Chapter 30: Tokinada's Oversight
"How is it?"
As the Soul King slowly raised his gaze, a dreadful realization dawned upon Mizuma — a chilling wave surged from the soles of his feet up to the crown of his head.
He had guessed right.
The Soul King looked up directly at the camera, smiled faintly, and said,
"Enjoying the view?"
---
Time rewound slightly — to just after the exploration team's departure.
Seireitei, Eighth Division Barracks.
It might sound exaggerated, but in the Eighth Division, Mizuma had practically become something of a "team pet."
Not for his charm, but for one simple reason — his ability was too convenient.
Suspect danger ahead? Mizuma's clone could go first.
Unsure of the enemy's strength? Send Mizuma's clone to test them.
In short, any mission involving unknown danger could be handled by sending one of his duplicates in advance.
It was only thanks to the relative peace in recent years that he could afford a laid-back lifestyle. Otherwise, with how useful he was, the poor man would have been worked to death long ago.
Over ten years of playing the Division's designated hazard scout had earned him considerable goodwill — a mix of respect, guilt, and appreciation.
Naturally, this meant protecting Mizuma's real body was a matter of utmost importance.
In polite terms, it was camaraderie. In blunt terms — they were guarding their golden tool.
After all, the Gotei 13 was a combat organization. Who wouldn't want a guaranteed safety measure on the field? Round it up, and Mizuma basically equaled "extra lives for everyone."
So if anything happened to him, the entire Division would erupt. Whoever dared touch their "safety guarantee" would become the Eighth Division's mortal enemy.
That's why, with Captain Kyōraku busy at the Head Captain's compound, the courtyard where Mizuma's unconscious body rested was guarded by no fewer than ten Division members — including the Third and Fourth Seats.
No thief below Vice-Captain level could possibly hope to get away with anything here.
Which was why the two infiltrators who slipped in that night stood there, absolutely dumbfounded.
They were private soldiers secretly raised by the Tsunayashiro family, dispatched under Tokinada's direct order to ambush Mizuma.
Tokinada's reasoning had been simple:
"If Mizuma's clone dies first, he'll wake and raise the alarm. Two Captains trapped in danger will force Yamamoto to intervene — and that will ruin everything.
So sneak into the Eighth Division, make sure Mizuma doesn't wake up — but don't kill him. Just use the memory-erasing drug. Leave no trace."
And so, the pair crept into the barracks… only to immediately regret every life choice that had led them here.
This… this is the "easy mission"?
They stared at the number of guards and wanted to turn tail on the spot.
"Tokinada-sama, are you kidding us?! This is suicide!"
They weren't delusional — they knew exactly where they stood. At best, they were on par with a Third or Fourth Seat. Sending them here was beyond reckless.
"Big brother… what do we do?"
"Hell if I know! Tokinada-sama never said there'd be this many people!"
"Should we… run?"
"Run? To where? You know what Tokinada does to deserters!"
"Then what—?"
"We fight! They're just paper-pushers, not Eleventh Division brutes! We can take them!"
"…Are you serious?"
"You got a better idea? Either we fight or we die!"
"Fine, I'm with you!"
Desperation brought out the best in them.
Driven by raw survival instinct, they executed their stealth techniques with impossible precision — even the Onmitsukidō would've applauded their effort.
And miraculously, it worked.
Without alerting anyone, without a single frontal clash, the two of them knocked out eleven Shinigami roughly equal in strength to themselves.
A miracle. A living, breathing miracle.
"B-big brother… we did it!"
"Don't cry! Don't you dare cry, little brother! We still have a job to finish—"
"No, I think you should cry."
The voice behind them was calm — too calm.
They froze.
Turning around, they found Mizuma himself standing there, expression unreadable.
The younger one flinched and instinctively swung his blade — but Mizuma's hand pressed against his forehead first.
A soft crack of yellow light. Electricity danced across the man's head — and he collapsed silently.
The older one tried to react, but froze as Mizuma's eyes glowed a piercing blue.
Seconds later, he too hit the ground.
Mizuma crouched beside them, searching their belts and pulling out several vials of liquid. He examined them, sighed, and after a moment's thought, decided not to kill them.
Killing Tokinada's personal men inside the Eighth Division would raise too many red flags. If Tokinada got suspicious enough, he might even connect things back to Mizuma — and that was unacceptable.
"…You two are lucky."
Mizuma exhaled, setting up the scene according to their original mission plan.
He dragged both bodies into his own quarters, laid them beside his bed, and opened two of the drug vials. Pouring them carefully down their throats, he placed the empty bottles in their hands.
Now, when they woke up, they'd think they'd completed their mission — erased Mizuma's memory, passed out from spiritual exhaustion, and everything was fine.
Unbelievable? Sure. But by the time they came to, the story would already be in place, and survival instinct would fill in the blanks.
If they actually told Tokinada the truth — that they blacked out mid-mission and woke up to find everything done —
then Mizuma would have to salute them as iron-willed fools before erasing them properly next time.
"…Alright. That'll do."
He dusted his hands, gave the unconscious pair one last glance, and turned toward the door.
He still had far more important matters to deal with.
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〔TL〕
Every 100 powerstones = 2 bonus ch.
Every 2 review after 100 ps = 1 bonus ch.