Mission

The Punishment Corps was a subdivision of the Second Division's Secret Movement, and also its strongest subdivision.

Their primary duties were infiltration, assassination, execution, covert entry, and the like.

During operations, their defining trait was efficiency.

Thus, while carrying out missions, the Punishment Corps did not shout and yell like members of other divisions. Each of them was solemn and composed, moving in perfect unison like precision machines.

After merging into the formation, Ailin quickly located his squad leader while on the move and fell in behind him.

Three other Shinigami were with Ailin as well.

"Hmm?"

Feeling a figure suddenly appear beside him, Furuta Aoki's mind jolted.

Which squad leader was looking for him?

Did they want to cooperate with his small squad in the upcoming mission?

It was only after the figure had followed behind Furuta Aoki for several seconds that he recognized the man as a member of his own squad—someone he had personally recruited from the True Zero Spirit Arts Academy.

But what was going on?

If Furuta Aoki remembered correctly, during their last mission, Ailin had been no different from the other three members of his squad.

Yet this time, Ailin had approached him before he sensed Ailin's presence at all.

In terms of concealment alone, Ailin was no weaker than him.

Had Ailin improved so much in such a short time?

Though puzzled, Furuta Aoki said nothing.

They were a pack of hyenas in the darkness, specializing in handling the Soul Society's unspeakable affairs. As long as it did not concern them personally, who would care about anything else?

As one of the Gotei 13 divisions with one of the highest casualty rates, all they needed to do was survive mission after mission.

"Whoosh..."

"Whoosh, whoosh..."

Black figures rapidly leaped through the Second Division barracks. Before the urgent assembly order had even ceased, the Punishment Corps' five large units, fifty small squads, and two hundred fifty members had assembled in perfect order on the vast training ground.

Whoosh!

A sharp gust split the air, and two figures suddenly appeared at the front of the Second Division's training ground.

One was the Second Division's captain, Shihoin Yoruichi, dressed in a yellow-and-black short vest and black leather pants, with medium-length purple hair.

The other had messy pale yellow hair and bleary eyes, looking as though nothing interested him.

He was the current Vice-Captain of the Second Division, as well as the captain of the Supervision Squad that guarded the Worm's Nest: Urahara Kisuke.

With Ailin's current abilities, he only heard the sound of rushing wind after the two had appeared.

"Everyone, many souls have recently disappeared from the Rukon District without cause. The Captain-Commander has ordered us to uncover the reason for these disappearances as soon as possible."

"First Unit, investigate the eastern district of Rukon."

"Second Unit, investigate the western district."

"Third Unit, investigate the southern district."

"Fourth Unit, investigate the northern district."

"Fifth Unit, investigate the Seireitei with me."

"Yes!"

After receiving their assignments, everyone swiftly turned into afterimages, using Shunpo to head toward their designated areas.

The squad Ailin belonged to was part of the Fourth Unit, and their search area was the northern district of Rukon.

Each of Rukon District's four sectors was divided into eighty-one areas. The higher the number, the more chaotic the area became.

Perhaps because Ailin's strength had increased, Furuta Aoki assigned him Areas Sixty-One and Sixty-Two of North Rukon this time.

Compared to the areas closer to the Seireitei, the residents' homes in districts beyond Area Sixty had become extraordinarily dilapidated.

Moreover, there were no fixed marketplaces here, and people could occasionally be seen fighting and killing one another.

Whoosh!

Ailin appeared in the shadowed corner of a house. With his presence fully concealed, none of the people inside noticed that another person had appeared nearby.

After memorizing their spiritual pressure, Ailin continued moving through North Areas Sixty-One and Sixty-Two, recording the spiritual pressure of everyone he encountered.

These ragged Rukon souls, little more than skin and bones, were clearly not the culprits behind the souls' unexplained disappearances.

But in the eyes of the culprits, they were the souls best suited to "disappear."

Once Ailin had recorded their spiritual pressure, he could sense it within a certain range and use that to determine their condition.

Of the cases of souls vanishing without cause in Ailin's memories, the most memorable was Aizen Sosuke's research into the Hogyoku.

But clearly, the timing was wrong.

Or perhaps, because this was a real world, Aizen Sosuke had begun researching the Hogyoku even earlier than Ailin knew?

Ailin focused, raising his sensory ability to its peak. As he sensed the spiritual pressure around him, he pondered the root cause of this incident.

During his thirty years in Soul Society, Ailin had more or less figured out the point in time he currently occupied.

This was roughly two hundred years before the main Shinigami storyline began.

The Captain of the Second Division was still Shihoin Yoruichi; the Captain of the Third Division was still Kyoraku Jushiro; the Captain of the Fifth Division was still Hirako Shinji; the Captain of the Seventh Division was still Aikawa Love; the Captain of the Ninth Division was still Kensei Muguruma; the Captain of the Tenth Division was Isshin Shiba; the Captain of the Eleventh Division was Jushiro Genpachi; and Kiryuo Hikifune was still the Captain of the Twelfth Division.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through Ailin's mind—

Before Aizen, Urahara Kisuke had already successfully created an incomplete "Hogyoku."

Could this incident of souls dissipating have been Urahara Kisuke's doing?

Was Captain Yoruichi making such a grand show of sending the Second Division to investigate the Rukon District, while she and Urahara Kisuke investigated the Seireitei, in order to clean up after Urahara Kisuke?

Thinking carefully, why had those nobles of Central 46 been so certain, more than a century later, that the Hollowfication Experiment had been Urahara Kisuke's work?

The only possibility was that Urahara Kisuke had a prior record!

At that thought, Ailin paused.

"Forget it. These aren't matters a small fry like me can know about or handle. I just need to do my job."

No longer dwelling on it, Ailin continued recording the spiritual pressure of the wandering souls in the two districts under his charge, moving through both areas in a constantly erratic pattern.

If he sensed any spiritual pressure vanishing, Ailin would immediately release a signal and flee.

He had only just gained an ability worthy of being called "the strongest." How could he be willing to die here?

Fortunately, the situation continued until the mission ended, and nothing unusual happened in the areas Ailin was responsible for.

Afterward, the Second Division returned to normal. Ailin likewise resumed his routine: during the day, he went to the training grounds to copy other people's Zanpakuto; at night, after returning to the dormitory, he entered his Mindscape to forge the Zanpakuto he had copied during the day.

And by absorbing the combat experience of those Zanpakuto's owners, his strength slowly grew...