Why Does a White Cat Turn Yellow~ / Soul Burial in the World of the Living

"It's fine. He's young and sturdy. A little more burning... is good for his bone development. Come on, let's go. It'll be trouble if the old man comes after us."

With that, the group vanished. According to rumors from an unnamed squad member who happened to pass by, the pillar of fire in the First Division only gradually died down after sunset.

Chapter 19: Why Does a White Cat Turn Yellow~

When the evening sun finally sank below the horizon, the "First Division arson incident" that had shocked all of Seireitei finally came to an end amid wisps of smoke.

By the time Xuanxin limped back to the Shihoin Clan, he had changed into a fresh set of clothes borrowed from the First Division.

Even so, his current appearance was hard not to laugh at.

After Old Man Yamamoto's warm and friendly 'greeting,' the ends of Xuanxin's once-silky silver-white hair were scorched yellow and curled, and even gave off a faint burnt smell.

Most comical of all, the eyebrow on the left side of his face had been completely singed off by the residual flames, giving him an indescribably pitiful look.

Seeing Xuanxin like that, Yoruichi Shihōin, who had come to meet him, held her stomach and laughed in the room for a full hour without a shred of sympathy. She only managed to stop after Xuanxin turned into a white cat and hid in a corner.

Looking at the white cat in the corner, whose fur had turned slightly yellow, Yoruichi felt the laughter she had suppressed well up again. To avoid getting Xuanxin's fur up, she hurried out the door and only dared laugh freely once she was far from his room.

The next evening, at the Shihoin Clan.

"All right, all right, stop moving! If I draw it crooked, you'll really embarrass yourself tonight!"

Yoruichi was holding an eyebrow pencil she had swiped from who knew where, leaning close to Xuanxin's face as she carefully filled in the missing eyebrow.

"Yoruichi, can I trust that thing? Won't it smudge if I sweat?"

Xuanxin looked in the bronze mirror at the eyebrow, which was symmetrical but somehow seemed a little too sharp, and the corner of his eye twitched.

"Relax, you don't know anything about makeup. Mine's waterproof! Don't move!! One last stroke!!"

Yoruichi looked at her 'masterpiece' and clapped her hands in satisfaction.

"There! Now Soul Society's newly risen peerless genius won't become a laughingstock at the celebration. Let's go! It wouldn't be good to keep everyone waiting."

Yoruichi then led Xuanxin to the tavern Shunsui Kyōraku had mentioned. The two slid open the private room's door to find it already packed with people.

Though Shunsui Kyōraku had not invited many people to the celebration he was hosting, those present were an intimidatingly important group.

Besides familiar faces like Jūshirō Ukitake, Yoruichi, and Kisuke Urahara, a free-spirited, unrestrained man sat sprawled in the seat of honor: the current captain of the 11th Division, Kuruyashiki Kenpachi.

Shunsui Kyōraku had actually tempted fate by inviting Old Man Yamamoto and Captain Retsu Unohana as well.

But Old Man Yamamoto was busy trying to save his sole surviving pine tree, which had been whittled down to a toothpick. Retsu Unohana, meanwhile, simply disliked the atmosphere at banquets and had excused herself on the grounds of official duties.

The atmosphere at the banquet was thoroughly harmonious.

Kuruyashiki Kenpachi was a hearty man, but unlike the mindless, battle-hungry beast people stereotypically imagined a Kenpachi to be, he was both modest and humorous.

After plying Xuanxin with several large bowls of strong liquor, he patted him on the shoulder and laughed as he praised his "dual-wielding." Then he pulled Shunsui and Ukitake aside for a drinking contest.

Before long, the important gathering ended with Xuanxin banging his head against the table. Afterward, Yoruichi and Kisuke Urahara supported him between them and dragged him back to the Shihoin Clan, dead drunk.

As they watched the young people disappear at the end of the street, the drunken haze vanished from Kuruyashiki Kenpachi's and Shunsui Kyōraku's eyes.

Then a flash of keen understanding passed through his seemingly rough eyes. He turned to Shunsui Kyōraku, who was playing with his wine cup beside him, and said in a low voice:

"Shunsui, you went out of your way to bring me here today to lend your junior apprentice brother some support, didn't you?"

Shunsui Kyōraku did not deny it. An amused smile curved his lips.

"Kuruyashiki, you look like a complete brute, but you're surprisingly perceptive."

Kuruyashiki Kenpachi poured himself a cup of wine and snorted.

