Chapter 98 The invitation from the Shifengyuan family

The Shiba family was an outlier among the five noble families. They moved to Rukongai early on. After the Kuchiki family took over the Sixth Division, they also took over one of the divisions, which was the Tenth Division.

Unlike the Second Division, which has a large number of members and has several units under its command and is in charge of many important places in Soul Society, and unlike the Sixth Division, which specializes in handling noble affairs, the Tenth Division is a patrol guard team.

Their duties are to maintain public order within the Soul Society and to deal with all emergencies. This was determined after the first generation of the Gotei 13, when the duties of each division were clearly defined.

In that early era, the barriers between nobles and commoners had not yet been completely broken down.

Many nobles had strong opinions about the civilian Shinigami living in the Soul Society, especially after the Gotei 13 established their respective responsibilities. They had transformed from a group of killers that simply obeyed the orders of the nobles to a special department on the same level as the nobles. This of course made many nobles resentful.

Even though some opposing opinions were suppressed because several great nobles took the initiative to integrate into the team, conflicts between noble Shinigami and civilian Shinigami continued to break out. At this time, it was the Shiba family's entry into the Tenth Division that solved the problem.

The Shiba family was a great noble family, but they gave up their aristocratic airs early on and chose to move to Rukongai.

Their existence is like a bridge, connecting the common people and the nobles.

It was also thanks to their efforts that the Tenth Division maintained the public order of the entire Soul Society and handled many emergency situations.

Unfortunately, even so, it cannot change the fact that the Shiba family is in decline.

Perhaps they were too concerned about eliminating the gap between nobles and commoners. The Shiba family, as a great noble family, took the lead and set an example. Their members fought hard, but over the years, no one knew how many of them had died in the battle. Obviously, their population had dwindled.

The current captain of the 10th Division is the head of the Shiba family. His strength is not particularly strong, but for the honor of the Shiba family, he chose to serve as the captain. If there is no suitable successor after him, the Shiba family, which had already moved to Rukongai, would probably not even be able to keep the title of a great noble, and would completely become... a commoner.

It sounds a little unbelievable.

After all, they are the descendants of the world's pioneers and are great nobles.

But Yoruichi knew that many nobles had long been dissatisfied with the Shiba family because of the Shiba family's fair way of doing things.

If the Shiba family were to fall, these people wouldn't mind stepping on them again.

The same goes for the other great nobles!

The relationship between the five nobles is not so friendly.

During the conversation with Xia Mu, Ye Yi did not tell Xia Mu the reason why he wanted to become stronger, nor did he tell Xia Mu about the difficulties faced by these nobles. Instead, he told Xia Mu about another thing, "Xia Mu, are you free?"

Xia Mu looked at Yoruichi in confusion, "If I didn't have time, I wouldn't be able to come here and practice with you."

Ye Yi was stunned for a moment, but then she did not hide anything. She has always been a straightforward person. "My grandfather wants to invite you to visit the Shifengyuan family."

"Then you wish me to go?"

Natsuki asked Yoruichi.

If it was just a normal visit to Shifengyuan's house, there would be no need to ask so carefully and ask if Xia Mu was free.

When Ye Yi heard this, a hint of embarrassment appeared on her face, but she quickly concealed it.

She said softly: "It's up to you. If you don't want to go, I won't force you."

Xia Mu immediately had the answer in his heart, "No matter what, Mr. Shifengyuan is also the captain of the second team, and he is also your grandfather, so he is an elder. I naturally cannot refuse his invitation, so I will go there."

Xia Mu is no longer as busy as he used to be.

This is closely related to the fact that the 11th Division is on the right track and has a vice-captain to help him share team duties.

As for combat missions, Asido, who returned from Hueco Mundo, is no ordinary person and he can handle it easily.

Although there are only two more helpers compared to before, for Xia Mu, this is a huge change compared to the time when he was struggling to keep the team running alone.

Now, except when the Great Void appears, he seldom takes action personally.

The main reason is that killing this kind of low-level Void will only bring very little improvement to him, almost nothing.

When the spiritual power reaches the first level.

It is not easy to improve further.

It can only be accumulated slowly over a long period of time.

In the past few years, he has spent more time honing various combat skills. After all, honing skills is also a way to improve strength.

The banquet of Shihouin Sora-chan was scheduled for the evening three days later.

Three days passed quickly.

That afternoon, Yoruichi arrived at the 11th Squadron.

Watanabe Yuji, Asido and others are no strangers to Yoruichi. After all, Yoruichi had come to support in the previous battle of Hueco Mundo. They also know that this girl has an extraordinary identity and is the princess of the noble Shihouin family.

