<h4>Chapter 812: The Tendo Family’s Dragon Vein</h4>


    Trantor: imperfectluck Editor: Kurisu


    Ten years was quite a lengthy amount of time.


    But for some patient schemers, ten years might not seem that long.


    Now then, how likely did it seem that the Tendo Family had begun a scheme rted to the Realm of Cherry Blossoms ten years ago?


    It seemed unlikely. It would be almost impossible to predict the general situation ten years down the road. However, it would be more probably that the Tendo Family had left a trap that could be activatedter down the road at an appropriate time.


    Peoplemonly had misunderstandings about what schemes were. Many would believe that schemes would be well-concealed and intricate from the very start. Or, at least, that the scheme would be rtively well nned, and that it would secretly proceed until it finally seeded.


    This wasn’t always the case. In some cases, even the schemer wouldn’t know what results their scheme would bring about. The schemer would simply put down a chess piece at an appropriate time at an appropriate ce. Then, depending on the situation, the schemer mightter activate this chess piece, ce another chess piece, or change this chess piece’s location. The schemer would then slowly progress until they would personally benefit.


    If the Tendo Family really had a scheme, it was likely to be thetter type.


    Of course, the Tendo Family might also bepletely innocent. The ck-d man was simply saying that the Tendo Family betrayal incident from ten years ago was the most probable time when something went wrong with the Yasakani no Magatama artifact. This was all just hypothetical so far.


    But no matter what, Yui and the ck-d man now had a direction to investigate in.


    “Call him here,” the ck-d man said to Yui.


    Yui knew whom the ck-d man was referring to. There was only one person in Soul Society who had the best understanding of the Tendo Family while being rtively trustworthy.


    Yui took out her cell phone and called a certain number.


    Not long after, that person she’d contacted arrived.


    He walked into this room without even knocking. He was wearing a graybat outfit with an angry minotaur mask on his head. This made him seem rather strange andical.


    If Seiji had been here, he would have recognized this person as the minotaur mask boy who had been together with the national idol Miyuki Sakuraku! Mika had also been with Seiji at that time.


    “What do the two of you want to ask me?” the minotaur mask boy asked in a low voice.


    “It’s about the incident from ten years ago, when a member of the Tendo Family tried to steal the Yasakani no Magatama…” Yui exined.


    After she finished exining, the minotaur mask boy fell silent for a moment.


    “Supposedly, the mastermind behind that theft attempt was Shinzen Tendo,” the minotaur boy remarked. “Shinzen Tendo was the younger cousin of Sougo Tendo, the current leader of the Tendo Family. Shinzen’s power level was average, and he was poor at socializing. He was almostpletely unknown. Shinzen also fully immersed himself in his hobby of creating spiritual artifacts, but he never managed to create anything useful. In his generation, he was considered lower-middle ss.


    “Back when he allegedly tried to steal the Yasakani no Magatama, his attempt was discovered before he even obtained the jewel artifact. Shinzen was executed almost immediately afterwards. As for the outsiders that he supposedly allied with, those people self-destructed when they were hunted down by the Tendo Family’s assassination squad. No traces were left behind. There’s no evidence as to who they could be. That’s all I know.”


    “Do you think that there’s anything suspicious about this incident?” Yui asked.


    “It was too poorly done,” the minotaur mask boy stated directly. “The culprits, no matter if it was Shinzen Tendo or those people that self-destructed or whoever else was behind it, they all did everything far too sloppily.”


    “Or in other words, the Tendo Family did everything unbelievably perfectly,” the ck-d man said. “Even though this was clearly a serious betrayal where a member of the family schemed together with outsiders, the Tendo Family suffered zero losses. In the end, it all seemed as if that Shinzen Tendo was just aplete idiot who had a foolish scheme.”


    “That’s right. This is the same as what I’ve heard. Shinzen Tendo’s scheme was truly foolish,” the minotaur mask boy agreed.


    “Was he truly such a foolish individual?”


    “There’s no specific information about him, because he was rtively unknown and didn’t really have any friends. There’s too little information to go on.” The minotaur boy then paused as his tone turned rather grim. “However, an entire vige was destroyed three months after that incident.”


    The ck-d man’s expression didn’t change. However, Yui furrowed her eyebrows.


