Chapter 34: What Is a "Binding Chain"
Led by the head of the Tsunayashiro clan, a group of nobles conspired to replace the Soul King and become new gods—though the embarrassing part was that their power was nowhere near his level.
Once the Soul King stopped appearing, chaos descended upon the three realms.
On the eastern side — the Soul Society's Shinigami, the Quincy, and the Hollows. On the western side — the wizards and dragons. Even the minor factions that were rarely seen began surfacing to snatch a share of the disorder.
In just a few years, the vast three realms turned into one massive battlefield — countless powers rose simultaneously, and the sheer spectacle of it all made even the Thousand-Year Blood War look tame. The blinding lights of all those grand techniques nearly burned Mizuma's eyes out.
Amidst that chaos, he finally witnessed the debut of Little Red — or rather, its ancestors.
Back before the East and West Divisions had split, Little Red's parents had already been followers of the Soul King. After the realms were stabilized, the Soul King invited them to live in a small sub-world, entrusting them with the duty of guarding the Divine Sword. Naturally, their child — the one now known as "Little Red" — inherited that same responsibility.
That life continued peacefully — until the Soul King "died."
Somehow, Little Red's parents discovered the truth — that it was all a conspiracy of the Shinigami. Furious, they decided to take their entire family and go teach the four noble clans a lesson.
To be honest, Mizuma admired that level of loyalty and courage.
The problem was… the first ones they went after were the Urahara clan.
Leaving their child at home to watch over the sword, the two elder dragons departed — never to return. When Little Red eventually grew restless and tried to go look for them, Urahara Rinka herself appeared in the trial grounds, beat the dragon within an inch of its life, and threatened,
"Your parents are in my hands. Stay here and perform your duty, or I'll kill your whole family."
From Mizuma's perspective, it was obvious Rinka had ulterior motives — otherwise, she could've just finished the dragon off and taken the sword then and there.
But apparently, Little Red was… a bit naive. It believed her.
Years passed — who knows if it ever figured it out.
And how did Mizuma know all this?
Because he had just watched the entire scene unfold — a brutal flashback of Urahara Rinka storming the trial grounds and mercilessly beating Little Red with that chain. Everything he knew came straight from their dialogue.
It seemed that during that ancient war, equipment evolved rapidly, and because Little Red's parents were so strong, Rinka modified the chain in their battle, turning it into a "Binding Chain" — a weapon specifically designed to counter their kind. Each strike delivered critical damage, stunning and repelling them with every hit. The weapon made it possible for someone much weaker to completely dominate one of their race.
That was Rinka's own explanation.
After that, there wasn't much worth seeing — the chain was eventually replaced by newer gear, left to collect dust in Urahara's vault for ages, then somehow lost, passed from hand to hand until it finally ended up with one Katani Shinno of the Central 46.
The vision ended there.
Mizuma's body turned into white light and reappeared in the cavern.
He took a few moments to organize the information in his mind — and soon, a grin spread across his face.
"Perfect. I can spin a killer story out of this."
Clenching his fist, Mizuma exhaled in relief.
Now, only one thing remained.
He lifted the chain and grabbed the tip, holding it in one hand while raising the other.
"Hadō #1 — Shō."
The weak white burst of spiritual energy struck the chain — which didn't move an inch.
Instead, it absorbed the white light like a whale drinking in water. The chain trembled violently, and its tip opened up like a mouth, spitting out an old wooden tag.
Mizuma crouched down and picked it up.
It was about two centimeters thick, shaped like a kite-shield, with the character "信" (Faith) engraved on its surface.
After examining it for a moment, he realized it could absorb spiritual energy — so he tried channeling a bit into it.
The grooves in the wood glowed white, and an odd wave of kidō energy bounced back toward his body.
"Huh…?"
He raised his hand — and saw that his appearance had turned into a barely discernible blur, as though covered by a shimmering mosaic.
A disguise function?
…No. Reiatsu Chikaku couldn't penetrate it either!
He had only given it a tiny trickle of energy — not even enough to cast the weakest Hadō spell — yet it could create an effect this incredible.
Damn, the Soul King's artifacts were insane!
There was no time to marvel further — Mizuma checked the time and immediately broke into a sprint toward the tunnel.
—It had already been over forty minutes since his clone died in the trial grounds!
Seconds later, he arrived at the stone gate. Channeling his energy, his body was engulfed in white light and vanished.
The familiar cave returned — but this time, he no longer needed to hide his power.
With a single shunpo, Mizuma passed through the blue barrier at the end of the tunnel and entered the trial ground.
The battle was at its climax.
The two holding off Little Red were at their limits.
Lisa was half-kneeling against the wall, while Kensei gathered his remaining strength for one last desperate charge. Beside the crystal, Urahara's anxious voice echoed through the chamber as he shouted a dangerous word—
"Bank—"
Good. I made it in time.
Little Red's spiritual pressure was fading fast.
Among the three, Urahara looked to be in the best shape — he must've figured out something.
Lisa and Kensei were battered but intact — no missing limbs, just drained of energy. Good. Squad Four could patch them up easily.
"Oh my?"
A playful female voice cut through the tension.
Everyone froze — turning toward the void in their spiritual perception.
Someone stood at the entrance — cloaked entirely in distortion, her form hidden behind a veil of energy. To the naked eye, she was just a shadow in black clothing; to spiritual senses, she didn't exist at all.
It was as if a phantom from a nightmare had walked into reality.
"What's this? Am I interrupting something?"
Her clear voice carried across the chamber as she looked straight at Little Red.
"That fairy-tale dragon — you're in bad shape, huh? That battered body of yours — how are you supposed to protect the Divine Sword like that?"
"You are…?"
"A big sister here to give you some warmth."
The black-clad woman stepped forward, swinging a heavy black chain in her hand.
"So? Look familiar?"
"The Binding Chain?!"
Little Red's pupils constricted in shock, instinctively leaping back as if struck by lightning. Its voice trembled with fear.
"Where did you get that thing!?"
"Take a guess. There's a prize if you're right."
Step by step, Mizuma advanced, the dragon retreating unconsciously before him — the sight of the chain clearly triggering deep-seated trauma.
Kensei and Lisa tensed up, saying nothing. It was Urahara who finally broke the silence with the question everyone wanted answered.
<><><><>
〔TL〕
Every 100 powerstones = 2 bonus ch.
Every 2 review after 100 ps = 1 bonus ch