However, with his special power Yukio had immediately been able to read the information etched on the business card, and in exchange for information about the Soul Reaper family that killed Ginjo’s friends, he had agreed to ally with her in order to trick Tokinada.
Although that seemed not to be of any benefit to Yukio at first, there was more than enough gain to be had from a business standpoint to get information from Aura’s underground believers, who were from various circles of society.
Though it was impossible to know whether Yukio would have acted out of a sense of duty toward Ginjo even without the reward, the result was that Yukio had allied with Aura.
The rest was simple for Yukio, knowing his compan-ions’ habits.
First, knowing that if they were to confront each other, Tsukishima would insert himself into Yukio’s past, Yukio didn’t need to do anything himself. Though he had bragged to Tokinada earlier about sticking a virus into his past, all Tsukishima had really done was find out the situation directly from Yukio in the past. Since the only past that had been changed was Yukio’s, they didn’t have to worry about the spirit bugs reporting on them no matter what they did.
Then Tsukishima, who had found out the information in the past, immediately inserted his bookmark into Giriko and Ginjo. He did that to transform their pasts so that Ginjo and the others would already have an understanding of the situation that Aura and Yukio were in.
“They say that time is money, but, Mr. Tsukishima, I believe you should offer more gratitude to the god of time for having been given that power.”
When Giriko said that, Tsukishima shrugged.
“Sorry, but I’m just not that religious.”
“The flavors of black tea as well as fruit wine deepen over a long period of time. Even if your prayers are only superficial to start, eventually time will bring them to ripeness.”
At that, Yukio interjected, seemingly fed up. “Giriko, the stuff you’re saying is way past old grandpa territory and verging on cultlike.”
Even as they had that conversation, the three did not lend a hand in the fight between Ginjo and Tokinada and instead just watched.
That was because they already knew.
This was a fight to settle the past for Ginjo.
While Ginjo once again pushed his blade forward, he answered Tokinada’s earlier doubts. “If you asked me whether I was suspicious, it’d be a lie to say that I wasn’t. But I’ve got no trouble accepting you’re the kind of person who would do that, based on that earlier conversation.”
“Ha ha ha! I see, I see! In that case, your hostility is justified! However, don’t you think you’ve misunderstood something? I didn’t have Ukitake in the palm of my hand. It was out of his own unhesitating volition that he snuck a surveillance device into the deputy badge and determined to become your enemy. It is a needless lie to believe the decision was difficult for him.”
He said that with a somewhat docile expression, and then the corner of Tokinada’s mouth went up again and he started to speak with delight. “After Ukitake was kind enough to make that decision, I simply did not tell him about the Tsunayashiro family’s cruelty or the truth about the Fullbringers. As a result of his decision, the Tsunayashiro family and I have recently ended up benefitting from that, so I am very grateful to him!”
Even though Tokinada was being held back by spiritual pressure, he was still able to fend off the hatred that was directed at him as though it were a pleasant breeze.
“Oh, and I witnessed Ukitake’s face when he made the decision. He was the one most opposed to hiding surveillance devices in the deputy badge at the aristocrats’ orders. In the end, when he made the decision himself, he believed in you. He said, ‘Ginjo’s suspicions are needless and Central 46 will realize that soon’!”
“So then your family used the surveillance device…and killed my friends to gather the Fragments of the Reio. Is that right?”
“Yes. I fiddled with the Visual Department’s data to report to Ukitake that ‘Ginjo went mad, killing the messenger Soul Reaper and also his own friends.’ He didn’t believe it, but as a result, you became an enemy of the Soul Reapers and even killed Ukitake’s underlings, so I suppose it had the same result. How pitiful that Ukitake believed in someone like you!”
Though he continued to speak to provoke Ginjo, Tokinada’s speed was increasing as he did. Even while buying time by talking, he was absorbing spiritual pressure from Aura through Ruriirokujaku.
“I would rather have told him the truth and taken his brothers hostage to keep him silent, but if I made a wrong move, Kyoraku would have sensed it. And if I were to corner Ukitake, I was concerned that I would incite Mimihagi himself to intervene. Really now, what a hardship that was—dealing with the Reio’s flesh.”
Tokinada said that with genuine regret. Ginjo said, “I don’t regret anything I’ve done, but…”
He unleashed a remarkably strong blow that contained all kinds of emotions.
“I should have made you the first Soul Reaper I killed.”
It was a strike that rivaled Ichigo Kurosaki’s most powerful Getsuga Tensho. However, through the red flash that Tokinada released, its direction was slightly averted. The strike stabbed into a distant rocky mountain and cut through it, collapsing an expanse of terrain.
“Tsk…you still had a trick up your sleeve.”
The flash that Tokinada had just unleashed was something from Hisagomaru. He could use the wounds that he had absorbed using its normal power to convert into an attack and release it. The strike, which contained multiple near-fatal wounds, hadn’t been enough to cancel out his opponent’s attack, but had just barely managed to deflect it.