Nanatsuki and Mayuri followed the clues they had found in Otani Village.
They didn't find the Quincies—but instead, they ran into two Bounts.
"Captain, I think these humans had their souls drained by them."
Mayuri ignored the hostility in the two Bounts' eyes and walked over to inspect the bodies on the ground.
"Bounts feed on souls to grow stronger. They used to hunt human souls in massive numbers in the World of the Living, which drew the attention of the Shinigami and led to a purge. These two are likely survivors," Nanatsuki explained.
The Bounts were clearly hostile toward Nanatsuki and Mayuri, but the terrifying Reiatsu emanating from Nanatsuki kept them paralyzed with fear.
"Bounts can eat souls?"
Mayuri's eyes lit up, his curiosity spiking.
The Reiatsu of Shinigami, Quincy, and Hollows each had distinct characteristics. Without suppression, even a regular Shinigami foot soldier could tell them apart.
To Mayuri, the Bounts' Reiatsu felt somewhat similar to that of Shinigami.
But absorbing souls to increase Reiatsu—that was more of a Hollow trait.
"The Seireitei Research Institute once ran a project to study the possibility of creating immortal spirit bodies," Nanatsuki said. "These Bounts were originally humans. Their bodies absorbed special Reishi particles that had spread into the World of the Living after a lab explosion, turning them into half-human, half-spirit lifeforms."
"Researching immortality… how cliché. But now that you mention it..." Mayuri grinned. "This experiment may have had an 'accidental success.' At least, regular humans can't live this long. If eating souls increases Reiatsu, then naturally, it increases lifespan too."
These two Bounts looked like young adults, but the experiment had occurred hundreds of years ago.
"Go capture them. Since we've run into them, we can't leave them here to keep devouring human souls," said Nanatsuki. He also wanted to bring the Bounts back for study.
"In that case, Captain, stop scaring them. I want to see how strong they really are," Mayuri said with a smirk.
Nanatsuki gave a slight nod and lifted the Reiatsu suppression.
The man in overalls and the blue-haired woman in a violet robe instantly felt the pressure ease, as if a mountain had been lifted off their backs.
Without hesitation, the two bolted in opposite directions—no intention of fighting.
"Trying to run? That won't do..."
Mayuri grinned, pulling a small white sphere from his sleeve and tossing it into the air.
Boom! The sphere burst into a cloud of white mist, from which countless threads of lightning shot out, forming electrified cords that covered the courtyard.
The cords blocked both Bounts' escape routes.
The man in overalls tried to break through, recklessly charging into the lightning web.
"AAAHHH!"
Not only did he fail to break through—the cords coiled around him tighter, electrocuting him to the point of agony.
Seeing this, the woman hesitated to force her way through.
She waved her sword, launching over a dozen flying blades at Mayuri.
"Ooh~ just like a Shinigami who's unlocked Shikai—you have a special ability!"
Mayuri deftly dodged the barrage.
The blades looped around and came at him again.
He pulled a lump of gel-like matter from his sleeve and flung it at the blades.
The slime latched onto them, quickly expanding and enveloping all the blades.
They became entangled, unable to escape, and soon began to dissolve into Reishi.
The woman then waved her fan—the small one in her left hand—conjuring a mini-cyclone that surged toward Mayuri.
After releasing the cyclone, she didn't linger—she cut through the lightning cords with her sword and ran, abandoning her companion without a second thought.
"No desire to fight, huh? Reasonable. But... time's up."
Mayuri calmly watched her slice through the lightning web, unfazed.
He raised three fingers and began counting. "Three... two... one..."
As he spoke the last number, the fleeing woman suddenly collapsed to the ground.
"Despicable Shinigami!"
She lay paralyzed, her face pale and body limp.
Poison—though she couldn't figure out when it happened.
"Was it... the white mist?"
She remembered the white fog from the exploding sphere. She had assumed it was just visual cover—but it had actually been laced with poison!
"Heh. I'm not a combatant. Why would I fight you head-on?"
Mayuri approached slowly, pulling a syringe filled with an unknown solution from his sleeve.
Fear filled the woman's eyes as she tried to crawl away, but her limbs refused to move.
"Don't worry. You're a rare specimen. I won't let you die easily."
He plunged the syringe into her neck, injecting a potent anesthetic into her artery.
Her eyes rolled back, and she passed out.
Mayuri slung her unconscious body over his shoulder and walked back to the courtyard.
BOOM—
Just as he returned, a loud crash came from the yard.
The man in overalls had endured the lightning to trigger his ability.
His gauntlet swelled and transformed into a massive frost giant.
The frost giant tore the lightning cords off his body.
"That frost construct... it seems to be a fragment of his soul."
Nanatsuki observed carefully. "If that's the case, it's a lot like a Zanpakutō—powers drawn from one's own soul."
Through spiritual perception, he could sense the tight connection between the frost giant and the Bount, with nearly identical Reiatsu signatures.
The giant picked up its master and tried to flee.
Shwoosh Nanatsuki appeared in front of them.
"Out of the way!"
The Bount shouted, and the giant threw a massive punch.
He knew he stood no chance against this Shinigami, so he put everything into this single blow, hoping only to stall.
The icy fist, over a meter wide, smashed toward Nanatsuki. The chill in the air froze the ground beneath.
BOOM—
The giant fist slammed into Nanatsuki's chest.
He didn't budge an inch.
The Bount's eyes went wide in horror.
This was the same punch that had crushed many Hollows in the past—but now, it hadn't even made Nanatsuki take a step back.
Crack...crack! The giant fist shattered into icy fragments.
"The Blut Vene defense held up nicely," Nanatsuki thought.
