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Northern Rukongai, District 3.
Ishikawa sped towards the Black Ridge Gate.
His original plan was to use the transfer point at the Everything Store in District 38 North to return to the west, but as he was about to go to District 38, Ishikawa suddenly remembered something and decided to make a temporary trip to Seireitei.
Tonight…
Kotetsu Isane was on duty at the Comprehensive Relief Station.
More than half a year had passed since his last trip to the Human World. During this half-year, Ishikawa's footsteps had covered all areas of Rukongai—east, south, west, and north—except for the higher-numbered districts.
Unbeknownst to him, the Everything Store's reputation had already spread throughout the entire Soul Society.
During this time, Ishikawa did not 'neglect' Seireitei. In Squads with female Squad Members, Ishikawa could often be seen frequenting them.
Sometimes under the guise of visiting friends, sometimes under the guise of investigation…
In short, he would enter the various Squad barracks by any means necessary, then befriend the female Squad Members.
In addition to his overt actions, Ishikawa wrote several more books, some about Zanjutsu, some about Hakuda, and some about Kaido… Anyway, anything that could potentially increase others' favorability towards him, Ishikawa would try it.
Although the experience gained was not high, it accumulated into a considerable income.
Current Experience: 164860.
The experience is still too little.
Nearly a year and a half had passed since his return from Hueco Mundo.
In this year and a half, he had only gained less than 270,000 experience points, of which nearly 90,000 were provided by Kurosaki Masaki. This meant that… in a year and a half, the entire Soul Society had only provided him with about 180,000 experience points.
If this were when Ishikawa first arrived in Soul Society, it would undoubtedly be a huge income.
But for the current Ishikawa, these experience points, while not small, were not that much either.
Moreover, the experience points he could gain each year were gradually decreasing. At least 140,000 of the 180,000 experience points were obtained in the first year, and only a little over 40,000 were obtained in the last half-year.
As Ishikawa walked, he opened his favorability interface.
On the interface, favorability was listed from high to low, gradually descending.
At the very front were those who held maxed-out friendship favorability towards Ishikawa. Aside from Kotetsu Isane reaching the max favorability of 60 points, there was almost no significant change.
However, in the 40-50 favorability range further down, there was a dense, large cluster. The vast majority of these were residents of Rukongai, with only a small portion being female Squad Members of the Gotei 13.
There were even more people below 40. The favorability of most female Vice-Captains towards Ishikawa remained below 40 points.
Ishikawa scrolled through, comparing it with the roster he had memorized, trying to find out which female Squad Members had not yet appeared on the system interface.
The 'Seireitei Communication' issued by the Ninth Division included a 'Gotei 13 Registered Members List' twice a year, which listed the names of all Squad Members in order from First to Twentieth Seat, with ordinary Squad Members arranged in fifty-sound order.
Ishikawa had firmly memorized every roster that was provided.
He had always thought that the proportion of females in the Gotei 13 was very large, but after a deeper understanding, he realized that there were simply too few female Squad Members in the Gotei 13.
Among the more than 6,000 Gotei 13 Squad Members, the number of female Shinigami was less than one-tenth.
And those who could become Seated Officers were even rarer.
But rare as they were…
Befriending so many female Shinigami and Rukongai residents at the same time had already made Ishikawa somewhat exhausted.
The low-end market is not feasible; I still need to go for the high-end market!
Shaking his head, Ishikawa added 104,860 experience points to his Reiatsu, leaving only 60,000 experience points for backup.
Reiatsu: Top-tier (310873 / 1000000)
Feeling the surge of Reiatsu within him, Ishikawa couldn't help but let out a comfortable sigh.
If he thought about it, his progress speed, although not comparable to those monsters born with Captain-level Reiatsu, was already many times faster than others.
He quietly felt it. Although he was still somewhat behind a century-old Captain like Soi Fon, in terms of Reiatsu intensity alone, his current Reiatsu already surpassed Tōshirō Hitsugaya, whom he had seen at the meeting. However, if they truly fought, Hitsugaya's Reiatsu would increase even more after his Bankai.
Coupled with the title of 'strongest ice-type Zanpakuto,' Ishikawa was unsure if he could defeat him.
