Blowing off some steam

After he left the emergency council, Kusano was headed for the training grounds.
He was terribly frustrated.
We're just gonna sit on our asses doing nothing until it all gets out of control. That's how it has always been and always will be I guess...

When he arrived at the the training grounds he decided to test some new things he had installed yesterday.
It were projectile launchers hidden in the trees and bushes of the training grounds.
The launchers had sensors
that detected the locations of 'enemies' so they could rapidly fire the projectiles very accurately.

Kusano withdrew his Zanpakutõ and told a subordinate to activate the projectile launchers, and to put them at the highest difficulty so he could blow off some steam.
The projectiles were solid metal balls.
I'm surprised not even the Sotaicho thinks ahead. I really have the feeling something's off... And my intuition has never been wrong before...


The launchers quickly ran out of projectiles to fire and there wasn't even a single drop of sweat on Kusano's forehead after all that dodging and blocking. Even though Kusano really wanted to fight or train, he sheathed his sword and went inside to meditate instead.
As he sat in the middle of his room meditating, he thought back at the emergency council.
He smiled when he realized he left the Sotaicho all alone with Captain Kurokotsu.
Depending on Kurokotsu's mood, things were going to get unpleasant for at least one of them.
Then he realized he had completely ignored the protocol, he would apologize to the Sotaicho later.

Now, he focused on meditating and suppressing the need for battle. He would talk about all of this with the Sotaicho in private once he'd cooled down.

Zafaron made his way to the training grounds after checking the 11th division barracks. He had figured that Kusano would be there but he had wanted to drop some paperwork off at the 11th division anyway and figured he might as well kill two birds with one stone. To his slight surprise he didn't see Kusano in the middle of the training grounds as he had expected but the evidence that he had been there was apparent. Zafaron picked up one of the metal balls that had rolled over the area tossing it between his hands. He wasn't exactly sure why they were there but it was likely from some strange training contraption that Kusano had commissioned from the 12th division.

As he walked around, one of them activated sending out the small metal ball flying at Zafaron's head. With a quick head movement it flew past him smashing against a nearby tree. So he was here recently at the very least. If he isn't training in the actual barracks perhaps he is in his room. With a new destination in mind, Zafaron made his way to the room of the 11th division captain. Hearing breathing from inside he knocked on the nearby door post. "Its Zafaron, perhaps we should talk." While he knew that talking so soon after the meeting might create more hostility, he figured that a conversation between the old and current 11th Captain, rather than just a Captain and the Sotaicho, might be beneficial.

And of course Kurokotsu wasn't around which was always a plus.

"In private, I hope." Kusano said as he stepped out of his room.
But judging on the tone of Zafaron's voice, he knew this talk would be more pleasant.
Or maybe he got this feeling because Kurokotsu wasn't around.
He would be able to apologize for his behavior during the meeting and speak with the Sotaicho about the situation in private.

"Let's take a walk around the training grounds, shall we? Or would you prefer
to sit down?" Kusano asked, but he couldn't supress a very small smile,
because he could already guess the Sotaicho's answer.

"As long as you don't have random metal balls flying at me I am fine with just walking around the training grounds. Nothing so secret that other people can't overhear or anything. And maybe I will get lucky and find some of the other Captains lounging about." Zafaron smiled slightly. It was difficult to tell if it was a fake smile or if the Sotaicho was just busy pondering what he would do to any of his subordinates he found lying around.

"And don't worry, Kurokotsu is off disturbing people in the human world right now so it would just be us talking."

((Lame post is lame but w/e.))

"Perfect." Kusano replied with a smile and started walking.
"Oh and as for those metal balls, the launchers are training machines to
help the weakest of the Division train on dodging and blocking long range attacks,
though I might ask the 12th Division to replace the metal balls with more lethal stuff
because right now it's just pathetic." He said rolling his eyes and sighing.

Kusano turned around to face the Sotaicho and bowed with respect.
"I'd also like to apologize for my behavior during the meeting, I ignored the protocol
and was rather irritating. Please forgive my mistake."

((Returned the favor with a lame post too.))

