The Alchemist in Bleach

Suddenly, an old voice called out to Ichiro. Ichiro turned his head curiously and asked, "Master Kuchiki, are you here? I'm sorry I didn't come to visit you."

The newcomer was none other than the former head of the Kuchiki clan, Byakuya's grandfather, Kuchiki Ginrin.

"It's nothing." Yinling waved her hand, considered for a moment, and asked, "Captain Tianxin, I'll leave Feizhen's matter to you. You just need to focus on treating her; I'll take care of the rest!"

Ichiro raised an eyebrow. This was somewhat unexpected. Ichiro had thought that Ginryu would be among those who opposed Hishin, but he didn't expect that this girl wasn't.

Generally speaking, isn't it true that the older one gets, the more outdated and corrupt one's thinking becomes?

For example, the captain...

Noticing Ichiro's expression, Ginryu knew what he was thinking and smiled, "I trust Byakuya's choice. Besides, the Kuchiki family doesn't need to sacrifice their children for any form of marriage alliance!"

"So impressive!" These words made Ichiro give Ginryu a thumbs up.

However, it was Yinling who was stunned this time. After a moment of surprise, she smiled wryly and shook her head: "As expected, I still can't keep up with the pace of you young people."

"You're wrong. You're just not used to me. The other young people are quite normal."

“Your self-awareness is quite accurate.” Yinling smiled and looked at Ichiro, continuing, “Is there anything I can help you with? Although I can’t use the power of the Kuchiki family, I still have some influence over you, so I can lend you my old face.”

"No need for that. After all, it's a chance to save someone that was obtained by risking one's life. Risking one's life isn't so cheap. But I have a personal matter I'd like to ask you for a favor."

"Private matters? As long as I can do it and it doesn't violate the rules of the Kuchiki family, feel free to ask."

“It’s not that serious,” Ichiro waved his hand and said, “I would like you to keep an eye out for houses in Seireitei for me. I’d like to buy one.”

"Buy a house?" Yinling was a little surprised. "Why did you suddenly think of this? The barracks that the Fourth and Fifth Divisions provided for you should be pretty good, right?"

"It's good, but there are some personal matters that aren't convenient." Ichiro said with a hint of helplessness.

"Personal matters? Oh... I understand, youth is truly wonderful." Stroking her beard, Yinling sighed and said with a smile, "I'll keep an eye out for you, the soundproofing will be excellent!"

"...Soundproofing...Never mind, anyway, thank you for your trouble. I have something to do, so I'll be going now." From Ginryu's ambiguous expression and words, Ichiro knew that the other party must have misunderstood. However, he estimated the time and felt that Byakuya should be done soon, so he was too lazy to explain to him.

"Yes, take care." With a kind smile, Ginryu watched Ichiro's departing figure and suddenly sighed, "Ah, youth...how nostalgic!"

.......

On the other side, led by the waiter, Ichiro returned to the Kuchiki family's gate without any delay this time, and not long after, Byakuya also came out.

"Where to first? Squad 2?" Byakuya looked at Ichiro with a cold expression. Clearly, after this period of adjustment, his mentality had largely recovered.

"Second Division? You believe me if we don't go? If we really go to the Second Division, as soon as we come out, we'll definitely be called back by all sorts of things."

"...Then how do we find it?"

"The matter of Rukongai should naturally be left to the people of Rukongai to handle. Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. Let's go, let's go to Rukongai No. 2 first. According to my calculations, she should still be there." After saying that, Ichiro strode towards the street where he used to live in Rukongai.

'Her? A woman? A gigolo? That can't be, right? That guy has terrible eyesight~' Byakuya muttered to himself as he followed Ichiro.

Before long, the two left the Seireitei and stood outside the gate. Byakuya frowned as he looked at Ichiro, who had stopped, and asked, "Why did you stop?"

"You're not just planning to walk there if you're using a different mode of transportation, are you?" Ichiro looked at Byakuya strangely, as if wondering why he would ask such a question.

"...Then why didn't you just drive from the beginning?"

"Of course it's because it's slow! Reign supreme, Demon Dragon!"

"Ow~~~"

A crimson dragon took flight, its wings flapping, and the wind whipped their hair. Ichiro turned to Byakuya and asked, "How about it? This is much faster than what you were talking about driving, isn't it?"

Byakuya: "......"

I almost forgot, this guy has a lot of strange abilities...

He shook his head, ignoring Ichiro's boasting, and with a light tap of his toes, he instantly moved onto the back of the demonic dragon, then looked at Ichiro who was still standing on the ground.

"Tsk~ How boring."

"call out!"

"Set off."

He gently stomped on the dragon's back, sending it flying back to where it used to live.

A moment later, Ichiro and Byakuya landed in a grove of trees outside the street and then walked into the street.

Although the Demon Dragon is weak in terms of combat power, weakness is relative. These spirits are even weaker, and the Demon Dragon's form is also very intimidating, which will cause unnecessary chaos.

A moment later, amidst the fearful gazes of the people in Rukongai, Ichiro and Byakuya arrived at the thief's door. Sensing the spiritual pressure inside, Ichiro breathed a slight sigh of relief and turned to look at Byakuya.

"Wait here for a moment, I'll go in and buy you some oranges, uh, information."

"???"

Byakuya looked at Ichiro, who had turned and walked into the house, with a puzzled expression. What kind of nonsense was this? What did it mean?

Byakuya decided to make a note of it for now and investigate it after this matter is over, and then...

Let Ichiro see the results of his studies over the years!

"Squeak~"

Ichiro gently pushed open the door, a smile on his face.

