Birth

Five months later, at the Fourth Division Barracks,

Retsu Unohana looked at her swollen belly and gritted her teeth. She put on her loose captain's uniform, concealing her sexy figure and swollen belly, then headed for the First Division Barracks.

"Captain Unohana, did you say you wanted to take a year's leave in the World of the Living?" Genryūsai asked, looking at Retsu Unohana.

Retsu Unohana nodded. "I'm very sorry, but I would still like to take a year's leave in the World of the Living."

Genryūsai thought for a moment. "Will the Fourth Division be able to function normally, then? After all, if something urgent happens during that year..." Unohana said, "It's all right! My lieutenant can handle it. If she really can't, I'll come back immediately."

"All right! In that case, I approve your leave." "Thank you, Captain-Commander." With that, Retsu Unohana turned and left.

But Retsu Unohana's worries had not entirely disappeared. After all, if Soul Society summoned her, that would be another problem. Even so, she had made up her mind: she would not return to Soul Society until her child was safely born.

Before long, Retsu Unohana went straight to the Senkaimon in her own home. Clearly, she had already arranged the Fourth Division's affairs. If Genryūsai had not approved her leave, Unohana, having arranged everything in the Fourth Division, would still have gone to the World of the Living.

"Phew." Retsu Unohana breathed out softly. Resolutely, she inserted her Zanpakuto into the Senkaimon. If she did not succeed on this journey—

She would die trying.

Above an unknown city in the World of the Living, a Senkaimon invisible to ordinary people suddenly appeared, and a gentle Soul Reaper captain stepped out. A large "four" adorned the back of her Captain's Haori. This was Retsu Unohana, who had arrived in the World of the Living.

"The first step is complete," Unohana murmured, watching the Senkaimon close and vanish behind her. With that, she moved to the ground, already wearing the Gigai she had prepared to help her child grow.

"Hmm, first I need to get some money in the World of the Living. I don't need it, but my child does. That's what I'll do first." Retsu Unohana slowly walked toward the bustling district as she spoke.

Meanwhile, at the First Division Barracks in Soul Society, First Division Lieutenant Chōjirō Sasakibe knelt behind Genryūsai on one knee. "Something is a little off about Captain Unohana. Why would you still..."

Genryūsai gazed into the distance. "There's no need to worry about Captain Unohana. She is a Soul Reaper from the same era as I am and is absolutely loyal to Soul Society. As for any other troubles she may have, since Captain Unohana has not asked for our help, we cannot interfere. That is a captain's pride, or perhaps a strong person's dignity."

"Understood!" Chōjirō Sasakibe replied. Neither of them knew that there was a love in the world that could surpass everything: the greatest love of all, a mother's love. Everything naturally included loyalty to Soul Society.

And so Soul Society easily let the demon king who would one day destroy the entire Soul Reaper world slip away at his weakest.

Another five months passed in a hurry. In the end, nothing major happened in Soul Society. No, rather, a major event no one knew about was quietly taking place: the child in Retsu Unohana's belly was finally about to be born.

This future great demon king was about to be born.

The Soul Reaper world was about to change!

Under these circumstances, another four months passed in a hurry. Retsu Unohana stood alone before a Garganta. Her clothes had only grown looser.

After four months of effort, Retsu Unohana had built up a considerable foundation. She had achieved this while looking after the child in her belly and establishing this Garganta leading to Hueco Mundo.

But then again, in the original story, Kanonji—that somewhat foolish man—had managed to amass such wealth with his meager abilities. Let alone Retsu Unohana, a woman who ranked among the cleverest in the Soul Reaper world.

Retsu Unohana slowly stepped out of her Gigai. Looking at it on the ground, she said, "A Gigai made from a Quincy's corpse should help the child grow better, right? Next, to escape Soul Society's surveillance, I'll have to go to Hueco Mundo. The energy there should also be useful to the child." With that, she entered the Garganta leading to Hueco Mundo.

Hueco Mundo, above the Forest of Menos,

A Garganta slowly opened, and a Soul Reaper wearing a Captain's Haori stepped out. A large "four" adorned its back. This was Retsu Unohana, who had come to Hueco Mundo.

"Rustle, rustle." Ever since Retsu Unohana opened the Garganta, the sound of shifting sand had continued without pause. A closer look revealed why.

The Hollows of Hueco Mundo had sensed Retsu Unohana's Reiatsu and fled at once, making noise as they ran through the sand. Retsu Unohana did not pursue them, instead calmly beginning to release various Kidō.

Retsu Unohana planned to build a temporary delivery room here and safely give birth to the child in her belly. But she was, after all, a veteran captain among the Soul Reapers. Her Reiatsu was far too powerful, so—

"Soul Reaper, what is your purpose in coming here alone?" An Adjuchas emerged from the Forest of Menos below and asked cautiously.

Retsu Unohana smiled gently. "Oh my! It's Mr. Hollow. I'd like to stay here for a month! I hope you don't mind, Mr. Hollow. As long as you don't disturb me, I won't go to war with you without cause. But if you come near this place, Mr. Hollow..."

The Adjuchas sensed the strength of Retsu Unohana's Reiatsu and the powerful Kidō she had just released around her, and quickly nodded.

Retsu Unohana continued, "In that case, Mr. Hollow, I hope we get along as neighbors. No, perhaps it would be better not to be neighbors, since no one is allowed near this area! And please pass that message along to everyone in the Forest of Menos, Mr. Hollow!"