    “The destruction of that vige is considered to be absolute top secret in the Tendo Family. I did my very best to investigate it, but all I found out in the end was that it was somehow connected to the Tendo Family’s Dragon Vein,” the minotaur mask boy stated lightly. However, deeper emotions seemed to run underneath his light tone.


    The Dragon Vein.


    That was the name that the Tendo Family gave to the Spirit Vein they passed down through the generations. A so-called Spirit Vein was believed to be an important factor for a family to keep producing spiritual ability users. Some Spirit Veins were physical, some were intangible, and some were a mix of both.


    Simply speaking, the Tendo Family Dragon Vein was one of the major foundational reasons why the Tendo Family was able to be one of the seven major families.


    The major families were all capable of doing anything at all for the sake of preserving their foundational strength! All three people present in this room understood this facet of spiritual society quite well.


    The minotaur mask boy’s information about this Tendo Family secret was quite important, but the most important thing right now was still the Yasakani no Magatama jewel artifact.


    “Do you believe that the vige’s destruction was rted to the attempt at stealing the artifact?” the ck-d man inquired.


    “I believe that they’re connected, but I can’t find any concrete evidence,” the minotaur mask boy answered.


    “If they really are connected, then the Yasakani no Magatama attempted theft incident was in no way as simple as it appeared on the surface. In that case… the destruction of that vige might reenact itself in a simr fashion in the current day, and cause the situation to go out of control,” the ck-d man extrapted.


    Yui recalled what Seiji told her and felt a chill down her spine. An unimaginable destruction—was this what he had foreseen?


    “These are nothing but inferences,” the minotaur mask boymented.


    “However, they’re highly likely to be correct because we’re now certain that there’s a problem with the Yasakani no Magatama,” said the ck-d man as a dark look appeared in his eyes. “We can’t find anything wrong with the artifact itself, but there’s something else we can investigate—the Tendo Family’s Dragon Vein!”


    “…What do you intend to do?” the minotaur mask boy looked at him.


    “I should be the one asking you what you can do, Raizen Tendo.” The ck-d man looked at the minotaur boy and called him by his real name.


    Raizen Tendo was the name of Shigure Tendo’s older brother—the genius of the Tendo Family who should have been dead already! Not only that, Yui was the one who “killed” him during a duel!


    “Don’t call me by that name,” the minotaur mask boy, or Raizen Tendo, spoke in a heavy tone.


    “No matter how much you resist it, your true name is still your true name,” the ck-d man stated lightly. “It represents your background and personal history. It’s your foundation for everything that you are. However, your true name can’t determine what type of person you are, what you can do, or what you want to do.


    “I don’t care what attitude you have towards the Tendo Family. Right now, I need you, and Soul Society needs you. You’re needed to investigate the problem with the Tendo Family’s Dragon Vein in order to prevent a likely catastrophe from happening!”


    “What if I refuse?” Raizen took a rebellious tone against the ck-d man’s authoritative attitude.


    “You can’t refuse,” the ck-d man spoke coldly as his aura grew even more powerful, to the point where it was almost physical.


    White lights began to appear around him, appearing ethereal yet also containing great danger.


    *p!*


    Yui forcefully pped her hands.


    The white lights suddenly disappeared. The energy level in the room lowered.


    Raizen and the ck-d man both turned to face her instead of facing off against each other.


    “Don’t be like this, Sorin-san.” She calmly tried to defuse the situation. “You, me, and Tendo-kun… we’re allpanions with the same cause.”


    “Hmph…” Raizen Tendo harrumphed slightly, but stopped giving off such a defiant attitude.


    The ck-d man also stopped giving off such an authoritative aura.


    After a period of silence, Raizen looked back at the ck-d man.


    “I can try my best to investigate the Dragon Vein. However, I need assistance, and you owe me for this, Meisei Sorin.”


    “Alright. But, you need to hurry.” The ck-d man, whose name was Meisei Sorin, agreed. “We don’t have much time left.”


    “What do you intend to do?” Yui asked Raizen.


    “The easiest way to investigate the Dragon Vein is to investigate a member or disciple of the Tendo Family who recently had tremendous changes to their spiritual abilities,” Raizen exined. “There’s an extremely appropriate candidate that I’m highly familiar with.”


    “Who?” Yui could faintly guess already.


    “Shigure Tendo,” Raizen stated lightly. “My younger brother who was originally of ‘low intelligence.''”