Sozukusen Hunter Academy - Common Zone
A few hours before the expedition.
When classes 2C and 2E finally left the academy grounds, Takei Miwa, head coach for the second years, felt like she'd just hit the jackpot.
She was supposed to teach both classes for the next two days, but the sudden expedition cleared that part of her schedule.
On her way home, she stopped by the convenience store to grab a bunch of snacks, then made a quick detour to her favorite manga shop and picked up a stack of otome games to play all night.
Just as she reached her apartment door, ready to relax, her phone buzzed in her pocket.
It was a message from her friend, Orimura Chifuyu.
Miwa's eyebrows furrowed. Chifuyu didn't usually text much. If she did, it meant something urgent was going on.
And Miwa was right.
The moment she read the message on Line, she covered her mouth, tears threatening to spill from her eyes.
She dropped the plastic bags on the ground and rushed toward the academy hospital.
While sprinting, she read the message again, hoping it was some kind of mistake.
But the words stayed the same.
{Miwa, find me at the Sozukusen Medical Center. Aizen is dead.}
. . .
Sozukusen Hunter Academy – Teacher's Lounge
"I don't believe it... how could this happen?"
In the teachers' lounge, inside the meeting room, a tall woman with jet-black hair and piercing gray eyes paced nervously.
Her long white coat swayed with each step as she wrestled with the shock of what had just happened.
For the first time ever, someone had died inside the academy. To make things worse, the culprit had escaped, taking crucial data with them.
"P-Please calm down, Shizuka-san... they're still investigating. We'll find whoever did this."
The soft voice came from Yamada Maya, one of the younger teachers. She was a graceful woman with short green hair and eyes that matched, framed by wide glasses.
Though her words were meant to calm, the tremble in her voice betrayed her own nerves.
Around the room, the staff reacted in different ways. Some sat in stunned silence, while others whispered in disbelief.
By the entrance, a tall, muscular man with tanned skin leaned against the wall, arms folded tightly across his chest. His eyes, hidden behind dark sports sunglasses, narrowed with suspicion.
This was Yaga Masamichi, the supervisor in charge of all three years at the academy.
"The enemy must be pretty strong to take down someone like Aizen," said the large panda standing beside him.
Yaga didn't reply.
He simply stepped forward, heading toward the large oval table where the other teachers had gathered. His presence alone was enough to shift the atmosphere in the room.
*BANG!
His palm slammed down hard on the table, making everyone freeze.
All the teachers turned to Yaga, waiting for him to speak.
"Head back to your classes. Don't say a word about this to the students. That's an order from the higher-ups," he said, his voice cold and firm. "I've already called in two trusted people to help handle this case."
Some of the teachers looked like they wanted to speak up, but the heavy pressure radiating from Yaga made them keep their mouths shut.
Once the room cleared, he let out a soft sigh and turned toward the Headmaster's office.
Panda silently followed, keeping pace right behind him.
. . .
Sozukusen Hunter Academy — Campus Zone
At the river's edge, just a few meters from the Sozukusen campus, a group of security staff gathered closely, carefully inspecting the scene.
They investigated the area, which was nearly devastated and showed clear signs of a fierce battle.
Holes and broken trees were scattered all around, and a patch of blood stained the ground, marking the spot where the fight had reached its peak.
"How the hell did someone do all this without setting off a single alarm?" muttered a tall man with spiky brown hair and piercing eyes, a lollipop resting between his lips as he swept the area using Nano Detection, searching for any remaining traces.
Behind him, other members of the 2nd Security Division were silently asking themselves the same thing.
The destruction was massive, yet it had gone almost completely unnoticed. That thought alone sent a shiver down their spines.
Concealing one's presence wasn't unheard of, but covering up a battle of this scale?
That was supposed to be impossible.
Nano energy was volatile and easy to detect. No matter how skilled someone was at hiding, even the slightest use of it would leave a trace.
There's no way the ultra-modern Nano alarms at Sozukusen could've missed it.
