Saitō Furōfushi possessed a 'Tenzen Heisō' capable of communicating with Hell, so she might know something about it.
Sora was eager to meet her, to see if he could gather any intelligence related to Hell from her.
However, Saitō Furōfushi was currently imprisoned in Muken, and meeting her would not be easy. Sora planned to first ask her clan members about the situation.
Sora found Kana Azashiro. She was with others, explaining matters of the dōjō and the Spiritual Arts Academy to Sajin Komamura.
"Kana, that Miss Saitō you met during your graduation assessment, is she still in Squad 3?" Sora asked.
"Big Sister Saitō is still the 4th Seat of Squad 3. She usually takes great care of me. Does Professor need to see her for something?" Kana Azashiro said.
"Is Miss Saitō a member of the Saitō clan? There's something I'd like to ask a member of the Saitō clan," Sora said.
"Big Sister Saitō is indeed from the Saitō clan," Kana Azashiro nodded and said. "She's the officer on duty this week, so she should be in the barracks right now. I'll take Professor to find her."
...
Kana Azashiro led Katori Sora to Squad 3.
The atmosphere in the squad barracks was somewhat tense, with many Shinigami moving about in a hurry.
Upon seeing Kana Azashiro, a Squad 3 member immediately approached and said, "Miss Azashiro, you've come at the right time! Vice-Captain Iba is gathering everyone!"
Kana Azashiro scratched her cheek. "Did something happen? My denreishinki didn't receive any message."
The Squad 3 member replied, "There's an urgent mission. Are you on leave today, Miss Azashiro? Vice-Captain Iba probably hasn't summoned the Shinigami on leave yet."
"The orders must have come down from Captain-Commander Yamamoto," Sora stroked his chin, lost in thought.
Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto had cut his 'study tour' short precisely to return and organize the Shinigami to search the Rukongai.
The will of Hell had already grasped the method of opening a 'Gate of Hell' in Soul Society. Allowing those Reigai connected to Hell's will to remain in the Rukongai was a huge hidden danger.
Therefore, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto had to organize manpower to root out the Reigai in the Rukongai.
"I wonder if Sōsuke Aizen has finished optimizing the Reishi detection devices..." Sora thought to himself.
Time was tight, and Sora didn't know if Sōsuke Aizen could complete the optimization in such a short period.
Kana Azashiro said, "Let's go and see. Big Sister Saitō must have gone over as well."
The two followed the Squad 3 members to the assembly hall.
As expected, they found Akane Saitō there.
"Kana, isn't this your week off? Vice-Captain Iba hasn't had time to summon the Shinigami on leave yet, has he? What brings you here?" Akane Saitō said with a smile. "Katori-Professor, long time no see."
"Professor wanted to ask you something, so I brought him over," Kana Azashiro asked curiously. "Has some emergency occurred? So many people are gathered in the barracks."
"There is a mission. We are to investigate the shrines and believers in the Hanakare District and its surrounding areas with Squad 8 and Squad 13," Akane Saitō explained.
The number of Reishi detection devices was limited, and ordinary Shinigami lacked the means to distinguish Reigai. It was impossible to screen the entire Rukongai in a short time, so Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto had first arranged for them to investigate the shrines in the Hanakare District and nearby areas.
"Investigate shrines and believers... Is the Seireitei going to interfere with the beliefs of the Rukongai?" Kana Azashiro asked, surprised. She remembered that the Seireitei never used to meddle in such things.
"I heard that some believers have been deceived by those shrines and could pose a danger to Soul Society," Akane Saitō looked at Katori Sora. "What did Katori-Professor want to ask me? Please, feel free to ask anything."
Thanks to the goodwill built up during the Hueco Mundo mission several years ago, Akane Saitō was more than happy to help Katori Sora.
Sora asked, "Miss Saitō, do you know of the first captain of Squad 6, Saitō Furōfushi?"
"Saitō Furōfushi..." Akane Saitō raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised to hear this name from Katori Sora's lips. "Of course, I know her. She is my aunt."
Sora said in amazement, "You're that closely related."
Akane Saitō nodded. "But I actually don't have much of an impression of this aunt. She was already imprisoned in Muken when I was very young."
