"Speaking of which, whose Zanpakuto abilities are the 'Forbidden' you used this time and the 'Ame-no-Minaka' from last time? Why have I never seen them?"
Unohana fell into deep thought.
Memories from the past constantly replayed in her mind.
In the hundreds of years, she had never encountered a Zanpakuto with such powerful abilities.
Someone with such power couldn't possibly be unknown.
Could these abilities come from mysterious figures lurking in the shadows, afraid to reveal their identities?
If so, they couldn't be overlooked.
If they were the enemy's abilities, it would be dangerous to fall victim to them unknowingly.
Unohana silently praised her own caution, nodded slightly, and snapped back to reality.
In her eyes, there was no Zanpakuto; a man's face was right in front of her.
If she were an ordinary girl, she would have shyly recoiled.
However, Unohana showed no reaction, merely a calm peck on Aozaki's lips.
"You little rascal, can you tell me now?" Unohana's voice held a hint of tenderness and teasing.
Aozaki smiled faintly, taking a soft hand, whose skin, despite years of sword practice, was fair and smooth, without any calluses.
"Alright, alright, I'll tell you the truth. Those two blades didn't come from anywhere; I created them."
Unohana paused slightly, a surprised expression on her face.
She tightly gripped Aozaki's hand and asked in confusion:
"You've learned to forge Zanpakuto?"
Unohana stroked her chin in thought, silently marveling at Aozaki's talent.
That he could learn the art of forging Zanpakuto, an art no one else could master, was truly astonishing.
But thinking of this, she let out a dissatisfied huff, recalling the person who had taught Aozaki.
"That guy didn't lead you astray, did he?" Unohana frowned.
Unohana had met Nimaiya Ōetsu once.
That time, he came to pick up Kirinjii Tenjiro to ascend to the heavens.
He seemed frivolous and impetuous, not like a good person.
"He lead me astray? It'd be good if I didn't lead him astray!"
Aozaki thought, with a good sense of self-awareness.
What was a guy who played with blades?
He had played with stranger things!
Aozaki couldn't help but think of Harribel, then coughed twice, cleared his throat, and said with a profound expression:
"It's not just forging Zanpakuto. One day, not to mention Zanpakuto, I might even be able to create worlds and futures."
"Is that so?"
Unohana looked at him suspiciously.
Creating worlds, what was the difference between that and a god?
No, even the gods in legends were born after the world existed.
Possessing such ability would undoubtedly make him the God of Gods, the supreme Creator!
An overbearing Creator falling in love with me, someone nearly two thousand years old?
This was even more unbelievable than the romance novel plots Shunsui could come up with.
"Create a world for me to see," Unohana said lightly.
Aozaki coughed, explaining somewhat awkwardly:
"Ahem... didn't I say 'one day', not today?"
"I haven't had this ability for long, and I'm still in the exploratory phase. At most, I can create small things like Zanpakuto."
Aozaki tried to save face, but it didn't seem to work.
Unohana narrowed her eyes, staring at him with a sharp gaze, as if questioning whether he was joking.
Her expression exuded an invisible pressure, as if warning Aozaki not to joke around with her lightly.
Aozaki was so unnerved by her gaze that he immediately realized he might be in trouble tonight.
He tried to compose himself and then said:
"Actually, I have an idea."
Unohana said nothing, just quietly watched him, waiting for him to continue.
"You know the Souls of the First Generation Captains are still in my hands."
Aozaki took a deep breath, finally speaking his mind.
"So I've been trying recently to let them live again within the Three Worlds."
Upon hearing this, Unohana looked up, her gaze fixed intently on Aozaki, and asked with a slightly hurried voice:
"What's the result? Did you succeed?"
Although she could unhesitatingly plunge her sword into an opponent's chest during battle, these were, after all, comrades with whom she had once entrusted her life. To say she had no feelings for them at all would be false.
People, sometimes, are like this: the older they get, the more they care about things they wouldn't have given a second thought to before.
"Not yet, but I won't give up," Aozaki said truthfully.
After a long silence, Unohana tilted her head and smiled at Aozaki:
"I believe you."
Hearing her gentle tone, Aozaki stopped walking and looked back.
Seeing Unohana's gentle expression, he felt his heart beat rapidly.
He smiled, ignoring the passersby, and princess-carried the rarely shy elder sister.
After returning to the underground laboratory, Aozaki handed Unohana over to Michibane Aura, then moved in light form, leaving the Aozaki Family and heading towards the Shinigami Research and Development Institute.
Inside, Kurotsuchi Mayuri remained engrossed in his research.
Although the war was over.
But don't forget, Aozaki's exploitation of him has never ended since he left the Maggot's Nest.
And because Aozaki's power was growing stronger, he couldn't refuse now even if he wanted to.
Aozaki had a thousand ways to kill him without anyone knowing.
A thousand ways!
Ways that even the old man couldn't protect him from!!
So, Kurotsuchi Mayuri and Aozaki's original cooperative relationship now resembled unilateral exploitation.
Actually, for Kurotsuchi Mayuri, whether it was exploitation or not didn't really matter.
After all, it was all scientific research; as long as it satisfied his research desires, it was fine.
Kurotsuchi Mayuri's most desired research subject right now was Aozaki.
Such an extraordinary life form, letting him run around freely was a waste. He really wanted to dissect him properly.
Although with Aozaki's regenerative abilities, even if he were dissected, he'd be fine.
But Kurotsuchi Mayuri truly dared not ask for it.
Crossing Aozaki's bottom line could truly be fatal.
He could still distinguish between a full meal and constant full meals.
So he could only settle for the next best thing: listening to Aozaki's wild ideas and discovering more interesting research topics.
For example, the Auswählen blocking experiment Aozaki once asked him to conduct.
Fighting against the legendary Quincy King was indeed very interesting.
Kurotsuchi Mayuri looked at Aozaki, letting out a terrifying, grotesque laugh that could scare children to tears:
"As expected of Captain Aozaki, you really stole the show this time."
"If it weren't for Captain Aozaki, I'm afraid the history of the Soul Society would have already come to an end."
This was a matter concerning the safety of the entire Three Worlds; no one could remain uninvolved.
Especially for a mad scientist like Kurotsuchi Mayuri, being sent to hell was a torment worse than death.
Without anything to research, it would be more satisfying to simply have his Soul destroyed.
This was also why Kurotsuchi Mayuri was willing to cooperate with Urahara Kisuke in researching hell.
Aozaki narrowed his eyes:
"You didn't call me here just to flatter me, did you?"
"Of course not. Here, this is what you wanted."
With that, Kurotsuchi Mayuri pulled open a drawer, took out a vial of medicine and a stack of documents, and handed them to Aozaki.