Shinigami Interfere in the Human World

Yan Si reined in all fluctuations of his Reiatsu. Only after closing the distance did he clearly see what the two people looked like.

They were indeed humans, flesh and blood, breathing rapidly, their faces wearing expressions mixed with tension and a certain fanaticism.

They wore uniformly styled white robes. The fabric looked decent, though it was already stained with dust and sweat from the battlefield.

Yan Si sensed extremely faint spiritual energy fluctuations emanating from them.

That trace of spiritual power was probably only slightly stronger than that of the most ordinary residents of the Rukon District. It did not even qualify as "spiritual might"; in Soul Society, they would not even be eligible to become academy students.

Yet that meager spiritual power seemed to grant them a certain kind of "vision."

They could see them, and at this moment, they were using their hands to "grab" the souls of the two soldiers who had just died.

The soldiers' souls were filled with pain and confusion. The Chains of Fate extending from their chests were tightly clutched in the hands of the two Onmyoji.

Yan Si frowned.

What were these two doing?

In their other hands, each held a strangely shaped metal tool, like an oversized rivet or an awl. Using the sharp tips, they repeatedly pried at the point where the souls' chests connected to their Chains of Fate—the most crucial "anchor point" of the chains.

Were they forcibly stripping away the Chains of Fate?!

Yan Si found it rather absurd.

The process of a soul falling into becoming a Hollow was essentially the gradual dissipation of the Chain of Fate after it broke, leaving a "hole" in the chest. To fill that emptiness and pain, the soul instinctively began devouring other spiritual entities, eventually mutating into a Hollow.

What these two human Onmyoji were doing now was equivalent to artificially accelerating that process!

They were forcibly tearing apart and prying open the Chains of Fate through violence, creating "holes"!

Did they think these souls were not falling fast enough? Or did they have some other purpose?

Whatever their motives, Yan Si was an active-duty Shinigami. His duty was to maintain the normal cycle of souls and guide them to Soul Society.

He could not simply watch two humans use such a brutal method right before his eyes to "create" potentially dangerous Hollows.

He stopped concealing himself. Reishi burst softly beneath his feet, and his figure flashed as he landed directly between the two Onmyoji and the souls.

"Let go."

His voice was not loud. His Zanpakutō was already drawn, its tip angled toward the ground.

"Souls fall under Shinigami jurisdiction. Step back immediately."

The two Onmyoji jumped at the sudden appearance and voice. Their hands loosened, and they nearly dropped their tools.

They hurriedly retreated several steps, narrowing their eyes as they struggled to adjust to the pure, oppressive Reiatsu around Yan Si, utterly different from the battlefield's bloody stench.

After carefully examining Yan Si's Shinigami uniform and Zanpakutō for a few moments, they seemed to finally confirm his identity.

The older Onmyoji on the left, with a goatee, steadied himself. His voice rose, carrying obvious anger and a sense of superiority.

"Shinigami? Hmph! These two souls were retainers of our Oda family in life!

"Even in death, their loyal souls should be received by us and turned into Oni Warriors to continue serving our lord!

"This is their glory, and it is our right!"

The younger Onmyoji on the right immediately echoed him, his tone even more aggressive.

"That's right! We are the Oda family's appointed Onmyoji, specifically responsible for creating and controlling Oni Warriors! These two souls are our 'materials'!

"Shinigami? Shinigami should be over on the battlefield dealing with those ownerless wandering souls! Don't get in our way here!"

Yan Si paid no attention to what they were saying.

His gaze fell on the faces of the two soldiers' souls, whose chains had been forcibly pried and who now looked even more pained and twisted.

Their eyes were clouded. Some of their fighting spirit from life seemed to remain, but there was far more pain from having their souls forcibly torn apart.

He said no more. With a flick of his wrist, his Zanpakutō turned, and he pressed the end of its hilt swiftly against the foreheads of the two souls.

A gentle purifying spiritual light flashed.

The pained expressions on the two soldiers' faces immediately calmed. Their struggling spirit bodies relaxed, clarity returned to their eyes, and their lips moved faintly in Yan Si's direction, as though they wanted to say something.

In the end, they transformed into specks of pure Reishi light, slowly rising and dispersing into the air. This meant they had undergone Soul Burial and departed for Soul Society to await rebirth.

The entire process was clean and decisive, taking less than two seconds.

Yan Si backhanded his Zanpakutō into the sheath at his waist with a click.

With the matter settled, he could not be bothered wasting more words on these incomprehensible Onmyoji. He turned, preparing to leave and continue observing the battlefield, or perhaps search for more suitable material for his "research."

"Stop right there, Shinigami!"

An enraged roar came from behind him. The goateed Onmyoji's voice had become shrill.

"You're new, aren't you?! Don't you know the rules?! Do you know who stands behind our Oda family?! How dare you destroy the materials we use to create Oni Warriors!"

Yan Si stopped.

He slowly turned around. There was no expression on his face as he looked at the two flushed Onmyoji with eyes that were far too calm.

"Who?" he asked, his voice devoid of emotion.

He was indeed a little curious.

He had noticed when he arrived that although this area was some distance from the main battlefield, it was not completely secluded.

At least one Shinigami squad from the Thirteenth Division was conducting Soul Burials roughly a hundred meters away.

That Shinigami could not possibly have failed to sense the two newly dead souls here, or the faint spiritual energy fluctuations from the two Onmyoji and their troubling actions.

Yan Si had originally assumed that Shinigami was slacking off, or intended to wait until the Onmyoji had finished tormenting the souls before coming over to "deal with" them all at once and save some effort.

But judging by the way these two Onmyoji spoke, it seemed things were not that simple.

They were so fearless that they even dared to shout at an official Shinigami?

Seeing Yan Si stop and ask, the goateed Onmyoji revealed a smug expression and snorted.

"No harm in telling you! Our lord, Lord Oda, has long since established contact with people 'below'!

"We have permission to collect the souls of loyal and brave warriors from the battlefield and create Oni Warriors to aid in battle!

"This is a right granted through tacit approval! Do you understand?"

The younger Onmyoji also lifted his chin and added, "That's right! Leave at once! Stop interfering with our work here!

"If your reckless interference prevents us from creating enough Oni Warriors in time and affects our lord's battle situation...

"Hmph, even if you return to the Shinigami Realm, you'll be in serious trouble! The people above will never let you off!"

This time, Yan Si was genuinely stunned.

They had contact with people "below"? They had been tacitly granted the right to create Oni Warriors for battle? The people above?

Since when could Shinigami of Soul Society interfere so openly in human wars in the Human World?

They even tacitly allowed humans to use such crude methods to imprison and alter the souls of the fallen, then send them back into the slaughter among the living?

This was practically a slap in Captain-General Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni's face!

Could there truly be Shinigami within Soul Society secretly running such a scheme?

And from the sound of it, their rank was probably not low?

Yan Si looked at the two Onmyoji before him, their faces plainly saying we have people above us, and his gaze gradually darkened.