"So this is the East Branch? It's got quite a bit of character!"
The Senkaimon was located near the Western White Road Gate. Looking at the Edo-style buildings around them, Ninny was extremely interested. She had been busy ever since arriving in Japan and had not yet properly experienced the country's distinctive scenery.
"It's just… compared to Reverse London, it's somewhat inconvenient."
Noel hesitated for a moment before frowning and voicing her thoughts.
It was more than merely inconvenient. This so-called East Branch could practically be described as backward. The residents on both sides of the street were still wearing coarse cloth clothing. It was completely incomparable to Reverse London.
Tsunayoshi knew Noel had already been merciful with her wording and could only explain, "The old man is about to retire. Once the new leader takes over, everything will change."
Shunsui Kyōraku had already accepted his fate and was actively getting in touch with goods from the World of the Living. The fact that Kisuke Urahara had made a fortune from it was proof enough.
Compared to the two girls, the more seasoned Billy said nothing. He simply lit a cigarette and quietly observed the surroundings. Evaluating the strength of the East Branch was also part of his mission this time.
Looking at the massive white complex before him, a strange light flashed through Billy's eyes. Perhaps it was an illusion, but he felt that something unknown was hidden within this East Branch.
After passing through the White Road Gate and entering the Seireitei, the disdain in Ninny and Noel's eyes finally lessened somewhat.
Instead, the Shinigami they encountered kept looking at them strangely.
Putting aside the fact that Noel's trio did not look like Shinigami at first glance, the Reiatsu radiating from Nel was unmistakably that of a Hollow.
If not for Tsunayoshi's fairly good reputation in the Seireitei, Nel would have been surrounded by Shinigami in no time at all.
Although they were not surrounded, the situation was not much better. News that a Hollow had invaded the Seireitei was soon reported by patrolling Shinigami to their squad superiors.
After they had only turned past two streets, a tall humanoid figure walked toward them. He wore the captain's haori of Squad Seven: Sajin Komamura, captain of the Inner Court Guard.
"Tsunayoshi, long time no see. And these people are?"
Like the other Shinigami, Sajin Komamura did not immediately come at them aggressively. Instead, he first questioned Tsunayoshi.
"Captain Komamura, I already reported this to Captain Kyōraku. These people are guests from the West. As for Nel, she's here to join the new department."
With outsiders present, Tsunayoshi was too embarrassed to undermine Komamura's dignity by directly calling him "Wan-chan."
Ninny, however, clutched Noel's arm in shock.
"A wolf? A werewolf?"
"Ninny, be polite."
Regardless of whether he was a werewolf from Western legends or not, since Tsunayoshi was showing him such respect, they had to give the other party face as well. Noel immediately pressed Ninny's head down and greeted him together with her.
Komamura nodded in return, then asked Tsunayoshi, "This Arrancar is the one Captain Kyōraku mentioned—the Arrancar with a special sense of justice toward Hueco Mundo? Greetings. This old man is Sajin Komamura."
Allowing a Hollow into the Seireitei was no easy matter.
After returning from the World of the Living, Kyōraku had immediately held a captain's meeting. All the captains knew of Nel's existence.
After they exchanged greetings, Komamura allowed Tsunayoshi's group to leave.
To reduce trouble, Tsunayoshi directly brought Nel to Squad Seven. After dumping Nel on Shunsui Kyōraku, their group became much more relaxed. At the very least, Ninny and the others would not be treated as Hollows.
Tsunayoshi did not take them directly to Squad One. Instead, he first went to the noble district. They had to let an energetic element like Ninny have enough fun first; only then would they have time to properly discuss serious matters.
Once they arrived in the noble district, Ninny's excited exclamations did not stop. Although this place was still not convenient enough, that did not stop her from sensing an unmistakable nouveau riche aura from the surrounding buildings.
"Hm? Tsunayoshi?"
Tsunayoshi knew who was speaking without even turning his head. It was Byakuya Kuchiki.
"Yo, Byakuya. How do you have time to go shopping?"
Tsunayoshi greeted him and introduced both sides while he was at it.
"Wow, what an adorable baby!"
Maternal smiles appeared on Ninny's and Noel's faces. If this had not been their first meeting, they would already have wanted to reach out and hold her.
"Greetings. I am Hisana Kuchiki, Lord Byakuya's wife."
Even while being held in Byakuya's arms, Hisana Kuchiki remained graceful in her bearing. She radiated an aristocratic air, a proper lady of a noble household through and through.
"Ehhh?!"
Ninny and Noel cried out in shock at the same time.
"Don't misunderstand. Lady Kuchiki went through certain circumstances, so she needs to grow up again from the form of a child. When the two of them fell in love, they were both normal adults," Tsunayoshi could not help explaining.
"So that's how it is? Sorry."
Ninny and Noel pressed their hands together in apology. It was all London's open society's fault; they had almost misunderstood.
Even so, the contrast of a mature child really was hard to accept.
They wanted so badly to hold Hisana to their chests and rub her fiercely.
Byakuya's gaze remained fixed on Billy the entire time.
Like Tsunayoshi, he could also sense that the other party was not simple. Unknown combat magic, and a mysterious person concealing his true nature—those two factors combined were enough to make Byakuya want to take action.
"Friend over there, would you care for a spar?" Byakuya invited.
Billy paused in the act of smoking.
