At the edge of the empty green field, three figures sat together in a circle.
All of them wore Shihakusho without exception, their faces etched with exhaustion and anxiety.
"Naoto? Why are you back so soon? Weren't you supposed to stake out the intersection?" A burly Soul Reaper with short hair stood up.
His gaze fell upon Asuka. He paused for a moment before his brows furrowed tightly.
"And who are you?"
Asuka met his gaze expressionlessly.
"Asuka."
Seeing Asuka's somewhat arrogant demeanor, the expressions of the others soured.
The short-haired Soul Reaper leading them was named Arai. He whispered a few words to Naoto, then revealed a confused expression.
"Hey, kid."
He stopped in front of Asuka, eyeing him suspiciously.
Asuka slowly met his gaze, making Arai's heart skip a beat just as he was about to put him in his place. The reprimand he had prepared caught in his throat.
'Just what kind of eyes are those?'
Arai was the temporary leader of this search squad, possessing strength barely equivalent to a Thirteenth Seat.
Under the current circumstances, his mind was already on the verge of collapse.
Ever since the deaths of their two colleagues, Kojiro Hamahashi and Kaede Yoshiyama, last month, he and a few other squad members had been dispatched here to investigate, but they hadn't found a single clue.
Left with no other choice, he could only request the Captain to step in while he waited on standby for orders.
If any random Soul Reaper could just walk in and ignore his commands, it would only make him more irritable.
But after locking eyes with Asuka, that irritation was suppressed.
The last time he saw a look like that was in the Seireitei, when he saw the Captain of the Eleventh Division.
It felt like if he spoke even a few words of nonsense, he would immediately be...
Asuka likely realized his gaze wasn't exactly friendly. He adjusted his emotions and looked at the man again.
"Do you have any orders?"
"...Ah, I'm Arai of the Tenth Division... Your name is Asuka, right? Which division are you from?"
He cleared his throat, trying his best not to show any cowardice.
"...Fifth Division." Asuka didn't know the difference between these divisions, so he simply gave a random answer.
"Oh! So you're a brother from the rescue squad... I couldn't tell. To think the Dragon of Documents had such a fierce squad member under his command..."
As if having figured out Asuka's background, Arai's tense nerves relaxed a bit.
'That makes sense. If he were really a battle maniac from the Eleventh Division, a fight would have broken out already...'
'Dragon of Documents? Another term I don't understand.'
But Asuka nodded anyway, pretending to understand. "Yeah, the Captain says so too."
"I heard from Naoto... you came out of the Dangai?"
"Yeah... there was a problem with the Boundary Gate."
Asuka's voice was flat and cold, devoid of any unnecessary embellishment.
Sometimes, this kind of minimalist narrative conveyed a convincing sense of composure.
Arai crouched down in front of Asuka, staring intently into his eyes.
As a Soul Reaper who frequently traveled between the World of the Living and the Soul Society, he had never encountered a damaged Senkaimon...
Moreover, this man's Spiritual Pressure felt extremely bizarre... It wasn't like the pure, rhythmic flow of Reishi he was used to seeing...
'Is it the influence of the Restrictive Current? It just feels weird.'
"To survive being chased by the Kototsu, you sure are lucky." Arai fell silent for a moment, his gaze softening slightly. "Since you've entered my jurisdiction, regardless of which division you're from, you have to follow my orders for now."
"As you know, Naruki City isn't safe right now. Until the Captain arrives, every bit of combat strength is crucial."
Asuka didn't care about the issue of command; he was more concerned about something else.
"I need to find a woman's soul," Asuka interrupted Arai bluntly, a flash of urgency in his eyes.
"Purple eyes, short black hair with purple tips, wearing a plain white kimono. Can you help me?"
Arai had expected Asuka to say something important when he interrupted, so he was taken aback to hear he was looking for a woman.
He smiled bitterly. "Brother Asuka, you might not have grasped the situation yet..."
"No matter who you're looking for, if she can't protect herself, she probably won't last a single night in this city."
Asuka's pupils shrank sharply, and his grip on his sword tightened.
"What exactly happened?"
"Naruki City is currently experiencing an anomaly. Souls are disappearing far too quickly, and even Soul Reapers have become targets. It's highly likely that a Menos is behind this."
"Menos?"
'What does that mean? Are Hollows categorized by size?'
Arai nodded, his expression grave. "Anyway, my advice is that since you're here, you should stick with us for now."
"Once this is over, I'll help you figure something out, alright?"
