South Rukongai District 1—Iba Dōjō.
As the first step in the Iba family dojo's expansion outward, Iba Tetsuzaemon would come here to oversee things whenever he had the time.
Naturally, as Iba Tetsuzaemon's sparring partner, Madarame Ikkaku of the Eleventh Division was practically a long-term squatter in this dojo. And by extension, both of their divisions—along with some familiar Shinigami from other divisions—often treated this place as their off-duty training ground.
For Iba Tetsuzaemon, that was a good thing. So even though Madarame Ikkaku's requests to spar were a bit too frequent, Tetsuzaemon accepted them with unusual patience.
But recently, Iba Tetsuzaemon noticed something else.
Outside his dojo, there was always a Rukongai civilian hiding in a corner, peeking in.
That civilian had a surprisingly strong reiatsu reaction, but it was undeveloped and untrained—so he only leaked reiatsu by instinct, unable to actually use it effectively.
Tetsuzaemon had seen dozens—if not hundreds—of Rukongai civilians like that. Raw talent alone didn't mean much.
Still, when he realized this guy's obsession with Shinigami was far beyond normal, Tetsuzaemon couldn't help becoming a little interested.
"If you want to watch and learn so badly… why don't you come inside?"
Iba Tetsuzaemon quietly walked up behind the civilian who was staring so intently at the Shinigami sparring inside, and asked in a low voice.
"Who are you?!"
To Tetsuzaemon's surprise, the civilian's first reaction was to whip around and slash at him with a short knife that clearly had chips in the blade.
The weapon was too short. Tetsuzaemon simply shifted back half a step and avoided the strike.
"That question makes me wonder if I've got the wrong person… Don't tell me you've been peeking here for ages and you still don't know who I am?
I'm the owner of this dojo—Iba Tetsuzaemon!"
Arms crossed over his chest, chin lifted, Tetsuzaemon spoke with pride.
"Y-you're the owner of this dojo???"
…Alright.
Hearing that answer and seeing the guy's stunned face, Tetsuzaemon believed it.
This civilian genuinely didn't recognize him.
Then what exactly had he been watching all this time?
Surely not just Shinigami fighting… right?
"What, you don't believe me?" Tetsuzaemon pressed.
"No! I believe you! My name is Abarai Renji, Iba-sama—please accept me! Let me become part of your dojo!
I'll scrub floors, pour water—anything you want!"
When Tetsuzaemon was still drafting the speech in his head where he'd properly brag about himself, Abarai Renji's speed of "sliding into a kneel" exceeded all expectations.
"…You really want to join my dojo that badly?"
Tetsuzaemon looked down at Renji kneeling in front of him, an unusual glint appearing in his eyes.
Because in Renji's eyes, there was a light Tetsuzaemon knew all too well—the same light he'd once had after his mother, Iba Chikane, died.
Some things… you have to do.
"Yes, Iba-sama!
I want to join your dojo—I want to become a Shinigami!"
Renji shouted his wish out loud.
He came from the worst parts of South Rukongai. He'd watched his old companions die one by one at the hands of monsters. The helplessness he'd felt back then was exactly why he now craved becoming a Shinigami.
Especially now—Rukia had been taken into Seireitei by Shinigami. And yesterday, for some reason, she hadn't shown up for their meeting.
That only made Renji's desire burn hotter: to become a Shinigami and enter Seireitei himself.
No matter what he had to sacrifice on that path—he wouldn't hesitate.
Renji's eyes moved Iba Tetsuzaemon.
As a mere seated officer of the Third Division, Tetsuzaemon didn't have the authority to make Renji a Shinigami directly… but he knew someone who definitely could.
"So you want me to help him enter the Shin'ō Academy?"
Ayasegawa Yumichika—dressed in a soft, elegant red kimono—sat on a wooden beam at the edge of the dojo, looking down at Renji as he spoke.
"The only people I can think of besides me would be Ise Nanao. But with Ise Nanao's personality, she won't bend the rules for him.
At this point in time, getting a Rukongai civilian placed into the Shin'ō Academy without a taichō or fukutaichō-level recommendation is basically impossible.
And you, Yumichika, are close with your division's fukutaichō. If you ask that Kusajishi fukutaichō to smooth things over, it'll probably work."
Tetsuzaemon stood to the side, scratching his cheek in embarrassment.
At that moment, a shiny bald head suddenly popped into the conversation.
"Isn't that way too complicated?
If he wants to be a Shinigami that badly, why not just have him report to the Eleventh Division?
Doesn't our taichō like people like that?
Besides, I remember you and me didn't even go to the Shin'ō Academy. We just joined the Eleventh Division directly, didn't we?"
Hearing that, Yumichika couldn't help cutting off his friend, Madarame Ikkaku.
