"Saito, you stay behind and organize the 11th Division. Get everyone ready for battle!"

"Rie, you're with me…"

Araki and the judge grinned at each other, while discreetly activating Tentei Kura to contact Bulakubushi and Rie: "Prepare for combat."

"Ready for battle?!"

Saito was completely stunned. Araki and the judge were smiling so brightly—why were they talking about battle? Were they planning to kill someone?

Although she didn't fully understand Araki's intent, Saito didn't hesitate to carry out his order. The moment she received the Tentei Kura message, she began rallying the 11th Division's soldiers into the barracks.

"Let's go~"

On the other side, Araki was already striding forward with a carefree smile.

"This…"

The judge glanced between Araki's confident back and his own elaborate palanquin. Then, gritting his teeth, he leapt forward and chased after Araki.

Even a Squad Zero agent is walking—and I, a judge of the Central 46, am supposed to ride in a palanquin? That would be an insult to the Soul King!

A man in his position had never made the wrong choice when it came to matters of power.

The distance between the 11th Division and the Central 46 Chambers was about ten spirit ri—a negligible distance for captains like Araki and Unohana.

But for a judge accustomed to luxury and palanquins, every step of those ten spirit ri was excruciating!

By the time they reached the gates of Central 46, the judge was utterly exhausted. Drenched in sweat, he leaned forward, panting heavily.

"Haa... haa... haa…"

"How about a break?" Araki asked, staring at him.

"No! The officials are already waiting inside—we mustn't delay," the judge wheezed, shaking his head.

"All of you, stand down!"

With no time to rest, the judge turned and dismissed the guards stationed at the gate. Whatever happened next had to be kept secret.

"As you command!"

The guards obeyed without hesitation, saluting before vanishing into the surrounding shadows.

"Let's go!"

Only after the guards had gone did the judge lead Araki and Unohana into the inner sanctum of the Central 46 Chambers.

"Interesting," Araki muttered, raising an eyebrow.

This judge wasn't entirely clueless—at least he understood his position. Maybe such a person could be useful in the future.

What a pity... he's still useless.

"Enter," Araki said coolly, striding into the Central 46 Chamber with Rei and the judge beside him.

"Huh?!"

The sages inside immediately turned toward them, their eyes falling on the smugly silent judge.

"…"

The judge opened his mouth to speak—only to find the words stuck. Instead, he blinked repeatedly at the assembly, desperately trying to send a message with his eyes.

"Does he have an eye disease?"

Unfortunately, no one understood.

Crack!

The heavy, ancient doors slammed shut behind them with a grinding finality.

"Captain Araki, Captain Unohana—it's an honor. This may be our first formal meeting. You might not know me, but I am Tsunayashiro Yasuku…"

The man before them had short green hair and carried himself with aristocratic arrogance. Tsunayashiro Yasuku—the Second Elder of the Tsunayashiro Clan, one of Soul Society's five great noble houses.

At this moment in history, he stood near the pinnacle of Soul Society's power.

Following the invasion by Yhwach, Yasuku had inherited much authority in the wake of his father's assassination. The elder Tsunayashiro had fallen in the first wave—his death cementing Yasuku's sudden rise.

With the current head of the clan still comatose, this "Second Elder" had grown greedy, obsessed with seizing absolute control—even aspiring to claim the seat of clan head himself.

But every ambition has its end.

Slash!

Blood sprayed into the air. Tsunayashiro Yasuku collapsed, clutching his throat in horror, unable to finish his self-important speech.

"Does it matter who you are to me?"

Araki stood over him, his sword still humming with spiritual pressure.

As Yasuku's corpse hit the ground, silence swallowed the chamber.

"Huh?!"

The sages and judges sat frozen, stunned beyond comprehension. None of them had even registered the attack—Araki's strike had been that fast.

Tick. Tick. Tick…

Only as blood dripped steadily onto the polished floor, and the iron tang of death filled the room, did the "wise men" begin to understand.

"He—he killed him!"

"Murder! This is murder!"

"He actually did it!"

