Crows x Souls

Chapter 265 – Meeting the Tsunayashiro Clan Head

The Tsunayashiro Clan was one of the Four Great Noble Houses that predated the history of the Seireitei, and like some might insinuate, even predate the creation of the Soul Society. 

The reason for this was that these four clans—five back then with the inclusion of the ‘failed’ Shiba Clan— were already in existence and had always been referred to as the Five Great Principal Clans and Noble Houses even in the earliest recorded text in Soul Society history. 

Their power, status and history has long been synonymous with the realm that was Soul Society, and hence they were seen as inviolable. It also highlights the fact that the founders of old were the disciples of the Soul King, Creator and Divine, who governed all three realms of Soul Society, Hueco Mundo and the World of the Living, which credited their existence as sacred, divinely appointed to the role they observed. 

They were the indisputable rulers of the Soul Society and all that dwelled within that not even a Shinigami as old and strong as Yamamoto Genryūsai held a say in the authority and decisions they made. 

Of course there were Shinigami like Yoruichi, Isshin, Ginrei, Sōjun and Byakuya Kuchiki who were the Clan Heads of their respective Noble Houses— except for Sōjun who never took on his role as patriarch and had his father, Ginrei, pass it instead to his son, Byakuya, due to his frailty caused by constant bouts of sickness— and also took on the active roles of Shinigami Captains, which made them subordinates to Yamamoto, but only in their capacity as Shinigami Captains. 

In no single instance, except in the case of Isshin Shiba, did Yamamoto’s power to rule ever surpassed theirs. They were still the rulers of the Soul Society and the Seireitei, that remained true, and in the same way they were was also how Yamamoto was the leader of the Shinigami. 

It was a delicate balance of power that made Yamamoto the metaphorical sword while they remained the figurative pen. 

It was the relationship of this balance of power that made the 2nd and 6th Division an unofficial extension of the Shihōin and Kuchiki Clan in a very loose sense, but also in turn gave the Gotei 13, the Kidō Corps and Onmistukidō the authority to police the Noble Houses and to act against them in the evidence of treason. It was the perfect check and balance of judicial and executive power between the Gotei 13 and the Noble Families. 

So to plainly speak, Yamamoto was not helpless against the Noble Clans. At the end of the day, the Shinigami would listen to their Head Captain over some Noble Head. 

On the balance between the Clans, each of them had duties they were charged with since their inception and they’ve kept it to the current time. 

The Shihōin Clan, like the others, were keepers and guardians of Sacred Relics bestowed on them by the gods, but their main duty was as the Commander of the Onmistukidō and being the executioner blade against any hidden threat to the Seireitei and Soul Society. 

The Kuchiki Clan, other than fulfilling their role as sacred guardians, were responsible for documenting, compiling and protecting the history of the Soul Society. 

The Tsunayashiro Clan, along with their divine task, were responsible for documenting the surveillance of probably the three realms but no one knows for sure so it is widely accepted that it is just for the Soul Society. 

The Kasumioji Clan were the masters of metalwork and crafting and forging in the Soul Society, and had a hand in— if not outright creating— the creation of most of the Sacred Relics and other great weapons and objects, like the Sokyōku in the Execution Grounds which Yamamoto and another key figure had a hand in creating. 

The Shiba, even disgraced and stripped of their Noble status, still guard their sacred treasure and their duty remains to act as the Royal Transportation between the Royal Palace and the Soul Society. 

These are the general information about the Noble Families, general in the sense that only the Head Captain and a very strict handful of people know about. The true scale of their duties are known only to the Elders and Clan Heads of the separate Noble Houses. 

…..….. 

Itachi met up with Yoruichi, or rather Yoruichi met up with Itachi as she was the one who went looking for him through 3 crime scenes after she finally decided which formation she wanted her hidden weapons to be in. 

She had felt a flare up of irritation when she’d arrived at the main crime scene only to be told that Itachi had left for the other ones. 

