Asuka walked up to Black Fang and sat down cross-legged.
He took a deep breath.
Compared to his time with Genzo... that had been a violent interrogation where he was deliberately picking a fight.
Facing someone who truly possessed information, Asuka chose to suppress his inner impatience and maintain his calmest state.
"You are Black Fang."
"Yes... what is it that you wish to know, my lord?" Black Fang replied cautiously.
"Over a hundred years ago..." Asuka began slowly, but fearing his description wouldn't be detailed enough, he added, "To be exact, maybe around a hundred and fifty... or a hundred and forty years ago..."
"In the Inuzuri District, there was a woman being chased by Soul Reaper forces..."
He described the woman's appearance and clothing from his memory, as well as the decorations of the Japanese-style room she lived in, detailing everything to Black Fang without leaving out a single thing.
All just to depict everything about that woman as accurately as possible.
Black Fang listened earnestly, but as Asuka's description deepened, his complexion grew increasingly awful.
Although he had no eyes, he raised his head several times, staring in Asuka's direction with those empty eye sockets.
Even someone like Kenpachi, who couldn't read the room, could sense it.
Within them was absolute disbelief.
"...I want to know, where did this woman end up? What is her name?"
Asuka stared at Black Fang's increasingly pale, old face and earnestly finished his final sentence.
The tent fell into a deathly silence.
Only the flames in the brazier occasionally let out a crackling pop.
This awkward atmosphere lasted for a long time, until Kenpachi Zaraki let out a bored yawn.
He had absolutely no interest in this kind of family-searching drama.
He was only waiting for Asuka to finish asking his questions so they could have a thrilling fight.
However, what neither Asuka nor Kenpachi expected was this.
After hearing Asuka's description... this information broker, who was accustomed to life and death in the Rukongai and could even barely bluff his way through Kenpachi Zaraki's threats...
...now acted as if he had heard the most terrifying curse in the world, unconsciously shrinking his body backward.
"..."
Black Fang's emaciated body suddenly began to tremble violently like a sieve.
Large beads of cold sweat rolled down his forehead, smashing onto the straw mat on the ground. Those eyeless sockets even rolled upward abruptly out of extreme terror, revealing horrifying bloodshot tissue.
"N-No... I don't know! I don't know!"
Black Fang's voice became shrill from sheer panic, repeatedly cracking as he yelled,
"I don't know anything! Don't ask me! Don't ask me!"
He was lying.
Asuka's eyes instantly turned freezing cold.
He didn't care about anything else and grabbed Black Fang by the collar.
A black Spiritual Pressure brimming with malice spilled out from his body, causing even Kenpachi Zaraki's pupils to shrink.
"Your reaction tells me that not only do you know who that woman is, you even know who the people chasing her are!"
He pressed on.
"Speak! Who exactly is she! And who am I!"
Exerting force, Asuka lifted the emaciated old man directly off the ground.
Black Fang kicked his legs wildly, struggling with all his might.
He could feel the imminent threat of death, yet even so, his mouth still frantically repeated words of refusal.
"I can't say... I absolutely cannot say! If I say it, I'll die! We will all die!"
"No... it's even more terrifying than death... I don't want to turn out like that, stop asking! Stop asking!"
Black Fang's withered hands tightly gripped Asuka's wrists, tears of terror flowing from his blind eyes.
"My lord... no matter who you are... I beg you to give up! That is not a secret you can touch!"
"That woman's name... that family's name... once spoken, they will definitely know!"
"Whether it's you or me, or even Captain Zaraki who is present here, we will all be wiped out without a trace!"
Hearing this, Kenpachi Zaraki, who had been leaning against the door in utter boredom, revealed a look of curiosity in his eyes.
Even a Captain could be wiped out without a trace?
The corners of his mouth split into a grin that reached his ears, revealing a ferocious and excited smile.
"Oh? Sounds like..." Kenpachi Zaraki tightened his grip on his sword hilt, the bells letting out a crisp chime, "...it could be quite interesting."
"I will ask one last time."
Compared to the excited Kenpachi, Asuka was on the verge of losing control of his emotions.
He understood these ruffians of the Rukongai; Black Fang's reaction was far too extreme.
That kind of fear was absolutely not faked.
A thug like Genzo would spill all his secrets when faced with fear.
But as the most veteran information broker, Black Fang knew what words could be exchanged for money, and what words, once spoken, would bring about retaliation far more terrifying than death.
This meant that the weight of the secret he held had already surpassed the threat of death.
This made him want to understand it even more, to figure out exactly what was going on.
"My lord... even if you slice this old man into a thousand pieces, I will absolutely not reveal a single word..."
Cold sweat mixed with tears, continuously streaming down the deep wrinkles on Black Fang's face.
"It seems you think my methods pale in comparison to the people you fear."
Asuka's eyes turned completely cold.
He let go of Black Fang, but drew Kakudatsu.
Black and red Spiritual Power had already begun to dance at the tip of the blade.
"I don't know what kind of big shot you are so afraid of." He slowly brought Kakudatsu closer to Black Fang's chest. "But I can promise you this, Black Fang."
"If you don't speak now, I will let this power drill into your internal organs, drill into the very depths of your soul."
"It won't kill you immediately, but it will act like tens of thousands of starving wild dogs, gnawing away at every single one of your Reishi, bite by bite."
"You will watch with your own eyes as your soul is torn apart, and you will clearly feel the agony of every inch of your Spirit Ribbon being chewed to pieces."
"Don't worry about dying, I know a very outstanding healer." Asuka's tone was calm yet cruel; perhaps even he hadn't expected himself to say such things. "I will make this process last for a year, ten years, or even a hundred years."
"Now tell me, who is that woman, and what is her name."
As the tip of the blade drew closer, the devouring aura emitted by that black and red Spiritual Pressure made all the hairs on Black Fang's body stand on end.
He knew Asuka wasn't joking.
At the same time, he knew exactly who Asuka was... far better than Asuka himself thought...
He believed that Asuka truly possessed this kind of ability...
To speak meant torture more painful than death.
To not speak also meant a fate worse than death...
"It seems that today, this old man cannot escape this calamity no matter what..."
"Rather than telling you everything and being thrown into a purgatory of eternal damnation to suffer..."
Black Fang suddenly stopped trembling.
Miraculously, the expression of fear on that old face gradually faded away...
"AAAAAAAH——!"
Suddenly, Black Fang let out a mournful scream.
He did not choose to compromise.
"This old man would rather seek a quick end right here!"
Asuka's pupils shrank violently.
He sensed the drastic shift in Black Fang's emotions!
"What are you trying to do?!"
Asuka subconsciously tried to pull Kakudatsu back, but it was too late.
The sheer resolve of a person determined to die, erupting in a desperate situation, was sometimes something even a Soul Reaper could not stop.
Squelch--!!
The muffled sound of a sharp blade piercing flesh and blood exploded within the cramped tent.
Without the slightest hesitation or delay.
Black Fang had actually used all the strength in his body to violently thrust himself forward!
Forcefully driving his own chest right into Asuka's blade!