Chapter 32

The former was a passive effect of his Zanpakuto, while the latter required Onizuka to control it—he could draw in only one attribute at a time. Haruto had specifically tested that point with the weaker Shōtenkyū.

Although the shield had absorbed the Shōtenkyū, it hadn't drawn it toward the center like the other Kidō, to the mouth of the demon-face carving.

Once he understood that,

he used Haien as bait to make his opponent switch the attribute he was drawing in, then killed him with Byakurai at point-blank range—

The tactic had naturally come to Haruto.

As for Haruto's second suspicion, he no longer had a chance to confirm it:

There was a limit to how much Kidō Reiatsu Onizuka's Zanpakuto could absorb, and it probably couldn't withstand a sustained barrage of high-level Kidō.

But compared with that Reiatsu-wasting approach...

Outsmarting his opponent and finishing him off with a single enhanced Byakurai was naturally the easier choice.

Volume One: 021, Reigai

The only thing Haruto was dissatisfied with was probably that he hadn't gotten to show off in front of anyone.

Overwhelming skill with sheer power was clearly more direct than outsmarting an opponent. Since Haruto hadn't used a single high-level Hadō throughout the fight, he naturally hadn't gotten a chance to shock his opponent into gaping wide-mouthed and shutting his eyes.

On top of that,

Haruto had always been ruthless when he struck.

The Byakurai that had pierced Onizuka's body had gone straight through his spine, heart, and Hakusui—the three most critical parts of his body.

Anyone hit by it had virtually no chance of surviving.

Even if a master of Kaidō came to his rescue, he would never be able to serve as a Soul Reaper again.

"Sigh."

Haruto crouched beside what remained of Onizuka's corpse, now reduced to ashes.

"Killing and robbing people..."

"That's hardly a good way to get rich in Soul Society."

Onizuka had left only two things behind:

A gold koban and a white pill, its contents exposed after the bag originally wrapped around it had burned to black ash.

"This was actually all an upper-ranking Seated Officer owned..."

As Haruto had mentioned before, even "one in ten thousand" wasn't enough to describe how difficult it was to become an upper-ranking Seated Officer.

"If even a junior Seated Officer is like this, how many other Soul Reapers from commoner backgrounds can resist being corrupted by the nobles' money?"

Gold koban.

Coins that great nobles used for games and could discard at will, and currency of the most fundamental value that middle-ranking nobles used to trade for information.

"As for robbing the rich to help the poor..."

"For those guys living in the Seireitei, that's even more dangerous than going after a Soul Reaper of the Gotei 13."

"..."

Haruto shook his head, putting aside for the moment his dissatisfaction with Soul Society's stringent hierarchy and rules.

"And what's this?"

Haruto put the gold koban away.

Leaving its monetary value aside, the precious metal he had seized was valuable enough for its resistance to Haien's flames alone.

He pinched the white pill between his fingers and examined it closely.

"It's fragile."

"A little pressure is enough to crush it."

Haruto gently rubbed the pill. He certainly couldn't take something of unknown origin, so he sniffed a tiny bit instead—

"!"

A refreshing sensation that cleared his head.

A bracing sensation, as if he had swallowed a huge mouthful of medicated oil.

"It's a little like the Heavenly Bedding Pill, and smelling this actually gave me an appetite?"

Haruto had eaten not long ago, and the fight had consumed little of his Reiatsu.

"..."

Haruto rubbed one side of his chin with his thumb and stood there, thinking carefully.

"A Hollow?"

"No, it should be something used to attract Hollows."

"The best way to cover up traces of a Soul Reaper's Reiatsu would naturally be to use a Hollow..."

He glanced at the lower-class residents and vagrants along the street, near and far, who had all shut their windows and looked away.

"This pill must have been how Onizuka planned to destroy the corpse and erase the evidence."

Using it in the densely populated Rukongai would have had unthinkable consequences. The damage wouldn't have been limited to the destruction of just one or two streets.

"The 11th Division doesn't have that kind of ability—"

Haruto put away the pill he had just seized and, facing the shadows at the corner he had come from, asked slowly and calmly:

"Am I right, Rikujō?"

"..."

"How did you find me?"

Rikujō Kyōya gradually stepped out of the shadows.

"It's nothing. I've never seen anyone use Kyokkō as badly as you."

"..."

Haruto's answer instantly left Rikujō Kyōya speechless.

