"What's going on, Yoruichi? Tell me in detail."
Urahara gave up on making a move, patted the dust off himself, and looked at the black cat Yoruichi. "What the heck is with this kid? He's been in Seireitei for not even half a month, and with one swing he smacked me so hard I didn't even keep hold of my zanpakuto."
Tessai grumbled from the side, "Like you held onto it last time. He blasted you into a mountain then too."
"How is that the same!?" Urahara's face darkened. "Last time I was careless and didn't expect his zanpakuto to be that heavy. This time I was serious."
To guard against Cole's explosive strength, he had even released his zanpakuto in advance. The result? The blade still got sent flying over a hundred meters.
Yoruichi thought for a moment. "I don't really know either. Ever since Cole entered Seireitei he's been fighting nonstop and somehow just… got stronger without noticing."
On this, Ichigo had the right to speak. He swung Zangetsu and said, "Yeah. I also got stronger in battle, and I learned kendo from Cole—then grasped the shinigami's ultimate secret, bankai."
"You two are monsters…" Uryu couldn't help complaining. "Why? I've been fighting the whole way too. Why hasn't my power improved as obviously as yours!?"
As he spoke, he glanced at Chad and Orihime. The latter, with her Shun Shun Rikka (Six Flowers of the Shield), was purely a support-type ability—lack of firepower was understandable. But the former had grown a lot on this Seireitei trip: the Giant's Right Arm and the Devil's Left Arm were both at their limits; any random punch carried frightening destructive power. When Uryu sparred with Chad earlier, he almost got sent to meet his great-grandma with a single blow.
"Because you haven't gotten your plug-in yet…" Cole tossed off the line, indifferent.
In the Thousand-Year Blood War, Uryu would receive a mythic-tier power-up—able to instant-kill the current Ichigo and Chad in minutes.
On the other side, Urahara suddenly saw the light and filled in the "answer" himself.
For a shinigami to grow stronger, there are two paths.
The first is hard training: drilling kendo, refining hakuda, communicating with your zanpakuto, constantly tempering battle fundamentals…
The second is simpler: slaughter—growing through continuous real combat.
Cole's talent was undoubtedly top-tier. After several life-and-death struggles, it was "only natural" he soon possessed overwhelming combat power.
Only… natural, my foot!
Urahara felt the urge to swear. He remembered that the current captain of the Twelfth Division, Kenpachi, was a battle maniac too, but even he hadn't boosted this fast. Even if combat improves skill, how did his reiatsu soar so much? You can't bulk up spiritual pressure like you're on steroids.
While Urahara was brooding, Unohana looked around at the various buildings, surprise in her eyes. She hadn't come to the World of the Living in hundreds of years—she didn't expect it to have changed so much. It was practically more beautiful than Seireitei.
"Cole, in the World of the Living… are you staying with Captain Urahara and the Great Kido Chief?"
Hearing herself addressed as "captain" and "Great Kido Chief," Urahara finally returned to his senses and frowned at Unohana. "You look familiar… Feels like the Captain of the Fourth…"
Unohana turned, smiling with crescent eyes. "Captain Urahara, Great Kido Chief, it's only been a hundred years. Have you really forgotten who I am?"
Urahara and Tessai both felt their scalps go numb. "Captain Unohana!"
"No way—why have you come here, ma'am?"
As the Twelfth's former captain and the Kido Chief, they certainly knew her identity. She looked gentle, but she was a peerless fiend from ages past. How did such a demon show up in the World of the Living? Did old man Yamamoto get slighted by Cole and send Unohana to teach them a lesson? But rumor had it they were contemporaries. Yamamoto shouldn't be forcing Unohana to do things.
Unohana smiled on. "Why call me ma'am, Great Kido Chief—do I look that old?"
Sensing danger in Unohana's eyes, Tessai broke into a cold sweat. "N-no, that's not what I meant…"
Seeing his sincere contrition, Unohana nodded, satisfied, then shifted her gaze to Cole. Cole was having Orihime heal his hand while answering Unohana's earlier question. "I've got my own place. Want to stay there later?"
Unohana nodded. "Of course I'll stay. Is your house big?"
"Very big… though there's no independent subspace. I'll have to build one later, but I'm not exactly experienced at that."
Cole glanced at Urahara's shop, a touch of envy in his eyes. The basement there had such a huge space; it was thrilling just to think about.
"It's fine, I'll help you build it later," Unohana said. "I'm also quite proficient with kido. A few days should do."
"That's great. With a space that large, everything is so convenient—"
"Like sparring."
"Let's not. A barrier won't withstand the two of us going all out."
"It's fine—just pure kendo. I especially want your swordsmanship to grow strong enough to defeat me at swordplay."
"And if I do?"
"Then you'll become the strongest Kenpachi—stronger than Kenpachi himself."
"Hard pass. I've no interest in that title, and no interest in becoming a Kenpachi."
"Then what would make you interested?"
Watching the pair chat, Urahara and Tessai were both dumbfounded.
"Yoruichi, Yoruichi—what is this situation!?" Urahara couldn't help looking toward the black cat. The once peerless fiend of Soul Society, now the Fourth Division's captain—how was she so close with Cole? And why exactly had she come?
Yoruichi licked a paw. "Let's just say this: all you need to know is that Cole is the only one who can please Unohana."
She even added a quiet reminder: "You two had better be careful. Unohana's been… off lately—seems she's reverted to the old fiend, Yachiru."
Urahara and Tessai sucked in a sharp breath, legs itching to bolt. From what they knew, the former fiend Yachiru was a carnage-loving maniac who took pleasure in slaughter—seeing a strong foe made her itch for a duel. If she'd reverted, shouldn't her first slash have been to kill Cole?
