Chapter 2: Chapter 2: Stealing the Name
Chapter 2: Stealing the Name
Soul Society, East Rukongai, District 62, Hanagare.
Inside the modestly sized house, the middle-aged man spoke with a torrent of words. One moment he was discussing the census policies of the Hanagare district this year, and the next, he was sighing over how someone’s youngest son had gone missing, unrecovered despite a long search—a matter that had even escalated to the attention of a certain Soul Reaper.
His name was Yuji Nomura, and he was the "District Head" of this area.
In the Rukongai, every district had several such District Heads, responsible for matters like tax collection, census management, and apprehending bandits.
Of course, their authority had its limits. They answered to the Central 46, or rather... they served a specific noble family.
Uchiha Yato maintained a polite smile the entire time, nodding along and chatting with Yuji Nomura.
Finally, after Nomura felt he had laid enough groundwork, he gave a light cough and his expression turned serious:
"Yato, my boy, do you know what happens after you enroll in the Shin’o Academy?"
"I study, and then I become a Soul Reaper," Uchiha Yato replied, feigning surprise. "What else could happen?"
Yuji Nomura lowered his voice, delivering the speech he had prepared long in advance:
"In my years as a District Head, I’ve seen a few young people get into the Shin’o Academy. But the path of a Soul Reaper is not an easy one to walk...
"In the beginning, you successfully enroll, make contact with the world of Reiryoku and Soul Reapers, and constantly learn new things. Every day feels like a miraculous adventure.
"But gradually, you will realize that the gap between you and your classmates is growing wider and wider. Let alone the important figures from the noble houses, you won’t even be able to keep up with many of the students from ordinary backgrounds.
"They have received over a decade, sometimes decades, of instruction in kendo and theory. They’ve been steeped in Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Hoho, and Kido since childhood. With their family pedigrees, they take the top spots in every exam!
"You’ll try to compensate for your lack of talent with hard work, squeezing every ounce of effort out of yourself in the hopes of bridging the gap. But no matter how hard you train, there will always be an insurmountable chasm between you and them.
"Of course, there are always outstanding Rukongai students who rise above the rest in every graduating class. But from what I know, their Rei-i Class was already above 10 at the time of enrollment, meaning the academy heavily invested in them from the very start!
"By the time the graduation exams roll around six years later, you, physically and mentally exhausted, won’t be graced by a miracle. Even if you barely manage to scrape your way into the Gotei 13, you’ll die early on the battlefield due to a lack of strength.
"There are even many sixth-year students who fail to meet the graduation requirements. Unable to enter the Seireitei, they have no choice but to work as mere guards for the nobles..."
Yuji Nomura wore a look of profound sorrow, looking as if he were about to shed a tear.
But suddenly, he slapped his thigh with a sharp smack and his entire demeanor brightened:
"But Lord Horiuchi is a kindhearted man, and he has decided to help you!"
"Oh?" Yato asked with evident interest. "Help me how?"
"For this year, hold off on reporting to the Shin’o Academy. I will take your acceptance letter to Lord Horiuchi," the middle-aged District Head said with a genial smile.
"In return, when you re-enroll in a few years, Lord Horiuchi will provide you with resources—the essentials of Zanjutsu, the secrets of Hakuda... With the backing of a noble, you will absolutely leave your peers from the Rukongai in the dust and secure a much brighter future!
"As you know, the Horiuchi family is a dignified noble house with a millennium of history. Across all eighty districts of the East Rukongai, a significant portion of the tobacco trade is entirely under the purview of the Horiuchi lords.
"Noble lords always keep their word. Their power is immense, capable of things we couldn’t even imagine. Whether you live a good life... or a bad one... all hinges on a single thought of theirs."
Having said all this in one breath, Yuji Nomura extended his hand, motioning for Yato to hand over the acceptance letter.
He was highly confident because this very speech had been taught to him personally by Lord Horiuchi right before he left.
Appealing to emotion, reasoning with logic, promising heavy rewards, all while weaving in an underlying threat.
Yuji Nomura even felt the urge to applaud his own exceptional delivery.
However, he waited for a long time without receiving any response from Yato.
The youth simply shifted his posture, lightly tapping his fingers against his knee, watching him with a half-smile.
