Assassination

The moon hung high, and the arrival of seven dark shadows shattered the tranquility that should have belonged to the Fujiang District.

Each of them was short in stature, faces veiled in black, revealing only a pair of lifeless eyes that stared fixedly at the two-story house across the way—the very place where Diezuka Hiroe and Fuzi had spent their day.

"The target hasn't left, has he?"

"He's been drinking all day; he's a total drunkard by now."

The figure in the center nodded, gestured to those beside him, and whispered in a raspy voice, "Report the situation inside!"

The man on the far left bowed his body and shuffled to the center of the group. After kneeling on one knee, he pulled a blueprint from his robes, slowly unfolded it, and laid it on the ground before them.

"This is the entryway, and right next to it are the stairs leading to the second floor. There are three bedrooms in total, all on the second floor, and the target is currently in this one. There are five windows on the second floor: two facing the street, two at the back, and the last one at the end of the hallway on the north side."

"Is it impossible for the target to be on the first floor?"

"Unless he's sleepwalking or sleeping wherever he dropped, it's impossible!"

The leader pondered for a moment, pointed at the blueprint, and commanded, "I, Number Two, and Number Three will stake out the three sides of the second-floor windows, while Number Six and Number Seven guard the windows on the first floor. The rest of you infiltrate through the front door. Once the first floor is secured, head up to the second floor to let the others in. The body will be carried out by Number Two or myself. Is that understood?"

Seeing everyone nod in unison, the leader raised his right hand and swung it down sharply. The seven figures vanished instantly, sealing off every exit of the house across the street.

Needless to say, these seven were assassins sent by that nameless man within the Seireitei to kill Diezuka Hiroe.

Perhaps if placed among the Gotei 13, their strength would only be considered upper-middle tier. But when it came to taking lives, every one of them was a master of the highest order!

Silently and without a trace, two uninvited guests visited Fuzi's home. The pair didn't even exchange a glance; one poked a small hole in the paper door to observe the interior, while the other pressed against the wall, listening for any movement from the second floor.

As it turned out, Diezuka Hiroe was a very sound sleeper, and the complications they feared did not arise. They let in their brothers waiting outside the first floor, and the four of them, without even stepping on the stairs, crawled slowly up to the second floor while pressed against the walls.

The second-floor hallway was pitch black, so quiet that one could hear a pin drop. The four split up to confirm the situation in the rooms, and it was exactly as the intelligence had stated: Diezuka Hiroe was fast asleep under the covers in the room at the end of the hallway facing the street.

After opening the window to let in Number Two and Number Three from outside, Number Four held up his thumb, signaling that he had already used a blowpipe to send the Spirit-Burning Smoke inside.

This was a colorless, odorless, non-toxic agent. Its only unique property was that it would ignite instantly upon contact with a surge of reiryoku. These men had prepared for the worst-case scenario: taking Diezuka Hiroe down with them!

As for why they didn't use poison gas, there was currently no such agent in the Soul Society capable of incapacitating or killing a Soul Reaper with a reiryoku level of six from the outside!

The paper door was slid open slowly, and the next moment, a gust of cold wind rushed into the sealed room. Moonlight filtered through the paper windows, casting long, distorted shadows of the six figures.

Left arm, right arm, waist, neck, heart—five short swords, shimmering with a white halo, struck at different parts of the body. Another blade swept horizontally across where Diezuka Hiroe's head should have been, and with Number One outside the window, every possible escape route had been sealed!

He really is a drunkard! But the drunk cat is about to become a dead cat! The six assassins in the room shared the same thought. Seeing their blades pierce through the quilt, a mocking smile curled beneath their veils.

Snow-white cotton batting mixed with blue rubber fragments, and a crisp, sharp sound echoed in the air, like a New Year's firecracker ignited early to celebrate a successful mission.

But would any of these people make such a low-level mistake? No!

"We've been played! Retreat!" Seeing the mission had failed, Number Three made a split-second decision and led the others in breaking through the window. Number One, guarding outside, heard the unusual commotion and had already vanished as well.