Sora didn't beat around the bush and asked directly, "I learned from Batsu'unsai that Saitō Furōfushi has an interesting 'Tenzen Heisō' called 'Voice of Hell,' which can communicate with Hell and its sinners. I would like to know the whereabouts of this 'Voice of Hell'."
Sora had learned from Batsu'unsai that the function of this 'Tenzen Heisō' that communicated with Hell was to correspond with the sinners within it.
"'Voice of Hell'?" Akane Saitō thought for a moment. "I remember now. There was such a thing. I wanted to play with it when I was a child, but my father stopped me. He was afraid I would be corrupted by evil people. The souls in Hell are all people who committed great evil deeds in life!"
Akane Saitō was unaware that the 'Soul Funeral Rites' sent captain-level Shinigami to Hell; she thought only evil souls resided there.
Akane Saitō continued, "However, the 'Voice of Hell' is no longer in our family's possession. After my aunt was imprisoned in Muken, all her personal belongings were confiscated by the prison squad. The 'Voice of Hell' was something my aunt cherished and carried with her at all times, so it was taken away as well."
"Confiscated by the prison squad... That's truly a pity. I was hoping to borrow it from you, Miss Saitō," Sora understood.
"I'm sorry I couldn't be of help to you, Katori-Professor."
"You're too kind, Miss Saitō. Thank you for answering my questions. I won't take up any more of your time."
After expressing his thanks, Sora left Squad 3. Kana Azashiro remained behind to carry out the mission.
Although he had learned of the 'Voice of Hell's' whereabouts from Akane Saitō, it had already been confiscated by the prison squad.
"Saitō Furōfushi was sentenced to a thousand years... locked up for so long... borrowing her things for a bit probably wouldn't be noticed, right?" A mischievous idea began to form in Sora's mind.
This matter involved Hell. If he reported this information to Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, the Captain-Commander could probably request the 'Voice of Hell' directly from the prison squad.
However, if that happened, Sora wouldn't necessarily have the chance to come into contact with the 'Voice of Hell', and he was quite interested in this object that could communicate with Hell.
Therefore, he decided to "borrow" it from the prison squad himself.
With his students having joined various squads, Sora's network had also expanded.
The prison squad belonged to Squad 9, and Kensei Muguruma was now a seated officer there. Sora planned to ask Kensei where the belongings of prisoners held in Muken were stored.
...
The next day, at Squad 9.
Kensei Muguruma was in the Squad 9 records room, looking through the archives.
"Saitō..." Kensei flipped through a scroll. "Not in this one either..."
He was helping his Professor search for records related to Saitō Furōfushi.
But Saitō Furōfushi had been imprisoned a long time ago, making the records difficult to find.
"Seriously... the prison squad's records are too chaotic... They should be categorized by date," Kensei felt a headache coming on. These records were not sorted chronologically; records spanning several years, or even decades, were all in a single volume.
"Kensei, it's not a good thing for our prison squad's information to be recorded too clearly, you know."
A voice from behind startled Kensei.
Kensei turned his head to see a middle-aged Shinigami standing behind him and complained, "It's you, Uncle Umesada... Why do you walk so silently!"
"It's you who was too focused," Umesada Kōji said with a laugh. "What are you looking for, so engrossed?"
"Nothing, just wanted to organize the old records. They're recorded in such a mess!" Kensei didn't want to reveal his Professor's business and made an excuse.
"Heh, if this information were recorded too clearly, it wouldn't be a good thing," Umesada Kōji instructed him in a grave tone. "Disorderly records create more room for maneuver!"
"What does that mean?" Kensei was stunned.
"You're still too young," Umesada Kōji patted Kensei's shoulder. "These records are all of items confiscated from prisoners."
"Yes... wouldn't it be better to record them in more detail? So when these prisoners are released, it's easier to find their things," Kensei asked.
"That's true in theory, but... some prisoners are incarcerated for hundreds or thousands of years. Do you think they can come out of prison alive?" Umesada Kōji chuckled lightly.
"The prisoners all wear restraints made of Sekkiseki... With their Spiritual Pressure sealed for so long, it's indeed difficult to survive for that long," Kensei said after a moment of thought.
