One vs. One Hundred and Twenty

"Wasn't there a student named Tokoyo Misao who claimed to be a great noble a while back?"

"Word got out after all?" Ukitake replied, looking somewhat troubled. Then he nodded. "There was indeed such an incident."

"After Captain Soi Fon told me about it, I happened to be studying our clan's history, so I went through some old books."

With a crunch, Yushiro bit through the candy in his mouth and gulped it down. He looked up into Jūshirō Ukitake's eyes and said seriously:

"One of the Five Great Noble Clans, the wardens of Hell. Their clan crest looks like this."

He dipped a finger in the tea, put it to the tabletop, and drew an eye without an eyelid.

Jūshirō Ukitake recognized it at once.

It was the crest on Tokoyo Misao's forearm. When he had received the intelligence, the crest had been included in the report as well.

"So he really is a great noble?"

"I don't know. My clan's records only had the crest and the words 'wardens of Hell.' As for whether the clan was called Tokoyo, I don't know."

"I came here this time to ask you to speak to the head of the Shiba Clan."

Yushiro turned toward the open study door and sighed.

"I didn't expect you to send him to the World of the Living."

Ukitake nodded solemnly. "Actually, I already had Kaien go home and look a few days ago.

"Unfortunately, he said nothing was sorted when they moved, so he can't find any relevant records on short notice. It'll take some time."

He lowered his head slightly as he spoke, his gaze flickering as he pondered what wardens of Hell meant.

The black cat in Yushiro's arms raised her right paw and patted his cheek.

Yushiro pouted and asked again, "Captain Ukitake, do you have any other information about this Tokoyo Misao?"

Jūshirō Ukitake thought for a moment before speaking slowly.

"Shunsui and I went to our teacher to confirm this."

"He said he'd heard of the Tokoyo Clan, one of the Five Great Noble Clans, when he was young."

"Oh, so he really is one?" Yushiro was somewhat interested as well.

After all, no matter how unwilling he was, he was now the head of the Shihōin Clan.

The Tokoyo Clan, also a great noble clan, was sure to have something unique about it. If he could establish good relations with them, all the better.

Ukitake, however, shook his head gently. "Although Tokoyo Misao does bear the Tokoyo name, and your confirmation tells us that the crest really does belong to the Tokoyo Clan, a great noble clan,

"no one can confirm whether he's truly a member of the Tokoyo Clan or an impostor."

Yushiro tilted his head and thought for a moment before speaking as if he had suddenly understood.

"Captain Ukitake, do you mean Tokoyo Misao might be an impostor?"

"There's no way to be sure whether he's an impostor yet. Shunsui is investigating in secret, and we've also had Captain Soi Fon send the Stealth Force to keep watch."

Ukitake raised his head and rubbed the spot between his brows, then asked Yushiro:

"Doesn't the Shihoin Clan have any other records?

"For example, did the Tokoyo Clan have any unique abilities or bloodline artifacts?

"Like the Shiba Clan's secret techniques or your Shihoin Clan's bloodline armaments.

"If so, we could quickly determine whether he's an impostor."

Yushiro shook his head.

He and his sister had found an ancient parchment scroll beneath the clan's ancestral shrine.

The crests of the four great clans had been arranged side by side on it, while the Eternal Eyes line stood alone in one corner of the parchment, with the words "wardens of Hell" written beside it.

Other than that, there had been no further information.

"I see. Then there's nothing we can do. For now, our teacher also wants us to wait and see. We can only wait for Kaien to return and see if his family has any other information."

Ukitake sighed softly, leaned forward slightly, and looked Yushiro Shihōin in the eyes.

"If... if this Tokoyo Misao really is from one of the Five Great Noble Clans, and has returned to reclaim what once belonged to his clan, what would you do, Clan Head Yushiro?"

Yushiro smiled at Ukitake and answered lightly:

"If we can determine which nobles divided up his clan's belongings, then of course they should return them."

"Oh, right. If the Shiba Clan intends to return to Noble Street, our Shihoin Clan will help too."

"So that's how it is." Ukitake sighed again. It was just as he had expected.

If Tokoyo Misao really was a great noble and wanted to return to Noble Street, it would surely cause a storm of bloodshed.

The room fell silent.

Yoruichi, the black cat, pressed her paw against Yushiro again, and he stood up somewhat reluctantly.

"Captain Ukitake, I should be going too."

"You're welcome to visit me anytime. There'll be plenty of candy."

Chapter 37: One vs. One Hundred and Twenty

Karakura Town, in the World of the Living.

Tokoyo Misao continued to stare into the darkness at the end of the street, thinking it over:

There were one hundred and twenty Hollows, and several of their Spirit Ribbons bore the red markings of Soul Reapers.

That meant these Hollows were test subjects Aizen had modified. Perhaps they had special abilities like the Hollow from earlier.

For now, they remained hidden in the darkness, with no intention of attacking.

Fighting with his current strength would be a little difficult, but if he absorbed the Reishi of these Hollows to break through, he could easily wipe out all one hundred and twenty of them.

