Restricted Death

Chapter 247 Stealing Power
The matter concerning Shin's Zanpakuto was an unexpected twist, leaving everyone present astonished, especially those who knew the Zero Division quite well.

Nimaiya Oetsu is the creator of Zanpakuto, while Hyosube Ichibei is the namer of everything in Soul Society. It is truly unbelievable that a Zanpakuto with a name unknown to Hyosube Ichibei and not created by Nimaiya Oetsu has suddenly appeared.

Of course, there were also those who were completely clueless about the situation, such as Shiba Kaien. Although he was summoned to greet the Zero Division, as a young captain, he knew very little about the Zero Division, only that such an organization existed. At this moment, it was only through his keen intuition that he caught the frozen tension around him and vaguely sensed the extraordinary and strange nature of that sword. His eyes were filled with pure astonishment as he looked at Shin.

Shin stood silently in place, seemingly lost in thought about Hyosugi Ichibei's words.

The heavy, rock-moving footsteps broke the delicate silence. Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni strode steadily to Hyosube's side and stood still. This commander-in-chief of the Gotei 13 was always pragmatic. He looked at the great monk, his chiseled, stern face filled with concern, and asked bluntly, "Will this child's Zanpakuto play an important role in the battles to come?"

Hyosube's eyes, which seemed to see through all the fog, calmly looked back, slowly shook his head, and his voice was like the tolling of an ancient temple bell: "I don't know. As I said, I don't know the Bankai ability of his Zanpakuto. The future is full of variables, and even I cannot predict it accurately."

Hyosube Ichibei then said, "Let's get down to business."

Upon hearing this, everyone's expression turned serious.

Hyosubu's gaze swept over the tense faces, and a rare seriousness appeared on his face: "As for Yhwach, he is someone that even our Zero Division has to take seriously. Yamamoto, you already knew a thousand years ago that he would make a comeback sooner or later."

These words startled many people present. Hirako Shinji could no longer suppress the surging questions in his heart and raised his hand to interrupt, "Please wait a moment!"

"I remember the records of Soul Society. A thousand years ago, the Captain-Commander personally defeated that guy named Yhwach, right? What do you mean you knew back then that Yhwach would come back sooner or later? If you knew that back then, why didn't you go all out and eliminate him completely to prevent future troubles?"

Hyosubu responded to this sharp question with a detached look of worldly wisdom, shaking his head slightly: "This involves the secrets of the Three Realms, and it is not Yamamoto's fault."

He paused, then continued, "Yhwach has awakened again this time, and his strength will be even greater than before. However, he has not yet truly awakened. It is truly surprising that you were able to perceive his existence at this time."

As he spoke, his gaze returned to the letter.

The monk's unusual attentiveness made Xin feel somewhat uncomfortable, and he was unsure of the monk's true feelings towards him.

Immediately afterward, Hyosubu's words dropped a bombshell, plunging the entire hall into deathly silence: "We do not approve of the Gotei 13's plan to conquer the Unknown Empire. Of course, we will not interfere with your decision, and we will even provide you with assistance."

Shin's brow furrowed slightly. Hyosugi's words carried a palpable distance—"you," "you all," "we"—these subtle phrases seemed to deliberately separate the Zero Division from the Gotei 13. These guardians of the Soul King's Palace, with their indifferent expressions and words, seemed genuinely unconcerned about the survival of the 13. Shin coldly judged: if Yhwach's existence didn't ultimately directly shake the foundations of the Soul King's Palace, they probably wouldn't even bother offering this much "help."

Kyoraku Shunsui's usually nonchalant face was now filled with confusion. He coughed lightly and asked in a slightly probing tone, "What do you mean by that? Aren't you coming with us to fight the Quincy?"

Kirinji Tenjiro, carrying his signature white flag, replied in a slightly languid tone, "Our Zero Squad's duty is to guard the Spirit King Palace. We will not initiate wars."

Ukitake Jushiro said anxiously, "But if we let the Quincy go unchecked, it will be a disaster for the three realms if Yhwach awakens. Even the Soul King Palace may not be spared."