He patted Asuka on the shoulder, turning back to signal Naoto to show him around, before hesitantly returning to the group.
Asuka looked uncertainly at his retreating back, then turned to ask Naoto, "If we want to find a wandering soul, do we have any good methods?"
"Huh? It seems you really need to visit the Fourth Division, Mr. Asuka. Have you forgotten all these things?"
Naoto seriously observed Asuka's physical condition, and after confirming there was no external brain trauma, he spoke up. "Generally speaking, ordinary personnel like us can lock onto the direction of a wandering soul just through Spiritual Pressure sensing and the guidance of a Hell Butterfly."
"Of course, if you want to find multiple souls at once, Mr. Asuka, or if the target is particularly hidden, we'd have to ask the Kido Corps or a Seated Officer who has mastered high-level Kido to cast [Tenteikura]. But I don't think it'll come to that."
Hearing this, Asuka nodded in silence.
'...Then I'll stay a bit longer and see if I can use them to find Shinobu.'
Time slowly ticked by.
The rain in Naruki City finally began to fall heavily.
Asuka sat cross-legged by the flagpole, resting the rust-covered Zanpakuto across his knees.
'Nugata.'
He called out in his heart.
However, the depths of his consciousness remained a desolate, dead silence.
'What exactly is wrong with this guy... Is he throwing a tantrum?'
Just then, a voice accompanied by the howling wind landed in the center of the green field.
The wind and rain briefly formed a vortex as he descended, and a figure draped in a pristine white haori appeared before everyone.
Although he looked a bit disheveled from the rain, the man's Spiritual Pressure was so formidable that it could hardly be concealed by the downpour, instantly silencing the previously anxious squad members.
He had slightly messy black hair and a carefree look in his eyes, even exuding a sense of absentmindedness.
As he walked, he inspected the rainwater on his clothes, complaining non-stop:
"Seriously, the weather forecasts in the World of the Living are completely inaccurate. Weren't they calling for cloudy skies turning sunny? Now this freshly washed haori of mine is all dirty... If Toshiro sees this, he's definitely going to nag me for ages..."
The [Ten] character on the back of his haori announced his identity—
Captain of the Tenth Division of the Gotei 13, Isshin Shiba.
"Captain!" Arai and the two squad members saluted with textbook precision.
Asuka slowly pushed himself up, observing the man who had suddenly appeared.
'This person... is very strong.'
His Spiritual Pressure was like a blazing fire; although he was deliberately restraining its edge at the moment, the explosive power contained within still made Asuka feel the pressure.
Isshin Shiba's gaze swept across the stadium, finally landing on Asuka.
"Oh my?" he let out a soft sound of confusion, then strode over to Asuka.
He was quite burly; even though Asuka was considered tall, he still appeared slightly shorter in front of him.
Isshin Shiba carefully scrutinized Asuka's face, scratching his head from time to time.
"Have we met somewhere before?"
"Captain, this is Brother Asuka, who came from the Fifth Division to provide backup."
Before Asuka could answer, Arai quickly explained from the side. "He had a little accident in the Boundary Gate and just escaped the Dangai."
"Fifth Division?"
Hearing this name, Isshin Shiba raised an eyebrow.
He reached out a hand, seemingly wanting to pat Asuka's shoulder.
But the moment his fingertips were about to touch Asuka, his movement paused, and then he casually withdrew his hand as if nothing had happened.
"A squad member under that guy, huh... Even though he looks so refined, to think he could train a bloodthirsty-looking subordinate like you. How rare."
Isshin Shiba laughed heartily, nodding in satisfaction. "Not bad, you've got a sturdy build, and those eyes are quite imposing! However... your Spiritual Pressure feels a bit out of control, doesn't it?"
Asuka's heart skipped a beat.
Although this man appeared carefree, he was remarkably perceptive beneath his rough exterior.
With just a single encounter, he had noticed the anomaly in Asuka's body.
Asuka felt very strange right now. Even though he was already in a spiritual body, it didn't feel as comfortable as when he had a physical body.
Not only was Nugata not responding, but mobilizing his spiritual power also felt weird.
'Maybe it's jet lag. Who knows.'
"The influence of the Dangai," Asuka replied concisely.
"True. You're lucky you didn't die in a hellhole like that." Isshin Shiba shrugged, not asking any further.
He turned his head, his expression suddenly turning serious as he looked at Arai.
"Enough idle chatter. Arai, tell me the specific situation lately! On my way here, I could feel that the air around here wasn't quite right."
Night of June 4th, Naruki City, Chohara 2-chome.
Heavy rain.