Secrets of Soul Society, the Ryūdōji Clan's Plea for Help

Yamamoto Genryusai's overwhelming presence made Su Feng realize the enormous gap between them.

Even though he had already touched the threshold of Second-Class Spiritual Might, he still could not suppress his instinctive fear when facing the strongest Shinigami Soul Society had seen in a thousand years.

Under such circumstances, let alone fighting him—

Even drawing his Zanpakuto was as difficult as scaling the heavens.

After the visit to the tea room, Su Feng's desire to grow stronger became even more urgent.

Ninth Division Archives.

Densely packed files were piled high like small mountains, sorted into categories and placed upon the shelves.

More than a dozen Shinigami Soldiers, drenched in sweat, hurried back and forth between the shelves. Even the simple work of retrieving and replacing files was nearly too much for them to bear.

"File No. 369, shelf 7-8-12."

"File No. 258, shelf 3-6-24."

Nanao Ise, clad in a black Shinigami Uniform, adjusted the gold-rimmed glasses perched on her high nose bridge and watched the busy soldiers with a sharp gaze.

After several days of sorting, she had gained a preliminary grasp of the archive's filing arrangement and designed a new storage system according to her own reading habits.

During this period of observation, Nanao Ise had discovered a very serious problem.

Her own captain seemed to have the same flaw as Shunsui Kyoraku.

No, he was even worse.

Shunsui Kyoraku was merely lazy and frivolous on the surface, but he still had a fairly good understanding of the division's work.

At the very least, he was intimately familiar with certain confidential intelligence.

But Su Feng, the Captain of the Ninth Division, had not even fully memorized Soul Society's laws and regulations.

When judging cases and arresting people, he relied entirely on the files.

In Su Feng's words, intelligence gathering was the Eighth Division's responsibility. He was only in charge of arresting people.

If anything went wrong, they could just go find Captain Kyoraku.

He would take all the blame.

While everyone was busy, Su Feng strolled into the archives, followed closely by Lieutenant Rangiku Matsumoto.

Over the past few days, the two had suddenly grown much closer.

Whenever Su Feng was in sight, Rangiku Matsumoto could definitely be found within ten meters of him.

"Little Nanao, do you have any good suggestions for our next mission's target?"

After finishing his self-disciplined training for the day, Su Feng had come to the archives at once.

Although the gains brought by his daily training were relatively slow, they would become an extremely considerable amount over time.

Moreover, every time he reached a special number, he would receive a major boost.

Thus, Su Feng continued his daily self-disciplined training.

One hundred push-ups, one hundred sit-ups, one hundred squats, and a ten-kilometer run.

As a result, the Tenth Division soldiers on daily patrol often spotted Su Feng throughout the Seireitei.

Most of the time, however, he only flashed past in a blur.

"Captain, let me correct your form of address."

Nanao Ise remained expressionless, as if stating an objective fact. "You are not older than I am, so please use a more appropriate form of address."

"Alright, Little Nanao!"

Su Feng nodded seriously, choosing to accept her suggestion. "No problem, Little Nanao."

Nanao Ise choked back her anger, took several deep breaths, and suppressed her emotions.

"There are too many matters that need to be dealt with immediately."

She decided not to dwell on the issue of how he addressed her and instead turned her attention to the accumulated files.

"I never imagined that a division could amass so many unresolved cases."

"Present-day Soul Society is like a fetid swamp, concealing countless unbearable and deeply rooted problems."

For refined and gentle Nanao Ise to say something like that—

It showed that Soul Society's problems had already far exceeded anyone's imagination.

Su Feng's expression, however, did not change in the slightest.

He knew full well how rotten Soul Society was, so he had been mentally prepared.

Most of the current files merely scratched the surface. The true darkness was recorded within the Great Spirit Book Corridor.

"We'll deal with them one at a time."

Standing before the desk, Su Feng casually picked up one of the summarized files and began reading.

"Captain, deal with this one first."

Just as he was choosing, Nanao Ise handed over the file in her hand.

The black cover bore the bright red character for "Forbidden," like a bloodstain.

Su Feng opened the file, and a faint Kido glow rose from it.

It was a binding spell designed to prevent others from peeking, developed by the Kido Corps and not among the standard Kido.

"Hmm, a plea for help from the remnants of the Ryūdōji Clan?"

Su Feng still had some impression of this family. Their Family Head had lost in Soul Society's power struggle back then, and the entire clan had fractured. Most of its members had been exiled by Central 46.

A small number of members who had not taken part in the power struggle, however, had remained in Soul Society as Lower Aristocrats.

Yet due to the decline of their family's power, they had already moved from the Noble District to Rukongai.

The exiled members of the Ryūdōji Clan would also take the stage one after another a century later.

Having wandered the Dangai for years, they had gained the ability to control Missing Souls. Their Family Head, Ryūdōji Genryu, sought revenge against Soul Society and intended to use this ability to control Missing Souls, causing Soul Society and the Human World to collide and thereby destroy Soul Society completely.

There was some danger, but not much.

Ryūdōji Genryu seemed clever, but in truth, he was missing more than a few screws.

He was on a completely different level from someone like Aizen.

Certain people had clearly been slacking off during this incident, persisting to the end with the spirit of doing as little as possible.

If they had been willing to put in a little more effort, they could easily have resolved the threat posed by the Ryūdōji Clan.

That was getting a little off track. The Ryūdōji Clan was still wandering the Dangai at this point.

The matter at hand concerned the Ryūdōji Clan remnants within Soul Society.

"What kind of grudge is this..."

Su Feng set down the file, a thoughtful look flashing through his eyes. "Four Lower Aristocrat families have joined forces just to erase the Ryūdōji Clan from existence."

"They are even openly hunting down noble members in Rukongai."

"Such conduct is even more excessive than the Arisugawa Clan's."

Nanao Ise nodded and analyzed, "Perhaps the Ryūdōji Clan possesses some secret, or perhaps the spiritual tools and treasures passed down through their family have drawn these nobles' greed."

"Your analysis is not unreasonable."

Su Feng sighed. "But you overlooked one crucial point."

Nanao Ise was puzzled. "What is it?"

Before their eyes, Su Feng used his spiritual pressure to disperse the Kido Incantation on the file, revealing its contents.

"Lower Aristocrat Ukitake Clan."

Su Feng's gaze was distant, his calm voice echoing through the archives. "Although this surname is not uncommon in Soul Society, there is only one among the nobility."

"One of that family's most renowned members also holds a pivotal position within the Gotei 13."

"Captain of the Thirteenth Division, Jushiro Ukitake..."