Asuka did not answer him.
He simply drew his Zanpakuto slowly from his waist.
*Shing.*
Even without releasing it, the crisp metallic scrape of Kakudatsu leaving its sheath was enough to make Genzo's legs tremble and his hair stand on end.
"My Lord! What are you..."
He widened his eyes in terror and tried to back away.
But how could such a slight movement escape Asuka's spiritual senses?
*Swish!*
Asuka's figure instantly vanished from his spot, moving so fast that no one present could even see him.
In the next second, Asuka was already standing behind Genzo.
He brought the spine of Kakudatsu down viciously onto Genzo's right leg!
*Crack!*
The bloodcurdling sound of bone snapping instantly echoed throughout the courtyard.
"Aaaahhh!!!"
Genzo let out an agonizing shriek.
His right lower leg was forcefully smashed into a V-shape by Asuka's blade, the jagged white bone piercing straight through his thick flesh and exposing it to the air.
Blood gushed out, staining the dirt ground red and reflecting in the terrified eyes of everyone watching.
The surrounding thugs and lackeys were all scared stiff. Not a single one dared to step forward and stop him, not even daring to breathe too loudly, terrified that they would be the next to have their bones shattered.
They could only watch helplessly as Genzo collapsed to the ground in agony, clutching his broken leg and rolling back and forth, his face covered in a mixture of cold sweat, tears, and snot.
Asuka looked down at the wailing Genzo from above, his pitch-black eyes devoid of a single shred of pity.
"I ask, you answer."
"Any nonsense, and your head rolls."
Genzo was in so much pain he was on the verge of passing out.
But he knew that if he actually fainted, he might never wake up again in this lifetime.
"Y-Yes!! Ask away, My Lord! I will tell you everything I know! Everything!" Genzo forced himself through the excruciating pain, kneeling on the ground and kowtowing frantically, his teeth chattering.
"Over a hundred years ago, did a woman carrying a baby appear in this area?" Asuka cut straight to the chase.
He pressed the tip of his blade against Genzo's chin, forcing him to look up. "Who was that woman? Where did the baby go?"
'What the hell kind of question is that?!'
Genzo was dumbfounded by this sudden, impossible inquiry.
In a place like the Inuzuri District, countless women were sold, assaulted, or murdered every single day, and countless babies died on the roadside only to be carried off by wild dogs.
Things like that happened way too often. How could he possibly remember which one?!
"M-My Lord! Something from over a hundred years ago... I-I really can't remember!"
Genzo's voice carried a sobbing tone, but it was the absolute truth. "People die in the Inuzuri District every day. Women and babies... I really don't know which one you're talking about!"
Asuka's gaze turned cold. He flipped the tip of the blade resting against Genzo's chin and forcefully thrust it upward.
The flat of the blade smacked into his face, shattering several more of Genzo's bottom teeth.
"Gah!" Genzo whimpered in pain, his mouth full of blood.
"Think harder."
Asuka spoke again. "Since I'm asking, it means they weren't just an ordinary woman and baby."
"Was there anything special about them? Or were they being chased by other Soul Reapers?"
Under the threat of death, Genzo's brain entered a state of extreme hyperarousal and terror.
He knew that if he couldn't provide any valuable information, he absolutely wouldn't survive today.
But... he really didn't know!
In a moment of desperate inspiration, something finally clicked, and he screamed through his tears and snot, "I... I really don't know! I just collect protection money!"
"But! But someone else does! My Lord, someone definitely knows!"
"Speak."
"It's the informant! The informant in District 79, Kusajishi—Black Fang!"
Genzo spilled the information frantically, terrified that his head would be lopped off if he hesitated for even a second.
"Black Fang has been alive even longer than I have! He definitely knows all the secrets of the Rukongai and keeps records of the human trafficking! As long as you pay, you can buy any information from him!"
"My Lord, go ask him! He definitely knows about that woman! I beg you, please don't kill me, please stop torturing me!"
'Black Fang...' Asuka silently repeated the name in his heart, committing it firmly to memory.
It seemed that if he wanted to find clues from over a century ago in the vast Rukongai, relying on this trash who only knew how to bully the weak wouldn't cut it. He would have to make a trip to District 79.
Having obtained the intelligence he wanted, Asuka slowly withdrew his blade.
Watching Asuka's actions, Genzo thought he had finally escaped disaster.
He slumped onto the ground, gasping heavily for air.
However, Asuka showed no intention of turning around and leaving.
He stood quietly in place, his cold gaze fixed on Genzo's ugly face, which was twisted by a mix of pain and relief.
"Since you don't know about that woman,"
Asuka's voice suddenly turned freezing cold, as chilling as a northern gale, brimming with a hair-raising killing intent.
"Then, do you remember the name 'Asuka'?"
Genzo froze.
"A... Asuka?"
He didn't even bother wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth as he racked his brain to remember.
The name sounded somewhat familiar, but it definitely didn't belong to any big shot.
'Why would the Soul Reaper Lord ask about this?'
Over these long years, he had oppressed countless wandering souls, taken in countless lackeys, and beaten countless disobedient dogs to death.
Suddenly, a scene from deep within his memories flashed across his mind like lightning.
It was a winter from a long, long time ago, during a heavy snowstorm.
A scrawny, black-haired brat who always glared at him with the fierce eyes of a wolf cub was pinned down in the muddy water by several large men, forced to watch helplessly as Genzo beat another boy with missing front teeth to death with a wooden club.
That brat... seemed to be named Asuka?
Later on, that brat had seemingly disappeared during some conflict. At the time, Genzo assumed he had been eaten by wild dogs and didn't pay it any mind.
But... what did that have to do with the lofty Soul Reaper Lord standing before him?
How could a Soul Reaper of such power possibly know a lowly street urchin from the Inuzuri District?
Genzo raised his head, looking up at Asuka in bewilderment with his cloudy eyes.
"I... I think I remember..." Genzo began, his voice trembling. "A long time ago, I did have a little ani—no, a little brat named Asuka under me."
"But he... he died a long time ago, didn't he?"
"Is that so?"
Asuka's voice was deep and suppressed.
He leaned down slightly, bringing his sharp, angular face—seething with killing intent—a little closer.
"Then take a good look. Who am I?"
Genzo stiffened in place.
He stared blankly into those pitch-black eyes that were now just inches away.
The cold, untamed defiance in those eyes, compared to the scrawny boy struggling desperately in the muddy water while glaring daggers at him in his memory...
Miraculously overlapped perfectly!
'This is impossible! This is absolutely impossible!'
Genzo's heart felt as if it had been tightly gripped by a cold, giant hand, and the blood in his entire body completely froze in that instant.
"You! You!! You're that—!!"
Because he was too tense and agitated, Genzo choked on his own saliva, letting out a gurgling sound from his throat.
He pointed at Asuka, his eyeballs practically bulging out of their sockets from sheer terror.
He wanted to scramble backward, but his broken right leg made it impossible for him to move at all.
If this Soul Reaper was really that boy from back then, then today...
He would absolutely die a gruesome death!
"It seems you remember."
Asuka slowly stood back up straight.
"Long time no see, [Boss]."
Back when Asuka was just a powerless 'little pup' without even a surname.
In order to survive, he had no choice but to scrape by in Genzo's territory.
And it was also then that he met his first friend, Kenta.