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Soi Fon sat on the long seat in the Squad Barracks, resting her chin on her handguard, her gaze cold as she looked down at the people below.
At this moment, everyone below had slightly pale faces, giving off a feeling of unease and panic.
Even Ōmaeda, who was sitting below Soi Fon, put down his snack bag and adopted an extremely serious expression.
It was him again!
Although Ōmaeda appeared extremely serious on the surface, he was already cursing inwardly.
Again and again, ever since that trouble-making bastard opened the Everything Store in West 38th District, Ōmaeda didn't know how many times he had been reprimanded by the Captain because of that guy's trouble.
And...
It got more serious each time.
Can you blame me?
Ōmaeda also felt very wronged. When he first learned of such a person, the strength he displayed was only at the level of a Shin'ō Academy student. How could he, a dignified Vice-Captain of the Second Division and Captain of the Onmitsukidō's Second Division Patrol Corps, constantly keep an eye on a guy who wasn't even a Shinigami?
"Squad Leader..."
After a long period of silence, an Onmitsukido member finally reported in a hoarse voice in the hall: "Regarding the battle that occurred outside West 38th District, we could only detect Reishi fluctuations. The specific data collection and intelligence... the Twelfth Division did not provide us with it."
"It is said that due to equipment malfunction, the Spiritual Wave Measurement Research Department stopped monitoring the western area at that time, and also..."
"I didn't ask you to investigate these things."
Soi Fon coldly interrupted the Onmitsukido member, her gaze sweeping over the faces of everyone below. She said coldly: "What I want to know is... where did the person who fought that kid come from, their specific identity, and... who ordered the Twelfth Division's 'Spiritual Wave Measurement Research Department' to stop monitoring the western area at that specific time."
Equipment malfunction?
Such a thing is almost impossible for the 'Spiritual Wave Measurement Research Department' to happen, especially at such a sensitive time.
It should be known that the 'Spiritual Wave Measurement Research Department', located within the Technology Development Bureau, was established only after that incident a hundred years ago. Its main purpose was to avoid repeating past mistakes, and it had never had any problems in a hundred years!
And while there were similar organizations within the Onmitsukidō she led, they could only monitor movements around a certain person and could not obtain more detailed data. In fact, if Ishikawa Katori's spiritual pressure hadn't already been familiar to them, they wouldn't even have been able to confirm the identities of the combatants.
So, although they confirmed that Ishikawa Katori fought with someone who had Vice-Captain level spiritual pressure, they could not analyze the specific intelligence of that person.
And there was another very important reason why Soi Fon believed someone was manipulating things behind the scenes.
That was, after they launched their investigation, they encountered great resistance, as if some force was constantly hindering their investigation into the detailed situation.
Even the 'residual Reishi' on the battlefield had been artificially cleaned up before they arrived to investigate, making it impossible to obtain any intelligence from the battlefield.
If they hadn't raised Ishikawa Katori's 'Supervisor Level' beforehand and switched to remote monitoring, their Second Division wouldn't even have known that such a battle had occurred in Rukongai West.
Facing Soi Fon's questioning, the Squad Barracks fell silent again.
They naturally saw the strangeness revealed in this matter, but the way it was handled was too professional. There were some things that Soi Fon dared to investigate thoroughly, but they did not, and they were unable to do so without assistance from various parties!
After a period of silence, Ōmaeda stepped forward and, after hesitating for a moment, said: "Captain, regarding who the kid who opened the Everything Store was fighting, I have received some information."
With that, he didn't wait for Soi Fon to ask, and reported directly: "The identity of the opponent should be a great villain from South 80 Section. Not long ago, there was a widely spread rumor in Northern Rukongai that the great villain from South 80 Section was preparing to go to war with the great villain from West 80 Section."
"I had the Second and Fourth Divisions investigate further along this clue in the higher-numbered sections, and found that the kid who opened the Everything Store... cough, accepted a commission from the great villain of West 80 Section to shelter two people who had escaped from West 80 Section. There were many people in the tavern at the time, so it was easy to confirm."
Soi Fon nodded upon hearing this, motioning for him to continue.
The Ōmaeda family had generations of talent for joining the Onmitsukidō. Although Ōmaeda Marechiyo's ability was not as good as his father, Ōmaeda Hichimaru, he was definitely not bought in with money, although... money did indeed provide some assistance.
"As for the outcome of the battle, it should be that the kid who opened the Everything Store won. The two great villains who came from South 80 Section both died at his hands. This was also revealed by the villains who frequently visited the Wan Shi Wu Tavern; they have been boasting about it everywhere in the higher-numbered sections. Of course, afterwards, I also went to the Shiba Main Family to confirm, and that kid is currently recuperating at the Shiba Main Family."
"However, due to the Shiba Family Head's obstruction, I did not get to meet him personally."
Ōmaeda said all this in one breath. What he said earlier was indeed information he had sent people to investigate, but this last sentence had a slight modification... He did go to the Shiba Family to confirm, but he did not propose to meet Ishikawa Katori himself.
The reason was simple...