"Well I can't say that I was pleased to see the way you acted Kusano, that much is true." Zafaron didn't want to berate Kusano too much about it, being around Kuro could drive anyone to madness, but he wanted to make sure he didn't want to see it in the future. "As the Captain of 11th you should know better to not be provoked by others into rash actions, even if the provokee is Kurokotsu." While it would seem a tad odd for the Sotaicho to be telling others not to be provoked by Kurokotsu, it was at least true that he had never acted rashly when dealing with the captain. Maybe he had cried himself to sleep a few times or set things on fire after dealing with Kurokotsu but nothing that went around protocol or brought him to anything too rash. "At the very least if he gets you to do something like storm out of the meeting hall then he wins, which isn't a fun thing to have to accept."

He sighed and continued his walk expecting Kusano to follow. "However that is enough about Kurokotsu or the meeting protocol. We have established that you made an error and apologized for it. Thats all that really needs to be dealt with. Apology accepted and all that jazz."

He sighed and turned to Kusano still making his way around the training grounds. "The main issue to discuss is of course about the Otaku and your preference for attack. Would you please explain once again why you feel we should respond with force immediately? I ultimately do not believe that it is the best course of action and your reasons given in the meeting did not assuage my worries. Perhaps out here you will be able to articulate your reasons better."

Kusano nodded calmly and walked up to the Sotaicho.
"I simply do not trust them. Basically because they are superhumans who also have broken off of the main branch. If humans are known for one thing, it is ignorance and immorality. The superhuman organization I barely trust. But the Otaku...
They're just asking for trouble. They're rebels with very dangerous powers opposing the regular human governments violently. A situation like that can easily get out of control.
Also, this is not about the humans only. What about the Hollows? I can hardly imagine
that the Otaku know how to deal with Hollows properly. If we don't act now, we can't prevent a massacre from occuring when the Otaku rebellion causes casualties and draw out the Hollows in large numbers. Like I said, all we'll be able to do then is minimizing the damage.
There'd be many unneccesary deaths, we'd have to clean up the mess and that means our enemies can take this as an advantage to attack us." Kusano spoke and rubbed his temples.
He took another deep breath and continued.

"All I'm saying is that this is a very dangerous and unstable situation. So many things can go wrong and have huge consequences. I understand that the Otaku haven't really shown themselves as a threat or anything... But they're humans, and humans simply can't be trusted. Especially the ones with the superpowers... That's how I feel about situation."

Kusano then heard a click and not even a second later a solid metal ball was half an inch away from flying into his right eye. But the back of his right hand made the metal ball fly into a tree nearby. Kusano didn't even blink.

"I'm gonna have these things removed..."

((Sigh...Kusano? I am happy that you are trying to advance the plot a bit but in the future would you mind, ya know, ASKING if you can have some NPCs come in and inform the captains of the battle in the human world? Because I have a couple things I want to do first and your kind of jumping the gun on me. Would you mind just editing the post so Kusano continues whatever point he has about dealing with hollows properly? Thx))

(( No problemo amigo, lo siento. Edited. ))

((WARNING, LONG POST AHEAD))

"I understand some of your worries currently Kusano, but in the grand scheme of things I think you are putting too much fear on the actions of the Otaku." Zafaron said chuckling slightly when the training mechanisms activated again. "First off, the fact that you don't think the Otaku can deal with some hollows is rather strange. While they may be their own organization now, they were still part of the Superhuman Org in the past and they have shown their ability to fight and defend themselves from hollows. If they hadn't shown that ability they would already all be dead. They wouldn't have been able to help during the White Rebellion at all and would have been eaten by a ton of hollows in the past."

Zafaron could in some ways understand Kusano's fears about humans with spiritual powers, he had once harbored the same fears. But from his position as the Sotaicho he had been able to read most of the reports about the Superhumans in the past and was aware that they were at least competent at what they did. While they would need help if an arrancar of bunch of menos appeared, so would most of the shinigami in the Soul Society as well. As the 11th Captain though, it was doubtful that Kusano had seen most of these reports and thus probably figured they were just a bunch of incompetent humans.

"I don't want to debate about the Otaku's goals and whether they are true rebels or immoral or anything like that. We don't have much data on that at this time and I don't want to make premature judgements. But at the same time I still bring up the question I have had since the beginning of this mess. Do we have any right to pass judgment?"

Zafaron turned and looked seriously at Kusano making it clear that this had been an issue weighing on him for awhile. "We Shinigami are the keepers of balance and protectors of the afterlife. Do we have any rights to interfere in the affairs of the human political institutions just because of that position? What if the Otaku did not have any spiritual power? We would likely not even bat an eye at their dilemma and go about our daily business. We have let much worse atrocities occur in the past and have turned a blind eye. So normally this shouldn't even remotely be something we care about."

