Nezuko and Ichigo turned out to be in the same class. Yoshio hadn't pulled any strings; it just showed how, at their core, those two really were essentially the same person.
After sending them into the classroom, neither Yoshio nor Masaki lingered.
Most of the time, parents only handle drop-off and pick-up on the first day. After that, the kids go to and from school on their own.
What had happened earlier wasn't a big deal. To Masaki, Ichigo had just run into a rather hot-tempered little girl.
After chatting with Yoshio for a bit, they parted ways.
Masaki returned to the Kurosaki Clinic and said to Isshin, "Guess what happened to Ichigo today?"
Isshin was reading the paper. Hearing Masaki, he said, "Don't tell me he got into a fight with a classmate?"
Masaki smiled and recounted what happened at school.
"Kamado…"
Isshin froze for a moment, then frowned deeply.
"What is it?" Seeing Isshin drift into thought at the mention of the surname Kamado, Masaki was a little surprised.
"No, it's nothing," Isshin said. "It's just that when I was in Soul Society, I knew a Kamado—named Yoshio—and it's highly likely he was one of Aizen's men, so I'm a bit concerned."
"You're overthinking it. Kamado isn't exactly a rare surname."
"That's true." Isshin still felt a bit uneasy, but Masaki had a point.
"But now that you mention it…" Masaki suddenly tapped her lips with a finger, thought for a moment, and finally remembered something.
She said, puzzled, "Come to think of it, back when I was still living with the Ishidas, Uncle Ishida mentioned… he once knew a Quincy named Kurosaki Kamado. One Kamado, and then a Kurosaki Kamado—this time the names are really similar."
?!
Isshin's eyes widened. "Kurosaki Kamado?!"
"I don't know the details. Uncle just mentioned the name once and asked me if I knew him." Masaki shook her head.
"That is a bit strange…" Isshin mused.
"If I have time, I'll go ask Urahara. He's been around Seireitei forever; he should know something."
…
Yoshio didn't return to Seireitei. He headed to Hueco Mundo.
He had the day off, so no need to report to his division.
As Baelz's evil nodes were crystallizing faster and faster, he needed to recruit more people accordingly.
He had two candidates in mind.
One was Nnoitra, the other was Bazz-B.
Nnoitra's death-aspect was despair, so his split-off human aspect should be hope or redemption, and would likely be eager to join Wings of the World.
As for Bazz-B… similar to Baraggan. A turncoat within an organization who, once inverted, would devote loyalty to people.
And both were captain-class in strength—especially Bazz-B, who managed to help two teammates neutralize Yamamoto's enraged inferno.
Most importantly, Bazz-B hadn't even used up his Vollständig at the time!
Bazz-B was among the stronger Sternritter; after all, he was from a thousand years ago.
However, there was a problem with cutting Bazz-B. He'd have to infiltrate the Wandenreich, which was a pain.
As time passed, Yhwach was becoming ever more lucid; causing trouble in the Wandenreich was more and more risky.
Even so, Yoshio decided to try.
But first, he'd take a swing at the easier target, Nnoitra.
So Yoshio appeared in Nnoitra's room.
Compared to Baraggan, Nnoitra was much easier to deal with. Yoshio slipped in silently and, with a bit of trickery, knocked him out cold.
Then one stroke of the Blade that Rends the Heart, and a woman split off from Nnoitra.
She wore a nun's habit, her eyes limpid as water, radiating a holy light as if she were an angel.
"Your name is…?"
Yoshio looked at the woman and asked.
"Teresa," she said softly. "Yoshio-sama, what is it that you're doing?"
"Come with me first."
Yoshio opened a Garganta.
Teresa followed Yoshio into the Hell Solitude. Seeing the ground covered in Seeds of Light, she couldn't help but ask, "What is this?"
Yoshio explained his Seed of Light plan in detail. Teresa grew excited. "Yoshio-sama, can I join this plan?"
"Of course," Yoshio said. "In fact, the reason I split you off was to ask for your help. Only together can we bring hope to this world."
Teresa's soul ability was "Incarnation of Light."
"Incarnation of Light: Upon activation, you enter a holy form endowed with the power of light."
Speaking of which, he'd forgotten to mention Sōya Azashiro's soul ability earlier: "Knight of Owner."
"Knight of Owner: Anything you touch gains reishi properties and receives a degree of sublimation."
Members of Wings of the World all have at least 60 favorability toward Yoshio.
Even though Teresa had just been born, after hearing Yoshio's Seed of Light plan, her favorability hit 60.
