Ghostly Shadow in the Dead of Night / Contemplation, Wedge of the Firmament

Tōshirō was completely different. He was still communicating with his Zanpakuto, Hyōrinmaru.

"You really are frightening," Isshin Shiba murmured. "But you can't rush training your Rei'i Grade. Take it slowly."

As he spoke, he walked over to the cabinet by the wall and opened the top compartment, only to find it empty. Puzzled, he asked:

"Strange. Have either of you seen the rice ball I left here?"

Tokoyo Misao immediately went and sat down nearby, crossing his legs and looking toward the courtyard.

Tōshirō's shoulders gave a slight twitch. He immediately turned around and said, "Captain, there's a report that concerns me."

He promptly pulled a sheet from the pile of reports he had already sorted.

The title read "Soul Reaper Death Report."

Isshin Shiba didn't go over to look at the report. Instead, he pointed at the cabinet and continued:

"The report can wait. Let's talk about the rice ball first. How did it disappear?"

"I was saving that rice ball to enjoy later. Did you see it?"

Tōshirō looked up, his young face showing impatience and his tone turning somewhat irritable:

"Stop going on about it. A rice ball doesn't matter at all. Hurry up and look at this report."

"You remember the report from two months ago, right?"

Tōshirō completely ignored the fact that Isshin Shiba had already discovered he had eaten the rice ball. Holding up the report, he continued:

"In a medium-sized city called Naruki City, a Soul Reaper assigned to the area died unexpectedly. The cause was unknown."

He held out the report to Captain Shiba. "This is last month's report. We just received it."

The moment Isshin Shiba looked down at it, his expression turned serious.

The report listed the names of several Soul Reapers, but every cause of death was recorded as an accident under investigation.

After reading it, he headed toward the courtyard without another word, his steps hurried.

Just as he stepped into the courtyard, he suddenly spoke. "Coming with me, Misao?"

"Captain, shouldn't the World of the Living be under the Thirteenth Division's jurisdiction?" Tokoyo Misao slowly rose and followed him into the courtyard.

"You know Captain Ukitake of the Thirteenth Division's condition. Lieutenant Shiba still hasn't recovered from his last injury, and his strength has fallen considerably."

"This incident is definitely not simple. It has to be handled by someone at Captain-level."

Isshin Shiba gave his explanation, then added, "If you don't want to go, I won't force you."

"All right, let's go. I haven't been to the World of the Living in a long time either."

Tokoyo Misao waved to Rangiku Matsumoto and Tōshirō.

"Hold down the fort."

Chapter 73: Ghostly Shadow in the Dead of Night

The Dangai.

Isshin Shiba walked silently ahead through the passage. Only after they were more than halfway through did he speak.

"Misao, give it to me straight."

"Straight? About what?" A little puzzled, Tokoyo Misao quickened his pace by a couple of steps to walk beside Isshin Shiba. "What do I have to tell you?"

Isshin Shiba turned his head, the corners of his mouth pulled down and his brows tightly furrowed.

He looked as though he were saying, You're still pretending even now?

He stared at Tokoyo Misao like that for a while. Seeing that he still had no intention of speaking, Isshin Shiba continued:

"Back in the captain's office, I said this incident would take someone at Captain-level to handle it, at the very least.

But when I invited you, you didn't hesitate.

So your real combat strength should have reached Captain-level, right?"

Isshin Shiba wasn't making a wild guess. When they had discussed Bankai in the captain's office, he had already understood that Tokoyo Misao was only one step away from it.

All he needed to do was materialize his Zanpakuto.

It was true that the Rei'i Grade Misao had displayed so far wasn't enough to materialize his Zanpakuto.

But Isshin Shiba didn't believe Misao was really only at Seventh-Class Rei'i. That was why he had asked if he was coming before leaving.

Over the years they had spent together, Isshin Shiba had long since learned that Misao was a very meticulous person who rarely did anything he wasn't confident about.

Since he had agreed to come along, he must have considered the risks.

Tokoyo Misao waved his right hand from side to side, his eyes wide.

"What nonsense are you talking about? Of course I haven't reached Captain-level. Didn't you ask me to come? As Third Seat, why would I hesitate?"

"Wait, let's be honest with each other. Are you really not hiding anything? From what I can tell, this trip is going to be extremely dangerous." Isshin Shiba was genuinely a little stunned now.

He had never seen Misao be so obedient when he assigned him missions before. Why had he suddenly followed him here at a single invitation today?

"Isn't a Soul Reaper supposed to face danger all the time?" Tokoyo Misao pursed his lips.

He knew this trip to the World of the Living would be extremely dangerous. Judging by the situation in Soul Society over the past few years, Aizen's research into Soul Reaper Hollowfication had entered another stage.

And on this trip to the World of the Living, Isshin Shiba would probably encounter that special Hollow.

