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"Da da da da da da da, ha-hm ha-hey ~"
"…What's wrong with him?"
Ayasegawa Yumichika looked at Ishikawa Katori, who was standing on the ruins, using a wooden board as a guitar to play, and said with a strange expression, "Did Kenpachi Zaraki hit him?"
"You know Kenpachi Zaraki isn't interested in targets without combat ability."
Ikkaku Madarame leaned against a wall, holding his Zanpakuto, and said lazily, "Just now, the Vice-Captain came back and said something to him, and then he became like this."
Ayasegawa Yumichika nodded, not delving deeper. As long as he wasn't going crazy again like last time, it was fine.
"Speaking of which~"
Ayasegawa Yumichika looked at the few houses that had just been built: "His craftsmanship is really good. It was worth us waiting so long."
"Compared to his craftsmanship, I'm more surprised by his observation skills. In that situation, he was actually able to remember the general layout of the Squad barracks," Ikkaku Madarame said.
One should know that, apart from the last battle, Ishikawa Katori had never been to the Eleventh Division. But looking at the positions of the few completed Squad barracks, aside from being brand new and having some changes in appearance, the original layout of the houses remained unchanged.
This indicated that even when Ishikawa Katori was in a state of excitement, he didn't forget to observe his surroundings.
"Indeed."
Ayasegawa Yumichika nodded.
"Hadō #31: Shakkahō."
After his excitement, Ishikawa Katori waved his hand and directly used crimson flames to burn the ruins of the original Squad barracks clean.
When most of the wooden debris on the ruins was burned away, Ishikawa Katori withdrew his Kido. As soon as his Kido stopped, burly men with fierce expressions swarmed forward, starting to clean up in a rush.
The reconstruction speed of the Squad barracks was much faster than Ishikawa Katori had imagined, because everyone in the entire Eleventh Division, except for the Captain and Vice-Captain, and the Third Seat and Fifth Seat, participated in the reconstruction work, and everyone was highly motivated.
Although they couldn't help much with building the houses, whether it was processing wood or transporting building materials back and forth, their speed was much faster than that of ordinary people…
Basically, Ishikawa Katori only needed to focus on building the houses; the materials were delivered to him by the Squad Members of the Eleventh Division.
"Sir Ishikawa, do you think the wooden planks are okay chopped like this?"
"If it's like before, then send the whole tree over, and I'll process it myself."
Ishikawa Katori said, looking at the processed building materials nearby. He wondered if these Squad Members of the Eleventh Division, who spent their days chopping people with swords, were like their Captain in pursuing a wild style. The wood they processed looked even more like garbage than the ruins.
If it was just cut too large, it would be fine; Ishikawa Katori could just put in some effort to process it himself. But these people chopped wood as if they were chopping people, and the building materials they produced were too irregular to even be used as firewood.
"Oh, not bad."
Ishikawa Katori looked at the neatly stacked wooden planks and said somewhat unexpectedly, "The length, width, size, and thickness are all well-controlled. Much better than those idiots who were processing wood just now. If it had been you from the start, my construction speed could have been even faster… Uh…"
Ishikawa Katori spoke while looking at the person processing the wood. When he saw the other person's appearance, he was stunned.
This was a young man who looked about the same age as Ishikawa Katori, with dazzling red hair and goggles on his forehead. Beneath the goggles, faint blue markings that couldn't be fully covered were visible.
The red-haired young man was startled by Ishikawa Katori's gaze and couldn't help but ask, "Sir Ishikawa, is there something wrong with the wooden planks?"
"No, the wooden planks are processed very well."
Ishikawa Katori shook his head and smiled, "I just think your hair color is very unique."
"People often say that."
The red-haired young man showed a smile: "By the way, I'm the Sixth Seat of the Eleventh Division, Abarai Renji."
"Tsk tsk… Sixth Seat, huh…"
"Huh?"
"Nothing."
Ishikawa Katori narrowed his eyes and said, "I just suddenly feel that the Seated Officer positions in your Eleventh Division are no different from fraud."
Should it be said that it truly lives up to its reputation as a combat Squad?
Who would have thought that within one Squad, setting aside Yachiru, the legitimate Vice-Captain, there would actually be three Shinigami with Vice-Captain level strength?
The Third Seat, Fifth Seat, and Sixth Seat all possess Vice-Captain level strength. What is that if not fraud?
However…
Among the entire Gotei 13, probably only the Eleventh Division would have such a situation.
Because the Eleventh Division is a specialized combat unit, representing the Soul Society's most elite professional combat Squad; within the Squad, whether it's the Captain selection or the Seated Officer selection, absolute strength is required to ascend.