"Yo~ Daddy's back!"
A playful voice rang out from behind, instantly snapping everyone's attention.
Several security guards raised their weapons on instinct, ready for a fight.
The man with the lollipop sighed the moment he recognized the voice and lazily motioned for his team to stand down.
"Gojo Satoru... it's been a while."
Satoru, a tall man with white hair, handsome features, and a blindfold covering his eyes, grinned as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his black jacket.
"Kusakabe, it's been years since I last saw you. Thought you'd already kicked the bucket," he said with a smirk, earning another sigh from Kusakabe.
"Yeah, I'm good, thanks for asking," Kusakabe retorted, ignoring the jab.
The other security members stiffened the moment they recognized him.
Gojo Satoru was known as one of the most powerful National Hunters in the country, feared not only for his immense strength but also for his wild and unpredictable nature.
"Alright, let's get this over with before my sister shows up and ruins the mood," Satoru said, casually stretching his arms with a lazy grin.
He pulled down the blindfold covering his face, revealing a pair of stunning blue eyes that shimmered like crystal.
For a moment, just meeting his gaze sent a strange, almost dizzying pressure that made the air feel heavier.
Those were his Six Eyes, a powerful Blessing that gave him unmatched control over Nano and detection skills that surpassed any Nano Detection Hunter by a wide margin.
Satoru then started analyzing the traces left behind from the fight, trying to figure out which Innate Skills had been used.
"You're too slow, little brother~ Can't you see it was Spatial Manipulation?" a teasing, feminine voice called from behind, catching Satoru and everyone else off guard.
When they turned around, they saw a stunning woman with long white hair and deep blue eyes, dressed in clothes similar to Satoru's.
"Ah, figured you'd trail me again. Should've trapped you in my domain," Satoru sighed.
The woman's eyebrow twitched, barely hiding her irritation.
"That's not something you should say to your older sister!" she huffed, then added with a smirk, "It wouldn't have worked anyway."
Gojo chuckled, flashing a smug grin.
"You really think so?"
"Absolutely~" she replied with a teasing smile, matching his smugness perfectly.
Sparks seemed to fly between them, and the tension in the air made everyone around swallow hard, feeling the raw aura radiating from the two siblings.
"Satoru. Sora. Could you two stop playing around? We've got an assassination case on our hands," Kusakabe sighed, rubbing his temple.
Of course Yaga had to send the two most troublesome siblings in the entire country to help.
In response, they both turned their heads away from each other like a pair of sulking kids.
Satoru didn't even bother analyzing anymore. His annoying sister was right, after all.
The area had been sealed off using a Spatial Manipulation skill, cleverly hiding the entire fight from any outside detection.
"That Aizen guy must've really pissed someone off to make them go through all this just to kill him," Satoru remarked, pulling his blindfold back over his eyes.
Kusakabe silently agreed with his comment but couldn't understand who, in their right mind, would dare kill the personal assistant to the headmaster of the most powerful academy in the country
"Yeah, and judging by the fluctuations in the sky, there's a very small area left untouched," Sora said thoughtfully. "It seems this was—"
"Left that way on purpose to be found," Satoru interrupted.
Sora's gaze sharpened at his interruption, but Satoru quickly found an excuse to dodge her wrath.
"I'm gonna go tell Yaga what we found. Catch you later, sister~" he said, taking off into the sky.
"Oh no you don't!" Sora shouted, taking off right after him.
While watching the two siblings disappear into the sky, Kusakabe let out a long sigh and pulled another lollipop from the pocket of his trench coat.
"…I'm too old for this crap," he muttered, unwrapping it and popping it into his mouth as he turned back to the crime scene.
Meanwhile, high above the clouds, completely unnoticed by anyone below, a lone figure draped in flowing white robes hovered silently in the sky.
With a faint, amused smile, he raised his hand, slicing open the fabric of reality.
Then, stepping into the shimmering rift, he vanished without a trace.