The Tsunayashiro Clan's estate was vast.
It lacked the Kuchiki family's elegance, steeped in the passage of years, and the Shihoin Clan's vitality, woven into nature.
The Tsunayashiro Clan's architecture was closer to a fortress.
High walls, narrow windows, heavy stonework-every detail spoke of defensive considerations.
A peculiar smell hung in the air.
It was neither dust nor mildew, but something harder to describe, like aged paper mixed with medicinal herbs, or the scent of soil deep underground.
Now, another force had stirred that ever-present scent.
Purple reiatsu surged into the sky from the direction of the Kuchiki family's estate, like a pillar connecting heaven and earth.
The reishi tendrils trailing from the edges of the pillar of light had already spread over the Tsunayashiro estate, bathing the courtyard's white stone paving in an eerie purple.
Deep within the estate, doors opened one after another.
The Tsunayashiro Clan's senior members emerged.
Most wore dark noble attire and were well advanced in age; even the youngest was several hundred years old. Everyone looked up at the sky with the same expression: brows furrowed, lips pressed tight, eyes filled with wariness and panic.
"Kuchiki Kyōka?"
The speaker was a bald old man whose white beard reached his chest, leaning on an ivory cane.
Tsunayashiro Motoi, the current clan head.
No one answered. No answer was needed.
That reiatsu was far too familiar.
Decades ago, the same reiatsu had brought bloodshed to the Noble District.
Many nobles had died then, including several senior members of the Tsunayashiro Clan who had fallen in pools of blood.
"Quickly." Motonari struck the ground hard with his cane. "All senior members, withdraw to the Safe House."
He turned to the guards standing behind him. "Bring everyone out. Level One Alert."
The orders were passed down.
Footsteps sounded