Kirio Hikifune saw the mindless Reigai in the cell.
The Reigai's brain had been turned to mush, but the spiritual pressure within its body was still maintaining its basic life functions, preventing immediate death.
After a brief examination, Hikifune went to the next cell to see the other imprisoned Reigai.
"This indicates a reishi spell designed to destroy the brain was implanted... most likely to prevent information leaks." Hikifune turned to the 9th Division seated officer. "What information were you interrogating him about, and under what circumstances was his brain destroyed?"
The tall, thin Shinigami produced the interrogation record: "It happened when we were questioning him about the 'Great God of Soul Soil'."
"'Great God of Soul Soil'?" The name sounded familiar to Hikifune, and she became thoughtful.
All the captains knew that Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto and the others had encountered a Gate of Hell during their study tour, and that the gate was opened by believers of the 'Great God of Soul Soil'.
They speculated that these new "great gods" that had suddenly appeared in the last two years were likely fronts created by the Will of Hell.
Hikifune had her assistant bring out a set of reishi instruments to examine the reishi distribution within the Reigai's brain structure.
"There is indeed something in this Reigai's brain as well," Hikifune said, staring at the reishi distribution displayed on the instrument. "Questioning him further won't yield anything. The reishi spell in his brain will trigger if we touch on key information. Let's try to remove it via craniotomy."
Hikifune decided to perform the surgery and turned to Katori Sora: "Katori-kun, you will be the lead surgeon. I will handle breaking the reishi spell."
Sora nodded. "No problem."
Hikifune's assistant took a tool kit from a reishi space pouch and quickly set up an isolated, sterile space within the prison suitable for surgery.
The assistant connected a tube to the Reigai, with the other end linked to an external spiritual pressure source.
Hikifune adjusted the instrument, and a moment later, high-concentration reishi flowed through the Reigai's body.
"This device can output such pure reishi... Miss Kirio's technology is truly extraordinary," Sora praised.
"This reishi supply device was actually inspired by your 'Nōreitan', Katori-kun," Hikifune chuckled. "It can be used to maintain the functioning of a spiritual body. Unohana tested it and said the effect was very good. She's ordered several for the 4th Division."
Once preparations were complete, Sora picked up a scalpel and cleanly cut open the Reigai's skull.
Sora had been studying Reigai for several years and was extremely proficient in this type of surgery. He opened the skull without damaging any brain tissue.
After opening the cranium, everyone saw several spells composed of red reishi floating within the Reigai's brain.
"This reishi is unusual... It's quite different from the reishi of the Soul Society, the World of the Living, or even Hueco Mundo," Hikifune frowned.
"Miss Kirio, have you ever seen a 'Gate of Hell' in the World of the Living?" Sora prompted. "The feeling I get from this reishi is identical to the reishi emitted by a 'Gate of Hell'."
"Reishi from Hell... I haven't paid much attention to matters concerning Hell before, and I rarely go to the World of the Living," Hikifune shook her head. "This is the first time I've seen Hell reishi with my own eyes."
"But no matter what kind of spell it is, it won't work without reishi to support it." Hikifune took out a silver, thermometer-sized tube from her sleeve's reishi pocket.
She aimed the silver tube at the red spell floating above the brain.
A few breaths later, the reishi within the red spell was actually sucked away by the silver tube.
Without the support of reishi, the red spell quickly dissipated.
"What is this?" Sora was somewhat surprised. "It can absorb the reishi from a spell before the structure is destroyed."
Spells like this, designed to prevent information leaks, usually have anti-destruction features.
If one tried to forcibly destroy the spell, it would trigger its anti-destruction function and directly destroy the Reigai's brain.
But Hikifune's tool could absorb the reishi before the spell's structure was damaged. Without reishi support, the spell couldn't be triggered, even with its anti-destruction design.
"This little thing is actually a byproduct of Kisuke Urahara's development of the reishi detection device. It's called a 'Reishi Suction Needle'," Hikifune explained. "Its ability to absorb reishi was too strong, so it wasn't ultimately used for the collection module of the detection device. But it's quite useful for destroying this kind of reishi spell."