The condition to become the Captain of the Eleventh Division is to defeat the previous Kenpachi, unlike other Squads where simply mastering Bankai already qualifies one as a Captain candidate; becoming a Seated Officer is the same. To be promoted from a regular Squad Member to a Seated Officer, one must defeat the 20th Seat, and advancement among Seated Officers also requires challenging one level at a time.
In other words, to become a Vice-Captain in the Eleventh Division, one needs to first defeat three people with Vice-Captain level strength before having a chance to challenge Yachiru, the current Vice-Captain.
However…
With Ikkaku Madarame as the Third Seat, it's clearly much easier to transfer to another Squad and compete for Vice-Captain than to challenge Yachiru after defeating him.
And most people, let alone challenging Ikkaku, can't even get past Ayasegawa Yumichika.
Although Ayasegawa Yumichika is the Fifth Seat, his strength is undoubtedly at the Vice-Captain level. He only chose to be the Fifth Seat because the Third Seat was occupied by Ikkaku, and he found the Fourth Seat title unpleasant, so he chose the Fifth Seat, which is most similar to the Third.
If no one can challenge Yachiru with Ikkaku there, then no one can challenge the Fourth Seat of the Eleventh Division with Ayasegawa Yumichika there.
The Fourth Seat's position is extremely secure.
The future Vice-Captain of the Sixth Division, currently before him, is an example. He is now stuck at the Sixth Seat position, and even though he possesses Vice-Captain level Reiatsu, there is no possibility of further advancement, at least not within the next one or two decades.
Moreover, if Ishikawa Katori remembered correctly.
The current Vice-Captain of the Seventh Division transferred to the Seventh Division to become Vice-Captain precisely because there was no hope of becoming Vice-Captain while staying in the Eleventh Division. His previous Seat position seemed to have been Sixth Seat as well.
Wait a minute…
Ishikawa Katori looked at the obviously valuable goggles on Abarai Renji's forehead, and the words Shirogane Ginjirō had once said to him flashed through his mind, making his gaze even more peculiar.
This one seems to be already reserved.
So, whenever other Squads need a Vice-Captain, they come to scout the Sixth Seat of the Eleventh Division?
Ishikawa Katori shook his head, not delving into the Eleventh Division's oddities. Anyway, after this, he wouldn't have any further contact with anyone from the Eleventh Division besides Yachiru.
With Abarai Renji processing building materials, Ishikawa Katori's construction speed increased once again.
In the end, to work faster, Ishikawa Katori even used Shunpo and Hakuda within acceptable limits.
From afar, one could only see a blur darting up and down. The house took shape at a visible speed under the blur's flashing movements, looking just like a fast-forwarded video.
"…"
After a short while, Abarai Renji's initially relaxed expression became tense.
He had thought this was an easy job, but with Ishikawa Katori's construction speed, his material processing speed couldn't even keep up with the rate of consumption. He could only desperately push his Reiatsu, using his Zanpakuto like an axe, constantly processing large trees into building materials.
If he didn't think that using 'Shikai' to chop wood might cause his Zanpakuto to rebel, he would have released his Zanpakuto to avoid delaying Sir Ishikawa's Squad barracks reconstruction work because of himself.
Should it be said that he truly lives up to being someone who can fight Kenpachi Zaraki head-on? Even when injured, he can still use this level of Reiatsu.
Moreover, to build a house that quickly, it's not just about strong Reiatsu; it also requires extremely precise control and execution.
Actually, when Ishikawa Katori fought Kenpachi Zaraki, he was also inside the Squad barracks.
However, due to receiving orders to lead the Squad Members to evacuate, he only returned to the perimeter to witness the two fighting when the battle was about to end.
That short battle, lasting only a few minutes, remained vivid in his memory even a week later.
The strength Sir Ishikawa displayed at that time, if he were to replace Kenpachi Zaraki, the other party could probably kill him as easily as stepping on an ant.
Actually, even before Ishikawa Katori fought Kenpachi Zaraki, he had heard Ishikawa Katori's name more than once from Mr. Ikkaku, and knew that Ishikawa Katori had only been in the Soul Society for less than six years.
Talent, huh?
Abarai Renji's face showed a bitter smile.
Forget six years…
Since graduating from the Shin'ō Academy, he had been a Shinigami for over thirty years, yet he was still far from reaching the point where he was qualified to touch the 'stars.'
"What are you spacing out for?"
Ishikawa Katori's somewhat playful voice entered his ears: "Thinking about women?"
"Ah… no…"
Abarai Renji's face instantly flushed red upon hearing this, and he said somewhat flustered, "No… no no no… I was just thinking… right, I was thinking about how to process building materials faster."
