Sense the surroundings with spiritual pressure?
Ruiko paused and looked like she was thinking hard.
"What's wrong, Ruiko?"
At that moment, Misaka Mikoto caught up with her.
"Aren't we going out?"
"There might be something going on. Hold on a sec."
Ruiko took a breath and sent a message in the group chat.
Skirt-Flipping Maniac: I don't know how to use spiritual pressure sensing.
Even though she had bought Shinigami powers, she hadn't really practiced or explored them much.
She usually only used things like Shunpo and Kido for fighting.
This is an Actor: Close your eyes and imagine your spiritual pressure like a net being cast out. When you pull it back in, you'll be able to feel things.
Following Aizen's method, Saten Ruiko quickly got the hang of it and sent back a message:
I see… lots of small blue dots outside the door?
Amegakure Village's Angel: Blue dots mean souls—living people.
Doujin Artist: In other words, a bunch of people are waiting outside for Ruiko-chan and Misaka Mikoto?
Curly-haired Guy: Uh-oh, I doubt they're here to invite them to a party.
Scarlet Lotus Fairy: Is this Aleister's plan?
This is an Actor: More accurately, this is part of a plan that was set up from the start. The ITEM group was just a warm-up. What's coming next is the real deal.
Skirt-Flipping Maniac: Wait, LV5s were just the warm-up?
Ruiko's eyes widened in shock.
This is an Actor: Don't forget—Academy City has more than one LV5. The fourth-ranked one isn't that high up, so it's just an appetizer.
Doujin Artist: So... that means the people coming might include the second-ranked one? Maybe even Accelerator?
Curly-haired Guy: Accelerator? If it's him, this is gonna be real bad. I hate to admit it, but he really is the strongest in Academy City. That vector control ability is totally broken!
Scarlet Lotus Fairy: Yeah, he once stopped the Earth's rotation when going all out.
Doujin Artist: There was a time limit on that, right? Like five minutes?
Still, even five minutes is crazy enough.
This is an Actor: That's only because of how special his power is. He has a deep understanding of Earth's vectors, so at his peak, he can affect the planet.
But that doesn't mean he has planet-level combat power.
Amegakure Village's Angel: Exactly. In fact, it's the opposite—because he's so strong and has always lived in a protected environment, his real combat experience is super limited.
You can see that clearly in his fight against Kamijou Touma. Without his powers, he's basically helpless.
Curly-haired Guy: The problem is, Ruiko doesn't have that "chick-magnet" punch Touma does.
So she can't cancel out Accelerator's ability at all.
Well… she does have the hand that slapped a big sister's butt.
Skirt-Flipping Maniac: Can we not talk about that anymore?!
Doujin Artist: If it's just the second-ranked one coming, maybe Ruiko-chan and Mikoto can manage to fight him?
Shark-Faced Guy: He's got the terrain advantage.
If he takes to the sky, only Ruiko can go one-on-one with him.
Skirt-Flipping Maniac: I-I haven't really learned how to make spirit paths in the air yet…
Curly-haired Guy: Oh man, then she'll just get smacked around.
Doujin Artist: This isn't good. No matter who shows up, this looks really bad.
This is an Actor: Why were the two of them split up anyway? Why not send them out together?
You guys should know Aleister can totally make that happen.
Doujin Artist: ???
Curly-haired Guy: N-no way!
This is an Actor: From Aleister's point of view, Ruiko is an unpredictable variable. It's normal to want to get rid of her at all costs.
Not every mastermind is like Aizen, who likes to sit back and study the unknown.
Doujin Artist: That actually makes a lot of sense, but… are you kind of roasting yourself there, Anzen-san?
*Hisss.*
As the person being talked about, Saten Ruiko gasped.
Aizen's guess made her scalp tingle with shock.
Sending both the number one *and* number two to deal with a fragile girl like her? That's just crazy!
Scarlet Lotus Fairy: What should we do?
Li Mochou looked seriously worried.
She felt that neither the first-ranked Accelerator nor the second-ranked Kakine Teitoku were opponents Ruiko and Mikoto could handle.
And this time, the two of them might even be working together.
They needed a solid plan.
If Ruiko just walked out there now, the result would be worse than a crushed strawberry.
Li Mochou couldn't help but think of the bottle of strawberry jam she'd bought in the chat group two days ago with two points.
Her dumb apprentice had knocked it over by accident.
It had been a total mess—both the jam and the apprentice.
Shark-Faced Guy: I'll go help out.
Amegakure Village's Angel: I'll go too.
Curly-haired Guy: Hmph, how could Gintoki miss out on something like this! Letting a teammate fight alone—no true samurai would stand for that.
Skirt-Flipping Maniac: Everyone!
Saten Ruiko's eyes were a little red. She was clearly touched.
This is an Actor: The group mission isn't done yet. Do you even have enough points to cross over?
Sakata Gintoki froze for a second and glanced at his points balance. A measly "234." Probably… not enough?
Doujin Artist: How embarrassing.
Eririri didn't say she would go help. She knew her skills weren't good enough and she'd only hold them back. But in that moment, her desire to get stronger had never been greater.
This is an Actor: Besides, with your current strength, it'll be tough to take on those two. Don't forget, Aleister is still lurking, waiting for a chance.
Amegakure Village's Angel: So Anzen-san is going to use that?
This is an Actor: Yeah, that alone should be enough.
Curly-haired Guy: ?
Shark-Faced Guy: ?
Doujin Artist: Come on, can you two stop being all mysterious?