"Rest assured," Aizen said softly. "Next, I'll need you to handle matters in Hueco Mundo."
"Understood," Haruki nodded. "Once we're in the human world, I'll find an excuse to return to Hueco Mundo."
"Speaking of which, I'm quite curious to see how the current combat strength of Las Noches compares to that of the Seireitei."
With that, Haruki left Aizen's office.
Back in his own office, he prepared to finalize this month's updates.
He hadn't updated last month, and with missions coming up, he needed to get this done today.
His Thousand-Year Blood War arc had just concluded the City of Seven Seas storyline.
In this arc, the protagonist and his allies faced off against members of the Onmitsukidō who were lurking in the City of Seven Seas, ultimately saving their comrades.
Of course, such content was difficult to get approved, as it involved sensitive institutions like the Central 46 and the Onmitsukidō.
But Haruki was good friends with Shūhei, who advised him to tweak the content to make it less controversial, and it eventually passed review.
This time, he planned to delve deeper into the world-building.
"In the depths of the ocean, there are four of the most powerful Quincy. It is said that three of them were part of the Schutzstaffel who fought alongside Yhwach, the Quincy King, in the great war a thousand years ago."
"These three most powerful Quincy went their separate ways in pursuit of the legacy left by the Quincy King. Due to their overwhelming strength, they came to be known as the Emperors of the Sea."
"These three Quincy, along with the 'Red-Haired' man who once aided you, are known as the 'Four Emperors' of the sea."
After setting up the concept of the Four Emperors, Haruki put down his pen.
Hmm, this should be a good stopping point. Ending the chapter with the introduction of the Four Emperors would surely leave readers craving more.
By the time he finished, it was already the end of the workday. Haruki stood up, stretched, and was about to head home for some rest when the alarm of the Soul Society rang out.
Bzzzz—
A loud noise came from the direction of the Sixth Division district. Haruki couldn't help but frown.
Seriously?! Why now, just as I'm about to leave?!
Haruki's face darkened. He felt like firing a Cero straight at the idiot who triggered the alarm.
Well, it's not their fault, I guess.
Haruki had no choice but to rush toward the Sixth Division district. It wasn't far, and by the time he arrived, the Sixth Division's Shinigami had already cordoned off the area.
He spotted Ginjirō Shirogane, the Sixth Division's vice-captain, standing guard on the perimeter. Haruki approached him and asked, "Ginjirō, what's going on?"
"Haruki, you got here fast," Ginjirō said, seeing Haruki approach. "A big shot's been killed. I think the nobles are going to put pressure on us again."
"A big shot?" Haruki asked, surprised. "One of the top five families?"
If it were just an ordinary noble, they wouldn't have sounded the alarm across the entire Seireitei.
Ginjirō glanced around, making sure no one was eavesdropping, then whispered, "It's Tsunayashiro Munemoto, a high-ranking member of the Tsunayashiro main family."
Tsunayashiro Munemoto!
Haruki was shocked. He had just impersonated Tsunayashiro Munemoto earlier and was planning to contact Rōka to have the Imaginary Bodies of the captains eliminate him.
But before he could act, Munemoto was already dead.
That was fast.
Was it the work of the Imaginary Bodies?
Haruki thought it was highly likely, especially the Imaginary Body of Tōsen Kaname, who might have targeted the Tsunayashiro family.
However, he soon noticed something unusual.
Because at the crime scene, he spotted a familiar face.
"That's…"
Haruki looked at the person he had seen not long ago and asked curiously.
Ginjirō followed Haruki's gaze and said, "Him? That's Tsunayashiro Tokinada, from the Tsunayashiro branch family. He was the first to discover Tsunayashiro Munemoto's body."
"..." Haruki inwardly scoffed.
No doubt, this was Tsunayashiro Tokinada's doing.
Tsunayashiro Tokinada was mentally unstable, and for someone like him, there was no telling what he might do next.
Killing Tsunayashiro Munemoto? He might as well kill his entire family.
In fact, the kindest thing Tsunayashiro Tokinada could do was wipe out the entire Tsunayashiro clan, much like Itachi Uchiha from the neighboring series.
