The domain dissipated...
The darkness and the water vanished.
Everything around seemed unchanged, yet it also felt as though much had shifted.
Tsunayashiro Tokinada stood in front of Haruki, not dead, but utterly motionless.
His eyes were vacant, devoid of any spark of consciousness, as if his mind had been completely stripped away.
Though his body bore no wounds, his consciousness would now endure eternal torment alongside Tsunayashiro Munemoto in the Lonely Hell.
"..."
Ginjirō Shirogane watched Tsunayashiro Tokinada, now reduced to a lifeless shell, and couldn't help but say, "No matter what, he's still a member of the Five Great Noble Families. Turning him into this... you should be careful. The Tsunayashiro family might not take kindly to this."
"What's there for them to be unhappy about?" Haruki shrugged indifferently. "A branch family member like Tsunayashiro Tokinada killed a high-ranking member of the main family. If the Tsunayashiro family stands behind someone like him, I'd say it won't be long before someone rebels against them."
If a branch family member killed someone from the main family, and the main family still shielded the perpetrator, where would their dignity lie?
This wasn't just some internal matter for the Tsunayashiro family to handle discreetly. The person who committed such an act deserved the most humiliating death possible!
The main family had to make it clear to the branch families that if anyone dared to harbor treacherous thoughts, even a commoner or a lowly peasant would have the right to kill them!
Not to mention, Haruki himself was a noble and a vice-captain. When Tsunayashiro Tokinada attacked him, Haruki had every right to retaliate.
So Haruki wasn't worried at all.
Even if the Tsunayashiro family wanted revenge...
Who cares?
If he felt like it, he'd call them a "great noble family." If not, he'd just bury them!
Haruki wasn't like the native Shinigami who feared and respected the noble families. To him, the Tsunayashiro family, despite being one of the Five Great Noble Families, was far inferior to the Kuchiki and Shihōin families.
At least the Kuchiki and Shihōin families had the military strength to back up their status.
But the Tsunayashiro family, with their lofty status but no real power, didn't deserve his respect.
Haruki was a man who didn't care for rules or authority. Otherwise, he wouldn't have so casually joined Aizen's little group.
To him, killing Tsunayashiro Tokinada was no big deal. Wiping out the entire Tsunayashiro family wouldn't faze him either.
It's just that dealing with the aftermath would be a bit troublesome.
"I've already found the culprit. I'd say I've done a great service here."
"You've got a point," Ginjirō said, not particularly afraid of the Tsunayashiro family either, since he had the backing of the Kuchiki family.
Though the Tsunayashiro family was the head of the Five Great Noble Families, the Kuchiki family wasn't far behind. Besides, Tsunayashiro Tokinada was just a low-ranking member of the branch family.
Technically, a noble of his rank shouldn't have warranted the attention of so many vice-captains. He was just riding on the coattails of Tsunayashiro Munemoto, a high-ranking member of the main family.
After a while, a large number of vice-captains and even captains arrived.
When they learned that Haruki had already solved the case, they were all quite surprised.
None of them had expected that the killer of Tsunayashiro Munemoto would be a member of the Tsunayashiro family itself.
Was this...
Internal strife?
Did Tsunayashiro Tokinada take advantage of the chaos caused by the "intruders" to kill a high-ranking member of the main family?
But no one had anticipated that Haruki had the ability to make the dead speak. Now, Tokinada was done for.
After understanding the full picture, Byakuya Kuchiki calmly said, "Since the matter has been resolved, there's no need to linger here."
"Ginjirō, take the bodies to the Tsunayashiro family and explain the situation to them."
Byakuya actually had some goodwill toward Haruki. Back when Haruki was in the Fourth Division, he had seen that Byakuya's favorability toward him was at 72, though Byakuya never showed it outwardly.
By sending Haruki away now, Byakuya was essentially having the Kuchiki family take responsibility for this matter.
Even if Haruki didn't care, his earlier actions might still provoke some displeasure from the Tsunayashiro family. After all, people's hearts were hard to read, and you could never be sure what someone was truly thinking.
Ginjirō nodded and had people carry Tsunayashiro Munemoto's corpse and Tsunayashiro Tokinada's lifeless body to the Tsunayashiro estate.
"Well done."
Once the crowd dispersed, Rangiku elbowed Haruki and teased, "How did you know that Tsunayashiro Tokinada was the one who killed Tsunayashiro Munemoto?"
Haruki and Rangiku walked together, and Haruki smiled mysteriously. "That's a secret."
"Ugh, stop being so cryptic. It's no fun," Rangiku said, annoyed. "I rushed over here first thing in the morning, only to miss all the action."
"And my idiot captain is still nowhere to be found! Something this big happens, and he doesn't even show up. It's so frustrating!"
"If there wasn't any fighting after the alarm, it means it wasn't a big deal for the captains. They didn't need to come," Haruki said. "Besides, Captain Shiba and the Tsunayashiro family don't get along. There was no point in him coming."
The Shiba family and the Tsunayashiro family were both part of the Five Great Noble Families, but their relationship was terrible. The Shiba family had been in decline in recent years, and if it weren't for Captain Shiba Isshin holding things together, they might have been kicked out of the Five Great Noble Families altogether.
Rangiku nodded, agreeing with Haruki's reasoning.
The two parted ways at a fork in the road, with Haruki heading to the Fifth Division and Rangiku to the Tenth Division.
However, shortly after they separated, they both returned to the fork with grim expressions.
Because at that moment, they had both received another message from a Hell Butterfly!
And this time, the message wasn't just an ordinary alarm.
It was...
An order for all captains and vice-captains of the Seireitei to assemble at the Tsunayashiro estate!
"What's going on now?" Rangiku said, puzzled. "We just came from there..."
Haruki frowned and said gravely, "Earlier, Captain Kuchiki told Vice-Captain Ginjirō to take the bodies to the Tsunayashiro estate. Could something have happened to the Tsunayashiro family?"
Rangiku's eyes widened in shock. "No... that can't be!"
The Tsunayashiro estate was in the Sixth Division district, usually protected by the Sixth Division. And during this special period, the Second Division and the Onmitsukidō were also on guard...
Could someone really have broken through the defenses of two divisions and wiped them all out?
Actually, it was possible.
Others might not know, but Haruki did.
After all, Haruki knew that the so-called "intruders" were actually the "Imaginary Bodies" of the captains. If these Imaginary Bodies made full use of their "captain" status, they could easily cause chaos!