"I have sorted out all the traces of Reiatsu that were present.
There are three in total, and all of them are familiar Reiatsu.
They are Hirako Shinji, Captain Kuchiki of the Sixth Division, and Kōga, former third seat of the Sixth Division."
Facing everyone's gaze, Hachigen said something extremely shocking.
"Hirako again."
"Captain Kuchiki again."
"One firmly believes that Kōga was wronged, and the other is Kōga's father-in-law."
Muguruma Kensei had a headache.
This kind of combination appearing at the same time in the Senzaikyū—absolutely not a good sign.
"Idiot Kensei.
"You guessed it."
"There's no trace of Kōga in Senzaikyū Prison."
At this time, Kuna Mashiro, who had rushed to check, returned with the confirmation.
"So, the Reiatsu traces here really do belong to Kōga... This can't be wrong."
When Ōtoribashi Rōjūrō heard this, his body trembled slightly, as if struck by lightning.
"What the hell is that guy Hirako thinking?"
"To actually try and break into the prison?"
"Has he lost his mind?"
Shiba Isshin, who arrived a little late, was also shaken by the shocking possibility.
"Is this really worth such a fuss?"
"There are battle traces all over the place, and it's clearly from a battle on Gotei captain level.
"In other words, it's possible Hirako was trying to stop Captain Kuchiki from breaking out Kōga; or Captain Kuchiki was trying to stop Hirako; or, maybe—Hirako tried to break out Kōga and both got into a fight."
Kyoraku Shunsui, who arrived with Shiba Isshin, assessed the situation and offered three hypotheses.
After hearing this, all the captains and Lieutenants went deep into thought.
"A prison break might be certain, but the third possibility is unlikely.
"Kōga was locked in the Ninth Deep Cell—there were multiple layers of Kidō, and even his Zanpakutō, Muramasa, was separately sealed."
"In that condition, there's no way Kōga could escape by himself."
"More importantly, there's something else all of you are ignoring."
The current Chief of Kidō Corps, Tsukabishi Tomioka, withdrew his fingers from the floor of the Senzaikyū and stood up slowly. His gaze swept over Kyoraku Shunsui, Shiba Isshin, and the rest.
"Someone used Kidō Forbidden Techniques here—two of them, in fact."
"Space Transfer."
"And Time Stop."
As one of the most accomplished Kidō users in Soul Society, Tsukabishi Tomioka needed only a moment to detect the truth from the spiritual remnants.
"This level of Kidō... Hirako Shinji could never use it."
"Which means, the most likely person to have staged the prison break—was Captain Kuchiki."
"He wanted to use Space Transfer and Time Stop to remove Kōga from custody."
Muguruma Kensei was the first to jump to this conclusion.
"But what about the battle traces?"
Shiba Isshin frowned. He had doubts about this direction.
"Prison break?"
"I don't think so."
"What if this was a silencing operation instead?"
The new voice was soft but chilling. Everyone turned to see its source.
It was the Fourth Division Captain—Unohana Retsu.
She was the only one, given her position and background, who could speak of the Kuchiki family with such frankness.
"Captain Unohana!"
"I didn't expect even you would show up here tonight..."
"Do you mean to say this was an attempt to kill Kōga rather than rescue him?"
Kyoraku Shunsui greeted her politely, then asked cautiously.
For other captains, he might have just nodded.
But for Unohana, every word she said carried enormous weight—second only to Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni.
"It's not a good habit to feign ignorance, Captain Kyoraku."
"Some time ago, Hirako Shinji came to me in the Fourth Division."
"Judging from his attitude then, he truly believed that Kōga was innocent."
"But consider this: what is Hirako's connection to Kōga?"
"Nothing more than colleagues."
"Would someone like that risk a prison break?"
"Or even kill for him?"
Unohana's voice was soft, but every word was like a blade.
"Captain Unohana... Can I take your words to mean that Captain Kuchiki came here not to break Kōga out... but to silence him?"
Shiba Isshin asked with hesitation, but it sent shock through every Shinigami present.
"No way...!"
"Captain Kuchiki would silence someone? He's the head of the most noble family in Soul Society!"
"But... does he need to?"
"He already declared a break with Kōga during the court meeting..."
"And Kōga was sentenced to blood burial anyway—sealed for three thousand years. That's death in all but name."
Ōtoribashi Rōjūrō and Muguruma Kensei glanced at each other.
No one dared to say it—but the truth was growing more and more obvious.
"What could be the reason?"
Kyoraku Shunsui lowered his straw hat, but couldn't hide the seriousness in his tone.
Though his voice sounded calm, it carried tension.
"Captain Aiyan and Lieutenant Aizen... They should be at Central 46 right now."
Faced with everyone's questioning gazes, Unohana Retsu suddenly shifted the topic.
But what she said caused a storm to erupt.
"Three days ago, they came to me."
"They mentioned one thing—someone is conducting Hollowfication experiments."
"I didn't take it seriously at first."
"But when I checked Kōga's body... I found it."
"A faint trace of Hollow Reiatsu."
The words dropped like a thunderclap.
Every Shinigami—whether captain or Lieutenant—was stunned.
"So that's it."
Kyoraku Shunsui closed his eyes and exhaled deeply.
"A month ago, Captain Aiyan was already laying the groundwork for this plan."
"That's why he captured Kōga alive and didn't act rashly."
"That's why he went to Central 46 tonight—to lure the true mastermind into exposing themselves by trying to silence Kōga."
"A brilliant trap."
He couldn't help but admire it.
"What a pity."
"Had it gone according to Captain Aiyan's plan, they would've caught the perpetrator red-handed..."
"But Central 46... in their infinite 'wisdom'... ordered all Gotei Captains to remain in their barracks."
Unohana Retsu was the only one who could dare mock Central 46 like that.
And this time, not a single person dared to refute her.