Chapter 5: Harmless Researcher
Su Xiao walked out of the open area, heading toward the direction of the Rukongai. He sat atop a civilian house in front of the open space, pulled out his tablet, and immersed himself in a game.
Ten minutes passed, twenty minutes, an hour. Su Xiao remained unflustered. Being unable to enter the Seireitei was frustrating, but getting anxious was useless; conserving his stamina was the better choice.
Just as Su Xiao had been sitting cross-legged on the civilian house for an hour and a half, the distant stone gate rose once more. Tōshirō Hitsugaya emerged from the stone gate, accompanied by a blonde woman.
The blonde woman was named Rangiku Matsumoto, the Vice-Captain of the 10th Division and Hitsugaya’s assistant. Her voluptuous figure and bold attire had captivated countless male Shinigami.
“That’s the person?”
Rangiku Matsumoto narrowed her eyes. It seemed that any Shinigami with decent strength had this reaction upon first seeing Su Xiao.
“That’s right, it’s him. You sensed it, didn’t you?”
Hitsugaya seemed to be hesitating about something.
“Of course. Even from this distance, I can feel it—that’s no good person. You’re not planning to…”
Rangiku Matsumoto’s assessment of Su Xiao was simple: he wasn’t a good man.
“That’s right. I showed that potion to Unohana Retsu, and she said it’s something remarkable. Mixing semi-solid Reishi into a medicinal solution—even she can’t achieve that.”
“But…”
“No buts. Let’s get him into the Seireitei first, then consider the rest. How many of the Gotei 13’s Captains are good people? Someone like Mayuri Kurotsuchi was accepted by the Seireitei.”
Hitsugaya’s purpose in returning here was simple: to let Su Xiao enter the Seireitei. Even if Su Xiao couldn’t be used by the Shinigami, they couldn’t let him continue wandering in Soul Society, as that might bring unknown dangers.
“When you put it that way, it does make sense.”
Rangiku Matsumoto thought of the unsettling Mayuri Kurotsuchi and suddenly found Su Xiao well within her range of acceptance.
“Let’s go. You handle the negotiation.”
“Me?”
Rangiku Matsumoto pointed at herself.
“Of course.”
Hitsugaya and Rangiku Matsumoto walked toward Su Xiao, one after the other. Su Xiao put away his tablet and leaped down from the rooftop.
“It seems you knew I’d come back.”
Hitsugaya crossed his arms. The Shinigami’s attire was a black overcoat, while Captains wore a white haori over the black coat.
“Of course… not.”
Although Su Xiao wasn’t particularly skilled at negotiation, his 28-point Charm Attribute barely had some effect. The fact that they hadn’t attacked on sight showed just how reliable those 28 points of Charm were.
“As I said before, I wandered the Rukongai for many years. For someone without a goal, staying in one place isn’t strange. What, will the Seireitei accept a wandering soul like me?”
“That’s not something to decide hastily.”
Hitsugaya gestured for Rangiku Matsumoto to step forward and negotiate, but she just smiled without speaking. Noticing this, Hitsugaya turned and glared at her. Rangiku Matsumoto shrugged.
“If that potion was made by you, I can let you enter the Seireitei. But before that, I have a question you must answer.”
“Speak freely.”
“How many people did you kill… in your lifetime?”
Hitsugaya sensed Su Xiao’s bloodlust. However, this was the bloodlust Su Xiao had deliberately suppressed.
“I forgot.”
“…”
Hitsugaya’s expression darkened. Rangiku Matsumoto stepped forward and said, “If you don’t answer that question, you’ll have to keep wandering the Rukongai.”
“No need to ask.”
Hitsugaya raised his hand. He understood Su Xiao’s meaning—it wasn’t that Su Xiao had forgotten, but that there were too many to count.
Both sides fell into silence. After a long while, Hitsugaya broke it.
“Follow me.”
With that, Hitsugaya walked toward the stone gate, Rangiku Matsumoto close behind, and Su Xiao followed at a moderate distance.