"If you're interested, Katori-kun, I'll give you one." Hikifune took out another slender tube and handed it over. "You have the ability to perform a craniotomy. If you encounter a Reigai like this again, you can remove the reishi spell in their brain yourself."
"Thank you very much, Miss Kirio," Sora said gratefully, taking the 'Reishi Suction Needle'.
"Be aware that this needle can only store a small amount of reishi. Once it's full, it can't absorb any more," Hikifune said, shaking the tube in her hand. A faint red light flowed within it—the reishi tainted with the essence of Hell, just absorbed from the spell.
After removing the spell, Sora stitched the skull cap back in place.
Then, under the effect of healing Kidō, the surgical incision gradually healed.
The surgery proceeded without any complications. An assistant injected the Reigai with an anesthetic reversal agent, waking it from its slumber.
"Thank you, Captain Hikifune and Professor Katori, for your help. Please leave the rest to us. We will extract all the information he has," Lieutenant Niino said.
"Send me a copy of the interrogation results," Hikifune nodded.
Sora returned to the 12th Division with Hikifune, waiting for the results.
Since he had participated in the surgery, Hikifune naturally wouldn't mind sharing the intelligence with him once she received it.
...
A few hours later, while discussing a new dish with Sora, Hikifune received the interrogation results.
"That 'Will of Hell' has quite a grand scheme..." Hikifune's expression grew more and more solemn as she read the report from the prison squad.
"If you and Captain-Commander Yamamoto hadn't discovered the 'Will of Hell's' plot during your study tour... the Soul Society would probably be in big trouble."
Sora took the report from Hikifune and quickly found the key information—
The Reigai who had successfully infiltrated the Spiritual Arts Academy were not limited to the two captured by Squad 8.
The captured Reigai had already given up the names of several students.
A group of Reigai had quietly infiltrated the Spiritual Arts Academy!
Furthermore, the prison squad had tortured out another piece of information.
To open a 'Gate of Hell', the soul of a sinner who committed grave crimes in life was needed as a key.
But such souls were usually taken directly by the 'Gate of Hell' while in the World of the Living.
The sinner's soul used for the 'Gate of Hell' that Sora had seen with Yamamoto some time ago had been brought to the Soul Society by these infiltrated Reigai through some means.
"These Reigai students took advantage of the graduation exam to travel to the World of the Living and bring the souls of sinners to the Soul Society," Hikifune said. "The student body of the Spiritual Arts Academy needs to be thoroughly investigated."
"Fortunately, we found two Reigai who hadn't enrolled yet. Once the school year starts in a few days, they won't have to stay in the Rukongai, and we would have had no way of finding them," Sora said with some relief.
Students of the Academy could live in the dormitories until graduation and did not have to leave during holidays.
This prevented the Shinigami screening the Rukongai from searching for the Reigai hidden within the Academy.
The intelligence they obtained had arguably saved the Soul Society from a crisis. Allowing these Reigai to remain would have been a huge hidden danger.
"There's one more piece of information. All these Reigai know of a Shinigami called 'Lord Miyamoto'," Hikifune said. "I believe this 'Lord Miyamoto' is very likely the Tetsuya Miyamoto you asked me about last time."
Sora had previously speculated that Saitō Furōfushi's 'Voice of Hell' was in Tetsuya Miyamoto's possession.
Miyamoto was formerly the 3rd Seat of the 12th Division, participated in the 'Captain Perfection Project', and was responsible for destroying the Reigai.
The information obtained from the Reigai now made Hikifune and Sora even more certain that these Reigai were created by him.
"Unfortunately, the Reigai don't know Tetsuya Miyamoto's whereabouts. He only has one-way contact with them. How cunning..." Sora frowned.
Miyamoto had long been prepared for the capture of his Reigai and had not revealed his hiding place to them.
"Perhaps we can use these Reigai to lure him out," Hikifune suggested.
However, she wasn't very confident. Given Miyamoto's cautious nature, it wouldn't be easy to draw him out using the Reigai.
A short while later, Yoruichi Shihōin and the Onmitsukidō arrived at the 12th Division.
