The moment Nobu drew his Zanpakutō, Unohana Retsu sensed something strange.
She couldn't feel even the slightest fluctuation in his reiatsu. She could clearly see the ripples of reishi radiating from him, yet what she sensed was the same as always — his usual spiritual pressure.
Steady.
But this clearly wasn't right. If she hadn't been watching with her own eyes, if she had relied only on her perception of reishi, she would never have thought Nobu was doing anything at all.
And yet, the fact remained: Nobu had already begun using his Zanpakutō's power.
The tachi, with its vivid crimson fittings, slid slowly free. The blade shimmered with a cold light that seemed to seep into the bone, its spine still marked with that striking red. Nobu set it beside Ukitake's shoulder. Ripples of reishi — visible to the naked eye — spread outward, forming a barrier almost transparent in color, enclosing the two of them.
Unohana kept her gaze fixed on the scene before her. Even with the barrier right in front of her, she could not sense a single pulse of reiatsu within it. It was as if another world had been placed between them.
Was this the ability of his Zanpakutō?
A flicker of surprise stirred in her heart. She was growing less and less certain about the true nature of Nobu's power.
As his own reishi began to trickle into Ukitake's body, Nobu felt at once the vast, ocean-like tide of spiritual power contained within.
Ukitake Jūshirō — an old and seasoned captain of the Gotei 13. Even though he lived in a constant state of illness, his reiatsu was still terrifying in scale. If Nobu's spiritual pressure hadn't reached the standard of Third-Class Reiatsu, he would never have boasted that he could treat Ukitake.
"Nobu-kun, have you begun?" Ukitake's voice came, a touch tense.
Nobu's reply was calm. "Captain Ukitake, you just need to relax."
Their voices could neither be heard nor seen by Unohana.
The reishi barrier sealed everything inside from the outside. This was no ordinary kido barrier — it was the rule-bound power of Nobu's Zanpakutō. Everything Unohana saw was merely a reishi mimicry.
In truth, Nobu's Zanpakutō was always worn on him — only invisible to others.
Inside the barrier, everything was placed into a state of absolute stillness.
This was one of the powers of Nobu's two Zanpakutō.
"Stagnation."
He could halt any event, object, or concept in place.
For example — back in the Academy, during that trip to the World of the Living when his squad encountered a Menos Grande. Nobu had, in truth, taken a direct hit from it. Later, he had also taken a Raikōhō blast from that cloaked man.
The reason he remained unscathed was his Zanpakutō's ability. By halting his own body, he could prevent its state from being changed by any external force.
In other words, as long as he was uninjured at this moment, he could keep his body in perfect condition indefinitely.
This ability wasn't limited to himself — it could also be used on external objects.
During his match against Shingyōji Ōgi in Fourth Division, the reishi heart Nobu had built inside the "Reishi Reconstruction Device" had been frozen in the instant of its formation — by this very same Stagnation.
Ukitake said nothing more, simply following instructions to relax his whole body as much as possible.
He felt an unfamiliar reishi moving through his body, gathering at his lungs and chest — and then, all at once, his own reishi went violently out of control. His face went pale-green, and he coughed up a great mouthful of blood.
Nobu staggered, eyes widening.
He could clearly feel it — some indescribably terrible force inside Ukitake, rejecting and resisting him, making even the blade in his hand tremble.
Ukitake's coughing worsened, blood spilling from the corners of his mouth.
Nobu's brow furrowed sharply. He suddenly withdrew all reishi and released his Zanpakutō's power.
Only then could Unohana see what had actually happened. A moment ago, her vision had shown Nobu simply holding his blade at Ukitake's shoulder — and in the next instant, Ukitake was doubled over, coughing blood, with a dark pool spreading on the floor as if from nowhere. It was like a mirror had suddenly shattered, revealing the scene behind it.
Her fine brows drew together. "What happened?"
Nobu drew a deep breath. "Bit of a problem."
He thought for a moment, then said suddenly, "I'll need both of you to help with something next. Captain — please set up a barrier inside this room. One that completely prevents reiatsu from leaking out."
Although Unohana didn't know what he intended, she chose to comply.
Nobu turned to Ukitake. "Captain Ukitake, I'll need you to release as much reiatsu as possible — all of it if you can — leaving only a small portion inside."
