“Aww shit, not you too, Vice-Captain Aoji…don’t tell me you took part in this.”
With his hands behind his back Oto nods to confirm the Captain’s worries. Like Hachi, Oto has not a single regret for what he has done here. Shortly after this exchange Oto would share what he has learned and what he suspects is really going on in the Seireitei along with a possible suspect who has been missing from the main stage for quite some time. The gears begin to turn in the Captain’s mind as he puts together the information he has on hand with this new information he just gained from Oto. Things must have lined up and made sense for him because he changed his tune from confronting them to wanting to investigate this new situation. The old man chuckles as Nakazawa tells Hachi to put away his Shikai knowing better than anyone that the youngman will do no such thing especially after tensions have flared to such a large degree.
”Vice-Captain, I trust you, but if you’re pulling my chain it’s gonna cost ya. And if you had anything to do with this Shiba craziness, you’ll have to answer for it just like Hachi. Don’t try runnin’ to the World of the Living, cause I know every nook and cranny, and I’ll find ya.”
Oto lets out a hearty laugh.
”Hahaha! Oh, Captain Nakazawa, if I wanted to hide from you I’d just hide amongst my people.”
By “his people” Oto means the Rukongai denizens, the Captain may know the World of the Living but his knowledge on the Rukongai may pale in comparison to Otokogi. Besides, Oto is not one to run and hide if he doesn’t have to.
“And for the love of the Soul King, stop killin’ everybody.”
”Until their debt has been paid to the Rukongai, no.”
It is clear the old man was nothing more than a wall that Nakazawa was speaking to. This behavior isn’t born from thoughts of him being able to beat the Captain but more so the strength of his beliefs. This same Captain cut down a fellow Shinigami, feigning the excuse of being “jumped” by them, at his level of strength he could have subdued them without killing. Oto sighs, there seems to be hypocrites strewn throughout the Gotei Thirteen. As Hachi and Itaku begin their interaction Oto wanders over to a block of rubble and sits down on it, listening to the two youngmen when something strange happens right before his eyes.
"Yea, what is in the Muken-"
Mid sentence Itaku vanishes from his sight without using Shunpo or a Kido spell. He didn’t physically move either as Oto was not able to track him via Reikaku and this sudden vanishing act made the hair on the back of his neck stand up on the back of his neck. A similar thing happened to Kasuka although his vanishing went unnoticed due to the roar of the cannons being fired at them. The old man does not physically react, aside from the hairs on the back of his neck rising, he remains seated and unmoved. He has zero info to go off of on how Itaku vanished like that and sensed nothing to even formulate a theory on it. The best he can do for now is stay on guard and being a guard is exactly what he has in mind.
”The head of the Shiba clan is innocent, there is no blood on her hands. It may be some time before we can consider her an ally of the Rukongai, however, she despises the other big noble clans as much as we do. She was on the verge of being betrayed by her clan it seems. That aside, I need you to head to the Muken and provide backup for Captain Nakazawa. I won’t accept any back talk on this matter.”
The old man usually pays no mind to Hachi’s back sass, it's just part of who the violent gale is. But for him to directly tell Hachi not to start with it means that he is VERY serious about what is going on.
”Hashimoto is trying to create Vizards and the key to their creation, or rather the mind behind their creation, is imprisoned in the Muken. The Mother of the Vizards. I’d go myself but you are leagues faster than me and someone needs to guard the Kakaku Taihō here. Now go, this is another situation where mercy is not an option, what Hashimoro is doing is very dangerous and he needs to be killed before he succeeds.”
After giving his order he closes his eyes and attunes his Reikaku to start sending out the rest of the battles going on in the Seireitei. Now that he doesn’t have to directly focus on what is going on in front of him he can take time to feel out everything else. Just as he assumes there is still fighting going on despite the announcement that this civil war was over. Wars never end at the drop of a dime, small skirmishes and fights are sure to continue in the following weeks or even months. This war veteran can handle that much, that is easy, whatever Hashimoto is planning though is what will be the rough bit to deal with. If he succeeds another war on the scale of the Unhallowed Wars could break out and that won’t be good for anyone. While sensing out what was going on in the Seireitei a Hell Butterfly flutters on over to him, landing on his shoulder and delivering a message to him.
"Sensei Aijō, you know I wouldn't reach out to you unless it was absolutely necessary. We need your help, your students need you. I don't which side you are on but I know that you love your students and helping us grow. If you can, please go to the Northwest to help because we are outmatched against the Kenpachi!
Oto groaned and looked over his shoulder at the cannon he was guarding. Out of respect to Chōko Shiba he did not want to destroy any more of her property, however he could not so easily ignore this message being sent out to him either. He sighs and rises to his feet, aiming his right hand at the cannon.
"Hadō #33. Sōkatsui" (蒼火墜, Blue Fire, Crash Down; Viz "Pale Fire Crash")
Pale blue energy erupts from his palm and briefly encapsulates the mid section of the cannon before exploding, destroying the cannon and rendering it useless. He makes a mental note to apologize to Choko about the cannon after this is all done. The old man sets his sights to the Northwest and vanishes from sight, hoping to arrive in time to stop the fighting.
To Northwest Seireitei
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