“So,” Nimaiya Oetsu replied lazily, even shaking his slightly comical afro, “it all depends on you guys! Good luck, lads.”

"..."

This logic, which borders on shirking responsibility, is like throwing a lit torch onto a pile of dry wood. The team leaders present all frowned, their faces instantly turning grim.

Knowing full well that the Quincy are a tremendous threat to the Three Realms, why does the strongest Zero Division choose to stand by and watch?!
This is Squad Zero...

This realization shattered the captains' mysterious reverence for the Zero Division, turning it into intense doubt and dissatisfaction; even silent sighs could be heard spreading through the air.

Hyosube Ichibei glanced at everyone and said with a smile, "I know you probably don't understand, so let me explain in detail."

“The Great Spirit Book Corridor!” He suddenly mentioned the term, and Shin and Kyoraku Shunsui’s eyes sharpened almost instantly, as if drawn by invisible threads, instinctively focusing all their attention on Hyosube.

"That place is actually a place that contains the power of the Spirit King. The Spirit King's supreme power was manifested as the three powers that span the past and present and control the cycle of reincarnation: the past, the present, and the future."

Xin's mind raced at that moment, considering the three great powers...

He remembered that the Spirit King's left and right hands respectively controlled the abilities of "stopping" and "moving forward." Could these correspond to the powers of the present and the future?

And isn't the miraculous power of the Great Spirit Book Corridor, which records everything in the Soul Society indiscriminately and in great detail, the most accurate manifestation of the power of the "past"? If we trace this kind of operation, which is beyond human capabilities, back to the Soul King, everything makes perfect sense.

When these three powers of past, present, and future are combined, one has complete control over time, and is truly omniscient and omnipotent!

"The Great Spirit Book Corridor was destroyed by a guy named Aizen, right?"

Kyoraku immediately nodded: "That's right. He broke into the Great Scripture Corridor not long ago, and after learning a lot of information from it, he destroyed the Great Scripture Corridor and defected to Hueco Mundo."

After he finished speaking, he suddenly paused, "Could it be..."

Hyosube Ichibei nodded: "That's right. We suspect that Aizen has stolen power. Even if this is not true, since he has entered the Great Spirit Book Corridor, his ambition must have grown along with it, and he will inevitably set his sights on the Soul King. The main reason we will not go with you to fight the Quincy is that we are worried that once we leave, Aizen will take the opportunity to attack the Soul King's palace."

Shin knew that Aizen's ultimate goal was indeed to create the King's Key to enter the Soul King's Palace.

However, what Shin cared about was another layer of meaning in Hyosube Ichibei's words: once you enter the Great Spirit Book Corridor, you will have ambitions towards the Spirit King.

What exactly is hidden in the Great Spiritual Library corridor...?

Shin grew increasingly curious about this; Aizen and Yhwach both seemed to be people who knew the secrets of this world.

Hirako Shinji's brows furrowed into a deep knot, yet he persisted with a persistent question: "I have another question. There are five of you, each of you must be incredibly strong, right? You don't need to send all of you to help. Sending just one or two... two or three would be fine, wouldn't it?" His gaze swept over Hikifune Kiryu, Shutara Senjumaru, and the others, hoping for a positive response.

Upon hearing this, Kiryu smiled and said, "Shinko, you don't understand us. If we go out to fight alone, our combat strength will be greatly reduced."

Shutara Senjumaru's gaze swept over the crowd, and her voice, as clear and precise as a finely sewn stitch, continued, "Unless you can deal with Aizen first, but based on our assessment of his true strength, it won't be that easy."

The Zero Division's clear and thorough explanation finally eased the captains' previous strong confusion and resentment to some extent. However, along with the understanding came a deeper worry: this meant that the main force against the Quincy would be entirely on the shoulders of the Thirteen Divisions!
Without eliminating Aizen, the Zero Division will not take the initiative to deal with the Quincy.

Considering that Aizen recently displayed a portion of his power, easily blocking Captain-Commander Yamamoto's attack, and that he now controls the entire Hueco Mundo, it is indeed no easy task to deal with him.