—With those eyes that were darker than the night itself.
For a dizzying moment, Yuji Nomura felt as though his heart had been viciously bitten by a wild beast.
His mind was violently thrown back to thirty years ago.
Back then, he was just a hunter, carrying a crudely made matchlock into the mountains every day, shooting small game and setting traps for birds. Though poor, it was a fulfilling life.
That was until that one dusk, when he encountered the giant wolf revered as the "Great Demon."
Its claws were sharper than blades, its fangs hotter than flames, its back full of scars resembling the rugged earth, and its face—no one had ever seen its face, because every hunter who confronted it head-on became a ghost in its belly.
That was what the old hunters in the village used to say.
That dusk, Yuji Nomura died in the jaws of the wolf.
Afterward, his soul arrived in the Soul Society. He became a "Plus" and was assigned to East Rukongai’s District 62, Hanagare. By pure coincidence, he managed to curry favor with the Horiuchi family and became a District Head.
Even to this day, Yuji Nomura couldn’t recall the giant wolf’s face. He only remembered that its eyes were incredibly black. Black as ink. Black as a dense fog.
Like the overbearing descent of the night sky.
And now, locking eyes with the boy, Yuji Nomura felt as if he had been thrust back into the final moment before his death.
Residents of the Rukongai usually maintained a very vivid memory of "death."
"Ha..." Fortunately, right at that moment, Uchiha Yato suddenly let out a laugh.
The suffocating atmosphere melted away like ice and snow.
But Yuji Nomura didn’t dare laugh along with him.
"I just remembered something."
The youth stood up and poured the middle-aged District Head a cup of tea. Steam curled upward, the fragrance of the tea hitting the nose.
"Over ten years ago, when I first arrived in Hanagare, you were the one who brought me to this room.
"Back then, you asked me what my name was.
"You acted very surprised—’Uchiha? What a strange surname.’
"Do you remember how I answered you?"
"’The surname Uchiha definitely isn’t very common around here... but if you spend enough time around us, you’ll find that people from the Uchiha clan generally share two distinct traits.
"’First, we’re pretty good-looking.
"’Second, our brains aren’t quite right.’"
The handsome youth pointed a finger at his own head. There seemed to be a trace of amusement in his voice, yet his pitch-black eyes were deadly calm, even radiating a bone-chilling coldness:
"You want my enrollment spot? Of course you can have it.
"But... you’ll have to take it from my dead body."
...
...
"He’s far away now. Hmph, it doesn’t look like he’s heading home." The girl in the Sengoku-era crimson armor leaned against the window and suddenly burst into a giggle. "Haha... He actually tripped and fell. He seems terrified of you~"
"A Class 12 Rei-i is more than enough to exert psychological suppression on an ordinary soul. At this level, placed within the Gotei 13, my Spiritual Pressure is even sufficient to achieve Shikai."
Uchiha Yato, acting as if nothing had happened, sifted through the congratulatory gifts the middle-aged District Head had brought and sighed.
"It’s a pity I haven’t had the chance to get my hands on an Asauchi all these years. If I had a Zanpakuto in hand, I could..."
...I could finally know your name.
The girl shared a telepathic connection with Uchiha Yato and naturally knew what he was thinking. She gently shook her head:
"It’s too difficult. Unless you venture into the higher-numbered districts where it’s more chaotic, and perhaps find a Zanpakuto left behind by a fallen Soul Reaper. But even then, it’s highly improbable. Out of so many Soul Reapers, only Zaraki Kenpachi and Kurosaki Ichigo managed to achieve it through such unorthodox means."
She bit her lip lightly, a look of worry crossing her features.
"There’s no point thinking about that right now. We absolutely cannot give up the Shin’o Academy enrollment spot! Delay it for a year? Hmph! Easier said than done. If you had actually given him the acceptance letter just now, someone would have come to silence you permanently right after!
"But what that guy said earlier is true. The Horiuchi family are nobles. Their power is vast, they even keep assassins on their payroll. You refused to play along with their scheme. Yato, what do we do now..."
"What else can we do?" The youth suddenly sprang to his feet, fiercely stomping the ground with heroic bravado:
"We run! Right now!"
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