Soon, the men arrived at the ryokan and saw that an unknown, steaming man with a glorious pompadour was waiting in the lobby for them, "You guys were sent by the Sitri girl?"
The one leading the group of men was obviously Sirzechs and he approached the man with a smile while offering his hand, "You must be Kirinji Tenjirou. Nice to meet you. I go by the name Sirzechs with a last name Lucifer."
Tenjirou didn't hesitate to grab his hand and also introduced himself, "Kirinji Tenjirou. I've heard about you from the other Sitri."
Sirzechs raised his brows, "Oh, is that so? I'm curious as to what exactly she told you, but it must be some random stories that she has."
Tenjirou smiled, "You know her well. There's nothing really specific. I just noticed that she loved telling all sorts of stories without actually giving away useful information. She's a crafty one, I'm telling you." The two of them let go of their hands and Tenjirou immediately noticed that Sirzechs' soul gave the same feeling as Serafall's, 'Another ridiculous guy, huh? I thought she was exaggerating but now that I met him, she's actually selling him short.'
He looked around and the feeling that he was getting from them was similar to the Captain-level Shinigami, 'The four of them are quite young, similar to Kurosaki Ichigo, but the two of them are definitely veterans.'
Similarly, Sirzechs and Crom could also tell that Tenjirou is a battle-hardened individual with a vast amount of experience.
"I heard that you're looking for people with strong bodies. What do you have for us?" Sairaorg excitedly asked.
"Indeed, but I'm not exactly looking for someone with a durable body." The others were confused but Tenjirou suddenly took a step back and a massive, almost deadly, unknown pressure suddenly pushed them down.
"Hic!" Gasper immediately started trembling from fear and hugged Sairaorg's arm. He has already matured from his high school days but it seems that he's still the overreacting guy.
Meanwhile, Vali, Sairaorg, and Yuuto frowned as they endured the pressure that directly weighed down on their consciousness.
On the other hand, Crom remained unperturbed and Sirzechs kept his smiling face without any change to it.
A few seconds later, the pressure disappeared as if it was just an illusion, "There's a popular saying you see? A healthy body is a healthy mind. That also applies to the souls most of the time and it'll probably take a long time for the Sitri girl to look for people with strong souls." Tenjirou explained, "And just now, I tested if you indeed have enough."
Sairaorg sighed, "So, did we pass?"
"The three of you just barely." Tenjirou turned around and started walking towards the halls of the ryokan, "Follow me."
The men looked at each other and wondered who the three people were and started guessing among themselves. Crom is an Evil Dragon and Dragons are known for their strong souls as they age. Sirzechs is a Super Devil who transforms himself into something ridiculous. In any case, the two of them are obviously not the bare passers.
On the other side of the spectrum, they guessed that Gasper who still can't get his scaredy-cat behavior in order most of the time and pretty much was forced to come here with the scrawny body he has is probably one of the bare passers, which mean, two of the three men who are in the same generation are with him.
While Yuuto is arguably the weakest of them, he still won't back down since the power of the soul is something ambiguous and doesn't always pertain to abilities, "Should we ask him who's who?" He asked with a light tone.
"Let's just wait and see. Since he needs that specific criteria, we'll figure that out with what he wants to do." Vali answered, as unbothered as ever.
At this moment, Sairaorg suggested with a grin on his face, "Shall we bet?"
Tenjirou heard this but didn't say anything. He was actually surprised that all of them passed but more than that, he was shocked that the trembling scrawny guy who had the face of a woman had a soul on par with the crimson-haired man and the black-blonde man, 'You really can't just the book by its cover.'
.
.
.
With just towels on their waists, the men lined up before the steaming and bubbling milky white hotspring, "Are you stewing something here?" Asked Gasper while trying to figure out what he was looking at.
"Stop standing around and get in." Tenjirou stepped into the hot spring and while he was at it he 'lightly' patted Gasper's back, causing him to be thrown off from the edge and into the center of the hot spring.
"Uwaahh!!!" Gasper hurriedly closed his eyes as he smashed himself into the strange white substance. Although he's scrawny, that's only in comparison with the rest of the people here and in reality, he is much more durable than most people out there. So when his nose hit the floor, it only stinged him for a bit.
He immediately resurfaced his head and complained, "That's so mean." But at the same time, he realized that his fears were unfounded as he settled himself in the 'water', "Wait... This isn't as bad as I thought. It's a bit hotter than normal hot springs, but there's a soothing feeling. And there's also something leaking out from me, though I can't tell what it is."
Hearing that, Tenjirou chuckled, "Soothing eh? That's good."
Soon, Sirzechs and Crom followed in and the moment they submerged their bodies, they figured out what's its purpose. With wide eyes, Sirzechs commented in awe, "...Amazing... I didn't know something like this was possible."
"This is also the first time I've experienced something like this." These were Crom's first words since he decided to join out of curiosity, "I heard the Hindu and Celtic have something similar, but those are just rumors. Even if it's true, it'd be deep within the territory."
Of course, the other three men don't have any idea what they are talking about. While they are very curious as to what they are referring to, they keep themselves on the edge of the hotspring, feeling the threat of it.
Thanks to their instincts, they could tell that this milky hotspring is actually very dangerous. Although Gasper, Sirzechs, and Crom are already inside it, they can't easily discard the apprehension they have.
'Is it really safe?' Was the question that they kept repeating in their heads. But if they don't move in soon, those inside will think that something is strange with them and worse, they might just think that they are scared.
Swallowing a mouthful of saliva to appease his dry throat, Vali decided to take a step forward. But before he could even lift his leg, the voice of another unknown man came from behind them, "Do you mind if I join you?"
Tenjirou furrowed his brows and said, "Aizen? I thought you'd never return."