Sora arrived in the Naruki area.
"Professor!"
Isshin Shiba, Sōya Azashiro, and Kaname Tōsen greeted him at the foot of the mountain.
"Congratulations on your graduation."
Sora nodded slightly.
He had contacted Isshin before arriving and knew that Sōya and Tōsen had already passed their graduation assessment.
"Professor, why have you become a human?"
Isshin noticed his professor had a physical body made of kishi and couldn't help but ask.
"We came to the human world mainly to test the 'Gigai'. It allows a Shinigami to have a physical body," Sora explained.
"A Gigai?" Sōya looked thoughtful. "With a physical body, it would be much more convenient to communicate with humans while on missions in the human world!"
After his recent patrol duty, he also felt that it was sometimes necessary to communicate with humans to obtain information.
If it weren't for the little shrine maiden in Naruki who often interacted with the Shinigami, their process of gathering human intelligence would have been much more troublesome.
"That would indeed make missions in the human world much more convenient. Perhaps the way Shinigami and humans interact will change dramatically because of this," Isshin said with approval. "The Technology Development Bureau is truly amazing. It was established not long ago, yet it has already developed such a product."
"This was my original intention for establishing the bureau. The advancement of reishi technology can benefit more Shinigami."
Sora paused and brought up the matter he had mentioned in the Denreishinki earlier.
"While we were testing the 'Gigai' near Karakura Town, we ran into Bounts devouring human souls.
According to the information we got from them... the leader of the Bounts is here in the Naruki area."
"Bounts..." Isshin frowned. "After receiving your message, Professor, I immediately contacted the Soul Society and looked up some information on them...
Hundreds of years ago, there was an incident where Bounts devoured human souls, and it was widespread. The Seireitei launched an extermination campaign because of it...
Have they made a comeback now?!"
Sora nodded. "There were some who escaped that extermination. After that, the Bounts became more cautious in their actions.
They divided different regions into different 'hunting grounds', with only a handful of Bounts in each.
This was to prevent a large number of soul disappearances from alerting the Shinigami."
"To treat the human world as their hunting ground!" Sōya said indignantly. "We must strike hard and wipe them all out!"
"Speaking of which..." Isshin mentioned what he had seen during his duty in Naruki. "Incidents of human souls disappearing do happen from time to time in this area...
But Naruki is a high-reishi area, and Hollows often appear, so we just assumed it was the work of Hollows.
Now it seems that some of the missing souls might have been preyed upon by Bounts."
"The Bounts are hidden very well. We'll have to wait for them to show themselves again to find them."
When Sora had first arrived, he had tried his old trick.
By checking the shadows of the residents in the city, he could find humanoid creatures with hidden spiritual pressure.
However, the Bounts were not disguised as residents hiding in the city.
"Captain, I have an idea."
Kisuke Urahara stroked his chin thoughtfully. "I've read the files on Bounts before. They can get stronger by preying on human souls...
Compared to ordinary human souls, they actually prefer those with high spiritual potential!"
"Devouring the souls of humans with spiritual potential allows them to gain more spiritual pressure growth. You mean..." Sora understood Urahara's idea. "To use a human with spiritual potential as bait?"
"Exactly!" Urahara nodded. "In fact, we, wearing our 'Gigai', could also be considered humans with spiritual potential, right? As long as we don't completely hide our spiritual pressure, the reishi around us is very active!"
The Soul Society has instruments to detect spiritual potential. Besides that, a rough judgment can be made based on the activity of the reishi around a person.
After putting on their 'Gigai', as long as they let out a slight fluctuation of spiritual pressure, they would look almost the same as humans with spiritual potential.
"Then for the next few days, we'll wander around the city to lure them out," Sora nodded.
"With the Professor personally acting as bait, those Bounts are in for some bad luck!"
Sōya couldn't help but look forward to it.
When those Bounts discovered that their 'prey' had become the 'hunter', they would have no chance to escape!
...
Two days later, in Naruki's outer city.
Sora, Urahara, and Mayuri were strolling through the city.
