Temporarily revoking Shihouin Kōe's qualifications to challenge for a seated position, ordering him to garrison the Rukongai for one hundred and fifty years, and only allowing him to officially join a squad after the garrison mission is completed. This was the latest news regarding Kōe's punishment.
Everyone's minds went blank upon hearing this news. On the surface, revoking his qualifications and banishing him to the Rukongai for a century and a half sounded like a severe punishment, but in reality, it was nothing of the sort.
The disqualification was only temporary, and the order to garrison the Rukongai didn't specify which district. If Kōe wanted to, he could literally pitch a tent right outside the Seireitei. And while a hundred and fifty years sounded long, to a Shinigami, it was merely the blink of an eye.
Rather than a punishment, this was more like sending him on vacation—a protective measure to keep him far away from the center of conflict. The blatant favoritism went without saying.
Perhaps the rumors were inaccurate. After all, with Yamamoto's wisdom, even if he wanted to shield Kōe, he wouldn't do it so obviously. But after personal verification, it was confirmed that Yamamoto had indeed announced this very order in front of all Squad 1 members.
Was this Yamamoto making a statement? Was Squad 1 no longer the Seireitei's Squad 1, but rather Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni's personal vanguard? A power standing above the Five Great Noble Families—the true master of the Seireitei?!
No one could guess what Yamamoto was thinking right now. They only knew that the Head Captain had changed, and the Seireitei was likely about to undergo a massive upheaval.
Meanwhile, Kōe, the instigator of all this chaos, had already left the Seireitei. To be precise, he had set out last night—not to flee from danger, of course, but to temper himself while executing his mission.
Kicking Shikaon Susumu out during the graduation ceremony was indeed a spur-of-the-moment decision on Kōe's part. According to the original plan, once Kōe entered Squad 1, Yamamoto would use neglect of training as an excuse to force him into seclusion. Then, Kōe would operate under a different identity to confuse the public.
But what was done was done, and reprimanding Kōe now would be useless. Besides, if handled well, his impromptu action might actually turn out to be a good thing.
At present, the Seireitei appeared calm on the surface, but in reality, it was plagued by internal strife and external threats, with dark currents surging beneath. Externally, there were the Shinigami's eternal enemies—Hollows. Internally, ever since the Gotei 13 transitioned from a band of killers into one of the Seireitei's centers of power, many greedy eyes had been coveting a piece of the pie.
At the same time, there were entities that were neither friend nor foe. This delicate situation had persisted for over a thousand years. In Yamamoto's eyes, these were cancerous tumors and hidden wounds. If they couldn't be eradicated all at once, the surviving factions would undoubtedly hide even deeper. Because of this, Yamamoto found his hands tied, feeling a profound sense of powerlessness.
However, this frustration was mutual. In the eyes of his adversaries, wasn't Yamamoto the massive boulder blocking their path? So, if a problem were to suddenly arise with this stabilizing pillar of the Seireitei, wouldn't those maggots hiding in the dark jump out and make their move?
The answer was a resounding yes. Having figured this out, Yamamoto knew that this farce might just become a perfect opportunity—a chance to break the deadlock and rebuild from the ashes!
With that, the plan had to change. The master and disciple deliberated for five or six hours before finally deciding to split up and take a two-pronged approach.
Yamamoto, naturally, would remain in the Seireitei—the eye of the storm. Meanwhile, Kōe, who was originally supposed to be in solitary confinement, would step out of the Seireitei. This was the true reason behind that disciplinary order.
The Rukongai. Aside from the Seireitei, it was the only place in Soul Society protected by Shinigami. Surrounding the Seireitei, the Rukongai was divided into four quadrants: East, South, West, and North. Each quadrant was further divided from the inside out into eighty districts, making a total of three hundred and twenty districts.
Therefore, despite having "street" in its name, the Rukongai—existing to accommodate the souls of the deceased from the World of the Living—was on a scale absolutely incomparable to any city in the human world.
After the deceased souls from the World of the Living were given a Soul Burial by the Shinigami of the Seireitei, they would live in different districts of the Rukongai based on their time of death. For the sake of convenience, one could still call them "people."