"This place is closed now. Go to Old Ghost's place. We've handed over all the wires to him." Inside the house, an old woman was flipping through a book and said without looking up.

"It's me, you thief."

"Huh? You little rascal? What are you doing here?" Hearing the voice, the old woman looked up and saw Ichiro standing in the middle of the living room with a smile on his face. She subconsciously glanced at the door. Was it not broken? It seemed to be her imagination.

Shaking her head, the old woman refocused her attention on the book in her hands. Old age brings with it a tendency to think about all sorts of random things. But it's been many years since she'd seen that kid. He came with the legendary captain back then, so he must be doing pretty well...

Wait, Captain? Isn't the Captain supposed to be wearing that white haori? Then...

The old woman suddenly raised her head, looking at Ichiro in a white haori with astonishment: "Is that Ichiro?"

“Yes, it’s not an illusion.” Ichiro smiled.

However, this smile wasn't quite...sweet...

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Chapter 285 Shouldn't it be brother-in-law?

Looking at Ichiro, the old woman smiled, but it vanished in an instant. She quickly returned her gaze to the book in her hands and asked casually, "What? Is there anything this old woman can help you with now?"

Ichiro noticed the change in the old woman's expression, but he didn't point it out. Instead, he walked over as usual.

"Yes, there really is. I'm looking for someone."

"If even your thirteen teams can't find it, how could we possibly find it?"

"It's not hard to find, it's just that we can't go through the Thirteenth Team's route."

"It seems that even as the captain, you have your own difficulties." The old woman looked at the haori on Ichiro's body.

But that's fine too. No matter what time it is, as long as you don't have unparalleled martial arts skills, it's always good to know some human relationships. Although she has high hopes for Ichiro, to be honest, she doesn't think Ichiro can go that far.

"Tell me, what are the characteristics of the person you're looking for? I happen to have a recent intelligence report here."

'If you don't even do this kind of work, why are you saying it's just a coincidence...' Ichiro pursed his lips, not exposing her.

In fact, he learned from Old Ghost that the old woman was no longer doing intelligence work, which is why he decided to come and check out the situation.

"Look, she's similar to her, except for the slight difference in her bangs. But she has a red-haired boy next to her, I think his name is... Renji Abarai?"

"Hmm? Red hair? I vaguely remember you. Are you looking for Rukia?"

"Hmm, do you have any information about them?"

The old woman shook her head: "You're too late. I only have information from a month ago. There are too many homeless people like them in the latter half of Rukongai, and most of them do petty theft. They don't get much attention."

"Is that so? So it's unlikely that Old Ghost has any information either?"

"Pretty much. People who might die every day aren't worth paying attention to. What? What did they do?"

"I didn't do anything wrong, I was just looking for my relatives."

"Is that so? Lucky fellow." With that, the old woman pulled a document from her book and handed it to Ichiro. "This is all the information we have recently. The last time it appeared was in Rukongai No. 69."

"Lucky? Maybe." Ichiro took the document, flipped through it, and said casually.

After looking at it for a while, Ichiro found that it was indeed as the old woman had said; there wasn't much information, only their movement trajectory was recorded, and not even the specific number of people in the small group.

But that's enough for Ichiro.

"Thanks..." Ichiro closed the file, looking at the old woman as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

"What's wrong? You don't need to pay for this. I'm no longer in the intelligence business."

Ichiro smiled, shook his head, and said, "That's not what I meant. I was wondering if you'd like to come live with me in Seireitei for a while? Also, I've discovered something that can extend lifespan..."

“My husband and I have lived here for a very, very long time. We’re used to it. I can’t stand a place like Seireitei. Alright, if you have nothing else to say, get out of here and stop getting in my way.” After saying that, the old woman turned her attention back to the books. “Oh, by the way, remember to come back for a meal in a few days.”

Ichiro paused for a moment, sighed, and turned to leave: "I understand. I'll go and get back to work."

"Hmm," the old woman replied without looking up.

Suddenly, Ichiro, who had reached the door, turned back and said, "Oh right, make one more serving. I got a girlfriend, and I'll bring her over to meet you later."

After saying that, Ichiro pushed open the door and walked out, leaving the old woman staring blankly at his back.

After a long pause, she finally came to her senses and muttered in surprise, "Girlfriend? I remember that's another way of saying wife, isn't it? Didn't he say he wasn't going to have one?"

......

Leaving aside the puzzled old woman, Ichiro came out with the documents. Byakuya noticed that Ichiro's expression was different from before he went in, and raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

Even if he has some connection with the people here, it's clear he doesn't want anyone to know that. This is evident from the fact that this has never been mentioned in any information about Ichiro over the years, so Byakuya wouldn't bring it up rashly.

"So, did you get any information?"

"Roughly, he's still alive, at least a month ago."

"Phew~" Upon hearing this, Byakuya breathed a sigh of relief. He was still alive, that was good.

However, while relaxing, Byakuya also frowned: "A month ago?"

"Be content. Her situation isn't good. She's just a homeless child struggling to survive in the latter half of Rukongai. Several of these homeless children die every day in that kind of place. Do you think everyone is a monster like Kenpachi? Oh, and there's something else. She has a few companions, and they seem to have a pretty good relationship. How are you going to handle that?"

"What else can we do? Taking in Rukia is already the limit. As for the others, we'll assess their talent. If they're good, we'll send them to the Shinigami Academy so they can become Shinigami in the future. If they don't have any talent, we'll send them to the top Rukongai."

"Alright, let's set off then. Although a month has passed, given their speed of movement, things shouldn't have changed much."