"I gave you the chance, but you failed to take it..."
"I gave you the sword, but unfortunately, you failed to take that too!"
Araki looked at the old man he had cut down with a single stroke, now lying in a pool of blood, and spoke calmly.
"Do you intend to avenge him?!"
After doing all that, Araki looked at the Death Squad members hidden around them, as well as the Kasumioji Clan retainers, and asked softly.
"Avenge him?!"
While the Kasumioji retainers stood at a loss, the Death Squad members who had been hiding around Kumoi to protect him finally stopped concealing themselves. Under the astonished gazes of the Kasumioji retainers, they stepped out of the shadows into the sunlight, stood before Araki, and dropped to one knee. "We would not dare!"
"Clean this up."
Araki pointed at Kumoi's corpse on the ground and spoke flatly.
"By your command..."
The Death Squad members did not dare argue. They immediately picked up the body and stuffed it into a sack, then thoughtfully used wet cloths to scrub every trace of blood from the floor. Perhaps this was what professionalism meant?!
"Now you can look."
Only after the Death Squad members had cleaned away both the body and the bloodstains did Araki release his left hand from over Kasumioji Rurichiyo's eyes. He casually rubbed Rurichiyo's little head, then strode away.
After dealing with Kumoi, Araki's mood improved considerably. Even in his previous life, when he gave gifts to high-ranking officials, he would arrange to meet their drivers in an underground parking garage and put the gifts directly into their trunks. But Kumoi had made such a grand spectacle of sending the beautiful head of the Kasumioji Clan to his Captain's Office. Was the man afraid Soul Society wouldn't know Araki