But even though the Rukongai was massive, it was still insufficient to house all the souls of the deceased from ancient times to the present. The reason the Rukongai, which had only ever consisted of three hundred and twenty districts, hadn't become completely overcrowded was entirely due to the location Kōe currently found himself in.
North Rukongai, District 80—Zaraki. One of the absolute fringes of the Rukongai, a place entirely devoid of any traces of civilization. A place comparable to hell itself.
As mentioned before, the Rukongai was protected by Shinigami. However, compared to the vast sea of ordinary souls, the number of Shinigami was ultimately limited. Therefore, the further away a place was from the Seireitei, the more desolate it became, and the more chaotic its public order.
Anything past District 70 was already an overgrown wilderness, an absolute lawless land. As for the furthest reaches, District 80, the Shinigami didn't even consider it a part of the Rukongai. Instead, they referred to it by another name—the Plains of Slaughter.
Here, there were people known as vagrants, and there were Hollows, but the concept of "kin" simply did not exist. Whether you were a person or a Hollow, in this place, you were an existence akin to a Hollow. The only way to survive was to kill every moving thing in sight, devour them, and strengthen yourself, all in the hopes of one day entering the first seventy districts of the Rukongai to become a commoner.
However, unlike Hollows, the vagrants here wouldn't easily attack a Shinigami. The black Shihakushō served as a safe passage permit in these parts.
But that didn't mean they respected Shinigami. Just on his walk here, Kōe had encountered quite a few vagrants drooling as they stared at him. He was certain that if he weren't walking right now, but instead lying on the ground severely injured, these people would definitely swarm him and tear him to pieces! To them, a Shinigami's entire body was a treasure trove. Devouring a Shinigami offered a chance to acquire Reiryoku, and even if they only managed to snatch a Zanpakutō, the wealth it could be exchanged for would be enough to live comfortably in any district of the Rukongai.
It was chaotic, yes, but the number of Shinigami in the Zaraki district was definitely not small. This was a disaster zone where Hollows frequently entered Soul Society to hunt. Various squads would station personnel here, protecting Soul Society while also using the area as a training ground.
But combat was no child's play, and the Hollows daring enough to invade Soul Society were no ordinary fodder. Thus, Shinigami were not absolutely safe here either. Some died in the jaws of Hollows, while others lost their lives when nearby vagrants took advantage of their severe injuries.
But would he, Shihouin Kōe, give these vagrants such an opportunity? Well, that was actually hard to say. Although Kōe was confident in his own strength, it was better to be safe than sorry. If he actually died, there was no save file he could reload!
*'If I had known, I would have brought my other sword too!'* Kōe thought to himself. Of course, he had brought it up with the old man, but he was ruthlessly rejected. So, this time, he had only brought Kōki with him.
However, the old man had also said that if Kōe was dead set on running away, there were very few people in all of Soul Society who could stop him, and those few were unlikely to cause any trouble. Naturally, Hueco Mundo also had entities capable of making him stay, but beings of that caliber wouldn't show up easily. Overall, as long as he didn't actively court death or act too stubbornly, surviving wouldn't be difficult.
Thinking of this, he relaxed quite a bit. After all, he wasn't some delicate flower raised in a greenhouse. But right at that moment, a flash of a blade appeared from his left, thrusting straight toward his face.
*'There really are blind fools out here!'* With a swipe of his left hand, Kōe drew Kōki from his waist, sheath and all, blocking the path of the incoming blade.
The flash of the blade faded, revealing a longsword with a heavily chipped edge. The tip of the sword was thrust directly against Kōki's scabbard; it seemed Kōe had successfully blocked it.
But only Kōe knew that the moment the opponent touched the scabbard, they had completely pulled their strength. From beginning to end, he hadn't felt even the slightest bit of impact.
*'An expert!'* Just based on this flawless control over their strength, Kōe knew the sword's master was no simpleton. He just didn't know the purpose behind this probe. Was this person a friend or a foe?
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