Katori Sora and Sōsuke Aizen moved swiftly through the courtyard.
They encountered a few people along the way.
Aside from the servants, anyone wearing clothes with the Tsunayashiro family crest was killed by Katori Sora and Sōsuke Aizen.
The two of them moved quickly.
There was much to do and little time.
Their trip wasn't just about killing people; they had several tasks to accomplish.
"Professor, this is where 'Enrakyōten' is stored."
Sōsuke Aizen led the professor to an imposing tower-like pavilion.
This was the most heavily guarded place in the Tsunayashiro family estate.
However, the guards here were completely unaware of the commotion outside, still guarding the treasure inside the pavilion.
Besides killing people and setting up the Hell aura, Sora also had to take the treasures inside.
There was one treasure here that held a great attraction for Sora—
A fragment of the Soul King!
The ancestors of the Tsunayashiro family had participated in the dismemberment of the Soul King's body, and they had kept some of the fragments.
"Upstairs are the library and some rare treasures. The Soul King fragment is in the basement."
Sōsuke Aizen had been here before and had already scouted the location, knowing where the Soul King fragment was kept.
"Take everything!" Sora quickly completed his Bankai. "Bankai, Shosō Kaijin!"
Sora's mastery of his shadow ability was much stronger than before.
Initially, his Bankai could only summon one shadow with a strength of one to five-tenths of his own.
If it was his own shadow, it would have five-tenths of his strength.
If it was someone else's shadow, it would depend on the target being replicated.
The stronger the target, the lower the percentage of power that could be replicated.
Now he could summon two such shadows at the same time.
Not only that, he could also make the shadow clones divide further.
The shadows could create more shadows, but doing so would disperse their strength.
Sora summoned dozens of his own shadows.
He handed the pre-prepared Reishi space pockets to the shadows.
After receiving the Reishi space pockets, the shadows immediately entered the pavilion and packed everything away.
Meanwhile, Sora and Sōsuke Aizen went to deal with the dozen or so guards in the attic.
These guards were all from the Tsunayashiro branch families. Since they had already decided to act, they didn't plan on leaving any loose ends.
The guards in the attic were just like their family head.
By the time they realized something was wrong, they were already powerless to resist.
The place where the Soul King fragment was stored was protected by a Reishi barrier, so Sora needed to retrieve it personally.
Sora and Sōsuke Aizen arrived at the tower's basement.
The Tsunayashiro family seemed very confident in this Reishi barrier, as there were no guards here.
The two of them passed through a long, narrow corridor and came to a secret room.
"The Soul King fragment is inside. 'Enrakyōten' is stored in the room on the right."
Sōsuke Aizen pointed to the room on the right, where there was only an empty sword rack, obviously the one previously used to display 'Enrakyōten'.
The secret room had two side chambers. The Soul King fragment was stored in the left chamber.
Sora's shadow space extended, instantly crossing the Reishi barrier of the side chamber.
Inside the chamber, there were more than ten containers filled with a green solution.
The Soul King fragments were soaked in some kind of medicinal fluid that suppressed their activity, preventing them from developing self-awareness.
Among these containers, only two held relatively large pieces of body tissue; the others were fragments less than a centimeter long.
The two containers with the larger Soul King fragments held a bone in one and a piece of flesh in the other.
"This must be the Soul King's knee... and this is... muscle from the calf."
Sora was very familiar with human anatomy and could tell where these parts came from at a glance.
They were both tissues from the leg.
"The Soul King was truly divided by their ancestors..."
Sōsuke Aizen's eyes flickered. Although he had previously received a piece of the Soul King from the professor for research, a small piece of bone couldn't reveal the Soul King's current state.
Seeing these body tissues now gave him a deeper understanding of the Soul King's current condition.
Time was short, so Sora didn't plan to study these things here. He packed them up and took them away directly.
A moment later, the shadows returned to Sora's side.
The books and treasures in the pavilion had all been cleared out by the shadows.
"Now for the last thing, Sōsuke!"
"I'm ready, Professor."
The two of them left and ascended into the air.
Sora took out the box containing the 'Jigoku Rinju'.
After infusing it with Reiatsu, he threw it towards the ground.
A moment later, the 'Jigoku Rinju' exploded within the Tsunayashiro estate.
Visible black and red Hell's gaseous energy spread rapidly.
In the blink of an eye, the Tsunayashiro estate was filled with a dense Hell aura.
The few traces of Reishi left by Sora and Sōsuke Aizen were instantly dyed into Hell Reishi by the Hell's gaseous energy.
Even the Reishi in the atmosphere was dyed into Hell Reishi.
The Hell Reishi was so dense it became a visible black and red mist.
The entire estate was filled with the black and red mist and Hell's gaseous energy.
Under Sōsuke Aizen's manipulation, people near the Tsunayashiro estate all saw a "Gate of Hell" slowly emerge within the estate grounds.
Marenoshin Ōmaeda and Jirō Obana had already left the Tsunayashiro residence and were on a pavilion closest to the Tsunayashiro estate.
"Lieutenant, I found Tokinada Tsunayashiro at the Tsunayashiro estate!"
Marenoshin Ōmaeda was using a Denreishinki to contact his lieutenant, Yoruichi Shihōin.
"What nonsense are you talking about? Tokinada Tsunayashiro was already taken care of by my professor!"
Yoruichi Shihōin's voice came from the Denreishinki.
"It's true! He returned from Hell and killed the Tsunayashiro family head..."
Marenoshin Ōmaeda said urgently.
"Hey, hey—look at that!"
Jirō Obana tugged on Marenoshin Ōmaeda's sleeve.
"I'm reporting to the lieutenant, don't interrupt me... uh... the Gates of Hell?!"
Marenoshin Ōmaeda turned his head and froze instantly.
He saw a Gate of Hell appear in the courtyard in front of them.
The 'Gate of Hell' opened a crack, and a dark mist emanated from within.
Tokinada Tsunayashiro, holding 'Enrakyōten', stood before the Gate of Hell. He turned into a cloud of black and red mist and entered the crack in the 'Gate of Hell'.
A moment later, the 'Gate of Hell' gradually disappeared.
"Hey... hey... why did you suddenly stop talking... What did you just say? What's this about the Gates of Hell?"
The voice from the Denreishinki pulled the stunned Marenoshin Ōmaeda back to reality.
"Lieutenant! I have urgent intelligence! The Gates of Hell have opened at the Tsunayashiro estate!"
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Alright guys, here come the regular chapters! A big thank you to everyone for your support and to Monester for the kind words. Don't forget, we're just 2 people away on Patreon for the story to take a big leap in chapters. There are already 100 and counting, and more will be uploaded once those 2 spots are filled.
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