Fuzi, in the next room, was no fool; hearing the disturbance, he followed the assassins' trail to Diezuka Hiroe's room.

The first thing that met his eyes was the paper window, now reduced to a mere wooden frame, and the immediate thought that Diezuka Hiroe had met with disaster followed. The bed was in total disarray, but there was no blood to be found. It seemed the kid wasn't destined for an early grave!

The question now was, where had Diezuka Hiroe gone?

It wasn't just Fuzi who wanted the answer; the assassins, who had already fled two blocks away, were even more desperate to know. Facing the interrogation of Number One, Number Six and Number Seven truly had no words to defend themselves. They were certain Diezuka Hiroe had never left Fuzi's house, and this turn of events was completely beyond their expectations.

However, had they lingered just a moment longer, Fuzi might have kindly provided the answer. By the moonlight, Fuzi discovered a note on the wall, the contents written in Diezuka Hiroe's own hand.

"I thought about it and I'm still annoyed! Does being scolded once cancel out a life-saving debt? You look down on my worth too much! That bunch of guys must pay the price! Leaving without saying goodbye is quite rude; the expression of shame is left in the quilt. —Diezuka Hiroe."

Looking at this willful note, Fuzi didn't know whether to laugh or cry. So, he had escaped disaster just to pull a scam? He didn't know whether to call him petty or lucky.

"This kid is truly favored by the Soul King; turning a bad situation into a good one~"

The assassins in the distance did not share Fuzi's good mood. The mission had failed, and they had lost the target—neither was acceptable to them, nor to the master of the Seireitei.

"Number Seven, send the message back first and wait for the master's decision," Number One whispered, his voice trembling. It would be fine if Diezuka Hiroe didn't know of their existence, but if he did, none of them would survive!

Diezuka Hiroe, who had already set off toward the Plain of Slaughter in hopes of demanding compensation, was naturally unaware of these assassins' existence. But was the truth really as the note claimed?

"Isn't it tiring to talk through a piece of cloth? Take it off. You're all safe now, hurry up and take it off~"

In a house two blocks away, a man wearing a Shihakusho stood on the roof, muttering to himself while watching every move of the assassins through his white Reiryoku Glasses. Who else could it be but Diezuka Hiroe, who had supposedly left a note and departed?

"What a bunch of old foxes; I can't understand a word they're saying!"

If the assassins could have heard this, they would likely have retorted, "Who's the real old fox here? How on earth did you find us?!"

Number Six and Number Seven, who were responsible for the surveillance, wanted to know the answer even more, if only to clear their names!

In truth, the blame lay entirely with the surveillance brothers. Did they really think that by playing the part of passersby and changing clothes to walk back and forth a few times, they wouldn't be discovered? How naive! Who walks back and forth twenty times a day for no reason? Even sales reps don't work that hard!

Realizing something was wrong, Diezuka Hiroe naturally kept his guard up. After confirming the surveillance positions at nightfall, he snuck out and staged a brilliant counter-surveillance performance.

In reality, the assassins' methods would have worked on most people, but could Diezuka Hiroe really be considered "most people"?

Assassins? How laughable! Old Man Yama was the ancestor of all assassins in the Soul Society! As his disciple, he was the little ancestor to this bunch of killers!

After watching for over an hour, the group of assassins still hadn't shown themselves. Diezuka Hiroe didn't plan on waiting any longer; these people couldn't be caught yet, and he had his own business to attend to. It was time to move.

At that moment, the long-lingering assassins finally made a move. The one in charge of communication, who had been tapping his head, seemed to have received orders. After saying something to the leader, all seven of them rushed toward the north!

"What a coincidence, it seems our destinations are the same. I have to take a detour and still get ahead of you—what rotten luck!"

Diezuka Hiroe's expression darkened instantly, and he wiped the Reiryoku Glasses from his face with his right hand. He glanced at the dim mark on his left hand, then activated Flash Step in rapid succession, heading north as well. It looked like the entire night would be spent on the road.