Tokoyo Misao believed that, because of his own involvement, Aizen's research had long since surpassed what it had been in the original story.

Isshin Shiba might actually die, and there was a strong possibility that a certain person who intervened to save him would die too.

That was why he had decided to accompany him to the World of the Living.

As for his level of strength, he hadn't lied. He simply had nearly three hundred Reishi Orbs in his sleeve, enough to raise his Rei'i Grade to the peak of the second class at any time.

If he unleashed that level of power in the World of the Living, Soul Society would sense it immediately. Then, as long as he stalled for a little time, Aizen would naturally leave.

They walked in silence to the exit of the Dangai. Isshin Shiba placed a hand on the Senkaimon and spoke again.

"If you don't have Captain-level strength, go back."

"Stop joking and let's go." Tokoyo Misao stepped forward, opened the Senkaimon, and strode through. Isshin Shiba followed.

They passed through the Senkaimon into the night, and the concrete high-rises on either side of the street came into view.

"Things have changed so much." Tokoyo Misao's eyes lit up. He hadn't expected them to have already entered the modern era.

In Soul Society, the surroundings had remained largely unchanged, causing him to lose his sense of time.

He hadn't expected decades to have passed in the blink of an eye.

He turned to look at a huge mall ahead. Its sign read: Entertainment Center.

Without another word, he started toward it, raising a hand in a wave.

"Captain, you find the locally stationed Soul Reapers and gather information first. I'll look inside this building and see if I can find any useful clues."

"How are you going to find clues in there?" Isshin Shiba paused, and in that short time, he saw that Tokoyo Misao had already run into the building.

"Did that guy come all the way to the World of the Living just to have fun?" He scratched the back of his head, his expression suddenly turning serious.

From what he knew of Tokoyo Misao, it really was possible.

Risking his life just to have fun might have sounded absurd for anyone else, but with Tokoyo Misao, it was hard to say.

That guy's thinking was always full of contradictions.

He shook his head slightly and rushed toward the Reishi of the two locally stationed Soul Reapers.

Tokoyo Misao entered the building and went straight to the arcade.

The power was off, but fortunately, this floor had a separate power supply.

He found the main switch and pushed it up. The various game machines lit up at once.

He went to the reception desk and casually took a few dozen tokens.

Just as he turned around, he stopped, pulled two thousand kan from his robes, and tossed it on the counter.

"The King of Fighters!" Tokoyo Misao had just made a round when a row of machines nearby caught his eye. He immediately sat down, inserted a token, and started playing.

"Nana Otoshi!"

"Yasakazuki!"

"Tenchi Haō Ken!"

The building's security guard had just finished his patrol and returned to the monitoring room to rest.

He was just about to enjoy a good sleep when beams of light from the monitors suddenly fell across his face.

He opened his eyes and saw that one of the screens was brightly lit.

"That's the entertainment area. Didn't I patrol there just over ten minutes ago?"

The guard reluctantly dragged himself to his feet, picked up a flashlight, and left the monitoring room.

When he reached the third floor, he saw at a glance that all the lights were on.

He didn't go in. Instead, he stood in the doorway, frowning as he thought it over and checked again and again.

He had definitely passed through here during his earlier patrol, and the lights had been off then. What was going on?

Could it be something unclean?

Looking at the brightly lit entertainment area, he felt a chill run down his back for some reason, leaving him rooted to the spot, afraid to go in.

Clack-clack-clack, clack-clack-clack.

A series of slapping sounds came from inside the room.

Hearing the familiar sound of buttons being mashed, the guard felt his suspended heart settle instead.

"Was it some brat who sneaked in?"

As he spoke, he reached behind his waist and took out a short baton.

A kid sneaking in to steal in the middle of the night needed to be taught a lesson.

He entered the arcade and first swept his gaze over the area ahead. It was full of coin-pusher machines and other amusement equipment, but there was no one there.

A moment later, the sound of buttons being mashed came from the left again, and he immediately turned.

That was where the arcade games were.

He walked over step by step, the slapping sounds growing louder and louder.

And judging by the way they sounded, the player was an expert.

Anyone who could make the buttons sound with that kind of rhythm had to be using an incredible combo.

But even if he was an expert, he couldn't just sneak in during the middle of the night.

Come in openly next time, and I'll definitely have a match with you.

Having already thought of what to say, the guard reached the corner. He suddenly sprang around it and shouted:

"Kid, next time, come in open—"

There was no one there. Why was there no one there?

His eyes swept around, but he couldn't see a single person.

Clack-clack-clack, clack-clack.

The buttons were still sounding. He looked around briefly.

Then he suddenly saw that the joystick on the King of Fighters machine in the middle was moving by itself.

The buttons on it were also sounding in a steady rhythm.

"Gasp!"

The guard sucked in a breath, turned stiffly around, and ran out with his mouth clamped tightly shut.

Chapter 74: Contemplation, Wedge of the Firmament