" Saeki -kun, that Sōgo Shihoin being far too arrogant. Even if he's from one of the Five Great Noble Clans, he shouldn't be so haughty and disrespectful to you. You should know that even compared to the Five Great Noble Clans, Saeki -Saeki kun's family isn't..."
After Yumiko Saeki's three Sōgo Shihoin repeatedly expressed their dissatisfaction.
"Shut up! Don't bring this up again!"
Upon hearing what those people were saying, Yumiko Saeki frowned and immediately stopped them.
"Forehead..."
The group was taken aback by Yumiko Saeki's strong reaction to their words, and were all speechless.
In Soul Society, even gossiping about the Five Great Noble Clans behind their backs is a sin. If the Five Great Noble Clans hear it, one day someone might suddenly find your gruesome corpse in the wilderness.
As for the claim that any family can rival the Five Great Noble Clans, that's utterly laughable. The laws of Soul Society are set by the Kuchiki Clan, treasures belong to the Shihoin Family, and knowledge is controlled by the Tsunayashiro Clan... Only some nouveau riche families with no foundation or who suddenly become powerful due to some research would think that the Five Great Noble Clans are nothing special. But the closer they get to the Five Great Noble Clans, the more they feel their own insignificance.
"Alright..."
Let's get to work!
"No matter who it's for, even if it's just for ourselves, we must kill one of the Hollows as soon as possible."
Yumiko Saeki knew her reaction had been a bit too intense, so she smiled slightly at the group and said...
"Really."
"As the elite among the nobility, we cannot be underestimated!"
"That's right, even if it were just the four of us, killing an ordinary Hollow would be far too easy."
The three sycophants immediately grinned foolishly, then perked up and walked into the depths of the forest with Yumiko Saeki.
On the other side, in Rukongai, there's a ramen shop.
"Boss, two bowls of extra-rich tonkotsu ramen, please."
Sōgo took Shaoling Fon to a ramen shop to relax.
"Okay, buddy!"
The squinty-eyed shopkeeper smiled at Sōgo, then turned around and began preparing soup and noodles for Sōgo and Shaoling Fon.
" Sōgo, is it really okay for us to sneak food here?"
Shaoling Fon's excellent education as a noblewoman filled her with a deep sense of shame.
"What's wrong with it? It's just noodles!"
"Don't worry!"
"As for the four of us on the same team, you don't need to worry. Although their strength is significantly weaker than yours and mine, the four of them working together can still easily deal with an ordinary Hollow."
Sōgo gently patted Shaoling Fon's shoulder and spoke casually.
The noodles are ready~ Please enjoy~
While the two were chatting, the noodle shop owner served them two bowls of ramen.
Let's eat noodles first!
"If they encounter any danger, don't worry, I'm here for you."
Sōgo gently patted Shaoling Fon's head and smiled.
"Good..."
Shaoling Fon blushed slightly. After hearing Sōgo's words, she stopped thinking about it and nodded gently.
"Slurp~"
"As expected, looking at the entire Soul Society, your ramen is still the best."
Sōgo ate his noodles heartily and smiled at the man who made them.
"Hahaha... that's for sure. To put it somewhat presumptuously, even Lord Soul King would be so engrossed in our noodles that he wouldn't want to return to the Soul King Palace."
The ramen vendor burst into laughter after hearing Sōgo's words. As a chef, what he loves most is hearing customers praise his skills.
"Hahaha... If he can get out of the Soul King Palace, he'll definitely never want to go back."
Sōgo Shihoin laughed, echoing the ramen shop owner's words.
Be careful what you say! Be careful what you say!
After hearing Sōgo's words, the ramen shop owner looked around and said with a grin.
Speaking ill of the Soul King is illegal in Soul Society; if someone with ulterior motives overhears it, they'll be in big trouble.
"Slurp~ Slurp~"
Shaoling Fon sat beside Sōgo, munching on noodles. She looked at him with curiosity, realizing that despite spending several years with Sōgo, she still hadn't grasped his personality. As the younger Sōgo of the Shihoin Family Yoruichi Shihōin, the head of one of the Five Great Noble Clans in Soul Society, Sougo's status was even more Sōgo than some princes in the World of the Living world. Yet, this man of such high status didn't seem to care about his noble status. He could joke around with important figures in the Squad Zero or the Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13, and also chat and laugh with the owner of an ordinary noodle shop in Rukongai... But for some reason, Sōgo Shihoin always gave people an irresistible urge to get closer.
