In the blink of an eye, the man before him exceeded Fujimori Makoto's visual tracking ability. All he could hear was the violent wind roaring like a beast.
Shiba Yataka could clearly see everything.
The wind told him every sound.
"Swish!"
A sound like rapidly burning flame rang through the air—the intense friction of the Soul Reaper uniform at extreme speed.
The jet-black spear moved like a swimming dragon, its cold point arriving first!
Thrusting directly forward!
"Screech—"
At that critical moment, Fujimiya's form suddenly slid sideways, his blade deflecting off the spear tip, creating another shower of sparks.
Shiba Yataka showed no intention of stopping. The spear tip merely touched briefly before immediately withdrawing—tasting but not lingering. His entire person vanished like a phantom, reappearing from another direction.
To the eye, it seemed as if three or four clear silhouettes of him could be seen around Fujimiya.
However, facing this desperate situation, the young Yuan Liu Soul Reaper before him seemed completely unfazed, his nerves apparently made of iron, without the slightest intention of retreating.
Shiba Yataka's movements became even faster.
Faster! Faster! Keep accelerating!
At this moment, his heart was filled with indignation. In his eyes, he could see reflections of those two young corpses, anger burning his lungs.
He couldn't understand.
These self-proclaimed Yuan Liu Soul Reapers were always like this.
Inexplicably treating all Soul Society Soul Reapers as enemies!
Inexplicably killing nobles living in the Rukon District!
Inexplicably starting this damned war!
To protect the clan members in Soul Society, whether it was the late Kuchiki clan head, or Tsunamike clan head still fighting on the front lines, or even himself who had only recently started out...
Everyone was fighting for this damned war.
Why were these people doing this?!
Status? Money? Fame? Or simply a love of killing?
Everyone knows that the hearts of people cannot truly connect.
But Shiba Yataka, who had lived in Soul Society since childhood, could never imagine what cruel reasons they must harbor to commit such brutal acts.
The intense sadness felt as if it would overflow from his chest!
Under this violent attack, Fujimori seemed somewhat overwhelmed, retreating again and again.
"Naoshiebana - Fierce!!!"
With his desperate roar, the spirit particle storm wrapped around the spear tip suddenly dispersed, instantly expanding toward Fujimori, exploding into chaotic air currents!
In that instant, a large area of buildings behind Fujimori was completely blown apart.
A straight path was cut through.
"Huff... huff..."
Using all his strength for this attack was certainly not easy for Shiba Yataka. The punch to his abdomen earlier made his throat taste sweet, but he swallowed it back forcefully.
Before these villains, he refused to show any weakness.
"Ah, found it."
However, an unexpectedly relaxed voice sounded in Shiba Yataka's ears, making him startled.
Still not defeated?
Just as he was about to gather his strength for several more rounds, he saw the young man before him turning toward another direction—toward a palace that had been blasted open by his attack.
On the broken signboard of the palace, the words "Spirit Gall Hall" remained faintly visible.
"What are you trying now?!"
Shiba Yataka no longer trusted these ruthless bandits, looking at the man with a grim expression.
"Setting a trap for you, of course."
Fujimori was quite frank.
Before his opponent could react, he vanished, using flash step to enter the dark palace.
Shiba Yataka followed inside almost instinctively, without much thought.
However, just as he reached the half-collapsed side of the palace, his footsteps suddenly stopped.
He stared blankly into the darkness, seemingly dazed.
Before him was an enormous palace.
On the walls of this vast palace, children in tattered clothes with vacant expressions were chained with iron and spirit-killing stone.
Each of them had slight spiritual pressure fluctuations.
Obviously, they were all "Pluses" with spiritual talent.
Faintly, he could hear a gnawing sound from within the palace.
Cold and silent.
Fujimori walked through the palace corridor, calmly stepping forward. His voice was kept low, as if he didn't consider the man behind him a threat at all.
"Spirit Gall Pills, you've heard of them, right?"
"Secret medicine that forcibly increases spiritual pressure."
"Back in District 40, we already extracted the secret method of making these pills from a captured Asakaedo elder."
