Late at night—Soul Society at midnight: black, deep.
The boundless sky lay open and empty, clouds layered like mountain ranges. The moon and stars had completely vanished from sight.
Higashino Shuuichi stood alone outside the special transit device Tsunayashiro Kamihara had prepared long in advance.
Only after a long while did someone take advantage of the darkness and step onto the rooftop above him.
"My apologies, Higashino Shuuichi-sama. I kept you waiting a long time, didn't I~?"
The newcomer spoke with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"Kamihara Kobe Shiya—Vice-Captain of the 9th Division. I remember you. You were also present at Director Yamada Seinosuke's inauguration ceremony that day.
I just didn't expect the Shinigami secretly loyal to the Tsunayashiro clan… to be you."
Higashino Shuuichi lifted his gaze once and immediately recognized him.
That day, when Kuchiki Kōga caused chaos, this was the 9th Division vice-captain whose Zanpakutō was the first to be materialized at the ceremony.
"Then it means I hid myself very successfully. To think even Higashino Shuuichi-sama was fooled by me."
Kobe Shiya smiled, visibly pleased with himself.
After all, among those nobles who had just survived calamity, Higashino Shuuichi was already being talked about like some omnipotent incarnation—and that irritated Kobe Shiya.
They were both working for Kamihara-sama. Both came from vice-captain ranks.
The only difference was that Kobe Shiya had been born a little over a hundred years later than Higashino Shuuichi.
If he, Kobe Shiya, had simply been born earlier, there wouldn't even be a Higashino Shuuichi.
Just give him another hundred years or so, and then the Tsunayashiro-aligned nobles would all be protected by him—Kobe Shiya—alone!
"Yeah. But Kamihara-sama's intent is honestly easy to guess. After I fled to the World of the Living decades ago with the former 12th Division captain, Urahara Kisuke, there were only a few vacancies left within the Gotei 13.
The 12th Division captain is a freak—if you don't have real ability, you can't become vice-captain there.
The 7th Division captain is a different race—your nobles look down on him from the bottom of your hearts, and you'd never accept working under him.
And the 5th Division… the vice-captain Aizen Sōsuke took over as captain directly, so you definitely didn't have time to build a relationship with Aizen.
When you think it through, the most suitable places were under the 'parachuted-in' 3rd Division captain Ichimaru Gin, or under the 9th Division captain Tōsen Kaname.
Because compared to Komamura Sajin—the 'odd one' in the 7th Division—being merely common-born is… barely acceptable, right?"
Higashino Shuuichi couldn't stand Kobe Shiya's smug face and immediately tore through the surface politeness.
"Higashino Shuuichi! I'm warning you—just because you're not standing in front of Kamihara-sama right now doesn't mean you can be this insolent!
Don't forget—you're nothing but a dog Kamihara-sama feeds!"
Sure enough, Kobe Shiya snapped at once, standing tall and pointing down at Higashino Shuuichi like he was above him.
Higashino Shuuichi's brow twitched slightly.
"Heh. Even if I'm a dog… dogs aren't all the same. Some dogs don't bite—they just like barking. And some dogs—"
"Higashino Shuuichi, don't think you have the right to be arrogant here just because you used to be the Grand Blade-Hunting Chief.
Don't forget—without Kamihara-sama, without the Tsunayashiro clan, without us nobles, you'd be a homeless mutt, fit only to hide in the World of the Living and spend every day trembling under Shinigami pursuit!
I endured it when you insulted my strength earlier, but now you're saying I don't even dare to make a move?!"
Kobe Shiya stared at Higashino Shuuichi with cold eyes.
The more he spoke, the stranger it felt.
If Kobe Shiya were just some brainless pawn, Higashino Shuuichi could understand it.
But someone chosen by Tsunayashiro Kamihara to act as an undercover agent—able to hide under Tōsen Kaname for so long without being discovered—and now trusted with an important mission, traveling with him to the West Administration to pull in all of the Tsunayashiro clan's hidden reserves…
Could that really be someone so impulsive and brainless?
Unless he was doing it on purpose—using this chance, with Higashino Shuuichi forced into exile because of Kuchiki Kōga, to turn a lie into truth.
