You are very strong, but my painting style is better than yours!

Hearing Saito's words, Iori revealed a half-smile. Saito, who had recovered, seemed to realize what he had said and felt that he was making things worse, but he still forced himself to maintain a nonchalant smile.

"cough!"

Saito's flushed face subsided, and he spoke again with much greater composure.

"Sorry, just pretend you didn't hear what I said earlier."

"That's a bit difficult for you."

Iori shook his head. "Seeing my woman so emotionally unstable makes me uneasy."

"Do not bother me!"

Saito covered his face: "My mind is a mess right now. Let me be alone for a while, and I'll talk to you when I've figured things out."

"Oh... then I'll help you sort it out."

Iori grabbed Saito's immortal wrist, pulled her into the room with a forceful movement, and the door immediately closed, a semi-transparent barrier covering the entire room.

"Iori? What do you want to do?!"

Saito panicked.

People say that absence makes the heart grow fonder.

"Don't do anything reckless, I'm not in the mood right now... Hey, I'm warning you, now is not the time for that kind of thing!"

...The twilight glow shone into the room through the window, casting an ambiguous, glamorous glow over everything.

On the table, the inkstone was overturned, and the pitch-black ink stained the haphazardly laid-out documents.

Evenings in this world, untouched by industrial pollution, are so quiet, with only the occasional chirping of birds and insects drifting in through the window. Far from being noisy, they bring a sense of relaxation.

The desk was overturned, and the once spacious and tidy tatami room was now stained with documents and ink. At the head of the table, where the problem originated, two people were embracing each other, struggling and resisting.

A pristine white haori was spread beneath her, and her long, purple hair was disheveled, shimmering like jewels in the twilight.

Wearing only a Shinigami outfit, her thin, close-fitting clothes were half-hanging together, looking as if they might slip off at any moment. If you moved your gaze slightly downwards, you could see the valley that was faintly visible—from this angle, you could tell that she wasn't completely flat, but it wasn't very noticeable under normal circumstances.

Even more alluring are her slender waist and flat, firm abdomen, with her delicate navel shyly exposed to the man's gaze, as if it spasmed slightly due to nervousness.

"It's not the first time, there's no need to resist so fiercely, is there?"

"Ridiculous! It's not even dark yet!"

"It's alright, I've set up a barrier to isolate the inside from the outside, no one will disturb us."

"This isn't about whether there's a barrier or not... you idiot!"

The woman gently bit the man's shoulder with her pearly teeth, applying force with a mixture of dissatisfaction and greed, wanting to leave her unique mark.

Slender, boneless fingertips, carrying a slight coolness, traced across his chest muscles. Although he verbally refused, his actions carried a subtle, provocative undertone.

During the fight, her well-trained, muscular thighs gently hooked around her waist, and her toes, hidden in her stockings, playfully swayed, her tiny toes gently tickling her sensitive skin, making Iori's heart itch.

Slowly closing her eyes, this woman, who once looked at Iori with the eyes of an elder, parted her delicate lips slightly and extended a silent invitation.

When their lips met, Saito, who was immortal, felt as if he had kissed a flame that had been ignited instantly. His blood rushed, and the sound of his heart pounding echoed in his ears.

Not only his own heartbeat, but another heartbeat overlapped with it, even more chaotic.

……

"!!!"

Saito, who was immortal, suddenly opened his eyes. The bright moonlight shone through the window onto the tatami mat, and the entire room was enveloped in gentle darkness, with all outlines disappearing under the veil of moonlight.

Feeling the tranquil atmosphere, she had no thoughts; her mind was completely blank.

"..."

After standing there blankly for three minutes, Saito subconsciously moved his right hand and was startled by the sensation in his palm.

Turning my head, I saw a peaceful sleeping face.

Handsome... It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him "beautiful." Even the legendary Prince Lanling or Minamoto no Yoshitsune didn't have such a heavenly and handsome appearance.

Saito's right hand was pressed against the man's chest, as if in resistance yet also in dependence...

The woman who dared to draw her sword even when facing the Quincy King was now frozen as if she were being stared at by a venomous snake.

Slowly, cautiously, and gently, Saito released his unruly right hand and silently turned his back to Iori.

At this moment, she felt that all her previous troubles had vanished, and the shame of being seen by others... no longer mattered at all.

Compared to those, there are obviously more important things to consider!

"How did I get led by the nose... I'm not that kind of frivolous woman... Will he think I'm too lustful... Should I act more virtuous?"

And so, Saito found herself in the unique troubles of a girl deeply in love.

As for the overturned inkstone and the stained haori... they are naturally no longer usable.

