Chapter 379: Tokinada and Aizen

Within the Great Spirit Library, the atmosphere was deep and enigmatic. Rows of towering bookshelves extended into the distance, seemingly endless, laden with thick, heavy volumes. Each book contained stories and information about the Soul Society, accumulated over a million years, making the length of the Grand Soul Library unfathomable.

The silence here was profound, vast, and mysterious. Suddenly, a sound echoed through the library, like the voice of a ghost from the underworld:

"Why is there nothing...?"

"Why is there nothing?"

"Why is there nothing?"

"Why... is there... nothing?"

These cries of "Why is there nothing?" reverberated throughout the Library, like wandering spirits drifting through its deep expanse, their echoes lingering.

Tsunayashiro Tokinada, wearing the luxurious robes of the head of his clan, had a troubled expression on his sinister face, devoid of its usual smile, filled instead with confusion and doubt. His lowered eyelids showed a heavy question mark. Deep confusion clouded his mind.

Was the Great Spirit Library, which was said to record all significant events and secrets of the Soul Society from ancient times to the present, really just a reputation?

Tokinada was greatly puzzled.

At his feet, beneath his opulent, gold-threaded robe, were numerous books he had taken down from the shelves, scattered haphazardly, opened and then casually discarded. All the books were blank, with nothing written in them.

These blank books stretched out in a long line, beginning from the records on the shelves, extending all the way into the distance.

"Why is there nothing?" Tokinada furrowed his brow deeply, his eyes reflecting his confusion.

Since becoming the head of the Tsunayashiro clan, he had learned many secrets about the three realms. Even the sordid actions of the five great noble houses' ancestors were known to him in more detail, thanks to his position as clan head.

However, he could find nothing about the "Mysterious Hollow" incident from 110 years ago. Despite his efforts, inquiring with various noble families and investigating the Grand Canyon in the noble district, he had found no trace of it.

The "Mysterious Hollow" seemed to have vanished from everyone's memory, disappearing into that century-old period.

Tokinada had hoped the Great Spirit Library, where all information about the Soul Society was forcibly collected and recorded, would be the place to find a record of that time.

But now, everything was blank.

This unprecedented anomaly caused him to feel a slight unease, as if death and darkness were creeping up from beneath him.

He deeply desired to understand what happened during that time.

To understand how he had managed to gather all the main house members at the clan's residence, allowing the "Mysterious Hollow" to destroy them and subsequently securing his position as clan head.

He felt there was more to it than just "gathering them at the clan residence to let the 'Mysteries Hollow' destroy them."

He was also sure that he was capable of orchestrating such actions.

Yet, the severed arm subtly reminded him that there seemed to be an unknown connection between him and the "Mysterious Hollow."

"Did I bring the 'Mysterious Hollow' to the Soul Society?"

"Or did I create it?"

"It does seem like something I would do, no different from the plans I am preparing now."

"What is the 'Mysterious Hollow'? And what connection do I have with it?"

Tokinada fell into deep thought, muttering to himself.

He was incredibly curious about all of this.

He wanted to tear away the thick curtain of blank years, to face it, play with it, and mock it.

'Tap… Tap… Tap… Tap… Tap…'

Footsteps echoed from afar, not too fast nor too slow, but clearly resounding in the deep, far-reaching Great Spirit Library.

However, Tokinada, lost in deep contemplation, seemed oblivious to the approaching footsteps.

Aizen, tall and broad-shouldered, wearing the expansive cloak of the Fifth Division captain, his brown hair falling over a pair of glasses that gave him a calm and honest look, walked steadily. His demeanor was serene, his eyes warm, reflecting an unyielding confidence that seemed to dominate the heavens.

"No record of the 'Mysterious Hollow'?"

As he walked through the library, his eyes glanced over the scattered books on the floor, all blank.

This was unlike the other books.

None of the books here forcibly recorded any details about the 'it.' They only allowed people to know the name and to understand that a period from a hundred years ago was lost in time and history.

It could even be considered a lost creation or perhaps a new chance for existence.

Aizen wanted to understand the "Mysterious Hollow," and he also had a familiarity with it. The stronger one's spiritual pressure, the more this familiarity would be apparent.

Similarly, the stronger a person's spiritual pressure, the more they would perceive the "Mysterious Hollow" as merely mysterious.

This was not out of contempt but rather because their strong spiritual pressure naturally endowed them with confidence.

This confidence stemmed from their immense spiritual power and strength.

Almost everyone, deep down, believed that the mysterious hollow was not that extraordinary.

But even with this belief, they still wanted to uncover the true face of the "Hollow."

To use it, mock it, or simply to understand the lost time and find out what happened a hundred years ago.

These missing years and the lost history were worthy of their attention.

"Is it that dark sphere?"

A vision of a dark sphere flashed through Aizen's mind, which had hovered over the Seireitei for a century, appearing alongside the "Mysterious Hollow," undoubtedly closely related to it.

Now, with no records of it in the Library, the dark sphere that hovered over the Seireitei had also vanished.

At this point, Aizen felt that his plans might require some adjustments.

Aizen strode confidently, his captain's cloak of the Fifth Division billowing as he passed by Tokinada, never glancing at him, and continued walking out of the Grand Soul Library.

Tokinada remained lost in thought, completely unaware of Aizen passing by.

°°°

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