Unfortunately, the figure in the night sky whose Spirit Ribbon was so red it was almost purple, and the figure with the silvery-white Spirit Ribbon, were still there and had not moved.

Misao had previously told Kisuke Urahara that he wanted to foil Sōsuke Aizen's scheme.

During this practical training in the World of the Living, Sōsuke Aizen was probably trying to earn the goodwill of Renji Abarai, Izuru Kira, and Momo Hinamori.

That would make it easier to use them as pawns in his future plans.

Of course, there was another possibility: he very likely wanted to see if he could draw Kisuke Urahara out, as well as observe the data on these test subjects.

Aizen never did anything with only one goal in mind.

And foiling every one of his goals was almost impossible.

By standing in front of these Hollows today, Misao had kept him from gaining the goodwill of these people.

But it would also allow Aizen to obtain concrete data on these modified Hollows.

He could even test whether Tokoyo Misao was still holding back.

Likewise, Tokoyo Misao's aim was not simply to stop Aizen.

To be honest, he had no particular aversion to what Aizen wanted to do.

Aizen wanted to become a god and rewrite the rules of the world. That was not necessarily a bad thing.

Wasn't it normal for people to have ambition?

The greater reason Misao had chosen to stand in Aizen's way was that he wanted Aizen to help him look for all kinds of information about the Tokoyo Clan.

Rather than reveal his cards to Aizen and work with him, it would be faster to make Aizen interested in him or see him as a threat.

Everyone was much the same. They might put things off when doing something for a friend.

But when dealing with an enemy, they would certainly rack their brains.

Tokoyo Misao trusted and acknowledged Aizen's abilities, which was why he intended to stop his plan here and become his enemy.

As for Kisuke Urahara, his intelligence was no less than Aizen's.

But if Misao became his enemy to spur him into action, Urahara's cautious personality would make things drag on too long. That was why he had chosen to approach him as a friend, or rather, a collaborator.

So what he needed to do now was use the strength of Thirteenth-Class Rei'i to fight one hundred and twenty Hollows, including the modified ones among them.

It would be a little difficult.

At that thought, the corners of Tokoyo Misao's mouth rose, and he smiled into the darkness.

The dark clouds in the night sky parted slightly, opening a gap.

Brilliant moonlight spilled through the gap onto the street, carving out a pale patch of visibility at its dark end.

It revealed a densely packed mass of Hollows.

On the street, the walls, the rooftops, and in the sky, the Hollows stood quietly, looking at Tokoyo Misao and the others.

"H-how could this happen? Why are there still so many Hollows?" Renji Abarai murmured.

He stared wide-eyed in disbelief at the creatures revealed in the moonlit darkness.

Only a few Hollows had already cost them dearly, leaving all three of their seniors seriously injured on the ground.

Even Shūhei Hisagi, the strongest of the seniors, was badly injured now and could barely stand upright.

Renji himself was also seriously injured.

If there were only one or two Hollows, he could still grit his teeth and keep fighting.

But at the sight of the densely packed Hollows, even he could not help falling into despair.

"Are we all going to die here today?" Momo Hinamori sat slumped on the ground, staring blankly at the Hollows in the road.

Her body had gone rigid, and her mind was blank.

This had started as a practical training outing they had happily looked forward to. Why had it turned out like this?

She had yet to become a Soul Reaper, or become someone who could help Lord Aizen. Was she going to die here for nothing?

"B-Big Brother Misao?" Izuru Kira called out in a trembling voice.

He wanted to step forward and stand behind Tokoyo Misao, to join him on the front line before the darkness and help hold back the Hollows that had appeared.

But no matter what he did, he could not get his feet to move.

He clenched his fists tightly, then abruptly opened his mouth and bit down.

A sharp pain shot from the tip of his tongue straight into his brain.

His rigid body suddenly moved, and he took a step forward with his right foot.

Spurred on by the pain, he took another step.

Kira opened his mouth again, ready to bite down once more and spur his body, which was beginning to seize up again.

Just then, Senior Shūhei Hisagi's voice came from behind him:

"You guys, run! I'll use Shikai to hold these Hollows back. Take Kanisawa and Aoga and get out of here!"

Shūhei struggled to his feet.

He gripped his Zanpakuto in both hands, breathing heavily. His words came out with a wheeze, and large beads of sweat kept rolling down his cheeks and dripping to the ground.

He had not used Shikai against the Hollow they had just fought because it had possessed the ability to dull Reishi.

Shūhei himself knew that, in his badly injured state, even using Shikai would not make him a match for that horde of Hollows.

"Get out of here, now! Leave this to me!"

Shūhei roared again, then held his Zanpakuto across his body, preparing to use Shikai.

"Senior Shūhei, there's no need to rush. Leave this to me for now."

Tokoyo Misao turned and smiled at Shūhei Hisagi, who was struggling to mobilize his Reishi.

Then his gaze swept over Renji Abarai and finally settled on Izuru Kira, who was still trying to walk over:

"Kira, just leave this to me."

"Big Brother Misao?" Izuru Kira saw that familiar smile.

For some reason, his fear vanished in an instant, and his whole body felt incredibly light.

His body, which had remained hunched and tense, suddenly straightened.