Chapter 5: Curiosity |
Lilith watched the scene unfold from the sidelines, and once everything had settled, her voice echoed in Yeruashi's mind. 'Should I kill them, Father?'
"No... let them live in fear."
Yeruashi shook his head slightly. "For a being endowed with emotions, there are things far worse than death. It is time you understood that, Lilith."
No one.
No one in the entire Soul Society was capable of dispelling the genjutsu of his Eyes of God.
The terror and dread planted by Yeruashi's gaze deep within those souls would remain there forever.
They would live out the rest of their days in absolute horror.
Emotional control.
The Rinne Tenseigan did not possess such a capability, but the Eyes of God did.
By relying on this power, Yeruashi could induce rage, fear, or any other emotion in a target, completely stripping them of their composure. One could say this ability was equivalent to a debuff, reducing the opponent's overall combat effectiveness by a specific percentage.
Individuals possessing sufficiently powerful spiritual energy could resist and eventually break free from the influence of this genjutsu, but an ordinary soul like Iwatsuri was utterly incapable of doing so. In fact, even souls at the level of a Gotei 13 captain would find it incredibly difficult to escape the influence of such a powerful illusion.
Lilith nodded, sinking into deep thought.
Hisana followed Yeruashi into the house, but just as she hesitated, preparing to say something, a sudden knock sounded on the door they had just closed.
She opened it to find a teenager who immediately bowed, speaking politely. "Could you... could you give me some water? Please..."
Hisana sighed helplessly and turned her head to look at Yeruashi, who was standing nearby.
Yeruashi settled into a chair and calmly regarded the teenager standing in the doorway. "Go ahead and take it, if you wish."
"Thank you! Thank you!!"
The teenager raised his head and thanked Yeruashi profusely.
Yeruashi narrowed his eyes, examining the boy closely. He seemed vaguely familiar. "Hmm... what is your name?"
"Ito... Makoto Ito..."
The boy rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and headed to the backyard with a bottle in his hands.
'So that's who he is...'
Yeruashi involuntarily shuddered for a moment, then smirked and shook his head. He decided it wasn't worth breaking his word, even if it had been given to such a person.
Hisana addressed Yeruashi as soon as the teenager departed. "Mr. Yeruashi, our water source will surely continue to attract malevolent individuals..."
"There is no need to worry about that."
Yeruashi offered a relaxed smile. "I am more than capable of protecting it."
Hisana paused to think before suggesting, "Mr. Yeruashi, perhaps we should sell some of the water to buy weapons for protection?"
Lilith snorted disdainfully. "We have no need for such trinkets."
Hisana sighed and lowered her head, wondering how best to explain that this world was far more dangerous and chaotic than the World of the Living. In the remote districts of Rukongai, a simple well—perfectly ordinary by the standards of the living—was enough to trigger a local war. Previously, Hisana had hoped that news of the well would not spread beyond this small backyard, but now, even she found it difficult to predict how perilous their lives might become once word got out.
Although she could conclude that Yeruashi was far from an ordinary soul, given how quickly he had built the house and how he had terrified Iwatsuri and the others, she knew that might not be enough to guard a water-rich well in the middle of a lawless district.
'I hope Mr. Yeruashi is truly powerful...'
Hisana could only pray silently.
...
Deep in the wilderness, on the outskirts of the 79th district in the southern region of Rukongai, bordering the 78th district, Inuzuri.
While this was not yet the most chaotic and lawless 80th district, the situation on its borders was hardly better. In places like this, it was perfectly normal to stumble across bloodthirsty gangs, discarded corpses, and other such grim sights.
Right now, a woman in a white haori with long black hair was strolling leisurely through the area.
This woman, who appeared very friendly and gentle at first glance, held an unreleased Zanpakuto in her right hand.
However, her serene image was marred by several corpses lying on the ground and droplets of blood sliding down the blade of her Zanpakuto.
A few moments ago, several bloodthirsty bandits had attacked the seemingly soft and defenseless woman... or so they had thought.
The result was that all the attackers were brutally and mercilessly crushed by her blade, while a soft, friendly smile remained on her face.
This woman was the Captain of the Fourth Division of the Gotei 13, which specialized in medicine.
It would be logical to assume that a captain of a division with such a specialization would possess the lowest combat capability among all the Gotei 13 captains.
But in reality... it was quite the opposite!
Currently, in the entire Gotei 13, there was no captain—save for the Captain-Commander himself—capable of matching this woman in battle. For she was not only the current captain of the Fourth Division but also the very first captain of the Eleventh Division. She was the first Kenpachi, the one who established the traditions of the most combat-oriented squad!
"Captain..."
Isane Kotetsu, the current Lieutenant of the Fourth Division, addressed Unohana. "Captain, I do not believe you will find even a remotely interesting opponent in such a remote place..."
Unohana glanced at Kotetsu, who stood nearby. "So you have realized my goal."
"From the very beginning."
Kotetsu walked over to Unohana. "You simply felt like cutting down some bandits... otherwise, why would you voluntarily travel to such a backwater?"
She scanned the corpses and shook her head. "Captain, I do not think there is any meaning in slaughtering this rabble. Only a truly powerful opponent can satisfy a Captain..."
Clang!
Unohana looked at Kotetsu and sheathed her blade without giving her lieutenant an answer.
Kotetsu and Unohana resumed their journey through Rukongai, heading straight toward the most lawless and chaotic 80th district.
But at that exact moment, they stopped and simultaneously turned their heads back.
"Aaah... aaaaaah... aaaaaaaaah...!"
There, they saw several figures running from the direction of the 78th district, emitting loud cries of terror as if something incredibly frightening was chasing them.
Unohana carefully scanned the surroundings, but she noticed nothing unusual nearby.
At the same time, Kotetsu narrowed her eyes and vanished, rushing straight toward the figures before immediately unleashing her Reiatsu upon them.
"Hah... hah... hah..."
The young men could not cast aside their fear, even under the crushing influence of a Gotei 13 lieutenant's Reiatsu.
Upon seeing the suddenly appearing Kotetsu, the men experienced an even greater terror, one that words could not describe.
Unohana cast a piercing gaze at the young men and stepped forward, intending to check their condition.
As Unohana performed the examination, a flash of intense surprise crossed her eyes. "Their minds have collapsed under the influence of excessive fear. Even my Reiatsu is unable to bring them back to normal... what on earth is this?"
Even Unohana herself did not know how many bloody battles she had participated in or how many opponents she had crushed since the founding of the Gotei 13. In the old days, her mere presence was often enough to petrify an enemy and completely shatter their fighting spirit.
But in all that time, she had never encountered such an exaggerated degree of fear and horror.
Unohana immediately felt a surge of curiosity and turned her head toward the direction the young men had come from. However, her gaze met only the desolate and deserted outskirts of the 78th district. She could only roughly determine the direction these souls had fled from, but she had no idea where exactly or under what circumstances they had ended up like this.
Unohana pondered for a moment before taking a step in the direction from which the souls had run, then abruptly vanished, reappearing somewhere in the distance using Shunpo.
"..."
Kotetsu looked down at Iwatsuri and the others, who by this point had lost consciousness. From their faces, it was clear that they continued to linger in terror and dread even now.
She relaxed her Reiatsu and followed Unohana using Shunpo.