Since there was only one Reigai left to interrogate, the information might not be accurate.
After the prison squad interrogated out the accomplices, to avoid alerting the enemy, they immediately contacted the 2nd Division to have the Onmitsukidō secretly arrest the Reigai in the Spiritual Arts Academy.
However, the Onmitsukidō couldn't guarantee they could capture the Reigai, who could self-destruct at any moment. They had to come to Hikifune's to get tranquilizer guns.
"Captain Hikifune, I'm here to pick up the tools..." Yoruichi was a bit surprised. "Professor, you're here too?"
"You're going to the Academy to arrest people, right? I'll go with you," Sora said.
"It would be even better with your help, Professor," Yoruichi nodded repeatedly.
With a familiar instructor present, the arrests would be more convenient.
After getting the tranquilizer guns, Yoruichi and the Onmitsukidō went to the Spiritual Arts Academy with Sora.
"I haven't been back in years. I never thought I'd return to the Academy on a mission to arrest underclassmen," Yoruichi said with some emotion. "I wonder what these people did to warrant the Onmitsukidō secretly arresting them."
Yoruichi had not yet received detailed information and didn't know the true identity of these "underclassmen."
"This matter is very serious and has far-reaching implications. But since you're in the Onmitsukidō, you should be able to see the relevant intelligence when you get back," Sora said.
The Onmitsukidō's intelligence network was very efficient, so Sora saved himself the trouble of explaining the Reigai situation to her.
Yoruichi and the Onmitsukidō had all changed into student uniforms. Walking with Sora, they wouldn't attract attention.
Sora first went to the office to get a student roster and find the classes and dormitories of the students on the list.
Then, he led Yoruichi and the others to the student dormitories.
"Professor Katori!" a student from the advanced swordsmanship class greeted Sora. "Are these new students?"
The upperclassmen they met on the way thought the people following Sora were freshmen.
"Yes. Mizutani-kun, do you have a moment? If so, could you explain the student code of conduct to these new students?" Sora smiled and nodded.
"Of course!" the student replied enthusiastically.
Sora entered the dormitory alone. There were six names on his list. Apart from two sixth-year students, the other four were from lower years.
According to the Reigai's intelligence, the two students who had brought the sinner's soul to the Soul Society during the graduation exam had intentionally failed the test.
They chose to delay graduation to extend their time at the Academy.
Sora prioritized finding these two students, who were roommates.
He pretended to be looking for another student in their dorm, one who had chosen swordsmanship for his advanced studies.
After knocking for a moment, a short-haired man opened the door.
Seeing the sudden visit from his Professor, the man was a bit nervous. "Professor Katori, what can I do for you?"
"Shirata-kun, could you do me a favor?" Sora took the opportunity to glance at the two Reigai students staring at the door. "The wooden swords in the swordsmanship hall need to be replaced. I need some help."
"No problem!" The short-haired man breathed a sigh of relief. He thought his performance in last semester's swordsmanship class was so poor that Professor Katori didn't want him to choose the advanced class.
Sora casually gestured to the two Reigai students in the room. "You two, come and help as well."
The two Reigai students didn't want to attract attention and did not refuse the Professor's request. They followed him out.
Sora led the three of them out of the dormitory and over to Yoruichi and the Onmitsukidō.
Sora said, "Take a few of the new students and go move the wooden swords. I have other business."
Sora and Yoruichi exchanged a glance, and she quickly understood. "Alright!"
Mizutani, who was enthusiastically explaining the Academy's rules to the "new students," said, "I'll go help too!"
With two advanced swordsmanship students present, one of whom was a roommate, the two Reigai students had no suspicions and followed them away from the dormitory.
"I know where the warehouse is, but to get the wooden swords, we need to talk to Professor Shirai first," Mizutani said.
Mizutani led the group to Riko Shirai's office.
After entering the office building, Yoruichi saw that there were few people around. When no one was paying attention, she immediately waved her hand, signaling her subordinates to act.
Several Onmitsukidō members received the signal and immediately moved to subdue the two Reigai students.
"What are you doing?!" Mizutani exclaimed, seeing new students attack upperclassmen for the first time.
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