The Beginning

For Death, with its long lifespan, a month is but a fleeting moment.

But for Shihoin Genshin, who had just experienced how wonderful the life of a "retired veteran" was, this month had gone by so quickly that it was almost painful for him.

However, in life, it is always easier to go from frugality to extravagance, but harder to go from extravagance to frugality.

When the first day after the long holiday arrived, Xuanxin and Yoruichi, the two captains of the Gotei 13, both stayed on their beds at the Shihoin Clan, refusing to get up and face the cruel reality.

"Lord Xuanxin! Lady Yoruichi! You can't sleep anymore! You two have a captain's meeting today, and the Captain-Commander will be angry if you miss it!"

Outside the door, the Shihoin Clan's butler frantically pounded on the door, tears streaming down his face, but only endless silence answered him.

Seeing this, Soi Fon, who had been waiting outside the door, finally couldn't hold back any longer.

She took a deep breath, mustered all the courage she had ever had, and pushed open the paper door to her bedroom.

Even as she pushed open the door, Soi Fon had already mentally prepared herself for what "inappropriate scene" she would stumble upon and be kicked out by the two adults.

However, when Soi Fon rushed into the room with a death wish and saw the scene on the bed, she was completely stunned.

There were no signs of the two adults who were lazing in bed on the large bed.

There were only two cats, one black and one white, curled up in the center of the bedding, perfectly forming a round "Tai Chi" shape.

Meanwhile, the two cats were purring softly, sleeping soundly.

It turns out that these two guys heard the old butler knocking on the door in their sleep and found it too noisy. So, they instinctively used their transformation magic to turn into cats and hide their ears in each other's fur to avoid the noise!

"Lady Yoruichi! Lord Xuanxin! Get up immediately for the meeting!!"

Looking at these two irresponsible people who would even stop being human just to stay in bed, Soi Fon felt that the last bit of noble image she had of them had collapsed at this moment.

Finally, Soi Fon's deafening call jolted the two cats awake from their slumber.

The two then reluctantly transformed back into human form, donned their Captain's Haori, and walked towards the First Division while yawning.

Xuanxin rubbed his sleepy eyes and slowly walked to the position belonging to the captain of the 11th Division.

His still not fully awake mind was instantly jolted awake by a casual glance, as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over it!

His gaze was fixed on the figure standing next to Yoruichi Shihōin.

That's Retsu Unohana, the Fourth Division Captain.

However, Sister Hana has undergone a tremendous transformation today! The thick braid that used to be always coiled in front of her chest has been completely undone.

Her long, jet-black hair cascaded down her front naturally.

This small change washed away the rigidity and heaviness in her, adding a touch of captivating freedom and lightness.

However, what shocked Xuanxin was that the once hideous and fatal scar below Sister Hana's collarbone... had now disappeared.

In fact, for Sister Hana, who is capable of bringing the dead back to life and healing flesh and bones, a mere ordinary physical scar is not a difficult-to-cure ailment at all.

If we really wanted to, this scar could have been erased hundreds of years ago.

The reason Sister Hana still keeps this wound is because she is waiting, waiting for the person who gave her this wound to come and fill it in.

The material to fill this void is either that person's life, or... her own sinful life.

However, no one expected that Xuanxin's appearance would forcibly sever this cruel destiny.

In the desolate Rukongai, Xuanxin that boundary-crossing strike to completely fill the wound in her soul with an undeniable force, allowing Sister Hana's long-empty soul to be mended.

Yachiru Unohana has passed away completely due to that wound, and now standing here is only Retsu Unohana from the Fourth Division.

So now that the void in her soul has been filled, the scar on her body naturally has no value, not to mention... this scar might also affect her hunting plans.

Just as Xuanxin was filled with emotion as he looked at Sister Hana's transformation,

Standing on his other side, Yoruichi Shihōin's entire body was screaming alarms!

Yoruichi stared intently at Retsu Unohana across from her, a dangerous glint in her golden eyes.

Her keen sixth sense told her that the woman with her hair down might pose a threat to her "official position," and she had to be extremely vigilant!

