Gosuke Shigure returned to the Eleventh Division barracks and informed his subordinates of the mission handed down by Captain-Commander Yamamoto. While some were surprised to learn the enemy was the Quincy, the Eleventh Division, known for its battle-hardened disposition, did not express much emotion. Compared to other squads, the Eleventh Division—the combat corps of the Gotei 13—understood more clearly than anyone else what it meant to be part of their unit: they existed to fight. Their duty wasn't to judge the enemy, but to defeat them. Whether the adversary was a Hollow or a Quincy was irrelevant. Gosuke Shigure also understood this. Regardless of any moral ambiguity surrounding the Quincy, once Central 46 ruled them a threat to the balance and ordered extermination, as the captain of the combat squad, he had no choice but to comply. After several days of preparation, the senkaimon—the great spiritual gates connecting Soul Society to the World of the Living—were activated, calibrated specifically for the Quincy extermination operation. Gosuke Shigure, along with a handpicked team of Eleventh Division elites, gathered before the gate. Despite the term "extermination," the operation did not warrant deploying every member of the division. Many of the newer members lacked experience, and exposing them to battle against the highly dangerous Quincy would only lead to unnecessary deaths. Thus, only seasoned fighters and seated officers participated in the task. A notable addition to this elite unit was Zaraki Kenpachi. Due to the urgency of the Quincy situation, he had temporarily paused his brutal training with Unohana Retsu, joining the mission as a front-line combatant. "Let's move out." Gosuke Shigure gave the order and stepped into the senkaimon. His subordinates followed him, entering the dimensional passage. Between the World of the Living and Soul Society was the Dangai—also known as the Precipice World. The Dangai was a chaotic realm of flowing time and spatial anomalies. Without guidance, one could easily become lost for eternity. Fortunately, the Hell Butterflies—spiritual guides cultivated by the Soul Society—led them safely through the Dangai and into the World of the Living. The time period of their arrival: the late Edo period of Japan. This era marked the final phase of the Tokugawa shogunate—the last feudal military government in Japanese history. In this time, the samurai class held supreme societal authority. Though once seen as subordinate to aristocrats during the Heian period, the military elite had risen in political dominance, their authority formalized through court-granted titles like "Shogun." By the Edo period, the samurai had secured the highest tier in the social hierarchy. They possessed exclusive privileges: the right to bear swords, to have surnames, and even to perform tsujigiri—the legal killing of commoners for perceived disrespect. Civilians avoided samurai in the streets. Even a slight accidental bump could be considered a grave insult, giving the warrior class license to strike down the offender. When Gosuke Shigure and his team materialized in the city, they observed groups of swaggering samurai, swords at their sides, their presence commanding fear and deference. Some Shinigami commented with a wry chuckle, "It feels a bit like Seireitei." "True, they wear blades," Gosuke replied, "but they're not Shinigami." His words received nods of agreement. "Compared to these sword-bearers," someone muttered, "our real threat now are those who fight with bows." The Quincy. To the untrained eye, the Quincy shared a surface-level similarity with Shinigami: both hunted Hollows. But their methods, and philosophies, were diametrically opposed. Shinigami purified Hollows with their zanpakutō, returning them to the cycle of reincarnation by transforming them back into benign soul particles. Even if a Hollow's soul was fragmented, those pieces would eventually reconstitute into a soul capable of rebirth. But Quincy destroyed Hollows outright—obliterating them entirely, converting their existence into reishi and erasing them from the karmic cycle. Over time, this led to a dangerous depletion of souls in the Three Worlds, threatening the very balance of the cosmos. This was why the Soul Society had, centuries ago, declared war on the Quincy. And why, once again, they prepared to do so now. Before deployment, Seireitei had fully briefed all Gotei 13 squads on the Quincy's spiritual crime—explaining clearly the existential danger they posed to the world. Even for the Eleventh Division, who normally fought without question, understanding the why behind this battle gave greater resolve. Details about the Quincy had also been circulated. Their weapons were not traditional bows, but formed entirely of reishi—spiritual particles—and manifested via the Heilig Bogen, or "Sacred Bow." Their main technique, Heilig Pfeil, allowed them to concentrate spirit particles into deadly arrows of precise lethality. Unlike Shinigami, who generated reiatsu from within and molded it through training and will, Quincy absorbed reishi from the environment, manipulating external energy rather than internal power. This core difference defined their contrasting styles: Shinigami drew from within; Quincy commanded from without. Just as the unit was taking in their surroundings, a voice called out. "Captain Gosuke, and members of the Eleventh Division?" A modest-looking man in a standard black shihakushō approached, his posture respectful. "I'm Aoyama Kosuke, Sixteenth Seat of the Thirteenth Division. I'm the local Shinigami assigned to Edo." Gosuke gave a small nod. "Gosuke Shigure, Eleventh Division. Appreciate the assistance." Aoyama continued, "Captain Ukitake has already briefed me through a Hell Butterfly. I've prepared lodgings and a base of operations for your team." "Much appreciated," Gosuke replied. Though they had come to eliminate the Quincy, immediate combat wasn't the plan. Establishing a secure foothold in the World of the Living was essential. Soon, under Aoyama's guidance, the Eleventh Division squad arrived at a fortified district in Edo Castle. Using specialized Soul Society techniques, the area's living human inhabitants had been temporarily placed into a deep sleep and quietly relocated elsewhere. This location would now serve as the Eleventh Division's forward base for the operation.
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