Undercurrents

A thoughtful look flashed across Wang Xun's eyes.

"The Tsunayashiro Clan?"

"There's no direct evidence."

Kisuke Urahara spoke softly.

"But Captain Yoruichi suspects they may be conducting certain... less-than-proper experiments in private, the kind that require large numbers of souls with high Reiryoku as materials."

"But the nobles have the privilege of so-called 'extraterritorial rights,' so it's extremely difficult to conduct an internal investigation."

"That's why Captain Yoruichi hasn't made much progress on this front."

A brief silence fell over the laboratory.

Wang Xun understood. Weren't the rules the nobles had established to protect their own interests coming in handy now?

The Shihoin Clan benefited from the system too, so trying to bypass it to investigate their own ranks would presumably meet with enormous resistance.

After all, of everyone who had reached such a position, who didn't have a few secrets they couldn't speak of?

You want to investigate me? I fucking want to investigate you too!

Seen that way, the Shiba Clan were the losers in the power struggle.

Everyone could see how that had ended.

Wang Xun looked at Kisuke Urahara and voiced his question.

"So you mean Captain Yoruichi might use this incident to do something?"

Kisuke Urahara neither confirmed nor denied it.

"After all, opportunities like this don't come often."

Wang Xun hadn't expected so many other matters to be involved.

After chatting with Urahara for a while, Wang Xun had gained plenty from the visit and prepared to take his leave.

"I'll have the tools and communicators ready in the next few days. Bring the money over this weekend, but there's quite a lot, so you'd better bring a couple more people with you."

"Thanks, Third Seat Urahara."

"We both benefit."

Urahara waved a hand.

After Wang Xun left, Kisuke Urahara walked to the wall and opened a hidden compartment, revealing a Reishi analyzer inside.

The instrument's screen displayed complex data from the Reiatsu sample he had previously collected from Wang Xun and analyzed.

Just now, while Wang Xun was fighting those prisoners, he had gathered more material for his experiment.

He had even obtained a small sample of Wang Xun's blood.

"Why do you have a Hollow's Reiatsu inside you...?"

Urahara murmured to himself, his fingers moving rapidly over the control panel.

"The purity is very high, and it's completely integrated into the soul's structure. This isn't contamination from an outside source. It's more like... it was produced from within?"

The instrument's light flickered, illuminating the excited gleam in Kisuke Urahara's eyes.

A moment later, Kisuke Urahara slowly let out a long breath. He put everything away, walked out of the laboratory, and left the Maggot's Nest.

He returned to the Second Division barracks and headed straight for the captain's office.

It was time for him to report on Wang Xun and the Tsunayashiro Clan.

At that moment, Yoruichi sat cross-legged in the main seat, thoroughly enjoying a skewer of chicken meatballs.

Soi Fon stood beside her, holding some documents and looking helpless.

"Lady Yoruichi, these documents still need your signature."

"Leave them there. I'll look at them in a bit."

Yoruichi spoke indistinctly and took another bite of a meatball.

"Soi Fon, you should try some too. I had someone bring them specially from Rukongai. They're good."

Yoruichi grabbed a skewer of meatballs and pushed it toward Soi Fon's mouth.

"It's working hours, Lady Yoruichi. Please don't..."

"Oh, relax~ No one can see us."

"Lady Yoruichi..."

Just as the bashful Soi Fon was about to give in to Yoruichi's onslaught and open her mouth to take a bite...

Kisuke Urahara cleared his throat at the door.

Soi Fon froze on the spot, her half-open mouth trembling slightly.

She turned her head to see that annoying blond waving from the doorway.

Ki! Su! Ke! U! Ra! Ha! Ra!

You really deserve to die...

Yoruichi turned and saw Urahara, her eyes lighting up.

"Hey, Urahara, just in time. Try these meatballs. They're really good."

"Oh~ Thank you, Captain. I was just getting a little hungry."

Urahara took the skewer under Soi Fon's nearly murderous gaze. After taking a couple of bites, he continued.

"Captain, I came to report something concerning Wang Xun and the Tsunayashiro Clan."

Yoruichi chewed more slowly.

