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"Ishikawa."
"How's your health?"
"Next time, please don't just run off to Hueco Mundo like that."
"Ishikawa, have you eaten yet?"
"…"
After clearing out the Maggot's Nest, as soon as Ishikawa entered the Supervisory Team building, a cacophony of greetings reached his ears.
The Supervisory Team building, from its appearance, was somewhat similar to the Technology Development Bureau; buildings in Seireitei generally weren't too tall, but any structure that was high-rise, dust-proofed, and equipped with entry alerts was, without exception, a place housing various precision instruments.
Walking through the corridors of the Supervisory Team building, Ishikawa responded to the greetings around him with a smile, taking nearly ten minutes to get from the building entrance to the Supervisory Team's Surveillance Division.
Upon reaching the door, Ishikawa pushed it open and walked in.
Tap, tap, tap, tap—
As soon as he entered the Surveillance Division, a flurry of keyboard typing sounds greeted him.
Looking around, he saw that the vast room was filled with instruments resembling computers from the Human World, yet significantly different, scattered throughout the Surveillance Division. The screens displayed various maps, each with a red dot at its center.
These instruments were all provided by the Technology Development Bureau, used to monitor every Supervisor. Whether they were Shinigami dispatched to the Human World or Squad Members of the Gotei 13, their locations and statuses were relayed to these instruments.
"Boss."
The head of the Surveillance Division, Kiyohara Tsumugiya, the Vice-Captain of the Supervisory Team, immediately came forward upon seeing Ishikawa. "Why are you here?"
"Ishikawa, I'll pour you some tea right away."
"You all continue with your work, don't mind me."
Ishikawa waved his hand, stopping the Supervisory Team Squad Members who were about to get up, and said with a smile, "I've only been gone for a little over a month; why are you acting like I haven't been here in years?" With that, Ishikawa plopped down onto the sofa in the center of the Surveillance Division.
"It's not wrong to say it felt like years," a female Squad Member said with a laugh. "Staying in Hueco Mundo for a month, everyone was incredibly worried. Vice-Captain Kiyohara has been requesting the Captain-Commander for a month to dispatch Onmitsukidō to Hueco Mundo to bring you back."
"Thank you," Ishikawa said, smiling at Kiyohara Tsumugiya beside him. "Is there anything to eat? I haven't eaten since this morning."
"Yes~ I have… some snacks here."
"I have some too."
"And me~"
"…"
As soon as Ishikawa finished speaking, the coffee table in front of him was piled high with snacks, like a small mountain.
"Uh… you don't need so much."
Ishikawa's mouth twitched slightly, and he waved his hand at the Squad Members gathered around. "I just need a bite to eat."
Despite his words.
Ishikawa was genuinely a bit hungry, so he didn't stand on ceremony with everyone, picking up snacks and eating.
Three days had passed since he returned from Hueco Mundo, and in these three days, Ishikawa noticed his appetite visibly increasing.
He hadn't felt hungry for a month in Hueco Mundo, but as soon as he returned to Soul Society, he felt as if he hadn't eaten in months.
However, Ishikawa clearly understood why he felt this way.
Because when in Hueco Mundo, the high concentration of Reishi could provide the energy needed by a Spirit Body, but this provision was somewhat similar to the 'flash energy' provided by glucose. While it could make one clear-headed and energetic for a short time, once one stopped or left the high-Reishi environment, this energy would be quickly consumed, making one feel even hungrier than before.
"Mr. Ishikawa…"
A nervous voice came, and Ishikawa looked up in confusion, seeing a young man holding a pile of snacks, his face flushed, standing in front of the coffee table, exuding a sense of unease.
"You are…"
Ishikawa was slightly stunned upon seeing the young man. "…Ukitake Hiro?"
Hearing Ishikawa call out his name, the young man's face lit up with joy, but then he was slapped, stumbling, and the snacks in his arms scattered across the floor.
Splat—!
A young woman stood beside Ukitake Hiro, saying impatiently, "Idiot, why are you calling him 'Mister'? We're also members of the Supervisory Team now, you should call him Boss!!"
"Nagano Kasyuu?"
Ishikawa was stunned again, because these two were precisely two of the three noble members he had once rescued from Ginjō Kūgo.
Since rescuing the three last time, aside from Hachiun Hane, who often met him due to following family rules and joining the Onmitsukido, these two had been out of touch… If they hadn't appeared before him, Ishikawa would have almost forgotten Ukitake Hiro.
Of course, Ishikawa couldn't forget Nagano Kasyuu.
After all…
She was the only noblewoman whose favorability towards Ishikawa had reached max friendship. Aside from those he hadn't met, Ishikawa kept all women with favorability towards him firmly in mind, including their appearance, age, features, preferences…
He did this to avoid lowering favorability by not recognizing or mispronouncing names when meeting them in person. Moreover, the Nagano family generally held good feelings towards him. Since saving Nagano Kasyuu, they often entrusted him with various tasks.
