As everything settled, all that remained of the castle was a thick layer of white powder. The fierce winds had ground the larger stones to dust, resembling shredded paper.
The Bounts' spiritual pressure dissipated, and the group that devoured others' souls left no trace of their own.
Kūgo Ginjō might have had a chance to start over in Rukongai, but the Bounts, like Kariya Jin, were completely erased.
[Daily Self-Discipline Task Completed!]
[Soul Strength Increased!]
The complete eradication of the Bounts brought Tokikaze only a slight increase in soul strength.
Correspondingly, his Fullbring power also increased slightly.
Considering the strength of the Bounts, Tokikaze didn't dwell on it. It was a trivial task, something to earn a favour from Mayuri Kurotsuchi.
Although he wasn't sure if that favour would ever be useful.
So far, Tokikaze has only developed the ability to enhance his own original power when using Fullbring.
Perhaps when his soul strength reached a certain level, he would develop abilities similar to Kūgo Ginjō's Cross of Scaffold or Tsukishima Shūkurō's Book of the End.
But Tokikaze was more envious of Tsukishima Shūkurō's ability to alter the past and Inoue Orihime's Shun Shun Rikka.
With enough spiritual pressure, these abilities could even single-handedly take down Yhwach.
Considering that Fullbringers' powers originated from fragments of the Soul King and Yhwach, being the sole progeny of the Soul King, their powers essentially came from the same source.
If Yhwach's All-Knowing and All-Powerful abilities were swapped with Book of the End or Shun Shun Rikka, the Soul Society would be in deep trouble during the Thousand-Year Blood War.
The thought alone was chilling.
Tokikaze shook his head, casting aside these dangerous thoughts.
It was too early to think about such things; he needed to focus on his current goals.
Having ended the Bounts' fate, Tokikaze took the sealed container from Ishikawa Naoto and casually opened a Senkaimon in front of him.
"Ishikawa Naoto, remember my earlier warnings."
Before leaving, he reminded me once more, "Be cautious of black cats."
Upon hearing this, Ishikawa Naoto's body tensed. He placed his right hand on his chest and respectfully saluted Tokikaze.
"I will keep it in mind!"
Among the tools stationed in the human world, Ishikawa Naoto performed well. Tokikaze hoped he wouldn't hear of Naoto's demise the next time he visited the human world.
Though Yoruichi wasn't that petty.
...
Soul Society, Noble District, Kaname Family Estate.
After exiting the Senkaimon, Tokikaze packed ten pounds of Feather Tea at his home and instructed a servant to deliver it to the Captain's office in the Ninth Division headquarters.
Use power while you have it, or it goes to waste.
As the head of the Kaname family, a bit of Feather Tea was nothing.
This way, inviting others to the Ninth Division for tea became much more reasonable.
Tokikaze decided that the Kuchiki family would provide the Feather Tea for the Ninth Division in the future.
Leaving his home, he headed straight for the First Division headquarters.
The information about the Fullbringers needed to be reviewed by Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto.
First Division Headquarters, Tea Room.
Visiting in a personal capacity again, the tea room, this time housed only Yamamoto himself.
The fresh and elegant scent of tea lingered in the room.
The tea ceremony was one of Yamamoto's few hobbies. In his spare time, he often sat alone in the tea room, tending to his beard and tasting fine teas.
Shunsui Kyōraku and Jūshirō Ukitake sent some of these fine teas.
Judging by the tea scent, it was likely premium Feather Tea sent by Ginrei Kuchiki.
Yamamoto brought out another set of tea utensils, placing them before Tokikaze, allowing him to serve himself.
Though a noble, Tokikaze never learned the intricate manners of nobility.
Of course, this was partly due to being taught by Shunsui Kyōraku.
Tokikaze adeptly poured the tea and drank it in one gulp, ignoring Yamamoto's repeatedly twitching eyelids.
Even after witnessing it many times, Yamamoto still couldn't get used to Tokikaze's wasteful way of drinking fine tea.
"The matter of spiritually aware humans is resolved."
Tokikaze set down his cup, recounting his experience in the human world, "They call themselves Fullbringers, gaining Hollow powers after their mothers were attacked by Hollows before they were born, becoming special individuals among humans."
This theory was the Fullbringers' understanding of their power source.
It was also Tokikaze's explanation to Yamamoto.
The Soul King fragments sounded too alarming, and it wasn't time to reveal them yet.
Tokikaze wasn't sure about Yamamoto's personality and thoughts at the moment.
But given the significance of the Soul King fragments, and since they didn't play a decisive role, it was better to keep it a secret for now.
"Fullbringers..." Yamamoto's aged face showed a thoughtful expression, "And you dealt with them?"
"The two I found, I eliminated."
Tokikaze responded calmly, "Consuming other Fullbringers' and Shinigami's spiritual pressure is an unforgivable crime, right?"
Unlike Jūshirō Ukitake's approach, the first Substitute, Shinigami, ended up in Tokikaze's hands.
Whether there will be another Substitute Shinigami in the future will depend on fate.
Yamamoto nodded. He didn't mind the internal strife among Fullbringers, but involving Shinigami left no room for negotiation.
"Additionally, the Bounts, failed products of the immortality experiments, who absorbed mutated spiritual particles and consumed human souls to achieve immortality, were also dealt with."
Tokikaze recounted calmly, "They were like Hollows, so..."
Yamamoto nodded again, approving Tokikaze's actions.
It had to be said in terms of efficiency, Tokikaze was among the top captains.
Compared to his lazy disciple, Tokikaze could be considered exceptional.
In his time as the Ninth Division Captain, Tokikaze's achievements far surpassed the decade's accumulation of Shunsui Kyōraku and others.
Besides his reckless style, his status as the head of the Kaname family contributed significantly.
After all, not every captain was willing to meddle in noble disputes.
Such a performance reminded Yamamoto of Byakuya Kuchiki from centuries ago.
Back then, Byakuya was as spirited and intolerant as Tokikaze.
But ultimately, Byakuya failed to control his power, leading to extremism.
Thinking of this, Yamamoto opened his eyes slightly, his calm gaze fixing on Tokikaze.
When Tokikaze began to feel uneasy under his stare, Yamamoto's aged, authoritative voice filled the tea room:
"Captain Tokikaze, are you interested in learning the Genryū from me?"