"Hmph. That kid's Shikai caused too much of a stir. There are plenty of eyes on him out there now."

"Yeah..."

Shunsui Kyōraku sighed, his voice carrying the concern of a senior apprentice brother. "My junior brother has too many labels attached to him. The more monstrous the talent he shows, the more old-guard nobles and vipers there are who don't want to see him grow."

"I brought you, a 'Kenpachi,' here to drink with him today to send a message. With you, Ukitake, and me backing him, at least half those people will leave him alone after tonight."

Shunsui picked up the wine jug and personally poured Kuruyashiki a cup. "This time... I, Shunsui Kyōraku, owe you a favor."

Kuruyashiki burst into hearty laughter, then tipped his head back and drained his cup. "That kid's to my liking. I'm looking forward to the day he reaches his full potential too!"

Before long, news that Xuanxin's Shikai was also a "dual-blade" type had spread through every street and alley in Seireitei.

No one in Seireitei was more excited than Shihoin Seigen, head of the Shihoin family.

Seigen was sitting proudly in the main seat, boasting to his subordinates about his daughter's excellent eye for talent.

After all, his daughter had casually taken a stroll through Rukongai and brought home a surefire "Captain-level prospect," who might even have a chance to go further!

This was a textbook case of blessings from the ancestors! Who else in all of Soul Society could match his daughter's discerning eye and good fortune?!

While undercurrents stirred in noble circles, Xuanxin's Shikai had caused a commotion at Shin'ō Academy.

Ever since Xuanxin had achieved Shikai, a dual-wielding 'trend' had swept through Shin'ō Academy.

Now, hordes of lower-year students were crowding the logistics department's service window, insisting on receiving a "second Asauchi" and clamoring that they too had a hidden "talent for dual-wielding."

The absurd scene sent the head of logistics into such a rage that he nearly drew his sword and cut someone down.

In the end, the commotion only began to subside after the Spiritual Arts Academy's principal personally intervened and issued a strict "ironclad rule."

[Anyone requesting a second Asauchi must maintain grades of A or above in every subject throughout the year! If they fail to achieve a dual-blade Shikai before the end of their third year, they must immediately return the Asauchi, have their graduation delayed by one year, and have the matter recorded in their personal file!]

Only after this rule was issued did the inexplicable "dual-wielding craze" slowly die down.

Meanwhile, Fujiwara Genshin, the man at the center of it all, had turned into a slightly yellowed white cat and was lying quietly on Yoruichi's shoulder, accompanying her through her last few days of theory classes at the Spiritual Arts Academy.

Turning into a cat was really a last resort. For one thing, he could avoid being surrounded by fervent junior students; for another... at least no one could tell whether a cat was missing an eyebrow.

And so Xuanxin spent a few more peaceful days with Yoruichi and Kisuke Urahara.

Before long, Xuanxin received Captain-Commander Yamamoto's final instructions:

Although Xuanxin had achieved Shikai and was qualified to graduate and join a division, he still needed to travel to the World of the Living with this year's sixth-year graduates and complete the practical "Soul Burial ceremony" assessment before he could officially enter the ranks of the Gotei 13.

As the date of the expedition to the World of the Living approached, the brief period of peace gave way to tension once more.

Chapter 20: Soul Burial in the World of the Living

As the date of the ceremony approached, an atmosphere of tension and unease settled over most of the senior students.

After all, the World of the Living was not Seireitei. Compared with Soul Society, it was an unfamiliar place, and they might encounter Hollows and suffer real casualties.

But that unease clearly did not extend to Yoruichi Shihōin and Kisuke Urahara.

Yoruichi was so delighted to be able to knead and cuddle the "white cat" to her heart's content every day that she had no desire to leave.

Kisuke Urahara, meanwhile, had two heavy dark circles under his eyes as he worked frantically on two critically important projects in the underground base:

First, he was trying to create a special Reishi fabric that would allow Yoruichi's and Xuanxin's clothes to transform along with their bodies when they released the Cat Transformation Technique, finally solving the problem of their clothes after turning into cats.

Second, using the Blood Pond Hell created by Tenjirō Kirinji, who had already joined the Zero Division, as described in ancient texts, he was attempting to recreate a set of identical "healing hot springs" to cope with the increasingly terrifying intensity of Xuanxin's training.

But even for a genius like Kisuke Urahara, neither project was simple. By the day of their departure, he had yet to make anything of either one.