"But the moment humans with spiritual powers start acting up this gives us the right to interfere? Is our job to take control of any race with connections to the spiritual world? If so why haven't we completely dominated the Quincy or Superhumans? Why do we let the Vizards do as they please? Is it because we are worried about wasting strength before dealing with the Arrancar or is it simply because we don't deal with the affairs of others unless they interfere with our mission? And depending on the answer, where do the Otaku fit into that decision?"

"This is why I have been hesitant to react strongly against the Otaku before we have more knowledge. This event could set a precedent for the Soul Society in how it deals with the other spiritual races and what our stance is when it comes to human world politics. We need to think this through before we make any major decisions."

"And for your final point about how when they cause casualties, which should be an if, they might lure hollows to them and start a massacre. Why does this change much? Again, we haven't stopped the ethnic genocides that are currently occurring in Africa and those are resulting in the deaths of thousands upon thousands. And yet we don't stop it. And even if casualties do occur because of the Otaku rebellion, their main force is in Japan. And in Japan we have both the Quincies and the Vizards. If the hollows do decide to attack the Otaku there, they will have the Otaku, the Japanese Superhumans, the Vizards, and the Quincy to deal with. I'm not saying they WOULDN'T do it since they have done ballsier stuff then that. But it wouldn't be an instant massacre like you seem to believe." Zafaron coughed slightly as a bit of dust got in his throat from talking so much. Hopefully Kusano would be able to understand his points.

"I..." Kusano sighed with a smile. "Understand, Sotaicho..."
He scratched the back of his head.
"I don't know why this certain case bothers me so much... I just... Have this feeling.."

"But I can't argue with you, Sotaicho... I'm sorry for doubting your judgment.
Mine was clouded by my distrust in humans. Knowing what they're capable of...
And now that the ones with superpowers actually have access to the spiritual world..
But that's not an excuse. I can see now there's no point in being this worried." He said and bowed respectfully to the Headcaptain. He felt really ashamed about the way he acted.

"So how do you plan on dealing with the situation, Sotaicho? I'm sure you'd still like to hear what the other Captains have to say... And I haven't been of much use in this matter.
But I'm curious... How do you feel about this situation?.. If I may ask..."

(( Lame is the friendliest way to describe this post... ))

"Apology accepted Kusano and don't worry about doubting my judgment. Hell, most of the time that is a good thing. I'm not omniscient and I certainly am not infallible. If you even slightly doubt my plan of dealing with something you should of course talk to me about it and we can properly discuss where our opinons differ and maybe find holes in our own logic. After all the reason I called all the Captains in the first place was to make sure I can get your opinions and temper my own through your efforts. Though of course I have to make sure not to spend too long talking or all our brethren in 11th will start tearing each other apart waiting to do something." He grinned, acknowledging Kusano's likely worry that too much talking results in nothing being done. It had been something he hated when he was 11th Captain and he usually tried to avoid it when possible.

"As for my personal opinion on things..." he trailed off thinking of how to articulate his feeling on the Otaku situation. A fair bit of it was based on his personal feeling about how the human world should be dealt with. "Honestly I feel that we should leave the Otaku alone for now. Partly because I think this will burn itself out if left for a bit longer and not tampered with, but also because I have never believed in interfering with humans. I don't remember much from when I was alive except for some small fragments of memory, but I have always felt that I wouldn't have wanted to know that there was some higher power controlling the way I live. I have always put freedom above that. I mean yeah our interference would be different then that of an all powerful God....but sometimes I worry it wouldn't be that much of a difference."

Almost under his breath he muttered "especially after meeting the Elder Shinigami."

Realizing that he said that out loud he shook his head suddenly to rid himself of the thought. It wasn't needed at this moment. "However while I feel we should monitor the Otaku and not interfere just yet, this does not mean that I feel we should do nothing. Even if WE don't do something, it doesn't mean the other races won't step in in some way. I personally feel that we should continue sending envoys to the Quincy, Superhumans, and Vizards. We don't want to be caught with our pants down if they suddenly start a war of their own against the Otaku. Because then we would be unprepared and still have to deal with the mess. While we don't exactly have alliances with the Superhumans and Vizards, we still hold enough clout that we might be able to head their operations off at the pass and figure out a better solution or work together to stop things as peacefully as possible."

