-handedly bring Soul Society to the brink of collapse. After the war, only one in ten noble clans remained, and only one in a hundred Shinigami survived..."

As Shuuichi painted his vivid, fabricated future, he found it laughable.

These nobles, heads bobbing, pens scribbling—they were naïve to the point of adorability.

Did they really think a mere royal pardon erased all that had been done to him?

He could forgive—but never forget.

And the one to blame?

Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni.

He had sheltered the nobles too well. They knew nothing of the real world, or how fragile their safety was without the Gotei 13 standing guard.

When Shuuichi finished spinning his tale—a future crafted from fragments of Aizen, Yhwach, and even the Tsuneyashiro family's own dark ambitions—the reaction was exactly as expected.

Terror.

For Shinigami, time was no enemy. The future Shuuichi described wasn't some abstract concept. It was their likely reality.

And what a horrifying one it was.

Even Yamamoto—the symbol of Soul Society—dies at the hands of that Shinigami. Soul Society itself, hollowed and ravaged.

Then, amid the murmurs, someone spoke.

"If Akisada substituted himself for the real Shinigami from the future, and if Higashi Shuuichi defeated him... then doesn't that mean Shuuichi already overcame this future threat?"

It was obvious that voice had been planted by Tsuneyashiro Jitan.

The speaker wasn't even a noble, just a foot soldier assigned to keep order—but that didn't matter. What mattered was that the statement was irrefutable.

Shuuichi had thought of exposing Aizen and Yhwach's plots. Rallying the nobles, using the other Captains to take down Aizen before the Hōgyoku fully merged. Using the stolen knowledge of the Shadow Realm to mount a preemptive invasion of the Wandenreich before Yhwach awakened.

But after learning Akisada's eyes were the Soul King's?

He hesitated.

From Akisada's fabricated future, Shuuichi hadn't just inherited Quincy powers from ingesting Yhwach's heart-blood—he also gained the Soul King's eyes. Currently, he had those transplanted into a made-up human named Tōma Takuya.

Yet the truth stood clear:

He now possessed two parts of the Soul King's body—including the eyes.

Combine that with his Shinigami, Hollow, Quincy, and even Hell-touched powers...

All he lacked was Fullbring, and Higashi Shuuichi would essentially be a powered-up Kurosaki Ichigo, a grown-up version of Kurosaki Kazui.

No way the monk from Zero Division wasn't eyeing him as a candidate to replace the Soul King.

And until he could take on the entire Zero Division...

He didn't dare roll the dice.

So, he made up a threat.

An imaginary Shinigami.

And the nobles?

They ate it up.

"He beat that future Shinigami, right?"

"But wasn't it just a simulation?"

"You idiot. He didn't know the guy's power and still won. Now he knows everything—he'll crush him for sure!"

"But... Shuuichi's a Vizard..."

"So were the Makyo from the Kasumioji family..."

"But he was once a fugitive—"

"So?"

Voices buzzed. But Shuuichi only listened to one: Kamihara's.

From Kamihara's perspective, Shuuichi wasn't a threat—he was a solution.

Aizen saw it too. That's why he'd once spoken those words to him.

Because to the noble clans led by the Tsuneyashiro, Higashi Shuuichi was the best—and only—choice.

Even without Akisada's future, they'd have come to him eventually.

Just as expected, after long deliberation and even a secret visit to the Great Spirit Book Gallery, Kamihara made the announcement.

Two mornings later, Soifon, current Captain of the 2nd Division, had just geared up for Hakuda training when she received a sudden summons.

A Captain's Meeting—urgent.

Strange. Nothing major had happened in Soul Society recently. Why now?

She left her duties to Omaeda and rushed to the 1st Division barracks.

She wasn't alone in her confusion. Most Captains were baffled.

Even more so when they saw Ukitake Jūshirō and Kurotsuchi Mayuri—both of whom often skipped meetings—already present.

"What's going on? Captain Kyōraku, any idea?"

"I've no clue, lil' Soi~" Kyōraku chewed a stem of grass lazily. "But I hear the Tsuneyashiro family just established a new squad. Approved by the old man and the Central 46."

"A new squad?" Soifon frowned.

Why hadn't she heard of it? Did they bypass the Shihōin family?

Given her ties to the Shihōin—despite hating Yoruichi—she was still close with her brother Yushirō.

The silence meant one thing: the Tsuneyashiro had gone around them.

Not unusual since Yoruichi's defection.

These days, the noble balance had shifted:

Tsuneyashiro: ascendant

Kuchiki: withdrawn

Shihōin: weakened

Shiba: outcast

Tōma: gone to the Human World, chasing Higashi Shuuichi

Very few knew that last detail—but Soifon did.

She still remembered the moment she heard it, the ringing in her skull.

For a second, she'd wanted to defect too.

Both the people she cherished—one who nearly killed her, one who didn't even say goodbye—had fled to the human world.

But she stayed.

Soon, every Captain was present. Yamamoto stood at the head, stern as ever.

"This meeting has one purpose," he began. "By order of the Central 46, a new noble-affiliated squad will be established in the Seireitei. Under direct command of the Tsuneyashiro family. Its name—Katanagari-gumi."

"The Sword Hunters?" Ukitake blinked. "But don't we already have a noble squad?"

He glanced at Kuchiki Sōjun, the new head of the Kuchiki clan, looking frail.

"Not the same," Sōjun sighed. "The 6th Division still answers to the Commander. The Katanagari answer only to the Tsuneyashiro and Central 46."

"Then why drag us all here?" Zaraki snapped. "You just telling us something?"

Yamamoto's eyes swept the room.

"If it were just an announcement, you wouldn't be here. But this is still a division. Its Captain must meet tradition.

He has no recommendations. I do not endorse him. There's only one path left..."

"Ah~ the three-Captain trial, huh?" Zaraki cracked his knuckles, grinning.

Shock spread. For Yamamoto to reject a Captain candidate outright—how outrageous must the man be?

Most Captains couldn't guess.

Soifon was stumped too.

Until the doors opened.

A man she never thought she'd see again stepped inside.

Her fists clenched. Her lips bit down. Her eyes glistened.

Zaraki roared with laughter.

He knew this man would return.

Unohana smiled gently, her lips curling further.

Aizen, always composed, widened his eyes a touch in feigned surprise.

Kyōraku simply smiled as if he'd been expecting this all along.

Mayuri, cold behind his mask, was already calculating what materials he could extract from the man once the meeting ended.

And there he stood, back to the light, one hand in his pocket, chin lifted high, eyes scanning the Captains...

Higashi Shuuichi.

That radiant smile spread across his face.

"Captains—long time no see."