Chapter 233: Another Channel
"Let me say this first. I cannot guarantee what you might run into."
Thwack.
The sound of bamboo striking the bamboo path echoed through the Shiba dojo, and the expressions of everyone present shifted in subtle, uneasy ways.
After the bizarre events of the past few days, even Kukaku, stubborn as she was about principles, understood she could no longer stay neutral.
Neutrality required one of two things. Either you had the strength to remain neutral, or the situation had not yet rotted to the point where neutrality became impossible.
If it were only the earlier disputes among Shinigami, that would have been manageable. There was no absolute conflict between Shinigami and Chakra. People could argue, throw punches, then laugh it off afterward.
But now the Quincy were in the equation, and everything changed.
Rumors spread outside like wildfire, claiming Quincy could cultivate Chakra too, and that doing so could even remove hidden dangers. Under that kind of noise, the situation turned into a mess almost overnight.
Shinigami and Quincy were mortal enemies. They did not debate, they killed. Their hatred ran so deep that it left no room for conversation.
And yet, reality was no longer that simple.
There was no problem with Shinigami cultivating Chakra. There was no problem with Quincy cultivating Chakra. So when they met, what would they be?
Shinigami and Quincy?
Or Chakra practitioners?
If they were Chakra practitioners, did they still need to fight?
In the end, both sides were already tangled in countless attacks, assassinations, and retaliations, each incident feeding the next. The mainstream of the Chakra cultivation system was currently the Wandering Souls, and Chakra itself had not produced any truly terrifying figures in such a short time. At best, the most elite Chakra practitioners were only around the level of an ordinary squad member, which was frankly weak.
But everyone could see the potential.
They had all witnessed Kurosaki Ichigo and the Truth Seeking Orb. The impact alone could flatten Seireitei. With that image burned into their minds, who could pretend this energy was harmless?
And in that situation, how were you supposed to make everyone sit down and talk?
Impossible.
Shinigami and Quincy had a blood feud, but the Wandering Souls had grudges too. Who did not have family or friends from Rukongai? How many Wandering Souls had died inexplicably? How many had been erased halfway through their journey? Quincy claimed to eliminate Hollows, but everyone knew there were Quincy who erased Wandering Souls as well.
Three powers. Three factions.
They interlocked like vicious teeth, gnashing into each other until the whole world felt like it might crack.
At first, people still talked about "solving the problem properly."
Now?
What problem was left to solve?
Not beating each other's brains out was already considered restraint.
After thinking it through again and again, Kukaku finally made a decision that went against her ancestors' wishes.
She would send people to the Soul King Palace.
Even if it meant danger. Even if it meant stepping into something no one could control.
The current unrest had not caused deaths so far. On the surface, everyone still looked calm.
But everyone knew the truth.
This was air compressed in a pressure cooker. The moment someone poked it hard enough, the explosion would become an earth shattering war.
All sides had openly revealed themselves. Anyone still fantasizing about a peaceful future at this point was either lying to themselves or broken in the head.
Seireitei was the strongest faction, yet its internal communication was terrible. Opinions split so sharply it was nearly impossible to produce a unified decision, let alone decisive action.
Yhwach's side looked unified, but its internal situation was not stable either.
As for the Wandering Souls, they were united in purpose but too weak. Their top tier combat power was not lacking, Aizen Sōsuke and Ichigo were both terrifying, yet what did that change?
If they could not win, they could not win.
It was not like they could destroy the world, right?
Kukaku stared into the dim space ahead of her, the thought sour in her mouth. As a descendant of a Great Noble Clan, she would be lying if she claimed she felt nothing for her past. But betraying others was impossible.
So her conclusion remained the same.
The Zero Division.
If the Zero Division refused to step forward and uphold justice, then sooner or later Soul Society would face a war far beyond the Thousand Year Blood War. In that kind of war, ethics and humanity would be pulverized. At that point, the only ones who might curb it, or at least reduce its severity, would be the true rulers of Soul Society, those who sat suspended high above.
The Soul King Palace.
The Zero Division.
If they did not move, then once Aizen's so called "guest star" reached a point everyone could no longer tolerate, a devastating war would ignite.
Kukaku sat cross legged on the dojo floor, frowning at the people gathered before her.
"Aizen is listening somewhere, so I will not call him out. I called you here to discuss who should go to the Soul King Palace and end this crisis."