Thinking this, Haruki's eyes narrowed. "I'm quite skilled in Kaidō. How about I take a look at the body?"
"Well…" Ginjirō thought for a moment. "The Fourth Division should be here soon, but if you want to take a look, go ahead."
As a vice-captain, Haruki was undoubtedly part of the Seireitei's upper echelons, so this small request wasn't a problem.
Besides, as Haruki had mentioned, he was proficient in Kaidō. Perhaps he could uncover some clues.
Haruki's skill in Kaidō had become known after the Hollow incident, where he used a healing wave to treat Shiba Kaien and Kuchiki Rukia.
At the time, Unohana had even considered transferring Haruki to the Fourth Division, but he had refused.
Why would he give up being the vice-captain of the Fifth Division to become a third or fourth seat in the Fourth Division? That would be insane.
So Haruki walked over and saw Tsunayashiro Munemoto lying in a pool of blood.
Tsunayashiro Tokinada had been ruthless—a single stab to the heart, killing Munemoto instantly.
That said, Tsunayashiro Tokinada was indeed one of the more capable members of the Tsunayashiro family, at least in terms of combat ability, given that he had once been a Shinigami.
The fact that he later wiped out the entire Tsunayashiro clan also showed that, aside from him, most of the Tsunayashiro family were just a bunch of weaklings.
"So? Did you find anything?" Ginjirō asked.
"A single stab to the heart. Tsunayashiro Munemoto didn't even have time to react, which means the killer was strong and fast."
"Hey…"
Before Haruki could finish, Tsunayashiro Tokinada walked over with a malicious grin. "You're the head of the Murakami family, a lower noble, right? Don't you know that the Tsunayashiro family is the main family of the Murakami family? At the very least, you should address a deceased Tsunayashiro with the honorific 'sama.'"
Haruki glanced at him and said indifferently, "It's true that the Murakami family is subordinate to the Tsunayashiro main family, but at this moment, I'm acting as the vice-captain of the Fifth Division. In that capacity, I have reasonable grounds to suspect you of being involved in the murder of the victim, Tsunayashiro Munemoto."
Tsunayashiro Tokinada was visibly taken aback. He tensed up internally but outwardly feigned anger. "You'd better watch your words. I'm a member of the Tsunayashiro family. Why would I kill my own elder?!"
"Well, there could be many reasons," Haruki said without hesitation.
If it were anyone else, Haruki might have let it slide, but Tsunayashiro Tokinada's arrogance rubbed him the wrong way.
So he drew his Zanpakutō and said, "You know, for those trapped in the Lonely Hell, even death is a luxury."
"What… do you mean?" Tsunayashiro Tokinada suddenly realized something was wrong. He had only come to see the state of Tsunayashiro Munemoto's corpse, but he hadn't expected a mere vice-captain to dare oppose him.
"Vice-Captain Haruki…" Ginjirō frowned, wanting to remind Haruki that antagonizing a noble wouldn't do him any good.
"Don't worry," Haruki said softly. "In the Lonely Hell, there is no joy, no peace…"
He released his Zanpakutō!
In an instant, a strange energy spread out.
Centered around Haruki, the surrounding area grew darker, and the ground seemed to be covered in a layer of water that rose higher and higher, as if submerging everyone's feet.
In the next moment, spiritual particles began to gather.
Haruki explained, "As everyone knows, when a spirit dies, it dissipates into spiritual particles and returns to the world. But this process takes time."
"The stronger the spirit, the longer it takes to return to the world."
In fact, there was a deeper layer to this: once a spirit reached the level of third-class spiritual pressure, its particles would never dissipate and return to the world.
However, such powerful spirits couldn't be left to wander the world indefinitely. So there was only one solution…
Send them to Hell!
For millions of years, the Soul Society had been repeating this process. If you became too powerful, even in death, you wouldn't find peace.
Perhaps, in this world, strength itself was a sin, and the strong were destined to fall into Hell.
Of course, very few in the Seireitei knew about this.
Perhaps only Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni and Aizen Sōsuke were aware. Even in the original story, it wasn't until Kyōraku Shunsui became captain-commander and witnessed the phosphorescent gas of Hell during a ritual that he realized this was real.
