A Sword Dance with an Ulterior Motive

The fact that Yoruichi had sent someone from the Fon Clan to deliver those three words meant she had firmly seized the "fox's tail" behind yesterday's explosion.

Xuanxin immediately turned and called over the lieutenant who was supervising training nearby.

"Lieutenant, I have some 'personal business' to take care of. As for the rest of the training, you..."

Before Xuanxin could finish, the lieutenant broke into an "I understand" smile and waved his hands repeatedly, cutting him off:

"Got it, got it! Captain Xuanxin, don't worry about a thing. Hurry along—you can't keep Lady Yoruichi waiting. Leave the training to us. We'll make sure these little brats don't dare slack off!"

The lieutenant had clearly gotten the wrong idea, and several Seated Officers nearby were secretly covering their mouths and snickering. Xuanxin's face darkened, but he couldn't be bothered to explain.

He threw on the white haori that marked him as a captain and strode out of the 11th Division.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Two figures sped across the rooftops of the Seireitei.

The girl maintained a distance of exactly one step behind Xuanxin throughout, a position of absolute safety and respect.

She neither fell behind when Xuanxin sped up nor overstepped the rules in her eagerness to lead the way.

Xuanxin turned his head slightly and glanced at the girl behind him out of the corner of his eye.

He keenly noticed that a complicated, indescribable emotion was flickering in Shaoling Fon's cool eyes.

There was an instinctive awe of the strong, an appraisal of the man before her, and seemingly a trace of... admiration that even she hadn't noticed.

Xuanxin didn't look into it further. Before long, the two arrived at the Second Division.

As soon as Xuanxin pushed open the door, he saw Yoruichi Shihōin sitting cross-legged at a long table covered in intelligence files, playing with a Reishi crystal that bore obvious scorch marks around its edges.

"Found it?"

Without wasting a word, Xuanxin walked straight up to her and asked the question that concerned him most.

Yoruichi stopped playing with the crystal and shot Xuanxin a sidelong glance with her golden eyes. Then she raised her shapely eyebrows, sounding a little proud and displeased:

"Of course. What kind of question is that? You really don't think much of me, do you? What, don't you trust me to do my job?"

Seeing that Yoruichi was about to bristle, Xuanxin hurried over and soothed her in a gentle voice:

"Nothing of the sort. I was just anxious for a moment. Besides, who in the world could match my Lady Yoruichi's skills? Please forgive me, Lady Yoruichi~"

Hearing Xuanxin's somewhat flattering "apology," Yoruichi looked satisfied.

She then snorted, her eyes shifting slightly as she said with a hint of mischief:

"At least you know what to say. But I'm putting this on your tab for now. Once this matter is completely over, I'll settle everything with you!"

"Yes, yes, yes, whatever you say! Whatever you say!"

After their flirtatious banter, Yoruichi's expression turned serious. She pushed the scorched Reishi crystal toward Xuanxin and said gravely:

"All right, down to business. Yesterday's explosion site looked like it had been thoroughly cleaned up, but I still found this fragment of a storage device that had been missed at the center of the blast.

"According to that blond Kisuke Urahara's analysis, it contains extensive records of artificially modified Reiatsu.

"And this fragment is made of a special material. According to our covert investigation, only two places had previously purchased it. But today, another place purchased the material as well."

Xuanxin turned the crystal over in his hand, an icy glint flashing in his eyes.

Yoruichi then stood and walked over to a complete map of Soul Society hanging on the wall. She reached out and tapped a red dot on it:

"There isn't much time left before the next Golden Seal Conference."

Yoruichi turned, fixing Xuanxin with a blazing stare, a fierce killing intent radiating from her as she asked:

"So, when do we make our move?"

Faced with Yoruichi's eagerness to fight, Xuanxin unexpectedly curled his lips and uttered three words softly:

"Tonight."

A smile flashed across Yoruichi's face. Without another word, she turned to give the order for the Executive Militia to assemble in full.

But before Yoruichi could leave the room, Xuanxin suddenly reached out and caught her wrist. A sly smile appeared in his deep black eyes, and he waved a hand as he said:

"No, there's no rush to assemble the troops. Let's go home first, wash up properly, and change our clothes while we're at it."

"Huh?" Yoruichi froze, staring at Xuanxin in disbelief.

"What? Change clothes? What for? Aren't we going to wipe out that stronghold?"

Xuanxin let go, straightened his collar, and announced with a perfectly serious expression:

"No, because tonight, I'm hosting a party first!"

"Huh?" Yoruichi opened her mouth, her face full of confusion and enormous question marks.

She couldn't understand it. Now that they knew where the stronghold was, they could uproot the Mitsunashiro Clan's stronghold at any time.

At such a crucial moment, Xuanxin, who had always hated banquets, actually wanted to host one?

But out of her almost blind trust in Xuanxin, Yoruichi went along with him despite her confusion and headed home to change into clothes suitable for the banquet.

In the shadows of a corner of the command room, Shaoling Fon had silently watched everything.

Only after the two had completely disappeared and were no longer likely to turn back suddenly did she pull a little pink notebook from her robes and silently write it all down.

[Hmm... More material about Yoruichi and Lord Xuanxin...!]

Little did they know that, at this very moment, the inspiration for the most wonderful romance novel that would one day sweep Soul Society had already been recorded on paper.

Before long, Xuanxin had changed his clothes and headed to a place no one would have expected—the Shin'ō Academy.

Outside that familiar classroom, Xuanxin naturally found Sōsuke Aizen reading in the shade of a tree.

"Teacher Shihoin." Aizen closed his book and bowed respectfully.

Xuanxin looked at the bespectacled young man before him, a gentle smile curling his lips as he said softly:

"Aizen, I'm holding a private 'gathering' in the Seireitei tonight. Would you... like to come?"

It seemed like an ordinary invitation, but Aizen instantly dissected the deeper meaning hidden within it.

At a time like this, why would Teacher Shihoin suddenly invite me to a private gathering?

Aizen immediately discerned the core implication hidden in those words.

It seemed the Kenpachi before him had definitely uncovered something important.

And this so-called private banquet was probably nothing more than a smokescreen aimed at certain people.

At that thought, an inexplicable curiosity welled up in Aizen's heart, but his expression remained perfectly flawless.

He then bowed slightly, gave Xuanxin a deeply grateful smile, and answered softly:

"I'm honored by your kindness. I will be there on time."

Xuanxin then went without pause to personally deliver dinner invitations to Ginrei Kuchiki, captain of the Sixth Division, and his own two senior brothers.

And to make the act convincing, he personally booked the entire upscale, luxurious tavern near the Eighth Division's territory.

For a time, several taverns near the Eighth Division were busy preparing for a grand gathering.

Chapter 48: A Sword Dance with an Ulterior Motive

Meanwhile, an oppressive, deathly silence filled the Tsunayashiro Clan's main residence.

In a secret room deep within the residence, the head of the Tsunayashiro Clan was like an enraged lion. He stared fixedly at the senior servant kneeling before him.

The air in the entire chamber seemed to have congealed, and even the sound of Reishi flowing could be heard clearly.

Bang!

Suddenly, the Tsunayashiro Clan head seized the precious white porcelain teacup from the low table beside him and hurled it at the servant below with all his strength!

Crash!

The sharp sound of shattering porcelain rang through the secret room.

The servant kneeling on the floor had more than enough strength to dodge, but he didn't dare move. He took the furious blow squarely on his face.

Sharp porcelain shards instantly sliced open his cheeks and forehead. Crimson blood mixed with scalding tea and dripped down his pale cheeks, staining the floor red.

Yet he kept his teeth clenched, not daring to let out even a muffled groan of pain.

"Say that again..."

The Tsunayashiro Clan head shot to his feet and looked down at him, his voice sharp and hoarse with anger:

"What do you mean... the experiment failed and exploded?!! Huh?!"

"You fool! Do you know how much work I poured into that laboratory? Do you know how much attention that damned explosion will draw?! If we're exposed, all the research will go down the drain!"

Faced with the clan head's thunderous fury, the servant was scared out of his wits. He hurriedly tried to defend himself in a trembling voice:

"P-please calm your anger, my lord! Although the Thirteenth Division went to the scene, we had already completely moved all the key evidence and residual Reiatsu data as soon as the explosion occurred!

"And the person to take the blame is ready too. No matter how they investigate, they won't trace it back to us. It's absolutely foolproof!"

Only after hearing that the scapegoat was ready did the rage in the Tsunayashiro Clan head's eyes subside slightly.

Seeing the Tsunayashiro Clan head's expression ease somewhat, the servant didn't even stop to wipe the blood from his face.

He scrambled back into a proper kneeling position and, as if seeking credit, hurriedly offered another piece of intelligence he had just received to divert the clan head's attention:

"My lord! Not only that, but according to our informant, the Shihoin Clan doesn't seem to be planning to investigate the explosion tonight.

"They've booked the biggest tavern near the Eighth Division and are making a great show of holding a private gathering! And..."

"A gathering?"

Hearing those words, the Tsunayashiro Clan head was momentarily stunned.

Then an extremely disdainful sneer suddenly appeared on his gloomy face.

"Hmph... What private gathering, my ass. You said the gathering was being held near the Eighth Division?"

The Tsunayashiro Clan head turned around with his hands behind his back. His shadowed eyes gleamed as though he had seen through everything, and he said with a mocking expression:

"Did the Shihoin Clan invite the Kuchiki Clan as well? Heh heh... It's too obvious. They're practically giving themselves away by trying to cover it up! They're still young. Do those two really think such a crude trick can fool me?"

The Tsunayashiro Clan head sneered and drew his own conclusion:

"I suspect this so-called gathering is essentially just a pretext for the Shihoin Clan to use Shunsui Kyōraku's territory as cover while they secretly exchange benefits and form an alliance with the Kuchiki Clan!

"All they're thinking about now is how to keep me in check at the Golden Seal Conference."

Hearing the clan head's "brilliant" reasoning, the servant acted as though he had seized a lifeline. He hurriedly knocked his head against the floor and loudly flattered him:

"You're wise, my lord! Your wisdom shines as brightly as the sun! I'm too dull to have noticed any of it!"

"Hmph, just two little brats who think they're clever. They're still too green to play political games in front of me."

Clearly, the Tsunayashiro Clan head was quite pleased by the flattery. The anger on his face was replaced by arrogance.

He then casually picked up a rag from the table and threw it like a piece of trash, hitting the servant squarely on the head.

"Tonight, have the hidden watchers keep a close eye on that tavern and watch every single person at their gathering! As for the experimental materials that were moved out, send them to the backup laboratory overnight and speed things up!"