Noel had not been a Witch for very long, so naturally, her strength was not particularly great. Magic Number 30 was already the limit of what she had mastered. After releasing all of her spells once, she stopped.
Opposite Noel, Chad had the Knight's Armor protecting him and had not suffered the slightest injury.
In truth, Noel's current strongest attack was only around the level of Shakkahō. Even without protection, Chad could have blocked it with only the Right Arm of the Giant. He had used the armor simply to give the girl peace of mind.
After displaying all of her magic, Noel said nothing. She simply stared silently at Tsunayoshi. The sudden appearance of Urahara had only heightened her wariness. Her intuition told her that the hat-wearing man was not exactly a good person.
Tsunayoshi had no intention of introducing Kisuke Urahara to Noel for the time being. Now that Noel had finished demonstrating her magic, it was time for him to pay her compensation.
"Aside from that Dragon partner of yours, do you Witches have any other methods for high-speed movement?"
Noel lightly shook her head, then tilted her head and asked, "Does running count?"
Hearing Noel's question, Kisuke Urahara murmured to himself, "I see. The Quincy inheritance was severed, so those capable of controlling Reishi developed a new path?"
"There's a technique that should be quite suitable for you to learn."
As he spoke, Tsunayoshi slid one foot forward. Reishi gathered into a faint blue glow beneath his soles, and like someone skating, Tsunayoshi spiraled upward around Noel.
Noel's somewhat lifeless eyes gradually became serious. She had noticed a few clues. It seemed she really could learn this technique.
"Hirenkyaku," Tsunayoshi introduced on his own. "Its principle is the same as the magic you use. It's an advanced Quincy footwork technique that controls Reishi beneath the feet. Once you're skilled with it, it'll be even faster than that Dragon of yours!"
Before his voice even fell, Tsunayoshi's figure appeared at the very edge of Noel's field of vision. The next moment, he flashed behind Noel again. As he moved at high speed, he left several afterimages in front of her.
Noel's eyes lit up. It was the first time Tsunayoshi had seen such an excited expression from her.
"Can you teach one more person?"
"You want me to go to London to teach? Sorry, I don't have any plans to leave Japan for now," Tsunayoshi said with a smile. Teaching one person was teaching; teaching two was not much different. Tsunayoshi did not mind teaching one more.
"No. She's in Japan…"
At this point, Noel suddenly remembered that after sending the message, she had not checked her phone again. With the other party's personality, she was definitely going to act impulsively.
Noel took out her phone. When she saw the long string of messages left by "Little Ninny," she knew the other party had definitely misunderstood. She hurriedly said, "My partner is on her way here. She misunderstood and thinks I'm in danger."
At the same time, Noel replied on her phone, telling Ninny that she was safe.
However, after waiting for quite a while, the account named "Little Ninny" still did not reply. Noel knew that things were bad.
She looked at Tsunayoshi and said, "I need to go to the entrance to meet her. Otherwise, she'll fight her way in!"
Hearing Noel say that, Tsunayoshi immediately knew the other person must have a fiery temper. He quickly brought Noel toward the café upstairs.
"Tsunayoshi, you're done already?" Seeing Tsunayoshi come up from the hidden passage, Tsukishima asked while organizing goods.
"No. I came up to pick up a friend…"
Before Tsunayoshi could finish speaking, there was a bang as the café door was kicked open. All that could be seen was a leg in a black thigh-high stocking stepping through the doorway.
"Listen up, you people inside! Hand over Niiha right now, or I'll tear this dump apart!"
The arrogant aura entered the café along with the voice. Tsukishima's face immediately darkened. This was Xcution's base, the shelter they had painstakingly built. Someone actually dared come knocking and slap them in the face. Did she really think he was easy to bully?
A bookmark was drawn from a book and turned into a long, slender katana. The ability of Book of the End had already been released. Tsukishima was ready to properly teach this ignorant person a lesson.
Tsunayoshi, however, felt that the girl's voice was somewhat familiar. Before he could think too much, he saw Tsukishima draw his blade and quickly pressed down Tsukishima's restless hand.
"Don't get worked up. She's my friend," Tsunayoshi said quietly.
Tsukishima glared at Tsunayoshi, then inserted the bookmark back into Book of the End and said faintly, "I'm putting it on your tab."
Tsunayoshi basically never spent money at the café. If he could take advantage of the broken door and make Tsunayoshi pay a heavy bill, Tsukishima found that acceptable.
Noel had already recognized who had kicked the door open. She helplessly held her forehead and walked toward the entrance, calling loudly, "Little Ninny, I'm fine. I sent you a message."
"Hah!"
Ninny's annoyed face poked in through the doorway. Sure enough, she saw Noel there. Just as she was preparing to use her status as a senior to fiercely lecture Noel for that unclear message, her expression froze.
Why was he here?
Ninny did not understand. Wasn't that spiky-haired boy by the counter the same Tsunayoshi Sawada who had helped her the day before yesterday?
At that moment, Tsunayoshi also turned his gaze toward the entrance and saw Ninny standing there. Golden twin tails, an olive-green jacket on her upper body, black hot pants and thigh-high stockings below, and a plaid cape draped over her shoulders. Wasn't this the Ninny who had given him tickets?