Thinking of this, Yoruichi gritted her teeth inwardly. If it weren't for the fact that this was the First Division's assembly hall, she probably would have already drawn her short sword and rushed up to argue with them.

As the man caught in the eye of two storms, Xuanxin had only one simple yet intense thought in his mind:

"Captain-Commander- in-Chief, please finish this meeting quickly! I want to go back to the 11th Division's office to catch up on some sleep! I'm so sleepy!"

Captain-Commander Yamamoto seemed oblivious to the chaotic situation between the three, or perhaps he simply couldn't be bothered with his disciple's petty squabbles.

He simply listened to the reports from each team leader as a routine matter, and then announced the end of the meeting.

Ultimately, this tense captains' meeting came to a peaceful end amidst the silent power struggle between Yoruichi and Retsu Unohana.

After the meeting, Xuanxin's life gradually returned to normal.

However, in the shadowy corners of Seireitei, where sunlight never reaches, everything is quietly undergoing dramatic changes.

As mentioned before, Xuanxin's life-or-death breakthrough in the desert was like a boulder thrown into a deep pool, injecting new vitality and absolute confidence into Kisuke Urahara and Sōsuke Aizen's forbidden experiments.

Because Xuanxin proved to them that their current experimental procedures were correct.

Currently, both of their experiments are still in the initial stage, which is the accumulation of Reiatsu. Xuanxin's successful breakthrough this time has also proven to them that only with sufficient accumulation can one be qualified to challenge the limits of the Shinigami.

However, after breaking through the limit, the next step was fraught with difficulty. Since no Shinigami had actually taken that step yet, and even the Captain-Commander was stuck at this stage, the two of them placed their hopes for a breakthrough in other directions.

Kisuke Urahara fixed his gaze intently on Hollows that possessed the ability to "evolve themselves through devouring." He attempted to forcibly expand the upper limit of a Shinigami's soul by breaking down the soul boundary between Shinigami and Hollows and utilizing the evolutionary nature of Hollows, thus achieving his so-called breakthrough.

Meanwhile, in another unknown space, Aizen placed his hopes for a breakthrough on the Soul King, who stood above the three realms.

He hopes to transform himself by obtaining fragments of the Soul King, thereby defeating Xuanxin in all aspects, becoming a new god in the Three Realms, and establishing a 'clean' new world.

However, both Kisuke Urahara's and Sōsuke Aizen's plans were absolute taboos.

This kind of forbidden research is destined to be accompanied by countless failures and restarts. So at this moment, the two of them can only continue to advance slowly but steadily in the darkness, like ascetics.

Some time passed.

At the Shin'ō Academy, the two little guys Xuanxin picked up from Rukongai — Gin Ichimaru and Rangiku Matsumoto —began to display their astonishing genius without reservation.

Especially Gin Ichimaru, the silver-haired boy who always had his eyes half-closed, mastered advanced Kidō and swordsmanship in a very short time.

While Rangiku Matsumoto was somewhat lazy in her studies, her extraordinary Reiatsu made her stand out from her peers.

In addition, Sōsuke Aizen, who was also discovered by Xuanxin and is now the vice-captain of the Fifth Division, serves as a shining example.

Gradually, a new rumor about the captain of the 11th Division spread like wildfire within Seireitei:

Legend has it that Shihoin Genshin not only possesses superhuman martial prowess, but also has the Divine Eye, a pair of eyes that can see through fate and recognize the best talents. Those chosen by him are invariably among the most outstanding geniuses in Soul Society.

Xuanxin himself remained quite calm about the increasingly outrageous rumors, treating them as mere amusement to be shared over tea.

Until one perfectly normal, quiet afternoon.

Inside the spacious interior of the Shihoin Clan, sunlight streamed through the paper doors, casting a warm, dappled golden glow.

In this moment of leisure, undisturbed by team duties, Xuanxin and Yoruichi transformed into two cats, one white and one black, and lay together on a soft cushion, enjoying this rare moment of Serenity.

"Snoring... snoring..."

The white cat stretched out its neck, letting the black cat carefully groom the slightly messy fur on its head and neck with its pink, barbed tongue.

