"Idiot Nobunaga, the Seireitei is full of powerful individuals. It's not something we can easily shake with our current strength. The top priority now is to accumulate power!"
Yoichi hurriedly suppressed Nobunaga's restless idea.
Having been in the Soul Society for so long, he knew all too well how much power resided within the Seireitei.
It was by no means a target they could conquer just by putting their three heads together.
"Foolish Yoichi, of course I know that!"
Nobunaga retorted.
"No matter what you do, you have to have a grand goal. That's the only way to inspire fighting spirit."
Nobunaga looked at Tensen Shōun, who was contemplating with his head down, and nudged him with his elbow.
"Hey, Toyohisa, say something."
Tensen Shōun suddenly raised his head, a look of determination on his face.
"Now that we have the power to start, conquering the Soul Society is no longer a dream!"
"In that case, I've decided!"
"For the time being, I will not use my posthumous name, but will return to my original name Shimazu Toyohisa!"
At first, when Nobunaga heard his firm declaration, he nodded repeatedly.
But then the second half of his words nearly broke his back.
"Wait, Toyohisa, your resolute declaration is just to go back to using your real name?"
"A name is very important! From this day forward, I will make the name 'Oni Shimazu' resound throughout the Soul Society."
Tensen Shōun, no… it should be Shimazu Toyohisa now.
Shimazu Toyohisa looked at Kenma with a solemn expression.
"Kenma, from now on, the three of us will fully support you in conquering this Soul Society and making you the ruler of the Three Worlds!"
Kenma chuckled softly in his heart and nodded, "Grandfather, for now, it's as Yoichi said. We should focus on accumulating power."
Yoichi proudly puffed out his chest.
Shimazu Toyohisa looked at the two beside him, and for some reason, a look of sentimentality appeared on his face.
"If only Lord Kanpaku Hideyoshi were here. With his skills, he would surely be Kenma's best support."
"It's a pity we haven't run into him in this afterlife. I wonder if he has been reincarnated."
Upon hearing this, Nobunaga immediately became displeased, craning his neck and looking unconvinced.
"Hah? Having me is clearly enough. That monkey was just a footsoldier under my command. I am a hundred, a thousand times stronger than him!"
"No way! In my opinion, you are far inferior to the Kanpaku."
Shimazu Toyohisa pressed his forehead against Nobunaga's, like two stags locking horns.
Nobunaga knew his sore spot and immediately said, "Then why don't we find that turtle? He's the one who won in the end anyway."
An expression of extreme disgust appeared on Shimazu Toyohisa's face.
"That turtle is no good! He is my enemy. How can I ask an enemy for help!"
Seeing this, Yoichi hurriedly stepped forward to pull the two apart.
Shimazu Toyohisa and Nobunaga snorted coldly in a fit of pique, their gazes averted to the sides.
Kenma said, "Since you have spiritual pressure, I have some spare Zanpakutō in stock. Remember to take them with you when you leave."
"Zanpakutō!"
"We can have them too?"
The three of them looked surprised. After years of struggling, they were well aware of the value of a Zanpakutō.
Setting aside the fact that it was standard issue for a Shinigami, just the craftsmanship of the blade itself was undoubtedly a masterpiece.
It was a rare treasure in the Rukongai.
To think they could obtain one so easily now.
'It's really better to have one of your own on the inside!'
"Little Kenma has really grown up, I'm touched."
Yoichi even theatrically dabbed the corner of his eye, wiping away tears that weren't there.
Shimazu Toyohisa asked, "Can we choose the style of the blade? I want a greatsword."
"You can."
Kenma then looked at Nobunaga and Yoichi.
"A regular one is fine for me," Nobunaga said. "Actually, I'd prefer to use a musket, that's more satisfying, but unfortunately…"
Unfortunately, such a thing didn't exist in the Soul Society.
Yoichi said sheepishly, "Same for me, a regular style is fine. I'm not very interested in swords; I'm better with a bow and arrow."
"I understand."
Kenma nodded lightly.
Weapons like muskets had probably never been used in the Seireitei; it was unknown if they existed at all.
However, he had the all-purpose scientific genius Urahara Kisuke under his command.
Creating new types of weapons was a piece of cake.
As for the bow, he could also ask Urahara Kisuke.
If that didn't work, he could just find a Quincy; they were experts with bows.
Shimazu Toyohisa looked at Kenma and suddenly sighed, a trace of apology on his face.
"Sigh, it's a pity we are all old and feeble now, not in our prime. The help we can give you probably won't be much."
"Indeed…" Nobunaga looked at his wrinkled hands, his face momentarily silent. "If only there was a medicine that could make people young again…"
"To encounter an opportunity for great things only in old age, fate is truly unkind."
Yoichi sighed as well.
This, however, drew the collective gazes of Nobunaga and Toyohisa.
Looking at Yoichi, whose appearance remained that of a twenty-year-old, their faces showed indignation.
"You're the last one who has the right to say that! You died even earlier than us, but you look younger than us!"
"That's right, in all the years since we met, we've never seen you grow old with us!"
Hearing this, Yoichi showed a proud smile.
"Of course, it's because I'm naturally beautiful. Even after death, I have the protection of the gods, maintaining my youth."
"Da… damn it, I can't refute that. Yoichi is indeed good-looking!" Shimazu Toyohisa choked.
Nobunaga was still indignant. "Hmph, what god would care about a soul like you…"
"It's possible!"
Kenma's voice suddenly rang out, drawing the attention of all three.
"Kenma, you mean…"
"Really?"
Kenma nodded heavily. "If it's about restoring your youth, I have a great deal of confidence!"
He happened to have an expert in physical modification under his command.
'It's you, Mayuri Kurotsuchi!'
'He can even regenerate severed limbs. Restoring a body to the vitality of its prime should not be difficult for him.'
Receiving Kenma's confirmation, the pupils of the three men shrank, and their faces showed shock.
"He can even do something like that…"
"Are Shinigami… so unreasonable?"
Although they had heard that Shinigami possessed all sorts of powerful abilities, the idea of restoring someone's youth was, no matter how one thought about it, incredible.
Just in case, Kenma gave them a heads-up.
"I just think there's a high probability. The final result might deviate, you never know."
"It's fine, we were just having a whimsical thought out of boredom. We're all old men, long past the age of caring about our appearance."
Shimazu Toyohisa said reassuringly, not wanting to make Kenma too anxious.
Nobunaga, however, chuckled and was already thinking about future plans.
"Now that we have spiritual pressure, it's time to get back to our old business, gather men, and seize territory to accumulate power in advance."
"I heard a new group of troublesome guys has appeared in the Junrinan district. Since it's not far from where we live, we can just subdue them as our subordinates and begin our conquest."
Kenma's heart stirred, and he asked, "A new group in the Junrinan district… what kind of guys are they?"
Yoichi said, "A bunch of riff-raff. It's said they call themselves followers of 'Whitebeard.' They're causing a big ruckus and have already occupied a lot of the outer territories."
'Whitebeard's men!'
'So it's those pirates I signed a contract with before!'
Hearing this news, Kenma didn't feel much surprise.
From what Nobunaga had just said, he had vaguely sensed it would be them.
"Them… forget about them. No need to waste the effort."
Nobunaga asked curiously, "What, you know these people?"
"That's right."
Under the astonished gazes of the three, Kenma directly admitted his relationship with them.
"Strictly speaking, they are people I arranged to be there."
"From the very beginning, they have been our companions."
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]