When Kisaragi Akira processed what Yamamoto had just said, his eyes lit up instantly.Business delivered straight to the door, reputation spreading far and wide—now that's what I'm talking about!
He leaned back slightly, lifted his ritual-blessed cup of tea, took a delicate sip, then cleared his throat with all the pomp of a seasoned fortune teller.
"Fair and honest—if it's not real, you don't have to pay!""What would you like to know?""Romance, finances, health, career, family connections…"
Akira rattled off more than a dozen categories in one breath, as though he could divine someone's fate from the dawn of time to the heat death of the universe.
"I do have something I want to divine," Yamamoto replied quietly.
His gaze lowered a fraction, and the overwhelming pressure he usually exuded faded—the transformation was so complete he could've passed for an entirely ordinary old man.
"It's about the future of the Soul Society… and the Gotei 13.""Can you divine that?"
Akira nodded with complete composure."Of course."
The words had barely fallen when, under Yamamoto's puzzled stare, Akira reached into his wide, empty sleeves and pulled out a piece of tortoiseshell and a set of old copper coins.
As a shrine priest, he didn't rely solely on theatrics—he did possess some legitimate skills.
And considering Yamamoto had just gifted him a shiny new personal trait entry, doing a real reading this once wasn't a problem.
Tortoiseshell divination was a method that dated all the way back to when the Reverse-Bone Shrine first existed. Shizune herself had taught him, and for a time he'd spread the technique throughout the Reverse-Bone District and even parts of Rukongai. His name had become well-known.
Now, apparently, he was bringing it directly into the Seireitei.
A low-powered Red Ember Cannon flared in his palm, adding a bit of warmth to the tea house.
Yamamoto's half-closed eyes twitched minutely in surprise.His intelligence reports had mentioned Akira's remarkable talent many times, but this was his first time observing it at such close range.
The last time he'd seen Akira in action was back at the Spiritual Arts Academy—when the boy had bare-handedly pummeled a Sixth-Year Elite Class student into the dirt.
That one attack—Crow Launches Into the Sky—was burned into his memory.
Very few Soul Reapers gave their techniques such bizarre names. They weren't cool, nor dignified.
But after talking with Akira, Yamamoto realized those names fit the boy so perfectly there wasn't even the slightest sense of dissonance.
Now, watching him display several different extraordinary talents in such a short time, Yamamoto couldn't help developing a faint appreciation for the boy's genius.
The last Soul Reaper this talented was that layabout—Kyōraku Shunsui.
Akira controlled the temperature of the Red Ember Cannon and began roasting the tortoiseshell, chanting under his breath.
The ritual incantations and divination formulas handed down from the Reverse-Bone Shrine echoed inside the small tea house, filling the cramped room with an eerie atmosphere.
Crackling fire snapped repeatedly as the tortoiseshell heated.
Akira furrowed his brow slightly. From the pattern of cracks forming across the shell and the rhythmic popping sounds, he interpreted the result of the reading.
After a moment of contemplation, he spoke.
"…Strange."
Yamamoto blinked, puzzled, just about to ask when Akira continued:
"In all my years doing divinations, this is the first time I've seen something this bizarre."
"The past is perfectly clear—but the future feels like it's hidden behind a dense fog. Completely unreadable."
Interest sparked in Yamamoto's eyes."What did you see about the past?"
"A young man who looks a lot like you, Head-Captain. Same face, same presence… but with a receding hairline—like a shiny Mediterranean coast."
"And he was getting absolutely obliterated by some enormous creature that looked like it had full-body albinism."
"No chance to fight back at all. Brutal stuff."
Yamamoto fell silent.
Akira clicked his tongue in amazement. He'd never seen such a massive creature before—Hollow characteristics in every way, but neither in his past life nor this one had he heard of a Hollow so gigantic.
Compared to it, even Gillian-class Hollows—towering like skyscrapers—looked like children's toys.
They weren't even remotely comparable.
While Akira continued describing the details, he completely failed to notice the thick vein bulging on Yamamoto's forehead—standing out starkly against the old man's smooth, bald head.
"You insolent brat," Yamamoto growled at last, voice trembling with suppressed rage. "I asked about the future of the Soul Society and the Gotei 13—not the past!"
Akira quickly extinguished the Red Ember Cannon and pocketed the tortoiseshell.
In a tiny mutter, he added, "Well, I'm telling you—it really wouldn't show me anything."
"It's definitely abnormal, but there really was nothing to see."
"Maybe you want to try divining something else?"
Yamamoto inhaled deeply, struggling to regain his calm.
The boy before him overlapped more and more with the figure in his memories—their ability to infuriate others was undeniably on the same level.
"That's enough.""Everything we discussed today must remain confidential."
He clearly didn't want to see Akira any longer.
"And regarding your rituals… I trust you know your own limits. I won't interfere."
"Now get out."
Akira hesitated for a moment, face troubled.
"I mean, we didn't get a proper result… but my tortoiseshell got ruined in the process. Maybe you could, uh… reimburse me?"
"Out," Yamamoto growled, in a tone cold and absolute.
"Got it!"
Akira drained the last of his tea and sprinted out of the tea house before the old man could change his mind.
He hadn't earned any money from Yamamoto, but he had obtained the Absolute Justice trait and a full +3 level boost across the board.
Objectively speaking—
A massive profit.
After Akira left, Yamamoto remained seated, staring blankly at the bubbling kettle.
"Divination, exorcism, blessings, rituals… Mimi-Hakigi's trust…"
"A path no one in the past ever imagined. That boy has no idea…"
"His very existence already poses the greatest provocation to the Soul Society."
"He must be guided onto the correct path. Otherwise… I will have no choice…"
His voice faded as old memories resurfaced.The tension in his shoulders loosened, and his breathing slowly evened out.
Tea fragrance filled the small room.
…
Walking away from Squad One's barracks, Akira sank deep into thought.
There had definitely been something wrong with that divination.
Because he'd wanted to build a good relationship with Yamamoto and quickly establish trust, he hadn't messed around or tried to trick him—he'd used the genuine Reverse-Bone Shrine divination technique.
And the result was exactly as he'd said:
Only the past was visible.The future was completely obscured.
But under normal circumstances, that should have been impossible.
Because of his past life, Akira knew the general outline of the Soul Society's future with remarkable clarity.
Divining something you already knew the answer to—and still getting something completely different?
Impossible… unless there was only one explanation left:
His existence had made the future completely unpredictable.
"I really am a genius," Akira concluded with deep satisfaction.
But that led to a new problem:
If he killed himself now…Would the future go back on track?
Akira fell into contemplation again.
Unable to arrive at an answer, he decided the question wasn't worth the brain cells.
Let Aizen handle that kind of mental labor.
He still had far greater ambitions to pursue.
For example—Crafting true art with his own hands!