I Have a Good Idea / The Arrogant Kiganjō

In fact, Kyōsuke Kuchiki had known from the start that Tessai Tsukabishi was a lot like Kisuke Urahara in certain ways.

Both were researchers of that sort, and Tessai was even more devoted to research.

That was why the two of them associated with each other.

So rather than be caught between the Gotei 13 and Central 46, Tessai would have preferred to devote himself to studying Kidō.

Tessai really was not suited to the post of Grand Kidō Chief.

Then, with Tessai leading the way, the two headed for the Kidō Corps headquarters together.

When they arrived near the headquarters, Kyōsuke looked ahead and paused in surprise.

He immediately smiled and nodded. "Interesting!"

Then, before Tessai's astonished eyes, Kyōsuke casually stepped into the grounds of the Kidō Corps headquarters.

"Vice Kidō Chief Kuchiki, you... how...?"

Tessai looked utterly baffled, as though he had seen something so unbelievable that the shock had left him unable to speak properly.

"What is it? Did I do something wrong?"

Kyōsuke, who had just taken up his post as vice Kidō chief, was a little puzzled.

Did the Kidō Corps have some rule he didn't know about?

Having regained his composure, Tessai hastily waved his hands and explained:

"No, it's my problem."

"I was just startled by your talent for Kidō, Vice Kidō Chief Kuchiki."

With that, he pointed at the air around them, a complicated look on his face.

"There's a Kidō barrier here that Vice Captain Ushō and I put in place."

"To create this concealment barrier called Eight Linked Twin Cliffs, we pooled the strength of the entire Kidō Corps."

"And yet this barrier didn't affect you in the slightest, Vice Kidō Chief Kuchiki."

"May I ask how you managed it?"

Eight Linked Twin Cliffs was a camouflage-type advanced barrier, a masterpiece he had proudly developed with Vice Kidō Chief Hachigen Ushōda.

It concealed the presence of everything around it, causing people to overlook everything within its range and unconsciously avoid the area.

Even a Captain-level fighter could not dispel it without a special method.

But Kyōsuke, standing before him... seemed to have completely ignored the Kidō's effects!

Not only had he passed through the barrier with ease, he had not even triggered any of its warning mechanisms.

If Tessai had not still been able to sense the barrier operating normally,

he would probably have suspected that his barrier had suddenly dissipated.

This was beyond terrifying; it was downright inconceivable!

After several changes of expression, Tessai looked at Kyōsuke with even greater admiration.

"So this is Eight Linked Twin Cliffs?"

Kyōsuke was naturally familiar with this Kidō barrier, which the Visored had used in the story.

Seeing how eager Tessai was to learn, Kyōsuke smiled and said:

"Your barrier is actually quite interesting and powerful. It just doesn't work on me."

"If I'm not mistaken, this barrier can disguise itself as the Reiatsu of whoever's trying to peer inside, blocking Reiatsu detection that way."

"I can perfectly control my own Reiatsu and presence, so Eight Linked Twin Cliffs can't use them against me."

The Soul Reaper body forged by Six Treasury Immortal Thief at the perfect realm was flawless.

Not only was its strength off the charts and its potential maxed out, it also had a talent for concealing Reiatsu.

With that talent, if Kyōsuke set his heart on killing someone, he would have almost no chance of missing.

The vast majority of barriers and seals only worked on Reiatsu, and even Eight Linked Twin Cliffs was no exception.

Kyōsuke's talent had given the Grand Kidō Chief the shock of a century!

Chapter 40: I Have a Good Idea

Tessai stared in shock after hearing Kyōsuke's explanation.

"To think you can perfectly conceal your own Reiatsu. No wonder the Second Division Captain noticed you."

"Could this be a new Kidō?"

"Another self-created Kidō?"

Strictly speaking, Eight Linked Twin Cliffs was also a self-created Kidō.

But like the vast majority of other self-created Kidō, Eight Linked Twin Cliffs built upon the experience and techniques of those who came before.

Such self-created Kidō were not entirely original; they could only be called fusions of multiple Kidō.

Kyōsuke's self-created Kidō was different. It was a hundred percent original, without the slightest trace of its predecessors. It was almost like an entirely new system of power.

After witnessing Kyōsuke's Kidō, Tessai, who was obsessed with Kidō, felt as though the door to a new world had opened before him.

That was why he had made a promise ordinary people would find hard to understand, all to get Kyōsuke to join the Kidō Corps.

In fact, Tessai had thought it through.

Wasn't Kidō the future of the Kidō Corps? Who else could surpass Kyōsuke in Kidō in the future?