In Su Xiao’s plan, he hadn’t intended to enter the Seireitei with Hitsugaya. But circumstances had developed to this point. Su Xiao was aware of his own strategic abilities. The fact that he had lured out Hitsugaya showed his plan wasn’t wasted, but compared to an old schemer like Qing Yan, there was still a gap.
After all, Qing Yan had managed to toy with over a thousand Contractors from the Sanctuary Paradise and Apocalypse Paradise. If Qing Yan were pitted against Aizen, setting aside combat power and only discussing schemes, it was hard to say who would win.
Su Xiao hadn’t reached the Fourth Rank through his strategic prowess alone. His overall strength surpassed Qing Yan’s—that was his advantage.
Su Xiao stepped through the stone gate. With a rumble, the Reishi stone gate closed. The moment it shut, the towering stone walls around them vanished. This was a Reishi mechanism; when an outsider approached, it triggered, causing the stone walls to descend and block the intruder.
The gatekeeper of the White Road Gate, Jidanbō, had already started snoring loudly. He possessed extremely sharp hearing and would immediately detect anyone approaching.
Passing through the open area, Su Xiao entered a compact cluster of buildings. The Reishi concentration here was noticeably higher.
This was the Seireitei. Its architectural style was similarly ancient, but clean. Walls lined both sides of the streets, creating a sense of enclosure even while walking, like strolling through a courtyard—a novel experience.
The streets of the Seireitei were a labyrinth. There were no vehicles, nor any means of transportation, so the streets didn’t need to be wide.
Shinigami occasionally passed by. Upon seeing the white-haired youth Hitsugaya, they all greeted him without exception. Hitsugaya nodded politely in response.
The power structure of the Seireitei was interesting and simple. The Gotei 13: the Captain of the 1st Division was the Commander-General, currently held by Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto. The other twelve divisions each had their own Captain and Vice-Captain. Overall, the 1st Division oversaw the other twelve.
Of course, above the Gotei 13 were the Royal Palace, the Zero Division, the Royal Family, and so on.
If Su Xiao didn’t get involved in the later plot events of Bleach, he wouldn’t need to concern himself with the Zero Division and the like. In the early stages, these individuals were unlikely to appear, or rather, they couldn’t appear easily unless something major happened in Soul Society—like Su Xiao detonating an Apollo at the center of the Seireitei…
That was obviously suicidal, and Su Xiao certainly wouldn’t do it. Or rather, before he truly infiltrated the Seireitei’s inner circles, he would sheathe his fangs and climb the ranks as a researcher. If things went smoothly, it wouldn’t be difficult.
When the time was right, Su Xiao would consider revealing his combat power. That was his plan.
Even someone as strong as Aizen had to disguise himself within the Seireitei. Su Xiao’s strength was inferior to Aizen’s, so he naturally wouldn’t go on a killing spree in the Seireitei. But Su Xiao wouldn’t stay docile forever either; he would wait for the right moment.
As Su Xiao was pondering these matters, Rangiku Matsumoto turned her head to look at him. She always felt Su Xiao wasn’t a good person. When he looked at her, she had a strange sensation, as if he might devour her at any moment.
Rangiku Matsumoto’s feeling wasn’t wrong. Su Xiao really could devour her—not in a physical sense, but by ‘consuming’ her energy.
Shinigami’s bodies were composed of Reishi. Their power system was Reiatsu; the stronger the Reiatsu, the more Reishi they could mobilize, and the stronger their combat ability.
Once Reishi formed a Shinigami’s body, it transformed from natural energy into life energy.
According to Su Xiao’s perception, the amount of bio-energy within a Shinigami that could be devoured wasn’t much—perhaps less than one percent of a Tailed Beast’s. But there was one thing a Tailed Beast couldn’t compare to: the purity of the life energy within a Shinigami was extremely high.
Half an hour after entering the Seireitei, Su Xiao discovered that not all Shinigami’s life energy was suitable for devouring. The life energy of ordinary Shinigami was very impure, while that of Vice-Captains or Captains was extremely pure.