— — — — — —
A week ago, in the Mental Space—
"…" x3
"Did you two feel that?" Uchiha Renzo asked, sweat forming on his brow. It was the first time he had felt this way.
"Danger." Aizen's expression was solemn.
"Fear." Eevee looked the same.
Uchiha, Aizen, and Eevee exchanged complicated looks as they turned toward Reverend.
"Once we hit the thirty-six mark, the absorption process will start on its own. And his plan will succeed," Uchiha said, glancing at Reverend Renzo, who was still imprisoned.
"That's what we saw in his memories," Aizen added.
"So… do we trust our instincts, which clearly warn us not to kill him… or do we still try to kill him and attempt to stop the absorption before it begins?" Eevee asked, voicing the question they had all been wrestling with.
Aizen and Uchiha Renzo stayed silent. They didn't know what to do.
After a long pause, Aizen broke the tense silence. "Remember when we all thought it was too easy? Too easy to capture someone who should be the Original Renzo and make plans for us? Even his name screamed, 'There's something wrong with me.'"
"Um…" Uchiha and Eevee nodded.
"Then what if the memories we saw were false—or only part of the truth? This is his trap." Aizen said, adjusting his glasses.
"..... Nothing makes sense to me anymore." Uchiha Renzo felt things were getting more and more complicated now.
"Wait… didn't we see the location of Reverend's body? Why don't we check it out, and while we're at it, explore this Mental Space further? A space made from the Original Blessed Land, the Space Cave, and the System—it has to be really special," Eevee said, his eyes lighting up as he outlined the plan. "Maybe we will have answers."
"That's a good idea. Should we wait for the others to explore together?" Uchiha immediately agreed.
"No," Aizen shook his head. "It will take time to gather everyone, and we might hit the thirty-six mark at any moment… let's do it now."
Eevee and Uchiha agreed, and they began exploring, using Reverend's memories as a compass and his body as the destination.
---
After a few hours—
"Well, at least he didn't lie about his power."
The trio finally reached Reverend's body, which had been hidden extremely well. They saw he was still a Rank 5 Gu Master—a mortal.
"Sigh… except for the Gu worms, which we could probably recreate with our Fantasy Creation, there's nothing useful here," Uchiha muttered after thoroughly searching the body.
"Something doesn't add up," Aizen said, scanning the surroundings.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"It's called a SPACE Cave for a reason. There should be a vast space here, one whose end we can't even see…" Aizen's gaze grew sharper, more suspicious. "Fusing the Blessed Land with the System part must be true, according to the memories. That should explain everything about our situation. But why is our Mental Space so small? Not worthy of the name 'Space.' Sure, it's large enough for thirty-six people, but in the context of a Space Cave, that's nothing."
"…"
Uchiha and Eevee exchanged shocked looks. Yeah, why was that?
Without hesitation, Aizen raised his Zanpakutō and began slashing at random.
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
One blow after another struck, but the force barely went anywhere, as if an invisible wall were blocking his attacks.
Eevee and Uchiha glanced at each other and nodded. They joined in.
One hour passed.
Two hours.
"Let's all focus on one spot," Aizen said.
"Got it."
Three more hours—then CRACK!
"Did you hear that?" Eevee's eyes lit up.
"Activate your Rinne-Sharingan! The crack is over there!" Uchiha shouted.
CRAAASH—SHHHHHHHHHH!
The invisible barrier had shattered like glass, revealing the shocking scene behind it.
What lay beyond was beyond anything they had imagined. They couldn't believe their eyes.
"It's another one."
"Yeah, it's the same design."
"Unbelievable."
"Now that makes sense."
The three stared in shock at the scene before them. It was something they had seen countless times, almost every day, yet seeing it here blew their minds.
Still, they could feel things starting to become clearer. The truth was nearer than they ever realized
.
.
.