Late night. Quiet streets.
The outcome of a bout with Retsu wouldn't change much; even with Shuuichi's reiatsu ceiling doubled, the base was too low. In front of Retsu, that kind of multiplier still meant nothing.
But for Retsu, the process finally carried a trace of pleasure.
Question: if you had an opponent you could hack and hack and never kill, what would you do?
(Retsu) Answer: then I'd hack him to death anyway!
Only when Shuuichi felt the Soul King fingernail fragment he'd just fused start to glow "red-hot" with warning did he manage, with much coaxing, to get the slightly high-on-battle Retsu to stop.
"This ability… not bad~"
Standing over the collapsed, exhausted Shuuichi, Retsu offered a neat verdict on his new power.
After all, it even made her break a sweat (purely from the number of swings).
So, yes—one-sided bullying could be a little fun.
Shuuichi, meanwhile, had only one thought:
"I'm done. Please end me quickly. What kind of person is this? She almost chopped my 'limitless regeneration' into 'limited.'"
"If you vanish like this again, I expect you to improve the way you did this time. Otherwise—"
Right then, Retsu felt like a smiling demon.
Otherwise what?
Say it clearly, why don't you?
Forget it—Shuuichi could guess the rest with his eyes closed.
But Soul King fragments aren't something he can just wish into his pocket.
If he were in the World of the Living, maybe he could hunt down Fullbringers; but here in Soul Society, where's he supposed to find enough Soul King fragments to power up?
No more going AWOL. That thought actually spooked him.
"Don't tell me Retsu's… taking an interest in me?"
Shuuichi shivered.
Bah, bah!
That thought was forbidden. More terrifying than her suspicion.
He hurriedly killed the stray idea.
Before dawn, without a wink of sleep, Shuuichi reported to First Division.
To lull the Kasumiooji, Genryūsai Shigekuni had approved Shuuichi's trip—per Gyoukaku's instructions—to the last sector of North Rukongai, Kenpachi Ward, to "investigate."
Now, Shuuichi had to brief Genryūsai first before entering the tightly watched Kasuōji clan manor of the Kasumiooji forebears.
"How will you explain it to them?"
Genryūsai had no interest in hearing empty updates.
Kenpachi and Kenpachi Ward… he knew the score.
He knew Shuuichi couldn't possibly "find" anything there.
"I'll tell them I discovered a terrifying force in Kenpachi Ward. That that force is why Kenpachi has his current strength."
Shuuichi produced the prepared script.
Keeping the story consistent between Genryūsai and the Kasumiooji was a choice made after careful thought.
He couldn't be sure no one on the Kasumiooji side would leak. Matching versions at least protected him.
Also, with his current status, he wasn't qualified to "know" the Soul King exists; otherwise he would have named the mysterious power as the Soul King's heart straight out.
"You want to bait them into coming out? Not a bad plan."
An old fox of a thousand years, Genryūsai caught on at once.
He mulled it over and found no major issue.
The Kasumiooji were cautious; they wouldn't be tricked that easily. But as a side play, it was fine.
"One more thing, Captain-Commander—has Kirio finished with that Bakkōtō? I'd like to reclaim it. If the Kasumiooji grow suspicious of me, I can hand it over at the right moment to dispel doubt."
Shuuichi slipped in his request.
Honestly, this bit had gone off-script. He'd figured Genryūsai would test the Bakkōtō's danger and be done in a few days.
He hadn't expected Twelfth's Captain, Kirio, to develop such a keen interest in Raika (Thunderfire). After "borrowing" it from Genryūsai, there'd been no sign of returning it.
But Raika wasn't made for prolonged tinkering. If they fully deciphered it, odds were it'd never make it back to him.
Fortunately, Genryūsai didn't care much about Raika's specific effect. If the Kasumiooji were truly dirty, they wouldn't be short one sword.
The research so far was enough.
So Genryūsai agreed without much fuss.
As for Kirio—luckily, Bakkōtō demanded very high user compatibility. In the short term, she couldn't find a good test subject to trigger Raika's core function.
She didn't mind Genryūsai's arrangement and readily returned Raika to Shuuichi.
Once he stowed Raika away, Shuuichi headed straight for the Kasuōji manor.
Two people there had been "waiting, mouths open."
He repeated more or less the same line he'd given Genryūsai. He urged Masasuke to visit the Daireishokairō (Great Spirit Book Corridor). Then, right in front of them, he displayed his brand-new power.
Faced with iron facts, even cautious Gyoukaku had to admit—he was tempted.
Just press this "heart" to your chest and—out of nowhere—you gain several times your original reiatsu ceiling.
At the same time, that unruly, unbound, feral Hollow power provided exactly what the Bakkōtō craved to devour.
That solved the worst Bakkōtō issue: where would ordinary Shinigami find enough reiatsu to keep feeding the thing?
Why hadn't Shuuichi Hollowfied? He waved it off: he was captain-class, a special case.
It wasn't critical. With results this concrete, neither Masasuke nor Gyoukaku would chase an explanation they couldn't falsify anyway.
"Heaven favors the Kasumiooji!"
That day, Masasuke rode high.
"Heaven favors me!"
That same day, Gyoukaku brimmed with pride.
"The sky over Soul Society needs to change!"
After months being crushed by Central 46 and the Gotei 13 under Genryūsai, both Masasuke and Gyoukaku screamed it in their hearts.
Pity Shuuichi wasn't there to hear. He was busy—secretly snatching Shinigami for the Kasumiooji…
…and preparing the brand-new Bankai (Final Release) function he'd just unlocked for his Zanpakutō (Soul-Cutting Sword).
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