"Beautiful handwriting!"
Thank you for your praise.
Byakuya looked into the empty space, where Soi Fon's figure slowly appeared. Byakuya washed his brush and asked as he did so, "Didn't they say you were arrested?"
Soi Fon's lips curled slightly. "That guy Marechiyo Ōmaeda saved me."
"Oh? You have a decent Vice-Captain," Byakuya chuckled, everyone knowing what kind of person Marechiyo Ōmaeda was. "What do you want to know?"
What exactly did Jun Shimizu leave behind?
"Something that can change Soul Society —no, a secret treasure!"
Soi Fon's expression turned serious. "He..."
Byakuya interrupted Soi Fon, "Don't ask me what Uncle Shimizu is going to do. I don't know, and I couldn't possibly know. Ask me something specific."
When will he come to Soul Society?
"I don't know," Byakuya said, putting his pen away. "What are your thoughts on the current situation?"
"I," Soi Fon frowned and sighed, "I know I'm not suited for this kind of thing. If Byakuya has any ideas or anything you want me to do, I'll do it."
"First, find everyone. Find Hitsugaya, find Shiba, then move Matsumoto, Mrs. Shiba, and the baby to the Kuchiki Clan."
Okay, is there anything else?
Byakuya considered for a moment, "Keep an eye on the Second Division. Those lunatics got their hands on this treasure; they'll probably cause chaos soon. That's all."
"Understood!" Soi Fon disappeared into thin air.
Byakuya stood still for a while, then took a book from the bookshelf, sat down in a chair, and began to read. However, a book made him excited and restless.
Soi Fon appeared outside the Sixth Division, cautiously looking around. There wasn't a single person on the entire road. Soi Fon was stunned.
"Has the Soul Society really fallen to this state?"
Soi Fon didn't know how to describe her feelings. Just a short while ago, this main road was full of people: the Seventh Division patrol, the lieutenants of various divisions running back and forth, and Soul Reaper inviting each other out for drinks and fun—a scene of great prosperity.
Now, with no one around and only herself remaining, she felt utterly pathetic. But this wasn't the time to dwell on such things. Soi Fon pulled up her mask and vanished, leaving the street truly deserted.
Soi Fon quickly returned to the place where she had parted ways with Marechiyo Ōmaeda. She found the message Marechiyo Ōmaeda had left on a wall at the street corner, which she casually erased. Following the procedures of the Second Division, she quickly found Soi Fon eating pork knuckle in a very dilapidated, abandoned Marechiyo Ōmaeda hut.
Marechiyo Ōmaeda was enjoying his meal when he suddenly sensed someone behind him. He whirled around, reached into his robes, and saw Soi Fon, her eyes blazing with fury.
"Team Captain"
"The food was pretty good."
"Um," Marechiyo Ōmaeda wiped his greasy hands haphazardly on his clothes, "Captain, you're back! I've missed you so much!"
Soi Fon kicked Marechiyo Ōmaeda aside, letting out a long sigh, "You good-for-nothing! You're going to drive me crazy! Get up! We have a mission!"
"Yes, sir!" Marechiyo Ōmaeda, enduring the pain, stood up and saluted, displaying commendable professionalism.
"Having found Tōshirō Hitsugaya, Rangiku Matsumoto, and the Shiba couple, what information do you have about the hiding place of Tōshirō Hitsugaya and Rangiku Matsumoto?"
"Captain Hitsugaya and Vice-Captain Iba clashed in Rukongai No. 59 this morning."
"Alright, I'll go find Captain Hitsugaya now. You go to the Abandoned District and find the Shiba couple. Once you find them, take them to the Kuchiki Clan. This is a mission! You will carry it out independently."
Marechiyo Ōmaeda tensed up, Soi Fon looked equally helpless. "It's just the two of us now, Marechiyo Ōmaeda, can I trust you?"
This question triggered a huge Explosion in Marechiyo Ōmaeda's mind, causing her large body to shudder violently.
"Hey! Captain, please trust me completely, woohoo~!"
Soi Fon interrupted the fat man with a punch, laughing and yelling, "Are you an idiot?! Why are you shouting like that?"
"I'm sorry~, but Captain, you really can trust me! Absolutely!" The fat man turned his head and looked into Soi Fon's eyes, speaking with utmost seriousness.
Broken Bee laughed. In this situation, he could find that his useless subordinate suddenly became useful. Broken Bee felt emotional again. However, this smile made Fatty's heart melt.
"Let's go. I hope you can bring me back a good result."
Soi Fon disappeared after speaking. Marechiyo Ōmaeda got up from the ground, her gaze more resolute than ever before. "Don't worry, Captain! I'll definitely complete the mission! Marechiyo Ōmaeda!! Rise up! Oh!"
Tōshirō and Rangiku remained hidden. Because of their earlier tearful recounting, the atmosphere was slightly awkward, mainly for Tōshirō. Rangiku, now truly pregnant, was radiating maternal warmth, which completely overshadowed Tōshirō.
"Was your knife really switched?"
"Of course it's true!"
"But two Hyōrinmaru"
"There were originally two Hyōrinmaru," Tōshirō sighed. "You don't know, there really are two Hyōrinmaru. It's a rule in Soul Society that two identical Zanpakuto are not allowed. This rule wasn't established casually."
Rangiku understood too, "Could it be..."
"Yes, I defeated another user of Hyōrinmaru. The Soul Society wanted to kill him, and I was forced to kill him, but suddenly some kind of spatial fluctuation occurred, and he disappeared."
