"Tch..."
A look of disdain flashed across Hiyori's face before she bowed to Kyoya.
"Captain Kyoya."
"Well, Lieutenant Sarugaki, I have some business with Captain Kisuke. Please inform him."
Though Hiyori was a character Kyoya was familiar with from the original work, he didn't particularly like her personality.
Fortunately, in his presence, Hiyori still had some self-awareness and didn't direct her brashness toward him.
"Tell him that if he doesn't return within an hour, I'll go looking for him myself. And when that happens, he'd better not blame me for ruining whatever he's up to."
"Tch."
Hiyori frowned as she straightened up.
It had to be said, Kisuke had a way with handling troublesome brats.
On the surface, Hiyori would still snap at Kisuke and even slap him across the face with her sandal in front of people like Shinji. But hearing Kyoya speak so dismissively of Kisuke still rubbed her the wrong way.
Luckily, Hiyori understood the priority of the situation.
Given Kyoya's current expression, it was clear that this was something serious.
As the Lieutenant of the 12th Division, Hiyori might not have had any research skills, but after serving in the division for over thirty years, and with Kisuke keeping most of the original officers after taking over, she still carried significant weight in the 12th Division.
"Understood. I'll have someone contact Captain Urahara immediately. Please wait a moment, Captain Kyoya."
"Mm."
…
"What's wrong, Kisuke?"
In a brightly lit laboratory, Yoruichi glanced up at Kisuke, curiosity in her voice.
After receiving the message delivered by a Hell Butterfly, Kisuke's expression had darkened, as though something troublesome and difficult to handle had come up.
"Yeah, my Lieutenant just sent word. Captain Kyoya is looking for me."
Kisuke nodded.
In this world, he might hide things from anyone else, but he would never lie to Yoruichi.
"Oh?"
Yoruichi chuckled, "Is he pestering you again about speeding up the gravity equipment?"
At this, she couldn't help but sigh, "I have to admit, when it comes to training, Captain Kyoya's talent and ingenuity are something else."
"I always thought you were a genius for inventing the [Gikon] that materializes Zanpakuto."
"But the weighted clothing and gravity equipment Captain Kyoya came up with? Those are perfect for training."
"If I'd had stuff like this back when I was training, my speed would be at least several times faster than it is now!"
A several-fold increase in speed would be a noticeable improvement for any ordinary Shinigami.
Not to mention, Yoruichi is the [Goddess of Flash] of the Seireitei… when it came to Shunpo, no one could match her. A several-fold increase in her speed would easily rival the boosts other Captains got from their Shikai.
"Ha, it's never too late to train. You haven't hit your peak yet."
Hearing Yoruichi's words, Kisuke grinned, "I've already made weighted clothing for you ranging from 100 kilograms to 10,000 kilograms. If you take the time to adapt and train with them, theoretically, your speed could be more than ten times what it is now."
True, the faster one became, the harder it was to improve further.
But if Yoruichi could truly adapt to a full ton of weight, removing the weighted clothing afterward would likely increase her speed by at least tenfold.
After all, Yoruichi's Shunpo mastery was already top-tier. If her physical strength improved that much, her speed would naturally skyrocket.
"Kisuke, you've got some high expectations for me. A thousand kilograms?"
Yoruichi shot Kisuke an exasperated look.
Without using Reiatsu to enhance herself, wearing 100 kilograms of weighted clothing was already enough to disrupt her daily life. Still, she rubbed her chin thoughtfully, "Hey, Kisuke, you said Kyoya's weighted clothing is thirty tons… and that's not even his limit, but the limit of the material and design..."
"Just how strong is that guy's body?"
Kisuke lowered his head, silently running calculations.
After a long moment, he shook his head, "I can't even calculate that."
"Captain Kyoya's physical strength is completely beyond my estimates."
"He wears thirty tons of weighted clothing like it's nothing, and it doesn't even hinder his movements."
"He wears three tons of weighted clothing like it's nothing, and it doesn't even hinder his movements."
"Not to mention, he keeps pressing me about the progress on the gravity equipment..."
"Clearly, for Captain Kyoya, weighted clothing plus gravity equipment is the bare minimum to have any effect on his training."