She couldn’t even call this being paranoid or being a hardass because he was literally doing his job unlike her who would eagerly wait for any excuse to drop it for the same procrastinating habit she’s lounged in for over a thousand times. 

“Got anything from your little work?” She asked with a smile but anyone who knew her could tell that she wasn’t amused in the least by the topic. 

“No.” Itachi said in a monotone. A monotone that managed to encapsulate the spectrum of his emotions about this recent event. “Did he contact you beforehand?”

“Nope.” The word was followed by a bubble blow that popped that exact moment the ‘p’ popped. “Given that he wants to be annoying, smart move.”

“Don’t waste my time.” Itachi didn’t say it to Yoruichi who was the only one with him, but was instead voicing his sentiments towards the sudden call. 

Yoruichi let a smaller bubble pop with a laugh. “Trust me. That’s exactly what he wants to do. I can write out the script for you if you need a heads up.”

This was the downside of dealing with nobles in an official capacity when they were part of the official capacity. 

None of the Clan Heads had the authority to order him around, as that authority rested solely in Yamamoto’s withered hands, but that did not mean that they couldn’t utilize other ways to frustrate him and make his job a tad bit harder. 

As for the Tsunayashiro Clan, the public consensus saw them as the most powerful of the Clans and even Yoruichi had attested to aspects of it. 

They were the most recluse of the Noble Families but in a way were also the most prominent whenever they cared to make an appearance. They were also the most detached in respect to what happened in the Seireitei as even the representative of the Tsunayashiro in Central 46 mostly tended to be a neutral voice, at least in the very few times Itachi had met with them. 

“The Head, what sort of person is he?” Itachi asked as the vast expanse of the Tsunayashiro Main Estate came into view. 

Yoruichi gave Itachi a bewildered look. He had all this time to ask this question but intentionally chose to do this when they were so close to their destination. His mind definitely wasn’t in this meeting. 

“Tsunayashiro Akifusa is the stout image of his Clan and everything they uphold.”

Itachi nodded. That was enough. 

Might was right. That was the core belief that Tsunayashiro held absolute. The weak deserve to be preyed on to nourish the strong, like a den of vipers in a deadly macabre dance. The Tsunayashiro Clan was not one where sentiments and nobility held any meaning – only strength did. 

With this foreknowledge and with Yoruichi’s words in mind, Tsunayashiro Akifusa was not hard to figure out. Deadly, cunning, apathetic – just the exact recipe to make Itachi’s day turn for the worst. 

It was no surprise that Yoruichi found anyone from the Noble Families boring at most, and troublesome at the least. To her, they were a piece of dead dry wood that failed to do something as basic as burning away. 

“Don’t look so glum. I think the both of you will get along swimmingly.” She rolled her eyes at the way his jaws tensed. Sometimes his micro expressions were simply too dramatic. 

“Lady Yoruichi, Captain Uchiha, the Lord is waiting for you at the gardens. I will lead you there.” The Shinigami who greeted their punctuated arrival at the gate was all stout-faced as he led them into the eerily quiet Main Manor. 

“Ughh, I can almost feel my fur ruffling. I am not going to enjoy whatever it is the old man has to say.” Yoruichi groaned loudly as they crossed into the third hall. She ignored the irritated twitch that crossed the guide’s face as she made her displeasure a stark visual. 

They reached the end of the hallway and stepped into the artistically groomed garden and followed along the straight center path until they came across the old man that was slowly trimming away at the overshoot of some carved bushes. 

The man stopped what he was doing and turned around with a smile on his face on their arrival.

“Welcome, Lady Yoruichi, Captain Uchiha. Now, how about we find a seat before we start any discussion?” The man remained stone-faced throughout the introduction but his words were light and accommodating which instantly highlighted the contrast to Itachi, and reaffirmed what he already believed. 

He would not get along with Tsunayashiro Akifusa in any way. 

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