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Karakura Town, Sannomiya District.
The front of Urahara Shop was as deserted as ever, making Ishikawa doubt if the shop actually had any income.
"Welcome…ugh, it's you again."
Shinta looked at Ishikawa, who was walking in from outside, and said with a look of disdain, "The streaking adult."
"…" Ishikawa's face darkened.
Indeed, bratty kids were truly annoying.
"Duan…Ishikawa-san…the…the shopkeeper is waiting for you inside."
A timid, cowering voice came, and Ishikawa's originally darkened face instantly cleared, turning cloudy, revealing an incomparably amiable smile: "Yachiru, long time no see. Has this brat taken advantage of you recently? If he has, tell me, and I'll teach him a lesson for you."
With that, he took out a bag of candy from his pocket, stuffed it into Yachiru's hand, and said, "This is candy I specially had someone buy for you from Seireitei's Nobility Street. We have a child about your age…uh, roughly similar, named Yachiru, who loves this flavor of candy the most."
Yachiru subconsciously tried to push it away, but Ishikawa's extremely affable smile made her already rosy little face turn even redder. She said in a voice as soft as a mosquito's hum, "Tha…thank you, Ishikawa-san."
"Don't call me San, just call me Ishikawa-nii."
Ishikawa bent down and rubbed Yachiru's head. Shinta, seeing this from the side, looked even more displeased.
"Ishikawa, you're really hard to get a hold of," Urahara Kisuke, who was sitting inside the inner room, said as Ishikawa stepped in.
Ishikawa didn't speak. He first surveyed the room, then asked, "Is Yoruichi-sama not here?"
"As for Yoruichi-san…"
Urahara Kisuke paused, then shook his head and said, "I don't know where she went either… After all, Yoruichi-san doesn't like staying in one place. If you're looking for her for something, you might have to wait a while. Usually, when she goes out to play, she only comes back once every three to five years at the shortest, or several decades at the longest. Even I find it very difficult to contact her."
Go out to play for three to five years? Several decades?
Ishikawa felt a bit speechless. It seemed he wouldn't have a chance to befriend her this time either.
However, Ishikawa wasn't too disappointed. Anyway, he didn't know how to improve Yoruichi's favorability towards him.
Not to mention Yoruichi, whom he had only met a few times, even after spending so many years with Soi Fon, Soi Fon's favorability towards him hadn't reached 10 points. He figured Yoruichi's favorability shouldn't be that easy to raise either.
Without pressing further, Ishikawa sat cross-legged opposite Urahara Kisuke, and asked with a puzzled expression, "Tell me, why did you call me here?"
"Hehe, don't be so anxious."
Urahara Kisuke smiled, picked up the teapot, poured Ishikawa a cup of tea, and continued, "It's been a long time since we last met, and I've really missed Ishikawa-san. Ever since I sent the invitation three months ago, I've been preparing for your arrival, and it ended up taking three months to prepare."
"Do you think Senkaimon belongs to my family?"
Ishikawa said unhappily, "Several noble young masters and ladies have had incidents in the Human World one after another. Now, any noble member who dares to come to the Human World is already considered extremely bold." With that, Ishikawa paused, and continued, "If you called me here just to say these useless things, then I'll go take care of the Golden Seal Association's commission."
As Urahara Kisuke said, he had sent him the invitation three months ago.
However, to go from Soul Society to the Human World, one could only pass through the Senkaimon. The only way for Ishikawa to legitimately use the Senkaimon was through a commission from the Golden Seal Association to the Human World.
Although Ishikawa had gained a certain status within Seireitei, these statuses were merely honorary, without any corresponding rights or treatment. Asking to borrow the Senkaimon was absolutely impossible, and might even lead to him being summoned to the Central 46 for questioning.
Although…
If Ishikawa wanted to come to the Human World, it wasn't as if there were no other ways.
But Ishikawa didn't want to reveal his trump card in front of Urahara Kisuke.
Moreover, the Technology Development Bureau placed extreme importance on the spatial stability of Soul Society. A slight mistake could lead to them noticing something amiss, so it was better to be cautious.
"Ishikawa, it's not easy for you either."
Urahara Kisuke first joked, then changed the subject: "As for inviting you here this time, on one hand, it's because the blood I had of yours has been completely used up, and I hope Ishikawa can provide me with some more; and on the other hand, it's because…a friend of mine wants to express their sincere gratitude to you!"
Urahara Kisuke's friend?
Ishikawa was startled at first, then immediately realized.