To test his strength, the best test subject in Ishikawa's mind was Zaraki. A full-out fight with him would basically allow him to gauge his current level of strength.
In fact, he had fought Zaraki a few times during this period, but because the last time caused too much of a stir…
The Central 46 repeatedly sent messages to Ishikawa and Zaraki, roughly meaning to prohibit the two from fighting, and even if they did fight, they were absolutely forbidden from using their Zanpakuto, and even more forbidden from affecting the surrounding environment!
Zaraki didn't care at all, but Ishikawa couldn't ignore it.
After all, Commander Yamamoto had also had Soi Fon inform Ishikawa that if he caused too much trouble, his Zanpakuto would be sealed away.
So in several engagements, he always fought with a wooden sword. No matter what Zaraki used, he would use a wooden sword… The result was that his wooden sword would be shattered after a short while, and the shattered wooden sword meant the end of the fight, so Ishikawa would turn around and escape using Shunpo…
Each escape would basically be timed to the moment Zaraki just started to get excited.
The result was…
After a few fights, Zaraki now takes off his eye patch without a word as soon as he sees Ishikawa.
But there was nothing he could do; that scoundrel completely disregarded martial ethics.
Normally, if you see your opponent using a wooden sword, you should also cooperate by using a wooden sword, right?
But Zaraki just wouldn't use a wooden sword. He would constantly chase Ishikawa with a broken sword full of jagged teeth. Ishikawa was so fed up with being chased that he wanted to go to the Supervisory Team to retrieve his sword and hack that scoundrel to death!!
Speeding along, Ishikawa soon arrived in front of the Black Ridge Gate.
There were no guards stationed outside the gate, and Ishikawa was not surprised, because Jidanbō of the Byakudo Gate usually wouldn't foolishly stand in front of the Byakudo Gate either. They would only emerge from their residences to punish those who tried to break into Seireitei when the wall made of Sakki-seki fell.
Ishikawa did not stop, walking straight along the road.
As long as he carried a special Spirit Entry Permit, he could freely enter and exit the 'Soul Concealing Membrane' that enveloped Seireitei, so there was no need to report or wait for the gatekeepers to verify him.
However…
The moment Ishikawa's foot landed on the white-stone paved street of Seireitei, his face suddenly changed, and he quickly retreated.
Boom—!
Almost at the same time Ishikawa retreated, a massive gate crashed down from the void, stirring up a cloud of dust.
But the sudden change did not end there. Like dominoes, walls fell one after another with the gate.
Bang, bang, bang, bang…
A series of dull thuds. The Sakki-seki walls, which had not appeared for who knows how many years, fell down one after another at this very moment.
Behind Ishikawa, the residents of District 1 North all had their expressions change drastically.
In an instant, the previously bustling street became empty.
And within the walls of Seireitei, a sharp alarm sounded.
"Hahahahaha—"
A giant nearly ten meters tall appeared behind Ishikawa, a cruel sneer on his face: "It's been a long time since I encountered someone without a Spirit Entry Permit who still dared to try and enter Seireitei. Looks like I can finally stretch my muscles after a long time."
Ishikawa ignored him. Instead, he picked up the iron chain at his waist and pulled out a token from the pocket of his black work pants.
The token's appearance was almost identical to Ishikawa's special Spirit Entry Permit, and it also had the aura of Spiritual Crests within it, but…
This was not his special Spirit Entry Permit!
Ishikawa's face first darkened, then became grim.
To prevent the special Spirit Entry Permit from being lost, Ishikawa had Kukaku engrave many Spiritual Crests on the iron chain tied to his waist, including but not limited to tracking, firmness, and toughness; there were also Spiritual Crests that securely locked the iron chain to the special Spirit Entry Permit, making loss virtually impossible.
Although if one wanted to break it, they only needed to unlock the 'lock' between the iron chain and the special Spirit Entry Permit, only Shiba members could do this, because this type of Spiritual Crest required the Shiba bloodline to activate. Even Ishikawa himself could only choose to forcibly break it with Reiatsu.
But if he were to forcibly break it with Reiatsu, it would inevitably leave traces and be recorded.
