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"Doesn't riding a wild boar look so imposing!"
Shiba Ganju slapped the wild boar he was riding, clamped his legs, and the boar he was on suddenly charged out: "Hahahaha, look how fast my little piggy runs!!"
Upon seeing this, Hawk and the others all let out strange shouts, and the four wild boars followed closely behind.
"..." Ishikawa Katori.
He really wanted to go home!
Riding something like this to fight people, he always felt there was a deeper meaning of wanting to make the enemy laugh to death…
Actually, Ishikawa Katori wasn't resistant to being Ganju-nii's subordinate. Anyway, watching Ganju and the others from the side was quite interesting, and it could totally be seen as a pastime outside of work.
Moreover…
This identity could also bring him great help.
Not long after establishing the 'Shinigami Cram School', Ishikawa Katori discovered that many 'non-student' students had appeared among his 'students'.
It wasn't difficult to identify these non-students; they could generally be divided into three categories: one type didn't hide their Reishi well. These were the easiest to distinguish because their Reishi intensity was on a completely different level from the regular students.
The second type were people who were very good at hiding their Reishi, making them difficult for Ishikawa Katori to detect with his current strength. While it was a bit troublesome to identify this type, it wasn't impossible, because the experience gained from their favorability growth was slightly more than that of regular students.
And the most difficult to distinguish…
Were those who were both good at hiding their Reishi and didn't show any favorability. For this type of person, Ishikawa Katori simply couldn't tell if they were 'non-students' or not, so he treated them all the same, keeping his distance. Especially those women who clearly had no 'favorability' whatsoever, yet acted as if they liked Ishikawa Katori very much and were very familiar with him. These women either had ulterior motives or were simply manipulative… It was never wrong to stay far away!
You ask how to distinguish men?
Do men even need to be distinguished?
For these carbon-based lifeforms that couldn't provide him with experience points, Ishikawa Katori's attitude could be described as 'indifferent'; there was no interaction beyond 'getting paid to do business'.
Ever since he discovered these people, Ishikawa Katori began visiting the Shiba house once a week under the guise of being 'Ganju's subordinate', because interacting with the Shiba could help him avoid a lot of trouble and also increase Shiba Kūkaku's favorability.
Although he had barely spoken a few words with Shiba Kūkaku over the past six months, just by becoming familiar with her, he had gained a few points of favorability… roughly to the extent where they would greet each other if they met on the street.
With such great benefits, what was there to resist about being a subordinate?
Ishikawa Katori looked up at Ganju and the others, who were gradually moving away, a smile appearing on his face. He clamped his legs, rode his boar, and chased after them.
…
"This desolate place truly makes one shudder." Hawk swallowed, already feeling like retreating. He looked at Ganju ahead and whispered, "Ganju-nii, why don't we just go back?"
His words made the other three nod in agreement.
Although they had long heard that the higher-numbered districts had extremely poor public safety and were home to countless villains, what they saw and heard after entering these districts still made them feel as if they had entered another world.
Compared to a residential area, the word 'ruins' was more fitting to describe this place.
Most of the houses in the towns of the higher-numbered districts had collapsed, countless winding plants covered the houses, and the riverbeds were scarred with cracks like open wounds, resembling gaping mouths ready to swallow life at any moment, revealing their grotesque faces.
Here…
Even drinking water was an extremely scarce resource. A few minutes ago, they even saw several ragged people fighting each other over a pot of water.
As they delved deeper, the roads also had many broken and battered corpses.
These corpses wouldn't rot; they would only slowly evaporate over time, eventually turning into Reishi for the Soul Society. But precisely because they couldn't rot, no one bothered to bury them, causing these corpses to remain in the state as if they had just died…
This hellish scene made Ganju feel a bit apprehensive, but to maintain his Boss's prestige, he showed no fear on his face. Instead, he said nonchalantly, "With me here, what's there to be afraid of? Even if we leave, we have to catch those bastards first!!"
With that, Ganju, with his boar leading the way, headed deeper.
Hawk and the other four exchanged glances, then gritted their teeth and followed on their boars as if they had resigned themselves to their fate.
And Ishikawa Katori, at the very back of the group, hadn't spoken a word the entire time.
At this moment, his expression was no longer as relaxed as it had been initially; his eyes were filled with vigilance.
Due to his work, Ishikawa Katori often traveled between various areas of Rukongai, but he had never actually been to areas beyond number 70.
Upon stepping onto this land, Ishikawa Katori realized…
He had still underestimated these areas that 'cultivated countless great villains'. Along the way, he actually felt Reishi fluctuations on many people. The Reishi of some individuals was even not much weaker than that of a Gotei 13 member, and these people had something more than Gotei 13 members…
Killing intent!!
Unlike Shinigami who received systematic education, people here could only enhance their Reishi through continuous slaughter.
Without any rules or morals, completely adhering to the law of the jungle where 'the strong prey on the weak', the residents of this area had only two choices: become stronger or die.
Even though he knew very well that among those with Reishi, some, like him, didn't want to become Shinigami.
But suddenly seeing so many people with Reishi still made Ishikawa Katori feel subtly alarmed. However, upon closer thought, he found it quite normal, because, to Ishikawa Katori's knowledge, some captains in the Gotei 13 had literally fought their way out of similar areas and eventually became 'great villains' renowned throughout the Soul Society!
If they had only fought against a group of ordinary people, how could they have grown to such terrifying levels?
Although these people didn't have Zanpakuto, nor did they know Kido or Shunpo and other combat techniques exclusive to Shinigami, when Reishi became strong enough, even fighting with just fists and feet could unleash terrifying destructive power!
Thinking of this, Ishikawa Katori urged his boar to Ganju's side and whispered, "I think it's better to listen to Hawk. You must have noticed the Reishi on those people, right? Hawk and the others are just ordinary people. If a conflict breaks out, you'll have to distract yourself protecting them."
Upon hearing this, Ganju's face immediately showed hesitation.
"If they encounter any danger, by then it'll be too late for you to regret it," Ishikawa Katori added fuel to the fire.
Hearing this, Ganju immediately pulled on the reins, making the wild boar beneath him stop.
He first glanced at the deeper area, then swept his gaze over the faces of the five people, including Ishikawa Katori, and said, "Let's go, I'll send you all back first."
Ishikawa Katori frowned. Ganju's words were very clear; he obviously didn't intend to give up on the purpose of this trip.
"Gan… Hmm?"
Ishikawa Katori was about to continue persuading, but then his expression changed abruptly, and he asked, "Who told you those punks ran to District 79?"
Ishikawa Katori had asked about the purpose of this trip before. According to Ganju, it seemed that some punks who often hung around West Borough 26 inexplicably beat up Hawk and the other three's families, claiming it was because of Ganju.
Upon hearing this, Ganju naturally couldn't ignore it, but when he went to find those punks, he found that they had already fled to District 79.
Ishikawa Katori hadn't paid attention earlier, but after Ganju stopped, many Reishi fluctuations suddenly appeared around them, continuously approaching their location.
Unbeknownst to them, the six of them had been surrounded!
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