"So the bottom line is that while I think we shouldn't interfere with the Otaku on our own unless we really need to do so due to threat worries, I believe we need to keep watch over the other races and try to work with them in dealing with this problem. And if we do have to resort to violence, at least we will know it is coming." He sighed deeply feeling his age and responsibility weighing his shoulders down. "Hopefully it won't come to that though."

Elder Shinigami...
Kusano kept that topic in the back of his head.
"I see..." He replied as he took in what the Sotaicho had said.

"Well that's seems like a good idea to me... I just need to find something to keep my underlings busy for the time being..." He said pensive, he knew he had to be creative now. If he organized another fighting tournament he was sure that some very very serious accidents would occur. His subordinates were already frustrated enough that anything would be a reason to fight.

"And... Sotaicho..." Kusano started and faced the Headcaptain with a serious yet worried expression on his face.
"What about the Elder Shinigami? Will they be an active part of the Gotei 13 or do they plan on sitting on the sidelines until a serious threat emerges?..." Kusano asked.

Kusano couldn't help it. He was way too curious, but as far as he was concerned, it was his right as a Captain to know how exactly the situation looked like. He figured the Elder Shinigami were a very dangerous race and didn't dare dream the Elder Shinigami being his enemies.
But he didn't know that much about them, and now they were in private, this was his chance to gain up to date info from the Sotaicho on matters so he wouldn't find himself in an embarrassing situation again during a meeting of the Captains.

Zafaron scratched his head absentmindedly at the question. It wasn't that he had been trying hard to keep the Captains from being informed about the Elder Shinigami, ever since the fiasco upon explaining about the Vizards he had tried to keep them knowledgeable about things but he knew that he had been rather quiet about them in general. Partially it was because he didn't know that much about them either. They were extremely guarded when it came to their personal secrets and knowledge and it took a lot of digging to get them to explain anything. And at the same time he always felt like he was being watched by them, like he was a lab rat or something that they were observing to get information about. But if it is just talking about their intentions....

"As far as I know right now, and even my knowledge is limited, they do not intend to fully join with the Gotei or even move from their abodes in the Far Reaches. They are only interested in interfering if the Gotei is put in jeopardy but honestly I do not want to rely on that if I can avoid that. I have...disagreed with their point of view on a few matters and I don't know how long they would help out before they decide they are interested in just running the Gotei on their own. And I would prefer to avoid that if possible."

"However at the very least we have no worries of them being enemies. They share most of the same goals as us and while they look down on our powers, I don't think they are going to do anything about it. For now I am just trying to act like they aren't there and approach all issues expecting that they will not respond to any of the recent events." Zafaron figured that worked for a simple summary of the Elder Shinigami's position on matters. He knew he could go into more detail but figured that it would really just end up saying the same thing over and over again; the Elder Shinigami were not interested in interfering.

At least for now.

And once again I posted with the wrong character...
I'm sorry

"I see. Okay, well thanks for informing me." Kusano replied with a smile, he didn't want to go into detail and give the Sotaicho another headache.
He thought it was time to loosen up a bit.
Even the Sotaicho needs to take a breath once in a while and relax. If only just a little bit.

"Say, Sotaicho, when you were Captain of the 11th.. What did you do when your men were a little bit... frustrated?.." He asked. Kusano had already tried so many things, but his men were so eager to fight, so hungry for battle. He could use some tips from a former 11th Captain.

(( I apologize for this short post ))

((Don't worry, this convo won't last much longer. Likely going to have the Captains be informed about the Espada attack in my next post. Just had wanted to get time to ress the Otaku topic and bring in mention of the Elder Shinigami.))

"Well if they got too rowdy I usually just told them to beat each other up or something. Also organized a couple training expeditions out into Hueco Mundo. Course this was back before we had to worry about the Arrancar." Zafaron pondered a way to deal with the 11th members. It was a constant issue and there really wasn't much of a way to deal with it in the long term.

"You could try thinking of various tests for them or something. Make a competition for them that ranks them based on their various skills. Something separate from the seats themselves. Hell you could be awarding various titles for "strongest punch" or "fastest sword strike". While most of them are lazy they like competition. They would be so busy arguing amongst themselves about who should get the various titles or training so they can beat whoever initially gets the titles that it would at least stop them from causing chaos somewhere else. That's the first thing that pops into my mind."

