Chapter 152: I Stake My Honor on It
Given the current situation.
He'd been called on. Which meant he had to answer.
Matsushita Yusuke stood up.
Like one student singled out of sixty in a classroom who didn't know it was coming, there was a particular flavour of tension to the moment. He rubbed his nose.
"Yes? What would you like to know?"
"You were the only captain present who had direct contact with these individuals that day. I want to hear your perspective."
Asking for my take?
Then let's see what I can come up with on the spot. (Mentally cracking his knuckles.)
"When I arrived, the first person I encountered was Captain Muguruma Kensei... who had already entered the Hollowfied state described in the report."
Short and simple. When giving a statement, the most effective approach was always to summarize in the fewest possible words. It conveyed the information while minimizing what you exposed.
Someone spoke up at the right moment.
"Were you the first person to encounter Muguruma Kensei?"
"No."
Matsushita Yusuke gave a small shake of his head.
"Before I arrived, Captains Otoribashi Rojuro, Hirako Shinji, and Aikawa Love had all already made contact with the target. By the time I reached the scene, they were working together to suppress him."
No response. Everyone was listening like an audience waiting for the next scene.
Get on with it.
"I wanted to be part of the effort, so I moved in quickly. Since the objective was suppression and not elimination, I kept my Zanpakuto release limited. We weren't there to kill. We were there to get him under control."
Nothing in that description raised any flags. It was clean from start to finish.
Yamamoto slowly closed his eyes. The old man had notably thick eyebrows. With them shut like that, it was impossible to tell if he'd nodded off or was simply listening.
"Continue."
"I used Shingonkai's ability to establish suppression, then applied multiple Bakudo on top of it for additional restraint. The combination was reasonably effective."
Kuchiki Ginrei, who had been sitting with his eyes closed, spoke without any preamble.
"As expected... already exhibiting characteristics nearly identical to a Hollow."
Nobody called on you, Kuchiki-san.
Matsushita Yusuke kept the thought internal, gave a single nod in response, and continued.
"In my assessment... there was something to that. Captain Muguruma Kensei was showing very limited ability to process complex information, which I read as a sign that higher cognition had already been compromised."
"Hmm. Fallen, as I thought."
Kuchiki-san, nobody would assume you were mute if you saved the commentary.
"Ahem... let me offer my view briefly."
Matsushita Yusuke pressed his lips together, something thoughtful moving through his expression.
"I'd hesitate to call it 'fallen.' What I observed felt closer to a state of active influence, something more like... being eroded from the inside. Captain Muguruma Kensei's base ability is formidable, and under those conditions, he was operating at a level well beyond what any of us would have expected."
He paused there, giving the room a moment to absorb it.
Then, at a measured pace.
"In my opinion, this was a distinct ability arising from Shinigami power and Hollow power operating simultaneously."
Nobody spoke.
Whatever their views were going to be on the matter, Matsushita Yusuke had been there. That made his account worth taking seriously, and everyone in the room was turning it over carefully.
"Is it actually possible for the two to coexist?"
Matsushita Yusuke thought for a moment, then said quietly:
"I can't guarantee it. But in my view... the probability isn't low."
Giving the room a certain amount of genuine material was itself an important part of distancing himself from any suspicion.
Looking around at the various thoughtful expressions appearing across the room, Matsushita Yusuke had a fairly clear sense that his primary objective here was mostly accomplished.
What was left?
"I used Kido to temporarily contain Captain Muguruma Kensei, and was in the process of moving him according to procedure. And then..."
He raised his right hand and pressed it lightly to his chest.
"I was suddenly struck from multiple directions."
More than just a figure of speech.
He raised his right hand and touched his index finger to his chest, his arm, his side, indicating each location in turn.
"Four penetrating wounds, two lacerations. The attacks came nearly simultaneously, cutting straight through my reiatsu defenses. Examination afterward confirmed damage to the spleen, liver, and lungs to varying degrees."
And on top of that.
"I can confirm with certainty that the source was not anyone from outside. Within my sensing range at the time, there was no unfamiliar reiatsu to account for."
Ow.
That was actually terrible to go through.
"Because I had no defense prepared for it... I went down on the spot. Completely unable to respond. When I came back to myself, I found that signs of Hollowfication had appeared on the others around me as well."
A short silence. Then a beat of something that had no clean name.
Then.
The room erupted.
"So this thing really is contagious?!"
"Then the Central 46's decision was justified after all..."
"We should have moved faster. We need a secondary lockdown on this, right now. No information can get out!"
Everyone talking at once.
Then Yamamoto's staff came down again, and the room went quiet. All eyes turned toward the old man at the head of the table.
Whatever the debate produced, the final word, as always, belonged to the lean old Captain-Commander.
"Matsushita Yusuke."
"Present, Captain-Commander."
"Are you prepared to stand behind everything you have just said?"
As he spoke, Yamamoto's gaze had taken on a depth that was genuinely uncomfortable to hold. He fixed it on Matsushita Yusuke and said it again, each word landing with full weight.
"I do not go easy on those who lie to me. If I discover that you have been deceptive in any way... I will not forgive it!!!"
The last word hit like something physical. His expression didn't change, but the syllables came out clear and sharp as struck iron.
There was no explicit threat in the words themselves.
And yet simply hearing them, Matsushita Yusuke had the distinct sensation of a blade hovering just in front of his throat.
Yamamoto was simply standing there. The pressure rolling off him in this moment had a quality that seemed to reach down into the room's foundations.
Matsushita Yusuke's expression did not change.
But internally, the cold sweat was flowing freely.
Getting scarier with age, like fine wine... uhh pause... the point is: some things genuinely do improve with time, and this was the proof.
The old blade had not dulled. That was probably exactly what this situation was.
Matsushita Yusuke drew a quiet breath, settled himself as best he could, and spoke in a voice with as little fluctuation in it as he could manage.
"On my honor as a Shinigami, I have not lied."
Fine.
His Shinigami honor might be a bit compromised. But he still had his Hollow honor. All good.
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