Because he could directly see others' favorability, Yoshio felt at ease with his companions and subordinates.
If someone intended to betray him, their favorability would change.
He could detect it ahead of time.
"Teresa, what's your ability?" Yoshio asked again.
Teresa, like Hela, was human—akin to a Fullbringer with powerful abilities.
Hela's power represented the end of life—aging and frailty. So what would Teresa's power be?
Nnoitra's Resurrección revealed his true form, Santa Teresa, with six arms wielding six weapons—in plain terms, a hack-and-slash bruiser.
"My ability is the Sword of Hope."
Teresa extended her hand. In the next moment, countless rays of light condensed into matter and formed a broad-bladed sword.
"This sword, condensed from hope—if it is destroyed, the one who breaks it will be fed back despair," Teresa said.
Yoshio's expression turned odd.
This ability…
Isn't this Gerard Valkyrie's Hoffnung?!
Which makes this sword… a bruiser's nemesis!
Nnoitra was beaten to death by a bruiser. Teresa would brute-force the bruiser to death?
Yoshio sent Teresa to Brainleaf Co., asking Hela and Sōya Azashiro to temporarily teach her the purifying kidō. As for what she wanted to do next, that was up to her.
Besides purifying evil nodes, they had their own lives. They couldn't be purifying day and night—otherwise Yoshio would be a capitalist, outright exploiting them.
After wrapping that up, Yoshio still didn't return to Soul Society; he took another trip to the Hell Solitude.
He'd planned to plant the Evil Person Node on a member of the Tsunayashiro clan, but he'd killed almost all of them; that made it tricky.
He'd promised the Tsunayashiro ancestor that in exchange for soul king fragments, he'd cooperate with him.
And another crucial point…
The two remaining Tsunayashiro were too weak!
The only reason they survived the two purges against the clan was because they were weak.
A branch family's last-seat—so weak he didn't even measure up to a minor seated officer. Using a node on him would be a waste.
So, after some thought, making the Tsunayashiro clan head the Evil Person felt inappropriate.
He changed tack: if current Tsunayashiro members wouldn't do, what about former ones?
He first thought of the Tsunayashiro ancestor. If the Soul King is considered a god, then the Tsunayashiro ancestor was the most evil—evil's beginning.
But he was now in Hell; Yoshio couldn't exactly run into Hell to fuse the node into him.
Then Yoshio remembered—there was another Tsunayashiro suffering in his Hell Solitude.
Tsunayashiro Tokinada!
He'd banished Tokinada into his Hell Solitude back in the Sixth District, and to this day, Tokinada hadn't broken through solitude.
Thus, Yoshio came to the Hell Solitude.
Others cannot see people or things inside the Hell Solitude; only Yoshio, its lord, can see those trapped within.
For example, Tsunayashiro Tokinada. After sinking into Hell, he'd lost consciousness—or rather, his consciousness had sunk into solitude—and his body had faded along with the Hell Solitude.
Yoshio entered his unconscious body and took out the Evil Person Node.
The next moment, he thrust one hand straight into Tokinada's abdomen, deposited the node, and withdrew his hand.
Black aura billowed from Tokinada's body. His dull face contorted, as if something was trying to heave out of him.
Immersed in solitude, Tokinada seemed to sense something calling to him. His pupils filled with delight.
Only heaven knew how long he'd been stuck in this damned place. Anyone—just someone to talk to!
And now, that call was music to his ears. He forced himself toward it with all his might. In the end, everything before him was swallowed by a sudden surge of black!
Tokinada's eyes snapped open. They were pitch black—pure darkness. He couldn't help clutching his head with both hands, dropping to his knees, then threw back his head and roared!
It wasn't pain from the fusion of the node. It was the ages he'd endured in the Hell Solitude compressing into real time, the torments compressing as well.
Time and years flowed differently in the Hell Solitude. Tokinada may have spent tens of thousands of years there, but only a decade or so had passed in reality.
So at this moment, he couldn't help but roar!
Yoshio didn't appear to Tokinada. He vanished.
Once Tokinada fused with an evil node, Baelz would be tracking him anyway; whatever he did, he couldn't escape Baelz's palm.
Once Tokinada fully fused, that would be the time to kill him.
Tokinada's compatibility with the Evil Person Node was quite high. At this rate, he should complete fusion in ten years.
And if he committed evils corresponding to the node in the interim, fusion would accelerate.
No surprise: Even after millennia of torment in Hell, Tokinada emerged with not a shred of remorse.
