Over the weekend, Hasumi Ren stepped into the Nest of Maggots once again.
The guards of the Second Division already recognized him; they simply checked his token and let him through.
Hasumi Ren had thought about returning the token to Urahara Kisuke, but when he saw Urahara take out an identical one, he kept it without a second thought.
With Urahara covering for him, he would use it as a ticket for now and return it later.
As he walked into the Nest of Maggots with practiced ease, a familiar voice came from the side, tinged with helplessness.
"Student Hasumi, you're coming here quite often, aren't you?"
Urahara Kisuke looked at the eager Hasumi Ren with a wry smile.
"You aren't attending any classes at the Spiritual Arts Academy. What, are you treating my place as a training ground?"
"Though... your progress is certainly impressive."
Hasumi Ren's Hakuda skills had improved visibly over the past few days.
Originally, he would get a few scratches when facing five or six attackers at once, but now he could basically walk away unscathed.
This actually surprised Urahara Kisuke quite a bit.
Hasumi Ren paused, his face expressionless.
"Isn't that because the order in your Underground Special Detention Unit is so poor?"
"I've never initiated a fight with these people; I only defend myself when they attack me."
Urahara's expression became more serious, his tone teasing yet sincere.
"Be that as it may, please try to go a bit easier on them."
"Our Detention Unit isn't the Fourth Division. My men can't handle taking care of injured prisoners every single day."
Hasumi Ren nodded.
"Understood. I'll be careful."
Urahara Kisuke gave Hasumi Ren a meaningful look but didn't press further, stepping aside to reveal the prepared packages behind him.
"The items you wanted are ready. Check them."
"There's quite a lot. Did you bring help? If not, I can have a couple of my men see you off."
"No need to worry about that," Hasumi Ren said, stretching his body. "I found someone to help."
Ganju and his pig Bonnie were waiting at the gate of the Second Division.
"But there's no rush. 3rd Seat Urahara, count this money first. Meanwhile, let me warm up a bit."
Looking at Hasumi Ren walking toward the crowd of prisoners, Urahara Kisuke sighed helplessly, holding the bag of money.
But he couldn't help it; since the boy was his benefactor, he'd indulge a little selfishness for the sake of the money.
Nearby, the prisoners saw Urahara Kisuke take out stacks of bills from the money bag and then saw Hasumi Ren walking toward them, cracking his knuckles. Their eyes widened in rage.
They reached a rather dark conclusion.
"Urahara Kisuke, you bastard! You're actually taking money to let an outsider beat us up! This is an abuse of power! A dirty deal! I'm going to report you to Central 46!"
"We aren't even real criminals! Don't we have human rights? Urahara, you deserve to die!"
"If our spiritual pressure wasn't sealed, you wouldn't be acting so high and mighty! You damn brat, take this!"
Urahara looked at the money in his hand, then at the prisoners roaring as they charged Hasumi Ren, and sighed.
He was quite helpless as well.
'If you don't want to get beaten, just stay put. Charging in when you know you can't win... you're just asking for it.'
Moments later, Hasumi Ren stopped, throwing a mangled prisoner onto the ground. Few prisoners dared to charge forward now.
Hasumi Ren checked his spiritual pressure and Hakuda levels.
[SYSTEM: Spiritual Power: Rank 8 (EXP: 3650/8000)]
[SYSTEM: Hakuda: LV4 (EXP: 4750/5000)]
Spending nearly a week in the Nest of Maggots had caused his Hakuda experience to skyrocket, and his spiritual power experience had increased significantly as well.
One more time and his Hakuda would level up.
But time was short today; he had to bring Urahara's tools back to the Rukongai, and the journey would take a long time.
He couldn't leave Ganju waiting outside for too long.
"That's enough for today. 3rd Seat Urahara, sorry to trouble you, but could you have two men help me carry these things out?"
Seeing Hasumi Ren finish, Urahara gladly agreed.
After bidding Urahara farewell, Hasumi Ren left the Nest of Maggots under the glares of the prisoners.
After he and Ganju tied all the packages onto the wild boar, the two began their return journey.
Ganju had already learned about the potential impact on the ramen shop and, under Hasumi Ren's instructions, began to monitor the situation in the Rukongai.
On the way back, Ganju reported the information gathered over the last few days with a serious expression.
Strangely, no one had come to cause trouble at the shop, and Ganju's lackeys hadn't heard any rumors in the Rukongai.
It was eerily quiet.
Hasumi Ren pondered potential future scenarios while discussing the distribution plan for the tools with Ganju.
As dusk fell, they were passing through a relatively secluded street, preparing to head toward the Gate of the White Way in West Rukongai.
A figure stood quietly by the roadside, appearing to have waited for a long time.
When Hasumi Ren recognized the person, he frowned.
Tsunayashiro Tokiying.
He was alone today, without any attendants, standing there with a dark, complex expression.
At this moment, there was no condescending arrogance or calculation in his eyes; instead, there was a hint of irritation and internal conflict.
Hasumi Ren and Ganju stopped at the same time.
"Tsunayashiro?"
Hasumi Ren's face darkened instantly.
Hasumi Ren didn't speak, only staring coldly at the other man as he quietly raised his spiritual pressure.
'What is this guy doing here again? Did he find out about my actions in the Second Division and want to intercept me?'
Seeing their reaction, Tokiying's mouth twitched, appearing even more frustrated.
He took a deep breath, as if making a decision, and whispered in a voice full of suppressed grievance.
"Hasumi Ren, you... be careful lately."
Hasumi Ren was stunned for a moment.
'What is he doing? Threatening me to my face?'
"Tsunayashiro, what do you mean?"
Hasumi Ren narrowed his eyes, not letting his guard down.
Tokiying's face grew even uglier. He avoided Hasumi Ren's gaze, looking aside as he spoke faster and lower.
"I have a cousin—a madman. After learning about the conflict between us, he plans to intervene."
"He found out about you and thinks my methods..."
Tokiying grit his teeth.
Hasumi Ren couldn't understand Tokiying's motives and pondered with a frown.
"I don't believe you'd be kind enough to warn us."
"I just don't want things to spiral out of control!"
Tokiying snapped his head back to glare at Hasumi Ren, looking like his tail had been stepped on.
"I originally just wanted to teach you a lesson, but things are different now."
"Tokinada is a complete lunatic. He has no scruples and would even trample over the clan rules!"
He paused, his voice dropping even lower, words squeezed through his teeth.
"I warned him, but he... anyway, whatever he does next has nothing to do with me."
Having said his piece, he seemed to have exhausted all his patience, his face returning to a mask of aloof coldness.
"He'll be making his move soon. That's all I have to say. Good luck."
Without waiting for Hasumi Ren to ask more, he turned and left, as if staying another second was unbearable.
The street fell silent.
Ganju scratched his head, looking confused.
"Big Brother Hasumi, who was that?"
Hasumi Ren watched the direction Tokiying disappeared, his brow furrowed.
He had just heard a name from Tokiying's mouth.
Tsunayashiro Tokinada.
In the original series, he was the monster who hired assassins to slaughter every male in his clan with succession rights to eventually become the head of the family.
Hearing that name, a deep chill rose from the bottom of his heart.
Combined with Tokiying's behavior just now...
Hasumi Ren faintly realized that the severity of the situation had changed.