"Tch. You're my fiancé anyway. So what if I'm not wearing clothes? What's the big fuss?"
Inside the room.
Yoruichi Shihōin had returned to her human form and was currently pulling one of Kai's shirts—which was a size too big for her—over her head.
"That doesn't mean you should be so sudden. Why didn't you say something first?"
Kai looked helpless as he tossed a pair of pants over, landing them squarely on Yoruichi's face.
"My, my. Could it be that you're shy?"
Yoruichi laughed heartily, tossing the pants aside. She draped an arm around Kai's shoulders, then bumped him teasingly with her own.
Kai: "..."
Hey, you brat. Don't frame an innocent man!
"You didn't come here just to tease me or see me, did you?"
Pushing Yoruichi's head away, Kai sat cross-legged on the bed, looking at the woman before him.
Her purple hair was tied in a ponytail, her eyes were golden, and her skin was a healthy wheat color. Every move she made radiated the aura of a mature woman.
"Ah... I assume with your intellect, you've already guessed the purpose of my visit."
Yoruichi leaned in close, resting against Kai as she asked with a smile, "Do you want to meet Kisuke? He really wants to see you."
"Kisuke Urahara wants to meet me?"
Kai thought for a moment, then suddenly asked, "If I refuse, what will you do? Knock me out and drag me there?"
Hearing this, Yoruichi rolled her eyes beautifully.
"If it were the 'you' from three years ago, I'd be absolutely confident I could subdue you easily."
"But if it's the 'you' right now... I'm afraid you've already fully mastered the power of 'Bankai', haven't you?"
Yoruichi tilted her head, observing Kai's profile.
Although she didn't know exactly how strong Kai was at this moment, there was one thing she could be certain of.
A Kai who had mastered Bankai had undoubtedly reached the pinnacle of Soul Reaper strength—a Captain-class combatant who stood above the vast majority of Soul Reapers.
She had only truly started paying attention to this man three years ago.
Before that, although the engagement existed, Yoruichi had always treated it as a verbal agreement. For an independent woman like her, such engagements were invalid.
But three years ago, when Kai was attacked by a Menos and nearly died, Yoruichi had secretly infiltrated Soul Society. After contacting him for the first time, she quickly acknowledged his worth.
Whether in power, talent, or intellect, Kai was a top-tier choice.
Perhaps stimulated by the near-death experience, his communication with his Zanpakutō deepened, allowing him to master Shikai and begin touching upon Bankai in just a few days.
After that, the "big picture" perspective and foresight Kai demonstrated shocked Yoruichi even more.
Yoruichi truly hadn't expected that in the hundred years since her defection, while no one else noticed the internal rot in Soul Society, a mere Academy student would detect it.
What was even more shocking was that Kai had deduced Aizen's existence from mere traces.
It was this series of events that made Yoruichi fully accept Kai's identity and tacitly agree to the engagement.
It was terrifying.
He was just an Academy student, not even a probationary Soul Reaper. In such a green stage of his life, with zero intelligence sources, he had deduced Aizen's existence through sheer analysis.
Aside from her, Kisuke Urahara, and the Visoreds (Shinji Hirako's group), no one else in the entire Gotei 13 had noticed Aizen's anomaly.
Including the Captain-Commander!
Aizen's camouflage was that terrifying; his "good guy" persona was deeply ingrained in everyone's hearts.
Yoruichi suddenly realized that she had likely been underestimating her fiancé all along.
Even now, Yoruichi felt she might still be underestimating him.
But this outstanding fiancé was... overly cautious.
No, he was way, way, way too cautious.
He possessed such power and talent, and he had already proven himself to her, yet he remained this prudent.
She didn't know if she should call it a flaw or a virtue.
Of course, in Yoruichi's eyes... it was actually kind of cute?
"Does mastering 'Bankai' automatically make someone strong?" Kai scratched his head.
"Does mastering 'Bankai' not make someone strong?" Yoruichi's eyes widened, barely resisting the urge to launch a cat-scratch at his face.
For Soul Reapers, generally speaking, Shikai boosts spiritual pressure by at least five times, and Bankai boosts it by at least ten times.
Simply put, just mastering Bankai gives one fifty times the spiritual pressure of a normal Soul Reaper.
But in reality, that data isn't even accurate.
Because after mastering Shikai, a Soul Reaper's spiritual pressure limit—the "capacity" of their reiryoku—increases.
And the limit increase after mastering Bankai is geometric.
So, a Captain-class Soul Reaper's spiritual pressure isn't just "fifty times stronger" than a normal one.
If that level of power can't be called "strong," then what can be?
"I feel like just mastering 'Bankai' isn't strong enough," Kai thought for a moment and said.
At the very least, you'd need to reach the "Sixth Fusion State"—the "Muken Aizen" (Chair-sama) level during the Thousand-Year Blood War to be considered truly strong, right?
"What exactly is your definition of a 'strong person'?" Yoruichi looked at him with suspicion and confusion. Was her fiancé being too cautious?
"I think... someone who can single-handedly suppress all the forces of Hueco Mundo and Soul Society... that should count as a strong person."
After a pause, Kai added, "I'm not asking for too much. Just being as strong as Captain-Commander Yamamoto is fine."
Yoruichi: "???"
So that's how you've been defining 'strong' this whole time?
I think there's something wrong with your brain.
Seeing Yoruichi's expectant expression, Kai pondered for a few seconds, then nodded in agreement. "Since Kisuke Urahara wants to see me, let's meet. It just so happens... I have some questions for him too."