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Facing the gazes of the Fourth Division members, who looked at him as if he were a rare creature, Ishikawa Katori's smile became a little stiff.
From the hushed conversations of the Fourth Division, he vaguely understood why they were looking at him like that. While a bit worried about this, Ishikawa Katori was actually more delighted.
After all, he had always wanted to expand his 'business scope' to include Shinigami.
If he could get to know the Fourth Division members through this, then even if the Onmitsukidō's surveillance increased, Ishikawa Katori could accept it.
Anyway, as long as he didn't become a Shinigami and didn't become an enemy of Seireitei, the Onmitsukidō's handling of him would only be limited to supervision. It wouldn't be like official Gotei 13 members who, once deemed ideologically dangerous, could be locked up in the Maggot's Nest.
Although…
Those who could be imprisoned there were truly dangerous individuals, like a certain current Twelfth Division Captain.
If he could build good relationships with female Shinigami, Ishikawa Katori would find it easier to gain experience points in the future. It hadn't become apparent yet, but the amount of experience points he would need in the future already made Ishikawa Katori despair just thinking about it.
And most importantly…
Within the Fourth Division, there was a heavyweight figure who was top-tier in both status and strength!
Thinking of this, the stiffness on Ishikawa Katori's face instantly vanished, replaced by extreme enthusiasm: "Nao, you're already a Shinigami, so there's no need to call me 'teacher' anymore. You can just call me Ishikawa Katori from now on."
Although Nao wasn't good at communicating, she wasn't foolish. Seeing everyone's reactions, she understood that her previous address might cause trouble for Ishikawa Katori. She quickly nodded, her face flushed, and softly hummed in agreement.
Meanwhile, the girl beside her asked curiously, "Are you really good at Kaido?"
"Though I don't know what Nao told you all,"
Ishikawa Katori smiled, "Nao must have exaggerated too much. I merely have some personal insights in healing and saving lives. Rather than teaching, it's more like friendly exchange and discussion. Through our discussions, I've also learned a lot."
Having been in Soul Society for five years, Ishikawa Katori had truly changed a lot. At least, in his previous life, he definitely wouldn't have possessed the ability to speak such blatant lies…
Shinno, the president, watched Ishikawa Katori with a strange look. Although he had heard that the Everything Store offered home medical services, he never expected Ishikawa Katori's healing methods to be so advanced that they could rival a Shinigami's.
"If you are all interested, you are welcome to visit my small shop often to exchange and discuss," Ishikawa Katori said, then smiled, "Of course, I also need to make a living, so I will charge a certain fee."
Free is impossible, it will never be free.
Otherwise, if he really met someone shameless who came to discuss with Ishikawa Katori every day, Ishikawa Katori couldn't possibly stay in the shop all day chatting with the other party just to gain favorability.
Of course, if it was chatting with the Fourth Division Captain every day, that would be another matter.
As for why he didn't say 'teach' but 'exchange', the reason was simple: these people, unlike students of the Central Spiritual Arts Academy, were official Shinigami. Asking them to learn from a 'commoner' in Rukongai would certainly be met with extreme resistance. Using the term 'exchange' would clearly be more easily accepted by them.
As soon as he said this, the faces of those present immediately showed signs of interest.
After all, everyone present, except for Nao who came with the Squad leader, Yamada Hanatarō, were without exception Low Level members of the rescue Squad who handled miscellaneous tasks within the Squad or worked as 'nurses' in the medical station.
If 'exchanging' with Ishikawa Katori could really lead to promotions like Nao's, to intermediate or even advanced rescue Squad, they wouldn't consider it embarrassing.
After all, Nao had openly admitted it. With one person taking the lead, it wouldn't be something difficult for others to accept.
There's a chance!
Seeing everyone's reaction, Ishikawa Katori's eyes lit up, and he added fuel to the fire: "Although my shop's discount is only for females, if you gentlemen wish to come, I can also give you a 10% discount. For females, it's 20% off."
Although he added fuel to the fire, no one inquired on the spot. As for whether they would come to him privately, Ishikawa Katori didn't know.
However, his advancement ended there, because whether by coincidence or design, the Patrol Corps, who were counting goods, suddenly walked over and said to Yamada Hanatarō, "Yamada, the goods have been tallied."
After confirming that the goods were in order, the Fourth Division members did not linger. After settling the payment, they headed into Seireitei.
Even for the lowest-ranking members of a Squad, pushing goods was an extremely easy task, so there was no need for the caravan to help with transportation.
"I thought I could go for a stroll in Seireitei," someone who was with the caravan for the first time muttered.
"You wish."
The caravan members also dispersed amidst laughter and chatter.
After bidding farewell to the caravan, Ishikawa Katori didn't immediately return to his shop but went to a tavern in West 1 District.
"Ishikawa Katori, boy, are you done with work?"
Upon seeing Ishikawa Katori, Watanabe immediately smiled, "What do you want to eat today? I have some good wine that just came from the south, do you want some?"
Ishikawa Katori was somewhat tempted, but still shook his head, "Forget it. Just make me a bowl of ramen and a plate of beef."
"Alright."
Watanabe replied.
The tavern was extremely busy at night, with many customers dressed in shinigami uniforms, which somewhat surprised Ishikawa Katori.
Although he frequented Watanabe's tavern, this was Ishikawa Katori's first time visiting at night.
Watanabe said many of his customers were Shinigami, and it turned out he wasn't boasting.
