Chapter 372
2-in-1 chapter:
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“Boom!”
With this explosive sound, Kagerōza was imdiately blasted backward, trailing a plu of white dust, before smashing into the ground.
He lay on the earth, face up, his eyes rolling white, nose bleeding profusely, and missing several teeth.
Everyone on the battlefield froze in shock.
Just monts ago, Kagerōza had been confidently suppressing Kaelith and Kyōraku Shunsui single-handedly—how could he be defeated so decisively?
After the initial stunned silence, mbers of the Thirteen Court Guard divisions seed to realize what had happened.
Their gazes shifted toward Kaelith and Kyōraku, filled with astonishnt.
Kyōraku adjusted his hat, looked away, and whistled as if disinterested.
Kaelith, on the other hand, grinned openly.
“Is sothing the matter, everyone? If you keep looking at like that, I’m going to get embarrassed!”
No one reacted outwardly—but every one of them thought exactly the sa thing.
With Kagerōza defeated, Kaelith looked down.
“Yoruichi, detain him and bring him to the Eleventh Division for interrogation.”
“Yes!”
Yoruichi didn’t hesitate. She gathered the Onmitsukidō squad and flashed forward.
Upon hearing Kaelith’s order, so present frowned.
Kagerōza was a major criminal—he should be tried by Central 46, not handed over to the Eleventh Division.
But since no one else objected—not even the Head Captain—they had no choice but to remain silent.
Kaelith then turned to the cloned captains.
“Captains, are you surrendering, or are you waiting for to make the first move?”
The clone’s expressions darkened.
“Captain Kaelith, you are stronger than any of us. But we are still Thirteen Division captains.”
“We will not surrender without fighting.”
“I see,” Kaelith nodded slowly.
He then gave a broad smile.
“In that case, I’ll feel perfectly justified in acting.”
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Most Shinigami didn’t know what had happened at the First Division barracks that day.
All they sensed was Kaelith’s spiritual pressure—like a tidal wave—washing repeatedly across Seireitei.
Mixed within were the pressures of all the captains.
At first, these pressures were strong, enough to rival Kaelith.
Yet within ten minutes or so, each one flickered out and disappeared from sense.
Leaving only Captain Kaelith.
Though they didn’t see the actual event, everyone assud it was another epic duel.
But unlike distant speculation, the captains who were present felt it deeply.
They had known Kaelith was powerful and extraordinarily talented. In less than two hundred years, he’d reached the level to stand opposite Yamamoto.
Yet only today did they truly grasp his strength.
He faced cloned captains—and not only matched them in spiritual power and abilities, but also outperford them physically. Every move was direct confrontation.
The thirteen clones fought with their full strength.
Kaelith faced them with nothing but his fists—and settled the entire fight swiftly.
So clones surrendered on the spot. Others were reduced to Reigai pills.
What followed was obvious—once Aizen interrogated—er, questioned—Kagerōza and learned the details of the Vanguard Project, they would simply recreate their own clone technology.
Of course, whether to build clones would be decided later based on need.
Originally, everyone had doubts about whether Kaelith had the ability to succeed Yamamoto.
Now it was clear—at least in power, he had beco fully capable.
With that settled, everyone breathed easier.
With Head Captain Yamamoto and Captain Kaelith in charge, Seireitei could enter a long period of stability.
However, Yamamoto himself did not share in their relief.
After taking back command of the First Division barracks, he couldn’t help but feel uneasy.
Many powerful noble families that had grown corrupt—feeding off Soul Society—had been secretly eliminated, their leaders struck down.
Without their central figures, those houses would quickly be absorbed or erased from Soul Society’s history.
That wasn’t all—another shock followed.
The Inner Court Guard reported that Central 46 hadn’t contacted the outside world for many days.
With Yamamoto’s permission, the Guard entered the Central 46 eting hall.
Inside, they found bodies—cold and lifeless.
