Chapter 30

The fat guy standing beside the young man was enormous in both height and build, almost blocking half the street, and he let out a shrill shout.

"..."

It was such a textbook small-fry line that Haruto struggled to keep his expression in check. What else could he expect from an idiot who couldn't even pass his graduation exam?

"Haruto."

At that moment, the Soul Reaper standing in the center, who was clearly the core of the group, seemed a little uncomfortable with his companion's villainous remarks as well. He took over the conversation and addressed Haruto very "politely." His standing as a Soul Reaper was lower than his standing as a noble, as was clear from the attitude of the lackey Soul Reaper to his right.

In other words,

this man had joined the Soul Reapers as a noble.

"I am Rikujō Kyōya, eldest son of the Rikujō family, a lower noble house."

"...Hello?"

Although the hostility of the others was completely undisguised, their leader spoke courteously and pleasantly, so Haruto naturally showed the appropriate manners in return.

Of course,

Haruto had already realized why they looked "familiar": all four had been in the large private room he had seen the night before. The one who had noticed him then was the young noble who had spoken first.

"..."

"To be honest, I have no wish to make an enemy of you."

Rikujō Kyōya was reasonably frank, though his words were rather pointless.

"I must admit that my father has spoiled my younger brother a little too much, but there are times when a noble's face cannot be so easily disregarded."

"Haruto."

Rikujō Kyōya looked around as if casually surveying the area.

"To be buried in such a secluded, peaceful, and beautiful place is a fitting end for someone of your Rukongai origins."

His tone was courteous, but his words were cruel.

In the end, he was a lower noble who lacked the proper foundation. As a member of the cannon-fodder class caught between commoners and nobles, he had revealed his arrogance and baseness a little too quickly.

Still...

"Never mind that small-fry brother of yours. His very existence is an insult to nobles."

"#!"

Rikujō Kyōya's younger brother showed undisguised fury, but his status meant he had no say on this occasion.

Even a commoner from Rukongai whose spiritual power barely met the Shin'ō Academy's requirements could graduate with some effort—and not even particularly strenuous effort. Only someone who had accomplished nothing apart from being a noble could be so cleanly weeded out in the graduation exam.

"You're a lower Seated Officer. What makes you think you can take me down?"

Only upper Seated Officers were entitled to wear a badge on their sleeves bearing their division and seat.

Someone like Rikujō Kyōya had, at best, only just risen above the rank of an ordinary division member... At roughly the level of 15th or 16th-Class Spiritual Pressure, he was hardly worth mentioning in Haruto's eyes. Even Munechika, who had been taken out by three shots of Shō in the Live-Blade Match, was far stronger than him.

The reason Haruto had patiently chatted with Rikujō Kyōya was that the man belonged to the Gotei 13. Whether a Soul Reaper or a Shin'ō Academy student, whoever struck first would automatically be at a disadvantage.

If they failed to dispose of the body and cover their tracks thoroughly enough, the Gotei 13 would investigate to the end.

"Naturally, I am no match for you, Haruto."

Rikujō Kyōya shook his head.

There had indeed been an element of chance to their encounter the previous night, but even if they hadn't met today, this matter would have caught up with Haruto somewhere else sooner or later. Anyone who had watched the Live-Blade Match would have some idea of his strength, and even the level he had displayed while concealing his strength had long since surpassed that of ordinary division members.

Anyone looking to make trouble for him would have to weigh their own abilities first.

And if his opponents hadn't even paid attention to that Live-Blade Match... Haruto couldn't be bothered to talk to the likes of them at all.

"Even if you skipped sixth year and graduated directly, the level you have shown so far would probably earn you an upper Seated Officer position straight away."

"However!"

Rikujō Kyōya changed tack.

"As a team, we of the Gotei 13 do not fight alone, especially when we encounter an opponent beyond our individual abilities—"

Rikujō Kyōya certainly made it sound righteous.

As he shifted slightly to one side and back, a massive figure slowly came into Haruto's view around the final corner of the dilapidated street.

"I'm counting on you, Onizuka."

"!"

Just as expected.

During the brief chase, Haruto had quickly determined how many sources of Reiatsu were pursuing him. The four people who had just appeared didn't account for all the Reiatsu he had sensed.

And the last to appear was the man who had been the center of attention in the open hall on the second floor the previous night, the 8th Seat of the 11th Division.

Not only that,

but if the two Rikujō brothers didn't look particularly related, then the "Onizuka" whom Rikujō Kyōya had addressed was practically the ultimate enlarged version of the fat guy who had spoken so rudely earlier.

"I see."

Haruto quietly observed the 8th Seat of the 11th Division, who could completely block the road.

The Onizuka and Rikujō families appeared to be quite close, and the former had most likely entered noble circles through the latter. If Onizuka were a noble too, Rikujō Kyōya would have addressed him more deferentially. In the eyes of nobles, even minor ones like the Rikujō family, Soul Reapers like Onizuka, who had barely become upper Seated Officers but had no real backing, were at best their hired muscle...