Furthermore, Hyosube's earlier assessment that "Aizen may have stolen the Soul King's power" added an immeasurable sense of terror to this gloom—what kind of all-powerful force would that be?
The entire council chamber fell into a deathly silence, the air heavy and suffocating.

All eyes ultimately focused on Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni, who stood as imposing as a mountain. At this moment, only the Captain-Commander's resolute decision, as weighty as a mountain, could point the way forward.

Hyosube Ichibei's seemingly perpetually smiling, broad face broke the suffocating silence at just the right moment: "Don't worry too much, as I just said, we will give you some help."

Kyoraku Shunsui grasped at this straw almost instantly, suppressing his anxiety and refocusing his gaze: "Help? What kind of help?"

Kirinji Tenjiro, who had been carrying the white flag the whole time, stepped forward and said, "Listen! You can choose a few people to ascend to the Spirit King Palace! We will give them special training for a period of time to greatly improve their strength."

Special training?

Kirinji Tenjiro let out a "Ha!" and looked down at the group of strongest Shinigami with undisguised arrogance: "Don't underestimate this special training. We can make this person's strength surpass that of most of you in a very short time."

Everyone perked up and had the idea of ​​trying the special training. After all, who wouldn't want to become stronger?
On behalf of everyone, Jushiro Ukitake raised the core question: "So, what kind of conditions and restrictions apply?"

Nimaiya Wangyue said, "Of course there are requirements. First of all, you must be people with great potential. Most of you are not qualified. Those who have been captains for hundreds of years can basically be eliminated."

Hirako Shinji's eyebrows twitched involuntarily. He had a feeling that the other person was talking about him, which made him want to hit someone.

However, people with great potential...

Everyone's thoughts were instantly drawn to the same point by this definition. Almost instinctively, Hirako Shinji turned his gaze to the young figure who had been standing silently in the corner.

At the same time, he could feel the airflow in the entire council hall change, and almost all the captains' gazes were drawn to Xin as if by a magnet.

Clearly, everyone knew that the youngest captain among them was none other than the person that Nimaiya Oetsu had mentioned.

Becoming a captain just a few years after graduating from the Spirit Arts Academy is arguably the fastest promotion in the history of Soul Society. Moreover, Shin is only in his early thirties, which is excessively young compared to captains who are often hundreds or thousands of years old.

Just when even Shin himself thought that the qualification was rightfully his, Hyosube Ichibei unexpectedly shook his huge head slightly: "He can't do it. The path for him to become stronger is not in the Spirit King Palace."

letter:"……"

What does this mean? What does this monk actually know?

He pondered to himself with confidence.

Kirinji Tenjiro seemed to have found a more suitable candidate. His straightforward hand suddenly pointed to Shiba Kaien, who was standing in the back row looking somewhat bewildered: "You brat, you're barely qualified. So, are you interested?"

Shiba Kaien was clearly taken aback by this specific name, and pointed to himself in surprise, exclaiming, "Me...can I?"

He looked around incredulously and saw envy in the eyes of those around him.

Xin then said, "I've also thought of three candidates."

Hyosube Ichibei seemed to know who he was talking about, and added, "Zaraki Kenpachi won't do either."

“That leaves only two.” Xin accepted this calmly.

After a moment's thought, Kyoraku Shunsui guessed, "One of them is that genius boy in your team, Hitsugaya Toshiro, the third seat, right?"

“Exactly.” Xin nodded in affirmation.

"Then, what about the other one?" Kyoraku pressed.

Everyone's curiosity was piqued.

In an instant, all eyes were on him, waiting for him to reveal the last name. Shin raised his gaze, looking directly at Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni, and with a thoughtful seriousness, slowly, word by word, uttered a name that caused the atmosphere in the hall to plummet once more:
"And... Gin Ichimaru."

"..."

The scene suddenly fell silent.

Hyosube Ichibei smiled and said, "There's no rush to decide on this matter. You can discuss it first. The Quincy won't make a move easily."

(End of this chapter)