Ukitake paused. "If my release is too strong, my body may—"
"Rest assured, you won't come to harm."
Ukitake wiped the blood from his mouth. "…Alright."
As the most senior captain in the Gotei 13, Unohana's mastery of kidō and barriers was no less than her medical skill. In short order, she had sealed the entire room.
Nobu's reasoning was simple: Ukitake's reiatsu was too strong. It had to be vented. And the barrier was to ensure that when it flared, it wouldn't alert all of Seireitei.
Ukitake sat quietly. Moments later, streams of reishi became visible around him — and then swelled violently. A crushing wave of reiatsu flooded the room.
The pressure was so great it rattled the medical instruments all around them.
Fortunately, Unohana's barrier held; otherwise, the room itself might not have survived.
Nobu was prepared. Sitting right beside Ukitake, he was unaffected. Unohana, too, remained composed.
This "flood release" of reiatsu lasted for a full minute.
Then Ukitake was coughing blood again, looking exhausted.
"That's enough," Nobu said at the right moment.
The room's reishi density had grown so thick it was hard to breathe.
Nobu raised his Zanpakutō again. Reishi surged into Ukitake's body, rushing through every limb and bone, wrapping around his lungs entirely.
Ukitake felt utterly drained. That burst of reiatsu had put enormous strain on his lungs, making it hard to breathe — and having another's reishi filling his body was deeply unpleasant.
Once again, Nobu felt the force within Ukitake's lungs — but now, with so little of Ukitake's reishi remaining, it resisted far less fiercely than before.
"Got you…" Nobu murmured.
Ukitake's eyes went wide, his expression twisting in pain. Black, luminous matter suddenly appeared on his bare upper body, forming the outline of lungs across his chest and back.
Unohana's pupils shrank.
What was this…?
She had always known Ukitake's illness was not simple — but she knew nothing of Mimihagi.
Ukitake gave a sound of pain, his mouth opening involuntarily. The black substance inside him surged upward, bursting from his mouth to form a massive hand in midair — an eye embedded on the back of it.
The sight was both eerie and horrifying. No one would imagine such a thing lurking inside Ukitake all this time.
A chill ran through Unohana. This… this had to be the root of his illness.
Once all of the black matter had left Ukitake's body, Nobu quickly raised his blade. The thing was not humanoid, but he could feel its malice toward him.
"Captain! Captain Unohana! I'm leaving him to you!"
Unohana's gaze sharpened. She stepped forward, pressing her hand to Ukitake — and was startled to find him already at death's door.
Nobu didn't spare them another glance. His eyes stayed fixed on the black hand in the air.
The reishi barrier spread outward from him, enclosing both himself and the hand. The hand seemed aware — it sensed the barrier's nature. It swelled violently, shooting out countless tendrils of black matter that clung to the barrier like a spreading virus, trying to consume it entirely.
The right hand of the Soul King — master of cessation.
In terms of ability, it was eerily close to Nobu's own Zanpakutō.
It had emerged from Ukitake's body because it had sensed Nobu's blade — drawn to it.
The black matter devoured the barrier, forming a massive half-sphere of darkness.
Ching!
A blade being drawn — but this time, in Nobu's other hand, a second sword had appeared. Unlike the crimson tachi, this was a short blade like a wakizashi, with a black hilt, a yellow tassel, and a snow-white blade bright and beautiful.
At the same time, Nobu's reiatsu flared — fierce and unrestrained. The black sphere that had been about to engulf him began rapidly shrinking.
The black hand seemed to realize something, stirring restlessly in midair.
In moments, the black matter clinging to the barrier had withdrawn. The hand trembled violently — then dived toward Nobu.
Nobu's expression didn't change. Just before it reached him, the hand vanished from in front of him — and reappeared back where it had been.
It lunged again — and the same thing happened. Like a character in a game suffering lag, it would rush forward only to snap back to its starting point.
Over and over it tried, unwilling to accept it. The few meters between it and Nobu became a distance it could never cross.
"Regression."
The power of Nobu's other blade — Higan.
It could return any event, object, or concept to a previous point in its own history.
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T/N: so it can freeze something to a moment in time and the other blade reverses it in time, so only missing future
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