Seireitei, the Shihōin Main Family.
As one of the Five Great Noble Houses, the Shihōin Clan, which controlled the Heaven-Bestowed Armament Division, was formally welcoming its new head today.
Yoruichi Shihōin, guided by Shihōin Qianri, the twentieth head of the Shihōin Clan, formally succeeded as the twenty-second head.
The first thing the new head did after taking her position was put on a gorgeous kimono embroidered with the Shihōin Clan crest. Its layers of fabric fell in overlapping folds, while her hair was swept high and secured with splendid golden hairpins. The sunlight reflected off them in soft, fragmented glints. She sat upright atop an ornate palanquin, its elaborate canopy decorations swaying with every step of the bearers and scattering broken light across the streets on either side.
The Shihōin Clan guards followed beside her in magnificent ceremonial dress. Their steps were perfectly synchronized, with their blades facing inward and their hilts facing outward—the traditional ceremonial carrying style passed down through the generations of the Shihōin Clan.
Behind the guards came members of the Shihōin Clan carrying the Heaven-Bestowed Armament Division's finest creations. What they held were not weapons, but several of the most exquisite armaments forged by the Shihōin Clan throughout the ages, meant to display the family's martial strength and glory during the succession of a new head.
Sixth Division soldiers also accompanied the procession on both sides. Guarding the nobility was part of the Sixth Division's duties, and the procession's specifications and route had already been reported to the First Division and the Central 46. Everything was in accordance with regulations.
The procession departed from the main gate of the Shihōin Main Family, passed through the Noble District, and slowly proceeded along Seireitei's long streets.
On both sides of the road, orderly formations of attendants from the