Hueco Mundo

Then he lay in a pool of blood and watched Sister Hana walk over gently, use Kaidō, and forcibly pull Xuanxin back from the brink of death.

Cut to the brink of death, quickly healed, then cut to the brink of death again...

In this cycle of death, like Muken itself, Xuanxin's understanding of "sword intent" and "death" was soaring at a warped and terrifying speed.

Life in the First Division was no easier for Xuanxin.

After Old Man Yamamoto saw that Xuanxin's Hakuda was no longer as humanlike as before, he stepped up Xuanxin's Hakuda training, guided by the educational principle of "if he isn't a good-for-nothing, train him half to death."

The teaching process was just a little brutal, that was all.

Especially after Xuanxin officially joined the Second Division, whether because the lessons had reached that stage or because someone was secretly getting back at him, Xuanxin had previously only been beaten until he could barely tell north from south. Now he was often beaten so hard he was embedded in the wall and couldn't be pried out.

Fortunately, Xuanxin's recovery ability was as outstanding as his talent for swordsmanship. If another Soul Reaper had trained like this, they might have turned into Reishi and returned to the world in less than half a month.

This continued until one day, several months later, when Kisuke Urahara ran excitedly out of his laboratory, carrying a test tube full of mysterious liquid in his left hand.

Kisuke Urahara grabbed Xuanxin, who had just been pried out of the wall, and ran toward the secret base.

As they ran, he said to Xuanxin, "Come on, come on! I finally figured it out. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the formula this time."

He then poured the liquid from the test tube into the bath they had dug long ago, and the liquid in the bath changed instantly.

Xuanxin looked at the liquid in the bath and said, still shaken, "Are you sure there's nothing wrong with it this time? That's what you said last time, and it took half a month for the color to come off my body completely!"

"Oh, come on, the last time was an accident. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it this time, trust me!" With that, he shoved Xuanxin in before he could object.

Sure enough, this time really was different from before. At least Xuanxin could feel the magical spring water breaking down his fatigue, healing his muscles, and replenishing his depleted Reiatsu bit by bit.

Xuanxin leaned against the edge of the hot spring, tilted his head back to look at the mist rising toward the ceiling, and let out a long, contented sigh.

"Well? It's not as effective as the Zero Division's original, but for restoring Reiatsu and healing physical injuries, it's absolutely first-rate in Soul Society!"

"Mm, not bad! Later, I'll have Yoruichi..." But before Xuanxin could finish, a voice came from outside the door.

"Later... you'll have me do what, exactly~?"

As soon as the voice faded, a sleek black cat swaggered into the room.

Kisuke Urahara turned and saw the black cat. The corners of his mouth immediately shot up, and he gave a "knowing" smile. Then he patted Xuanxin, who was soaking in the water, on the shoulder:

"Um... I think I forgot to put out the fire in the lab. You two enjoy your soak, I'll be going!"

With that, Kisuke Urahara slipped away, leaving Xuanxin soaking in the water with a bewildered look on his face and the black cat on the bank preparing to get in, staring at each other through the hazy steam.

A cloud of smoke appeared, and the moment the black cat touched the water, she changed back into Yoruichi. Yoruichi had intended to tease Xuanxin a little.

But when the smoke cleared, the sight in the bath left her dumbfounded.

Then Yoruichi's somewhat distraught voice rang out from inside once more: "No! Why did you turn into a cat?! Change back, quickly! No, I really..."

Under such intense training, Xuanxin's improvement was plain to see.

By now, although he still couldn't fully grasp the ultimate mystery behind the sword strike he had comprehended between life and death in the World of the Living, he could at least imitate it.

It was just that both its true destructive power and its "sword intent" that cut through everything were always lacking a little.

But even the most intense training would eventually reach a bottleneck.

Neither Retsu Unohana nor Captain-Commander Yamamoto had expected Xuanxin's bottleneck to arrive so soon.

On another Sunday, inside the First Division's private dojo.

Captain-Commander Yamamoto looked at the sweat-drenched Xuanxin, a rare hint of gravity flashing through his perpetually half-closed eyes.

"Boy, your swordsmanship has already been honed to its limit at this stage, but as I see it, deep down, you're still lacking a little genuine 'killing intent.'"