Which means…
The person who could replace his Spirit Entry Permit must meet two conditions: they must be someone Ishikawa was completely unguarded against, and… they must be a member of the Shiba family.
Only two people met these two conditions!
Kukaku and Ganju.
Kukaku would never do such a thing, so it wasn't hard to guess who replaced his Spirit Entry Permit.
But…
Why would he take his Spirit Entry Permit?
"Kid, I'm talking to you, didn't you hear me?"
Did he want to see the scenery inside Seireitei?
Impossible.
Ganju's aversion to Shinigami had extended to the entire Seireitei; in his eyes, he almost viewed Seireitei as a garbage dump, so it was impossible for him to sneak into Seireitei for such a reason.
"You're looking for death—!"
So what was it for?
A dull roar came from behind him. Ishikawa's Reiatsu surged, and a visible shockwave spread out from him.
Bang—!
A collision sound followed. The huge shadow that enveloped Ishikawa grunted and flew backward, finally crashing onto the ground with a dull thud.
"Could it be…"
Ishikawa's expression changed.
Did Kukaku tell Ganju about Aaroniero?
Impossible!
Because Kukaku had said before that Ganju was impulsive, and it was best not to let him know about this, or he might do something foolish.
So Ishikawa had never told Ganju about his experiences in Hueco Mundo.
He hadn't told him, and Kukaku hadn't told him.
The remaining people…
Basically, only the Captains of the Gotei 13, whom Ganju would never interact with, knew the details.
No, wait~
Two more people knew!
Whether Ukitake went to talk to Kukaku, or he himself went to talk to Kukaku, Kin'en and Gin'en would always be serving outside the door, ready to enter the room immediately if needed.
The two of them naturally couldn't have told Ganju on their own, but private conversations could very likely have been overheard by Ganju; moreover, two days ago was the anniversary of Shiba Kaien's death, and Ishikawa also attended the memorial service, even drinking some wine with Kukaku after a long time.
Thinking of this, Ishikawa took out his Denreishinki and dialed a number.
"Hello."
Soon, Unagiya Oshiki's voice came through.
Ishikawa got straight to the point: "Is Ganju at the tavern?"
"I'll go check…"
After a period of silence, Unagiya Oshiki's voice finally came: "Uzuki said that after you teleported away this morning, Ganju said he had 'family matters to deal with' and then left the Everything Store."
Ishikawa hung up the Denreishinki upon hearing this, recalling what Ganju had said to him that morning.
(By the way, are you going to Seireitei today?)
Ishikawa's face showed a thoughtful expression.
If nothing unexpected happened, one of Kin'en or Gin'en should come to the Everything Store tonight to deliver a message.
Because Ganju couldn't possibly not know that doing this would cause him trouble; he wouldn't hide this from him, but would confess truthfully, as only with both of them cooperating would this matter not be exposed.
Not telling him immediately was probably because he was afraid he would stop him.
Although these were just Ishikawa's guesses, he had already aroused Seireitei's vigilance, and the top priority was to find Ganju and send him out of Seireitei before he was exposed.
Thinking of this, Ishikawa stood up and walked to the Black Ridge Gate.
This scene caused a hint of mockery to flash in the eyes of the Black Ridge Gate guard, Danzōmaru, who was lying behind Ishikawa.
Although he was lying on the ground, he wasn't actually injured; earlier, Ishikawa had merely used his Reiatsu to throw him back.
However…
The Reiatsu fluctuation at that instant made Danzōmaru struggle for a few seconds in his heart before choosing to close his eyes and feign death.
In Danzōmaru's perception, the Reiatsu that came at that instant was like a black cloud pressing down on a city, making his Spirit Body tremble, as if it would collapse under that Reiatsu in the next second.
Trying to stop someone with such terrifying Reiatsu was akin to seeking death!
But strong as he was, the person was an idiot, actually running here without any investigation.
The walls between Rukongai and Seireitei were all made of 'Sekkiseki' (Spirit-Suppressing Stone) which could block spiritual power, creating a spherical Soul-Sealing Barrier that completely enveloped Seireitei from the sky to the ground.
In other words…
To lift that incredibly huge gate, one could only use one's own physical strength.