"Ikkaku, you're obviously remembering wrong. We just didn't graduate normally.
Back then, we entered the Shin'ō Academy because we wanted to join the Fourth Division. But later, when that person went to the Eleventh Division, we ran out of the Academy and joined the Eleventh Division instead.
Still, you're not wrong about one thing—if he wants to join the Eleventh Division, he doesn't need Shin'ō Academy credentials. As long as he can fight, that's enough."
"I can fight!
I absolutely can fight!"
Hearing there was a way to become a Shinigami without entering the Shin'ō Academy, Renji immediately pushed himself even harder.
But before that enthusiasm could even settle in their minds, Iba Tetsuzaemon, Madarame Ikkaku, and Ayasegawa Yumichika all turned their heads in the same direction—almost simultaneously.
As seated officers, and having undergone special training under Higashino Shuuichi, the three of them had spiritual perception far sharper than ordinary Shinigami.
So the moment a faint, muddy reiatsu appeared in that direction, they sensed it.
They exchanged a quick look—no words needed. By instinct, they understood each other.
Multiple Shinigami were fighting nearby.
Normally, that would be the Tenth Division's responsibility, but since it was happening right near them—and they had already sensed it—there was no way Ikkaku and Yumichika would just ignore it.
So in Renji's eyes, Ikkaku vanished first, leaving only an afterimage behind.
A three-man formation.
This was one of the "legacies" Higashino Shuuichi had left to Yumichika and the Hirugetsu Class:
When facing sudden incidents or unknown enemies, one person draws attention, one circles and looks for an opening to strike, and one hides in the shadows—acting as the brain, directing the fight, and waiting for the best moment.
In the Human World, without supernatural powers, a formation like that might get mocked.
But in Soul Society—where bizarre, hard-to-read abilities could pop up at any moment—it maximized their odds of victory.
And in this trio, the one hiding in the shadows as the "brain" could only be Yumichika.
Ikkaku was impulsive by nature, so letting him take point and run interference was an obvious choice.
The only thing that gave Yumichika a headache was the fact that Renji insisted on following them.
Yumichika refused, and Renji—driven by instinct—forced out a portion of his reiatsu and followed anyway.
And it turned out Renji's decision was absolutely correct.
Because at the destination…
He saw the person he'd been thinking about nonstop.
"Rukia!"
Renji's shout was ragged, almost tearing out of his throat.
Because in the distance, Rukia was covered in blood. A sharp bayonet had been driven straight through one of her arms, pinning her to a roadside signpost, leaving her completely unable to move.
If not for a Shinigami in an orange skintight outfit, face covered with a black cloth—only a pair of golden-yellow eyes visible—standing protectively in front of Rukia…
And even freeing one hand to provide her with healing…
Rukia would already be dead.
"You keep saying you want to 'humiliate' her, but you don't actually have that kind of intent at all… so can I assume everything you said was just a clumsy excuse?"
The golden-eyed Shinigami pressed a slender leg against the chest of a nobleman, her voice carrying clear anger.
"Heh…"
Yet the nobleman under her foot looked like he'd known this outcome from the start.
Even though every Shinigami he'd brought had already been dropped in a single move by the golden-eyed Shinigami, and even though he was truly at the end of the line—
He still smiled.
It wasn't arrogance.
It was relief.
And then—
The golden-eyed Shinigami's pupils shrank violently.
Because inside that nobleman's body, dozens of ultra-high reiatsu reactions erupted at once.
"This is… a Nikuramamaru?!" (Flesh Burst Bomb)
Farther away, standing within a barrier he himself had set up, Higashino Shuuichi narrowed his eyes as he watched.
Because this should've been one of Kurotsuchi Mayuri's research成果 that hadn't been publicly revealed yet.
Its essence was simple: inspired by bombs in the Human World, Mayuri had compressed and reprocessed reiatsu, then used complex devices to trigger an internal detonation inside a Shinigami's body—a special kind of "bomb."
It produced an explosive effect like Human World explosives.
Even weak Shinigami, if their bodies detonated with this Nikuramamaru inside them, could cause damage far beyond what they could ever do while alive.
BOOOOM!!!
A huge mushroom cloud bloomed in the sky.
The earth itself seemed to roar.
"From the beginning… Tokinada Tsunayashiro never intended to let any of you return alive."
The view ahead was drowned in choking dust.
But Higashino Shuuichi didn't need to see the exact result to guess part of the truth.
This was absolutely Tokinada Tsunayashiro's style.
Either he didn't do it—
Or if he did, he went big. Always.
Higashino Shuuichi hadn't sensed any reiatsu-concealment barrier around Rukia's location. And it wasn't that Tokinada Tsunayashiro couldn't get his hands on such controlled goods.
