The air was still frigid. Snowflakes drifting down were halted just outside the protective barrier of condensed reishi.
Beneath his feet, the snow had only just begun to melt. Higashi Shuuichi eyed the aging Shinigami before him.
He vaguely recalled Yunoi Youkaku from the Bakkōtō Incident, but the man hadn't appeared often—most of the focus had been on Captain Amagai Shūsuke. So Shuuichi didn't know much about him.
"So, Steward Yunoi," Shuuichi said, tone calm, blade angled with deliberate ease, "you really think calling that thing a Zanpakutō is accurate? I've never seen a Zanpakutō that didn't revert to an Asauchi after its wielder died."
He narrowed his eyes.
"And I'm pretty damn sure no Zanpakutō has ever had multiple wielders."
He pointed the blade at Yunoi, a clear warning to stay back.
Yunoi stopped without resistance. "Whether you think it's a Zanpakutō or not is irrelevant," he said coolly. "The real question is, why did you lead us out here so deliberately? I think it's time you told me."
If Yunoi hadn't realized yet that Shuuichi had brought them to this desolate place on purpose, then he'd wasted decades serving as the Kasumiōji Family's steward.
"You're not worried I already reported this to Captain Shihōin of the Second Division?" Shuuichi countered casually.
He knew better than to let an old fox like Yunoi control the pace. The only way to keep the advantage was to control the conversation.
Yunoi's smile turned sharper. "And you're not worried I might tell Captain Unohana of the Fourth that you haven't been spending your leave in the Human World, but sneaking into Hueco Mundo?"
As the steward of the Kasumiōji—one of the noble families just beneath the Great Four—Yunoi hadn't come here with just a few bits of intel. A whole day's lead time had let him dig up Shuuichi's entire file.
Including one curious detail.
A few days ago, Captain Unohana herself had visited the Thirteenth Division to ask about Shuuichi's whereabouts. Ordinarily, that might seem like a captain's concern for a subordinate. But in the context of this, Yunoi didn't believe in coincidences.
Whether or not Shuuichi knew about Unohana's visit didn't matter. Yunoi could now use it as a bargaining chip.
Unfortunately, Shuuichi did know.
And now, it was his headache to deal with.
Could Yunoi have figured something out?
No—no way.
But if he hadn't, why would he bring up Unohana as leverage?
A mental storm raged behind Shuuichi's gaze. He looked up again at Yunoi—and over the old man's head, a blood-red —"Danger"—seemed to pulse in the air like a bleeding alarm.
"Heh… looks like it's time we had a proper talk," Shuuichi muttered, suppressing the urge to cut the man down right here.
Yunoi's status wasn't like the random Shinigami he'd eliminated before. Killing someone of the Kasumiōji Family's inner circle would spark far worse consequences than slaying even a Captain.
But that didn't mean he wouldn't do it.
Yunoi was hard to kill—not impossible.
Unlike Unohana Retsu. He couldn't beat her. Not yet. Not even Aizen would risk clashing with her for his sake.
"Return the Zanpakutō—Raika—to us," Yunoi ordered, voice brooking no argument. "And I'll give you a chance to explain yourself."
Shuuichi laughed.
"I don't mind a little intimidation," he said, voice dropping, "but there's a limit. You've forgotten one thing."
His tone turned cold—emotionless.
"I'm not a good person either."
"Hadō 78: Zanka Rin!"
His blade slashed downward. A crescent-shaped blast of raw Kido carved through the air, splitting the snow and launching twin shockwaves into the sky.
"Child's play."
Yunoi scoffed, extending his left hand forward.
"Bakudō 81: Dankū!"
He chantedless cast the spell. A towering wall of reishi sprang up before him. Shuuichi's Kido slammed into it without so much as a crack. Even the explosion's force seemed muffled.
"…That spiritual pressure," Shuuichi muttered darkly, "it's already approaching Captain-class."
That kind of pressure, combined with Yunoi's age and likely battlefield experience, meant one thing: Shuuichi wouldn't be able to finish this quickly without unleashing his full reiatsu.
Which meant—if he couldn't kill Yunoi here and now—he'd leave behind yet another witness, another piece of leverage.
"Don't think just because you killed a few of the Kasumiōji Family's hired blades that you can throw your weight around," Yunoi sneered. "You've crossed a line you should never have approached."
He hovered mid-air, eyes arrogant, looking down at Shuuichi as if he were something that had crawled from a gutter.
If Shuuichi weren't still marginally useful, Yunoi wouldn't even have let him speak.
So what if he'd been hiding some of his power? As long as he hadn't reached Captain level, he was no threat.
And even if he had reached it—what could a lone upstart do against a behemoth like the Kasumiōji family ?
By all normal logic, Yunoi's assessment was airtight.
Unfortunately, the man standing before him wasn't normal.
Higashi Shuuichi had long since secured the thickest backing in the next hundred years of Soul Society's future.
"…It's rare to be impulsive in life," Shuuichi murmured after a pause, voice almost too quiet to hear. "But I'll gladly pay the price for this one."
Up above, Yunoi caught the word impulsive, and a flicker of unease crawled up his spine.
No—impossible. He's just a Shinigami who couldn't even hold onto a Vice-Captaincy. Even with some hidden strength, it—
But before the thought could settle, the air changed.
A wave of spiritual pressure slammed down, compressing the very space around them. It wasn't just felt—it crushed, like the sky had turned to lead and dropped.
Yunoi's eyes widened.
"You… you actually have Captain-class reiatsu—"
He couldn't finish.
A bolt of lightning carved through the air and struck his nerves, paralyzing him.
"Hadō Number 4: Byakurai!"
Then Shuuichi was upon him, his entire form filling Yunoi's vision.
"Advance—Heisha! He who commands the blade… commands men!"
His Zanpakutō ignited in a pulse of white-green light, the polished edge glowing like a blade forged from authority itself.