The relatively high-grade kind.

"8th Seat Onizuka."

Haruto shifted his gaze to Onizuka.

To Haruto, a lower noble house like the Rikujō family wasn't worth mentioning. A Seated Officer of the 11th Division, on the other hand, deserved more attention.

As the Gotei 13's combat division, they were still a little stronger on average than members of other divisions, from their Seated Officers down to their ordinary members.

"Are you sure you want to believe their slander?"

"If a member of the Gotei 13 attacks a Shin'ō Academy student, the consequences won't be as simple as going back and writing a self-criticism."

"A self-criticism?"

Unfortunately, Onizuka didn't understand Haruto's good intentions.

"Brats from the Shin'ō Academy really do only know how to run their mouths."

Onizuka drove the sheath of the enormous Zanpakuto in his hand, which suited his size perfectly, hard against the ground at his feet.

"Boom!"

Dry earth and gravel flew out like bullets.

"You dared offend the 11th Division. Even if we bury you here, Captain Kiganjō will only praise us for a job well done!"

Onizuka's words left Haruto silent.

"..."

"I see."

Kiganjō, the tenth Kenpachi, was the least Kenpachi-like man in the 11th Division's history, and his tenure was also its weakest period.

Whether looking back or ahead, aside from him and his immediate predecessor, the strength of the 11th Division needed no elaboration:

The seventh, Kuruyashiki; the eighth, Azashiro; and the eleventh, Zaraki—

Every one of them was capable of shaking Soul Society.

Volume 1: 020, I Know This World Is as Fleeting as Dew, and Yet, and Yet.

"You're serious?"

There were two things Haruto could confirm.

First, Rikujō Kyōya was probably a Soul Reaper assigned to the 11th Division, and the division's disregard for rules had grown increasingly severe after Kiganjō became captain.

Second, they really did intend to kill him.

The first was none of Haruto's business. Whatever became of the 11th Division was Old Man Yamamoto's concern.

The second...

Haruto wasn't sure whether he was the protagonist, but the people before him had indeed earned their deaths. Lower nobles struggling to survive between the classes were even more decisive than many middle nobles. To call them merely fierce and combative was putting it mildly, considering they wanted to kill him over such a trivial matter.

"This place may be remote..."

It was hard to say what it was like at night, but outside the central district of Yoshiwara, it was quite desolate during the day.

"But it's hardly deserted."

Dilapidated wooden houses, shacks, and vagrants wrapped in dirty blankets... There were quite a few eyes watching them.

"Are you sure you won't be exposed?"

"I'm a prospective member of the Fifth Division, for one thing. Even if you kill everyone here, the traces of your Reiatsu won't stand up to an investigation later."

That was a lie.

A little investigation would reveal that Haruto's homeroom teacher had always been the Fifth Division's 7th Seat, making it highly likely that he would join the Fifth Division in the future.

So Haruto didn't mind using it to threaten them.

However—

"Big bro! Why listen to his crap?"

The small-fry fat guy finally seized a chance to speak.

"If he really had what it takes, he could just attack us or find a chance to run. He's only talking so much because he's scared of you, big bro!"

"..."

"True."

Onizuka's smile turned savage.

All that talk without action just now had been a facade. Onizuka looked like a brute, but he had plenty of schemes beneath the surface. He was probably worried about whether he could take Haruto down, which was why he had deliberately sounded him out like this... Otherwise, there was no need to bring the other burdens along.

The disdain Haruto had shown when he first faced Rikujō, and the caution he had displayed after Onizuka appeared, both indirectly indicated his strength:

Around 10th Seat.

Against a 10th Seat who specialized in Kidō but couldn't use Shikai and was poor at Hakuda and Shunpo, Onizuka believed he was certain to win.

"Don't worry, brat."

Onizuka picked up the Zanpakuto he had planted straight into the ground.

"When it comes to disposing of bodies and covering our tracks, the 11th Division is a lot better at it than you think."

Onizuka's Zanpakuto was far more imposing than those of ordinary Soul Reapers.

Before reaching Vice-Captain-level, the visible size of most Zanpakuto was closely tied to their Soul Reaper's Reiatsu: the larger the Zanpakuto itself, the higher its wielder's Reiatsu.

Haruto had seen many Zanpakuto.

Although Onizuka was only the 8th Seat, his true strength might be considerably higher than his rank suggested.

"Shing."

As the blade was gradually drawn from its sheath, reflecting a ghastly silver light in the sun, the battle between the two sides silently began.

"Well, that's—"

At the same time, Haruto quietly raised his right index finger.

"A real shame."

"Hadō #4: Byakurai!"

"Crackle!"

Along with the incantation came the explosive crack of Byakurai tearing through the air.

In an instant, the bluish-white lightning left a sizzling trail and struck Onizuka with unerring accuracy...

Or rather, the Zanpakuto he held in front of him.