"You mentioned before that he blocked the Kuchiki kid's Zanpakuto with just a single finger. At this point, I suspect that if Captain Kyoya reinforced his defense with Reiatsu, even we might not be able to hurt him..."
"That's terrifying..."
"Huh?"
Even Yoruichi was startled by Kisuke's words.
Though she had her doubts about whether she could truly harm Kyoya, she knew Kisuke wasn't one to exaggerate.
What's more, while wearing a 100 kilogram weighted clothing significantly restricted her movements, but Kyoya carried three hundred times that weight without anyone even noticing… now that was frightening.
"Is the gap in strength really that vast?"
Yoruichi let out an awkward laugh.
She hadn't thought much about it before, but now that she did, it sent a chill down her spine.
"Well, but..."
Kisuke opened his mouth as if to say something, then shook his head and remained silent.
He had some idea of Kyoya's true strength.
But what unsettled him more was Kyoya's warning… that if he didn't meet him soon, Kyoya would come looking for him himself, and that he shouldn't blame him for 'ruining whatever he's up to'...
'Did Captain Kyoya know something?'
Kisuke was certain that aside from Yoruichi, no one else was aware of his research.
'No…'
Suddenly, the image of a certain muttering woman, or rather, Zanpakuto flashed through his mind.
The eighth Kenpachi of the 11th Division, Azashiro Kenpachi's Zanpakuto is Urozakuro!
Back then, Kisuke had been shocked to learn that a Zanpakuto could possess such a terrifying ability.
Muken, the seventh underground prison of the Seireitei, was a place devoid of time and space… a world of absolute darkness where even Reishi ceased to exist.
It had been created by the Five Great Noble Houses to imprison beings deemed 'impossible to kill'.
Given its nature, it was also called [The Endless Hell].
Anyone thrown into Muken was, without exception, a criminal judged by the Seireitei as 'irredeemably evil' yet impossible to execute.
Before confinement, their senses were completely sealed, and within Muken's void, the endless 'nothingness' would eventually erode their sanity, driving them to self-destruction.
Azashiro had once sought to transform the residents of the Rukongai into weapons and annihilate Hueco Mundo.
His Zanpakuto, Urozakuro, allowed him to merge his Reiatsu with his surroundings, granting him control over anything his Reiatsu touched.
Currently, the entirety of Soul Society's space had already been fused with his power… meaning he could manipulate the very fabric of Soul Society itself in battle.
Aside from someone like Yamamoto, whose power could erase Soul Society entirely, few posed a threat to him.
Even after turning himself in and being imprisoned in Muken, Azashiro had broken his own seals using his Zanpakuto's power, becoming the only being in Muken capable of free movement.
Through his spiritual connection with Soul Society, he observed everything that happened within it.
Naturally, that included Kisuke's experiments.
However, through Urozakuro, Kisuke also knew that Azashiro now wished only to observe, no longer interfering with the Seireitei's affairs.
It seemed that after fully merging with Soul Society, he had touched the will of the [Soul King] and learned something that made him abandon his ambitions, willingly confining himself to Muken.
Kisuke believed Kyoya might have similar means to Azashiro, and could know that some of his actions violated the rules of the Seireitei.
But from their interactions so far, he knew Kyoya didn't seem to be someone who cared about such things.
For him to issue such a direct threat now, whatever he wanted from Kisuke couldn't be simple.
"Let's go, Yoruichi."
Kisuke stood.
"We should meet with Captain Kyoya and see what he wants."
"Mm."
…
"No!"
"Absolutely not!"
In the Captain's office of the 12th Division, Kisuke slammed his hands on the desk, his voice firm.
He had expected Kyoya's request to be unusual, but he never imagined it would be this.
"Captain Kyoya, I must ask you to leave."
"This is something I cannot create."
Beside him, Yoruichi glanced between Kyoya and Kisuke, looking bewildered.
She simply didn't understand why Kyoya's request for Kisuke to create something that could decompose Soul Society's stones, soil, and trees into Reishi, and then turn these Reishi into food, would cause Kisuke to have such a big reaction.