As for Ukitake Hiro…
Ishikawa actually had an impression of him, because he was too weak.
The experience points provided by an entire family's favorability combined weren't as high as the experience points provided by one person from the Hachi Family…
"These two actually submitted their application to join the squad along with Hachiun Hane," Kiyohara Tsumugiya said with a smile. "But unlike Hachiun Hane, although he also hadn't entered the Shin'ō Academy, he received relevant training from a young age due to family rules, so only Hachiun Hane passed the review after submitting the application."
"As a result, these two were unwilling to give up. Finally, the head of the Nagano family found the Golden Seal Association, hoping to let the two work under you. Later, Captain Soi Fon was so pestered that she had no choice…"
"Plus, although Miss Nagano Kasyuu hasn't studied Zankensoki, she enjoys debugging equipment and scientific research. She even received an invitation to join the Technology Development Bureau once, and eventually, these two were sent to us."
"Don't call me 'Miss' or anything," Nagano Kasyuu scratched her head, then said a little nervously, "Although we got in through the back door, Boss, we will definitely work hard and absolutely not cause you any trouble!"
"Don't be nervous."
Ishikawa looked at the two anxious individuals, a gentle smile appearing on his face. "And you don't need to be so respectful to me. To put it plainly, I'm actually just like you, an ordinary Squad Member of the Supervisory Team… No, strictly speaking, I'm not even as good as you. I don't hold a position; I'm just a temporary worker for the Supervisory Team."
"So you can treat me as a friend. Everyone interacts with me this way, and I also hope to work together with you casually, like friends. Here, besides Lord Kiyohara Tsumugiya next to me, there aren't so many rules."
"Exactly, exactly. Your respect for Ishikawa, just keep it in your heart."
"Although Ishikawa is dangerous, he's still very easy to get along with."
"What do you mean 'dangerous'? Ishikawa just likes to nip danger in the bud. Those guys killed by Ishikawa were never good people; this is our job to begin with."
"Right, I was wrong."
"…"
Kiyohara Tsumugiya watched the lively atmosphere before him and did not stop it, but instead smiled slightly.
He had to admit, ever since Ishikawa took over the Supervisory Team… of course, 'took over' was what they themselves believed… but no matter what, after Ishikawa came, the atmosphere of the Supervisory Team changed drastically. The originally gloomy faces of everyone had also become cheerful.
"Thank you, Boss!"
The two said in unison, but compared to Ukitake Hiro, Nagano Kasyuu had a much more uninhibited personality, or rather, with max friendship, she was naturally very relaxed when interacting with Ishikawa.
"Although I can't guide you in professional work, you can always come to me if you have any cultivation problems. Every month, I will set aside a few days to test and guide your training, so don't be too lax."
Ishikawa looked at Ukitake Hiro and said, "Especially you. I saw your last battle; you have good talent in Kido. You can put more effort in that direction. Although you basically won't encounter danger working in the Surveillance Division, having more skills is always a good thing."
"Yes, I will definitely work hard on my training!"
Ishikawa nodded, looking at the people before him, feeling a strange sensation in his heart.
It seemed that, without realizing it…
There seemed to be quite a few of his own people in the Onmitsukidō now. He wondered if this was good or bad.
However, Captain Soi Fon, as the captain, couldn't possibly not see this. Since she hadn't stopped it and even allowed the two to join the Supervisory Team, there shouldn't be any problem.
Although from beginning to end…
Ishikawa had no such intention, but since things had come to this, Ishikawa wouldn't stop it.
Anyway, the composition of the Onmitsukidō had always been very complex.
Although Soi Fon had extremely high control over the Onmitsukidō, she still couldn't be said to have complete mastery. As far as Ishikawa knew, a considerable portion of the Onmitsukidō was under the jurisdiction of Central 46, and when necessary, they would even act directly, bypassing the Onmitsukidō Captain-Commander.
Ishikawa had reviewed the records of the Supervisory Team. The previous Onmitsukidō Captain-Commander had suffered losses because of this; the Central 46 bypassed her to mobilize the Onmitsukidō, and Urahara Kisuke and others were arrested without Yoruichi's knowledge.
Although those members who participated in the arrests mysteriously disappeared for various reasons after Captain Soi Fon took over, it was impossible for there not to be personnel planted by the Central 46 within the Onmitsukidō directly under their jurisdiction.
And besides those planted by the Central 46, there were also many assassins in the Onmitsukido bribed by nobles, specifically to handle some unsavory matters for the nobles.
Of course, these people were only a minority. More were loyalists directly trained by Soi Fon. Although some of them were loyal to the Shihōin Family, there was no difference between being loyal to the Shihōin Family and being loyal to Soi Fon, who had the Shihōin Family's support… Anyway, the current head of the Shihōin Family trusted Soi Fon immensely.