The Fourth Division rushed in and confird that those wise elders had died long ago, likely at the beginning of Kagerōza’s rebellion.
The news sent shivers through the Shinigami ranks.
If Central 46 was wiped out—then who had been issuing orders all this ti?
Kaelith stroked his chin thoughtfully.
“It must’ve been Kagerōza who did this.”
“That monster—willing to murder the most honorable n in Soul Society to fulfill his filthy ambition!”
“Forty-six great sages… Soul Society’s rare treasures, slaughtered to the last man!”
“These cris are—truly—just… er… abhorrent, unforgivable by heaven and earth!”
He exclaid indignantly.
Yamamoto narrowed his eyes.
He reviewed every decree issued by Central 46 since the rebellion began.
These commands all helped commoners, suppressed monopolies, curtailed noble power, and gave a voice to civilians.
Kagerōza’s ambition and these reforms were entirely unrelated.
In fact, it was one of those young hotshots—Kaelith—who had been driving policy in that direction all along.
Yamamoto looked at Kaelith, thoughts swirling.
If this had taken place two centuries ago, anyone who dared attack Central 46 during a crisis would have been punished rcilessly.
He wasn’t sure how to respond in the current situation.
Although Kaelith’s actions were wildly unconventional, no evidence tied them to killing the elders.
The reforms didn’t benefit Kaelith personally. As a noble, he would have been the victim.
If not for Kaelith’s unpredictable personality, no one would believe he was responsible.
After much consideration, Yamamoto made his decision.
If it were anyone else—even his prized disciples Kyōraku or Ukitake—Yamamoto would never have approved of them striking against Central 46.
But Kaelith was different.
That kid… he was destined to succeed him as Head Captain.
If Kyōraku were to take the post, with his moderate personality, he’d end up being led around by Central 46.
As for Kaelith… that brat, it’d already be good if he didn’t lead Central 46 around by their nose.
A Head Captain who dared to fight, dared to shoulder responsibility, and even dared to strike at Central 46… who couldn’t accept that kind of leader?
“Hmph… kid, you should be grateful for my kindness.”
Yamamoto set the file aside with a grim face.
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*Eleventh Division, a side room.*
“Yo ho~ Sōsuke, how do you like the gift I prepared for you?” Kaelith pushed open the door, full of smugness.
Aizen was seated, holding a tablet, browsing through data recovered from Inaba Kageroza.
Hearing Kaelith’s voice, he looked up.
“Kaelith.”
“Present!”
“…Wait...What am I saying ‘present’ for? This ti it was all my work. I didn’t ss up once!”
Kaelith first reflexively snapped to attention, then caught himself and protested loudly.
Aizen exhaled deeply.
“I’ve told you many tis already.”
“Your particle transformation ability is extrely dangerous. A single misstep could result in irreversible consequences.”
“Even if you’ve succeeded every ti so far, one failure would be catastrophic.”
“Until you fully master it, you are not to use it again.”
Kaelith’s expression turned a little awkward.
Truthfully, Aizen had no idea how many tis he’d already used that move in secret.
Maybe not quite full mastery, but he was definitely at the expert level.
Still, instinct told him that if he admitted that, the fallout would only be worse.
He nodded obediently after a mont of silence. “Got it.”
Aizen gave him a suspicious look.
But before he could say more, Kaelith coughed and leaned in.
“So, so, Sōsuke, did you already finish analyzing the data from Kageroza?”
“What’s it say? Can you handle the Vanguard Project?”
Now that they were back on a professional topic, Aizen’s energy returned.
He adjusted his glasses.
In that mont, he suddenly rembered—his glasses had been tampered with. This morning, the placent felt slightly off.
Forget it. Probably just Kaelith ssing with them.
“I’ve finished parsing the Vanguard Project docunts.”
“As we suspected, the warriors created by the project were originally intended to fall between average Shinigami and low-seated officers.”
“The reason Kageroza was able to produce these powerful Captain-class replicas was thanks to the Soul King fragnt he had.”
