Assemble the Captains [Gotei Leadership]

These were numbers that Rukia had burned into her mind the moment they'd come to her desk, but she nevertheless had the reports on hand. She spoke plainly, getting to the point without wasting time on explaining much beyond the relevant data.

"We're currently facing slightly more than 70% casualties in terms of active Gotei personnel. 690 are confirmed dead. Another 730 are still missing in action, with over 1000 injured currently undergoing medical attention. Civilian casualties in the Seireitei are more substantial, but also haven't been formally corroborated yet. The same goes for the Rukongai. Total confirmed casualty reports are above 5000, and those will go up as we establish more stable communications."

It was easier to simply state everything as plainly as possible, avoid any possible misunderstandings. She hardly had all the information right now. Nobody did.

Shishiyuki's hand tightened at the mention of the civilian casualties, but she wouldn't speak on that matter. No, that was for later. Another time, when things didn't demand her attention so completely.

"650 of our division's shinigami were deployed to the World of the Living at the time of this attack. There were an additional 50 auxiliary members of the 8th division assigned to those patrols, on top of a small handful of shinigami from other divisions assigned on specific missions. All together, nearly 800 shinigami total remain on Earth."

It could have been less, she supposed. Despite the grave situation, she could only ever be thankful that most of her subordinates had avoided this catastrophe.

"Hm..."

Rio pondered her response. Since this position was placed on her lap on short notice, she didn't have any notable information to convey that wasn't already explained. The civilian casualties had already been addressed by the current captains and Shishiyuki, who was acting in Elyss's place. She recalled that arrancar's words that day, but she highly doubted the words of the enemy held any sway here.

Recalling those harrow events was already an exercise in difficulty in and of itself, but she was a captain now - albeit temporarily - and she had a duty to uphold. Of course, since she didn't intend to provide a half-assed report, she elected to remain silent. She needed conclusive information. To provide anything less would be a dishonor to those who had already provided pertinent information in the room.

"My apologies. Since I've been promoted just recently, I don't know the entire situation, and any information I provide now would feel inadequate and inconclusive. Should I find anything of note, I'll report my findings immediately. All I recall is being kidnapped momentarily and taken toward Hakuyou's deceased body."

When Yuuto directed his attention toward her, Rio seemed to discern his intention immediately. Since he would be conducting investigations of his own moving forward, any clue, however small or noteworthy, would, most likely, be of great value to him.

Considering her duty now, it was entirely likely that they might end up working together soon. Of course, though she possessed zero intent in withholding information, she could not help but bitterly acknowledge her defeat and how she let her guard down when it mattered most. Even so, he required information, and it was that which she would provide, pride notwithstanding.

"Understood, Captain Hisakawa. Of course, what I'm sharing with you now should be taken with a grain of salt. To begin, I approached one of the enemy forces' strongest Arrancar situated in the Rukongai - specifically, fake Karakura town. Naturally, I engaged her in battle. This persisted until... a tremendous beam of light barreled through the area, temporarily interrupting our fight."

To allow the information to be deciphered properly, she would take an intermittent pause before explaining her experience further. It was necessary to understand the whole picture, even if might hold little weight in theory.

"Based on spiritual pressure alone, I discerned that such an attack emanated from Hakuyou. Such an attack could only be the product of Bankai. Had neither of us evaded in time, I've no doubt I'd be dead right now. Now, here is where I feel my next words should be taken with a grain of salt... since they came from the mouth of an enemy whose next actions I can only describe as bizarre and confusing."

Sighing softly, she continued.

"At any rate, she claimed two of our own were fighting against each other. With so much spiritual energy being released at once, I couldn't confirm that on my own. I know another spiritual pressure exploded in the distance, but I couldn't discern who or what that belonged to. Hakuyou's spiritual pressure erupted in a flash and plummeted soon after. Shamefully, this was enough to distract me and allow the Arrancar to execute two staggering blows in succession. Even after landing two decisive blows, she didn't kill me...."

Now, the bitter conclusion of her report.

"Instead of taking my life, after deducing that I was worried about Hakuyou... she kidnapped me after incapacitating me, delivering me to his bisected corpse. Since my consciousness was fading in and out at the time, the result of suffering critical wounds, I couldn't deduce anything else notable about his wounds or the state his body was in."