Rangiku wondered, "Could it be that Captain Shimizu rescued him? And then he was sent back and had your sword replaced? But how did he manage that?"
"This," Tōshirō was also surprised by this, "Yeah, I don't know how he did it either. I always carry my sword with me, how could it have been switched?"
Your knife was switched?
Who is it!?
A third voice suddenly appeared, startling the two. However, unlike Tōshirō's alertness, Rangiku walked to the source of the sound and Soi Fon Rangiku into her arms.
"Haha, it really is Soi Fon!"
Soi Fon and Rangiku had a fairly good relationship. Rangiku got along well with everyone in the Women's Association. Soi Fon gently stroked Rangiku's stomach and asked, "Are you tired?"
"It's not hard at all, I don't feel tired at all," Rangiku, while Soi Fon, radiating maternal warmth, wanted to cover her eyes.
When Tōshirō saw who it was, he became less wary. "You were rescued?"
"You guys knew I got arrested? You're quite well-informed."
"That's what the Iba told us."
"The Iba? I found it by following the Iba."
"What did you say!?"
"Don't worry," Soi Fon smiled confidently. "The clues at the Iba were very amateurish. He probably came up with a trick himself. If I weren't so free right now, I wouldn't have been able to find them. Besides, I've already erased those clues."
What is your purpose in coming to see us?
"Sending Rangiku to the Kuchiki Clan is Captain Kuchiki's suggestion."
"Captain Kuchiki!?" Tōshirō frowned in thought, then nodded after a moment. "Alright, if there's still one safe place in Soul Society right now, it's the Kuchiki Clan."
The two looked at Rangiku, Rangiku touched her belly and smiled, "I have no objection. I'm just a burden now, so I can accept it anytime we can find a safe place to release you all."
"Let's set off now."
"No! Rangiku can't move quickly right now, and her Reiatsu will become unstable once she starts moving."
Tōshirō immediately rejected the idea. Soi Fon looked at Rangiku, Rangiku.
"That's how it is when you're pregnant. A lot of my Spiritual Power has been absorbed by the baby, and my soul seems unstable. I'm finding it very difficult to control my Reiatsu now."
"The Cloak is for you."
There are many patrols outside now.
"There's no one around," Soi Fon said as she helped Rangiku put on her Cloak. "They discovered the treasure left behind by Jun Shimizu at the Shiba Clan in Rukongai, and they're all studying it now. So there aren't many people outside. This is our chance to move! We can't afford to miss this opportunity!"
"Is that so!? Then let's go quickly!" Tōshirō, being a decisive person, immediately took Rangiku and left.
The three arrived on the street. Actually, Soi Fon had already noticed when she arrived that there were practically no arresting people left. It was mainly the Second Division and the Punishment Force making the arrests; the other Shinigami teams assigned to make Soul Reaper were just slacking off. Therefore, the three encountered no resistance whatsoever.
Furthermore, entering the Seireitei is not difficult. Soi Fon knows many secret passages, and of course, many people in the Second Division also know these passages. However, when Yoruichi returned last time, she told Soi Fon about several secret passages known only to the Shihoin Family. Soi Fon led Tōshirō and Rangiku through these kinds of passages.
However, the problem lies in getting out through the secret passage. Because things have completely broken down, the Shihoin Family has a lot of people on their side, and the Kuchiki Clan is also heavily monitoring them.
Actually, the Soul Society isn't just arresting Tōshirō and his group right now. There are several resistance groups in Rukongai, totaling two or three hundred people. That's why only teams like Iba's, led by Vice-Captain, dare to patrol. If a weaker team were to go out, they might not even be able to get back.
This is why, even before Rangiku has been captured, Kaien and His Wife are targeting her again. Right now, those lunatics don't have much ability to capture people in Rukongai, so in order to achieve some results, they have to use a large number of people to find new targets within the Seireitei.
They don't have much capacity to deal with external threats, so they can only focus on internal matters. Therefore, their biggest problems now are twofold: how to get out and how to secretly send Rangiku into the Kuchiki Clan.
Soi Fon herself was easy to deal with; she could go wherever she wanted, and the Second Division and the Punishment Force were no match for her. But Rangiku was different. So Soi Fon left Rangiku and Tōshirō in the secret passage near the Gotei 13 and slipped out to find Byakuya again.
Byakuya immediately gave Soi Fon a map. Soi Fon returned to the secret passage, opened the map, and saw that it was a map of a secret passage in the Kuchiki Clan. The three of them quickly moved to the Abandoned District, found the secret passage, and safely entered the Kuchiki Clan.
Meanwhile, Soi Fon discovers that Marechiyo Ōmaeda is even faster than her, Shiba Miyako currently playing with the two-month-old baby alongside Mino.
Mino Kuchiki saw the three newcomers and greeted them with a gentle smile, helping Rangiku to her feet. "Welcome to the Kuchiki Clan. I'll take care of Rangiku. You two go to the front hall together; your husband is waiting for you."
Soi Fon and Tōshirō nodded and went to the front hall together. Marechiyo Ōmaeda and Kaien Shiba were there, and Sōjun Kuchiki nodded to them. After they sat down, Soi Fon and Omaeda Kichiyo exchanged a glance. Soi Fon smiled with satisfaction, and the fat man felt like he was melting.
Sōjun spoke up, "Now that everyone's here, let's discuss how to deal with the current situation."