Rei had already dealt with those three idiots, simply because they liked bullying children.
Rei returned to the town. Quite a few people here possessed Reiryoku, but they worked honestly to fill their bellies. This was the East Rukongai 22nd District, where the economy and agriculture were fairly well developed.
But only adults could eat their fill. Children who got hungry had to beg, find wild fruit, or catch fish to fill their bellies. If they were unlucky, they went hungry for a day.
They darted among the adults' feet, stealing and snatching to scrape by like stray dogs. More often than not, though, they starved to death before they could grow up...
They were Rei's targets. By devouring their Reiryoku, he could let them live out the rest of their lives as souls and reincarnate in the World of the Living.
Inside a low house, Rei spoke alone with several scrawny children. They nodded repeatedly, then scattered to find other children who had awakened Reiryoku like them.
Rei was wrapped tightly from head to toe in a black robe. Even the hilt of his Zanpakuto was swaddled in cloth, and his left hand, with its black markings, was gloved. This was the East 22nd District, after all, and it was not that far from the Seireitei.
The Reiryoku-draining activity he had organized was definitely illegal. At the very least, it was an evil act; at worst, it was shaking the foundations of the Seireitei...
Imagine children who might have lived and become Soul Reapers losing their Reiryoku and being unable to recover it. They would then be unable to become Soul Reapers, gradually depriving the Gotei 13 of a significant part of its foundation.
A good number of Soul Reapers in the Gotei 13 died in battle every year. In bad years, there were hundreds or even thousands; in better years, there were still dozens. It would be troublesome if they could not replenish their ranks.
Still, Rei figured it would be difficult for him to actually shake those foundations. Rukongai was simply too vast. Even if he drained the Reiryoku of every soul in one district, it would not take long for new souls to awaken Reiryoku...
"Anyone who still wants to be hungry or become a Soul Reaper can back out. The rest of you, line up, and I'll cast the spell on you one at a time..."
Rei called out in front of the dilapidated hut. The dozens of children all shook their heads weakly. What did becoming a Soul Reaper matter? Right now, all they wanted was to stop being hungry. They were so hungry their stomachs felt glued to their backs, and stars swam before their eyes.
Not every child was as capable as Rukia and Renji had been in the original timeline, able to survive in the barren 78th District until adulthood...
The children lined up and entered the ramshackle hut one by one, lying down on a wooden plank and closing their eyes. Rei only had to place his left index finger on their Hakusui to absorb their Reiryoku.
They were not Hollows. A Hollow's body would resist instinctively, so he had to pierce its body. These children with awakened Reiryoku did not even know what Reiryoku was, much less how to resist its pull.
"Their combined Reiryoku feels pretty good, but it's still too little... On to the next town!"
Taking a little over ten seconds per child, Rei devoured the Reiryoku of more than twenty children in one go. When he came out, he found them all waiting outside, gratitude written on every face.
"Thank you!"
"Thank you so very much!"
One of them knelt, and the others followed, loudly thanking Rei.
"Oh, come on, there's no need for that..."
Having benefited quite a bit, Rei felt a little embarrassed. After asking them to get up, he told them he might not return to this town and asked everyone to help keep it a secret...
But no secret could stay hidden forever. A few days after Rei left, Soul Reapers learned what had happened and reported it to the Seireitei.
Zanpakuto and Hollows capable of absorbing Reiryoku had appeared before in history, and such cases were always serious. The report indicated that this time, it was most likely a Zanpakuto awakened by a Plus that possessed the ability.
The Seireitei sent several experts to investigate. After learning what Rei looked like, they tracked him all the way to the East Rukongai 23rd District, where he was once again doing good deeds and accumulating merit...
A pretty girl crouched beside the street. She said nothing, but her eyes wandered over the people passing by. Rei sensed a faint trace of Reiryoku from her.
Rei turned and walked over. "Hungry?" he asked in a low voice. "Why don't you go to work?"
The girl looked up and saw Rei, wrapped tightly in clothes and a scarf. It was the first time anyone had asked her. Not wanting to trouble anyone, she replied, "Huh? No, I'm fine..."
The more someone insisted they were fine, the more likely it was that something was wrong. Rei said beside her ear, "It's all right. It's normal for some unusual people to get hungry. I can make it so you're never hungry again. Want to try?"
Rei leaned forward slightly as he spoke. He had meant to whisper, but the intimate posture and gentle tone made his words sound rather different to the girl.
I won't be hungry anymore? Try, try it? There's no other way, so I might as well...
Rei's attire also left room for imagination, and people tended to imagine the best. The girl thought for a moment, then replied with slightly flushed cheeks, "Mm, let's go to my place!"
The girl got up and hurried into an alley. Rei thought she was acting a little strangely, though he could not say exactly how, so he quickly followed.
Rei had been here for three days, absorbing Reiryoku from both children and adults. His own Reiryoku was steadily increasing. At this rate, he felt that even in his normal state, he would soon have the same level of Reiatsu as that old man captain, Kuchiki Ginrei.
In other words, Captain-level!
