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After the decline of the Shiba family, when they were on their way to Rukongai, the Tsunayashiro family sent assassins to wipe them out completely.
In the end, it was the Shihouin family who stopped this massacre. Afterwards, the other noble families also contributed in some way, preventing the Shiba family from being entirely destroyed and allowing a few members to survive.
Thinking about it carefully, it's not surprising the other major nobles would intervene. After all, if the lips die, the teeth grow cold. Today, the Shiba family was destroyed after losing their status as a great noble house. Tomorrow, the same fate could fall upon them.
Although each noble family tries desperately to avoid decline, seeking every possible way to preserve their lineage and glory, unforeseen incidents remain inevitable.
For example, what happened earlier to the Ise family. It was never stated directly what occurred, but based on Gosuke Shigure's knowledge of the plot, it should be the loss of the Eight Mirror Sword.
The Eight Mirror Sword is the Ise family's inherited Zanpakutō, passed down from generation to generation as the source of their strength. If it were lost, their decline would be certain. Because of this, the Ise family chose to remain low-profile, and in a few years, they might fade into obscurity.
"The leak about the Ise family's Eight Mirror Sword must have been orchestrated by the Tsunayashiro family as revenge," Gosuke Shigure thought firmly.
The Tsunayashiro are a clan with immense pride and always take revenge. Originally, they nearly destroyed the Shiba family completely, erasing the Shiba name from Soul Society. But when the other nobles intervened, they were forced to stop. How could they tolerate such humiliation?
So, after failing to finish off the Shiba family, they turned to retaliate against the other nobles.
Logically, since it was Shihouin Kōga who stopped their assassins, the Tsunayashiro family should have targeted the Shihouin clan first. However, they did not.
"Because even the Tsunayashiro family has to admit that the current Shihouin family has no flaws at all," Gosuke thought.
"Originally, after Shihouin Kōga's downfall, the clan was at risk of collapsing. But Yoruichi's rapid growth filled that gap perfectly."
Since they couldn't target the Shihouin family, their next target was the others. But they couldn't act openly. If they did, it would provoke unified retaliation. Thus, they exposed the Ise family's secret.
As managers of the Great Spirit Book Archive, the Tsunayashiro family could uncover such secrets easily. To protect their honour, the Ise family had to execute the member who lost the Eight Mirror Sword and keep everything hidden.
After the Ise family, their next target became the Kuchiki family.
The Kuchiki family fell into a similar predicament as the Shihouin family. The men of the next generation were not strong enough to carry the family forward. The difference was that the Shihouin had Yoruichi, whose abilities were exceptional, while the Kuchiki family's next heir had just been born and his talents were still unknown.
Kuchiki Ginrei didn't dare gamble on an uncertain future, so he sought another way: finding a powerful son-in-law for his daughter and adopting him as a son.
His idea was logical, but he overlooked Kuchiki Hibiki's personality, which gave outsiders an opportunity. Kuchiki Hibiki's strict adherence to law offended many nobles. While those nobles didn't dare provoke him openly due to the Kuchiki name, if one day he fell into trouble, even Ginrei would struggle to protect him.
Being head of the four great noble families is both an honour and a constraint. Since Kuchiki Hibiki was so impartial in judging other nobles, they would demand the same impartiality if he himself committed a crime.
"Who told Ginrei not to stop him back then, letting him act so righteously?"
After analysing everything, Gosuke Shigure concluded that the Tsunayashiro family's next target was indeed the Kuchiki family, specifically Kuchiki Hibiki.
This matched the original story. After Hibiki became captain of the First Division's special forces, he was imprisoned due to factional disputes. Normally, as a Kuchiki son-in-law, minor nobles wouldn't dare frame him, but he still ended up in prison.
Even Ginrei, the powerful head of the Kuchiki clan, was powerless to save him immediately and could only plan to clear his name later. This showed how little power Ginrei actually had in that situation.
The reason for his helplessness was likely the Tsunayashiro family. Even though their status had declined, they still possessed vast influence. Many small and medium nobles followed their lead because the Tsunayashiro family managed the Great Spirit Book Archive and held many secrets of Soul Society, allowing them to influence Central 46's decisions.
In the end, Gosuke Shigure realised:
"If Byakuya Kuchiki had been born earlier, the Kuchiki family wouldn't have needed to recruit Hibiki as a son-in-law. None of this would have happened."
Byakuya's qualifications were strong; he would become a great power in the future. But his birth came too late. Because of that, Ginrei had to recruit Hibiki to protect the family, giving the Tsunayashiro family the chance to strike.
Ironically, even after the Tsunayashiro family plotted against Hibiki, forced Ginrei to seal him away, and robbed the Kuchiki clan of a strong protector, the Kuchiki family did not collapse.
Though Kuchiki Aojun's death also occurred during that time, Byakuya's future growth ensured the Kuchiki clan's continued survival.
For the Tsunayashiro family, regaining their position as the leading great noble house remained a distant dream.