The only person who could be called a friend by Urahara Kisuke and would thank him was that person.
That being said, Ishikawa's face appropriately showed confusion: "Who is this friend you speak of?"
Urahara Kisuke smiled at the question and didn't answer. Instead, he took out a token from a drawer behind him and handed it to Ishikawa: "This is a gift my friend asked me to give you, but my friend said it's best not to display this token in front of anyone outside of the Shiba Main Family."
"Actually, my friend really wanted to express their gratitude to you in person, but they feel extremely ashamed towards the Shiba Main Family, so after some hesitation, they chose to have me convey it instead. Please don't take offense."
Ishikawa subconsciously took the token. When he saw the design of the token, a strange glint flashed in his eyes.
The token was about the same size as Ishikawa's special pass. On its surface were two ancient characters, and below the characters was an engraved pattern. He saw this pattern almost every day on Ganju, and it was precisely the Shiba Main Family's…
—The Collapsing Whirlpool of the Crashing Heaven Crest!
And those two ancient characters, Ishikawa had also seen in the Shiba Main Family's library. The meaning conveyed by the two characters was 'Shiba'.
"What is this?"
Ishikawa frowned slightly and asked with some confusion.
"The Family Head Token of the Shiba Branch Family."
Urahara Kisuke said, "Of course, for you, who Kukaku-san considers family, whether you have this token or not is irrelevant; but this token can grant you free access to the secret vault of the Shiba Branch Family residence. According to my friend, the books, records, and some other items inside might be able to provide you with some help."
Shiba Branch Family?
Upon hearing this, Ishikawa immediately lost interest.
Because Kukaku-ane had already given him free access to the Shiba Main Family's library, and allowed him to learn the Kido and Spiritual Crests he could cultivate from it. Ishikawa didn't think the Branch Family's collection of books would be as extensive as the Main Family's.
"Ishikawa, you seem to have misunderstood something."
As if seeing through Ishikawa's thoughts, Urahara Kisuke suddenly smiled and said, "Do you know why the Shiba Main Family was stripped of its status as one of the Five Great Noble Families?"
"Hmm?"
Ishikawa was stunned upon hearing this: "Didn't the Shiba Main Family voluntarily give it up and move out of Seireitei?"
"Yes, but also no."
Urahara Kisuke shook his head: "The Main Family, where Kukaku-san resides, did not move out of Seireitei after being stripped of their Five Great Noble Families status. Rather, they had already settled in Rukongai a very, very long time ago."
"So, in many people's eyes, the Shiba Main Family was merely one of the Five Great Noble Families in name, practically no different from lower-ranking nobles or Rukongai commoners; and the Shiba Main Family frankly accepted this, completely abandoning everything that the Five Great Founding Families should have enjoyed. As for why they did this, you'll need to investigate it yourself."
"I imagine Kukaku-san probably doesn't know much either. After all, when they moved to Rukongai, the ancestors of the Shiba Main Family seemed to want to forget their status and history together, leaving many related records in the Shiba residence in Seireitei."
Urahara Kisuke glanced at Ishikawa and slowly said, "And the Shiba residence in Seireitei has always been inhabited by the Branch Family. The actual status and power of the Five Great Noble Families were also enjoyed by the Branch Family and were not stripped away with the departure of the Main Family."
Hearing this, Ishikawa vaguely understood Urahara Kisuke's meaning.
"That's right, compared to the Main Family residence, which often moved, the Branch Family residence is where the Shiba Family ancestors first lived, and it is also where the entire history of the Shiba Family is truly preserved."
Urahara Kisuke paused, and continued, "Moreover, the status of the Five Great Noble Families has actually only been stripped for 12 years; which means that 12 years ago, even though the Shiba Main Family had long left Seireitei, the Shiba Family still held the status of one of the Five Great Noble Families."
"It wasn't until 12 years ago, when the head of the Shiba Branch Family went missing in the Human World, that the Central 46 used 'the Shiba Family should bear responsibility for this' as a reason to completely strip the Shiba Family of its noble status."
"More strictly speaking…"
"As early as when the Main Family abandoned their status in Seireitei, the Shiba Branch Family, which held the status of one of the Five Great Noble Families, had always been cold-shouldered within Seireitei, and was ostracized and suppressed by the other Four Great Noble Clans, constantly having its power weakened."
