Demon Slayer: The Journey That Began When I Became Yoriichi's Sister

Chapter 585 Maggot Nest

Seeing Yuuko's speechless expression, Yoruichi was in a good mood and took her on a tour of the Second Division to avoid the situation where she, now the Third Seat, would get lost in her own division.

Several days later, in the backyard of the Kuchiki family.

The afternoon sun shines through the carefully trimmed pine and cypress branches, casting dappled light and shadow in the courtyard covered with fine white pebbles.

"call--"

Kuchiki Byakuya calmed his disordered breathing and slowly put away his bamboo sword.

Thank you for your guidance.

"I told you there's no need to be so polite." Yu Zi smiled and handed him a handkerchief.

Byakuya blushed slightly as he accepted the handkerchief: "One should always show respect to one's teacher."

Yuko shook her head helplessly: "Sometimes being too serious isn't a good thing."

"You should know that everything should be done in moderation. Maintaining aristocratic decorum is not a bad thing, but in private, I hope you can treat me in a more casual manner."

Byakuya paused, seemingly unsure how to respond.

"Hey~ Byakuya, little brother, and our teacher Yuko, how's the training going?"

Suddenly, a voice came from above.

Yu Zi turned her head slightly, and a black figure appeared on the courtyard wall like a ghost. Ye Yi squatted on the wall with a smug look on her face, her golden eyes smiling at them.

"Strange... Captain Yoruichi, what brings you here?" Byakuya's expression changed slightly, and he was about to get angry, but he managed to stop himself.

Yoruichi's eyes widened slightly, and she vanished from the wall in a flash, appearing in front of Byakuya with her right hand raised, about to strike Byakuya.

Byakuya frowned and took a few steps back. Although there was a sense of distance between them, he was not angry.

Yoruichi was shocked, looking at Ikuko with an incredulous expression: "Ikuko!"

"Hmm?" Yu Zi raised an eyebrow slightly.

Yoruichi exclaimed loudly, "What have you done to my Byakuya's little brother, you wicked woman?!"

Upon hearing this, Byakuya's temples bulged with veins.

This strange cat seems to want to die.

Yu Zi said calmly, "I've realized you really have a lot of free time."

Yoruichi frowned, looking at Yuuko with displeasure: "How dare you talk to the captain like that? Third Seat of Tsugikuni?"

Ikuko: "..."

She knew this would happen; if she had known, she wouldn't have agreed.

"The third seat?" Upon hearing this, Byakuya suddenly raised his head, his eyes widening slightly.

“That’s right~ Byakuya, little brother~” Yoruichi skipped two steps, sat down on the corridor floor, crossed her legs, and looked at Byakuya with a half-smile, “Your teacher is already mine~”

Yu Zi poured her a cup of tea using the tea set that was placed in the corridor. "I advise you to be normal."

Beside him, Byakuya frowned.

"Only three seats?"

Yoruichi almost spat out her tea, coughing several times before finally catching her breath and looking at Byakuya speechlessly.

"What do you mean 'merely'? Are three seats so bad?"

Byakuya said calmly, "That's true for Professor Yuuko."

In his view, the unfathomable swordsmanship and spiritual pressure level that Tsugikuni-sensei displayed, which reached the level of a captain, were not necessarily inferior to his grandfather, who was also a captain.

With such strength, how could he only have three seats?

Even if I'm not the captain, I'm more than qualified to be the vice-captain.

夜一一脸惊奇地在两人身上来回打量，嘴角咧着，一副欠揍模样地摇起头来，嘴里还不时地啧啧两声。

Then, in a teasing tone, he said to Yuko, "Yuko, look, your student is standing up for you!"

"This really touched me!"

The veins on Byakuya's forehead became even more prominent.

Yuko glanced at Yoruichi with a headache, but she didn't intend to join forces with Byakuya to attack her. Instead, she defended Yoruichi to Byakuya, saying, "Well, it doesn't matter to me whether I'm a captain, vice-captain, or a seated officer. Three seats are enough."

Yuko doesn't object to Yoruichi teasing Byakuya; she herself often jokes with Yoruichi.

only……

Byakuya is clearly too young; he reacts immediately to being teased and is completely manipulated by Yoruichi.

If he could have the same kind of relationship as Ichika and Yoruichi, Ikuko would be very happy to see it.

“Teacher Yuko…” Byakuya’s eyes suddenly showed a hint of respect, which left Yuko completely bewildered.

What do you mean?

Byakuya bowed slightly: "It was my ignorance that led me to be ignorant."

ha?