As if completely unafraid that Soi Fon would reject her family due to the previous head.
However, that was the truth. Although Soi Fon would show an expression of 'resentment' whenever the name 'Yoruichi' was mentioned, she was extremely friendly to the Shihōin Family and took great care of Yoruichi's former subordinates.
Ishikawa had once seen Soi Fon, as a Captain, personally visit Ōmaeda's father—the former Second Division Vice-Captain—during a festival, treating him with great respect as an elder.
Getting back to the main topic, given the complex composition of the Onmitsukidō, having some of their own people within the Onmitsukidō was not necessarily a bad thing.
Beep, beep, beep—
Just then, an alarm sound interrupted Ishikawa's thoughts.
Ishikawa looked up in confusion, only to realize that in a corner of the Surveillance Division, a massive piece of equipment had appeared at some point. A huge display screen was connected to various instruments, and Nagano Kasyuu was sitting in front of it.
"Hmm?"
Nagano Kasyuu pressed something, and after the alarm stopped, an incredibly clear image appeared on the display screen. It wasn't like the maps and red dots on other screens, but rather an image as clear as Human World surveillance footage, with extremely high resolution.
A flicker of surprise crossed Ishikawa's eyes. He got up and stood behind Nagano Kasyuu, observing carefully before realizing.
The constantly switching images, besides those from Soul Society, also included many from the Human World. Each image showed a Gotei 13 Squad Member currently under supervision, as if someone were tracking and filming them from behind.
"What is this?"
"Ah?"
Nagano Kasyuu, who was focused on operating the equipment, was startled. She then noticed Ishikawa behind her and instinctively started to stand up, but Ishikawa pressed her back down: "I told you, don't be so formal. You continue with your work; I'm just curious about this new equipment."
"Boss, these are images I received from the Image Hall."
"Image Hall?"
Ishikawa raised an eyebrow slightly.
"The Image Hall is a surveillance agency under the Central 46. Its image surveillance system covers the entire Soul Society and Human World, and there are even rumors that it can monitor parts of Hueco Mundo," Kiyohara Tsumugiya said, walking over with a smile. "However, it has always had no connection with our Supervisory Team, because receiving the Image Hall's 'surveillance lines' requires very specialized technical support, and we don't have that kind of talent here."
"In the entire Surveillance Division, only Miss Nagano knows how to use this thing."
"I'm just messing around."
Nagano Kasyuu scratched her head a little sheepishly: "Ishikawa, you know I'm very interested in the Human World, so I asked my father to help me buy a complete set of equipment from the Technology Development Bureau for a lot of money. I tinker with it in my free time. The reason I know so much about the Human World is because of this equipment."
"After joining the Supervisory Team, I found… it seemed useful, so I brought this equipment along."
"It's more than just useful."
Ishikawa looked at the incredibly clear images on the screen and couldn't help but exclaim, then asked somewhat puzzled: "But isn't that Image Hall under the jurisdiction of the Central 46? Why was the equipment bought from the Technology Development Bureau?"
"Because the Technology Development Bureau and the Image Hall are deeply connected. They form a collaborative relationship with the Image Hall to monitor the Soul Society and Human World, and use this as a basis for analyzing situations. Due to the deep level of collaboration, the Image Hall is even jokingly referred to as an agency managed by the 'Technology Development Bureau'."
"Generally speaking, apart from personnel related to the Image Hall and the Technology Development Bureau, it's impossible to use any system other than some publicly accessible lines."
It wasn't Nagano Kasyuu who answered Ishikawa, but Kiyohara Tsumugiya, who was standing beside him. He paused for a moment, then continued: "Even our Supervisory Team is no exception. We have always passively received images from the Technology Development Bureau. Initially, this set of equipment could only view certain areas of the Human World. Later, Captain Soi Fon personally went to the Technology Development Bureau to request it, and only then did they agree to share the 'surveillance lines' of our Supervisory Team's Supervisors with us."
"But it's limited to Supervisors, meaning we can only see what they allow us to see."
When Kiyohara Tsumugiya said this, an expression of admiration appeared on his face: "Our Supervisory Team applied for this technology for a long time, but the Technology Development Bureau was unwilling to even sell us the equipment, let alone help train or transfer technical personnel."
"Being able to see this kind of equipment in the Supervisory Team can be said to be entirely due to the Nagano family's substantial financial resources and the addition of Miss Nagano, a professional technical personnel."
"It's not professional; I just tinker with it when I'm bored at home."
Despite saying that, Nagano Kasyuu's face showed a hint of pride. After all, after buying this equipment, she had completely relied on her own efforts to research and use it, even intercepting quite a few Human World surveillance lines… although she was warned after being discovered by the Technology Development Bureau and the Image Hall.