Rei based this judgment on the intelligence Yanis had gathered. Yanis had secretly investigated several lieutenant-level figures, and Rei had made his estimate on the assumption that a captain's Reiatsu was twice a lieutenant's.
He had no idea whether that was actually accurate, and Yanis had overlooked one other thing: having Captain-level Reiatsu did not mean having Captain-level combat power...
After passing through several alleys, they came upon a number of dilapidated thatched huts. The girl opened the door to one and went inside, with Rei following. The entire room was no more than six square meters. This was where she lived.
"Then let's begin!"
The girl closed the door, pretending to be calm.
"Let's begin, then! Lie down first..."
Though she had already prepared herself, Rei's words made her blush even harder. How embarrassing...
Why is this girl's face so red?
Hehehehe, sir, she wants to do that with you...
Huh? Do what?
Oh, you know! That thing human men and women do!
Rei was utterly baffled, but Yanis forced the confusion out of him. Then his face turned red too, and he could barely bring himself to look the girl in the eye.
To think Rei had lived all those years in vain, only to need Yanis, a Hollow, to point out something so simple. Truly unforgivable...
The awkward atmosphere lasted only a dozen seconds or so. Rei merely placed a finger lightly against her stomach and absorbed all her Reiryoku.
"All done. You'll never go hungry again."
"Huh? You're, you're finished before we even started?"
Rei knew she had misunderstood, and that was fine, but why did she have to say he was "finished before they even started"? Rei felt hurt. He opened his mouth and roared:
"What do you mean, before we even started? What are you thinking, you idiot?"
"Huh? Why are you shouting so loud...?"
Rei had frightened the girl, and she looked aggrieved. She stole a glance at him, about to put on a pitiful expression, only to find killing intent bursting from his eyes. It gave her a terrible fright...
"Found me so soon? Looks like I'll have to change my approach after all..." Rei murmured, then turned to the girl. "Get out of here, quickly!"
Only then did the girl realize Rei was not directing it at her, but at the three bursts of Reiatsu that had suddenly appeared outside. She could no longer sense Reiatsu at all, however. Seeing her frozen in place, Rei walked slowly out of the thatched hut. The three had already surrounded it.
All three wore the black garb of Soul Reapers. The Shihakusho had not yet been invented, and Senjumaru Shutara had not yet joined the Zero Division.
All three looked perfectly calm. They stood in a triangle, with Rei at its center. Judging from their Reiatsu, he could tell none of them were ordinary opponents.
"Don't try to resist. Come back with us quietly and confess your crimes. You might get a lighter sentence."
A short, stocky-faced middle-aged man spoke coldly, showing no fear that Rei might resist.
"Heh."
Rei scoffed and slowly drew his Zanpakuto. Releasing all his Reiatsu, he said bloodthirstily, "Get lost, or die!"
"Damn it, has he already grown this strong?"
"Looks like we can't leave him alone any longer. Gentlemen, let's give it everything we have and take him down here."
"My thoughts exactly. Scorch him to death, Hundred Flying Swallows!"
All three were startled by Rei's outburst of Reiatsu. After a brief exchange, they agreed on their objective: even if they could not capture Rei, they would kill him here and take him back to claim the credit.
The red-haired young man behind Rei to one side immediately released his Zanpakuto. More than a hundred little birds of flame flew straight at Rei. He leaped aside, and the birds set the surrounding thatched huts ablaze. Several souls watching the commotion from inside screamed on the spot.
Fortunately, the girl had seen that a fight was about to break out and had already hidden some distance away to watch. Otherwise, she might have burned to death inside her own hut.
"Going straight to Shikai? You don't care whether the souls nearby live or die? Fine, then!"
Rei narrowed his eyes. He was no saint; he could not look after everything.
Clang!
The short middle-aged man timed Rei's movement and came at him with a powerful downward slash. Rei raised his blade horizontally to block. The man began invoking the greater good to justify the deaths of the unlucky souls: "It may hurt our reputation, but to slay a great villain, their deaths were entirely worth it! Take this!"
What else could Rei say? Their supposed protector had already declared that those unlucky souls had sacrificed themselves for the greater good...
The other Soul Reaper was elderly, with graying temples and a tall build of at least 1.9 meters. Seeing Rei pinned down by the short middle-aged man, he released his Zanpakuto and brought it crashing down.
Rei kicked the short Soul Reaper away and leaped sideways to dodge the blow, but his landing spot had already been targeted. The red-haired young man's burning birds kept closing in...
"Explode! Hundred Flying Swallows!"
Boom, boom, boom, boom...
At the red-haired young man's shout, the burning birds surrounded Rei and exploded eighteen times in succession.
"Yamada, did you get him?"
The elderly Soul Reaper, a massive iron hammer resting on his shoulder, spoke in a low voice.
"Probably not. It would be best to capture him alive, wouldn't it? I only detonated eighteen of them. With his Reiatsu, he shouldn't be dead."
A smug smile appeared on the red-haired young man Yamada's lips as he indicated that he had left Rei alive.
But while the flames were still raging, a crushing pressure descended once more.