"Oh yes, titles and ranks... I like that. I was afraid that if I organized another simple fighting tournament some people would end up dead. But this is very interesting. They'll be focusing more on the challenge that is required to be completed to gain the title instead of slaughtering each other out of frustration and causing trouble. A very good idea. Thank you, Sotaicho.
I'll get to that immediately, that is unless you still have something to discuss with me." Kusano replied as he enjoyed the thought of all the titles and challenges he could create. Certainly this would excite his underlings even more than it excited him.

Might aswell motivate the slackers to train more by giving them a title like Jackass of the month or something..

"Well thats another Captain dealt with" Zafaron muttered as he started to make his way back to his own barracks. However he stopped still as he felt the spiritual pressure of one of his messengers making his way to where the two captains were standing. "Kusano, hold on a minute. I think we might be getting some news about the Otaku situation." Ignoring whether or not Kusano listened to the request he stood still as the messenger used one last flash step to appear in front of him.

"Sir, we have reports of hollow activity in Japan. A large force has arrived through a Garganta and has clashed with the Otaku army. So far there have been few human casualties but the battle is still ongoing. We have spotted a few Arrancar within the forces but most seem to be low level, no Espada have been noted. Also joining the battle are two shinigamis that do not seem to be part of the Gotei."

"Hmm, those are likely some of the Vizards. They tend to show up whenever there is chaos in Japan. How are the Otaku holding up?" Zafaron said biting his lip. He honestly hadn't expected the hollows to attack like this. It was quite a gamble for them considering that there was an entire force of Otaku, the Vizards, and the Quincy in the area. They likely were trying to get something rather then just attacking for the sake of attacking. The question was: what were they trying to get?

"The Otaku and Vizards seem to have reached a stalemate with the hollows. Both sides have switched to focusing on supporting and healing the front line without worrying about completely crushing the forces of the other. So the initial wave of casualties that occurred has decreased and they seem to just be simply pushing against one another with neither side likely to give at any time."

Zafaron blinked at that comment. "Thats....unusual to say the least. Usually the hollows just throw all their forces at the enemy and if that fails they retreat. I have never heard of them ending up in a stalemate before. Their advantage is in numbers and being able to throw a constant stream of cannon fodder. If they fail they just give up and try again somewhere else." He bit his lip again as his eyebrows bunched together. "I have an idea of what they are trying to do, but it would be a terrible gamble on their part. Hmm." Zafaron went deep into thought deciding how to deal with this strange turn of events. While he did have an idea, he wanted to see if Kusano was thinking the same way he was.

Kusano sighed.
"And the problems begin.." He muttered to himself when he heard that a large force had opened up a Garganta and was now fighting the Otaku army. He placed his hand on the handle of his Zanpakutõ and ran his other hand through his hair.
Yet it was rather strange. The Hollows weren't behaving as usual so it seemed.
And what a risk attacking that part of the world where almost all races are active.
Yet the fight had end up in a stalemate now. What were the Hollows trying to accomplish?
Distract the Shinigami and all the other forces to gain a better chance for an attack on Seireitei? No, definitely not. But what was it then?
Where they trying to get something located over there?
If they were, that meant there was someone behind that attack. Probably one or multiple Espada. That meant they needed to get rid of the ones controling the Hollow the army in order to stop the attack.
But still... What were they after?

At that moment the Sotaicho said he had an idea of what the Hollows were trying to do.
"What do you think, Sotaicho?"

"Well I actually have a couple theories. The problem is that each of them pose an issue on how we should respond." Zafaron started to pace back and forth biting his lip repeatedly. Spiritual energy started to leak out of his body a bit in his agitation. "The most likely one is that they are waiting for us. The longer a battle goes on in the human world the more chances we have to interfere. And the more likely we will step in and interfere. They could be waiting for us to arrive either to start another attack on us, or perhaps capture some of the shinigami to get information about us that could be used in later battles. But if they really wanted info they would usually go about it a less risky way. There are enough seated officers in the human world that they could just ambush them one by one."

"The other, more likely and yet oddly less likely plan would be that they are intentionally trying to get the Vizards out of hiding. Maybe for the sake of getting info about them, trying to remove a thorn from their side by attempting to destroy them, or perhaps even create an alliance. We have no knowledge about Vizard/Arrancar relations so it could be the latter but I still kind of doubt it."

