When Naraku put the cup down, he suddenly felt his exhaustion melt away. His whole body felt energized again.
The messy thoughts crowding his mind vanished along with the wine sliding down his throat.
He'd been in a low mood ever since seeing the Araki family's atrocities, but now he'd returned to his usual calm.
Inside, he felt completely still, as if all those worldly desires had been stripped away.
After a moment, Naraku came back to his senses and glanced down at the faint light rippling in the cup. "What is this?"
"Something I borrowed from a friend of mine," Shutara said, resting her cheek in one hand and smiling. "Popular name is 'Piercing Point'. In plain terms, it's an anesthetic."
"The General Relief Station usually uses it to put patients under for surgery."
"After a bit of minor modification, its current effect is to slightly ease post-battle fatigue and calm the mind."
"I've been using you as a test subject these past few days, so take it as a little compensation."
Naraku curled his lip and flopped onto the tatami with zero dignity, not caring at all that Shutara was still sitting right next to him.
"That's nowhere near enough compensation. Everything you promised me before—I'm not letting you skip a single one."
"Don't worry, don't worry."
Shutara's eyes curved in amusement, a barely noticeable hint of fondness in her tone.
"I'm not the type to go back on my word."
"Anyway, first time going out on assignment—did you get anything out of it?"
At that, Naraku let out a long breath. He slowly opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling, murmuring:
"Warden."
"Mm?"
"Is ambition really that important?"
"For some people, ambition is everything."
After that simple exchange, the room fell into a dead silence. No one knew how long it lasted before Naraku finally spoke again, roughly recounting what had happened in Rukongai.
"According to the laws those people made for Soul Society, the Araki family committed unauthorized research into emergency matters, massacred Rukongai citizens, and broke into the Central Prison to attack Shinigami."
Naraku recited the legal clauses he'd worked so hard to memorize.
"With all those crimes combined, they should have their spiritual power completely stripped and be imprisoned in the Sixth Underground Prison—Blazing Hell."
"But because they're high nobles, some of the laws don't fully apply to them. The worst they'll probably get is being thrown into the First Level, Reviving Hell."
"And even then, they'll probably be released before long."
After seeing what a real "mountain of corpses and sea of blood" looked like, and listening to the legal "primer" Nishikawa had given him, he couldn't swallow it.
He wasn't willing to accept that these so-called nobles, who had committed countless sins, would only suffer a bit of token punishment.
While Naraku was still stewing, Shutara sighed in a "you hopeless fool" tone.
"Sometimes I really don't know whether you're kind or just naive."
"Brat, you don't actually think those lofty Central 46 old men are going to lower themselves to come to the Central Prison and personally check whether someone's sentence is being enforced properly, do you?"
Naraku blinked.
He looked up, staring in shock at the "bad woman" beside him.
"Don't tell me you do this sort of thing regularly?" He'd found another blind spot.
Shutara widened her eyes and waved both hands quickly.
"I don't, I've never, I didn't—don't go smearing my spotless name out of nowhere."
"I'm just stating facts. Ever since I resigned from the Twelfth Division and came to the Central Prison, I've never seen anyone from the Central 46 show up to confirm if sentences are being carried out."
"Of course, you can't go overboard."
"For example, if someone who's supposed to be in prison suddenly shows up outside and gets seen by others—that's absolutely not allowed."
Naraku mulled it over.
"And we do have a more proper method—one that won't get us punished even if it's discovered."
Shutara began sharing her "professional experience."
"Except for the Eighth Level, Muken, every level of Hell has limited space. If the Hell someone should be assigned to has no room left,"
"then according to the regulations, they can be temporarily transferred to another Hell."
"That way, even if those Central 46 types find out, they can't really say anything."
Maybe because she had Naraku's secret in her hand, or maybe for some other reason, Shutara tended to show a relatively genuine side when they were alone.
Like bluntly criticizing some of the Central 46's decisions.
"I get it now."
Naraku nodded solemnly. "So basically, even if things get exposed later, as long as I say 'the Warden taught me to do it,' nothing will go wrong."
Shutara: "?"
Why did this brat always manage to see things from the most "interesting" angle?
You do the good deed, and I take the blame?
Looks like she'd have to double the intensity of the next round of experiments.
With his biggest source of frustration "resolved," Naraku perked up instantly. He bounced up from the tatami,
called a quick goodbye to the bad woman, and bolted straight toward the Intake Room without looking back.
Since the Central 46's "verdicts" didn't really matter, then taking action ahead of them shouldn't be a problem… right?
Watching his retreating back, Shutara raised a brow thoughtfully, a delighted smile tugging at her lips.
"First mission out and he almost dragged a high noble down with him."
"Compared to those idiots whose minds are chained to their old dogma, this kid really is perfectly in line with my tastes."
"A future that was once set in stone suddenly has so many variables. I really can't wait to see what it becomes."
...
...
In the Intake Room, Nishikawa was running himself ragged.
That brat Naraku had dragged a bunch of criminals back, then instead of helping guard them, had just dumped them here and walked off.
Several of them were seriously injured and needed treatment immediately.
They could die anywhere, really—just not in the Intake Room.
This was Nishikawa's jurisdiction.
"Nishikawa-senpai, leave these prisoners to me."
Naraku took the chains from his hands and, without giving him a chance to object, bound Araki Shūto and the others with Bakudō and dragged them out of the Intake Room.
Nishikawa opened his mouth, then shut it again. All the things he wanted to say turned into a helpless sigh.
Blazing Hell.
This level of Hell contained internal volcanic furnaces. The scorching heat baked the entire space, iron pillars rising everywhere.
Prisoners were usually chained tightly to them to suffer the "roasting stake" punishment; or strapped to iron beds and beaten with hammers, or drenched in boiling oil…
Compared to the upper levels, the tortures here were far more varied—and far more cruel.
Naraku shoved Araki Shūto into the nearest empty cell.
Ripples spread like silk over water, and the familiar black system screen appeared right on cue.
[Successfully suppressed criminal: Araki Shūto. Sin value: 1172. Contribution: 100%!]
[Your Reiatsu has increased. Current Reiatsu grade: Level 9!]
[Your understanding of Bakudō has improved. You have perfectly mastered Bakudō #39: Enkōsen!]
[Your Hakuda has increased. Current level: LV28!]
[Your understanding of Shunpo has improved. Current level: LV24!]
[Your spiritual-body toughness has increased by 100%!]
There it was again.
Naraku stared hard at the text on the screen.
What does "spiritual-body toughness increased by 100%" even mean?