"Hehe~"
Ishikawa Katori chuckled, not pressing the matter, because he knew without asking which woman he was thinking of.
"Boss! Sir Ishikawa!"
Just then, a familiar voice came from outside the Eleventh Division.
Ishikawa Katori turned his head and saw a woman with long black hair, average looks but a good figure, running into the Eleventh Division from outside.
"Kanon, why did you come here?"
The person who arrived was one of the two employees Ōmaeda sent to the Everything Store branch in Seireitei.
"Huff huff ~ huff… Boss… there's…"
Kanon ran all the way to Ishikawa Katori and, as soon as she stopped, she couldn't help but lean on her knees, gasping for breath.
"Catch your breath first."
"There's an urgent request." Kanon leveled her breathing and then said, "Just now, Miss Uzuki contacted me, saying there's an urgent request that requires you to go back and complete."
"Uzuki contacted you?"
Ishikawa Katori frowned slightly. Before he came out, he had already told Uzuki that he would be working in Seireitei for a while, so he had already told both Uzuki and Kanon to stop accepting requests.
Why would Uzuki contact him at a time like this?
Ishikawa Katori pondered for a moment, then asked, "Did she tell you what the request was?"
"A missing person request."
Kanon pulled out a piece of paper from her embrace and, while looking at it, said, "There's a lady named 'Emi' in West Rukongai District 7 who recently came to your Everything Store in Rukongai to post a request. She said her child disappeared while playing kick the can with other children."
Emi?
Ishikawa Katori's expression immediately became serious. Although he was now trying his best to avoid contact with Emi, Ishikawa Katori placed great importance on women with whom his favorability exceeded 50.
Because his long-held philosophy was to sincerely make friends with others.
Even if the initial contact had ulterior motives, in the course of their interaction, when the other party regarded him as their best friend, Ishikawa Katori would likewise treat the other party as his friend.
"How long has he been missing?"
"This morning."
Kanon paused, then continued, "Miss Uzuki said that the child went out to play kick the can with a neighbor's child before breakfast and promised Mrs. Emi he would be back before mealtime. However, after Mrs. Emi finished making breakfast, she waited for half an hour, but the child didn't return."
"And just as she was about to go look for him, the neighbor's child who had gone out with her child ran back, asking Mrs. Emi if her child had returned. Those children said that 'Kosuke' was 'it' at the time, and he ran into the woods to retrieve the can, and then he never came out."
"Feeling that something was wrong, those children all went into the forest to search but couldn't find any trace of the child, which is why they thought he had run back home."
Lost in the forest?
Ishikawa Katori frowned slightly, then said, "Use the Denreishinki to contact Uzuki. Tell her to comfort Sister Emi first. Tell her that I will immediately go to West Borough 7 and will definitely find Kosuke. Tell Sister Emi not to worry too much."
"Yes."
Kanon responded, took out the Denreishinki she carried with her, and dialed the only number on it.
Abarai Renji, who had been standing beside Ishikawa Katori, saw this and asked, "Sir Ishikawa, is there anything I can help you with?"
"Let everyone stop for now."
Ishikawa Katori paused, then continued, "A friend's child is missing, and I need to go help her find him. We'll resume work after this request is completed."
"We'll help you look for him."
Before Abarai Renji could speak, Ikkaku Madarame's voice reached their ears. Turning to look, they saw Ikkaku Madarame and Ayasegawa Yumichika walking over.
"Anyway, since you're not here, we don't know what to do and can only wait here idle. Why don't we help you find that kid together, and then come back to rebuild the Squad barracks?"
"No need to go to such trouble."
Ishikawa Katori shook his head: "That child possesses decent spiritual power talent. As long as we get to the place where he disappeared, it should be easy to find residual traces."
"Decent spiritual power talent, you say?"
Ayasegawa Yumichika smiled slightly: "If you rate it as decent, then it seems quite necessary to go look for him. Maybe he can even become a member of our Squad in the future."
"That's right, Sir Ishikawa."
Abarai Renji said, "The three of us have nothing to do anyway, so let's accompany you."
"Then I'll trouble you all."
Ishikawa Katori heard this and didn't refuse further. If the child was just accidentally lost, this trip wouldn't take too much time.
But if…
A strange glint flashed in Ishikawa Katori's eyes. He hoped he was just overthinking.
But if it was truly as he thought, then having the three of them there would be a good thing.
After all, the Reiatsu he could currently exploit was limited, making intense combat impossible.
join p atreon.com/KeyofStars and become a Sequence 9: Reader for dozens of advance chapters for over a dozen fics | Every 100 powerstones = 1 extra chapter