If Tokinada could even obtain Nikuramamaru—something Mayuri hadn't publicly released yet—how could he possibly fail to obtain a mere reiatsu concealment barrier?
Even Higashino Shuuichi himself had only learned recently—through Yushima Ōko—that Mayuri had already developed this product. Otherwise, during his fight with Aizen, he would've stuffed a few of them into his own body too.
With his physical durability, a close-range detonation like that… Higashino Shuuichi firmly believed even Aizen would have had to "drink a few bowls" of suffering.
So this was intentional.
Tokinada Tsunayashiro wanted this incident to become known to all of Soul Society.
Especially to the Kuchiki clan.
If anything, Tokinada not only carried out what Higashino Shuuichi requested—he went beyond it.
With a commotion like this, Higashino Shuuichi almost found himself worrying for Tokinada: did he get so focused on causing trouble that he forgot how to cleanly remove himself from it?
Still—Higashino Shuuichi could only sigh and call Tokinada "unlucky."
Because today's "Rukia" was not going to be easy to kill at all.
The golden-eyed Shinigami was, unfortunately for Tokinada…
Someone Higashino Shuuichi knew.
Her name was Shihōin Yoruichi—a traitor to Soul Society, a former taichō of the Second Division, and the former head of one of the Five Great Noble Houses: the Shihōin clan.
And she had a title:
The Flash Goddess.
"Am I… dead?"
Inside the thick dust, Rukia tried to open her eyes with difficulty. Sand filled her mouth, making her words slur. Her eardrums were ringing nonstop—the blast had nearly ruptured them.
"Of course you're not dead. I'm here—how could I let an attack of that level hurt you?"
A slightly hoarse voice came from above her.
Only then did Rukia realize she was being carried. The sharp bayonet was gone—removed at some point without her even noticing.
And the wounds that had been bleeding so badly… seemed to have stopped worsening.
"Who… are you?
Were you sent by nee-sama to protect me?
Or… my brother-in-law?"
Other than that explanation, Rukia couldn't think of any Shinigami she had ties to.
If she forced herself, she had once had a pleasant conversation late one night with a taichō named Higashino Shuuichi…
But she was certain the Shinigami who saved her—and who was holding her now—was not Higashino Shuuichi.
Because the voice was unmistakably female.
"Your brother-in-law, Kuchiki Byakuya?
If you really want to trace it back… you can think of it that way. At the very least, right now, I'm probably not his enemy.
And it seems we share a common enemy at the moment.
And the enemy of my enemy… is my friend. Right?"
Yoruichi smiled as she spoke.
Then she turned her head toward another direction.
That explosion hadn't only nearly killed Rukia.
It also seemed to have stirred something terrifying—an unfamiliar yet oddly familiar presence, and a monstrous reiatsu.
Yoruichi knew she couldn't stay here long.
But the girl in her arms—this "Rukia"…
Yoruichi's head started to ache.
She had only taken a slight interest because the girl mentioned the Kuchiki clan. Then she noticed the girl was being targeted by several Shinigami, and she decided to quietly watch from the side.
But now that things had escalated to this point, she clearly couldn't just return Rukia and walk away.
Otherwise her identity would likely be exposed—and she hadn't even completed the mission that brought her back to Soul Society yet.
So, using the dust as cover, Yoruichi took Rukia and left the scene.
Watching all of it, Higashino Shuuichi could have stepped out and stopped her—but after thinking it over again and again, he chose not to.
After all, there would be plenty of chances to kill Rukia and provoke the Kuchiki clan—especially Kuchiki Kōga. There was no need to force it right now.
And this was Tokinada Tsunayashiro's job. Higashino Shuuichi didn't feel like lowering himself to cleaning up Tokinada's mess.
More importantly, if Higashino Shuuichi showed himself, it would be the same as admitting to Yoruichi that he was involved in this plan to kill Rukia. With Yoruichi's brain—or rather, with the brain of the man behind her, Urahara Kisuke—it wouldn't be hard to piece together Higashino Shuuichi's true objective from other traces.
At that point, Higashino Shuuichi risked having every disguise stripped away.
And the key issue was this:
Higashino Shuuichi couldn't understand why Shihōin Yoruichi would return to Soul Society at this exact time.
Before this, there hadn't been even the slightest sign.
So what about the others who came with her?
What about Urahara Kisuke and the rest?
Had they returned from the West Administration as well?
Choosing this unbelievably delicate moment?
He wasn't overthinking it.
For Higashino Shuuichi, Urahara Kisuke was a black box.
Higashino Shuuichi simply had no way of knowing what Urahara had been doing in the West Administration. Urahara even guarded himself against Kisaragi Shūsuke and Kabuma Sayako when Higashino Shuuichi wasn't around.
To Higashino Shuuichi now…
Soul Society was starting to feel more and more like the eye of a whirlpool.
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