Who knew if that kid would kill him? After all, according to the information he investigated, the villains in the higher-numbered sections all said he was a cruel, ruthless, bloodthirsty... and powerful enough to kill two great villains.
It had to be said, that kid was indeed very strange.
In the eyes of ordinary people, he was a kind-hearted person who loved to help others; but in the eyes of those fearless villains, he was an incredibly terrifying guy.
"Mm."
Soi Fon nodded, a thoughtful expression on her face.
Seeing this, Ōmaeda immediately breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed his vacation next year should be safe...
"Regarding contacting him, I can handle that later." With that, Soi Fon's gaze swept coldly over the faces of everyone below, and she said chillingly: "Raise his Supervisor priority to 7, and dispatch ordinary people from the Onmitsukidō responsible for surveillance to live near his shop."
"Yes!"
The Onmitsukido members immediately breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this.
Soi Fon also did not continue to pursue the responsibility of these subordinates. After all, she herself encountered great resistance during her investigation, so the fact that the Onmitsukidō found so little was actually within her expectations.
However...
Soi Fon turned to look at Ōmaeda: "Your vacation this year... no, your vacation next year is also canceled."
Ōmaeda's face changed, and he subconsciously asked: "Huh? Why?"
"The intelligence gathered is not enough to erase your misjudgment of the Supervisor's strength."
Soi Fon replied coldly. From being less than a student to a Low Level Seated Officer, then reporting that the opponent was at most a High Level Seated Officer... now the opponent had killed two people with Vice-Captain spiritual pressure. Such a misjudgment was already a very serious incident for the Onmitsukidō.
As for whether the opponent cultivated to this level in five years, while this possibility was not zero, according to Ōmaeda's previous report, the opponent's initial spiritual power talent was not high, making it impossible to grow to this level in just five short years.
So there was only one possibility, and that was that Ōmaeda had misjudged the opponent's spiritual power talent from the beginning.
...
Hum hum hum...
In the Ōkaku Training Hall, Ishikawa Katori continuously swung his fists into the empty air in front of him. Each punch carried a heavy whistle.
He had been empty-swinging for nearly half a day.
Hundreds of thousands of empty swings gradually loosened Ishikawa Katori's stiff body.
Three days had passed since the battle with Genji, and Ishikawa Katori had been in a state of recovery during these three days.
And it was under the warm care of Big Sister Kukaku, the kind where if he moved around too much, he'd be killed...
Only this morning was he allowed to leave his room. When he got Big Sister Kukaku's permission, Ishikawa Katori immediately plunged into the Ōkaku Training Hall.
Although this battle was dangerous, the gains were equally immense. Besides comprehending Shunko, he had made some progress in all other aspects.
The only regret was...
At the end of the battle, Genji seemed to have regained his sanity, but Ishikawa Katori was in too poor a state to investigate the origin of Genji's power.
After all, his condition was already on the verge of collapse at that time, and Shunko itself placed a great burden on the body. Ishikawa Katori had no spare energy to hold back and only wanted to defeat Genji in one go.
Of course, Ishikawa Katori also didn't deny that there was a little bit of battle frenzy involved.
However, whether to investigate or not was irrelevant. The only one who could create such a monster, besides that hairspray-handed guy, was no one else.
Hum hum hum...
The dull sound of air being torn grew more intense, and Ishikawa Katori's bare upper body was almost soaked with sweat.
And the pressure on the arena he was in became heavier and heavier as time passed, making Ishikawa Katori feel as if he was swinging his fists in the deep sea.
Sure enough, Big Sister Kukaku improved the Spiritual Crests on the arena after I left.
A hint of gratitude flashed in Ishikawa Katori's eyes. In fact, after entering the Shunko state, Ishikawa Katori had vaguely caught the aura of Ganju and Big Sister Kukaku, knowing that Big Sister Kukaku had always been secretly protecting him.
Unlike last time, this time Ishikawa Katori was entirely looking for trouble himself, so besides having Uzuki hide at the Shiba, Ishikawa Katori never thought of asking Big Sister Kukaku for help.
But she came.
"I always feel... I owe more and more favors." Ishikawa Katori sighed inwardly.
Shaking his head and giving up on further contemplation, Ishikawa Katori focused on swinging his fists.
Instead of thinking about how to repay, it was better to concentrate on cultivation and make himself stronger, for with his current strength, he couldn't help Big Sister Kukaku much, and even if he could, it would only be icing on the cake.
However...
A strange look flashed in Ishikawa Katori's eyes. Besides Big Sister Kukaku and the others, Ishikawa Katori vaguely felt that there were others secretly observing this battle.
Of course, it was just a feeling, and Ishikawa Katori wasn't sure if it was his imagination.
"Hoo~~"
Ishikawa Katori let out a long breath, his fist-swinging motion paused, and he sat directly on the arena. As he sat down, the pressure coming from all directions of the arena seemed to receive a signal and instantly dissipated.
Ishikawa Katori sat on the ground, panting heavily, but a cold glint flashed in his eyes.
Whether it was a misconception or not, he had to remain vigilant and be prepared to respond.
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