This is why she wore only a shihaka outfit when she met with her subordinates and colleagues the next day.

Chapter 485 The Turmoil in Rukongai.

The search in the real world is proceeding in an orderly manner. Iori is not overstepping his bounds, but instead continues to let the immortal Saito serve as the head of the real world forces.

Kiryu and Mayuri Kurotsuchi went to great lengths to obtain information from the Quincy. Their mental "firewalls" were forcibly breached, and Mayuri was like a jigsaw puzzle, sifting through memory fragments one by one and piecing together the general outline.

However, perhaps because the method was too brutal, many details were unclear, or perhaps these Quincy themselves did not understand the key points of the matter. They only knew that they had received the mission to hunt the Bounts from the leader of the Sternritter, and it was said that this mission was ordered by a higher being.

Although no one was specified, the Sternritter were already high-ranking members of the Quincy, and the only one who could be above their leader, Haschwalth, was the "King" who ruled a race.

As for whether this king is the resurrected Yhwach... at least these two prisoners have never seen the king's true face.

Incidentally, Iori and the others now know that after the "Empire of Light" failed a thousand years ago, the remnants of the Quincy moved into the "Shadows" and changed their name to the "Hallucinarian Empire."

Could the 'shadow' here refer to Hueco Mundo?

When Kuchiki Sōjun was reporting to Iori, he speculated, "If I were a Quincy, I would definitely choose a place where the Soul Society wouldn't be able to find me, and Hueco Mundo would be the best place."

"Oh? Why do you see it?"

Iori gestured for him to continue.

"Captain Aizen is still very young. Although he is excellent in many aspects, he still lacks some obscure knowledge."

Cang Chun didn't take it seriously, after all, Iori was not yet thirty years old, and some information was being kept secret by the nobles.

"The Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, and the Human World are mirror images of each other. All three are vast, and no one can know their entirety. The Soul Society is divided into two regions, East and West, each governed by different organizations. Our Seireitei is the East region, also known as the 'Eastern Frontier Bureau'."

Souls in the mortal world will also enter different regions, east and west, depending on their location, with only occasional deviations—after all, the rift is a rather unstable place.

"That's it~"

Iori feigned an expression as if she had only just found out today: "So, the West Sub-Bureau also has the same status and power as us?"

"Oh, you're joking."

Even with Cang Chun's composure, he couldn't help but laugh upon hearing this, a hint of arrogance in his voice.

"Although nominally divided into East and West, their status is not equal. It's simply because the Soul Society is too large, and the Seireitei is located on the east side, making it difficult for them to govern the entire area."

The reason why Seireitei was built here is because the King's Palace... faces the King's residence, thus making it the center of the three realms.

As for the Western Subprefecture, it is much smaller and less historically significant than the Eastern Subprefecture, but it is nominally independent.

"Independent?"

Iori asked curiously, "Has the 46th Chamber ever considered sending a special envoy to explore cooperation between the two sides?"

"No, for nobles... for the Seireitei, protecting the King's Palace is the highest honor and an unshareable power. Cooperating with the barbarians of the West would be undignified."

Cang Chun frowned slightly: "If it weren't for this kind of thinking, the Soul Society wouldn't have suffered such great losses when the 'Empire of Light' rose to power a thousand years ago."

Iori nodded slightly, deeply agreeing.

Although it happened a long time ago, many facts are still obvious:

The Quincy are not of Eastern race.

Over thousands of years, pure-blooded Quincy with Japanese faces can still be found today, but ultimately it is just the result of adapting to the environment and actively changing their appearance. Their ancestors came from the West.

To be precise, it is Northern Europe, which is also the place where Yhwach rose to prominence.

Well, the Quincy King wasn't able to sweep across the world from the beginning. When he was first born, he was actually weaker than an ordinary person. He relied on two high-interest abilities, "split soul fragments and give them to others" and "recycle soul fragments after growth," to gradually accumulate power to the level of a transcendent.

The term "Queens" represents not only a bloodline, but also a religion, and could even be considered a state regime.

In order to maximize efficiency, Yhwach, like many early religions, advocated for universal education, opening the door to all and bestowing "gifts" without any barriers, even without caring whether the recipient truly submitted to him.

After a long time, the Quincy, a type of superpowered individual, naturally developed rapidly in the feudal era and had spread throughout Northern Europe. Yhwach saw that the time was ripe and began to "harvest the crops" on a large scale, at a speed that caught everyone off guard.

By the time Soul Society realized something was wrong with the number of souls, Yhwach and the Knights he had chosen from countless "descendants" had become a force capable of directly confronting Seireitei!

As for the Western Garrison?