"Hahahahaha…"
Once his consciousness fully returned, Tokinada burst out laughing.
He was no longer in the Hell Solitude but in the Dangai. One hand pressed to his face, his laughter grew more wanton.
"Yoshio Kamado…"
His laughter faded into a teeth-gnashing snarl of Yoshio's name.
"Just wait. I'll make you beg for life and beg for death!"
All these years, Tokinada had survived on hatred for Yoshio.
If not for Yoshio, he'd still be a lofty great noble. If not for Yoshio, how could he be suffering in Hell?!
And now, by a twist of fate, he had escaped Hell!
He lowered his hand. In his eyes, he now saw a phantom inverted black tree.
The tree seemed to connect to endless darkness. He understood his escape was thanks to that tree.
Knowledge of the tree surfaced in his mind.
It was the Tree of Evil. One of its fruits had fallen and fused with him, which allowed him to transfer from the Hell Solitude to the outside world.
Greed stirred in his heart.
Just one fruit and he felt his power doubled—his spiritual pressure surged as if by half again!
If he could eat all the fruits on the tree, who could stand against him?!
For now, though, Tokinada could only leave the Dangai and scout out Seireitei's current situation.
…
Seeing Tokinada unchanged, Yoshio felt relieved.
Make more trouble. The more trouble he caused, the faster the node would fuse, and the sooner Yoshio could finish him off.
If it were someone else, fine—but a fool like Tokinada was the easiest to deal with.
Among those earmarked to fuse with nodes, the ones he dreaded most were Aizen and Yhwach. First, he didn't know how to make them fuse, and second, he hadn't figured out how to deal with them once they did.
Of course, the nodes suited to them hadn't been created yet, so no rush to plan that far ahead.
Two more years…
And Yhwach would fully awaken.
At that point, all he'd lack would be power.
Which meant a thousand-year blood war was only eleven years away; the plot beginning… only nine.
Time really flies.
…
Back in Soul Society, Yoshio couldn't help musing.
He'd been in this world for thirty to forty years—longer than his previous life.
Yoshio brewed himself a cup of tea. He didn't want to go anywhere today.
Even though time was tight, he couldn't rush into the Wandenreich to cut Bazz-B. At the very least, he'd wait until night when Yhwach slept.
But even if he didn't want to work today, work came to him.
As he rested, a Jigokuchō drifted in.
Commader-Captain Yamamoto had business with him. Reluctantly, Yoshio left home and headed for Division One.
….
"Commader-Captain, what did you need from me?"
Arriving at Division One, he saw Yamamoto seated and asked, puzzled.
As far as he knew, nothing had happened in Soul Society recently.
"The reason you were summoned was by the order of Central 46," Yamamoto said when Yoshio arrived. "According to the Technology Development Bureau's measurements, the balance of the Three Realms is gradually breaking down. The Shutara Scale is at level 4—quite serious."
Yoshio's pupils widened.
Not because of the Shutara Scale level 4 bit…
The Shutara Scale was a theory developed long ago by Shutara Senjumaru, concerning the balance of the Three Realms.
Different levels indicated different states of the Three Realms; the higher the number, the more precarious the balance.
But this was irrelevant—Yoshio could tell it was fake the moment he heard it!
Level 4 alert? Bull.
The Wandenreich hadn't even acted yet. Where would realm imbalance come from?
He was a scientist too. He'd know if the world's balance was off.
This was false intel!
Mayuri was lying!
Yoshio narrowed his eyes. "Commader-Captain, you don't mean to have me do the Tech Bureau's work, do you?"
"The Technology Development Bureau has already determined the cause: a faction of Quincies working in secret."
"After discussion among the sages of Central 46, it's been decided the Gotei 13 will eliminate a number of Quincies."
Yamamoto said gravely, "To maintain relations between both sides, this mission is to be carried out covertly. Therefore, Tenth Division Captain Yoshio will go to the World of the Living to operate in secret."
"Afterward, bring the bodies back to the Technology Development Bureau."
Spelling it out like that—he'd be an idiot not to get it.
Mayuri wanted Quincy specimens. He'd done a little backroom deal with Central 46 to have Yoshio kill some Quincies and hand them over for research.
Dark, indeed. Not using the evil nodes on them would be a waste.
"Commader-Captain Yamamoto," Yoshio said. He wasn't keen on this. "There are only a handful of Quincies left. Doing something like this is a bit… unscrupulous, isn't it?"
"Central 46's rulings are not subject to interference by the Gotei 13," Yamamoto said coolly. "As for which Quincies to target, that's for you to decide."