In a quiet study, a brown-haired boy silently stared at the mission warrant on the table.
A few simple lines described a tragedy in the Rukongai. In the Sabitsura Outskirts of the 64th District of West Rukongai, the souls of an entire village had vanished into thin air, leaving no trace of struggle at the scene.
It was as if they had been wiped away by something.
"It's very strange, isn't it?"
Beside him, a man with flowing blonde hair and a somewhat playful smile spoke casually.
"Shinigami squad members from other divisions have already gone to investigate, but they haven't obtained any useful information. That place seems to have been denied by some kind of rule."
"There are plenty of ronin and wandering samurai at the level of elite Shinigami in the Sabitsura District, but they also disappeared. This matter should have been handled by the Vice-Captain."
"But that guy happened to go to the World of the Living for a mission, and others also have things to do, so as the Captain, I decided to hand it over to you."
"Sōsuke, you won't disappoint the Captain's expectations, right?"
Aizen calmly read through the mission warrant several times, then looked up with a gentle smile:
"Captain, the situation is serious. If I go alone, it might be too much for me."
"Well, of course, I, the Captain, have considered this point." The man revealed a strange smile, "So—"
"I specially applied for support from the Inner Court."
Aizen nodded: "Then I have no problem."
"Get along well with your teammate!"
Hirako Shinji's tone was frivolous, and a strange light flashed in his eyes as he stared at Aizen.
The next morning.
When Aizen arrived at the designated location, he saw a figure he hadn't expected.
"Yo, long time no see, Sōsuke."
Someone greeted him familiarly, "How's the 5th Division? Have you started being targeted yet?"
"Want to transfer to hell? Someone's got your back here."
Aizen: "..."
This guy was as unreliable as always.
This time it was truly unexpected. He hadn't thought that the support Hirako Shinji mentioned would be a rookie like him who had just joined the squad not long ago.
Was the Inner Court also short-staffed?
"I really didn't expect my first mission to be with my good brother. This time, with our two swords combined, we will definitely defeat the enemy army and make sure those thieves never return!"
Naraku Sora patted his pocket before realizing he didn't smoke. He had intended to offer two cigarettes to his long-lost good brother.
Aizen remained silent. He thought that after being assigned to different squads, the two wouldn't interact much anymore.
But looking at it now, he was still a bit too naive.
He somewhat underestimated how haunting this guy could be.
"Do you understand the mission intelligence?" Aizen said calmly.
Naraku Sora shook his head: "I was going to read it, but later I heard my teammate was you, so I simply didn't waste that energy."
Although he said that, in reality, Nishikawa had already explained the specific content to him.
And Naraku Sora found that his wisdom wasn't enough to discover the problem within, so he simply stopped wasting brain cells.
He heard there were sinners to catch, so he rushed over happily without thinking too much.
Aizen sighed helplessly.
Ever since seeing this guy, he had a bad premonition.
This mission would very likely develop in an uncontrollable direction.
To this day, he still remembered the first time they went to the World of the Living for the Konso internship.
It was clearly the simplest mission, but someone just happened to encounter a Hollow in the place where a Hollow was least likely to appear.
And it was the kind about to evolve into a Gillian.
A group of students, along with the leading teacher, spent a tremendous amount of effort to drag it out until other stationed Shinigami rescued them, almost getting completely wiped out.
Only later did Aizen learn that Naraku Sora had discovered a weak spatial node in a remote corner.
Coincidentally, the passage opened by the Konso ritual resonated with that spatial node.
Then came the joyous part.
A quasi-Gillian foraging in Hueco Mundo passed through the passage triggered by the Konso ritual and came into the World of the Living.
However, this incident couldn't be blamed on Naraku Sora; he was purely a victim.
But after spending time together studying at the Shin'ō Academy, Aizen discovered that this guy's luck could be said to be extremely bad.
Whenever he skipped class, he would definitely be caught by the teacher.
Whenever he went out, he would definitely encounter different degrees of trouble.
Even going to the area with the best security in the Rukongai, he could be affected by a duel between wandering samurai.
To a certain extent, this could be considered a talent.
Hopefully, everything goes smoothly.
However...
Aizen observed this friend with some doubt and discovered a highlight, asking in puzzlement:
"Naraku, you seem a bit different from when we parted last time."
Naraku Sora grinned and said confidently: "When scholars have been separated for three days, they should look at each other with new eyes. Sōsuke, the current me—"
"Is terrifyingly strong!"
Aizen nodded imperceptibly but did not refute.
Although it wasn't clear what had happened to Naraku Sora, he had indeed become stronger, and he also gave off a feeling of being completely renewed.
Did he encounter some fortuitous event, or did he learn the true name of his Zanpakutō and master Shikai?
It had to be said.
The changes in Naraku Sora did arouse some of his curiosity.
After a few simple words of nonsense, the two went to the mission location together.
The Rukongai is divided into four large districts: East, West, South, and North. Each large district is further divided into eighty districts, surrounding the Seireitei in a ring shape.
And the place where the abnormal incident occurred this time was the 64th District of West Rukongai, Sabitsura Outskirts.
Because the Outskirts were relatively remote, it did not affect the atmosphere of the Inner Districts.
People came and went on the streets, noisy as always.
"Everyone is as kind as always."
Standing in the alley was Naraku Sora, watching two yakuza groups hacking at each other, flesh and blood flying, and said with emotion on his face.
Aizen: "..."
Do you have some misunderstanding about the word 'kind'?
As a mud-legged person from the Rukongai, Naraku Sora was naturally used to such incidents.
But as a newly emerged nemesis of evil, he didn't mind meddling in another matter.
He released a slight amount of Reiatsu.
Extreme danger instantly lingered in the hearts of the two groups of people. They subconsciously stopped their movements and looked towards the alley entrance in unison.
Two tall and straight figures stood there.
"It's, Sh-Shinigami-sama."
A weak groan from someone in the crowd was like sprinkling a drop of water into a pot of oil.
Immediately, they scattered and fled in all directions like birds and beasts.
Aizen ignored Naraku Sora's bad taste but keenly captured the Reiatsu he released.
An inexplicable sense of familiarity, as if he had seen it somewhere before.
Thinking to no avail, Aizen frowned tightly.
It was the first time he had encountered a problem with no clues.
The changes in Naraku Sora made him more and more curious, as if—
Like some unknown he was exploring.
Having driven away the fighting yakuza gangs, the two officially arrived at the north side of the Sabitsura Outskirts, a relatively remote medium-sized village.
What entered their eyes was a deathly silence.
Lanterns swayed gently under the eaves, withered leaves blew down, and the wind whimpered.