As for everyone else, they were clueless.
Of course, Tsunayashiro Munemoto wasn't strong enough to warrant being sent to Hell. His spiritual pressure was far below that of a captain.
In other words, under normal circumstances, his spiritual particles would slowly dissipate in the Soul Society and return to the world.
However, at this moment, Haruki activated the power of the Lonely Hell.
The power of the Lonely Hell was to trap everything within its domain in an endless, maddening solitude.
In Haruki's Lonely Hell, even death was a luxury. The only way to escape the Lonely Hell without brute force was through enlightenment. But how one achieved enlightenment, even Haruki, the user, didn't know.
"The Lonely Hell… I know your Zanpakutō's ability, but are you really going to use it on me?" Tsunayashiro Tokinada glared at Haruki, his voice cold. "To act against a superior is a grave crime. You should know the consequences of attacking me."
Although Haruki had activated the domain of the Lonely Hell, he hadn't used it on Tsunayashiro Tokinada, so Tokinada could still speak normally.
Haruki sneered. "Who said I was going to use it on you?"
"If you know my ability is related to Hell, then you should also know that Hell is where the dead belong."
"As long as a person's spiritual particles haven't completely dissipated, I can drag them into my 'Lonely Hell.'"
Haruki narrowed his eyes. "Now, please come out and at least identify who committed such a heinous act."
The Lonely Hell could be used on the living, but its primary function was to target the dead.
After all, weren't the inhabitants of the Soul Society essentially 'the dead'?
And these 'dead' could die once more, falling into Hell.
Thus, Haruki could drag the 'dead' into his 'Lonely Hell.'
Of course, the time since their death couldn't be too long.
If too much time had passed, their spiritual particles would have completely dissipated.
For spirits with third-class spiritual pressure, it didn't matter. No matter how much time had passed, as long as they hadn't been sent to Hell, Haruki could trap them in his Lonely Hell.
Generally, Haruki didn't even need to kill them himself. Any spirit that died near him would fall into his Lonely Hell.
But for someone like Tsunayashiro Munemoto, who wasn't killed by Haruki nor died near him, Haruki had to release his Zanpakutō and actively expand the Lonely Hell to trap him.
Falling into the Lonely Hell… was no pleasant experience.
One would endure endless solitude, trapped in a state where they could neither live nor die, experiencing eternal loneliness.
But since the victim was a member of the Tsunayashiro family, Haruki didn't particularly care.
At this moment, Tsunayashiro Tokinada's expression changed. He saw spiritual particles glowing from Tsunayashiro Munemoto's body, as if he were coming back to life.
For the first time, Tokinada felt fear. He hadn't expected Haruki's ability to 'revive' the dead!
A flash of ruthlessness appeared in Tsunayashiro Tokinada's eyes, and in an instant, he used Shunpo to appear right in front of Haruki!
"What do you think you're doing?!"
At this moment, Ginjirō, who had been standing nearby, was already on high alert. The moment Haruki drew his Zanpakutō, he had been prepared.
Whether it was to prevent Haruki from killing Tsunayashiro Tokinada or to stop Tokinada from going on a rampage if he were indeed the murderer, Ginjirō had to act.
And now, Tsunayashiro Tokinada was really trying to silence Haruki!
This guy was fast!
As Ginjirō watched Tsunayashiro Tokinada appear in front of Haruki in an instant, he was about to draw his sword, but Haruki was faster.
Just as Tsunayashiro Tokinada was about to use a Kidō spell to kill Haruki, he felt Haruki's finger press against his chest.
"!"
Tsunayashiro Tokinada froze. In the next moment, he heard Haruki say:
"Hadō #4: Byakurai."
Zap!
A white beam of light shot through Tsunayashiro Tokinada's chest and soared into the sky!
After that, Tsunayashiro Tokinada completely lost his ability to react. His pupils dilated, and his face showed no pain—only a blank, vacant expression.
"Attacking me within the domain of the Lonely Hell… you really don't take me seriously, do you?"
Haruki said softly. "Now, you can settle your grievances with Tsunayashiro Munemoto in the Lonely Hell."