Soul Society, the Senkaimon.

The prospective sixth-year graduates had assembled in formation, fully equipped.

As their third-year juniors, Marenoshin Ōmaeda and the others also stood among the people seeing them off.

Suddenly, Ōmaeda rubbed his eyes and pointed to the very front of the sixth-year formation. "Hey... look, i-isn't that the class rep?!"

The third-years looked in the direction he was pointing.

There among the sixth-years stood Fujiwara Genshin, still dressed in a pure white school uniform, with two Zanpakuto at his waist.

The group looked at their white-haired class rep, who was rarely seen, and only then did realization dawn on them.

The gap between them and their class rep was not the mere 'little bit' Xuanxin usually told them it was to comfort them.

Perhaps the little bit Xuanxin spoke of was a vast gulf that would take them a lifetime to bridge.

"Everyone—move out!"

At the command of the teacher leading them, the enormous Senkaimon slowly slid open to either side, revealing the deep, dark passage through the Dangai.

Xuanxin took a deep breath and rested his hand lightly on the hilt of a sword at his waist. He turned to exchange a glance with Yoruichi and Kisuke Urahara, and the three shared confident smiles.

Then Xuanxin stepped forward without hesitation, entering the Senkaimon shoulder to shoulder with the other two, bound for the world known as the "World of the Living."

Among the people escorting them, an inconspicuous figure watched everything with a sinister gaze. Only after Xuanxin and the other two stepped through the Senkaimon did a smile of success appear on the figure's face.

Upon their arrival in the World of the Living, they found that it was not yet crowded with towering buildings as it would be a century later. For now, vast stretches of land lay desolate.

The people who had come from Soul Society looked around with curiosity; everything seemed new to them.

As they looked this way and poked at that, like country bumpkins visiting the city, the teachers leading them emerged from the Senkaimon and gathered everyone to explain the arrangements for the trip.

"Everyone, come over and listen carefully. Your task this time is to perform Soul Burial ceremonies for the departed souls in this area. Please note that your performance will be recorded on your report cards, so do not slack off."

"Also, Hollows do appear in the World of the Living. If you encounter ordinary Hollows, you may deal with them yourselves. But if you encounter one you cannot handle, you must retreat. Remember, honor means nothing compared with your lives."

"Finally, if you encounter a Hollow you cannot handle, seek shelter with the teacher leading your group immediately. Everyone must return before sunset, regardless of your progress. Is that understood?"

"Understood!" Everyone's expressions turned solemn as they shouted their reply in unison.

"Good. Then begin. I wish you all success in battle!"

Meanwhile, deep within Seireitei, in a vast residence no less impressive in size or heritage than the Shihoin main house.

The door to a dimly lit secret room slid gently open. A furtive figure hurried inside, dropped to one knee, and reported respectfully:

"My lord, the Spiritual Arts Academy students, including the target, have all arrived safely in the World of the Living. The plan we set up there has officially begun."

In the shadows, the man in black paused, a trace of hesitation in his voice.

"It's just... my lord, isn't this plan a little too hasty? Besides, shouldn't our enemies be the Kuchiki Clan, who pride themselves on being foremost among the nobles? Why..."

"Fool."

Before he could finish, the person in the seat of honor interrupted him. The gaunt old man slowly opened his cloudy eyes and sneered. "Your vision is still far too narrow."

The old man's withered fingers tapped lightly on the table as he coldly dissected the balance of power among Soul Society's nobles.

"The Five Great Noble Clans of Soul Society. Aside from the mysterious noble clan that hasn't appeared in a long time, all that remain are our Tsunayashiro Clan, the Kuchiki, the Shihoin, and the Shiba Clan."

"The Shiba Clan has willingly fallen into decline, spending its days among Rukongai's commoners. It is a disgrace to the name of a great noble clan and has long ceased to be one in anything but name. The Kuchiki Clan has deep foundations, but those people are as rigid as thousand-year-old antiques, clinging to rules without knowing how to adapt. They are no threat at all."

At this, the old man's gaze grew even darker. "So the Tsunayashiro Clan's only true enemy has always been the Shihoin Clan, who act without restraint!"

"Originally, we controlled Soul Society's Great Spirit Book Gallery and held more seats in Central 46, while the Shihoin controlled the Second Division and the Stealth Force. One side held civil power and the other military power; it was a near-perfect balance of influence."

Suddenly, the old man's voice rose sharply, thick with jealousy and killing intent,