When Yuta and Unohana Retsu stepped onto the surface, Yuta's eyes shifted toward the direction of the 12th Division, sensing a disturbance.
"What's wrong?" Unohana asked calmly.
"It's nothing. You go on ahead first," Yuta replied.
Unohana nodded gently before watching him disappear into the distance. She sensed that Yuta had noticed some anomaly, but since he offered no details, she refrained from questioning him further.
…
Yuta soon arrived at the 12th Division.
At the gate stood an elegant woman in a white haori decorated with the emblem of the Shen Ding flower and six skeletal arms extending behind her. She examined the 12th Division's structure-a design distinctly discordant with the rest of the Seireitei-with mild surprise that quickly faded.
"It seems the 12th Division has undergone quite the change during my absence," Shutara Senjumaru whispered softly to herself.
Her hands remained tucked beneath her haori, but one of the puppet-like appendages behind her extended forward to open the door. Before her artificial hand could make contact, the door opened of its own accord.
Senjumaru's brows lifted slightly in surprise.
She had not expected the 12th Division's security to have grown so lax in just a few hundred years.
However, what she did not realize was that Yuta had already appeared behind her.
Yuta observed her silently, thoughts flowing quickly through his mind. According to the conversation between Shutara Senjumaru and Kurotsuchi Mayuri in the original timeline, the two had known each other in the past. Later, Senjumaru had been promoted to the Royal Guard-the Zero Division.
By conventional logic, one might assume that the line of succession for the 12th Division went: Hikifune Kirio, then Urahara Kisuke, followed by Kurotsuchi Mayuri.
Yet, if Senjumaru and Mayuri had once worked together within this division, it suggested that Senjumaru had served as captain before Hikifune Kirio's appointment.
It was peculiar. Moving directly from seated officer or vice-captain to the Zero Division was nearly impossible. Moreover, the creation of the Shin'eijō Hachirō uniform had only taken place within the past century.
Thus, Yuta deduced that the captains had likely followed this order: Shutara Senjumaru, Hikifune Kirio, Urahara Kisuke, and finally Kurotsuchi Mayuri.
Hundreds-perhaps thousands-of years ago, Senjumaru and Mayuri had worked together within the 12th Division. As his superior, she had engaged in independent research alongside him-private projects not officially recognized as division work. It was akin to holding full-time duty while conducting personal experiments on the side. No official "Research and Development Bureau" had existed at that point.
Later, for reasons of his own, Mayuri was imprisoned within the Maggot's Nest.
One hundred and ten years ago, when Urahara Kisuke became captain of the 12th Division, he discovered Mayuri's old research materials-like finding the incomplete manuscripts of some forgotten genius. Impressed by the quality of his work, Urahara personally visited the Maggot's Nest to recruit him, intending to establish the Research and Development Institute that would observe and manage phenomena across the Soul Society and the Three Realms.
With this reasoning, everything fit together neatly.
After finishing his deductions, Yuta raised his head and looked at the woman before him.
As Senjumaru entered the division grounds, the commotion she caused drew the attention of several members stationed nearby.
"Who dares trespass into the 12th Division?" one of them shouted as several officers rushed forward.
Senjumaru tilted her head slightly, faint surprise flickering in her expression. Her spiritual pressure was perfectly concealed-far beyond what any common sensor in the 12th Division should have been capable of detecting.
Had the instruments been modified in her absence? Had they advanced enough to detect even the reiatsu of the Royal Guard? Or perhaps…the current captain himself was inside?
At that moment, Nemu Kurotsuchi stepped forward and caught sight of her. Her gaze shifted to the man standing silently behind Senjumaru, and she spoke quickly:
"Captain Yuta!"
Senjumaru froze for the briefest moment. Someone was behind her? Impossible-she sensed no reiatsu at her back.
Turning slowly, she saw him. A man dressed in white with swordlike brows and clear eyes that glimmered with focus. He looked as though he had stepped directly from the canvas of some painted scroll.
"So, you are Yuta…" Senjumaru said evenly. Her pupils narrowed for only an instant before relaxing again. A captain of the 12th Division capable of constructing devices to mask his reiatsu was no surprise to her.
"I wonder what brings you here uninvited, Senjumaru-dono?" Yuta asked softly, his tone polite but guarded.
"I have merely heard of Yuta-dono's strength and wished to witness it firsthand."
As she spoke, one of the golden puppet arms behind her extended outward, its fingers reconstructing until they formed the tip of a needle. Faint, translucent threads of reiryoku wove between each segment, delicate and nearly invisible to the eye.
"Yuta-dono seems rather careless," Senjumaru said lightly. "Do you know what defines a true enemy?"
Yuta raised one eyebrow. "Enlighten me."
"The true enemy," she replied, "is one who draws so close that you cannot perceive the danger-even as it touches your body. Clothing, for example."
Her lips curved faintly. "I have already modified yours."
Yuta glanced down. The uniform he wore had changed into a white robe emblazoned with the Shen Ding flower-the same style worn by the Zero Division-now wrapped snugly around his form.
"Oh my," Senjumaru said with calm amusement. "How careless of the 12th Division's captain. I've taken advantage of you."
Her tone softened into mock courtesy. "Allow me to remind Yuta-dono-I have the bad habit of forgetting to remove my needles. If you move even slightly, they may pierce through your body as fabric follows flesh. That would be unfortunate."
Gasps rippled through the division members watching from behind.
"What's happening?" someone whispered.
"Who is she?" another demanded.
"Her reiatsu is overwhelming… Even the captain…?"
Nemu's expression hardened as she prepared to move, but Yuta's calm tone halted her.
"I don't deny your speed, Senjumaru-dono. The title of 'Thousand Hands' suits you," Yuta said, his eyes narrowing slightly. "However, you likely don't understand why I appear so relaxed… do you?"
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