The white cat would occasionally turn its head and gently lick the black cat's smooth, satin-like back. The two cats licked each other's fur, creating a heartwarming scene that seemed to melt in the sunlight.

However, just as this tranquility was about to lull the two cats into a deep sleep...

A Hell Butterfly, entirely black and emitting a faint purple glow, passed through the barrier of the Japanese-style room without warning and slowly landed in front of the two cats.

Displeased at being interrupted, the black cat flicked its tail, but then transformed back into human form, sat cross-legged on the cushion, and extended a long, slender finger, allowing the Hell Butterfly to rest on its fingertip.

Then, she closed her eyes and began to read the information transmitted from the Hell Butterfly.

At first, Yoruichi's expression showed some displeasure when she heard Kisuke Urahara's blond voice coming from inside.

But just two seconds later, her golden eyes snapped open, and she realized that the voice in that conversation was completely devoid of its usual nonchalant and effortless quality.

Moreover, between the lines, a deep weariness and an undisguised tension are evident.

"What's wrong?"

Seeing this, Xuanxin also deactivated his transformation, reverting to human form, and looked at Yoruichi, who was frowning, and asked.

Upon hearing this, Yoruichi took a deep breath, turned to look at Xuanxin, and said with an unusual seriousness in her tone:

"It's a message from Kisuke Urahara. The message is simple: he wants to meet us late tonight at the secret base, but he didn't say why, and his tone sounds... serious?"

As Xuanxin watched the Hell Butterfly vanish in mid-air, a thoughtful glint flashed in his eyes.

Kisuke Urahara knew Xuanxin well; although that person never seemed reliable, he never let anyone down when it came to important matters. Moreover, the fact that Kisuke Urahara felt nervous and flustered meant that this matter was definitely no small thing.

Soon, night fell.

Dark clouds obscured the night sky over Soul Society, shrouding the entire Seireitei in a suffocating darkness.

Xuanxin and Yoruichi changed into their night clothes and secretly left the Shihoin Clan.

Without alerting anyone, the two successfully arrived at the entrance to the massive underground secret base located beneath Sōkyoku Hills.

"Boom..."

The heavy stone door was pushed open. The two walked quickly down the dimly lit steps into the underground space, one after the other.

However, when they pushed open the door to the laboratory deep inside the base, the scene before them made them both gasp in shock.

The once spacious and tidy underground training grounds and laboratories now looked as if they had been swept away by a devastating storm!

Scattered papers, shattered glassware, and various knife marks and Kidō auras were everywhere. If he hadn't known that this was the trio's secret base, Xuanxin would have thought that he and Yoruichi had accidentally stumbled into some battlefield.

And in the center of the 'battlefield'.

Kisuke Urahara, the captain of the Twelfth Division who was always known for his composure, was now slumped in his chair, looking rather dejected, with his brows furrowed and exuding an aura of despondency.

Seeing this, Xuanxin walked up to Kisuke Urahara, looked at the mess around him, and asked in a deep voice, "What happened? Why are you in such a sorry state... Did the experiment fail?"

Upon hearing Xuanxin's voice, Kisuke Urahara slowly raised his head.

That face, which always wore a frivolous smile, was now ashen white, covered with deep fatigue and bloodshot veins.

He looked at his two closest friends, his lips twitched into a weak smile, and he gave a bitter laugh:

"Failure? If only it were just failure..."

Kisuke Urahara took a deep breath, staring intently at Xuanxin and Yoruichi with an unprecedentedly serious gaze, and said in a hoarse voice:

"Gentlemen... I seem to have made an irreversible mistake."

At this point, Kisuke Urahara took a deep breath, and slowly raised his slightly trembling finger, pointing to an isolation chamber at the deepest part of the laboratory.

"Just before you arrived, I tried all sorts of Kidō and sealing techniques. But I couldn't harm that thing in the slightest."

"I'm afraid it... is beyond my control."

Listening to Kisuke Urahara's description, and looking at the isolation chamber that was faintly emitting an eerie light, Xuanxin and Yoruichi's expressions turned completely grim.