Chapter 16: Extremely Awkward
On the western side of the Seireitei, in the Sixth Division garrison area.
A large group of Soul Reapers had sealed off the surrounding streets. While the Rukongai in the Soul Society was somewhat chaotic, the Seireitei maintained strict order, with few external invasions. But today, that peace was shattered.
The public assassination of a key researcher from the Fourth Division within the Sixth Division grounds was no longer just an assassination—it was a provocation against the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, a challenge to Captain-Commander Yamamoto Genryusai himself.
For this reason, a large number of Soul Reapers had gathered in the Sixth Division area, beginning a thorough search of the vicinity. Strangely enough, the Sixth Division Captain, Kuchiki Byakuya, had not appeared.
It wasn’t that Kuchiki Byakuya was timid or afraid of trouble, but rather that he had been busy with other matters recently. Given the relative peace in the Seireitei, his absence from the garrison was understandable and within his duties.
Regardless, Kuchiki Byakuya was bound to get a harsh scolding from Old Man Yamamoto Genryusai afterward. As for what Kuchiki Byakuya was busy with, he was investigating the trial results concerning Kuchiki Rukia.
Kuchiki Rukia was not just Kuchiki Byakuya’s adopted sister; what few knew was that she was actually his sister-in-law. The surname Kuchiki was not her original one.
Of course, the Soul Society had no term for "sister-in-law," but from a generational standpoint, that was the case. With his sister-in-law in trouble, Kuchiki Byakuya naturally wouldn’t sit idly by.
On a certain street in the Sixth Division garrison, Yamamoto Genryusai and Su Xiao stood facing each other, the atmosphere around them somewhat strange.
"Where is the culprit?"
Old Man Yamamoto Genryusai’s tone was relatively calm. After all, Su Xiao was the "victim." Regardless of how suspicious his origins and aura might be, his recent actions had benefited the Seireitei. Logically, since he had been attacked, Yamamoto Genryusai couldn’t interrogate him like a criminal.
"I don’t know. They fled after the assassination failed."
"Assassination failed..."
Old Man Yamamoto Genryusai’s eyes narrowed.
"That’s right. The culprit didn’t intend to kill me. They held back several times during the fight. Fortunately, you arrived in time. But earlier, I was pulled into a strange place—it seemed like it was no longer the Soul Society."
Su Xiao naturally wouldn’t say that he had driven back Death Omen. He was supposed to be a frail researcher, whose only means of defense were explosives. The fact that he was skilled at making explosives was well known to most captains.
"It’s good that you’re safe. As for the rest..."
Unohana Retsu spoke up, seemingly unwilling to dwell on how Su Xiao had repelled the enemy. Pressing further would turn into an interrogation. It would be ridiculous to interrogate one of their own before finding the culprit.
"She’ll come again."
Su Xiao suddenly interrupted Unohana Retsu. She turned her head to look at him, and the other two pairs of eyes did the same.
"Before I entered the Seireitei, I already had a grudge against her. Her name is Death Omen. As for how the enmity started... she really wants to get her hands on my potion-making techniques."
Su Xiao naturally wouldn’t pretend to know nothing—that would be too suspicious. In fact, the seemingly kind Unohana Retsu had set another small trap for him to fall into. He was already used to such daily traps.
"Is that so."
Old Man Yamamoto Genryusai turned and left, intending to leave the matter to Kuchiki Byakuya and Unohana Retsu. He had important matters to attend to.
"Explain the details."
Unohana Retsu’s attitude shifted slightly. Her repeated probing was essentially testing Su Xiao’s patience, so she decided not to continue.
"It went something like this..."
Su Xiao began fabricating his conflict with Death Omen. Given Death Omen’s escape abilities, Su Xiao didn’t think captain-level Soul Reapers could catch her. So, as long as it was reasonable, he could make up whatever he wanted—unless Death Omen was hypnotized by Aizen. As a rule-breaker familiar with the Soul Society world, that was unlikely.
All contractors knew that Aizen’s faction was the freest and most rewarding, yet no contractor dared to contact Aizen—it was far too dangerous.
It wasn’t that all contractors were in the living world. There were at least a hundred contractors in the Soul Society world, most of them in the living world. Soon, they would use their own methods to enter the Soul Society. Some of the stronger contractors were already in the Soul Society, and a few had even made contact with Unohana Retsu.
Su Xiao ignored such contractors, maintaining a "don’t bother me, I won’t bother you" relationship. In the early stages of a derivative world, contractors were relatively peaceful.
Based on his judgment, Death Omen wouldn’t dare show her face anytime soon. After their fight, Su Xiao had some understanding of her—that erratic woman would likely lie low for a while. When she figured out a way to deal with him, she’d pop up again quickly.
Compared to hunting rule-breakers in other worlds, Death Omen was the easy type—no need to search, she’d come out on her own.
Of course, there were even easier ones. Once, when Su Xiao entered the Magic Index world, a triple-fusion rule-breaker charged at him right at the start. Before he could even finish reading the world introduction, he was fighting the triple-fusion. During the fight, Su Xiao kicked him half to death with a side kick, and the triple-fusion was dealt with cleanly.
Death Omen was similar, but her escape ability was too strong. No wonder she had such combat power right after advancing to Fourth Rank. If left to grow, she’d definitely be a ruthless one. Or rather, she was already a ruthless figure among Fourth Rank contractors.
After Su Xiao described his conflict with Death Omen to Unohana Retsu, she also left with her people, seemingly to search for Death Omen’s trail. Since a researcher from the Fourth Division had been attacked, she naturally wouldn’t do nothing.
Soon, only Su Xiao and Aizen remained on the scene, with a large group of Soul Reapers searching nearby.
Aizen wore a gentle smile. After glancing around, his smile faded slightly.
"Who attacked you, and what was their goal?"
Aizen asked in a tone like a superior, his hand resting on the hilt of Kyoka Suigetsu.
"..."
Su Xiao paused for a moment, unable to think of how to pretend to be hypnotized. With Aizen’s intelligence, an on-the-spot disguise would likely be seen through, making things even more troublesome.
"..."
"..."
Su Xiao and Aizen stared at each other, the atmosphere awkward enough to be suffocating.
Seeing Su Xiao looking directly at him, Aizen was clearly taken aback. Yes, the old schemer Aizen was stunned for a moment.
Though the atmosphere was extremely awkward, an old schemer was still an old schemer. Besides, Aizen wasn’t the only old schemer present.
"My goal is Zanpakuto. The stronger the Zanpakuto, the more valuable it is to me. Or rather, this is how I grow stronger. Zanpakuto are too scarce in the Rukongai, so I came here to find suitable targets, kill them, and take their swords."
Su Xiao looked at Aizen with a smile. He wasn’t lying—one of his goals in infiltrating the Seireitei was to obtain Zanpakuto.
"..."
Su Xiao’s blunt opening left Aizen momentarily at a loss.