He stood in the corridor, turning to look at Shiba Yataka.
"—Select youths with spiritual talent, shatter their Soul Sleeps but preserve the Chain Links, use drugs to keep them alive, and inflict long-term painful torture."
"Do you know what happens then?"
Shiba Yataka had been somewhat slow since entering this palace, perhaps because he hadn't expected this or because what he saw conflicted with his established beliefs, creating a mental bug.
When he heard Fujimiya's question, he almost instinctively asked:
"What happens?"
Fujimori revealed a grim expression: "...The 'Chain of Fate' that should have been 'purified' in the living world for earth-bound spirits reappears."
Shiba Yataka's body involuntarily trembled.
He certainly knew what "earth-bound spirits" and "Chain of Fate" were—or rather, all Soul Reapers knew.
Because once the chain on an earth-bound spirit's chest was gnawed to the end, forming a hollow in the heart, the "Plus" would become a so-called "Hollow"—this was how Hollows formed.
But wouldn't that mean turning people into...
"Ah, it's starting."
As they spoke, the vague "gnawing" sound from earlier suddenly grew louder.
A youth not far away suddenly arched his body, showing an extremely painful expression, yet couldn't make any sound.
"Crunch crunch crunch crunch..."
Shiba Yataka immediately turned to look.
And then, he clearly saw the chain on the youth's chest turn into two intertwined worm-like mouths, constantly gnawing at itself. The chain rapidly shortened until only a tiny link remained—
"Clang!"
A steel pipe directly above the youth pierced straight into his chest.
Completely encompassing the location of the chain link.
A strange nausea rose in Shiba Yataka's stomach, surging toward his throat.
When the steel pipe lifted again, the "Plus" on the ground was dead.
Leaving only a hollow in the center of his chest.
The steel pipe then flipped, pouring a blur of liquid with a slippery sound into a furnace at the top of the palace.
The entire process was like an automated slaughterhouse.
Precise, smooth, efficient.
Fujimori turned to him: "See, that's how one Spirit Gall Pill is made."
The nausea in Shiba Yataka's chest grew stronger, his whole body trembling—that was the fear and helplessness of having his worldview suddenly shattered.
After all, just a second ago he still believed he was on the side of justice.
But Fujimori wasn't finished: "Not only that, even these youths used as 'consumables' are special."
"They're all known as 'Secret Children' or 'Hidden Children'—artificial materials."
"As humans, they actually died in the slaughterhouse long ago."
"This is the secret method that has kept the Asakaedo family prosperous for generations."
Hearing this, Shiba Yataka suddenly remembered the delicious feast he had eaten that evening, with unprecedented luxurious dishes, dazzling and abundant.
That was actually...
"Bleurgh—"
He immediately vomited a rainbow.
Fujimori walked over with a light laugh, patting his back, comforting him: "Don't worry, they wouldn't dare feed you that."
"After all, you're the new head of the Shiba family, right?"
"Forgive my poor eyesight, I just recognized you."
"However..."
While Fujimori said this with a smile, he slowly thrust his sword into the chest of the trembling, mentally defeated man before him, making a dull "thud" sound.
As if longing to wash away the dark sins on his body, he offered no resistance whatsoever.
Fujimori lowered his voice, leaning close to his ear:
"Now, do you understand why we must fight?"
As the words fell, the sword was slowly withdrawn, leaving only a pool of bright red blood, and the man collapsed on the ground.
Perhaps because he used strategy rather than direct combat, no prompt appeared this time.
He flicked the blood from his blade, sighing softly:
"I already said it was a trap."
...
[Bond Event: The Awakened One]
[Your bond level with Shiba Yataka has increased↑]
[Reward: Spiritual Pressure Level +1]
[Gained Bond Trait: Uninjured Circle]
[Spiritual Pressure: Fifth Rank·Middle → Fifth Rank·Upper]
[Bond Trait·Uninjured Circle: Within a one-meter radius around your body, forms the highest neurological reflex instinct possible under your body's physical limits]
[Note: The more awakened a person is, the better they must learn to protect themselves.]