Bakudō #26: Kyokkō was a Kidō used to conceal one's form and Reiatsu. Haruto was familiar enough with it to simulate Utsusemi using Kyokkō and Sekienton, so how could he have failed to see through a technique riddled with so many flaws?

It was one thing not to have time to notice it during the fight.

But once the traces of Reiatsu had gradually settled, such a shoddy Kyokkō was practically an insult to Haruto's intelligence.

Besides,

Although Rikujō Kyōya had been quick-witted enough to hide himself, the fact remained that he was weak. Once his hope that Haruto would be careless enough to overlook him after the fight fell through, he had no chance of escaping.

"All right, don't be so nervous."

Haruto called out to Rikujō Kyōya like a friend.

"Let's hear it."

He gestured with a tilt of his head.

"Information or wealth, give me a reason to spare your life."

"...Aren't you afraid I'll inform on you?"

Rikujō Kyōya asked incredulously at Haruto's "promise."

"Leaving aside whether you're even in a position to speak to Kiganjō... Do you dare tell anyone the whole story of how Onizuka died?"

"Besides, you don't seem to care much about your younger brother."

"..."

Haruto's words once again silenced Rikujō Kyōya. Compared with his own cheap little tricks, Haruto had seen through everything.

"Here are five gold koban."

After a brief hesitation, Rikujō Kyōya pulled five gold koban from his hunting robe pocket.

"One was payment for Eighth Seat Onizuka's efforts. The rest is a little personal wealth I've accumulated over the years."

"Go on."

Haruto spoke without any emotion.

"...That's everything I own."

Rikujō Kyōya shook his head and spoke with some hesitation.

"Then tell me what you know."

"By the way, I'm not interested in the dirty dealings between you lower nobles. Tell me some stories about the middle-ranking nobles."

"Otherwise..."

Haruto tossed the gold koban Rikujō Kyōya had offered him.

"These aren't enough to buy your life."

Rikujō Kyōya had no doubt that Haruto wasn't joking. Judging by how swiftly and cleanly he had just killed, whatever Haruto had been through before coming to Shin'ō Academy, he was nothing like those students who had yet to shed their childishness.

"...Go on."

"...Go on."

Under pressure comparable to an interrogation, Rikujō Kyōya broke out in a cold sweat and fearfully divulged every noble secret he knew, not daring to hide anything.

But...

"...Go on."

Apart from a very few pieces of information, the things he said were no more valuable to Haruto than gossip, and none of it interested him enough.

"..."

Rikujō Kyōya also knew that if he kept rambling like this, the moment Haruto grew annoyed would be the moment he died.

As for the Soul Reaper who might come to investigate...

Before taking action, Onizuka had specifically instructed the Tenth Division Soul Reaper patrolling the Yoshiwara District not to come over, no matter what commotion he heard. Even if they belonged to different divisions, an ordinary squad member would never dare disobey an upper-ranking Seated Officer's instructions.

Besides,

Even if that Tenth Division Soul Reaper, who was weaker than Rikujō himself, did come here out of curiosity, he would merely add another pile of human-shaped ash to the ground... provided the summer breeze blowing through the street showed him mercy.

After struggling inwardly—

"Do you want to know where the puppet I used just now came from?"

"Speak."

A puppet?

At first, Haruto had thought Rikujō Kyōya had used a simplified ability similar to Utsusemi.

Haien burned its targets completely to ash, so Haruto hadn't noticed the difference between the two. But from what Rikujō had just said, the method he had used seemed more like a reusable item.

"...My copy was created by putting a Modified Soul into a Reigai."

Modified Souls.

The invention that had allowed Kirio Hikifune to be promoted to the Zero Division. The Gikongan Soul Reapers used when traveling to the World of the Living had been developed based on Modified Soul theory.

As for the other term Rikujō Kyōya had mentioned—

"A Reigai? A Gigai made using spiritual power?"

"...Yes."

Rikujō Kyōya nodded, still sweating. Haruto had understood so quickly that Rikujō, who should have had the upper hand in the conversation, was completely at a disadvantage.

Gikongan and Gigai had only been invented in the past few years, yet Haruto, who was still studying at Shin'ō Academy, knew so much about them. The unexpected situation really made Rikujō Kyōya break out in a cold sweat...

He had originally planned to "weigh" his words carefully.