The outskirts east of the Yuyama District, though this area already belonged to the Jiehu District, the 69th District of the East Rukongai.
Following a Kidō transmission, Kōe arrived in front of a small hill. There was a cave here, and two members of Squad 5 were currently guarding the entrance.
"Lieutenant Shihouin, the criminal is right inside!" Seeing Kōe arrive, one of them hurriedly stepped forward, pulling a portrait from his robes. "This is him, we've confirmed it without a doubt!"
The portrait depicted a round-faced, fierce-looking man. According to the information below, his name was Wakasa Dojuko, the former head of the mid-ranking noble Wakasa clan.
"You're just going to stand guard here and not go in after him?" Kōe glanced at the man and handed the portrait back.
The man rolled up the portrait in his hands and awkwardly scratched the back of his head. If they could chase him inside, would they still be standing out here?
"This Wakasa's Zanpakutō is extremely bizarre. It's like a fine needle. All he has to do is stab the ground, and if someone walks past, the earth beneath their feet will collapse. The lighting inside the cave is dim, so we were just afraid of walking into an ambush and letting him escape."
Kōe didn't say a word, simply staring at him expressionlessly. It seemed that no matter what world people were from, whenever trouble arose, their first instinct was to avoid taking the blame!
Perhaps unnerved by the stare, or perhaps feeling that the blame might still land on him, the man continued to explain, "But please rest assured, Lieutenant Shihouin. We have already confirmed that this cave has no other exits. There are three other squad members keeping watch in the remaining three directions. He's a rat in a trap; he can't escape!"
"What if there's another way out underground?"
"Well..."
"If it's hard to go in, why not try using Kidō to destroy this hill?" Kōe continued to ask. "Even if you can't cast high-level Kidō, couldn't you use some other method to force him out? Like setting a fire, for instance."
"It's not that we can't do that, it's just..." The Squad 5 member wanted to explain that they were supposed to capture him alive, but he was forced back by Kōe's mocking gaze. He quickly changed his tune, "We will prepare Kidō immediately and smoke him out with fire!"
"Now?" Kōe sneered. "How long has he been in there?"
"Not long, only about ten minutes or so."
"It's been ten minutes! And you say 'only'?!" Kōe shook his head, gesturing for the man to stop talking. At this moment, he only hoped he hadn't jinxed it and that the cave truly had no other exits. "Keep your eyes on him, Kōki!"
Summoning the Kōki mask and peering inside, he hadn't held out much hope. To his surprise, however, Kōe discovered a humanoid silhouette underground. The figure was holding a distinct, thin line and was slowly moving toward the east.
It seemed Kōe hadn't jinxed it after all. There were no natural underground passages in the cave; it was just that this Wakasa was a mole, naturally adept at digging holes.
"Follow me, and keep your footsteps light. Don't startle our little mouse," Kōe said over his shoulder. He then stepped onto the rock face, bounding up the small hill in two or three leaps and vanishing from their sight.
"This..."
"Follow orders. Lieutenant Shihouin must have discovered something!"
They hadn't seen Kōe use any Kidō, and even though he had released his Zanpakutō, rumor had it that this newly appointed Squad 1 Lieutenant's Shikai was nothing more than a trash-tier direct-attack type Zanpakutō. Leaving just like that—what if Wakasa Dojuko doubled back? Wouldn't that be a disaster?
But Kotetsu Isane was right. Even if Squad 1 didn't usually engage in combat, he was still a genuine lieutenant. Besides, if the sky fell, the tallest person would hold it up; if the fugitive escaped, the blame wouldn't fall on them. After thinking it over, the two men followed Kotetsu Isane, crossing the small hill ahead to chase after Kōe's footsteps.
...
Although Wakasa Dojuko had a fierce face and looked like a brute, his mind was actually quite meticulous.
After entering the cave, he first waited for a few minutes. Once he confirmed that the people outside didn't dare to come in, he decisively used his Zanpakutō's ability to dig a tunnel and escape. Even while digging, he intentionally created several branching paths to delay any potential pursuers.
After digging for another twenty minutes or so, Wakasa felt he had gone far enough. He pressed his ear against the rock layer above and listened. No sounds came through; there were likely no living creatures nearby.
"I've had enough of these days of hiding!" Wakasa pierced through the thin layer of rock above his head, muttering to himself, "Once the heat dies down, I'm definitely going back to enjoy a few days of peace and quiet!"
Such a large-scale manhunt definitely wouldn't last too long. If he could just tough it out for a few decades, or at most a century, the so-called wanted posters would just be some drawings plastered around the Rukongai. By then, even if he couldn't return to the first twenty districts, staying somewhere in the thirties or forties would still be manageable.
"Actually, those days are already over!" A voice suddenly rang out from behind him. Wakasa turned his head and saw that, in addition to the five Shinigami who had been chasing him earlier, there was now an extra man and woman. The one speaking was the man wearing a Hannya mask. "I'll send you back to the Seireitei to enjoy yourself right now. Just for a few days, exactly as you hoped!"
Wakasa hurriedly took a step back, his right hand gripping a bamboo joint to guard his chest, looking somewhat comical. However, one end of the bamboo joint glinted in the sunlight, resembling a two-foot-long fine needle. This was presumably his Zanpakutō.
Kōe somewhat understood those two Squad 5 members now. This blade was hard to see even under normal circumstances. If they were in a dim place like a cave, it truly could kill without a trace. It was no wonder they were afraid.
"Are you going to resist?" Kōe took a step forward, smiling as he spoke. "If you do, you might not even get to enjoy those last few days of peace. You'd better think this through!"
Wakasa maintained his defensive posture, shuffling two steps backward as he asked, "I'm absolutely certain I didn't make a sound. How did you find me?"
He had to figure out the answer to this question; otherwise, all his subsequent escape methods would be in vain.
"If you can play the mouse, then I can play the hawk. Catching you wasn't hard," Kōe replied, spreading his hands.
"Was it you? So it was that mask playing tricks." Wakasa's eyes darted around. He flicked his wrist horizontally, swinging the Zanpakutō in his hand in a sweeping horizontal slash.
It wasn't a ranged spiritual power slash, and the distance between him and Kōe far exceeded two feet. This horizontal slash looked like a complete joke.
In fact, Kōe did laugh. It wasn't because of Wakasa's meaningless action, but quite the opposite. Although it was very thin, through the Kōki mask, Kōe could still see an ink-black line radiating dark energy hurtling toward him. Even before Wakasa swung the blade, he had seen dense spiritual power gathering in his hand.
So this was what a spiritual power slash from a Zanpakutō of this shape looked like. An ordinary person might have fallen for it right then and there, but in front of Kōki, there was nowhere for it to hide!
"Grab it, Kōki!"
The mask vanished, and a black gauntlet enveloped in white spiritual power appeared. Kōe threw a vicious punch at the invisible spiritual power slash. A gust of wind erupted from the punch, but then his body pitched forward, losing its balance.
*Did I miss?* No, Kōe was absolutely certain that a portion of his spiritual power had been canceled out. But why did he swing at empty air? *Could it be that this isn't a spiritual power slash?*
Two screams suddenly rang out from behind him. Kōe looked back and saw that the two Squad 5 members standing on the far left and far right behind him were clutching their wrists. Blood was seeping through their fingers; they were the ones who had just screamed.
*Sure enough, that wasn't a spiritual power slash just now!*
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