But then… where did Kobe Shiya's confidence come from?
"…No, maybe I'm the one without a brain, speaking without thinking. I said some things that made you misunderstand, Shiya.
But look—we can't delay Kamihara-sama's orders, can we?
So… you go first, or I go first?"
Once he understood that, Higashino Shuuichi didn't plan on wasting time with Kobe Shiya inside Soul Society.
Everything could still proceed according to the original plan—if anything, the reason would become even more solid.
But when Kobe Shiya saw Higashino Shuuichi suddenly soften, he froze for a moment, disbelief and gloom flashing in his eyes.
He had intended to provoke Higashino Shuuichi into fighting him here—then, using his still-unexposed identity plus his trump card, along with the distress signal he'd prepared, he would draw the captains in to surround and kill Higashino Shuuichi.
Sure, that might delay Kamihara-sama's plan.
But to Kobe Shiya, it would be worth it.
Because if Higashino Shuuichi disappeared, then Kobe Shiya would become Kamihara-sama's strongest fighter. And once Kamihara-sama's plan succeeded, Kobe Shiya—and the entire Kobe family behind him—could soar in a single step.
It might even be possible to replace one of the Five Great Noble Houses.
And yet… Higashino Shuuichi didn't take the bait.
After being insulted to his face, he actually backed down at the critical moment?!
Was he even a man?!
"You go first."
Facing a Higashino Shuuichi who had wrapped himself in a turtle shell, Kobe Shiya couldn't just start trouble first—if he attacked first, the nature of it changed.
Anything involving Higashino Shuuichi, whether Higashino Shuuichi had truly betrayed the Tsunayashiro clan or not, would ultimately be checked through the Eizō Hall.
If Higashino Shuuichi struck first, Kobe Shiya could forcibly twist it into "betrayal."
But if he struck first, there'd be no washing it away.
Worse—if he truly pushed Higashino Shuuichi into rebellion, then the Kobe family would be finished.
Still, Kobe Shiya knew: after this, his relationship with Higashino Shuuichi was absolutely shattered.
Their "journey" ahead would not be peaceful. With Higashino Shuuichi's temperament and ability, it was entirely possible he'd quietly kill Kobe Shiya on the road.
So there was no way Kobe Shiya would "go in first."
He absolutely couldn't let Higashino Shuuichi walk behind him.
Luckily, he had already prepared a failure plan—having the Kobe family notify some friendly Shinigami in advance, so they would help conceal his trail in the World of the Living.
Once they reached the World of the Living—no, not even that far. While passing through the gate, he would forcibly break the restrictions and drop himself into a completely random location in the World of the Living.
As long as his luck wasn't awful—so he didn't land right near Higashino Shuuichi—his safety would be guaranteed.
Little did he know…
Higashino Shuuichi had been testing Kobe Shiya as well.
And the conclusion Higashino Shuuichi reached was simple:
Kobe Shiya had great ambition, was fiercely loyal to Tsunayashiro Kamihara, and was likely hiding an unknown trump card—one that, at least in Kobe Shiya's own mind, was enough to contend with Higashino Shuuichi.
Therefore…
Kobe Shiya had to die.
A short while later, walking through a corridor formed from a special black membrane, Higashino Shuuichi couldn't help admiring the effort the Tsunayashiro clan had spent.
With that device, they had truly managed—briefly—to carve a passage through the Dangai for Shinigami to travel.
It was obvious there were heavy traces of Jigokuchō here. Walking through this pitch-black corridor, even Higashino Shuuichi's Reiatsu was suppressed down to the level of an ordinary rank-and-file Shinigami.
But this technology… was still astonishing.
No wonder Kobe Shiya wasn't worried at all about Higashino Shuuichi attacking him in the Dangai.
Because right now, both of their Reiatsu levels were about the same—so weak they couldn't even release their Zanpakutō.
Forget high-tier Kidō (Demon Arts), forget something as powerful as Nadegiri—without strong Reiatsu, none of that could be used.
"By the way, Shiya-san… I just remembered something very interesting. It confused me back then, but I didn't think too much about it.
Now that you've shown up, though, I remembered again.
