Yamamoto's words fell. Everyone stood at their positions.
Though the 1st Division rarely had so many gathered for a meeting, the room was more than large enough.
Even with this many people, it didn't feel crowded.
Yamamoto turned and sat in the chair behind him. He raised his eyes, sweeping his gaze across everyone before speaking:
"This post-war meeting was originally meant to discuss the battle against the traitor Aizen and the Karakura Town incident."
"However, the Muramasa rebellion erupted these past few days, so we're addressing both matters together."
"Then, the first priority of this meeting will be the Zanpakutō rebellion."
"So, let me first explain this incident..."
...
This wasn't Shigure's first post-war meeting.
After the Hollow extermination mission in the Death Qi Plains ended, he'd attended one.
That's when he'd received his "permanent acting captain" authority.
So he knew that most of these meetings involved reflecting on or praising everyone's performance during battle, then dealing with war criminals.
On these points, there wasn't much to say about the Muramasa battle.
The greatest villain was dead. No one needed judgment.
And Shigure and Candle Dragon were undoubtedly the ones who'd played the biggest role.
Not only had he detected Muramasa's scheme early during the emergency meeting, but he'd also accurately assessed the situation during the suppression operations.
In the end, Shigure and Candle Dragon had killed Muramasa.
Regarding achievements during the rebellion, it wasn't an exaggeration to say Shigure had claimed most of the credit.
As for mistakes, there weren't many.
The injured captains and lieutenants had been hurt due to insufficient intelligence about the enemy. Not really a mistake.
Then the meeting's focus shifted to the battle against Aizen and Karakura Town.
But unexpectedly, this battle summary was also extremely brief.
Yamamoto used just a few short sentences to affirm the achievements of all captains and lieutenants, including Shigure.
His emphasis was on dealing with certain guilty parties after the war.
First, naturally, were the Arrancar who'd followed Aizen but survived—
The 3rd Espada, Tier Harribel, and her three subordinates: Apache, Mila Rose, and Sun-Sun.
During battle, Harribel had been betrayed by Aizen and critically wounded.
So after being brought back to Soul Society as prisoners, they'd received some treatment.
Afterward, they were all imprisoned in the 2nd Division's jail, constructed from Sekkiseki stone like the Repentance Cell. Escape impossible.
In this discussion, Yamamoto raised the question of how to deal with them, letting the captains discuss it.
People like Kenpachi Zaraki and Mayuri Kurotsuchi naturally said without hesitation to kill them.
But that was just a minority opinion.
As Shigure expected, their final outcome matched his memories—they'd be sent back to Hueco Mundo.
After all, now that Hueco Mundo had lost the great emperor Baraggan, the Hollows would be leaderless.
The Soul Reapers' responsibility wasn't to exterminate all Hollows, but to maintain stability across the three worlds—the World of the Living, Hueco Mundo, and Soul Society.
So this decision was made.
Letting Harribel, a Vasto Lorde-class Hollow, become the new ruler of Hueco Mundo could maximize stability there.
Plus, judging from Harribel and the others' post-war attitude, they didn't harbor much hostility toward Soul Society or Soul Reapers.
This ensured they wouldn't threaten Soul Society after returning to Hueco Mundo.
Therefore, this point was approved.
However, what Shigure hadn't expected was that Yamamoto directly assigned him to negotiate with Harribel and the others, and escort them back to Hueco Mundo.
Surprised as he was, this small matter was nothing. Shigure naturally agreed.
With that, the Arrancar matter concluded.
The second guilty party to be dealt with was... Gin Ichimaru.
Several months ago, Gin had betrayed Soul Society as Aizen's accomplice and fled to Hueco Mundo.
During that time, everyone thought he'd completely turned traitor.
But during the Battle of Karakura Town, when his unexpected sword thrust pierced straight through Aizen's chest, everyone's view changed.
It turned out he'd known how terrifying Aizen's Kyōka Suigetsu was, so he'd lurked by his side, seeking a weakness for a killing blow.
Though due to the Hōgyoku's strange power, Aizen hadn't died from it.
But the effort Gin had put in was witnessed by the captains and lieutenants and couldn't be erased.
"Wait, everyone..."
Just as everyone was discussing Gin's merits and faults, Mayuri Kurotsuchi's voice suddenly interrupted.
His mask and face paint had been changed to a new style, but his expression remained bizarre. Rolling his eyes back, he said:
"Speaking of which, isn't judging criminals supposed to be the Central 46's job...?"
"Yet you're all chatting so enthusiastically. Don't you think that's strange...?"
His words landed. Everyone's gazes flickered.
They suddenly remembered this point.
Logically speaking, having the captains' meeting decide matters concerning Harribel and the other Arrancar was fine, since Hueco Mundo affairs weren't for the Central 46 to decide.
But Gin was a Soul Reaper who'd betrayed the Seireitei. By all rights, he fell within the Central 46's jurisdiction.
After finishing with Harribel, since Yamamoto had directly brought up Gin, they'd overlooked this point.
Now that they thought about it, it was indeed strange.
Mayuri spoke again:
"Hmph, you've noticed this problem too, haven't you?"
"So why must we waste time on this guy...?"
"Just throw him to the Central 46 and let them decide how many years he needs locked up. Wouldn't that be fine?"
His words fell. Before everyone could react—
Standing behind Tōshirō Hitsugaya, Lieutenant Rangiku Matsumoto's eyes suddenly sharpened. She clenched her teeth.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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