After a round of explanations, Ninny blushed and apologized to Tsukishima. Tsukishima said it did not matter at all. In any case, the bill for the door had already been placed on Tsunayoshi.
"Sorry, Tsunayoshi Sawada," Ninny turned and apologized.
"It's fine. Tsukishima, bring us a few cups of latte." After placing the order, Tsunayoshi led the two girls to sit down on the sofa. "It doesn't seem like much time passed since Niihashi-san sent you the message. You found this place really quickly."
"Uh, that's because I flew all the way here."
After learning from Noel that Tsunayoshi could also eliminate Hollows, Ninny no longer had anything to hide. At her call, a small red Dragon similar to Noel's flew inside.
"You didn't fly within people's line of sight like Niihashi-san did, did you?"
Hearing Tsunayoshi's words, Noel turned her head to the side. She had also realized afterward that failing to avoid people's eyes had indeed been her problem. Fortunately, Tsunayoshi had later cleaned up the aftermath for her.
"How could that be possible? As Niiha's senior, I made sure no one discovered me the entire way!" Ninny said proudly.
"By the way, why were you in such a hurry to come here? You knew Niihashi-san was monitoring my parents, so it shouldn't have been enough to make you this anxious, right?" Tsunayoshi asked curiously.
At this point, Ninny's expression turned serious.
"Of course it's because there's a Dragon in the area!"
"Tsunayoshi Sawada, you remember that I met you around here, right? At the time, I was looking for a Dragon. I just didn't find it."
"I thought Niiha had been attacked, so I rushed over at full speed."
"There's a Hollow nearby?" Hearing Ninny's words, Tsunayoshi immediately closed his eyes and spread his Reiatsu outward. After waiting for quite some time, he opened his eyes and said, "No. I didn't sense any abnormal Reiatsu."
"Of course it wouldn't be that easy to find. This Dragon is a Disguiser Dragon. They're best at disguising themselves as humans. Even if a captain came face-to-face with one, they might not necessarily discover its true form," Ninny said matter-of-factly.
"Such a powerful Dragon, and only you were sent to pursue it?"
"Of course not. There's Niiha too, isn't there? The two of us are more than enough to deal with it. But first, we have to find her." Ninny placed a hand on Noel's shoulder as she spoke.
"How do you know the Disguiser Dragon is around here?" Tsunayoshi asked curiously.
"Of course, because its whole body gives off the stench of a bitch! As long as I see it, I'll definitely recognize it!"
Ninny gnashed her teeth as she spoke. Letting this Disguiser Dragon escape was the first major stain on her record since becoming a Witch. If she did not capture it, it might even affect her application to transfer to the Tactical Corps.
"You know what it looks like in disguise? Can you draw it? We can help," Tsunayoshi said. Whether it was a Dragon or a Hollow, finding it first was the safest option.
"I crossed paths with it once. That's also why I was able to take this mission. During one pursuit, it changed its appearance and escaped to Japan. I used the chance to come here for a concert and chased after it. Niiha also happened to come here as an exchange student, so this mission will be completed by the two of us."
As she spoke, Ninny had already taken a napkin and used a few simple strokes to draw a blonde Western beauty with big waves in her hair.
Tsunayoshi picked up the napkin and showed it to Tsukishima. Tsukishima nodded lightly, pulled out Book of the End's katana, and stabbed it into the ground.
"What is he doing?" Ninny asked curiously.
"Checking nearby recordings…" Since it concerned Tsukishima's ability, Tsunayoshi did not explain in detail.
After quite some time, Tsukishima withdrew the katana and slowly shook his head. Receiving the information, Tsunayoshi said to Ninny, "There isn't anyone nearby who looks like this."
"Impossible!" Ninny slapped the table, spilling some of the coffee. "This area is full of that bitchy smell. I'm sure of it!"
This left Tsunayoshi troubled. What exactly was the smell of a "bitch" supposed to be? With no detailed information, how were they supposed to find someone?
With a clatter, the half-broken door collapsed.
"Who was it? Who tore down the door?"
As the culprit, Ninny silently picked up her coffee, pretending she knew absolutely nothing.
"Huh? What wind blew you here? And with two pretty girls too? Be careful Tatsuki gets jealous~"
The one who had returned was Ginjo. Judging from the flush on his face, he had clearly come back from fooling around somewhere.
"Tatsuki is underground. If you want to tattle, go ahead."
Expressionless, Tsunayoshi kicked the alcohol-reeking man aside. Ginjo was not angry either. He chuckled and slipped into the room, looking as though he was about to start studying his music topic again.
"You said he'd gone crazy, but you didn't say he was this crazy!" Tsunayoshi asked Riruka Dokugamine, "He doesn't look like someone in a relationship. Or is his partner in Kabukichō?"
Riruka shrugged and said, "He's been like this the whole time lately. Anyway, no one in the World of the Living can hurt him. If he doesn't want to get drunk, how could he possibly be drunk?"
As long as Ginjo wanted to, he could mobilize his Reiatsu at any time to clear away his drunken state. The reason he did not do it was simply because he was immersed in the pleasure of it.
"Hey, Tsunayoshi Sawada!"
Tsunayoshi turned his head and saw Ninny staring fixedly in the direction of Ginjo's room.
"That person has a really strong bitchy smell on him! I'm sure of it!"
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