They had been wandering around for two days.
The other Shinigami who were not wearing Gigai did not follow, as they needed to act as bait to lure the Bounts out.
Even the Shinigami patrol schedules had been modified.
The time Sora and the others were active in the city was staggered with the patrol times.
"Sir, this shop's mung bean cakes are the best!"
The little shrine maiden Yakumo's eyes were fixed on the display cakes in the cabinet, unmoving.
Yakumo had spiritual potential. With no Shinigami patrolling the city during the day now, it was easy for her to be targeted by the Bounts if she moved alone.
Therefore, Sora had asked her to be their guide, leading them around the city.
"Little Yakumo, you have a sweet tooth again!" The shopkeeper was a young woman. She took a small box of pastries from the cabinet. "These mung bean cakes don't look good enough to sell. You can have them. They were all made today, very fresh!"
"Thank you, Miss Ueno!" Yakumo took the box, her eyes shining.
She opened it. Inside were several imperfectly shaped mung bean cakes.
Such cakes tasted the same, but they couldn't be sold because they didn't look good.
Yakumo and this new shopkeeper had hit it off. Although they had only known each other for a short time, they were already on good terms.
She would often save some of the imperfect pastries for Yakumo.
"Try one! This shop's mung bean cakes are super delicious!" Yakumo speared a cake with a bamboo skewer and handed it to Sora.
"Thank you... the soft texture is quite nice," Sora gave a positive review.
In fact, his Gigai didn't have a sense of taste yet, so he couldn't taste the cake at all.
"You two gentlemen should try some too!" Yakumo handed two cakes to Mayuri and Urahara.
"Ohoho... one for me too?"
Mayuri was a bit surprised.
Because of his appearance, this little shrine maiden had been a bit afraid of him when they first met.
"Hmm..." Mayuri tasted the cake and let out a strange laugh. "Not bad, not bad..."
"Are you three gentlemen from out of town?" the shopkeeper asked with a gentle smile. "I don't believe I've seen you before!"
"That's right. We are merchants, here in Naruki to see what goods sell well," Urahara held a fan he had gotten from somewhere, covering half his face. "It's all thanks to Miss Yakumo's enthusiasm for showing us around."
"If it's your first time in Naruki, you must have a good look around. There are many beautiful sights here!" the shopkeeper enthusiastically promoted her products. "Our shop's rice cakes and dorayaki also sell well. Would you like to buy some?"
"Maybe next time. We're about to go for lunch now."
Urahara waved his hand.
After Yakumo finished her cake, the group left the pastry shop.
"Miss Yakumo, do you often eat pastries here?"
After they had walked some distance away, Urahara suddenly asked.
"Ah... I don't have much money. How could I afford to eat such expensive pastries often!" Yakumo shook her head. "It's only been recently. Miss Ueno is very kind and always saves the defective ones that can't be sold for me, so I can satisfy my cravings."
"Heh~ interesting..." Mayuri let out a strange laugh. "It seems someone has had their eye on Miss Yakumo for a while now!"
"What do you mean?" Yakumo was confused.
"The pastries that shopkeeper gave you had a small amount of special reishi attached to them,"
Sora answered her question. "This is by no means normal. She must have some other motive."
"I can't believe Miss Ueno had bad intentions..." Yakumo was a bit dejected. "She was so nice to me."
Yakumo knew that Sora and the others were 'honorable gods', so she naturally wouldn't disbelieve them.
"This reishi... it's not harmful to the body. It's probably being used to track her," Mayuri took a complete mung bean cake out of his mouth and handed it to Yakumo. "The reishi on it isn't poisonous. If you haven't had enough..."
"No, thank you! No, thank you!!!"
Yakumo looked horrified and shook her head repeatedly.
"Little Yakumo is still young. Don't scare her."
Sora was a bit helpless at Mayuri's morbid sense of humor.
"Captain, we should monitor the shopkeeper. She might be related to the Bounts. Miss Yakumo has spiritual potential, making her one of their prime targets," Urahara said.
The purpose of them wandering around was to act as bait and attract the Bounts.