After learning the whole story, both men looked at Cole with eyes full of respect.
Good grief. A real man. Not only had he, by himself, brought Unohana back to her old fiend self, he'd also, by himself, satisfied her thirst for killing.
A short while later, night fell.
Cole bid Urahara and the others farewell. "Shopkeeper, we'll head out first. Please let Shinji and the others know—tomorrow, Ichigo and I will visit them."
Urahara looked puzzled. "If you want to go, just go. Why so formal?" As far as he knew, Cole got along fine with the Visoreds and could enter their barrier whenever.
Cole thought a moment, then released a little of his Hollow power. In an instant, an evil reiatsu burst forth. A white-and-red Hollow mask emerged on his face as black-and-crimson pressure surged off him.
Urahara and Tessai's faces changed drastically. They stared at the transformation with utmost seriousness.
"Hollowfication!?"
"What the hell!?"
What they saw now was just like a hundred years ago, when the Visored Incident hollowfied Shinji, Kensei, and the others.
When that chalk-pale substance covers the whole body, it means the shinigami has fallen completely—and the process is nearly irreversible. Cole looked like he was about to fall for good, and his black-crimson reiatsu felt even more malevolent than Shinji's back then.
Cole raised his right hand, tapped the forming mask on his face and shattered it. "See? That's why I need to find them. This state is still hard to control."
Learning that Cole had been tainted by the Hogyoku, Urahara felt beyond speechless—and newly sympathetic toward Shinji and his lot.
Unlucky bunch. Their hell was about to begin.
To help someone control the Hollow within, you had to make them enter their inner world and fight their inner Hollow. At the same time, people outside also needed to fight the hollowfying subject. Considering Cole's terrifying power level, the Visoreds would probably end up all badly injured this time.
"…"
"Is this your house, Cole!?" Unohana gazed in surprise at the large villa before them. The luxurious mansion was even finer than the place she lived in back in Seireitei—beautiful and exquisitely designed.
"Yeah. Come in, Hana-nee. Pick a room later—I've already asked someone to tidy up."
Cole pushed open the door and went in, Orihime following behind. Unohana was about to step in when her beautiful eyes shifted toward the direction of the Kurosaki Clinic. "Cole-kun, that's Urahara…"
Just now she'd sensed an astonishing reiatsu in that house—no weaker than Urahara's, perhaps even more amazing.
"That's Ichigo's place," Cole said. "We'll go scrounge dinner there tonight and say hello."
Soon, after touring all the rooms, Unohana contentedly chose the room next to Cole's. "This one." Cole nodded and told the maids to prepare it.
Unohana then said, "Cole-kun, where's your basement? Take me to see it. I'll set up a barrier."
Cole nodded. Just as he was about to lead her down, Orihime said, a little embarrassed, "Sorry, Cole-kun, Captain Unohana, I'm super tired… can I go rest?"
The two naturally had no reason to refuse. Orihime returned to her room.
In the basement, Unohana and Cole joined forces, casting kido and barriers together to create a new space. Cole wiped the sweat from his brow. "Next comes layering all sorts of barriers and kido to stabilize the space so it can absorb reiatsu…"
As he spoke, he realized Unohana wasn't responding. He looked over, puzzled. "Hana-nee?"
Unohana's cheeks were slightly flushed. She drew her zanpakuto with her right hand and pressed her left on her chest; her breathing rose and fell, unable to suppress it. "Cole, let's have a bout first. Just a little reiatsu—settle it with swordplay."
Cole thought, then leaned to her ear with a smile and blew lightly. As her body trembled, he murmured, "Hana-nee, have you heard of shita-za? When our bout is over, if I win, you have to do this, and this, and then this…"
The more she listened, the redder Unohana's face became. Not from shyness— from the thrill and excitement. "Fine. But you have to beat me first."
Cole's lips curled. He charged without hesitation.
—
Hueco Mundo, upper layer.
In a vast, endless white desert, here and there stood quartz-like dead trees—the rest was a silence like death. The sky was dark and still; a pale, reversed crescent hung overhead. The environment, the sun and moon—unchanging for eternity. Even ten thousand years later, this would remain an endless night dew.
Deep within this space rose a solemn edifice—towering and pure white, austere and imposing, with powerful Hollows occasionally entering and leaving. This was Hueco Mundo's "Seireitei"—Las Noches—the residence of Hueco Mundo's rulers. Only Gillian-class Menos and above had the right to set foot here.
Today, in a certain room deep in Las Noches—
Gin smiled with his eyes thin. "Captain Aizen, are we about to create the true Hogyoku?"
Aizen spoke coolly. "Still a little short. After all, I only stole a fragment of Urahara's Hogyoku."
As he spoke, he added various materials to different devices. In a certain glass vessel, a blue bead flickered and released a mysterious pulse. As more things were infused, Aizen's face gradually sank while he watched the blue bead shatter.
Gin's smile didn't change. "Captain Aizen, isn't that the eighteenth Hogyoku that's cracked?"
Aizen said nothing and began the next experiment. But inside, killing intent boiled. He absolutely had to kill Cole. If not for that damned human brat, his Hogyoku creation would not be this slow.
After yet another failure, Aizen paused and turned to Tousen. "Tousen, did you find what I asked for?"
Tousen bowed with both hands presenting a zanpakuto. "Lord Aizen, here it is."
Aizen looked at the ancient blade and smiled. "Koga Kuchiki's zanpakuto—Muramasa. Hello, Muramasa-san. I'm Aizen. Pleased to make your acquaintance."
(End of Chapter)
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