Kapitel 5: Shin'etsu Kisaragi

Bleach, this anime was an extremely popular series in Ailin's previous life. Together with two other anime, it was known as one of the "Big Three Shōnen Manga."

Based on the powers displayed by characters in the anime, there were roughly a few levels - ordinary division Shinigami, elite division Shinigami, seated officers, vice-captains, captains, centuries-old captains, the Captain-Commander, and the Soul King.

Division Shinigami were those who had just graduated from the Shin'ō Academy with exceptional results and been recruited by the Gotei 13.

Elite division Shinigami were those who had been Shinigami for over a decade and possessed their own specialties among the four Shinigami combat forms of Hakuda, Zanjutsu, Shunpo, and Kidō.

Seated officers were the elite forces within each division. At the very least, one needed to reach Fifth Seat-class Reiryoku and successfully manifest their Zanpakutō's initial release to become a seated officer.

Vice-captains had Third Seat-class Reiryoku and were the strongest in their division aside from the captain.

Captains were already considered "big shots" in the entirety of Soul Society.

Centuries-old captains didn't simply refer to captains who had held their position for over a hundred years. Rather, it meant their Shikai was powerful enough to rival the Bankai of ordinary captains. As for their Bankai, ordinary captains were no different from cannon fodder before them.

The Captain-Commander referred to Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto. His level could be described with just two words – Blazingly Invincible!

As for those even higher like the Soul King, they could no longer be described by the realm of power and instead occupied the position as the "cornerstone of the world."

With each increasing level, the disparity in strength grew exponentially. Take the captain and vice-captain levels for example. Although they seemed only one level apart, if a captain-level combatant fully exerted their Reiatsu, even breathing would become extremely difficult for a vice-captain-level person.

Just like Ailin's current predicament when faced with the man before him. The billowing Reiatsu submerged Ailin like the surging tides.

Focusing his mind, Ailin silently chanted an incantation. A few seconds later, a diamond-shaped glow manifested between his hands.

"Bakudō Number 63 - Mirror Door!"

Next, the glowing barrier morphed into a transparent wall that shielded Ailin's group. Mirror Door was a high-level barrier capable of reflecting external attacks. With its protection, the pressure brought about by the overbearing Reiatsu instantly vanished.

"Roar Roar Roar..."

The fiery flames within the indentation of the man's Zanpakutō raged violently as his explosive Reiatsu battered against Ailin's barrier, causing creaking sounds as if it would shatter in the next second under the pressure.

Ailin was also helpless to do anything. This was already the strongest defensive method in his current arsenal. Yet before a true captain-level opponent, it was clearly lacking.

Just now, this guy had effortlessly wiped out all the warriors encircling that youth with one swing. If he turned his blade towards Ailin and his comrades, their ending likely wouldn't be too pleasant either.

Fortunately, the man only gave them a glance after instructing the youth for a bit before swiftly heading towards the next battlefield.

The heavily-injured Shinigami had also quickly left after the youth's departure.

"Phew..."

Seeing the two figures leave, Ailin finally breathed a sigh of relief. He had picked back up his little life! And even obtained an unexpected opportunity to encounter two powerful Zanpakutō. One of them had even attained Bankai.

After this mission, he would forge replicas of the two Zanpakutō in Unlimited Blade Works.

For the remainder of the time, Ailin busied himself healing the three heavily-injured people around him with Kidō instead of rushing off towards other battlefields.

With that monster present, Ailin would have to be insane to go court death. Furthermore, judging from the emergency summons order today, something shady was clearly going on behind the scenes.

Normally, when a noble clan was attacked, reinforcements would definitely include a captain at the minimum, if not the vice-captain taking the lead. Yet for this incident, Ailin and the others had only received notifications via Hell Butterflies.

Nearly an hour had passed since the fighting started, but Ailin still hadn't seen any captains, vice-captains, or even seated officers from the Second Division around.

Evidently, the backup mobilized through Hell Butterfly notifications only consisted of bottom-rung Shinigami like themselves.

Ailin refused to believe the Gotei 13 higher-ups wouldn't sense Reiatsu at the captain-level flaring. So why hadn't a single one of them shown up?

Clearly, underlying interests between nobility were involved at the upper echelons. Meanwhile, they were merely a batch of disposable cannon fodder thrown out. Perhaps this was also deliberately staged for those nobles to see -

"Look, despite our Gotei 13 not sending any captains or vice-captains, we still sacrificed so many troops just to provide assistance to your Kasumiōji Clan."

The fighting went on for almost an hour. In the end, after wrecking sufficient chaos, the man behind the attack on the Kasumiōji Clan suddenly experienced an explosive surge in his Reiatsu. He then directly charged towards the First Division barracks.

It was there Ailin witnessed first-hand a tiny glimpse of the "Strongest Shinigami's" true power.

The blazing flames blotting out the skies of Seireitei and the overwhelming Reiatsu blanketing the entire city far outstripped the captain-level pressures Ailin had experienced before. It was simply incomparable.

In the next few days, Ailin eventually learned through certain channels about Central 46's verdict on handling this matter.

The Shinigami who attacked the Kasumiōji Clan that day was someone named Shin'etsu Kisaragi.

Through unknown means, Shin'etsu Kisaragi discovered the Kasumiōji Clan had weapons able to enhance strength. Hence, he led a number of close aides to raid Kasumiōji territory, seizing one of their powerful Bakkōtō Blades and experiencing a substantial boost in power.

Augmented by the Bakkōtō Blade, Shin'etsu Kisaragi directly assaulted the First Division and ambushed Captain-Commander Yamamoto. In the end, he was effortlessly defeated by Yamamoto but managed to successfully flee from the Captain-Commander. Soon after though, investigators from the First Division discovered Shin'etsu Kisaragi's corpse dumped in a certain spot of the Rukongai.

Thus, this incident of the Kasumiōji Clan under attack was concluded. However, unlike the others, Ailin's personal deduced perspective on this matter differed.

Shin'etsu Kisaragi. While others may not recognize him, Ailin knew him to be one of Captain-Commander Yamamoto's disciples.

His intrusion into the Kasumiōji Clan had nothing to do with trying to seize strength from Bakkōtō Blades. Rather, in the process of researching Bakkōtō Blades, the Kasumiōji Clan had secretly captured large numbers of wandering souls in Rukongai to test the weapons' performance.

Because they were a prominent noble family, the Gotei 13 as the military force protecting Soul Society had absolutely no jurisdiction to enforce laws over the nobility.

Yet Shin'etsu Kisaragi, as a native of Rukongai, naturally could not bear to watch the Kasumiōji Clan slaughter many wandering souls. Thus, he infiltrated the Kasumiōji Clan with several fellow companions from Rukongai, aiming to uncover evidence of the clan wantonly massacring Rukongai souls so they could petition Central 46 to launch an investigation on the Kasumiōji clan.