Now that they had a lead, they naturally couldn't let it go.
"We'll keep an eye on her for now," Sora nodded.
In fact, even before acting as bait, Sora had already placed his shadow perspectives in various places around the city, just waiting for the Bounts to show themselves.
...
After the little shrine maiden left the pastry shop with Sora and the others, the shopkeeper showed no unusual behavior and continued to mind the store as usual.
At lunchtime, she left the shop alone.
She returned home and went into her courtyard.
The courtyard was not large, but it had a well.
Wells were the main source of water for the city's residents. Poorer families would share a well, while the shopkeeper's family was better off and had their own.
She took out a paper-wrapped package from her pouch. Inside was some white powder.
The shopkeeper went to the well and poured the powder in.
The white powder glowed with a faint blue light upon contact with the water and spread downwards along the water source.
A moment later, ripples appeared on the surface of the well.
"My lady!"
The shopkeeper said respectfully.
A woman in a kimono had appeared beside her.
"My lady, I saw the shrine maiden Yakumo today. She was with a few out-of-town merchants."
The shopkeeper bowed her head.
"Merchants?" the kimono-clad woman frowned. "Why would merchants be with a shrine maiden?"
"Perhaps Yakumo was being friendly and showing them around Naruki..." the shopkeeper guessed.
"It doesn't matter who those people are, as long as she's out and about," the kimono-clad woman smiled slightly. "These two days should be the shift change for the Shinigami stationed here. They are only patrolling at night."
Previously, when the little shrine maiden was active outside, there were often Shinigami patrolling the city, making it inconvenient to make a move.
Now that the patrol times had changed, it was the best opportunity.
"I put the spirit medicine you gave me into the pastries, and Yakumo ate all of them!"
The shopkeeper continued.
"Very good... that little shrine maiden is still in the city..." the kimono-clad woman sensed the unique spiritual pressure fluctuation emitted by the medicine. The fluctuation was very faint, and even Shinigami would easily overlook it.
The woman waved her hand towards the well, and the water quickly condensed into a water puppet.
"Go and tell Jin Kariya that his target has appeared."
After she spoke, the water puppet dove into the well and disappeared.
"You have done well. I shall give you your reward."
The woman showed a gentle smile and pressed her finger on the shopkeeper's forehead.
The woman had subdued some human subordinates as informants and used her water control ability to hide in the dark river.
The underground river system of Naruki was extensive and connected to the surface wells. If her human informants needed to pass on information, they could contact her through the wells.
The shopkeeper felt a cold sensation on her forehead, and her skin quickly became dry and shriveled.
"My lady! I am loyal to you! Why..."
The shopkeeper looked at her rapidly dehydrating hands, her face full of terror, not understanding why the woman wanted to kill her.
"Heh didn't you want power?" the woman explained in a gentle voice. "Relax it will only hurt for a moment... you will become a part of me."
The shopkeeper's young, supple skin rapidly lost moisture, and in a short while, it became like withered tree bark.
When Jin Kariya came out of the well, he saw the lifeless shopkeeper lying on the ground.
"Yoshino, it's not easy to cultivate a competent servant."
Kariya frowned.
"She came into contact with that shrine maiden and has seen us. The Shinigami might have found her,"
The woman shook her head. That shrine maiden was Kariya's target. Now that he was going to make a move on her, he couldn't leave behind the informant who was watching her.
The woman raised her hand and pointed at the corpse. A fresh soul was pulled out.
The shopkeeper's soul looked different from the withered corpse; it still had tender skin.
"My lady, spare me!" the soul was terrified. When she noticed the corpse on the ground, she froze. "I'm... dead?"
"Why! Why did you kill me!!!" the soul's face became ferocious, and the hole in her chest expanded rapidly.
"The weak don't get so much drama," the woman sucked in, swallowing the soul. "Can't have you turning into a Hollow!"
Although Hollows were spiritual bodies with spiritual pressure, in the eyes of a Bount, they had too many impurities that couldn't be absorbed. Consuming them would give them "indigestion".
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