“For each replica, he used the 'Breath of the Soul King' to inject imnse amounts of spiritual pressure.”
“And to ensure dominance over their minds, he would tear off a piece of his own soul and embed it into the replica.”
“At that rate, it won’t be long before his soul collapses on its own. We won’t even need to lift a finger.”
“In short: mass-producing Captains to form an army is effectively impossible if you want to continue living after”
“The real prize here isn’t the replicas—it’s the fragnt of the Soul King inside him.”
“This one fragnt… far exceeds anything I’ve seen before. As experintal material, it’s a rare treasure.”
Compared to Aizen’s excitent, Kaelith looked rather deflated.
He had been planning to mass-produce Captain-level fighters and give Yhwach a pleasant little surprise with wave after wave of overwhelming force.
So much for that.
Sensing his disappointnt, Aizen glanced at Kaelith and smiled slightly.
“Mass production might not be viable… but don’t forget what we already have.”
Already have?
Kaelith blinked. Then, his eyes lit up.
Under Aizen’s gaze, Kaelith extended his hand—dark shadows swirled outward, and a pile of red Gikongan soul pills tumbled out, stacking into a small mound.
He looked at Aizen.
“Sōsuke, can you revive all of these?”
“A simple trick.”
Kaelith grinned broadly.
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*Elsewhere—*
“So… I’m free now?”
The green-haired girl stood in the room, her eyes dazed and uncertain.
Soi-Fon nodded.
“Lord Kaelith has already taken care of Kageroza. No one will be coming after you anymore.”
“Although your background is unusual, considering you had no part in his sches—and in fact voluntarily turned yourself in and shared critical intelligence—Lord Kaelith has exercised his authority as Acting Head Captain to erase all charges against you.”
Nozomi Kujō opened her mouth slightly, as if she couldn’t believe it.
She hadn’t done anything… but she was still created from the sa source as Kageroza. By rights, she should’ve shared his fate.
And yet—it had been brushed aside so simply?
Noticing her disbelief, Rangiku snorted and smiled.
“When Kaelith handles things, you can relax.”
“That guy’s the kind of man who never lets people down.”
Nozomi looked at the two won in front of her.
Both so beautiful…
Despite their completely different builds and personalities, each had her own stunning presence.
Even as a fellow woman, Nozomi felt her heart stir a little just looking at them.
Soi-Fon continued:
“Nozomi, Lord Kaelith said you may choose your own path from here on.”
“We will assist in whatever way we can.”
Nozomi frowned thoughtfully.
She asked cautiously, “If I want to work under Captain Kaelith… is that allowed?”
“…Of course.”
Soi-Fon nodded.
A flicker of resignation passed through her eyes, but her tone remained serious:
“To work under Lord Kaelith, you must first beco a Shinigami.”
“You’re currently just a regular soul. To beco a Shinigami, we’ll first have to determine your spiritual potential.”
“If you qualify, I’ll take you to enroll in this year’s Shin’ō Academy class.”
“Once you graduate from the Academy, you’ll be eligible to join the Eleventh Division and serve under Lord Kaelith.”
Nozomi didn’t hesitate. She nodded firmly.
“I’m in.”
“Good.”
Soi-Fon nodded in approval.
“Please wait here. I’ll go report to Lord Kaelith.”
With that, her figure flickered and vanished from the room.
Nozomi looked at the spot where she had disappeared and bit her lip lightly.
“I’m just a splinter of a soul… a half-being. Will they really not disqualify soone like …”
Rangiku laughed.
“Oh please… Kaelith just picked up soone way stranger than you not long ago.”
“You’re just a half-soul. There is another girl who is made up of countless souls. Both of you are pretty interesting cases.”
“If you are interested I’ll introduce you to her soti.”
Seeing Rangiku’s playful tone, Nozomi couldn’t help but smile faintly.
The people around Kaelith… really were all good people.
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