Captain-Commander Yamamoto leaned on his cane, his gaze fixed on Xuanxin like a torch, and continued:

"Simple sparring and healing can no longer force out your potential. There's an opportunity now that might help you break through this constraint. However, it will be a real battlefield of carnage, and you'll face genuine life-and-death danger. Do you still dare go?"

Hearing this, Xuanxin nodded decisively without half a second's hesitation, fervent fighting spirit burning in his black eyes. "As long as I can grow stronger, I'll go no matter how dangerous it is."

Old Man Yamamoto looked at the spirited young man before him, a smile appearing at the corners of his mouth. Then he nodded in satisfaction and said in a deep voice:

"Good. Three days from now, the Gotei 13 will organize a small-scale expedition to Hueco Mundo. Go with them. There, amid endless slaughter, you may find an opportunity to surpass yourself."

Hearing this, Old Man Yamamoto picked up the cane at his side and walked toward the barracks behind him without looking back, saying as he went:

"Go back and prepare yourself, then. Don't disgrace me."

Three days later, Seireitei, at the gathering point before the Senkaimon.

Xuanxin arrived at the gathering point on time, dressed in a black shihakusho with two Zanpakuto, one black and one gold, hanging at his waist.

Soul Reapers radiating bloodthirsty auras filled the area around the gathering point. Standing at the very front of the group was an exceedingly familiar, burly figure—Kuruyashiki Kenpachi, captain of the 11th Division.

As it turned out, this Hueco Mundo expedition was once again being led by the 11th Division, whose fighting strength was off the charts among the thirteen divisions!

"Well, well! Isn't this Soul Society's rising star?!"

Kuruyashiki Kenpachi spotted Xuanxin at once and burst into hearty laughter. He strode over and slapped Xuanxin hard on the back, making his blood churn.

"The Captain-Commander already talked to me! Good lad, I said ages ago that someone with your temperament belonged in our 11th Division! And look at that, we've ended up meeting after all!"

Xuanxin rubbed his aching shoulder and smiled helplessly. Then he turned, ready to follow the main group through the Senkaimon leading to Hueco Mundo.

But just as he was about to cross the threshold—

"Fujiwara Genshin! You stop right there!!!"

A familiar female voice, tinged with exasperation, boomed behind Xuanxin like a thunderclap.

Xuanxin froze at the sound, then turned his head stiffly.

Yoruichi was also dressed in a black shihakusho. She was panting from her frantic rush to get there, but her golden eyes remained fixed on Xuanxin.

"I almost didn't make it!"

Gritting her teeth, Yoruichi walked up to Xuanxin step by step, grabbed him fiercely by the collar of his shihakusho, and roared through clenched teeth:

"Xuanxin, I'm telling you, you're finished! How dare you sneak off on an expedition to Hueco Mundo without telling me? Don't even think about leaving me behind!"

Chapter 28: Hueco Mundo

Yoruichi's somewhat bristling voice soon reached the ears of the 11th Division members.

After a moment of silence, the group promptly erupted in a chorus of good-natured teasing.

"Well now, Brother Fujiwara, looks like someone keeps you on a short leash!"

"That's right! Only the young lady of the Shihoin could keep a genius like him in line, hahaha!"

But it was as if Xuanxin hadn't heard any of the teasing.

Xuanxin glanced at Yoruichi, then sighed helplessly. Without another word, he silently reached out and gently wiped the sweat from her forehead.

Feeling the warm touch on her forehead and seeing how gentle Xuanxin was, Yoruichi's anger and complaints quietly vanished along with the sweat, leaving only a faint, barely noticeable blush at the tips of her ears.

Then Xuanxin and Yoruichi followed the main group into the Senkaimon.

But after passing through the long stretch of the Dangai and setting foot on this unknown land, they were met with scenery unlike anything in the World of the Living.

If the World of the Living was still in a desolate state, with everything waiting to be rebuilt, then the world of Hueco Mundo was as deathly silent as the end of all life.

White sand covered the ground as far as the eye could see, and not a trace of life's warmth could be sensed in the air. Xuanxin and Yoruichi were stunned by the lifeless land before them.

"This is... Hueco Mundo?"

Seeing the two youngsters' astonishment, Kuruyashiki Kenpachi, who was walking at the front, turned and said to them with a smile:

"Well? Never seen anything like it, have you? This is Hueco Mundo. It's too late for regrets now, rookies. Welcome to Hueco Mundo!"

