"Shiba Kukaku, Rosse, why are the two of you together this late at night?"
Sui Feng stepped out of the shadows with an expression as cold as frost. The way she looked at them was as if they were criminals caught red-handed.
"That should be my question. Captain Sui Feng of the Second Division, why are you at the Shiba household this late? Are you planning to kill me and Ganju?", Shiba Kukaku stepped in front of Rosse, directly questioning Sui Feng.
This was still the Shiba family's home. For someone to intrude so easily and then question them on top of it, how could she tolerate such a thing?
If she were strong enough, she would have already attacked to kill.
Especially since the matter of her brother's death might very well have had Sui Feng's hidden push behind it.
Rosse lifted an eyebrow slightly, his hand brushing along the hilt of the Enrakyoten.
From the outside, he appeared to be carrying only one sword at his waist.
But in reality, he always carried two.
It was only that people affected by Kyoka Suigetsu could only see one of them.
Ever since he obtained the Enrakyoten, he had mostly relied on Kyoka Suigetsu's Shikai.
He couldn't help it. The weapon was simply too effective.
Compared to it, all other blades were far inferior.
Even Captain Commander Yamamoto's Bankai, Zankar no Tachi, to Rosse was less convenient than Kyoka Suigetsu's Shikai.
"Tell me the location of Shihoin Yoruichi. Otherwise, I'll bring you back to the Second Division for interrogation on the charge of harboring a criminal," Sui Feng stated, clean and sharp.
Hearing this, even Rosse paused for a moment.
'This woman, has she always been this reckless?'
He hadn't even used Kyoka Suigetsu to alter her intent.
In fact, judging from how she behaved, he wouldn't need to do anything. Her own "freestyle" was better than anything he could direct.
"Harboring a criminal? Is the Feng family really dead-set on fighting the Shiba family to the bitter end?", Shiba Kukaku let out a laugh full of disbelief.
She did know roughly where Yoruichi was. After all, whenever Yoruichi came to gather intel in the Soul Society, she would stay at the Shiba home.
Over time, Kukaku naturally learned about her situation.
The first time she learned something was wrong with Aizen was from Yoruichi.
So when the Great Archive revealed Aizen and Tosen's involvement, she wasn't as shocked as she might have been.
What truly shook her most was the woman standing in front of her.
The captain that Yoruichi called her "little sister," turned out to be a poisonous snake.
"I don't have time to waste words on you. If you won't tell me, then don't blame me for using force," Sui Feng glanced briefly at Rosse, her voice sinking.
She had stumbled across a certain piece of information and came rushing over.
Compared to that woman's news, things like the Second Division, the Feng family, and nobility didn't matter at all.
When she returned, Yoruichi never contacted her, yet had contacted a Shiba, and even a man who wasn't even a Shinigami.
She didn't care what relationship they had. She only wanted to know where that woman was so she could kill her, and that bastard Kisuke Urahara as well.
"Captain Sui Feng, by the rules of the Gotei 13, you don't seem to have the authority to take away the head of one of the Five Noble Clans," Rosse took a step forward, blocking Sui Feng's line toward Shiba Kukaku.
There was no way he would allow Sui Feng to take her, even a move in that direction was unacceptable.
Seeing Rosse step in front of her, Shiba Kukaku felt an indescribable sense of safety.
She cast a mocking look at Sui Feng, folding her arms as she said:
"That's right, Captain Sui Feng. I'm the head of the Shiba family now. What right do you have to interrogate me?"
The Shiba family might have fallen, but they were not so fallen that they could be bullied.
At least today, with Rosse here, no one was going to lay a hand on her.
Even if it really came to fighting, this was the Shiba ancestral grounds. She had every advantage.
"I'm warning you not to meddle," Seeing that verbal pressure wouldn't work, Sui Feng dropped all attempts at speaking. Her patience was gone.
In an instant, she moved.
Without warning, she became a swift blur, shooting straight toward Shiba Kukaku behind Rosse.
She might not be able to defeat Rosse, but she wasn't trying to.
In terms of speed, only one person in the Soul Society surpassed her, and that person was definitely not Rosse.
Today, she would take the girl and force Yoruichi's location out of her.
"That's it?"
Rosse's contemptuous voice rang out.
At the same time, in Sui Feng's dynamic vision, Rosse's movements appeared slowed a thousand times yet also impossibly fast.
He simply sidestepped casually, as if strolling through a garden. His left arm wrapped around Shiba Kukaku, and his right hand gripped his hilt, drawing upward in a moonlike arc of a slash.
His movement was elegant, as though he were painting with ink, not fighting.
"Humph!"
The humiliation of being underestimated ignited Sui Feng's fury. In midair, she drew her Zanpakuto and met the attack head-on.
"Jakuho Raikoben! Suzumebachi!"
With the Shikai release, the blade transformed into a deadly Feng stinger worn on her right middle finger.
She poured all her spiritual pressure into that single point and thrust directly into Rosse's incoming slash.
BOOM!
The meeting of their attacks didn't produce a metallic clash, it produced a deep, earth-shaking boom.
Sui Feng's pupils contracted sharply.
A moment later, terrifying force surged back along the stinger, instantly ripping apart her stance.
She didn't even see how she was sent flying.
When awareness returned, she was already tumbling through the air, a sweet taste rising in her throat, her organs feeling twisted out of place.
Midair, she stared at Rosse in disbelief.
'What kind of joke was this?'
'How could the gap between us possibly be this huge?'
"That's all you've got?"
Shiba Kukaku only recovered after they had already exchanged blows.
Although Rosse found Sui Feng's speed slow, she herself couldn't see anything clearly.
But she did see one thing: Sui Feng failed to withstand even a single strike before being blown away.
Clearly the gap was immense.
Shiba Kukaku herself might not be strong, but she had someone strong on her side.
"Whether it's speed or power, you're not exactly impressive."
Rosse gently held Shiba Kukaku and walked slowly toward the spot where Sui Feng had landed and steadied herself.
"Kukaku, according to the rules set by you nobles, if I have your permission, I should be allowed to use full force here and kill her, right?"
Those words instantly lit a fire in Shiba Kukaku's heart. Her eyes brightened instinctively.
She had not forgotten that Sui Feng was one of the culprits behind the Shiba family's tragedy.
In fact, she was the spark that started everything.
If Kyoraku Shunsui hadn't suspected her, none of the later events would have happened.
Without even a moment of hesitation, Shiba Kukaku shouted, "Captain Rosse! A trespasser has broken into the Shiba ancestral grounds today. I earnestly request that you slay her for us!"
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