Yu Zi paused for a moment, her expression freezing.

She seemed to understand something.

"Pfft, hahaha~" Yoruichi, after realizing what was happening, immediately spat out the tea in her mouth, laughing so hard that her chest was pressed against her back and tears were streaming down her face.

Yoruichi wiped away tears from the corners of her eyes, mimicking Byakuya's tone, and said, barely able to contain herself, "Teacher Yuuko is truly amazing. She doesn't even care about the positions of vice-captain and captain. She's so indifferent to fame and fortune. She's a great role model for me~"

"Strange cat!" Byakuya glared at Yoruichi, his face flushed red.

Yuko's lips twitched: "Then tell me why I can't be the vice-captain, Captain Yoruichi."

"Of course it is..." Yoruichi's voice trailed off, her smile freezing on her face, "Of, of course it is..."

Of course, it was because Ōmaeda had contributed so much money and worked so diligently that she felt too embarrassed to deprive him of his position as vice-captain.

……

How could she possibly say such a thing in front of Byakuya? He would definitely look down on her!

Byakuya keenly sensed Yoruichi's embarrassment and pressed, "Of course it is?"

"Cough!" Yoruichi coughed heavily. "This is an internal secret of our Second Division."

It was obviously a lie. Byakuya wanted to ask more, but Yuuko waved her hand and replied, "It's just because the position of vice-captain is too busy with official duties."

Yoruichi gave her a grateful look. Putting everything else aside, it seemed that Yuuko never failed to give her face in front of outsiders.

She decided that she would give in to Yuko more often when they argued.

However, Byakuya glanced at Yoruichi and swiftly revealed the truth: "It must be because a certain captain is completely irresponsible about his job."

Yoruichi: "..."

……

After becoming the third seat, life didn't seem to have changed much, except that there was an extra step in his daily routine: he would occasionally appear in the second division so that the people in the second division wouldn't not recognize him as the third seat.

Yuko originally wanted to experience the mission process and also see the so-called Hollow, since she had heard the name more than once since coming here and had read about the history of Hollows and Shinigami in many Yoruichi family documents.

Theoretically, I have a fairly good understanding of the virtual world, but I lack practical experience.

However... the Second Division is a covert task force, and they are not needed for ordinary missions involving Hollows; the other divisions can handle that.

In fact, there are some squads in the Gotei 13 whose responsibilities are not clearly defined, but the Second Squad obviously does not belong to this category.

Unless the captains and vice-captains of other squads are really unable to get away and happen to need manpower, it is difficult to use them to deal with matters of the void.

Yuko is so bored she's practically bursting with boredom.

Why haven't we received any missions yet?

Yoruichi, who was being questioned by Yuuko, couldn't help but turn pale and shook off Yuuko's hand.

"That's enough. This is the third time you've asked me that today."

"Then why are there no missions? Has Soul Society always been such a peaceful place?"

Yoruichi glared at her: "So you're not happy about world peace?"

Yu Zi sighed, "That's not what I meant. It's just that I've been here for so long and haven't seen a single one of Yi Tou Xu yet. It would be awkward if we ran into one later and didn't recognize it."

Yoruichi rolled her eyes at her: "I think you should join the Eleventh Division."

"May I?"

"Hehe, you can go ask old man Yamamoto."

"Ah~" Yuko spread her arms and collapsed onto the corridor floor. "So boring~"

Yoruichi couldn't help but say, "Have you even learned Bankai? You're so boring."

Yu Zi tilted her head, looking at her innocently: "But Butterfly didn't tell me her real name, how am I supposed to learn it?"

"I really don't understand. We're all in cahoots, so why didn't you tell me?"

Yoruichi slapped her forehead and gritted her teeth, saying, "It would be strange if I told you!"

"Which captain didn't master their Bankai through rigorous training?"

"So we're going to find the Void!" Yuko spread her hands. "Where can we hone our skills without the Void?"

Yoruichi: "..."

She really wanted to say that the so-called training actually refers to fighting and communicating with the Zanpakuto in one's heart.

but……

With Ikuko's docile Zanpakuto, it seems a bit unlikely.

However, just in case, Yoruichi told Ikuko about it.

Yuko sat up abruptly and picked up the Zanpakuto that was lying to the side: "Butterfly, if I ever beat you, can you tell me your real name?"

The butterfly trembled slightly.

Yoruichi asked curiously, "Did she agree?"

"No, she said she refused."

"..."

"Is there any other way?" Yu Zi pulled out a scroll from somewhere.

