Your Excellency Is Strong, but My Art Style Is Above Yours! Chapter 10

After all that, Iori felt countless resentful gazes fixed on him... but he was speechless too, okay?!

What was with that boring teacher having such a good imagination?!

CG Acquired

I Cannot Coexist with Study Maniacs!

Category: Bond CG (Resentful Bond from Classmates)

Rank: D

Quality: Common

Drawing~

Calculating~

Reward List:

Attributes:

Spiritual Power +5

Mobility +3

Evasion +3

--

Speechless as he was, Iori accepted the attribute points and vacation without hesitation.

Just as the Kido Master had told him, he went back to eat properly, bathe, and sleep, only waking around dusk in the afternoon.

Perhaps because he had slept all day, his spirits were especially high as the birds returned to their nests. After checking the time and flipping through the calendar, he remembered that he still had an appointment with someone. He changed into casual clothes, left the Spirit Art Academy, and followed the towering white wall of the Seireitei.

He entered the Soul Society and continued deeper in, deliberately taking secluded paths. After about half an hour, Iori arrived at his destination:

A doll shop that had long since gone out of business. As its name suggested, it specialized in making dolls—not the high-end life-sized kind, but kimono dolls meant to be displayed as offerings during certain festivals.

Yes, even in the Soul Society, there were still plenty of festivals. Souls might have "died" once, but they still had a sense of ceremony in life.

But since this shop had gone out of business, it proved that there was not much demand for little dolls.

Well, if they were life-sized dolls, they would probably sell like hotcakes in the Seireitei...

Iori had not come to buy dolls, nor did he intend to use the front entrance. Instead, he went around to the back of the building and began pounding hard on an incongruous new door:

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Open up! Kurotsuchi Mayuri, don't hide in there without making a sound. I know you're home. You've got the nerve to rob—ptui, you've got the nerve to owe money and not pay it back, so why don't you have the nerve to open the door?

"I'm telling you, your deadline is here!"

Chapter 12: BOSS: You Don't Know How Hard I Work!

Creak~

The small door opened a crack, and chilly air seeped out from the dim room, making Iori rather uncomfortable.

Then, a yellow eye devoid of much emotion appeared through the gap. Seemingly unaccustomed to the light, its pupil shrank slightly.

"It's you... come in."

Bang!

The small door shut. A Reiatsu fluctuation flashed past, followed by a series of mechanical sounds. Only then did the seemingly ordinary door slowly open.

Sunlight spilled into the room, illuminating the pale-faced figure before him... no, that was even stranger than pale. It was a black-and-white mask, not the usual hard kind, but a soft leather-like mask pressed tightly against the face. There was no beauty to it whatsoever, while the heavy eyeshadow made him look like some demon or ghoul.

A closer look revealed that not only his face, but his neck and hands had also been painted white. His entire body was probably just as grotesque.

The man had short purple hair and leaned hunched over against the doorframe. His ordinary white robe hung loosely off him, making his thin frame all the more obvious.

"Deadline... has it come so soon? Come in. Your things have been ready for ages. Don't make such a racket in the future."

"What's wrong with knocking? If it were someone else, after investing so much money without seeing any return, they'd probably hire someone to kill you."

"If dying just once could settle the debt, I would be delighted."

"Dream on!"

Iori smiled after saying that. "So? Has your research made any progress lately?"

"Yes, but there's no point telling you. You people who have nothing but fighting on the brain should go practice swordsmanship. Science is the domain of the wise."

Even with an acquaintance, he spoke in that bizarrely sarcastic tone that made him exceedingly unpleasant. But Iori did not mind. He had long grown accustomed to Kurotsuchi Mayuri's strange way of speaking. Or rather, from the moment he had met Kurotsuchi Mayuri and decided to establish a connection with him, he had already prepared himself with ample patience.

Scientists having a few quirks was perfectly normal. Especially someone like Kurotsuchi Mayuri, whose brain was clearly not normal.

After entering, they headed down into the basement. The strange man brought Iori into an extremely hidden private laboratory.

It was cramped, crowded, and peculiar, yet neither messy nor dirty. On the contrary, everything was arranged in perfect order. The research materials were not especially bloody or disgusting either. It looked like a normal laboratory. Even the occasional specimen of animal organs had been preserved in transparent containers filled with some unknown liquid.

