An Outstanding Master

"This is the Seireitei!"

Following Kenma's carriage, Shisui and the other three crossed the towering wall and entered the Seireitei.

The Uchiha had previously passed through Junrinan to investigate the area nearby. They had wondered when they would be able to enter, never expecting it to happen so soon.

The group traveled over white stone paving, passed through several intersections, and under the respectful guidance of the household attendants, the carriage entered the Shikokuin Family estate.

Kenma stepped down from the carriage and stretched, his body crackling softly. A hint of weariness showed on his face.

Sitting in the carriage all the way here felt more exhausting than fighting someone.

"You four will stay here for now. I'll have someone prepare your rooms," Kenma told Shisui and the others. "I have no need for you to guard me at home. Focus on your training."

"Understood."

Just as Kenma was about to take a step, his foot suddenly halted.

The four of them flashed away at once, appearing a step away around Kenma and shielding him.

The short blades in their hands had already been drawn, their sharp edges gleaming. Their expressions were full of vigilance as they stared sharply in the same direction.

Shisui, standing at Kenma's side with nothing but a small blade in hand, said, "My lord, be careful. There's hostile intent!"

Kenma remained calm and waved at the four of them. "It's nothing. Put them away."

Though puzzled by Kenma's command, the four obeyed. They stepped aside and sheathed their weapons, though their eyes remained wary.

Kenma slowly turned to look in the direction they had been watching.

"How long are you planning to hide, Yoruichi?"

"Honestly, I told you not to call me by name."

Her voice rang through the courtyard, carrying a trace of displeasure.

A faint sound of air splitting approached, and a valiant figure appeared before Kenma in an instant like a ghost.

With brown skin, purple hair, and lovely features, she wore a white captain's haori. It was Shihōin Yoruichi.

Yoruichi stroked her chin and studied the four people around Kenma with interest. A hint of curiosity flashed through her golden eyes.

"Hey, you stuffy prig, what were you doing today? Why didn't I see you in the division? And what are these people around you here for?"

A string of questions spilled from her lips.

Yoruichi's interrogation-like tone made Kenma frown.

Rather than answer, he asked, "Why aren't you on duty in the Second Division at this hour? What are you doing back at the estate?"

"I... I saw you weren't there, so I naturally came looking for you."

Yoruichi's gaze first darted away, then she straightened up self-righteously.

Seeing his fiancée like this, how could Kenma fail to guess?

"You're lying. You skipped work again, didn't you?"

"I'm the captain. How can a captain's business be called taking time off? By your standards, this is called flexible working hours. I'm merely allocating work reasonably."

Yoruichi stubbornly refused to admit it.

Although Kenma's face remained expressionless, to Yoruichi, it seemed as though he were mocking her.

"Don't laugh!"

"...I'm not laughing." Kenma rolled his eyes inwardly. "Which eye saw me laughing?"

"Even if you're not laughing on the outside, you must be laughing inside."

Yoruichi realized she had no captain's dignity left if this continued, so she simply stopped arguing about it and turned her spear toward Kenma again.

"The captain is questioning you now, Seat Four Kenma. You still haven't answered why you didn't report to the division today. If you can't give me a proper explanation, then I'll punish you severely in the performance of my captain's duties."

As she spoke, Yoruichi's expression grew eager, and excitement flashed in her eyes.

Kenma sighed inwardly. His expressionless face now carried a trace of helplessness.

"I'm on leave today. As captain, don't you even know the duty rotation of your Seated Officers?"

The excitement on Yoruichi's face froze.

She really didn't know!

Ever since taking over the Second Division, she spent most of her time playing around and dumped all division affairs onto the vice-captain and Third Seat.

As for trivial matters like duty rosters and mission reports, she had not even looked at them.

Seeing Yoruichi's expression, Kenma lightly shook his head.

She was so unreliable. No wonder her father worried so much.

"As for them... since you're here, Yoruichi, I'll report to you in person." Kenma pointed at Shisui and the others. "They're people I brought from Soul Society, and they have quite good potential."

"Oh?"

Yoruichi's gaze swept over Shisui and the others, and a sly smile appeared on her face.

"Say, stuffy prig, I think these people are pretty good. How about handing them over to me to play with... train for a while? I guarantee I'll return them to you in one piece."

She had seen through Shisui and the others at a glance.

Judging by their conduct and instinctive reactions, they had clearly received professional training from childhood. Their movements and coordination were exceptionally seamless, proving they were no ordinary people.

"No. Their files have already been finalized, and I intend to send them to Shino Academy for further study."

Kenma added one more sentence at the end.

"If I really handed them to you, that would be wasting their talents and time."

"Hey, what do you mean by that? Is that how incapable you think I am?"

Yoruichi seemed beside herself with rage, flailing her arms and baring her teeth.

Kenma instead nodded very seriously. "Yes! You really are that incapable!"

"You..."

Yoruichi was furious. She pointed at Kenma, wanting to retort, but if she truly argued with him, he would only call her childish.

She held back the curses in her heart for a while before forcefully swallowing them and finally swinging her arm hard.

"Seat Four Kenma, you have shown disrespect toward your captain. I dock you one day's performance pay."

After throwing out those words, Yoruichi stormed off with Flash Step.

She did not want to see that infuriating guy for another moment!

Seeing Yoruichi like this, Kenma remained expressionless, but a flicker of delight rose in his heart, as if he had returned victorious from battle.

"She's such an adult, yet she's as childish as a little kid... and she still wants to fight me?"

As if!

After Yoruichi left, Kenma led Shisui and the other three deeper into the estate.

As the Uchiha who had followed Kenma the longest, Shisui gathered his courage under the subtle prompting exchanged through the other three's eyes and asked, "My lord, that woman just now was...?"

The four of them could naturally tell that the dark-skinned woman who had appeared was clearly no ordinary person.

And judging from the way she interacted with their lord, though there was a strong sense of confrontation between them, her manner was relaxed and casual, while her words carried a trace of intimacy. She was very likely...

They had already formed their guesses, but did not dare use a specific title, settling only for a vague honorific.

Kenma sighed softly.

"Well, I suppose you could all tell. That's right, she's my fiancée and the head of the Shikokuin Family. She's extremely mischievous and very troublesome... In any case, keep your distance whenever you encounter her in the future. Don't provoke her."

Fiancée?

Family head?

Shisui and the others exchanged looks, then cautiously asked, "Then, my lord, you are...?"

"Just as you guessed. There's nothing embarrassing about saying it. I'm the son-in-law adopted into the wife's family brought in by the Shikokuin Family. We're already engaged, though we haven't officially married yet," Kenma said directly.

At those words, Shisui and the other three grew solemn.

Kenma's identity was somewhat different from what they had originally expected, but it was not something they had any right to criticize.

On the contrary, after learning he was a son-in-law adopted into the wife's family, they regarded their Master Kenma even more highly.

In a prestigious clan, if they already had a blood-related heir yet still brought in a son-in-law adopted into the wife's family, then either the heir lacked ability or had poor character, or this son-in-law's abilities were exceptionally outstanding.

Outstanding to the point that letting him go would be a sin!

And judging from the utter respect of the attendants after entering the Shikokuin Family estate, as well as the attitude of the family head just now, their Lord Kenma was undoubtedly the latter!

As for them not being married yet... once they were engaged, great clans like this rarely broke off an engagement.

They could not afford the disgrace, nor would they abandon such an outstanding talent.

Shisui and the others exchanged looks again. Each understood what the others were thinking.

They became even more respectful toward Kenma.