Inside the medical tent, Kotetsu Isane was gloomily organizing medical supplies in the storage area.
After five days of the expedition, the number of casualties in the team had already reached an alarming level.
Countless Shinigami had suffered minor or major injuries, and the death toll had reached 22, of which 10 were students of the Shinō Spiritual Academy.
You should know that only 128 students were graduating from the sixth year this year.
In just five days, nearly one in ten had lost their lives.
If she hadn't insisted on bringing more medical supplies, the death count might have been even higher.
But compared to the number of casualties in the team, what frustrated Isane the most was the disappearance of that man.
When the curtain at the entrance of the tent lifted, Isane thought new wounded were being brought in, and without turning around, she immediately began issuing instructions.
"Please, place the injured on empty bed number three. I'll be right—"
"Kotetsu-san, I'm back."
That familiar voice startled Kotetsu Isane, and the bandage in her hand fell to the floor with a soft thud.
She immediately stood up and turned around. When she saw the familiar figure beside Captain Unohana, tears instantly welled up in her eyes.
"Saito-kun!"
Isane almost ran to him but stopped at the last moment and began checking Arata's body with trembling hands.
"Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere? Let me see…"
Arata looked at the reserved lieutenant in front of him, who always seemed a bit naive and shy, and felt guilty seeing how shaken she was because of him.
He gently pressed her wrist and said, "Kotetsu-san, I'm fine, just a bit weak."
"That's good… Saito-san is not dead…" Her voice trembled with uncontrolled sobs, and her fingers unconsciously tightened, her nails almost digging into Arata's skin.
Arata could feel how Isane's spiritual pressure was fluctuating violently. It was obvious that the emotions she had long suppressed and kept on the verge of breaking had finally surged to the surface.
"Isane." The quiet voice of Unohana Retsu rang out.
She approached, gently patted her lieutenant on the back, and signaled her to calm down.
"Let Arata-kun lie down and rest first. We can talk about everything else later."
"Yes… yes, Captain." Isane took a deep breath and forced herself to gradually calm down.
But the tears in her eyes still didn't stop flowing; perhaps precisely because she wasn't good at expressing emotions, she had completely lost control when facing such a situation for the first time.
Isane led Arata to a bed in the deepest part of the tent, which was specially reserved for severely injured members of the team.
Arata was just about to say he didn't need such a good bed, but he was stopped by Unohana Retsu's determined, murderously sharp gaze.
You don't casually pull a tiger's whiskers.
Let alone a tigress's.
"Lie down." Unohana Retsu's tone allowed no objection; then she activated the medical equipment next to the bed.
He remembered that the Fourth Division had requested these devices from the Twelfth Division.
Arata obediently lay down and let Isane begin examining his body.
At the same time, Amagai Shūsuke, Soi-Fong, and the others also rushed over as soon as they heard the news. As soon as they entered the tent, they saw Arata lying on the bed, and expressions of pure relief appeared on their faces.
Great, we can finally strike one death off the personnel list!
He felt the spiritual pressure of the other party cautiously entering his body, and the Void Mask he was wearing perfectly simulated the state of severe injury.
His spiritual pressure was weak but stable, and there were still traces of poison in his blood.
"Spiritual pressure is severely depleted, internal organs slightly damaged, and unknown toxin residues detected in the blood…" Kotetsu Isane was checking and recording, her brows becoming increasingly furrowed.
"Saito-san, what exactly happened to you?"
The tent suddenly fell silent, and all eyes turned to Arata.
Somehow, Unohana Retsu's gaze was particularly sharp.
"I…" Arata coughed lightly and lowered his voice a little: "That day, for the safety of the other team members, I deliberately lured the three Adjuchas that were chasing me deeper into the desert."
"In the end, I managed to kill them, but one of the scorpion-type Hollows poisoned me…"
Then Arata slowly spun his tale.
After killing the three Adjuchas, he had lost too much blood and was poisoned, unable to move. Just as he was on the verge of losing consciousness, a blurry silhouette appeared in his field of vision.
When he woke up again, he found himself lying in an unknown cave.
His wounds and toxins had also been roughly treated.
"Arata-kun, did you see who saved you?" Unohana Retsu suddenly asked.
"I don't know." Arata calmly met Unohana Retsu's gaze. "The person wore a mask and didn't reveal their face."
"They just left me some food and water and left. When I regained some mobility, I immediately started making my way back based on memory."
He silently thanked the heavens for the protection of the Void Mask; otherwise, lying in front of a death god of this level would have been nearly impossible.
The tent fell silent again. Everyone believed Arata's story, but they were regretful that the identity of the mysterious person wasn't uncovered.
Unohana Retsu nodded thoughtfully.
She didn't pursue the topic further. Unohana Retsu dismissed everyone except Isane and personally began administering kaidō treatment to Arata.
Arata took it as an opportunity to relax and enjoy himself before returning to Soul Society.
It had to be said that Unohana was truly worthy of being the ancient captain with a thousand years of experience. Her treatment method was simply incredible; together with Isane, she gave him a dual-treatment session.
Although Arata had never been in any sort of earthly paradise in his past life, he dared to swear this technique was at least a hundred times better than any. He felt so comfortable that he immediately drifted off to sleep.
…
When Arata woke up again, he found himself lying on a stretcher that was being moved.
Around him were marching expedition troops.
The pale moonlight of Hueco Mundo was still there, but everything from the temporary base had already been packed up and everyone was heading toward the special gate.
"Arata, you're awake?" A familiar male voice rang in his ear.
Arata raised his head and saw Hisagi Shūhei walking beside the stretcher, leaning on a cane.
Arata nodded slightly, noticing that all three of them were injured to varying degrees.
Hisagi was the most seriously wounded; half his shoulder and leg were wrapped in thick bandages. The stomachs of Kanisawa and Aoga were also bandaged with gauze, on which faint traces of dried blood could still be seen.
"I heard from Shiba Kaien-san that you did something big and killed three Adjuchas on your own…" There was an unprecedented tone of admiration in Hisagi's voice.
"The three of us fought bitterly just to barely help Shiba Kaien-san take down one Gillian, and even then, we were just assisting on the side." Kanisawa chimed in, looking at Arata with immense envy in his eyes.
"Everyone's saying you might be the strongest graduate of the Shinō Spiritual Academy ever."
Arata stiffened at Kanisawa's words. That title wasn't exactly a good thing.
Although he believed he had long surpassed any unit of measure for combat power, he absolutely didn't consider himself qualified to be compared with monsters like Kyōraku Shunsui, Ukitake Jūshirō, or Aizen Sōsuke.
He quickly changed the subject: "Let's not talk about that. What's the situation with casualties in the team?"
The expressions on the trio's faces darkened immediately. Hisagi lowered his voice: "More than twenty Shinigami from the expedition team have died, and of the sixth-year students… only forty-six of us remain."
This number gripped Arata's heart.
Even though he expected it, even though he had mentally prepared himself beforehand, it was still hard to hear it for real.
He remembered the faces of those who practiced kendo with him at the academy, now buried forever beneath the sand dunes of Hueco Mundo.
———
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