Was the preservative used in the Soul Society formalin?

While Iori was thinking such pointless thoughts, Kurotsuchi Mayuri had already gone to search through a storage cabinet for the item Iori had commissioned.

For all his sarcastic talk, his body was still honest:

The 12th Division was having a hard time these days. His superior was a particularly troublesome old woman, and many sources of funding had been cut off. His collaboration with Iori probably accounted for thirty-five percent of his research funds. Iori definitely counted as a major financial backer.

"I haven't gone outside in some time. Has anything happened out there?"

"Same as always," Iori replied briefly.

"Is that so? Then that truly is... boring." Kurotsuchi Mayuri wore a mocking expression, though it was unclear what exactly he was mocking.

The future director of the Research and Development Bureau was currently only a seated officer of the 12th Division, and not even a particularly high-ranking one.

Speaking of the 12th Division, one had to mention its special nature:

Just as the Fourth Division also served as a medical institution, the 12th Division bore the responsibility of advancing Reishi technology research.

However, at this point in time, besides the 12th Division, the nobles of the Seireitei had their own research facilities and archives. There were also various other independent organizations of a similar nature. The 12th Division was merely one of them.

This situation would not end until roughly a hundred years later, when Urahara Kisuke rose to power and, with Captain-General Yamamoto's support, consolidated the related organizations under the 12th Division and formally established the "Research and Development Bureau."

Yet even at this point in time, the 12th Division held an outstanding position, because its leader was a major figure who could speak to Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni as an equal:

Shutara Senjumaru!

About a decade ago, the mysterious Shutara Senjumaru had suddenly appeared and assumed the position of captain of the 12th Division. The entire Seireitei had raised no objections.

Ordinary squad members naturally did not know her background. The only thing they knew was her name. It was only by combining that with what he had seen in his previous life that Iori understood just how astonishing the origins of this mysterious beautiful captain truly were...

Strictly speaking, she was not a member of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads at all, but a member of the "Zero Division," directly under the Soul King. Her status was no lower than Yamamoto's.

However, within the Seireitei, she needed to show respect toward the symbol of military might that was the "Strongest Shinigami," so she had lowered herself by half a rank. Even so, she was clearly above the other captains.

The age, seniority, and origins of this female Shinigami were all unknown. Aside from the First Generation Captains, no one knew her past. But one thing could be confirmed:

Many years ago, she had already been promoted due to her "tremendous contributions to the Soul Society" and had gone to the Soul King Palace to guard the legendary Soul King. By all rights, she should not have appeared in the Seireitei.

Since Shutara Senjumaru had made an exception and returned to the Seireitei, only to hole herself up in the 12th Division without making a move all day, there had to be something extremely important that required a Zero Division member like her to take charge.

Considering the various pieces of black technology that would emerge in the Soul Society in later generations—whether Gigai, Gikon Reishis, Mod Souls, or even the Hogyoku of Urahara Kisuke and the former Aizen—all of them had been initiated during this period, though they would take one or two hundred years to successfully develop.

Technical geniuses such as Hikifune Kirio and Kurotsuchi Mayuri also began becoming active from this point onward... the waters here ran frighteningly deep!

In fact, upon careful analysis, it became clear that Shutara Senjumaru, Hikifune Kirio, Kurotsuchi Mayuri, Urahara Kisuke, and the others obviously had known one another for a long time. They might even have shared a teacher-student relationship.

Iori had always remained silent about this matter. Even after befriending Kurotsuchi Mayuri, he had no plans to investigate further. After all, his small body could not withstand overly powerful storms.

Of course, it was also possible that Iori was overthinking things. Maybe it was all just a coincidence.

Just like when he had followed Naruto back then and came up with all sorts of theories, only for it to later prove that they had basically just been conspiracy theories made up by netizens.

You think the Original Author is on the eighteenth floor, but actually the Original Author is on the first floor.jpg

But no matter what, being cautious never hurt.

Thus, Iori's relationship with Kurotsuchi Mayuri was limited to "mutual assistance."

More specifically, Iori paid to support Kurotsuchi Mayuri's research, while Kurotsuchi Mayuri repaid him with the fruits of his wisdom.

As for why he had not sought out Urahara Kisuke, instead choosing this pervert with a bad reputation?

