No Life Without Nightmares, No Beginning Without Calamity

The sword in his hand seemed to come alive, its gray-mist Spiritual Pressure surging in wave after wave.

Following his instincts, Dōsan gave voice to the call from within his heart.

"No life without nightmares, no beginning without calamity—No Cause."

Dōsan raised the sword and lightly drew its tip across the ground by his feet with a hissing scrape. Then he gave it a gentle flick, and the entire blade transformed into a black, straight-edged sword.

"Oh?"

Gen Kiji put away his sword, choosing not to attack immediately.

Dōsan raised No Cause and began to get used to the sensation of Shikai and his Zanpakuto's ability.

But the ability was a little surprising.

Dōsan looked at the young female captain's face, peaceful now that she had lost consciousness.

Can I really do this?

What are you doing?

Dōsan's looking around completely exhausted Gen Kiji's patience. He gripped his Zanpakuto with both hands and pulled his body back as far as he could, like a Western knight charging with a lance.

The Spiritual Pressure in front of Gen Kiji began to take on a visible, sharp form. As it rubbed against the Reishi in the air, it made a hissing sound like the meshing of old gears.

The surrounding sand and stones began to rise and gather around Heavy Kill, coating it in a layer of sand armor.

"Die, brat!"

There was no time to think.

Dōsan chose to trust himself. He raised his sword and plunged it straight into Soi Fon's body.

Gen Kiji, who had been ready to strike, did not stop advancing. Of course, that did not stop him from taunting Dōsan either.

"Haha! What's this? Are you trying to surrender after releasing your Zanpakuto?"

Gen Kiji laughed, but as he did, he felt an indescribable terror settle over his heart.

"W-why?"

Gen Kiji suddenly doubled over and spat out a mouthful of blood. His entire body felt as though it were under immense pressure, and his charge came to a halt. His internal organs were bleeding heavily, and fine cracks appeared in the bones at his joints.

What was that?

Dōsan Hanyū had stabbed Soi Fon, and then the damage had been added to Gen Kiji himself.

No, that's not right.

This attack feels more like the shock damage caused by my own Heavy Kill. Why?

Why?

The principle was not hard to guess.

But "Gen Kiji," whose Soul Reaper body was gradually falling apart, could scarcely think like a human anymore.

It felt an indistinct, indescribable emotion. It was something "Gen Kiji" had never felt before, but it knew the definition from the countless life-forms it had devoured.

"Fear."

That was the adjective known as fear.

"You bastard! You bastard!"

Gen Kiji's face peeled away piece by piece like damp plaster that had been dried out, gradually revealing the white, ferocious Hollow face beneath.

"You bastard..."

His voice had been human just moments ago, but now it gradually turned into a Hollow's roar.

"Damn it! Damn it!"

"Gen Kiji's" body began to swell, until it had become a four-legged Menos Grande. It let out a roar that made Dōsan feel his soul tremble.

And as its body swelled, Gen Kiji's Spiritual Pressure gradually rose as well, climbing steadily from its initial Vice-Captain-level.

Cold sweat appeared on Dōsan's forehead, and his white brows drew together bitterly. With his left arm, he picked up Soi Fon, who had just been stabbed for no apparent reason, once more.

This Spiritual Pressure, at least as far as Dōsan Hanyū could tell, had grown as strong as Soi Fon's.

In other words, it was Captain-level Spiritual Pressure.

"Die, die, die!"

The price of that enormous body and powerful Spiritual Pressure was intelligence, and... life.

Dōsan's expression grew more solemn, and his distinctive gray-mist Spiritual Pressure began to spread outward. Perhaps that would give him a little sense of security.

As Dōsan watched with a tense gaze tinged with a trace of excitement, the swollen four-legged Hollow's head suddenly exploded, followed by its entire body.

"Huh?"

Dōsan was a little dumbfounded. You died way too abruptly. Write that down and people will complain.

When the Hollow's Spiritual Pressure reached Captain-level, even Tachikawa, the one responsible for it all, saw stars. The abilities displayed by the test subject Kisuke Urahara had left behind surprised her somewhat.

And not just her—even Aizen glanced over. Only then did his gaze shift slightly away from Dōsan.

No matter what heights one stood at, someone Captain-level had to count as a somewhat larger ant.

But however intently they had watched at first, they were just as stunned when the Hollow exploded.

Gin's eyes went round, and he could not manage his usual smile. "Was that his ability too? Even a Captain-level Hollow couldn't withstand it."

Aizen fell silent too, seemingly just like the invisible man he had been before, but Gin, who had been watching him all along, could keenly sense it.

That sight had shocked Aizen, at least a tiny bit.

Aizen had always believed that battles were contests of Spiritual Pressure. He did not think any ability could stand absolutely above it.

So this was very interesting.

"Um, sorry to interrupt." Tachiyama raised her hand a little timidly. She felt that if she let her two companions keep imagining things, they might come up with something strange.

"Actually, this is a fairly normal occurrence. The brain Kisuke Urahara left behind was defective to begin with. Even after I modified it, exploding due to genetic collapse was a perfectly normal outcome."

Was that really the answer?

Gin's gaze seemed to sweep casually over Aizen before finally settling on Tachikawa Magaki. "I see. As expected of your test subject, Senior Tachikawa."

Tachikawa clicked her tongue, a little embarrassed herself, and did not argue.

Only then did Gin speak again. "It seems Dōsan Hanyū's ability is nothing special after all. Lord Aizen, would you like me to kill him now?"

Broadly speaking, it probably used the Zanpakuto to measure the damage an enemy dealt, then multiplied it by a coefficient and returned it.

As for the medium and principle that triggered the ability, those did not seem important.

An ability like that was remarkable in the Thirteenth Division, but if one insisted on judging it, it was only so-so.

At the very least, it still should not have impressed the man before him.

Aizen adjusted his glasses. "Gin, I believe I told you that Dōsan Hanyū has one and only one ability. Its name is 'Correctness of Revision.'"

A thought stirred in Gin's mind. "My deepest apologies, Lord Aizen."

"And is his Zanpakuto really called No Cause, as he calls it?"

"By all common sense, he's already released it, so there shouldn't be any question about that, should there?"

As a scientist, Tachikawa instinctively resisted things that defied common sense and science.

"Remember, common sense exists to constrain the mediocre. True geniuses can never be judged by it."

"We've seen enough." Aizen turned around. "But Dōsan Hanyū is growing too slowly. Let's continue with the plan."

Night had fallen without them noticing. The three faced the moonlight, casting three long, narrow shadows.

West District 1, the Shiba Clan.

"It's all my fault. After Dōsan got beaten up yesterday, I should have stopped him today." Kūkaku knelt in the room, looking somewhat lost.

I thought that with the prestige of my Shiba Clan behind him, winning over a girl would be a sure thing.

I never could have imagined this.

Yesterday, Dōsan took a terrible beating.

Today, he hasn't even come back.

What good could happen when a man and a woman are alone together in the middle of the night?

Do I even need to think about it?

Dōsan must have met with foul play!

"Lady Kūkaku, please accept our condolences," Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko comforted her from the side.

"I found it."

Hearing her younger brother's voice, Kūkaku shot upright.

"How is he?"

Ganju looked at his sister in puzzlement, but thought no more of it and shook out a tattered garment with patches all over it.

"Little Brother Dōsan didn't leave much behind. Let's bury these clothes and put up a grave marker for him."