Xuanxin and Yoruichi forced down their shock, determination returning to their eyes.

Seeing how quickly they recovered, Kuruyashiki's eyes flashed with appreciation. Then he called out to everyone, "Everyone, be ready to fight at any moment."

At Kuruyashiki's command, the previously somewhat loose group quickly formed a battle formation, protecting the people carrying supplies in the middle.

Xuanxin and Yoruichi, the two outsiders who had joined at the last minute, were immediately left at a loss.

Kuruyashiki saw their awkwardness at a glance and waved them over to his side, then said:

"You two can follow me at the front and help clear the way for now. While we're at it, let me see what Soul Society's rising star can do."

For Xuanxin and Yoruichi, the journey that followed was practically an intensified training march.

Although they were nominally "helping clear the way," in reality, Kuruyashiki Kenpachi casually chopped the vast majority of the Menos Grande drawn to the group into mincemeat.

Only a very small number of Hollows suited to the pair were allowed past by Kuruyashiki, as if he were feeding them to Xuanxin and Yoruichi with precision.

But the deeper they ventured into Hueco Mundo, the more the number of Hollows "deliberately let through" began to multiply at an outrageous rate.

"Whoosh!"

Xuanxin's two blades flew like those of a tireless meat grinder, while Yoruichi became a streak of black lightning, weaving through the surrounding Hollows with her masterful Hakuda and Shunpo.

With Xuanxin's trio and the highest Seated Officers of the 11th Division working together, the otherwise dangerous expedition went surprisingly smoothly.

Before long, they unsurprisingly fought their way through the Hollows drawn to them and reached their planned encampment without incident.

During the bloody battles along the way, the fearsome combat strength Xuanxin and Yoruichi displayed made the rough men of the 11th Division, who already revered the strong, put aside their disdain entirely and regard them with a measure of recognition and respect.

That recognition showed in their actions: when they made camp that evening, Xuanxin and Yoruichi were given supplies and meals directly on par with those of the 11th Division's senior Seated Officers.

They had fought nonstop all the way here. Although Kuruyashiki Kenpachi had held the front and they had encountered no deadly danger, the intense consumption of Reiatsu still left Yoruichi and the other Seated Officers, who had no special means of sustaining themselves like Xuanxin, feeling a little tired, so they retired to their tents early.

Xuanxin, on the other hand, had relied on his Zanpakuto's ability to sustain itself through battle to keep his Reiatsu at a healthy level as they advanced. Though still somewhat tired in body and mind, he was surprisingly well in other respects.

Late at night, Hueco Mundo's cold moonlight fell across the pallid dunes.

Xuanxin sat alone on a massive piece of quartzite, gazing at the indistinct silhouettes of Menos Grande in the darkness while concentrating on reviewing every swing of his blades during the day's battles. He took stock of his mistakes and shortcomings.

Just then, accompanied by heavy footsteps, Kuruyashiki Kenpachi walked over carrying two flasks of liquor.

He sat down casually beside Xuanxin, handed him one, and asked with a grin:

"Well, kid? Doesn't the air in Hueco Mundo feel completely different from the air in Soul Society?"

Xuanxin accepted the flask without ceremony. Looking at the darkness in the distance, filled with murderous danger, he tilted his head back and took a large swig before nodding solemnly:

"Yes. There's nowhere absolutely safe here. Hundreds or even thousands of Hollows could attack at any moment. It really is completely different from sparring in Seireitei."

Kuruyashiki took a large swig of liquor and, with his eyes half closed, suddenly put a question to him:

"Then which do you think is more dangerous, Hueco Mundo or Seireitei?"

At the question, Xuanxin abruptly paused as he was about to drink. A complicated emotion flashed through his deep black eyes, and he hesitated.

When it came to physical combat, Hueco Mundo was naturally hell. But if he counted the other dangers as well...

He remembered the corpses he had seen outside the First Division's walls after successfully achieving Shikai, the inexplicable betrayal during the assessment in the World of the Living, and the teachers and classmates who had died without ever knowing why.

Xuanxin fell silent. Seeing his reaction, Kuruyashiki raised a hand and patted him on the shoulder. Looking toward the distant Las Noches, he said earnestly: