Soi Fon

"What?" Shihoin Seigen cried out. He hadn't expected Ye Yang to spare not even the nobles who had helped Nishimura. At this rate, the Shihoin Clan would make too many enemies.

"It's all right. Since they were willing to support Nishimura's plan, they'll surely turn against us again someday if we continue to let them be. Our Shihoin Clan doesn't seek trouble, but we're not afraid of it either! Since they dared to do this, they should be prepared to die!" Ye Yang said calmly.

"But..." Yoruichi was still hesitant. She couldn't bring herself to kill so many people. She had only thought they needed to be taught a lesson.

Before Yoruichi could finish, Ye Yang interrupted her. "That's enough, Sis. I'll handle this. I know what you're like. You only want to protect your family, like a shield. If no one provokes you, you won't strike back. But I'm more like a sharp sword! I'll cut down anyone who comes after us! Just wait at home without worrying. I'll wipe out every enemy standing in our way!"

With that, Ye Yang vanished before Yoruichi or Seigen could speak, a dark figure disappearing into the night...

Only Yoruichi and Seigen's husband and wife remained, sighing to themselves. All they could do was pray for Ye Yang, praying that he returned safely.

The Ueno Clan, a mid-ranking noble family

A middle-aged man said to an old man, "Father! Is this really all right? Those two are the Shihoin Clan's geniuses, after all."

Fervor flashed in the old man's eyes. "It's fine. They may be geniuses, but no matter how talented they are, they're no match for that lord. His strength is Captain-level, you know. He promised me that once it's done, he'll make our family high-ranking nobles!"

The middle-aged man's expression grew excited as well. "Really? High-ranking nobles?"

Just then, a voice came from the sky. "High-ranking nobles? How impressive. But will you live long enough to enjoy it?"

"Who's there?" the middle-aged man shouted at the sky.

Then Ye Yang's voice came from behind them. "Who? Don't you know what you've done?"

Father and son turned together and saw Ye Yang at the window. The old man cried out in shock, "You're Ye Yang Shihoin? How is that possible? How can you still be alive?"

Ye Yang smiled as he asked, "Are you surprised I'm still alive? Shouldn't I be alive?"

The old man asked, "Where's Lord Nishimura? He said he could deal with you."

"As for him, he's dead. You'll be seeing him soon," Ye Yang said indifferently.

"You can't kill me." The old man had gone pale with fright.

"Oh? Why not?"

"If you kill me, you'll face an attack from more than a dozen mid- and low-ranking noble families. Even your Shihoin Clan would have a hard time dealing with that, wouldn't it?"

"Pfft!" As the blade sliced through flesh, the old man died with disbelief in his eyes. Ye Yang then appeared behind the middle-aged man and said, "Go tell your father that by tomorrow, all dozen or so of your noble families will have ceased to exist." His blade rose and fell, taking the man's life.

Ye Yang said softly, "If I were afraid of that, I wouldn't have come here." With that, he vanished into the night...

Tonight was destined to be a bloody night, a nightmare for all nobles, because more than a dozen mid- and low-ranking noble families vanished that night. They didn't decline; they vanished from Soul Society entirely. Since the people here were spirit bodies, they would disappear within hours of being killed and become Soul Society's Reishi.

Thus, early the next morning, nothing remained in the residences of those dozen or so noble families! There was no one there. Of the thousands of people, young and old, in those families, not one had been spared!!!

Ye Yang hadn't done it all by himself. He had only dealt with the family heads and the more troublesome people; the Punishment Force had taken care of the rest. There were too many for Ye Yang to kill on his own.

The next day, all the nobles were shocked. Everyone feared they might be the next to be wiped out. At the same time, today was also an important day among the nobles—the Shihoin Clan's new head, its twenty-second head, was Yoruichi Shihōin.

Meanwhile, Ye Yang, one of the main figures, was chatting with Yoruichi at the family head's residence. "So, Sis, what do you think? This jūnihitoe looks good, doesn't it? It's your favorite gold, too~"

"Damn it! If I weren't wearing this, I'd definitely teach you a lesson!" Yoruichi said through gritted teeth.

A jūnihitoe consisted of a karaginu, mo, uwagi, uchigi, itsutsuginu, and hitoe, along with a scarf, sash, hair ornaments, and jeweled crown. All in all, it was a lot of trouble, wrapping the wearer up in layer upon layer. Though gorgeous, once it was on, never mind fighting, even moving normally was difficult.

"Hey! Aren't you changing into formal clothes?" Yoruichi asked.

Ye Yang glanced at Yoruichi and slowly sighed. "Today is your day. I won't go."

Yoruichi was silent for a long moment before she said, "Is that so? Fine. You always steal the spotlight when you show up."

The two fell silent again. How could Ye Yang not want to attend Yoruichi's succession ceremony? One reason was that Ye Yang knew Yoruichi too well. Like him, she longed for freedom and had no interest in being the family head, yet for his sake, she had taken on the shackles of leading the Shihoin Clan. How could Ye Yang face her succession ceremony? The second reason was that if Ye Yang, the eldest son, appeared at the ceremony, people might mistakenly think the Shihoin Clan had two leaders, causing unnecessary trouble. There was also the fact that Ye Yang had just finished a slaughter and couldn't properly suppress the killing intent clinging to him.

At last, Seigen came in and said to Yoruichi, "It's time. Are you ready, Yoruichi? Let's go."

Under Ye Yang's gaze, Yoruichi finally climbed into the palanquin reserved for the Shihoin Clan, and eight people carried it away.

After Yoruichi left, Ye Yang really had nothing to do, so he went to the route she would take. Even if he couldn't watch her at the formal ceremony, there was no problem with watching her privately as she succeeded to the position of family head.

When he reached the street, he found it packed with people, all there to see Yoruichi. She sat in a palanquin carried by eight people, her golden jūnihitoe radiating splendor. Her purple hair, which she had grown to shoulder length over the past six months, had been put up with a golden jeweled crown and hair ornaments. Her expression was dignified, with none of her usual open and cheerful manner. Instead, Yoruichi was now a noble through and through, demonstrating noble etiquette to the fullest.

Ye Yang silently watched Yoruichi pass without disturbing her. Once she had gone far away, he noticed something very interesting: a little girl with short black hair was gazing in the direction Yoruichi had gone, admiration plain in her eyes. Ye Yang laughed to himself. I didn't expect Yoruichi and me to be this influential already.

Ye Yang walked up to the girl and said to himself, "The head of the Shihoin Clan. How enviable."

The girl looked at Ye Yang and asked, "Big brother, do you admire Lady Shihoin too?"

The girl's voice was like music from heaven. Its ethereal sound even drove away a trace of the troubles in Ye Yang's heart. Ye Yang couldn't help smiling. "That's right. What's your name, little sister?"

Ye Yang wasn't deceiving the girl. There was nothing wrong with him admiring his own sister.

Looking in the direction Yoruichi had gone, the little girl spoke with a dreamy look in her eyes. "My name is Shaoling Fon. I'm the ninth-generation heir of the Fon Clan. I'm determined to become Lady Shihoin's bodyguard and protect her forever." The girl named Shaoling Fon's eyes filled with admiration again.

Moved by the girl's innocence, Ye Yang continued, "Then how are you going to protect her?"

Shaoling Fon was a completely innocent little girl at this age. She didn't care why Ye Yang was asking and answered at once, "By joining the Punishment Force someday, of course. That's what our Fon Clan exists for." Young Shaoling Fon had clearly been influenced by her family's beliefs and regarded following the Shihoin Clan as her duty.

At that, Ye Yang vaguely recalled the Fon Clan. They were a lower-ranking noble family who had made their living as executioners and assassins for generations. Anyone who couldn't join the Punishment Corps would be exiled by the family. Several members of the current Punishment Force were from the Fon Clan.

At that thought, Ye Yang suddenly felt as though he had remembered something, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He thought it through again: the Fon Clan, a little girl who admired Yoruichi and centered her life around her. That was it! Ye Yang suddenly realized that she was Soi Fon, the future captain of the Second Division.

Ye Yang studied the girl more closely, growing even more certain. She was the Second Division Captain he had seen in his previous life, the cold-faced captain who shared a deep bond with Yoruichi. Ye Yang had rather liked Soi Fon in his previous life. It was no easy feat for a girl to become the captain of a combat division like the Second Division through her own strength. After all, Captain Unohana was the only other woman in the Thirteenth Division. But the Fourth Division was a medical division, while the Second Division specialized in executions and assassinations, so its difficulty was plain to see. Of course, that didn't mean Captain Unohana lacked strength. On the contrary, Ye Yang had never been able to see how strong she was, and had long counted Retsu Unohana among the strong in his heart.

Ye Yang gave little Shaoling Fon his trademark smile. It had to be said that his smile was highly effective on a little girl; at the very least, she was already instinctively trusting the big brother in front of her.

"Then, Little Shaoling, do you know what it takes to become a qualified member of the Punishment Force?" Ye Yang asked.

A puzzled look appeared on Little Shaoling's face. The question struck right at what was on her mind, and she immediately asked, "I don't know. Do you, big brother?"

"Of course," Ye Yang said with a smile. "I used to be in the Punishment Force."

Little Shaoling's eyes instantly filled with anticipation. "Really? Big brother, please tell me!"...