Chapter 77 – The Attacker
"It must be the Tsunayashiro Family." These words were spoken by Ailin. Although it was a question, Ailin's tone was that of a statement.
"What?" Byakuya was stunned. "That can't be, Uncle. Wasn't the Tsunayashiro Family wiped out more than twenty years ago?"T/his chapter is updated by nov(ê(l)biin.co/m
"It was the Tsunayashiro Family." In the end, Ginrei Kuchiki affirmed Ailin's words.
"Byakuya, you were still young at that time. The Tsunayashiro Family was wiped out by the heir they had adopted. In other words, although the Tsunayashiro Family was wiped out, that heir who inherited the Tsunayashiro name is still alive!"
"This..."
In the Soul Society, a "name" equates to "power."
If someone inherited the "Tsunayashiro" surname, correspondingly, the position and power represented by the Tsunayashiro Family still existed.
Even if there was only one person left, the Tsunayashiro Family was still one of the Five Great Noble Families.
"Damn it!"
"Father-in-law, if it's the current head of the Tsunayashiro Family, he should recognize you, right? Why would he attack you?"
"Regarding this point, I have a few guesses in my heart."
After saying so much, Ginrei Kuchiki was also somewhat fatigued. After resting for a while, he slowly began speaking, "As the five great noble families who betrayed the Soul King together, we all believed that if the Soul King wanted to take revenge, we would calmly face it and let the Soul King punish us as we deserved.
Only the Tsunayashiro Family feared the Soul King yet coveted his power. Thus, during these more than two hundred million years, they devised ways to cut off the Soul King's legs, sever his arms, gouge out his eyes, and remove his internal organs, step by step weakening the Soul King's power.
On the other hand, it seems they have researched the Soul King's power to a certain extent and have begun to collect the Soul King's power scattered throughout the world, intending to absorb the Soul King's power for themselves...
It was also because of this that on the day the Tsunayashiro Family was wiped out, the Shihōin Family and our Kuchiki Family did not intervene. After all, in our view, the Tsunayashiro Family had already gone mad.
This time, the Tsunayashiro Family heir attacked me, possibly with the power of those 'Fullbringers' derived from the Soul King.
I suspect that the reason he wiped out all members of the Tsunayashiro Family within Seireitei was because he discovered the Soul King's power left in the living world and wanted to leave Seireitei quietly to secretly go to the living world and collect the Soul King's power. In the future, the Tsunayashiro Family may become a great scourge to Seireitei.
Byakuya, with your current strength, you may not be able to handle the turmoil the Tsunayashiro Family could stir up in the Soul Society in the future. Therefore, I plan to pass on the Kuchiki Family's generational mission to your uncle. I hope you can understand."
"Wait, wait, wait..." Ailin was somewhat confused. Ginrei Kuchiki had been speaking properly just now, but suddenly he wanted Ailin to take over as the head of the Kuchiki Family?
"Father-in-law, you should have confidence in Byakuya. When Byakuya was his current age, my strength wasn't even one-third of what Byakuya has now."
This was a fact. Ailin entered the Shinō Academy at ten years old, joined the Second Division at sixteen, and only began to take off after cultivating his Zanpakutō at forty-six.
Byakuya, on the other hand, was only in his thirties but already possessed the strength of a lieutenant-level Shinigami, which was indeed much stronger than Ailin at the same age.
"If possible, I do hope that Byakuya can bear the responsibility of the Kuchiki Family. But currently, Byakuya has not even completed cultivating his Bankai, and only you can uphold the honor of the Kuchiki Family."
"As for Haruko..." Upon mentioning his daughter, Ginrei Kuchiki fell silent.
Over the years, perhaps the best thing he had done was to find the best husband for his daughter.
The affection between Ailin and Haruko Kuchiki was so deep that even Ginrei Kuchiki envied it at times.
Only Kisuke Urahara's invention, the "Tenshintai," could help Byakuya achieve the materialization of his Zanpakutō spirit in advance.
As for whether Byakuya could complete his Bankai within three days, Ailin was not worried. After all, even if Byakuya failed to complete his Bankai cultivation this time, the Zanpakutō's rampage would only be a trivial matter that Ailin could easily suppress without harming Byakuya.
At that point, at most Ailin would spend another three months giving Byakuya a life-and-death special training.
He did not believe that after his training, Byakuya would still be unable to defeat Senbonzakura and achieve Bankai.
In other words, from the very beginning when Ailin made the bet with Ginrei Kuchiki, even if Ailin lost in the end, he would only temporarily serve as the head of the Kuchiki Family for three months before placing that burden on Byakuya.
You may win, but with my four Duel Kings and two Pair Kings, I will never lose!
***
"Cough, cough, cough..."
After Ailin and Byakuya left, Ginrei Kuchiki slowly lay down on the bed. Then, he stretched out his finger and lightly tapped the wall a few times.
"Tap, tap, tap."
"Lord Ginrei."
The person kneeling before Ginrei Kuchiki possessed considerable spiritual pressure, but he was not wearing a Shinigami's Shihakusho.
In other words, this person was not a Shinigami! In fact, although the Thirteen Court Guard Squads were the strongest defensive force within Seireitei, it did not mean that the other noble families had no private soldiers.
Just like the guards using Bakkōtō Blades employed by the Kasumiōji Family.
They possessed spiritual pressure and could defeat Hollows with their fists, but since they were not Shinigami, they did not have Zanpakutō. These were the private armed forces belonging solely to the noble families.
"Morikawa, you must immediately go to the living world through the Senkaimon and find our young lady. Three days later, I will send you a message. Based on the information, you will inform me that Ailin is to become the head of the Kuchiki Family."
"Yes, Lord Ginrei."
After hearing Ginrei Kuchiki's orders, the man instantly vanished from Ginrei's sickroom, leaving only the closed-eyed Ginrei Kuchiki suppressing the grief in his heart.
As the young lady of the Kuchiki Family, Ginrei Kuchiki knew that Haruko would understand why he would convey such a message to her.
If it weren't for the Tsunayashiro Family's sneak attack, Ginrei Kuchiki felt the Kuchiki Family could have waited a few more years to let Byakuya mature properly.
But since they had discovered that the Tsunayashiro Family had abandoned the Soul Society and continued to collect the Soul King's power in the living world, Ginrei Kuchiki believed the Kuchiki Family had to step up and fulfill their mission to prevent potential harm the current Tsunayashiro Family head might cause to the Soul Society.
Given a hundred years, Byakuya might suffice, but now, only Ailin could support the Kuchiki Family.
Ginrei Kuchiki knew that as long as Morikawa conveyed the message to Haruko, for the sake of the Kuchiki Family, she would know what to do.
"Haruko, this life, I have wronged you..."
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