At this point, Urahara Kisuke chuckled, a glint of an unknown emotion flashing in his eyes: "If the Main Family hadn't left, or if the Branch Family hadn't declined due to the disappearance of their Family Head, the status of the Five Great Noble Families would absolutely not have been stripped; even if only the Branch Family remained, the Central 46 would not have been able to strip the Five Great Noble Families of their noble status."
"The reason is simple…"
"As long as the Five Great Noble Families gather and receive the Soul King's official permission, the Five Great Noble Families will wield influence comparable to the Soul King, becoming the absolute dominators of Soul Society; perhaps it was precisely to prevent this situation from happening that the Central 46 used 'the disappearance of the Branch Family Head' as a reason to turn the Five Great Noble Families into the Four Great Noble Clans."
Ishikawa did not interrupt, but listened intently as Urahara Kisuke recounted the history of the Shiba Family.
Kukaku-ane had never spoken about the history of the Shiba Main Family. Because neither Kukaku-ane nor Ganju-nii considered themselves nobles, and they had no interest whatsoever in returning to their former noble life.
"Tsk—"
Ishikawa clicked his tongue: "Those bigwigs in the Central 46 are really easy to understand." With that, he tossed the token in his hand and smiled, "So, this token I'm holding actually represents the status of one of the Five Great Noble Families, huh?"
"You could understand it that way."
Urahara Kisuke nodded, then chuckled strangely and said, "Although, according to my friend, this is just trash discarded by the Shiba Main Family, which the Branch Family picked up and cherished as a treasure, passing it down."
"Hehe, your friend really gave me a big gift. Isn't he afraid I'll do something bad with this token?"
"I asked my friend the same question."
Urahara Kisuke smiled at the question: "According to him, the meaning represented by this token has long disappeared. Even if it were given to Kukaku, it would just be treated like trash. Its current purpose is merely a key. If it can provide you with some help, it's considered making good use of waste. If it's useless, just destroy it."
"…"
Ishikawa's mouth twitched slightly. Are the Shiba Main Family members all this carefree?
However…
If he thought about it carefully, given Kukaku-ane's personality, she indeed wouldn't care about this thing.
After a moment of contemplation, Ishikawa finally put the token in his pocket. If Kukaku-ane was interested in the history of the Shiba Main Family, Ishikawa might explore it, but if Kukaku-ane wasn't interested in the history, Ishikawa likewise had no interest whatsoever.
However, Ishikawa was very interested in the Shiba Main Family's original Spiritual Crests, which was the living sacrifice technique of 'replacing something with oneself'.
Of course…
He didn't want to imitate the Shiba Main Family ancestor and turn himself into a living sacrifice to replace something, but rather he wanted to see if he could gain some inspiration from the Shiba Main Family ancestor's research.
As one of the Five Great Noble Families' ancestors who lived in the same era as the Soul King, none of them were simple individuals.
Although Ishikawa's Spiritual Crests had already deviated from the Shiba Main Family's system with the help of the system.
The Development Spiritual Mark still subtly bore the imprint of the Shiba Main Family's Spiritual Crests, but after the Hollow Mark was born, Ishikawa's knowledge of Spiritual Crests had actually become independent of the Shiba Main Family's inherited Spiritual Crests.
However, as the original Spiritual Crests, they were still very valuable to Ishikawa.
Moreover, within the Shiba residence where the Shiba Main Family ancestor once lived, there might also be other things that could help him.
However…
Ishikawa frowned slightly, wondering how to get in was a problem.
Although he had the key, the residences of the Five Great Noble Families were all located in the center of Nobility Street. Sneaking in would clearly not be possible by merely concealing one's Reishi.
Most importantly, Ishikawa was also unsure whether the Shiba residence was under the control of the Central 46.
After some thought, Ishikawa asked, "Are the members of the Shiba Branch Family still living there?"
Urahara Kisuke shook his head: "After being stripped of their Five Great Noble Families status, the Shiba Branch Family, which had always been pressured, has become a mere shell. The remaining members are scattered throughout Seireitei, and some have simply moved to Rukongai, just like the Main Family."
"If it weren't for its symbolism, the Shiba residence might have been ordered to be demolished by the Central 46 long ago."
Ishikawa nodded, not continuing the conversation on this topic.
Anyway, there would always be an opportunity to enter later. Under circumstances where his own safety could not be guaranteed, Ishikawa did not want to take risks for "things that were uncertain whether they could help him."
After conversing with Urahara Kisuke for a while, Ishikawa exchanged some blood and Reishi samples for some items from Urahara Kisuke, then left Urahara Shop and began searching for the noble young masters who had come to the Human World.
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