The next day, a soul dressed in the white robes of a stealthily approached the outside of the shrine.
He climbed the wall and peered through a window to check the situation inside.
Seeing that there was no one inside, he breathed a sigh of relief.
"This shrine is still usable. They were just passing Shinigami; as expected, they wouldn't stay here for long..." the white-robed priest muttered, relieved.
Just then, a hand rested on his shoulder, making him tremble all over.
Kyōraku Shunsui said lazily, "Yare yare, I've been waiting for you for a long time. I almost thought you wouldn't come back."
The white-robed priest's body stiffened. He slowly turned his head and said with a fawning smile, "So, you masters haven't left yet..."
Sora said gently, "We're in no hurry. There are a few things we'd like to ask you."
After dawn, the group had not left the shrine.
Combining the information from Urahara Kisuke, Sora felt that the rampant spread of faith in the Hanakare District might be related to the Reigai.
After discussing it with Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni, the Captain-Commander decided to investigate the matter.
Sora guessed that the white-robed priest wouldn't give up this shrine so easily, so they stayed behind to wait for him.
The white-robed priest smiled obsequiously. "Masters, please ask whatever you wish to know!"
Sora asked, "What is the name of the deity you worship?"
The priest answered honestly, "My lord is the Great God of the Underworld..."
"The Great God of the Underworld?" Jūshirō Ukitake indicated he had never heard of it. "What kind of local deity is that..."
The priest retorted, "The Great God of the Underworld presides over the netherworld, controlling the reincarnation of souls... As long as one sincerely believes... after death, they can be reborn into a good family in the World of the Living and enjoy wealth and prosperity!"
"Pfft— Your deity is quite interesting..." Kyōraku Shunsui couldn't hold back his laughter. "The reincarnation of souls into the World of the Living after death is a natural law of the Soul Society. What god is in charge of that... If you must say, the balance of the Three Realms is a rule set by the Soul King. You should be worshipping the Soul King instead!"
Sora, however, was not very surprised. "There are many similar beliefs in the World of the Living, pinning their hopes on reincarnation."
The white-robed priest was a shrewd man who knew how to seek advantages and avoid harm. He didn't dare to provoke the Shinigami, and even when they questioned his faith right in front of him, he didn't dare say much.
Sora continued to ask, "What is your position in the shrine? This shrine isn't your headquarters, is it? Tell us about your organization."
The priest replied, "The headquarters is also in the Hanakare District, but it's a bit far from here. I am a priest of the shrine, and my daily duties are to explain the doctrines to the faithful and to find the most wicked of people."
"Find the most wicked of people? What for?"
"Believing in the Great God of the Underworld requires performing good deeds and accumulating virtue. The more virtue one accumulates, the better their future reincarnation will be."
"Then what do you do after you find these extremely wicked people?"
"Naturally, we offer them as a sacrifice to my lord."
"What is the standard for being 'extremely wicked'?"
"That has to be determined by the Chief Priest at the headquarters. We priests are responsible for bringing the people over."
The Rukongai lacked a sound legal system. If an evil person was killed while committing a crime, no one would care.
Therefore, the shrine's actions had not attracted the attention of the Shinigami.
Sora said, "We want to meet your Chief Priest. Take us to your headquarters."
Sora believed that if the proliferation of faith was truly related to the Reigai, the Reigai wouldn't be among the grassroots believers. It was best to investigate the shrine's leadership directly.
"This... that's not very appropriate... our shrine headquarters is nothing special..."
The white-robed priest was in a difficult position. If he brought these Shinigami there, his future at the shrine would be over.
Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni spoke in a tone that allowed no argument: "You have no choice."
The priest's expression changed, but he finally nodded. "Masters, please follow me. The next holy festival is in three days. The Chief Priest will certainly not be absent on that day."
...
Three days later, the shrine of the Great God of the Underworld was crowded with many believers.
Today was the holy festival, and priests from various branches had brought the 'wicked people' they had found in their respective districts.
The Shrine's Chief Priest would select the truly 'most wicked' from among them to be sacrificed to the 'Great God of the Underworld'.
Sora and the others followed the white-robed priest to the shrine.
However, the festival activities had not yet begun, and the priest didn't know where the Chief Priest was. To avoid alerting their target, they blended in with the believers and waited for the Chief Priest to appear.
"It's really bustling here, more people than I saw at the market," Sora remarked, observing the crowd gathered outside the shrine.
There were too many believers, so the festival was being held in an open area outside the shrine.
"There are over a thousand people gathered here. The faith of the 'Great God of the Underworld' has a significant following in the Hanakare District," Ukitake commented with a sigh.
"Some of them must have come from outside the Hanakare District. That priest mentioned that the 'Great God of the Underworld' has shrines beyond this area as well," Sora said.
"To think so many people believe in this kind of local god. They'd be better off believing in the Soul King!" Kyōraku Shunsui clicked his tongue in wonder.
They had already set up an invisible reishi barrier to isolate their voices, so the people around them were completely unaware of their conversation.
However, the barrier was one-way, allowing them to hear the conversations of the believers outside.
"I wonder how many wicked people were caught for this festival? I'm so excited!"
"Yeah, last time they only caught seven. I really hope they catch more. It would be best to sacrifice all those wicked people to the 'Great God of the Underworld'!"
"I heard they caught a big shot this time..."
"Could it be that group of bandits from Mount Seizō?"
"That's hardly a big shot. It must be someone else, but I'm not sure of the details."
As the believers were discussing among themselves, several priests in white robes walked out from the shrine.
The man in the lead wore a tall hat, and the patterns on his robe were more complex and exquisite than those of the other priests.
"The Chief Priest!"
The believers raised their arms and cheered.
The appearance of the Chief Priest also caught the attention of Sora and his group.
The Chief Priest wore a mask, obscuring his face, but Sora and the others could all sense that he possessed spiritual pressure.
Not only that, but the four white-robed priests following behind him also had spiritual pressure.
"Are these people Shinigami?" Shunsui asked the priest who brought them in a low voice.
He could sense that the spiritual pressure of all five individuals had reached the level of a Shinigami.
"I don't know... The Chief Priest and these four High Priests are the core members of the shrine. It's usually very difficult for me to have any contact with them," the white-robed priest said.
"It's also possible they are the Reigai the Seireitei is looking for," Sora thought to himself.
The Reigai that had previously infiltrated Kirio Hikifune's lab already had spiritual pressure equivalent to an ordinary Shinigami. Therefore, it couldn't be ruled out that these masked priests were also Reigai.
"Let's wait until their festival is over, then we'll check if they are Reigai," Shunsui said.
Now that the targets had appeared, there was no possibility of escape.
Shunsui wanted to see what kind of tricks this festival had in store.
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