Before Yoruichi came, Natsuki had already explained everything to Watanabe Yuji and Asido, and now after seeing Yoruichi, he said something again.

"I'm leaving now. I'll leave the squad's affairs to you."

"Don't worry, you don't actually have to explain anything." Watanabe Yuji said to Xia Mu, and then said to Asido beside him, "Asido, stop watching and come help me with the team affairs."

Asido rolled his eyes at Watanabe Yuji and muttered, "If I had known, I wouldn't have listened to you and run to fight for the third seat."

"Speaking of which, if I give the third seat to Ryosuke now, would he be willing to accept it?"

Although he complained verbally, Asido still obediently came to Watanabe Yuji and assisted him in handling team affairs.

Xia Mu didn't pay attention to the quarrel between the two. He walked straight to Ye Yi and said to him, "Let's go."

Ye nodded.

The two of them used instant step at the same time and left the 11th Division.

On the way, Yoruichi sighed to Xia Mu: "The atmosphere in your 11th Division is really good."

"Of course."

Xia Mu said as if it was a matter of course, "Perhaps in your opinion, the 11th Division is full of reckless men who love fighting, but in my opinion, the 11th Division is actually the fairest division among the Gotei 13."

"The strong are respected, everything is based on strength!"

"As long as you are strong enough, you can be competent for anything, from chief officer to captain."

"Also, because they only pursue strength and fighting, the team members don't have too many other thoughts in their minds, and their minds are more pure."

Yoruichi thought seriously about what Natsuki said.

I also thought about the situation of the other squads.

I think Xia Mu is right.

The rest of the squad also seemed to be having a great time.

But in fact, there are quite a few dirty things.

As long as there are noble and commoner reapers, conflicts will always arise.

The Second Division is fine, because it is led by the Shihouin family, and the division rarely recruits members from outside. The criminal army is mostly hereditary, and it is a position passed down from generation to generation by the small and medium-sized nobles who are loyal to the Shihouin family.

They will train the younger generations in their family who have the qualifications to become the God of Death, and then recommend them to join the criminal army.

This is also the only team among the Gotei 13 that relies on information from noble families to recruit new members instead of relying on training at the Shinō Spiritual Academy.

But this is not the case in other squads.

Among them, the conflict between nobles and commoners was the most intense in the Sixth Division.

At the time, Tsunayashiro Tokinada was the Grim Reaper of the Sixth Division.

He killed his civilian colleague over a minor conflict.

The rest of the nobles might not be as brave as Tsunayashiro Tokinada, but they definitely excluded and bullied the common Shinigami.

Noble Street is located in the inner court.

This was not the first time Xia Mu came here.

Kyoraku Shunsui had invited him to visit the Kyoraku family. On the way, he encountered the incident in Guanting Street where Tsunayashiro Tokinada ordered the guards at the gate of the Central 46th Room to bully Tosen Kaname. This time, on the way to the Kizoku Street, he naturally passed by Guanting Street.

Natsuki chatted with Yoruichi along the way, and naturally they talked about the deceased Tsunayashiro Tokinada.

"So that's how you got to know him!"

A long time ago, Yoruichi learned from Natsuki that Tsunayashiro Tokinada had killed his colleague who was a Shinigami and his wife, but this was the first time she knew the reason why Natsuki and Tsunayashiro Tokinada met.

"It's just a coincidence."

Xia Mu smiled and didn't explain too much about this matter.

Whether the so-called coincidence refers to Tsunayashiro Tokinada or Tosen Kaname, only he himself knows.

Chatting while walking.

Soon, the two arrived at Shifengyuan's house.

Different from the solemn and dignified Kuchiki family and the towering and ostentatious Tsunayashiro family.

The Shifengin family appears to be particularly simple and elegant. The family occupies a very large area. A large area around it is owned by the Shifengin family. Surrounding the Shifengin family are many noble mansions, which are the homes of small and medium-sized nobles who are dependent on the Shifengin family.

They have been loyal to the Shihouin family for generations.

All the family members are appointed in the second squad.

In the original novel, Soi-Fong's family is one of them. Soi-Fong's five brothers were killed in the criminal army one after another, and she replaced her brothers and joined the criminal army. Her family also has an ancestral precept that if a family member cannot join the criminal army, he will be exiled.

Apparently, this is not an isolated case.

Rather, it is a rule that exists for many small and medium-sized nobles who are affiliated with the Shifengyuan family.

Under the guidance of Yoruichi, Xia Mu came to the reception room of the main house of Shifengyuan family.

Although they are a great noble family, the Shihouin family does not have many people.

The reception room was extremely empty.

Among them, the leader was none other than the captain of the second division, Shihouin Sora-chan.

(End of this chapter)