And so the two enjoyed a brief, cozy moment eating noodles... Unfortunately, cozy moments always pass too quickly.
"Um?!"
Just as Sōgo began eating his third bowl of ramen, he suddenly put down his chopsticks and stood up.
" Sōgo! This Spiritual Pressure is...!"
Like Shaoling Fon, Sōgo felt the ominous Spiritual Pressure in the air.
"Um!"
Sōgo nodded slightly to the woman wearing the Shaoling Fon silk.
"Boss! This is the payment for the noodles. There's still some noodles left for me at the table. I have something to do, I'll come back and eat later."
Sōgo took out Soul Society coins from his pocket and handed them to the middle-aged man, saying with a grin.
"Huh? Are you in such a hurry? Can't you wait until you've finished eating? The noodles won't taste good if they get cold."
The boss frowned after hearing Sōgo's words and gave him a reminder.
Don't worry! I'll be back soon.
Sōgo smiled at the boss, then patted Shaoling Fon on the shoulder.
"Wait for me to come back~"
Sōgo Shaoling Fon finished speaking to Aya, his figure vanished from the spot in the next second.
"Huh?!!"
Shaoling Fon looked at Sougo, who had left without Shunpo for her, with a somewhat anxious Sōgo.
"Boss, please save me a seat too. I'll finish my noodles when I get back..."
Shaoling Fon gave the owner a sweet smile, then her expression instantly turned serious, and she left the noodle shop in Shunpo.
"Really..."
"Will this still be edible when you come back?"
The shop owner watched the two figures disappear into the store in an instant and said helplessly.
Meanwhile, Yumiko Saeki three friends were chatting leisurely.
"This weak and feeble creature is utterly vulnerable to us!"
Ise, holding his now-released Zanpakuto, instantly slew an ordinary Hollow and said with a grin.
"I never expected that your Zanpakuto had already been unleashed, Ise! This level is among the best in the entire academy. After graduation, you can become Soul Reaper Seated Officer, right?"
Yumiko Saeki rarely praised Ise, perhaps because she saw Ise's potential; anyone who could become Soul Reaper with the Seated Officer was someone worth befriending.
"No, no!"
Ise smiled slightly at Yumiko Saeki. If it weren't for the pressure the Ise Clan had been under from the Central 46 Chambers in recent years, and the fact that he didn't intend to associate with Yumiko Saeki, whose family member was a sage in the Central 46 Chambers, he wouldn't have even intended to become Soul Reaper ).
"Relax! Relax!"
"Let's keep this up, and under Ise- sama's leadership, kill as many Hollows as possible!"
The other two, seeing that Ise, who had been so quiet in class, was actually so powerful, suddenly became incredibly confident and started shouting loudly.
"Um... big brother or something..."
Ise gave the two men a modest smile, feeling somewhat uncomfortable with such a form of address.
"Pfft... Sizzle sizzle..."
Just as the group was chatting and laughing, the space above them suddenly cracked and shattered, revealing a pitch-black space. Then, a huge creature dressed in black with a long nose poked its head out from the darkness.
"Roar!!!"
A violent Spiritual Pressure emanated from the Menos Grande, making it impossible for the four people beneath him to even breathe.
" Menos Grande..."
"Are you kidding me?!"
Ise stared at the enormous void in the sky, his forehead covered in cold sweat.
"No, even if it's Menos Grande, we four can still defeat it if we join forces."
Ise, being a worldly man, instantly considered the difference in combat strength between himself and the Gillian, and concluded that with the cooperation of the four of them, it was possible to kill the slow-moving Gillian in front of them.
Ise thought this, she gently turned her head, and then her eyes flickered slightly.
The three people behind him were terrified the moment they saw Gillian, and their bodies went limp on the ground.
"Tsk~"
Ise frowned as she looked at the three people behind her, then helplessly relaxed her furrowed brow.
"You lot, run away!"
Ise addressed Yumiko and the others in a deep voice.
"Um?!"
The group looked at Ise with trembling eyes, perhaps because fear had taken hold of them, and they couldn't even listen to what Ise was saying.
I told you all to run away right now!
This time, Ise roared out, and his furious voice briefly brought the three of them back to their senses.