"The final theory is that they are doing this to distract us long enough to stage an attack on our outpost in Hueco Mundo. I don't think this one would be that likely since our outpost isn't that much of a threat and we can just make a new one, but they might have plans we don't know."

By this point Zafaron was already wearing a path in the grass by his incessant pacing. The frustration at this plan was evident on his face. While the Espada had shown the capacity for thorough plans in the past, it was rare for them to be sneaky in those plans. He usually didn't have to worry about their goals since they were usually fairly clear about their destructive tendencies.

"The trouble is deciding what to do from here. If they do have some type of trap ready then sending troops down their would just be sending them to die needlessly. However if their interest is in fighting or trapping the Vizards, then letting things go puts them in danger instead. Course if we don't take the bait this time then they might try this over and over again. Fuck this is annoying!" Zafaron finally shouted stomping his foot. It was obvious that he was torn about what to do.

This was his chance to make up for his earlier mistake.
"The Hollows are obviously being controled. If we can find and take down the one controlling them, the attack will end. Or be less organized at least. The problem is, the one behind the attack might as well be the Primera..." Kusano said as he rubbed his chin.

"If the do have a trap set for us, and we take the bait, we might take the Otaku and Vizard with us in our fall... So it's obvious we can't just bust in and face the Hollow army head-on.
What we have to do is take apart the structure and organization of that Hollow army.
One way to do it is to take down the one controlling it, or distract it so it doesn't follow its orders anymore and the whole army structure crumbles. Which gives the Otaku and the Vizard the chance to take the advantage. The question is how do we do that?
What can make a Hollow defy an Espada, I can only imagine and Espada controlling such an army, so that its instincts take over and is no longer controlled?" Kusano thought out loud.

Annoying indeed.

"Trouble is that if an Espada is leading the hollow army, they are likely going to stay back for awhile in Hueco Mundo, probably giving orders from the other side of the Garganta. And if we appear they might join the battle itself which could cause more casualties. But if we just sit around things could get worse which really isn't an option."

He kept pacing back and forth, the poor grass not surviving long against his vicious assault. "And then we also have Kurokotsu on his way to the human world. It is unlikely he would go long without interfering in SOME way. He ain't the type to just sit back and watch. And I know I can't leave here in case this is some form of distraction. Not with so many other Captains preoccupied as well." While I had said earlier I didn't expect Kurokotsu to cause problems, I didn't realize things would fall apart this quickly. Who knows what could happen with him there now. "What to do, what to do. Its easier when we can just bash the hollows to death, not used to sneaky plans like this one."

Kusano nodded. "Yeah I agree..." He sighed.

He looked at the sky hoping the answer would be written somewhere in the clouds.
Strangely enough he found a cloud that, with a lot of imagination, somewhat looked like bow.
"We'll have to communicate with the other races. Join forces and maybe they can bring up a solution. Or anything that might help. What do you think?" Kusano said, only lowering his eyes from the cloud to the eyes of the Sotaicho, but not lowering his head.

Then he started thinking about what Kurokotsu's presence in the human world would result in.
He better not fuck this up... He thought and immediately started laughing inside because of his choice of words.

"But then we gotta make sure Kurokotsu doesn't do anything stupid. Of course he doesn't represent the whole Shinigami race but..."

"And then we also have Tokiyama there. The duo of those two worries me honestly. Both can be rather rash..." He looked at Kusano for a moment before finally making his decision.

"Kusano I have a job for you. I would like you to meet up with Kurokotsu and Tokiyama down in Japan. Make sure they receive the updates about the situation with the change in hollow tactics if they haven't gotten it already. And try to see if Kurokotsu has anything planned for dealing with the hollows in case this is a trap. He should be crafty enough to think up something and he likely still has that illusion cape or whatever he calls it. Make sure though that if he can't figure out what the hollows are planning that he doesn't do anything drastic.

"Also if he has already caused trouble with any of the other races please try to find a way to smooth it over and remind them that Kurokotsu is an...outlier among the shinigami. I would prefer that you return fairly quickly just in case but if you feel the situation requires your continued presence then you may do so. I will trust your judgement on this.

"Meanwhile I am going to send another batch of envoys to the Quincy and Superhumans. See if they have made any decisions about what to do right now." It was really the only thing he could do at this point. The Espada held most of the cards at the moment. They could change the situation whenever they felt like it and there wasn't much any of the races could likely do about it besides try to crush their army before things got worse. Hopefully Kurokotsu would have an idea but he kinda doubted it.