She swallowed her food, and her expression grew a little more serious.

"Go on."

Urahara briefly reported Wang Xun's request for help and his own analysis.

At the end, he added:

"I think this is an opportunity. Tokinada Tsunayashiro may not have access to the core matters, but he's a good point of entry."

"If we handle it properly, we might be able to uncover something."

Yoruichi's gaze sharpened.

"Are you confident?"

"It's worth a try."

Urahara nodded.

Yoruichi's expression gradually grew grave, and she tapped her fingers lightly on the armrest.

"Does Wang Xun know what you're planning?"

"He's very smart, and he understands his situation. Rather than passively take a beating, he'd do better to enter the game of his own accord and gain our support."

Urahara continued.

"I gave him a little help, enough to deal with the first few waves of harassment."

"If the conflict continues to escalate until Tsunayashiro is ready to use some unconventional methods, that will be our turn to act."

Yoruichi was silent for a moment, then a faint, intrigued smile appeared on her lips.

She turned to Soi Fon.

"What do you think?"

Soi Fon straightened, her voice calm.

"I will support you with all my strength, Lady Yoruichi!"

"Good. Soi Fon, personally lead a team into West Rukongai and carry out two tasks."

"First, monitor Wang Xun and the people who work for him at all times, and record all the attackers."

"Second, follow the trail to find whoever is directing the attackers and establish their connection to the Tsunayashiro Clan."

"Yes, Lady Yoruichi!"

"Go."

Yoruichi waved a hand. Soi Fon and Urahara bowed at the same time, then turned and left the office.

After the two had gone, Yoruichi picked up another skewer of meatballs, took a bite, and gazed out the window at Seireitei's gray sky.

Meanwhile, deep within the Tsunayashiro Clan's residence.

Tokinada Tsunayashiro knelt in a tea room, an exquisite tea set arranged before him.

But he didn't make tea. He simply gazed quietly at the dry landscape garden.

The paper door to the side slid gently open, and an elderly man who looked like a butler knelt outside.

"Young Master Tokinada, the man from the Nagano Clan has arrived."

"Let him in."

Tokinada's voice was calm and unruffled.

A moment later, a plainly dressed middle-aged man carefully entered the tea room and knelt across from Tokinada.

He was Nagano Masayasu, the head of the Nagano Clan, a little-known lower-ranking noble.

"Young Master Tokinada, I've already begun making arrangements for what you instructed."

"It is the fortune of three lifetimes to be able to serve you."

Nagano Masayasu kept his head lowered, his voice respectful.

"How do you plan to do it?"

Tokinada asked, his gaze still on the garden.

"I'll send people to Rukongai to spread rumors. The lowlifes there are most susceptible to that sort of thing. Once they hear bad news, they certainly won't dare eat there again."

"I'll also have a few members of the family's branch line cause trouble at the shop, claiming the food made them sick, so they can't keep doing business."

Nagano Masayasu lowered his voice a little.

"Lastly, I'll find some thugs and ruffians who drifted in from the outer districts of Rukongai and have them threaten the ramen shop's employees, so they won't dare come to work."

Tokinada finally turned to look at Nagano Masayasu.

"How long until it takes effect?"

"The rumors can spread in three to five days, and the troublemaking can start tomorrow. It'll just take a little time to recruit the thugs and make preparations. They should be able to act in about a week."

Nagano Masayasu calculated.

"At most, in ten days, that shop won't be able to stay in business."

Tokinada nodded, seemingly reasonably satisfied.

"Remember, the Nagano Clan is just an ordinary noble family that can't stand unscrupulous merchants, and the ones causing trouble are only thugs and ruffians from Rukongai."

"Of course, of course."

Nagano Masayasu nodded repeatedly.

"We of the Nagano Clan are exposing a dishonest shop out of a sense of justice, and the thugs are causing trouble on their own initiative. It has nothing to do with anyone else."

"Go."

Tokinada waved a hand. Nagano Masayasu, his face flushed, bowed and withdrew from the tea room.

Tokinada Tsunayashiro picked up his teacup and took a small sip, a cold gleam flashing in his eyes.

"Wang Xun..."