"So, you see... from the moment they are imprisoned, these confiscated items are effectively ownerless!" Umesada Kōji patted Kensei's shoulder again, speaking in the tone of a senior. "Squad 9 hasn't had a captain for a long time. A new captain might be appointed out of the blue someday. If the records are too clear and the new captain investigates past events, it would be difficult to explain things."
Kensei frowned, feeling this process was wrong, but what Umesada Kōji said also made some sense. These Shinigami with long sentences were basically unable to get out alive.
"But... what if someone does survive their time in prison and then can't find their things?" Kensei asked.
"Then we'll just have to put in more effort, find the records from that year, and see if we can retrieve their belongings. If not, we'll compensate them based on an estimated value," Umesada Kōji shrugged.
"Alright..." Kensei continued to flip through the records. "But I think they should at least be sorted by year."
"For prisoners with short sentences, we don't touch their things. You can just sort those out. For sentences of two hundred years or more, you'd better not touch them," Umesada Kōji said.
"I understand," Kensei nodded.
Umesada Kōji was just on an inspection tour. After chatting with Kensei for a while, he left the records room.
After Umesada Kōji left, Kensei continued to search through the older records.
Two hours later, Kensei finally found the record related to Saitō Furōfushi.
"Saitō Furōfushi... sentence of one thousand years... items stored in Warehouse 176..." Kensei read the information on the scroll.
"One Zanpakutō confiscated..."
"One captain's haori..."
"Shihakushō..."
"One Reishi space pocket..."
"Thirty-six travel novels..."
"One bag of assorted nuts..."
"One bag of dried dates..."
"What is all this stuff?!"
Kensei was shocked. In Saitō Furōfushi's list of confiscated items, various snacks alone filled an entire page.
"It's probably stuff stored in the Reishi space pocket... It's normal to put some food in a Reishi space pocket."
Kensei thought this, but after turning another page, he found it was still snacks!
"Is her Reishi space pocket filled with nothing but snacks?!" Kensei was astounded.
But soon, he frowned.
"Why don't I see the 'Tenzen Heisō' named 'Voice of Hell' that Professor wanted me to look for?" Kensei wondered.
He checked several more times to make sure he hadn't missed anything. There was indeed no record of a 'Voice of Hell'.
"It seems a line here has been erased..." Kensei discovered that in the list of confiscated items, the writing on one line had been erased with Reishi.
"Something's wrong... Warehouse 176, is it..."
Kensei put away the record and decided to go to Warehouse 176 to check for himself.
As a seated officer of Squad 9, Kensei had the authority to enter the warehouses.
Thanks to the "fine tradition" of Squad 9, his entry into the warehouse did not attract anyone's attention.
He entered Warehouse 176 and found Saitō Furōfushi's belongings. There was only a single Reishi space pocket; all her other items had been placed inside it.
He took out the Reishi space pocket and, as expected, did not find the 'Tenzen Heisō' named 'Voice of Hell' inside.
"It's really not here..." Kensei's eyes narrowed.
And due to the chaotic management of Squad 9's records, he didn't even know who had altered the scroll or who had taken the item.
"Damn it, I can't help Professor. If I become the captain of Squad 9 in the future, I'll have to properly manage the records room and the warehouses!" Kensei thought with a double standard, as his current ease of access to both was due to this very mismanagement.
...
"The record was altered?"
"Yes, I went to the warehouse to check. The 'Voice of Hell' is indeed not there."
The news Kensei brought back was very surprising to Sora.
He hadn't expected Kensei to be able to retrieve the 'Tenzen Heisō' named 'Voice of Hell'.
He had only wanted to confirm the 'Voice of Hell's' location through Kensei, and then go "borrow" it himself.
But it turned out the 'Voice of Hell' was no longer in the prison squad's warehouse.
"You've worked hard. It doesn't matter that it's missing," Sora said with a light laugh.
"The prison squad's records are chaotic, making it difficult to find out who took it. I made some inquiries. Usually, the ones who do this are the seated officer and squad members responsible for the confiscation at the time. But Saitō Furōfushi was imprisoned too long ago. The seated officer and two squad members responsible have already left the prison squad," Kensei replied.
"Looks like I'll have to talk to Saitō Furōfushi in person... She possessed the 'Voice of Hell' for a long time, so she should have some knowledge of Hell," Sora thought to himself.
---
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