(T/N: Third chapter! Hope you guys enjoyed the read! and Thanks for the support!!
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"The clan head gave Hiyori a new surname," the maid said, shaking her head. "Otherwise, she might never be allowed into the Spiritual Arts Academy in the future. She's taken on her mother's original name. Her full name is now Sarugaki Hiyori."
Nanatsuki glanced at the baby's Status Interface:
[Sarugaki Hiyori]
[Talent: A (S)]
[Reiatsu: |v0]
[Reputation Level: Stranger]
[Status: Premature birth, damaged foundation]
No surprise, it was indeed the Sarugaki Hiyori from his memories.
Her Reiatsu was barely measurable, still below the system's standard for Level 1 Reiatsu.
Due to the premature birth, her innate talent had suffered a significant blow.
'What a shame…' Nanatsuki sighed inwardly.
From his experience, S-rank talent was the minimum threshold to break into captain-class power. Without it, Hiyori's future advancement would be severely limited.
Ukitake raised his hand and used Kidō to cremate the woman's body.
Suddenly, Sarugaki Hiyori, held in the maid's arms, burst into loud wails.
"She's crying now. That's gotta be a good sign, right?" Kyōraku Shunsui made a goofy face in front of the baby.
Hiyori cried even louder.
"She's probably hungry…" Nanatsuki frowned. A newborn needed milk, something they clearly didn't have on hand.
"Think she can drink this?" Kyōraku unfastened the wineskin at his waist and leaned forward.
"Are you stupid? You want to give alcohol to a newborn?" Ukitake's forehead almost exploded into a tic-tac-toe grid as he rushed to cover the bottle's mouth.
"Well, we don't have anything else… can't exactly feed her your barbecue sauce," Kyōraku said, throwing up his hands.
"There's a shrine up ahead," said Yamamoto. "I can sense some ordinary souls gathering there."
Before long, they arrived at the shrine.
Just as Yamamoto had sensed, there were quite a few people gathered inside.
"Whoa, that's the first crowd we've seen since entering the Withered Bloom District," Kyōraku commented as he looked around, then frowned. "But… what are they doing?"
Inside, souls dressed in plain white garments sat in circles.
At the center stood a figure wearing a long priest's robe and a bone mask.
The white-robed souls knelt around the priest, hands interlocked before their chests in a posture of prayer.
Their expressions were serene and peaceful, as if they had cast off all earthly worries.
"They're praying, probably," Nanatsuki muttered. Behind the priest was a statue, but the god it depicted was not humanoid.
Shrines like this weren't rare in Rukongai. Many souls turned to belief systems to ease their spiritual emptiness.
These beliefs varied, some were centered around the Soul King, others were remnants from the World of the Living, and some were fabricated by opportunists to manipulate others.
The white-robed priest noticed the group at the entrance and slowly approached.
"Have you come to bathe in the Lord's radiance?" he asked gently.
"We're just passing through," Nanatsuki replied. "Is there anyone here who recently gave birth? This child hasn't had a drop of milk yet."
Right on cue, Sarugaki Hiyori let out another wail.
The priest's attention shifted toward the baby. He looked at the maid and asked, "You're not the child's mother?"
The maid shook her head. "Madam passed before she could give birth. These sirs helped save the child…"
The priest's body jolted. His voice suddenly turned ecstatic.
"You're saying… the mother was already dead… when this child was born? A child born from a corpse?!"
The maid nodded blankly.
The priest spun to face his followers and raised his hands high.
"You all heard it! A miracle has descended! A revelation from the Lord!"
The white-robed believers erupted with emotion, some wept openly, praising their god's mercy.
Nanatsuki and the others exchanged looks.
They had just wanted to check if any nursing mothers were around, yet somehow, this cult had spiraled into full-blown hysteria.
"This child is divine! She is the Lord's messenger!" the priest cried.
"She's a girl," Nanatsuki reminded flatly.
"This child is a Saintess! A holy representative of the Lord!" the priest corrected himself without hesitation.
The followers echoed him, raising their fists in reverence.
Nanatsuki quietly labeled the man in his mind: a con artist preying on blind faith.
"Let's set aside all this divine child talk," Nanatsuki said. "She was born prematurely. She hasn't had a single drop of milk. Do you have anyone here who's lactating?"
"We do! Of course!" the priest quickly reached toward the baby. "The Lord had already made preparations! We have many new mothers here, any need the Saintess has, we shall meet!"
But the moment he reached out, a large hand gripped his wrist tightly.
He looked up, to find a bamboo-helmeted beastman staring him down.
"What are you doing?! The Saintess needs our care! Let go at once!" the priest tried to struggle, but his arm wouldn't budge.
"You have bad intentions. Stay away from the child," said Komamura Sajin in a low growl.
"What nonsense! I am the Lord's emissary! You, faithless creature, unhand me!"
The white-robed followers rose to surround them.
Komamura responded by releasing his Reiatsu.
In an instant, the priest and his flock felt an overwhelming pressure descend on them.
"A… a… a Shinigami!" the priest nearly pissed himself.
The white-robed souls were all just ordinary souls. Even the priest, though possessing some spiritual sensitivity, wasn't even eligible for entrance exams to the Spiritual Arts Academy.
In contrast, Komamura's Reiatsu was already on par with a standard Shinigami, the gap between them was astronomical.
"Call out the woman who can nurse. Do that, and I'll let you go," Komamura said coldly.
Once released, the priest collapsed to the floor.
"Y-yes… Shinigami-dono…"
'A beast in body, but still composed,' Nanatsuki noted silently.
He hadn't spoken during the confrontation, not because he was passive, but because he was watching Komamura's judgment.
The term Wolfman often evoked ideas of savagery and lack of reason.
The Wolfman Clan consisted of souls who had committed sins in life, though not grave enough to be cast into Hell, they had still fallen into the animal Realm (hell of beast).
Upon entering Soul Society, they became the Wolfman Clan, cleansed of their past sins, yet forever carrying a brand that left them looked down upon.
The Wolfmen lived in seclusion, shunning outsiders.
This was Nanatsuki's first time encountering one of them, and it had left him deeply curious about Komamura's nature.