Since entering the Seireitei, he had been confirming something the entire time and had not noticed Byakuya's undisguised gaze.
"No thanks. No need to trouble a captain. I'm only a civil servant. My strength is very weak."
After coming back to himself, Billy noticed Byakuya's outfit, which was completely different from that of the ordinary people around them. Realizing that this person might be one of those weaker people's leaders, he rejected Byakuya's invitation outright.
"That is unfortunate."
Byakuya still wore a flat expression, with no hint of regret visible at all. Since the other party disagreed, he might as well properly accompany his wife.
After nodding to the group, Byakuya prepared to leave. But after only two steps, he decisively walked toward a nearby shop and hid by the corner of the wall to observe.
"Lord Byakuya, what are we doing?" Hisana asked.
She did not possess Byakuya's strength and could not sense the powerful Reiatsu rushing toward the noble district.
"Wait a moment. There's a good show coming."
Byakuya took out a bag of konpeitō, gave one piece to himself and one to Hisana, and prepared to properly watch the show.
"Lord Byakuya has become better at expressing his emotions."
Hisana smiled happily.
Whether it was the members of Squad Six or the members of the family, they all shared a common thought: after Hisana returned, that massive block of ice known as Byakuya had gradually begun to melt.
"So these are the wizards they mentioned? Come fight me!"
Before the person arrived, an intense fighting spirit had already rushed toward them.
Tsunayoshi instantly pulled Ninny and Noel away, one in each hand, leaving only Billy standing there blankly, still smoking his cigarette.
As if his attention had been caught by some distant scenery, Billy lifted his head to look into the distance and took half a step back.
A flash of sword-light passed before his eyes, easily cutting through the burning end of his cigarette.
Billy still looked dazed, as if he had not noticed anything.
"What is that guy…"
Ninny felt her legs trembling from the intense battle intent. She had never encountered such a powerful enemy before.
"That's the captain of Squad Eleven, Kenpachi Zaraki. Think of him as similar to your Sabres," Tsunayoshi explained.
"Sabres? Won't this useless superior of ours get chopped to death?"
Ninny was shocked.
Judging from appearances, this washed-up, lazy thing was inferior to the other party in every possible way. That dodge just now had to be luck, right?
Noel had already quietly opened her phone and taken a photo, lest Billy get killed and drag them into responsibility afterward.
Tsunayoshi did not stop Noel. He simply comforted them, saying, "Don't underestimate Mr. Billy. He's very strong."
"Are you kidding? That guy looks like a washed-up middle-aged man whose strength has completely failed him…"
Ninny's voice grew softer and softer.
She had actually seen that Billy still had not been chopped to death by that vicious man.
A tall black shadow blocked Billy's sunlight.
Billy turned his head as though only just realizing someone was there. His attention was drawn to the patch of pink on the tall, fierce man's shoulder.
"Hello, Little Green. I'm Yachiru!"
Yachiru gave Billy a nickname based on the main color of his clothes.
Billy opened his mouth, preparing to respond with what he believed was a kind smile, only to see Kenpachi swing his sword at him again.
"Go wait over there, Yachiru."
Kenpachi casually grabbed Yachiru and tossed her toward Tsunayoshi.
"Yo, Tsuna!"
"Long time no see, Yachiru…"
Tsunayoshi caught Yachiru in his arms. While watching the show, he introduced the two witches beside him to her. With Yachiru's personality, she quickly became familiar with the two of them.
Looking back at Kenpachi's side, Billy dodged Kenpachi's slashes by the narrowest possible margin every time.
Once or twice could be written off as coincidence, but after he dodged repeatedly, anyone could see that something was wrong.
"Now this is interesting!"
Kenpachi grinned. Reiatsu covered his Zanpakutō, and with a raise of his hand, he sent a wide-range sword pressure crashing down toward Billy.
"Hey, hey, is there really a need to make such a big deal out of this?"
Beneath the brim of his baseball cap, Billy's helpless gaze brought a bitter smile to the corner of his mouth.
Of course he understood that these people wanted to test his strength, but charging in and fighting without a word—why did this feel so wrong?
Facing Kenpachi's attack, Billy calmly took out an old-looking flute from his pocket. He placed the flute to his lips and blew.
A golden ring appeared around him. On the ring were many conical spikes.
"Spell #75: Gatling Crown!"
The Gatling Crown perfectly positioned itself in front of Billy and blocked the sword pressure Kenpachi had released.
However, this was not the end.
The spikes on the crown began rotating toward Kenpachi.
Gatling Crown was an attack spell!
The Seireitei wanted to test Western magic, but as a representative of the West, why wouldn't Billy want to test the strength of the East Branch's captains?
Billy raised his hand and pointed at Kenpachi.
Every spike on the crown was a cannon shell. Dozens fired in rapid succession, all shooting toward Kenpachi Zaraki at once.
Boom!
Ninny stared in complete disbelief.
So this useless superior of theirs was actually this arrogant?
He had truly attacked on someone else's turf, and in an extremely short span of time, he had instantly cast a Number 75 spell and launched a counterattack.
Was he really not afraid he would be unable to walk out of the East Branch?
Thinking of this, Ninny subconsciously pulled Noel a little closer to Tsunayoshi.
She felt that, when it came to their personal safety, relying on Tsunayoshi might be much more dependable.
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