(T/N: This is chapter 5 out of 6!)
"Teacher, he's unconscious..." Komamura Sajin looked up, only to see his teacher casually wave his hand—and the fleeing guard was instantly floored.
"He should be able to lead us to Amamimon Tomoya," Nanatsuki said as he retracted his hand and walked over to Tōsen Kaname to inspect his wounds. "Nothing serious. He should wake up soon."
The guard climbed up again, forcing a flattering smile. "S-Sir… may I ask your intentions?"
He had never seen Katori Nanatsuki before and didn't know who he was.
But someone who could take him down so effortlessly clearly wasn't someone to offend.
"I'm his teacher. I heard there's some bad blood between Amamimon Tomoya and my disciple," Nanatsuki said gently. "We came to resolve that. You're his bodyguard, right? Can you take us to him?"
The guard didn't want to. If they were here to cause trouble, Tomoya would take it out on him afterward.
But the current situation didn't allow refusal.
"Y-Yes, of course…"
"Why were you chasing this person?" Komamura demanded.
He suspected this blind man had also clashed with Tomoya for interfering in his misdeeds, just like he had.
"He offended Lord Amamimon…" The guard's mind raced to frame things in a favorable light. "This guy had the nerve to abduct one of Lord Amamimon's concubines!"
"The concubines were abducted by him, more like!" Komamura rolled his eyes. "His reputation already reeks across Suzuka!"
Sweating profusely, the guard glanced nervously at Nanatsuki. "Those are just rumors… Lord Amamimon always pays for his concubines!"
"Didn't look like that when I saw him dragging an unwilling girl through the street," Komamura scoffed.
"If you ask me, that was just Lord Amamimon flirting with her…" the guard muttered.
"He's lying... cough..."
Tōsen Kaname stirred from unconsciousness.
"My friend Kakyō and I investigated it ourselves... Kameda was kidnapping girls from Huaku District and selling them to Amamimon Tomoya..." Tōsen struggled to sit up. "We spoke to his servants. The girls never lived long after they were bought."
"How dare you slander Lord Amamimon!" The guard lunged forward to silence him—
Only to be hoisted up single-handedly by Komamura.
"I suggest you don't push your luck," Komamura said coolly.
"Looks like Amamimon Tomoya is in real trouble now," Nanatsuki said. "If he's harming civilians, even his clan can't protect him. Take us to him."
Meanwhile…
Kakyō had taken the girl into an empty stone house during the explosion.
But the dust stirred by the blast made the girl cough.
Panicking, Kakyō immediately covered her mouth.
But Tomoya had already heard it from outside.
Backed against the wall, Kakyō's anxiety soared as the footsteps grew closer.
There was only one door and one window facing the street. There was no silent escape.
'When he comes in, I'll have to wound him. Only then will we have a chance to escape.'
Kakyō let go of the girl and quietly drew his Asauchi.
Bang! The wooden door exploded inward from Tomoya's kick.
"Hiding girls from me in my own district—"
Before he could finish, a cold glint flashed across his vision.
Slash—
"AaaaAAAHHHH!!"
Tomoya screamed like a pig being slaughtered.
Kakyō had slashed his thigh the moment the door swung open.
"You bastards!!!" Tomoya roared with rage, his eyes bloodshot.
He had thought the cough came from some family hiding a woman from him.
Women had gone to great lengths to avoid him since his reputation worsened.
But to his surprise, this house hid that meddling girl from the Academy—and the concubine he had just bought.
His leg was bleeding badly; his movement severely hindered.
Kakyō tried to pull his blade out to flee with the girl—but it was stuck in Tomoya's thigh bone.
"How dare you ambush me!" Tomoya roared, drawing his Zanpakutō and slashing down.
Kakyō released the hilt and rolled aside just in time.
Tomoya's blade smashed the wooden door into splinters.
"You little rat!" Furious and bleeding, he didn't dare chase further.
He yanked the Asauchi from his leg and used basic Kaidō to stop the bleeding.
As a noble, he had some training—though not skilled, he knew enough to patch himself up.
"Bakudō #4: Hainawa!"
Kakyō raised his hand, binding Tomoya with a rope of spiritual energy.
"Run!" he shouted, grabbing the girl and trying to dart past.
"You're not getting away!" Tomoya shouted back. "Bakudō #9: Geki!"
A red light shot from his hand, binding Kakyō in place and halting their escape.
He ripped off the energy rope from his body. "You brat. You must be one of those prodigies from the Academy!"
"Using Bakudō without an incantation… heh…"
Tomoya's face flushed with sadistic excitement. "Killing a genius like you… now that's thrilling!"
He raised his blade—
"Run!"
The girl suddenly leapt forward, hugging Tomoya tightly, trying to stop the strike.
