Then, as though he fully understood, Tokinada agreed and shook his head with a quiet expression. “Yes…that really was deplorable, what happened to him. I regret most of all that I could not be present there myself.”
“What?”
“If only I had been there at the point that you pierced through his brain and Aizen nebulized him…I could have told him…”
Tokinada then narrowed his eyes, with a smile that was the incarnation of wickedness itself as he continued, “…that his friend’s cries as she died were much more exquisite and disgraceful… That’s all.”
Rage overtook all the other emotions within Hisagi.
“You…!”
He’d been able to keep his eyes closed despite his outrage as a result of Tosen’s many lessons, which had permeated his body to the point that they were practically instinctual. Hisagi lightly anchored his sense of reason within the chain of “fear” as he threw one half of Kazeshini toward Tokinada.
Tokinada dodged the attack by a wide margin as he lured Hisagi further with his words. “His yells certainly resonated in my mind! They were so very comical and pitiful that I was almost moved enough to cry! After all the seeds of amusement I cultivated so splendidly, and then he rotted to oblivion without being able to so much as turn his blade on me! Ah, I suppose I should thank you, Shuhei Hisagi. After all, you brought down a traitor who didn’t understand his place and came after me!”
“Hgh!”
“If I were to say more…I did realize he had an axe to grind. I had no idea he had gone so far as to join forces with Aizen, but when Kisuke Urahara and the others were exiled, I was certain that Tosen was one of the true culprits. Well, it would have been such a chore, so I never did inform Central 46.”
When Hirako and Muguruma heard that, they both glared at Tokinada.
“I may not be able to do it now, but that just gives me one more reason to slap you down,” snarled Hirako.
Though they could barely move despite the severe wounds that had been inflicted by Senbon Zakura’s and Shinso’s abilities, it wasn’t as though they could act carelessly, due to Complete Hypnosis and the possibility of friendly fire.
Tokinada ignored Hirako’s grudging words and continued to taunt Hisagi. “There’s something you should thank me for. If nothing else, because Tosen was able to keep his rage hidden, he saved the Ninth Company many times—sometimes their lives, sometimes their minds.”
Though Hisagi wanted to object, he really had been saved by Tosen, who had continued to hold onto his internal desire for revenge. That said, unable to agree with Tokinada’s words, Hisagi answered with another question. “Is that why you won’t teach Hikone anything?”
“Is there some problem with that?”
“That kid still knows nothing. All they can do when they come up against a wall is run away to the small world you showed them. Captain Tosen never would’ve allowed anyone to raise a kid in such a twisted way.”
“Don’t use another’s sense of justice as your own. Why don’t you rephrase that with your own thoughts?”
As though his interest had been piqued, Tokinada delighted in provoking Hisagi. The Soul Reaper kept his eyes closed, manipulating Kazeshini’s chain and trying to frame the area around Tokinada based on spiritual pressure.
When he confirmed that Tokinada’s spiritual pressure was avoiding that, Hisagi manipulated the rotating blade and continued speaking. “Okay, I will. You’re a coward. You teach a kid who hasn’t got a clue about anything to serve only your motives and raise them in this cramped world for your own convenience.”
Tokinada opened his eyes slightly wider, then let slip a snicker.
“To remain ignorant is to run. To refuse to teach is cowardice. Is that what you say as a Soul Reaper?”
At Tokinada’s strange phrasing, Hisagi replied in irritation, “What’re you talking about? You’re a Soul Reaper too.”
“I see! I see! You certainly are the editor of the Seireitei Bulletin, aren’t you?! How arrogant it is to expose someone’s personal secrets and believe that spreading them far and wide is justice!”
Tokinada moved far away from Hisagi and stood on the estate's half-destroyed roof as he fired off his invective in a voice meant to reach not only Hisagi, but also all the others who were there.
“None of you have the faintest idea that we are all living atop the sins of just five individuals.”
“Huh…?”
Perhaps he was using the power of a zanpaku-to, but while Tokinada did not yell, even speaking in a quiet tone his voice carried far enough to permeate the minds of those on the ground.
As Hisagi was perplexed in the darkness, Kyoraku’s voice hit him from behind in response to Tokinada. “Good grief, are you intending to tell that fairy tale? We don’t even know if it’s true.”
“Though it contains some exaggeration, it is a lesson that we, the Tsunayashiro family that rules history, have continued to protect. Someone with as sharp an intuition as you can tell from the scars carved into the foundations of the Soul Society whether it is a fairy tale or not, can’t you?”
“You think too much of me, I’m just—”
In the middle of his sentence, Kyoraku disappeared.
According to the indications Kazeshini had given him, Kyoraku traversed the zanpaku-to’s chain and closed the distance on Tokinada using shunpo.
“Oh! How impudent!”
Tokinada smiled boldly as he began his defense…
At that moment, Kyoraku was assaulted by an attack he hadn’t been expecting at all.
“Is this…?”
It was a collection of patterns floating in the air. Several feelers emerged from them and sprang at Kyoraku. The Captain General narrowly dodged them, but as a result he abandoned his attack on Tokinada. Though the feelers pursued him further, Nanao, who had followed after Kyoraku, used a kido barrier to intercept them. Even as it hit the strong kido wall and part of its form was sent scattering, the patterned whip started to eat away at the reishi itself.
When Kyoraku saw that, he murmured with a groan, “A zanpaku-to…? No, is this…a Fullbring?”
Then, as though in response, a shadow floated up next to Tokinada.
“You realized that it was a Fullbring immediately…you really are the Captain General of the Court Guards.”
“That voice… Is that you, Aura?”
Hearing Hisagi’s voice as the Soul Reaper kept his eyes shut, Kyoraku kept some distance and said, “Good grief, another challenger after we’ve gotten this far?”
Kyoraku let out a loud sigh, while Aura bowed her head deeply.
“I extend my sincere apologies for obstructing you.” Then she glanced toward Hisagi as she continued. “However… I would like Lord Shuhei Hisagi to hear the entirety of what Lord Tokinada has to say. Please, if you could somehow pardon me.”
“And why would that be, miss?”
Though he spoke in a light tone, Kyoraku searched for an opening in his opponent.