They sensed the threat earlier, but lacked high-end combat power to stop Yhwach, and even sought help from the Seireitei... Well, we'll see how things turned out later.

It is said that the Western Bureau was almost completely wiped out at the time, and only survived the threat of the "Empire of Light" by relying on a barrier spell similar to that in Harry Potter to create its own independent world in human cities.

The Seireitei and the Western Bureau have no contact at all now. On the one hand, the nobles are consciously concealing the other's existence to cover up the fact that they once failed to help someone in distress. On the other hand, the Western Bureau has turned to "mysticism" and is quite conservative in its actions, and is very reluctant to establish relations with this side.

"That's a bit of a stretch. Why do you think it has to be Hueco Mundo? Although there are forces that maintain order in everything in Soul Society, it's very possible that it could also be in the human world."

"Because Hueco Mundo is very special, although there are forces like Las Noches, their territory is less than one-tenth of the whole. The Seireitei has been exploring it for so many years, but they still do not know the true size of Hueco Mundo."

Cang Chun said seriously, "Moreover, Hollows are the natural enemies of Quincy. No one thinks they would willingly enter a Hollow's lair, which would be like stepping into a poisonous swamp for Quincy. If they hide deep in Hueco Mundo, they can undoubtedly avoid the eyes and ears of Soul Society. This is what is called a blind spot in thinking."

"Well, that makes sense."

Iori nodded, but inwardly disagreed.

A blind spot in thinking? It really is a blind spot. After all, even you wouldn't have guessed that they've not only ventured into the lion's den, but are practically living right under your noses!

Of course, who would believe such a thing if they hadn't seen it with their own eyes?

What were the Quincy who willingly went into the shadows of Seireitei thinking?

Iori and Kuchiki Aojun discussed a few more things, explained some follow-up work matters, and then ended the conversation. Aojun bowed and left the room.

If others saw this, they would probably find it a bit strange. The two are clearly of similar status, but Cang Chun, who is a nobleman, is acting like a subordinate meeting his superior... However, he himself doesn't care and feels it is only natural to adopt a humble attitude.

It was a strange atmosphere, not only because Sou Chun had worked under Iori, but more so because of Iori's aura, which made Sou Chun unconsciously lower his posture, just like when he saw his father and the Captain-Commander.

"Red Eyes..."

The room quieted down, and Iori took out the interdimensional communicator and established contact with the Soul Society.

Akame was the contact person. Iori made special arrangements for leaving Soul Society this time. Not only did he leave Akame at the old woman's shop, but he also set up the coordinates of the Black Hole so that Hueco Mundo could connect with Rukongai at any time.

In case of any problems, Akame's combat power is sufficient to deal with anyone except Yhwach and Yamamoto. Hueco Mundo's combat power and anti-membrane technology can also be activated at any time to ensure that nothing goes wrong!

The reason for such caution is that Iori foresaw certain things.

Although his predictions were not precise, his intuition was mostly correct.

The Soul King's unusual movements, news of Yhwach, the Quincy hunting the Bount... these events happened one after another. If they weren't related, something strange would happen!

No matter what Yhwach wants to do, Iori must prioritize the safety of her family, namely her mother-in-law and Nemuru, who are unable to protect themselves.

and……

Right there in Seireitei, Iori left a big gift for Yhwach; it's just a matter of when he'll go and unpack it.

……

It has been some time since reinforcements were sent to the mortal realm. During this period, things have been peaceful and nothing unusual has happened. The tense atmosphere within the Seireitei has also eased somewhat.

However, accidents always happen unexpectedly, and in ways no one anticipated:

Without any warning, and with no one witnessing the process, it seemed to happen suddenly.

One by one, people dressed in white uniforms and short capes appeared in Rukongai, launching attacks on the spirits they encountered without uttering a word.

Their fighting styles are quite similar. They use spirit particles to construct longbows and arrows, and use a movement method similar to "Shunpo" to shoot down enemies while maintaining high mobility. In addition, they have various strange gadgets. The scattered and disorganized residents of Rukongai are simply powerless to resist them.

These invaders were generally quite strong, clearly elites carefully selected, at least equivalent to Shinigami at the "Shikai" level.

Fortunately, they did not focus on ordinary souls, but instead interrogated and eliminated powerful figures with high spiritual pressure one by one, as if they were searching for something, and began to conquer cities and territories aimlessly.

The invaders' offensive was exceptionally strong. Within just one hour, five or six blocks of the vast Rukongai had fallen, and these were all areas ranked in the middle to lower ranks with relatively strong combat power.

Soon, these Quincy found their target and began to converge like a flowing river—