"Fool!"
Tomoya's blade changed direction—
—and slashed down on the girl.
Blood splattered across Kakyō's face, painting his vision crimson.
Her scream and Tomoya's laughter echoed together.
The girl's blood soaked Kakyō's birthmark, turning her face into that of a demon.
Time seemed to shatter.
Reality and consciousness split apart. Kakyō's head rang like a bell.
Somehow, the Asauchi Tomoya had discarded had returned to her hand.
"Judge him—Enma."
Her voice no longer held its usual gentleness. It was cold—deadly.
The blade transformed into an ancient-looking mirror.
Inside the mirror sat a horned woman, flipping through a scroll atop a writing desk.
The mirror reflected Tomoya's image.
Then, black mist surged from it—taking the form of demons that rushed toward Tomoya.
He was horrified—they all looked like the concubines he had tortured to death.
"What the hell?!"
He was a Shinigami—he knew that spirits returned to Reishi upon death. Ghosts of vengeance shouldn't exist.
This was the power of the Zanpakutō.
"Hadō #4: Byakurai!"
A white bolt of lightning shot into the mist—
—but passed through harmlessly.
The demons struck him.
"AAAAAGH!!!"
Tomoya screamed in terror, seeing horrors beyond comprehension. He struggled madly in fear.
Kakyō's Zanpakutō had a rare ability—attacking the mind directly.
Tomoya's will was weak. His Reiatsu wasn't strong enough to resist.
Soon, his mind crumbled.
The demons vanished, and he collapsed to the ground.
He twitched, drooling, babbling nonsense.
Kakyō ignored him and rushed to the girl's side.
But she was already dead.
"...In the end… I still couldn't save her."
Kakyō felt powerless. She dropped to her knees, sitting silently before the body.
Nanatsuki and the others arrived at the street but found no sign of Tomoya.
Still, both Nanatsuki and Tōsen, with his sharp spiritual sense, detected Kakyō's Reiatsu.
They entered the stone house.
Inside, they found Kakyō wounded, the girl dead, and Tomoya unconscious.
"Kakyō!"
"Lord Amamimon!"
Tōsen and the guard called out in unison.
Kakyō snapped out of her daze. Seeing the guard made her tense up—
But then she saw Nanatsuki and the others.
"Master Katori?!"
Though not his direct student, everyone in the Academy knew who Katori Nanatsuki was.
He quickly assessed the situation.
He had only come to resolve the conflict between Tomoya and Komamura—but didn't expect to run into Kakyō and Tōsen.
And he hadn't expected Tomoya to be this vile.
Nanatsuki checked Tomoya's condition.
"What are you doing, sir?!" the guard cried in horror.
Nanatsuki snapped Tomoya's neck without hesitation.
The guard immediately tried to flee.
But before he took two steps, a hole opened in his chest.
He collapsed.
"Master Katori, you…" Kakyō stared, stunned by his sudden move.
"Keeping them alive would just bring trouble." Nanatsuki retracted his hand. "Though Tomoya was in the wrong, the Amamimon Clan won't take this lying down."
"From this point forward, remember this: I caught Tomoya in the act of harming civilians and executed him and his servant on the spot."
"Master Katori! You can't take the blame for this!" Kakyō protested.
"You're a student. This wasn't your fault. It's my duty as a teacher to protect you," Nanatsuki replied firmly.
"But… won't they come after you for this?"
"Let them. Tomoya was in the wrong. The clan has no grounds to touch me," he said gently. "But you, as a student, wouldn't survive their retaliation."
Komamura's heart swelled with pride. He pounded his chest. "Katori Dojo won't bow to Amamimon! If they dare blame our teacher, we'll fight them to the end!"
Tōsen remained silent—but deeply shaken.
In all his years wandering Rukongai, this was the first time he understood what the word 'teacher' truly meant.
This teacher had willingly taken on the wrath of a noble family—for his students.
Amamimon was no ordinary noble. This was no trivial act.
"Shin'o Spiritual Arts Academy… I want to go there too," Tōsen decided in his heart.
"Alright, you two should leave. Kakyō, train hard. Only with strength can you walk your own path." Nanatsuki smiled.
He contacted Shihōin Yoruichi, asking her to help gather evidence of Tomoya's crimes.
After some time, Yoruichi arrived with members of the Onmitsukidō.
"Sensei, what should we do?" she asked, eyeing the body.
"I want you to investigate Tomoya's crimes. Komamura did some digging—he was notorious here in Suzuka."
"No problem. We'll search his home," Yoruichi nodded.
Infiltration was their specialty.
Without alerting anyone, they retrieved records from Tomoya's butler.
They found his transaction logs—detailed expenses for purchasing concubines.
Most of them were already dead. The few remaining were suffering in silence.