" Ise, what are you saying?"
Yumiko's body trembled slightly as she asked Ise.
"Run away right now! Run towards our meeting point and find the teacher for help!"
Ise spoke to Yumiko with a firm gaze.
"But what will you do if we run away?"
After regaining her Yumiko looked at the resolute look in Ise's eyes and felt a pang of pity.
"I'll buy you some time. Don't worry, I'm very strong."
Ise turned around, his eyes fixed on the enormous Gillian, not daring to relax for even a moment.
"We... we'll stay and help too."
The two people behind Ise exchanged a glance, briefly overcoming their fear, and addressed Ise.
"Fools, look at your trembling hands! Do you really think you can help me now?"
"You're nothing but a bunch of burdens. Your presence here will only cause me more trouble. Get out of here right now!"
Ise could no longer tolerate the sulking behind him and turned around to roar.
" Ise... Okay, we understand!"
Looking at Ise's ferocious face, the group understood the sheer determination with which this man was fighting, and they realized that the only thing they could do now was to run away.
"Roar!!!"
Just as the group was talking, Gillian, high in the sky, seemed to have observed enough. He opened his gaping maw, and red light gathered inside.
"Damn it! It's Cero!"
"Run! Run faster!"
Ise stared at the crimson light emanating from Gillian's mouth, his forehead beaded with cold sweat, and shouted to the people behind him.
"Run! Yumiko, run!"
The two people behind him nodded and immediately took off running out of the woods.
"Thump..."
However, an unexpected situation still occurred. Yumiko sat down on the ground with a thud, looking up at Gillian, whose mouth was emitting a scarlet Spiritual Pressure. Her eyes were filled with fear. As a high-ranking Yumiko, Yumiko was born with strong intuition. This intuition allowed Yumiko to better control her Spiritual Pressure, thus gaining amazing talent in Kidō. However, this same extraordinary intuition also made Yumiko abnormally sensitive to Spiritual Pressure. So when Yumiko felt the enormous Spiritual Pressure of Gillian's Cero, she was instantly terrified.
Damn it!
" Ise, unleash all the power within you! Do not tarnish the honor of the Shinto family!"
Holding his Zanpakuto, Ise shouted loudly, his Spiritual Pressure erupting like a waterfall. He had originally intended to dodge Gillian's Cero, but for the sake of Yumiko Saeki behind him, he now had to withstand Gillian's attack.
"Boom!"
Just as Ise unleashed her Spiritual Pressure, a crimson light shot out from Gillian's mouth, enveloping Ise.
"Ah!!!"
Ise roared loudly, his forehead covered in sweat, his body already bearing countless wounds from Gillian's Cero, but he still stubbornly persevered.
"Damn it, is this the end for me too?"
"I rejected the inheritance of the Eight-Mirror Sword, abandoned the destiny and mission of the Ise Clan, and came to the Seireitei Shin'ō Academy to study for the rise of the Ise Clan. How can I die here?!"
"If even I fall, who in the Ise Clan Family will stand up for me?!"
"Who will protect Little Nanao next?!"
Am I going to die?
Ise's forehead was covered in bulging veins, but even when he released all his Spiritual Pressure, he still couldn't withstand the Menos Grande's Cero. The difference in Spiritual Pressure couldn't be bridged by sheer willpower.
"Oh dear~"
"This is truly astonishing; a Menos Grande has actually appeared in Soul Society?"
Just before Ise felt he was about to lose consciousness, a casual voice entered his ears, and at the same time, a silver-white figure stood in front of him, blocking the Cero for him.
We're saved!
These were Ise's last thoughts before she fell into a coma.
" Byakurai!"
A bright white light filled the entire sky, instantly deflecting Gillian's Cero and blasting Gillian into the head.
"Can you tell me what exactly happened?"
After dealing with Gillian, Sōgo Shihoin turned to the people behind him and asked a question.
There is currently no information stating that the Ise Clan Family is one of the Five Great Noble Clans; it is only said that their family inherited the Eight-Mirror Sword, a divine weapon for special attacks against the sacred.
Then tomorrow I'll have completed my 30-day goal of posting 3,000 words daily. Those who are interested should definitely remember to invest! Don't miss this opportunity!
There will only be one update today, but it will still be over 4,000 words, which is equivalent to two chapters normally, so don't worry.
(End of this chapter)