Panic erupted. Their illusions of control shattered in an instant.

The sages and inquisitors were in complete panic. They screamed at Araki, their bodies trembling violently. They wanted to flee, but found themselves paralyzed. They tried to summon the guards—only to realize they had been dismissed long ago. This meeting was deemed too important, too secret. They had feared outside witnesses... and in doing so, they had sealed themselves inside a tomb of their own making.

Now, in this vast, echoing chamber of Room 46, they had lost all means of communication. The only thing left to do... was wait to be slaughtered by the great Hollow.

"Eat them, Jijiba."

Araki ignored the pathetic cries and unleashed the entity sealed within—Jijiba—before the Central 46.

"Ooh! I've been holding back for so long! Finally, dinner's served!"

The moment Araki uttered Jijiba's true name—Miyabira—a massive, snow-white form manifested within the chamber. Despite trying to compress his bulk, Jiba's enormous head still brushed the ceiling.

"A Hollow! A Great Hollow!"

Terror erupted as the sages and judges screamed. Their spiritual perception recognized instantly what they were facing. Miyabira radiated ancient, primal dread—fear that bypassed the rational mind.

"ROAR!!!"

Jiba howled, his bloodstained maw opening wide. In a single gulp, he devoured over a dozen sages. Crimson fluid sprayed in all directions as his jagged teeth ground bone and flesh into a splattered mess of gore and robes.

"AAAAAHHH!!!"

The horrific scene only drove the rest into deeper hysteria. Fear granted them a desperate burst of strength, and some of the judges unleashed Kidō spells in a futile counterattack.

"BOOM!"

But it was useless.

Jiba split apart into multiple monstrous extensions of himself, tearing through the room. In an instant, the entire Central 46 had been slaughtered...

All except one trembling judge, seated beside Araki and Unohana.

"You… you killed them all!" the judge stammered, staring at Araki and Rei in horror.

"You're mistaken," Araki said calmly. "I only killed the Tsunayashiro family. The rest were killed by a Hollow."

Gulp.

"I—I want to live! What's the price? What do I have to pay to survive?" the judge pleaded.

"Don't ask me," Araki replied, nodding toward Jiba, who stared at the man hungrily. "Ask him."

"I'll give you everything! A hundred retainers! No—wait! A thousand! And ten thousand wandering souls too! Just let me live!"

The judge blurted out bribes in a frenzy, waving promises like currency before death.

"Squeak!"

But before he could offer anything more, Jiba's massive tongue whipped out, wrapped around the man—and dragged him down his gullet.

"Negotiating with a Hollow? You must be insane," Jiba muttered, patting his swollen belly.

"Retsu," Araki whispered, "report to Squad Zero. Say a Hollow attacked Central 46 and wiped them out. Request an immediate investigation. You'll submit the report. I'll approve it."

"As you command, Captain Araki," Unohana Retsu replied with a soft smile.

"Now then," Araki mused, "time to send my report to old man Yama." He waved a hand at Jiba. "Now get lost."

"Fine, I'm gone!" Jiba huffed, firing a powerful Cero into the sky.

"BOOM!"

With a surge of Hollow energy, Jiba blasted through the ceiling of Central 46 and leapt into the sky, his roar echoing across Seireitei:

"Asshole! Araki! I swear I'll kill you someday!"

"BOOM!"

Jiba vanished in a flash of light and smoke, and with it, the official record of what transpired in Central 46 was buried.

Everyone would now believe a Hollow attack had occurred during a classified meeting... and Araki had survived the carnage.

Meanwhile, in the First Division's barracks...

Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni sat quietly, awaiting Araki's next move—until two secret missives arrived.

The first:

"All members of Central 46 have been killed."

The second:

"Captain Araki has requested authorization to lead an expeditionary force to hunt down the Hollow responsible."

The veins in Yamamoto's forehead throbbed.

"This damn brat... Just how ruthless is he?"

With trembling hands and a surge of fury, the old man crumpled the letter—feeling as if another hundred of his precious few remaining hairs had died from sheer stress.

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