He hadn't even used Reiatsu to block it—just relied on the passive defense of the Blut Vene.
The strength of the ice punch was comparable to a seated officer's Hadō, but it still failed to breach his defense.
Raising two fingers, Nanatsuki summoned a Reiatsu Blade and slashed.
CRACK—! The frost giant crumbled into shards.
The man in overalls hit the ground hard. He couldn't move anymore—the poison was now taking effect.
"I've... been poisoned..."
He glared hatefully at Nanatsuki. "Damn you, Shinigami... just kill me already!"
"Lines like that really make us sound like the villains," Nanatsuki said, exasperated.
"Aren't we?" Mayuri returned, carrying the unconscious woman on his back, unfazed.
To him, science came first—morality was an afterthought.
"The Reiatsu of these two is on par with lower-seated officers. But they clearly lack training and technique. In a real fight, they wouldn't hold up."
Nanatsuki picked up the woman's sword and fan. "Still, their powers are interesting. They've split off a portion of their soul and embedded it into these objects to gain special abilities. Isn't that a lot like a Zanpakutō?"
"It is. No wonder their Reiatsu feels closer to Shinigami than anything else."
Mayuri nodded and walked over to the man.
"His clothes resemble those of the Quincy. Could he be a remnant of the Light Nation?"*
Mayuri tilted the man's head up by the chin. "He doesn't look like he's from Karakura Town either."
"You said you killed the Quincies here?" Nanatsuki asked. "But with your strength, that shouldn't have been possible."
The Quincies had acquired spirit tools Mayuri had hidden—they should have been at least as strong as seated Shinigami.
These two Bounts clearly weren't strong enough to beat them.
They had to have had help.
The Bount's eyes shifted, but he remained silent—unwilling to sell out his comrades.
"Heh. Guess we'll need to rough you up a bit first."
Mayuri grinned and reached into his Reishi Pocket.
A moment later—
"Naruki District... that's another high-spiritual-density area like Karakura Town."
Nanatsuki rubbed his chin. "Isshin, Sōya, and Kaname are stationed there, aren't they?"
Mayuri had pried open the Bount's mouth and extracted the information he wanted.
Nanatsuki's guess was spot-on—the Quincies who had taken Mayuri's hidden spirit tools weren't defeated by these Bounts. They had other allies.
But the others weren't in Karakura—they had gone to a place called the Naruki District.
"What's your group doing in Naruki?" Nanatsuki asked.
"We're recruiting other Bounts scattered across the world… Our leader and others went to Naruki to find them."
The Bount answered truthfully.
"Then what were you doing here?"
"Our leader doesn't want all of us in one place... Because to grow stronger, we have to feed on souls..."
He shrank under Nanatsuki's gaze. "Our 'hunting grounds' are split across different areas. That way, no one district loses too many souls too quickly and draws the attention of the Shinigami."
Instead of gathering together to hunt, the Bounts had distributed themselves, each assigned a territory to avoid suspicion.
"Smart of you," Mayuri chuckled. "No wonder you've gone undetected—until now. Too bad you ran into the Captain."
If Nanatsuki hadn't used his shadow abilities to spot their Reiatsu, they might have gone unnoticed for much longer.
"How do we find your leader?"
Mayuri asked.
"Those of us left in the hunting grounds… we only receive messages from the leader. It's one-way. He never tells us his location. We only know he went to Naruki because we gave him that information in the first place!"
"My disciples are stationed there. I'll ask if they've seen anything."
Nanatsuki pulled out a Denreishinki to contact Shiba Isshin.
The response came quickly.
"Sensei!"
"Isshin, are you still in Naruki?"
"Still here on assignment. You missed me, Sensei?"
He'd grown cheekier since their last meeting.
"Should I personally 'guide' you to catch up on your neglected training?"
"I was wrong!" Isshin immediately backed down.
"How did Sōya and Kaname do on their assessment?"
"It's over already. They did really well! But I'm still on duty, so they're still here with me."
The Shinigami stationed in Naruki hadn't detected any trace of the Bounts.
"Sounds quiet on your end. But I just captured two Bounts in Karakura—they say their leader went to Naruki."
"Bounts? Aren't those like Hollows?"
Isshin was unfamiliar with the term.
Bounts had existed long ago—without prior knowledge, it was natural that Isshin didn't recognize them.
"They're not Hollows. They eat souls and can hide their Reiatsu. When hidden, they're indistinguishable from regular humans."
"They eat souls...?" Isshin paused. "Now that you mention it, there've been some weird incidents here lately. I thought they were Hollow attacks—but maybe… they're related to these Bounts?"
"Seems like you have leads. I'll head over right away."
Nanatsuki decided to travel to Naruki District to deal with the Bount issue.
The Bount leader wasn't just gathering allies to survive—they were preparing to strike back against Soul Society.
The Bounts had already been purged once. Now, with resentment in their hearts, their leader sought to rally them for revenge.
Naïve as it sounded, the Bounts could grow stronger by devouring souls—just like Hollows. That posed a threat to the balance of the world.
In time, they could become a real problem for Soul Society.
Nanatsuki looked around—Mayuri and the Bount were gone from the courtyard.
They were inside the house.
Mayuri hadn't forgotten about the spirit tools he had hidden away.
The Quincies who'd taken them had been killed by the Bounts, meaning the tools now belonged to them.
Like someone identifying a stash of stolen goods, the Bount was helping Mayuri locate them.
"Oho—"
Mayuri opened the chest and let out a delighted chuckle.
"It was a bit roundabout, but I still got them back."
Inside the box were various Quincy-related tools and books.