"Y-yes." With that, the Adjuchas quickly burrowed into the sand—he had been thoroughly intimidated by Retsu Unohana's Reiatsu.

Sensing the Adjuchas's Reiatsu gradually recede, Retsu Unohana breathed a soft sigh of relief. She entered the area protected by her Kidō and took off her loose Captain's Haori, revealing her heavily swollen belly beneath it.

"I have to keep the birth in Hueco Mundo a secret. I can't let anyone know I'm having a baby, or it'll be trouble if they attack the moment the baby is born," Retsu Unohana said to herself.

At the same time, she continued reinforcing the Kidō around her and used it to create a house.

After doing all this, Retsu Unohana hurriedly lay down and nourished the baby in her belly with her Reiatsu. Ever since the captains had joined forces to supply her with Reiatsu, the child had gradually absorbed less of it, but had never stopped absorbing it altogether.

Even now, the child could still absorb the equivalent of an ordinary low-ranking Seated Officer's Reiatsu in a single day.

Having just released many high-level Kidō, Retsu Unohana feared she would not have enough Reiatsu to supply the child, affecting his development.

But Retsu Unohana was, after all, a woman with no experience giving birth. She had only read in books that Soul Reaper children absorbed Reiatsu during birth. She did not know that other Soul Reaper children needed to absorb only a little Reiatsu at birth, and would never absorb such enormous amounts every moment of the day like this.

Or rather, although Retsu Unohana also felt that something was a little wrong, she assumed this was happening because she had become pregnant before marriage.

The next day,

Retsu Unohana continued her previous work, making the temporary house more comfortable and strengthening the defenses outside it with Kidō once again. Then she rested again so the child in her belly could better absorb Reiatsu.

Day after day passed like this, until—

"Ah." Retsu Unohana felt a sharp pain in her belly. "Is the baby coming?" she wondered aloud.

She hurried into the house she had built, then took out the Soul Candy and Gigai she had prepared beforehand, creating a temporary female doctor to help her give birth safely.

"Ahh—" Retsu Unohana could not help crying out. With all the preparations complete, she could finally concentrate on giving birth.

Meanwhile, in the Forest of Menos beneath where Retsu Unohana was giving birth,

"Hey, are you sure you want to go up there and kill that Soul Reaper?" the Adjuchas Unohana had warned earlier asked the several Adjuchas before him with great caution.

The Adjuchas jeered. "A mere Soul Reaper captain scared you? You're too much of a coward. We're Adjuchas! Even if she's a captain, there are so many of us. Besides, he's a woman. Her fighting strength must be weaker than a male Soul Reaper's. Hahaha... We'll eat her afterward. They say Soul Reaper meat tastes great. We might even advance to Vasto Lorde! And then..."

"But that female Soul Reaper is really strong!"

"Forget that coward. Let's go!"

With that, the Adjuchas headed upward.

"Ahh—" Retsu Unohana cried out loudly. This time, she did not want to hold back her cries, because—

There will only be this one time, Unohana thought.

Boom! The Adjuchas burst out of the ground.

But they fell silent as they looked at the house, protected by numerous powerful Kidō and radiating astonishing, frightening Reiatsu.

After a while, one said, "Boss, there are so many powerful Kidō! That Soul Reaper's strength..."

Bang! The Adjuchas who had spoken was sent flying.

"Don't hesitate! We're already here. Besides, there are so many of us. We can definitely do it!"

"Yes!"

"Cero!"

Boom!

Retsu Unohana sensed the Reiatsu of the Hollows outside and the defensive Kidō breaking, and grew frantic.

Fortunately, though—

"Ahh—" With a high-pitched scream from Retsu Unohana, the child in her belly was finally born.

At that very moment, boom, the Adjuchas also broke through the Kidō outside the house with their Ceros.

But then—"Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō! Sōren Sōkatsui! Kurohitsugi!"

Although Retsu Unohana had just given birth and could not move for the moment, it did not affect her ability to release Kidō in the slightest.

After those Kidō struck, although they did not kill all the Hollows, they came close.

But just then—"Cero!" A Hollow with a trace of strength left seized the interval between Retsu Unohana's Kidō and unleashed the Hollows' signature technique, a Cero, straight at her newborn child.

"No! Dankū!" Retsu Unohana cried out and hastily released a Dankū. But one attack had been launched at full strength, while the other was a hurried defense, so...

With a crash, the Dankū shattered, and the Cero sped straight toward the child. At that point, releasing Kidō would also catch the child in it. Retsu Unohana watched in terror as the Cero flew straight at him.

Bang!

Seeing what the Cero had done, the Hollow who had fired it exclaimed in shock, "What... what happened?"

Retsu Unohana silently stared at the Gigai pierced through by the Cero.

"Damn Hollow!" Retsu Unohana had never felt so furious.

If not for... if not for—if not for the Soul Candy, her child...

"Limit of the thousand hands, respectful hands unable to reach the darkness, heavenly archer unable to reflect the blue sky, path of light, wind that fans the flames, gather together without hesitation and follow my command. Bullets of light, eight bodies, nine lines, heavenly scripture, swift treasure, great wheel, gray turret, draw the bow toward the distance and scatter brilliantly. Senju Kōten Taihō!"

As for the Adjuchas, nothing more needed to be said. Senju Kōten Taihō was a powerful technique that had even injured Aizen, so let alone that Adjuchas—even the ground where the Adjuchas had stood sank a level.