Ye asked instinctively, "What is this?"

Yuko laid out the scrolls and unfurled them along the wooden planks of the corridor, which were about five or six meters long.

"The name I guessed."

Yoruichi looked down.

'The All-Powerful Butterfly'

Please, Butterfly.

……

The dense, chaotic guesses about the Bankai's true name left her speechless.

No, let's put aside the question of whether or not to guess.

This guy must have lost his mind by the time he figured it out, right? You can't just name a Zanpakuto that casually, can you?

But this thing can actually write five or six meters? How deep is this guy's resentment about guessing his real name?

Looking at the long list of crossed-out guesses about real names, Yoruichi's lips twitched resentfully.

"I said, what if she's actually lying to you?"

"No, Butterfly is a good person. I knew she wouldn't pretend she didn't hear me."

Yoruichi was speechless. "No, I mean, what if her real name isn't actually five characters long?"

"Probably not?" Yuko touched her Zanpakuto. "Choko isn't that kind of person."

The Zanpakuto trembled slightly, as if in answering 'that's right'.

Yoruichi wiped her face: "You're something else to be able to chat with a Zanpakuto like this."

"Because butterflies are very obedient."

"Have you ever wondered why the obedient butterfly didn't tell you the true name of your Bankai?" Yoruichi spread her hands, speechless. "Could it be because your current abilities aren't enough to support Bankai?"

"Absolutely not!" Yu Zi answered instantly, then sat cross-legged on the wooden planks of the corridor and began to unfurl the scroll, clearly preparing for another game of guessing real names.

"...I don't know where you get your confidence from." Yoruichi sighed, looking at Yuuko's nonchalant expression. "I guess I owed you something in my past life. I have a mission for you, do you want to take it?"

Yuko suddenly looked up: "What?"

Yu Zi's face lit up with joy, but then she became serious again: "Let me make this clear first, I don't assassinate good people."

Yoruichi finally lost her temper. The veins on her forehead throbbed as she grabbed Ikuko by the collar with both hands: "You bastard! You've really picked a fight!"

"My sense of justice won't allow me to hurt anyone..."

Before Yuko could finish speaking, Yoruichi began shaking her violently, pressing down on her shoulders.

"Choose! You choose again!"

Yu Zi was so dizzy from being shaken that she said, "You, you tell me what the mission is first, and then I'll consider whether or not to accept it."

Yoruichi released her grip, her expression becoming more serious: "Do you know about the Maggot Nest?"

Yuko shook her head: "Is it a facility for raising maggots?"

Yoruichi hesitated, opening her mouth as if to curse, but then suddenly realized that among all the Shinigami, only the squad leaders and captains knew about the maggot's nest; ordinary Shinigami rarely knew about it.

Needless to say, Yuko is another one.

Yoruichi explained, "The so-called maggot nest is a prison under the jurisdiction of the 3rd Division of the 2nd Division, responsible for imprisoning Shinigami who may threaten the safety of Soul Society."

"Zanpakuto are not allowed in prison, not even by the guards. Therefore, guards need to have the combat ability to subdue prisoners with their bare hands."

"Therefore, the supervisor must at least have the combat ability of a captain. In fact, I would say that even the most powerful one among them, a captain-level officer, would need to be dealt with with caution."

Yu Zi raised an eyebrow slightly: "What do you mean?"

Yoruichi nodded slightly: "I have confidence in your fighting ability. There are no more than three people in the entire Seireitei who can defeat you hand-to-hand."

"His previous supervisor was Kisuke Urahara."

"So, you need to..."

"Kisuke? So, this maggot nest doesn't seem so great after all."

Yoruichi's temple throbbed, and Ikuko quickly said seriously, "I think we can give it a try."

Ikuko knew Urahara Kisuke's fighting abilities quite well; he was indeed a skilled fighter.

However, Yuko was confident that, without relying on the Zanpakuto's abilities, she was no worse than him in terms of swordsmanship or unarmed combat.

"Where is the maggot's nest? When do we go there?"

Yoruichi rolled her eyes: "You're dreaming."

"what?"

"The Maggot Nest falls under the jurisdiction of the Second Division. Under normal circumstances, I directly select the supervisor of the Maggot Nest," Yoruichi said calmly. "If it's someone else, there's no problem, but if you're the supervisor, I have to report to the old man."

"Let's see if he agrees."

Yuko's eyes widened: "You're the captain of the Second Division, yet you need the Captain-Commander's approval to send officers to your own territory?"

"Then your captaincy is just too terrible."