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Upon entering the Seireitei, Ishikawa Katori finally understood how vast its area truly was.
He had only ever seen the Seireitei from its western side before, never its full scope, but after entering, Ishikawa Katori personally experienced its immense scale.
Looking into the distance from the incredibly wide main road, even with Ishikawa Katori's current eyesight, he couldn't see the end, and the street was lined with various buildings.
Perhaps due to working hours, there weren't many pedestrians on the street; even the few who encountered Ishikawa Katori and his group would steer clear, as if they had met a plague.
Those residing in the Seireitei were not only the Shinigami of the Gotei 13 but also many relatives of Shinigami.
However, whether they were members of the various Squads or their relatives, upon seeing the Onmitsukidō, their eyes revealed expressions of dread and fear.
Because, in the eyes of many, the Onmitsukidō were a group of criminal assassins, specifically doing shady work for the Central 46.
Moreover, if someone was targeted by them, not even the target's family would be spared; rumors often circulated about entire families being wiped out by the Onmitsukidō.
Ishikawa Katori carefully observed the buildings along the way but didn't see any with numbers carved on their gates, which didn't surprise him.
To his knowledge, the Squad barracks of the Gotei 13 were not concentrated in one place but were scattered throughout the Seireitei, some located on the outskirts, others in the center.
The street was not as cold as he had imagined; instead, like the West 1 District, it had all sorts of shops: pubs, clothing stores, optical shops… Compared to the Rukongai, it actually had more of a lively atmosphere.
And in front of them, rows upon rows of shops stretched endlessly, and many Shinigami in casual clothes were strolling on the street; it looked like a Commercial Street.
However, before they could enter that street, the Onmitsukido leading the way turned and entered a side road off the main thoroughfare.
Seeing this, Ishikawa Katori blinked, pulled his hand out of his underwear, and just as they were about to turn into the alley, his single hand became a blur, and several small cards instantly flew towards the distant Commercial Street.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~~
As if hearing the sound, the two Onmitsukido members leading the way turned their heads suspiciously to look at Ishikawa Katori.
Ishikawa Katori blinked his confused large eyes and asked with a puzzled expression, "What's wrong?"
The two Onmitsukido members observed him carefully for a long time, then exchanged glances, split up, one leading the way in front, and the other following behind Ishikawa Katori, completely surrounding him.
Ishikawa Katori's cheek twitched slightly at the sight. Do they really need to guard against me like a thief?
"Wait a moment!!"
Ishikawa Katori suddenly raised a hand, and the two Onmitsukido members immediately stopped, looking warily at Ishikawa Katori's raised palm.
However…
They didn't notice that Ishikawa Katori's left hand, hidden by his large tool bag, had several small cards folder between his fingers. As their attention was on his raised right hand, he once again flicked out four small cards.
"Big brothers, how much further is the Second Division?"
As he spoke, four small cards flew out in four directions within their blind spots, finally landing in four different courtyards.
Cast a wide net, catch more fish!
Although these small cards might not necessarily attract others' attention, as long as he distributed enough, someone would eventually become curious, even if it was just to know how Ishikawa Katori managed to get these small cards into the Seireitei. It didn't matter; as long as customers came calling, Ishikawa Katori was confident he could keep them.
The two Onmitsukido members didn't notice Ishikawa Katori's small actions. Upon hearing Ishikawa Katori's question, the wariness in their eyes gradually receded.
"Almost there."
Ishikawa Katori nodded at this, but then he realized that these two Onmitsukido members were not honest at all.
Their 'almost there' actually led through a dozen sparsely populated side roads before finally stopping outside a large wooden gate. Although he did take the opportunity to throw out many small cards along the way.
It's just…
"…May I ask, this isn't your Squad barracks, is it?"
Ishikawa Katori stood in front of the gate, looked to the left, and saw an endless wall. He looked to the right, and it was still an endless wall.
And looking through the gate, he saw towering buildings.
This place…
Instead of a Squad barracks, it looked more like an urban village.
It shouldn't be, right?
Ishikawa Katori swallowed, thinking that the Second Division should be inside this 'urban village,' and this was just the outer wall.
"That's right, the Second Division is inside the wall."
However, the leading Onmitsukido member's slightly playful words directly refuted Ishikawa Katori's guess.
Ishikawa Katori's face instantly darkened, and he suddenly felt the urge to curse.
Clean up?
Renovate?
What kind of hellish joke is this!!
Such a large complex of buildings, and they want me to clean and renovate it alone? How long would that take? The Second Division must be trying to imprison me here forever with this method!
No wonder the Second Division offered 2 million Kan for just cleaning.
Originally, he thought the Shinigami of the Seireitei were not short on money, but now it seems… although the remuneration was a bit excessive, it was far from a huge profit.
Looking inside through the open gate, the central area was an incredibly luxurious palace complex. Looking northwest from the palace complex, the sight that greeted Ishikawa Katori even made him open his mouth in surprise.
Because there, surprisingly, was a moat, about thirty houses in size… a moat??
Is this a Squad barracks? Are you trying to trick me because I'm uneducated?
The palace complex was one thing, but what in the world was that building surrounded by a moat?
Ishikawa Katori, however, didn't know that the Second Division's Squad barracks occupied the largest area among the Gotei 13.
Because it not only had dormitories for members, dining halls, and other supporting facilities, but also various prisons for detaining criminals, interrogation rooms, and Surveillance Buildings, among other special-purpose facilities.
And besides that, the Squad barracks of the five divisions of the Onmitsukidō were also located there.
Normally, the Onmitsukidō and the Kidō Corps were organizations independent of the Gotei 13, but at some point, the commander of the Onmitsukidō also concurrently served as the captain of the Second Division.
So, for convenience of action, the Onmitsukidō's Squad barracks also collectively moved into the Second Division's Squad barracks.
As for the vast moat in the northwest, at its center was an incredibly secret institution, a secret even among Shinigami, managed by the Onmitsukidō's Third Division, the Supervisory Team: the [Underground Special Surveillance Building].
Which was what Shiba Kūkaku had explained to Ishikawa Katori and Ganju before…
The Maggot's Nest!!
It held many Shinigami who had been deemed ideologically dangerous and were specially supervised.
Although these Shinigami were confined in the Maggot's Nest, their freedom was not restricted within it; they were allowed to move around freely and do anything they wanted, except leave the Maggot's Nest!
Because…
These Shinigami were merely people deemed to have 'dangerous factors' by the established rules of the Seireitei; they had not committed any crimes, so they could not be judged; but if left free, they might pose a danger, which is why they were confined in the Maggot's Nest.
And this was precisely the place where the Onmitsukidō had always wanted to throw Ishikawa Katori.
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