She looked across the faces, each one different, each one carrying their own weight, and for a moment her expression faltered.
The Shiba dojo had become a gathering point for monsters and legends.
Yoruichi Shihoin, former head of one of the Four Great Noble Clans.
Kisuke Urahara, former captain of the Gotei 13 and former director of the Research and Development Department.
Gin Ichimaru, dragged through Aizen's schemes, released again for reasons no one trusted, and now carrying an unsettling emptiness in his eyes.
Rangiku Matsumoto, a fragment of the Soul King, completely unaware of what was happening, focused only on preparing for a future with Gin.
Kaname Tōsen, who still wore the mask of a cold blooded killer, yet after days of interaction had been exposed as a genuinely good person, one who had been twisted and steered by Aizen.
And in the corner, Kurosaki Ichigo, dozing off, with her useless little brother Ganju hovering around him like a shadow.
And most importantly, Aizen Sōsuke himself, hidden somewhere, quietly observing everything.
If she had to choose someone from this group to go to the Soul King Palace, Kukaku felt her vision darken.
It was an impossible selection.
They were traitors to Seireitei, the architects of the chaos, naive simpletons who understood nothing, or people who understood everything and still held intentions that could not be trusted.
Kukaku wanted to go herself and demand answers.
But she could not.
She was the one who fired the Flower Crane Cannon. The moment she stepped into the Soul King Palace, the past would bite down on her throat.
In her eyes, the only truly trustworthy one here was Yoruichi. Even Urahara could not be fully trusted.
Urahara had entered the Soul King Palace before. The Zero Division had assisted him. Much of his research had threads tied directly to them. Yet now he wore a neutral face, and that alone made him a poor candidate.
Gin and Tōsen were out of the question.
Aizen was unthinkable.
Sending Rangiku would change nothing.
That left three names.
Ichigo.
Ganju.
Yoruichi.
Out of personal bias, Kukaku refused to send her brother. She understood Ichigo's unique qualities, but the idea of Yoruichi and Ichigo going together made her feel strangely uneasy.
Ichigo had followed Aizen this whole time, but he was still a teenager. If he saw the Soul King and spoke with the Zero Division, perhaps he could still be steered back onto a straighter path.
But Yoruichi was a former clan head. A rebel. Now breaking into the Soul King Palace.
The thought alone felt wrong.
Kukaku exhaled slowly and crushed those tangled thoughts before they could choke her.
"In any case, given the current situation, we must include the option of entering the Soul King Palace."
She sat upright, voice low and steady.
"I know why you are here. You want my Flower Crane Cannon, and you want the method to reach the Soul King Palace. I can provide them. But the candidate is chosen by me."
Her gaze swept the room.
"It is time to enter the Soul King Palace."
"If we do not, then the so called good deeds of Ichigo and Aizen will ignite the conflict inside the entire Soul Society."
"This is not a small matter. Everyone in Soul Society is already on edge. The Shinigami are already dissatisfied with the Wandering Souls. If a skirmish breaks out, saying only one in ten in the entire Rukongai would survive would be an optimistic estimate."
"Action must be taken. Someone must go to the Soul King Palace and invite the Royal Guard down to uphold justice and righteousness in Soul Society. Central 46 has been slaughtered by Aizen. Now we have only one way to prevent war."
"Seireitei is still the largest faction. Only if it can maintain its status can this moment shift from an impending explosion to peace. I believe none of you want war to come."
"Ah, of course not."
Ichigo, who had been in the corner, pushed himself up and nodded with confident certainty.
"I guarantee there will not be any large scale wars, Big Sister Kukaku. Aizen and I already agreed. We will not do anything that truly causes problems. Look at everything so far, nobody has died, right?"
Kukaku's eyelid twitched.
That was exactly what terrified her.
No deaths. No obvious threats. No clear line to strike back against.
So what were they really doing?
And why had Aizen not shown his face even now?
What was he plotting?
Kukaku stared at Ichigo for a long moment, then made her decision.
"Then the candidates to go to the Soul King Palace will be Ichigo and Yoruichi."
She spoke the names clearly, leaving no room for argument.
.....
[Check Out My Patreon For Advance Chapters On All My Fanfics!]
[[email protected]/FanficLord03]
[Join Our Discord Community For Updates & Events]
[https://discord.gg/MntqcdpRZ9]