"I don't have time tomorrow. I'm going to attend the Fourth Division Vice-Captain's inauguration ceremony as a Scribe."
Just then, a conversation between two people next to him caught Ishikawa Katori's attention. He glanced over with the corner of his eye; both speakers were wearing shinigami uniforms, and their armbands had a 'daisy' emblem.
Ninth Division?
After confirming their identity, Ishikawa Katori immediately thought about getting up and leaving.
The Squad flowers of the Gotei 13 were not a secret; residents of Rukongai generally knew them.
As for the Ninth Division's Squad flower, the residents of Rukongai were even more familiar with it. To gather material for Seireitei Communication, Ninth Division members often appeared in Rukongai.
The so-called Seireitei Communication was a public magazine, circulated throughout Seireitei, and occasionally even reached Rukongai. This magazine was entirely responsible for gathering material and publishing by the Ninth Division.
It is said that hundreds of years ago, it was just an extra announcement, with no entertainment value.
But ever since the current Squad 9 Captain took office, he began to use printing technology to seriously produce a serialized magazine.
It records many little-known but not secret interesting facts, including reports on Seireitei's latest technology, changes in Squad members, and even a debunking section…
Ishikawa Katori once read a debunking article about Captain Unohana's love for mountain climbing. It said that while it was true Captain Unohana climbed mountains in various parts of Rukongai on holidays, it wasn't because she enjoyed climbing. She was often seen flying to the mountaintop on a creature, not hiking up.
In reality, she only climbed mountains to collect medicinal herbs.
Because he saw this debunking report, Ishikawa Katori spent a period of time, every day, collecting herbs on various mountains in Rukongai. After collecting enough herbs to last him five years and almost stripping the mountains bare, he gave up the idea of 'accidentally' encountering Retsu Unohana this way.
But back to the main topic.
Seireitei Communication was the only interesting reading material Ishikawa Katori found after arriving in Soul Society. He himself was a loyal fan of Seireitei Communication.
However, Ishikawa Katori's reason for wanting to leave was not because of these, but because of the Ninth Division's duties.
Due to its duties, the Ninth Division could openly collect all sorts of intelligence under the guise of 'gathering material,' and also controlled the direction of public opinion in Seireitei.
Anyway, Ishikawa Katori absolutely did not want to be noticed by their Captain. If he caught the attention of the mastermind, who knew what would happen.
And if you think about it carefully…
The Squads managed by the Hair Gel Hand and his group were all carefully selected.
Whether it was the Third Division responsible for 'support' or the Fifth Division responsible for 'rescue,' both of these Squads were the most suitable for gathering popular support.
Coupled with the Ninth Division's use of Seireitei Communication for propaganda and packaging, controlling the direction of public opinion, the Hair Gel Hand's disguise was virtually perfect.
It was even so perfect that even if someone went to the Central 46 to expose him, no one would believe it, and they might even be slandered in return, like a certain shop manager.
Hundreds and thousands of years of planning made his scheme seamless. Even knowing the future trajectory, it was almost impossible to disrupt any part of it. Ishikawa Katori didn't want to be noticed by that person too early.
But just as Ishikawa Katori was about to change seats, the content of their conversation made him abandon the idea of leaving.
"What happened to the former Vice-Captain of the Fourth Division?"
The middle-aged man who spoke first looked around and whispered, "He was poached by those nobles. It's said he's now the director of the Central Pharmaceutical Institute."
"Central Pharmaceutical Institute!!"
The young man's face instantly changed, but then he quickly covered his mouth. Although drinking and chatting, drinking and chatting, an institution like the Central Pharmaceutical Institute, which only served the 'Four Great Noble Clans,' was no longer a topic for them to discuss over drinks.
"By the way, how's your work going?" The Middle-aged Shinigami changed the subject, "Didn't you go to gather information about those notorious criminals in the higher-numbered sections? Anything interesting?"
"How could such a dangerous job be interesting?"
The young man's face distorted in bitterness: "I don't even dare to approach the higher-numbered sections, let alone gather material. I can only try to collect some rumors in Rukongai."
"They're just a bunch of Rukongai commoners, what's there to be afraid of!" The Middle-aged Shinigami said with disdain.
"That's because you don't understand."
The young man shook his head: "The people in the higher-numbered sections are not the commoners you speak of. The deeper I investigate, the more terrifying I find them to be."
"Not to mention far-off examples, just within our Gotei 13, there are many people who came from the higher-numbered sections."
"We all know Kenpachi Zaraki's background, but do you know Ikkaku Madarame, Third Seat, and Yumichika Ayasegawa, Fifth Seat? They too came from the higher-numbered sections."
"Really? Is that true?"
"More than that, Abarai Renji, Sixth Seat of the Eleventh Division, also came from the higher-numbered sections, and there are many similar cases."
"Section 80 is even more crawling with monsters."
Facing the Middle-aged Shinigami's shocked gaze, the young man said somewhat proudly, "These are all things I painstakingly collected bit by bit from the East, West, South, and North sections."
"Recently, I got a very important piece of news: South 80 Section seems to be going to war with West 80th District. Although this news came from someone in Rukongai North, its authenticity cannot yet be confirmed."
"…" Ishikawa Katori.
South and West going to war, and the news comes from the North? This intelligence is full of holes.
Fake news!
Ishikawa Katori ate the last slice of beef and got up to leave the tavern. He was truly too lazy to eavesdrop on such uninformative intelligence anymore.
If a war were truly about to break out, how could Oyama and the others be completely unaware, while Rukongai North received the news instead?
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