Faced with his own Grand Kidō Chief's excessive enthusiasm, even Kyōsuke felt a little uncomfortable.

"This isn't Kidō. It's just a little knack of mine, nothing special."

"And Grand Kidō Chief Tsukabishi, you don't have to be so formal with me. We'll be spending plenty of time together from now on."

After much persuasion, he finally convinced the honest Tessai to give up his habit of using honorifics.

It felt harder than learning an advanced Kidō.

While Tessai was showing Kyōsuke around the Kidō Corps headquarters, in a secret laboratory of the Twelfth Division,

Yoruichi Shihōin silently approached a certain scientist who was engrossed in an experiment.

"Yoruichi, how did it go?"

Kisuke Urahara suddenly spoke without looking up.

"How did you notice me?" Yoruichi was a little curious and a little annoyed.

If she couldn't scare him, that took a lot of the fun out of it.

Kisuke pointed to an inconspicuous device on the floor.

"This is a matter detector I just developed. It can detect both Reishi and Kishi."

"So which division did our classmate Kuchiki choose in the end?"

Yoruichi leaned against the wall with her arms folded and chuckled.

"We both guessed wrong. He joined the Kidō Corps."

"That kid's too popular. The Kidō Corps really pulled out all the stops this time."

"They made him vice captain and even promised him the captain's position."

Apparently not having expected that outcome, Kisuke froze for a second before letting out a sigh.

"What a shame..."

"If he was willing to join the Kidō Corps, why wouldn't he come to the Research and Development Institute?"

"I could have agreed to make him vice captain too! At worst, I could have gone and begged Vice Captain Hiyori."

"Have all of you gone mad? Is that kid really so good?"

Yoruichi looked at him suspiciously.

Kisuke said seriously:

"Absolutely!"

"I got the inspiration for both this matter detector and the invisibility cloak I'm developing from our classmate Kuchiki."

Kyōsuke's talent for concealing his Reiatsu had struck Kisuke as very interesting.

He had first developed a detector to counter it.

Then, following that line of thought, Kisuke had begun researching a device that could completely conceal a person's form and Reiatsu.

Soon, he would have results.

If he could trick Kyōsuke into coming to the Research and Development Institute for a thorough study, wouldn't he have endless inspiration and results?

"You've always got so many ideas, and you're constantly doing dangerous research like this. Be careful it doesn't come back to bite you."

Yoruichi offered that brief warning and said no more.

Her friend looked harmless, but he was just like her: frighteningly stubborn and completely unwilling to listen to reason.

Hearing this, Kisuke teased her. "Don't you already have a little girlfriend? And you're still so concerned about that kid!"

"I've got a big appetite. Can't I eat two bowls of rice in one meal?" Yoruichi retorted irritably.

Just then, Kisuke seemed to remember something. He stopped the research he was working on, and his expression turned unusually grave.

"I keep feeling like something big is going to happen in the Seireitei."

"There's definitely more to the appearance of those mutated Hollows than meets the eye."

"And I found that someone seems to have tampered with my research materials, but there isn't a single clue."

It was precisely because of this that Kisuke had begun developing more advanced surveillance devices.

At the same time, he had prepared some equipment to make things easier for himself.

These past few days, the more Kisuke analyzed the data on the mutated Hollows that had come in, the more he felt something was wrong.

And it was a big problem.

Someone had to be pulling the strings behind this.

Unfortunately, for some reason, although he knew someone was up to something, that person was like an invisible man, impossible to lay hands on.

Even someone as clever as Kisuke could not find a single chink in this person's armor.

A crystalline gleam flickered in Yoruichi's golden eyes.

"I've noticed a few things that aren't right too."

"Every time, I sense a rat passing by, but when I search carefully, I find nothing."

"I see. Looks like we need to prepare early."

Kisuke felt he needed to get ahead of things and deal with a few matters.

Yoruichi's words had further confirmed his suspicions.

Naturally cautious, he had no intention of leaving any trouble for the future. He would seal away some of his more dangerous research for the time being.

"Then I'll go ask around some more. It's rare to have so many captains gathered in one place."

With that, Yoruichi vanished from the laboratory.

Chapter 41: The Arrogant Kiganjō

At Shin'ō Academy, after recruitment ended, a group of captains gathered to discuss the quality of this year's "new tea."

Yoruichi, who had rushed over using Shunpo, chatted idly while quietly observing the assembled captains.

But no matter how hard she tried to analyze them, she could not tell which captain was secretly pulling strings.

"What a shame... What a terrible shame!"

"A hero like that actually went to the Kidō Corps!"

"If I'd known, I would've made a serious effort to recruit him!"