In the entire Soul Society, only their four giant-like guards could lift that massive gate with pure physical strength.
He could already vaguely foresee the young man's drastic change in expression when he discovered his spiritual power being disintegrated.
However…
Just then, Ishikawa, who had walked to the Black Ridge Gate, directly bent down, inserted his right hand into the soil beneath the gate, and then lifted it up.
Buzz—!
The next second, that huge gate actually rose with a rumble, as if it were an automatic door.
And below, the slender figure stepped into Seireitei.
How is that possible!?
This scene made Danzōmaru, who had been watching Ishikawa, suddenly constrict his pupils.
One had to know that even he had to exert all his strength to barely lift that huge gate, but in the hands of this young man, the gate was as if made of foam, thrown up with a single lift of his hand…
That's right~
It was thrown, not lifted!
Boom—!
It wasn't until the sound of the Black Ridge Gate falling that Danzōmaru came back to his senses; if it weren't for the dust that was stirred up, he might have thought he was seeing an illusion.
At the same time, inside Seireitei.
Figures arrived through the air, but upon seeing Ishikawa, they all stopped.
"Captain Ishikawa."
The black-clad, masked Onmitsukidō and Patrol Corps members, mixed together, all spoke.
"What are you doing again, you bastard?"
Ōmaeda's incredibly annoyed voice came from behind the crowd.
Ishikawa showed a smile: "Sorry, I forgot to bring my Spirit Entry Permit and accidentally activated the wall. The alert status can be lifted; I will report this oversight to Captain Soi Fon later and accept punishment."
Although he wanted to find Ganju immediately, the most urgent task now was to lift Seireitei's alert status.
Because although holding a Spirit Entry Permit allowed free passage through the Soul-Sealing Barrier, the Spirit Entry Permit recorded Ishikawa's Reiatsu and identity information. Once checked, Ganju would be immediately exposed.
Ōmaeda was about to say something when a Patrol Corps member stepped forward and whispered: "Captain, the Supervisory Team sent word that they have confirmed there are no other intruders; it was just Captain Ishikawa accidentally triggering the Soul-Sealing Barrier because he didn't carry his Spirit Entry Permit. They have already transmitted this information to the Gotei 13 along with the Technology Development Bureau and have issued a request to lift the alert."
Ōmaeda nodded, then looked at Ishikawa and said unhappily: "Is there something wrong with your head?"
Ishikawa gave a forced smile, but in his heart, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Although it caused a great impact, he already had a Spirit Entry Permit, so entering Seireitei couldn't be called an invasion, and thus wouldn't cause too much trouble.
Provided that…
Ganju wasn't exposed.
"Also…"
The reporting Patrol Corps member handed the Denreishinki in his hand to Ishikawa and said: "Vice-Captain Kiyohara Tsumugiya of the Supervisory Team requests to speak with you."
"Thank you."
Ishikawa thanked him and took the Denreishinki.
But before he could speak, Kiyohara Tsumugiya's serious voice came from the other end: "Ishikawa-sama, your Spirit Entry Permit disappeared from the Golden Seal Association's station three hours ago, and the tracking mark on it was erased."
"Please retrieve your Spirit Entry Permit as soon as possible. There's a record at the Byakudo Gate of Shiba Ganju passing through with your Spirit Entry Permit. When the Sekkiseki wall fell just now, I personally deleted the Byakudo Gate's record."
"In addition, your Spirit Entry Permit was issued by the Onmitsukidō, and the tracking permission was not shared with the Technology Development Bureau, so it's temporarily safe; but the possibility of it being noticed is not non-existent. With the Technology Development Bureau's technology, restoring deleted records is not difficult."
"I see."
Ishikawa nodded, his face showing no change in expression as he said: "I'm sorry, it's all because of my carelessness that caused such a big trouble; please help me relay this to Captain Soi Fon, and I will go to the Second Division to apologize later!"
With that, Ishikawa hung up the Denreishinki and returned it to the Squad Member of the Patrol Corps.
"Disperse, disperse, everyone disperse."
Ōmaeda, after glancing at Ishikawa's waist, began to dismiss the crowd.
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