Urahara Kisuke was currently a professional freeloader, clinging to the Shihoin Clan. He did not lack money at all!

Moreover, Urahara was a standard royalist. He was wholeheartedly committed to maintaining the order of the three realms, and his stance was "friendly neutral." Without a legitimate reason, he would not cooperate with anyone.

But Kurotsuchi Mayuri was different. Forget being a royalist—he did not even possess a normal person's sense of good and evil. Even if you asked him for poison or something similar, he would deliver it immediately and never ask what it would be used for!

What Iori needed was exactly this kind of "good friend," one who would neither blab nor meddle in his affairs.

The only problem was that this relationship would not last long. Kurotsuchi Mayuri's research was still barely normal at the moment, and his illegal activities were limited to things like stealing corpses. But Iori knew that he would cross the line sooner or later, and when that happened, their cooperation would end.

It was a matter of principle. Iori might not be a partner of justice, but he would not sink to that level either.

Of course, before then, Kurotsuchi Mayuri was still someone Iori needed to win over and fund.

—I'll write erotic novels to support you.jpg

"Here, this is what you wanted. The full set."

Kurotsuchi Mayuri handed Iori a small package. "This sort of thing may be unusual, but it has no practical use for Shinigami. Only prisons need them... of course, whatever you intend to do is none of my business."

"Oh, thanks." Iori took the items, weighed them in his hand, and nodded in satisfaction.

Inside the package were several diamond-shaped talismans, each about the size of a walnut. They were uniformly white, without intricate patterns, bearing only a few simple grooves. Yet they were definitely not made of ordinary material. They looked exceptionally hard.

—Killing Aura Stone.

This was a mineral unique to the Soul Society. It could release fluctuations that broke down spiritual power, somewhat similar to Seastone in One Piece. However, it was not so absurd that merely touching it caused someone to lose their power. It simply could not be affected by spiritual power.

The enormous white walls surrounding the Seireitei had been built from Killing Aura Stone, generating a spherical protective barrier that shielded the Seireitei from every direction, from the sky down to underground. Thus, ordinary souls with spiritual power could not enter the Seireitei to cause trouble.

And the reason Iori had commissioned these things was simple:

An extra layer of insurance.

Mainly because, under the enhancement of his "art style," his aptitude and upper limit were improving too quickly. The Soul Society did not lack geniuses, but his growth curve was simply too bizarre.

Breaking through once or twice after battle could be explained away as talent. But if it kept happening, it would inevitably arouse suspicion. After all, this world did not have Saiyan bloodlines.

These Killing Aura Stone talismans had been coated, so they would not come into direct contact with Iori's body or affect the normal rhythm of his Reiatsu. In other words, they would not weaken Iori's strength like Seastone.

However, they could still affect the subtle fluctuations of Reiatsu around him. This allowed Iori to adjust the Reiatsu fluctuations he released by increasing or decreasing the number of talismans, making his growth appear as a "smooth and regular curve" rather than the roller-coaster ride that was Ichigo...

Once Iori learned how to perfectly conceal his Reiatsu, he would no longer need these things.

Wait! This thing...

As Iori stroked the Killing Aura Stone talismans, a flash of inspiration suddenly struck him. He had thought of a good way to increase his Art Style Value:

The signature weighted gear of hot-blooded manga!

From Dragon Ball to Naruto, countless hot-blooded manga used this method to create contrast. It might already be a tired cliché, but when Rock Lee dropped the weights from his legs—

It was truly hard not to get fired up!

Though Killing Aura Stone talismans had no weighting effect, other people did not know that!

They could likewise create a contrast in the strength of his Reiatsu. If Iori suddenly threw off the talismans while fighting an enemy, then erupted with his full Reiatsu...

Wouldn't that Art Style Value be guaranteed?

The thought excited Iori, but it also filled him with a sense of melancholy:

Some people only saw how pretentious and arrogant the BOSS was, never realizing just how much preparation they had done to raise their own aura.

Did Aizen's hair-gel hand come naturally?

Did the Akatsuki Organization not know that long coats were difficult to wash?

Those time-manipulating vampires might look all Dio, but did they not still have to desperately carry people downstairs?!

—Everyone silently put in tremendous effort to maintain their aura!

"By the way, that's not all I commissioned, right?" Iori had not forgotten the important matter.

"You mean that artificial body technology called 'Gigai'?"