When the first wave of Zanpakutō materialization happened, if I recall correctly, only one vice-captain-level Shinigami had their Zanpakutō materialized. The highest among the rest were just a few unlucky low-ranking seated officers—most of the ones hit were ordinary Shinigami.
If you weren't being deliberately targeted by Kuchiki Kōga… then I'm curious. Why was it you?"
Higashino Shuuichi suddenly stopped, staring into the black corridor ahead as he spoke slowly.
"You think I'll tell you?"
Kobe Shiya's expression stiffened. He sounded calm, but it was forced—like Higashino Shuuichi had hit something vital.
But Higashino Shuuichi hadn't been asking Kobe Shiya for an answer in the first place.
That question was a crack he'd forced himself to examine while walking—Kobe Shiya's flaw.
And the real person he was questioning… was himself.
"I have a theory. It's fairly reasonable… and extremely bold.
Unless your actual strength never reached vice-captain level at all—unless you had some external help that let you leap into vice-captain-class power, and even…
gave you the confidence to challenge me."
Kobe Shiya almost reflexively drew the Zanpakutō from his waist.
"Ridiculous. What are you trying to say—am I actually a worthless trash not even as good as a low-ranking seated officer?"
Finally, Higashino Shuuichi turned around.
The moment he saw Kobe Shiya with his Zanpakutō drawn, he knew—
he'd guessed correctly.
"Because I once met a Shinigami similar to you. His name was Maki Kurando—he used to be the captain of the 10th Division.
His original strength was probably just ordinary seated-officer level. Becoming vice-captain would've been hard for him.
But after he went somewhere, met someone, and obtained a certain power… he became a captain.
Come to think of it, he was even more arrogant than you are, Shiya-san~
Unfortunately for him, on the night of the Kasumiooji clan rebellion, I personally killed him.
Oh—and one more thing. Back then, I was nothing more than an insignificant vice-captain in the 4th Division."
The more Higashino Shuuichi said, the uglier Kobe Shiya's face became.
Not because Higashino Shuuichi had guessed something—but because the more Higashino Shuuichi revealed, the more it meant he had no intention of letting Kobe Shiya leave here alive.
"I've always known you, Higashino Shuuichi, were no good! Kamihara-sama just insisted on trusting you!
You're a madman!
But what—are you planning to decide the winner here in the Dangai?
Heh… heh heh heh…
Right now, both our Reiatsu are only at ordinary Shinigami level. All those tricks and techniques you're so proud of—none of them can be used here!
And even if—just hypothetically—you could use them, if you destroy this corridor we're traveling through, then even you, Higashino Shuuichi, wouldn't be able to leave the Dangai alive!"
Kobe Shiya pointed his Zanpakutō at Higashino Shuuichi and laughed, like he was trying to comfort himself.
He refused to believe Higashino Shuuichi would actually dare to fight here.
The best outcome would be mutual destruction!
And as long as Kobe Shiya successfully reached the edge of the Dangai, he could forcibly break out—
and then the sky would be wide, the world would be his.
At that point, he would tell Kamihara-sama and Captain-Commander Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni everything Higashino Shuuichi had just said.
He refused to believe that Higashino Shuuichi—whose hands were stained with the blood of a former 10th Division captain—would still be tolerated by Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni.
But what happened next…
completely shattered Kobe Shiya's fantasy.
"You still don't understand. I rarely do risky things.
If I'm telling you all of this so openly, that means I've already prepared everything thoroughly.
Now, I'll give you a chance. Use every trump card you prepared—defeat me, even kill me.
If you can do that… you might still have a sliver of hope to live."
As Higashino Shuuichi spoke, within Kobe Shiya's field of vision, the black corridor around them began collapsing at the same time.
Very quickly, a world almost indistinguishable from Soul Society reappeared beneath their feet.
"How is this possible…?!"
Kobe Shiya's voice trembled.
And right then, a third voice sounded from behind him.
"Although we haven't met for the first time… this should be the first time you're meeting the me you truly know, Shiya-kun.
So please allow me to introduce myself once again.
I am Shuuichi-sama's eldest disciple—Yushima Ōko~"
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