Torin and Shunsui were the last ones to the meeting, they weren't technically late, but Torin sure felt like he was.
"I hope you aren't teaching Captain Inzanki your bad habits Captain Kyoraku" Yammamoto said
"I don't have the slightest idea what you're talking about Yama-ji" Shunsui replied
Yammamoto raised a skeptical eyebrow, but that was the end of the discussion.
"Let this official Captain's meeting now commence!" Yammamoto said, slamming his cane into the ground "you all know why you are here"
Mayuri stepped forward "Indeed, what I do NOT know is why my squad, the finest collection of minds in the Gotei 13, is being forced to work with the brutes of the anthromorph's squad!" he said with disdain, gesturing towards Konnamura.
"Repairing that wall quickly is essential to the war effort Captain Kurotsuchi" Torin said evenly, as a rule, he found Mayuri's attitude annoying, but he treated the man with a certain degree of respect regardless. The man, whatever his flaws, was a captain and an accomplished scientist.
"And what do I care about that, I ask you?" Mayuri asked
"If the wall is not repaired the casualties could be in the millions!" Torin said, horrified by Mayuri's reaction.
"Peh! I don't care about that" Mayuri spat "You young naïve boy, I am a scientist, the more people who die in this war the more bodies I will have available to experiment on! Why should I care about preserving lives"
Torin was appalled, and his face showed it "how can you say that?" he sputtered "have you no pride? You are a captain of the Gotei 13! Have you no concern for the organization of which you are such a high ranked member?"
Mayuri chuckled "I only pride myself as a scientist boy, and working with this brute's squad is a direct insult to that pride! I couldn't care less about my position, save for the resources it provides me access to."
Torin was about to speak, but was interrupted by Byakuya Kuchki, captain of squad 6.
"Stop, Captain Inzanki, your pride is not the same as his, your words cannot reach him" Byakuya said
Torin looked over at the captain, who nodded in understanding. Torin backed down, still peeved, but reassured that Mayuri would not get his way.
"Your concerns are noted Captain Kurotsuchi" Yammamoto said "however your squad will be required to continue working with squad 7"
Mayuri scowled, but backed down, shooting a glare at Konnamura.
Yammamoto looked around at the captains "If nobody else has any complaints, we will not proceed to the next order of business. Captain Inzanki, please deliver your report on the battle"
Torin stepped forward and took a deep breath. "As you all know, this battle was an unbelievable disaster" he said "Squad 3, my squad, was the only squad within responding distance of the assault, the other gates all had two or three squads close enough to react to an attack, but this gate only had one, the enemy took full advantage of that."
"The assault consisted of two sections of the enemy army, one of arrancar, and a second back line of menos grande that served as artillery with the protection of the first section." Torin continued "the enemy army was several times the size of my squad, and even after my arrival we were unable to break through the front line to take out the hollows bombarding the wall."
"It was only thanks to Captain Mikon of the Kido Corps and her Lieutenant, Aurora Keisa, that the army was destroyed, including the 2nd Daichiken. However, in the process most of the West Rukongai's 1st district was… irreparably damanged, and the wall of the seireitei also fell before the battle ended" Torin finished
"And your analysis of the battle?" Yammamoto inquired
Torin took another deep breath "I conclude a few things from this battle, first is that the enemy has complete knowledge of our deployments and formations. This knowledge could only be gained in one way…"
Ukitake's eyebrows rose "you mean…" he began
"Yes, I think it is safe to assume Captain Soifon has been captured and forced to tell the enemy all she knew" Torin said
"She doesn't seem the type to succumb to torture" Shunsui commented
"She may be under the influence of an enemy technique, this army is massive, it is probably that at least one enemy has a zanpakto that involves mind reading or control" Torin replied
Shunsui nodded "you have a point" he conceded.
"So we need to act under the assumption that the enemy knows our current deployments, creating new formations should be a priority." Torin said.
"My second conclusion is that our current way of fighting as individual squads must be changed" Torin said, causing mixed reactions in the room.
"What do you mean Captain Inzanki?" Yammamoto asked
"This battle went poorly for two reasons, one, as I've said, was that we were hopelessly outnumbered" Torin began "the second is that my squad was ill-equipped to handle this type of combat"
"Squad 3 is the protection squad, most of us have defense type zanpakto, offensively we don't pack much of a punch." Torin said "We can hold a line for a long time, but we had almost no chance of breaking through the enemy line ourselves. A different squad, squad 11 lets say, would've had more luck acting as a spearhead and destroying the back line, allowing other squads to arrive."
Kenpachi Zaraki, captain of squad 11, nodded "damn right, we'd have crushed those weaklings into a pulp."
"However, as it stands each squad fights alone, never mixing their forces with other squads" Torin said "IF we had had 11th squad members fighting alongside us we could've shielded them while they went on the attack. Add in the 5th for some tactical support, and we would've been able to stop that assault easily even with the numbers disadvantage"
"An interesting idea" Shunsui mused "the only problem is that…"
"My squad won't fight with you weaklings!" Kenpachi spat
"Some captains might be strongly opposed to it" Shunsui finished
Torin turned to face kenpachi "this is sound strategy, I only want to maximize our fighting potential, the way even the weakest shinigami can fight as well as the strongest"
"there are no weaklings in my squad, all of us are the strongest fighters in the gotei, they won't stoop to fighting alongside weaker men or women, and neither will I" Kenpachi said
"Nor will my squad work with such brutes" Mayuri said "the 7th I will tolerate, but I draw the line at the 11th's division of muscle-bound idiots!"
"What was that?" kenpachi growled "what did you call my squad you snooty bookworm?"
"I called them…" Mayuri began, but was cut off by the sound of Yammamoto's cane
"Enough" Yammamoto barked "we shall decide this with a vote, all captains in favor?"
Shunsui, Ukitake, and Unohana raised their hands. Torin did not, as he was not allowed to vote on his own proposal for the obvious reason of bias.
"and all opposed?" Yammamoto asked
Kenpachi, Mayuri, and Byakuya's hands rose. Torin looked around, unsure of what a tie would entail, and noticed Konamura had not voted.
"Captain Konamura" Torin said "what is your vote?"
Konamura did not answer immediately, apparently lost in thought, but after several moments he spoke.
"while I feel your idea has merit, I also understand the sentiments of those opposed to it" Konamura said "I wish to withhold my vote on this matter until a majority is reached"
Yammamoto nodded "Such is your right, now Captain Inzanki, it appears we have a tie, what do you propose we do to resolve this?"
Torin looked at the dissenting captains, then said "I propose we vote again in three days, after I have had time to talk with each captain individually about this in detail"
Yammamoto closed his eyes, and Torin could've sworn that beneath his wrinkles and beard he was smiling with approval.
"Very well" Yammamoto said "weh shall adjorn for three days, then recast our votes, you are all dismissed!"
The captained filed out of the room, each returning to their duties, Torin was about to leave when Yammamoto spoke again.
"Captain Inzanki" Yammamoto called
"Yes head captain?" Torin responded "what is it?"
"I would advise you to speak with Byakuya first, Mayuri and kenpachi are not the types to listen to reason" Yammamoto said
Torin paused, Yammamoto's advice could only mean one thing, and that was that he supported his idea, though his position as head captain meant he couldn't put it into action without a majority.
"Thank you head captain" Torin said "I'll keep that in mind." Then Torin left the room, he had a lot of work to do.