On the streets of Soul Society as the sun neared the horizon,
Nara Dan and the head of the Kuchiki Family had held a brief spar. It had seemed low-key, and no one knew about it.
Yet, when no one was watching, an unseen gaze had followed them like a shadow,
quietly trailing behind at some point.
Nara Dan seemed not to notice. He simply headed down another path.
It led to the Sōkyoku.
More precisely, to the Underground Space beneath the Sōkyoku.
It had been quite some time since Nara Dan had gone there. He had ended his dealings with Rukia,
but now that he owed the Kuchiki Family a favor, he had to do something for them.
"But before that..."
Nara Dan's expression remained calm as he silently leaped into a nearby grove,
then vanished from sight in an area of shadow among the trees.
In an instant, the area before him was empty.
But a moment later, a blue blade of light suddenly flared from somewhere in the grove. With a cold expression, Nara Dan gripped the Dharma Blade and slashed without hesitation at the empty space before him.
It was as though some powerful enemy stood in that vacant space.
Nara Dan's judgment was rarely wrong.
With his exceptionally high Rank and True Spiritual Light, his Sixth Sense was even sharper than Head Captain Yamamoto's.
That feeling of being watched, of a presence following him like a shadow, had come from right here.
"Clang!"
A wooden cane thrust out of thin air, meeting Nara Dan's fierce slash at just the right moment.
Wooden splinters flew. Naturally, the fragile cane couldn't withstand a slash powerful enough to melt gold and sever iron. But behind the flying splinters, a powerful barrier rose up, effortlessly blocking Nara Dan's attack.