But after that, the Technology Development Bureau had invited her to join their squad more than once.
However…
Nagano Kasyuu was a little afraid of the Technology Development Bureau's Director, and there were simply too many strange people in the Technology Development Bureau. To avoid becoming one of them, she did not accept the Technology Development Bureau's invitation.
Image Hall, huh?
Ishikawa nodded, then, as if something occurred to him, he frowned slightly.
Seeing this, Kiyohara Tsumugiya asked, somewhat puzzled: "Is something wrong?"
"Since we received the surveillance lines of the Supervisors under limited conditions through the Technology Development Bureau's sharing, does that mean the Technology Development Bureau can also only receive the 'surveillance lines' that the Image Hall shares with them?"
"Probably."
Kiyohara Tsumugiya nodded: "However, the actual person in charge of the Image Hall doesn't manage it much. Now, the Image Hall is almost like a subordinate agency of the Technology Development Bureau, so they should be able to access all surveillance lines."
"Then was the incident the Fujiwara siblings encountered last time also based on information obtained from the Image Hall's surveillance lines?"
"Yes, after you were trapped in Hueco Mundo, I went to the Technology Development Bureau to inquire about the detailed process. The on-site video footage was feedback from the surveillance lines."
After Kiyohara Tsumugiya finished speaking, he asked, somewhat confused: "Boss, is there anything wrong?"
"No."
Ishikawa smiled upon hearing this: "Just curious." With that, he casually asked: "You just said the actual person in charge of the Image Hall is Central 46?"
"No, it's not."
Nagano Kasyuu seemed to have found an opportunity to show off and jumped in, saying: "The Image Hall is managed by the Tsunayashiro Family, one of the Four Great Noble Clans, who are responsible for managing the Great Spirit Book Corridor and know all the history and information of the Soul Society. When I was researching the Image Hall's surveillance lines, I bought research materials from the Tsunayashiro branch family."
"Four Great Noble Clans…"
A smile appeared on Ishikawa's face, and he then said: "That truly is a expert."
Although he showed nothing on his face, Ishikawa's heart was not as calm as his expression when he spoke those words.
High status, enough to influence the Central 46, capable of guiding the Golden Seal Association, and…
Ishikawa looked at the screen in front of Nagano Kasyuu.
They can also monitor the Human World and Soul Society at any time, and even parts of Hueco Mundo.
This so-called Tsunayashiro Family was completely consistent with Ishikawa's previous conjectures.
When he accepted the commission, Ishikawa had his doubts about the information provided by the Technology Development Bureau, but he didn't think much of it... because although that Director was a pervert, the Technology Development Bureau had always been diligent and had never provided false or uncertain information.
But…
What if the information they received from the beginning was wrong?
According to Kiyohara Tsumugiya, the Supervisory Team could only view the allowed surveillance lines under the restrictions of the Technology Development Bureau.
By the same logic, the reliability of the surveillance lines received by the Technology Development Bureau would be greatly reduced, because no matter how close the collaboration between the Technology Development Bureau and the Image Hall was, they were not the actual persons in charge. The images they received were very likely to have been processed or deliberately shown to them.
However, with too little information, it was impossible to deduce that the person who led him to Hueco Mundo this time was the Tsunayashiro Family.
Moreover, Ishikawa was certain that he had no contact with the Tsunayashiro Family, and there was absolutely no information about the Tsunayashiro Family in his memory.
Of course, although his speculation was a bit far-fetched, necessary precautions and investigations could not be neglected, and they had to be sufficiently covert.
After all…
None of the Four Great Noble Clans, or rather, the Five Great Noble Families, were easy to provoke. Unless absolutely necessary, Ishikawa did not want to incur the hostility of the Tsunayashiro Family.
"Kasyuu-nee, can you bring up the image for Supervisor number 432?"
"432?"
Nagano Kasyuu was slightly startled: "Ah, that Quincy who always wants to cooperate with the Shinigami? Just a moment."
Just then, the conversation between Ukitake Hiro and Nagano Kasyuu caught Ishikawa's attention.
Ishikawa instinctively looked towards the large screen, only to see an image appear on it.
In the image, an elderly man stood before a soul, holding a bow and arrow made of Reishi, and directly pierced the head of a small Hollow with a Reishi arrow.
"It's this guy again. I told him not to eliminate Hollows," Kiyohara Tsumugiya said with some dissatisfaction from the side.
"It looks like he's trying to protect that 'plus'."
"What should we do? Should we send the data to the Technology Development Bureau?"
"The Technology Development Bureau doesn't need us to provide information."
Kiyohara Tsumugiya casually replied, then continued: "Notify the Shinigami stationed in the Human World and warn him again to not exterminate Hollows when he encounters them, but to let us Shinigami purify them."
"Yes."
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