Preparing for Battle

"Ten!!"

Rukia saw Ten Unohana suddenly appear and hurried over to his side.

Ten Unohana looked at Rukia as she ran over and said with a grin, "Hey! Rukia!" As he spoke, he went over with a serious expression, pulled her into his arms, and planted a kiss on her lips.

"Mmm!"

Rukia hurriedly broke free from Ten Unohana's embrace.

Her face was red.

But then the mood was ruined—

"My head's spinning. I can't feel any strength in my body!" Ichigo Kurosaki passed out. He had released too much Soul Reaper power in a short time, and the aftereffects had set in.

Ten Unohana looked at Ichigo Kurosaki and asked Rukia, "What's going on with his Soul Reaper power? Where did it come from?"

Rukia said, "I don't know either. Urahara probably did it."

Ten Unohana let out a sigh of relief. "I see."

Ten Unohana glanced around, savoring the taste of freedom. Although it seemed to the outside world that he had only been trapped for a short time, it was actually little different from being trapped for several years. That was also the most terrifying thing about the place of exile.

"Mr. Unohana, could you forgive me for acting on my own regarding the Hōgyoku...?" Kisuke Urahara asked Ten Unohana awkwardly.

Ten Unohana waved a hand. "About that, I'll forgive you for Yoruichi's sake, and because of a few other things. As for what those things are, you don't need to know."

Ten Unohana took Yuzu and Karin by the hand and prepared to leave. Yuzu pointed at Ichigo Kurosaki and asked, "Dad, what's wrong with him?" Only then did everyone notice Ichigo Kurosaki...

Ichigo Kurosaki was nearly done for by now. Ten Unohana looked at him and said, "He's fine. He's just lying on the ground for fun because he has nothing better to do. Only, he accidentally almost burned himself to death with his own power."

"Dad, please save him!" Yuzu said, her heart softening as she watched Ichigo Kurosaki lie on the ground in pain.

Ten Unohana shook his head, tapped Yuzu on the forehead, and said, "You, don't do this next time. I told you not to be so softhearted!"

"Okay, Dad. This is the only time."

Ten Unohana picked up Yuzu and Karin and walked over to Ichigo Kurosaki's Zanpakuto. Ichigo Kurosaki's reiatsu was immediately absorbed by Ten Unohana, without causing the slightest ripple.

Rukia, meanwhile, listened blankly to the two children in Ten Unohana's arms calling him Dad. Dad? He's already a dad? Heh, then what about me? What am I?

"Hey, Rukia."

"Rukia!!"

"Hey, hey, hey, Rukia, wake up!!"

"Huh—what is it?" Rukia looked at Ten Unohana, whose face was right in front of hers, and her face instantly turned red.

Ten Unohana said, "Come on! What are you standing there for?!"

"Oh..."

But then—

"Stop, you demon!!" Uryū Ishida's voice rang out, startling Ten Unohana. It had been a long time since anyone had called him a demon.

Ten Unohana looked back at Uryū Ishida, who demanded angrily, "You're Ten Unohana, right?"

Ten Unohana looked at Uryū Ishida for a moment, then turned his head away and said disdainfully, "Tch, you're just a little brat. Who are you trying to fool?"

With that, he slowly walked away.

"Stop! You stop right there!!" Uryū Ishida shouted, drawing his bow as he did.

"Don't attack him, okay? As long as you don't attack, this is just messing around. But if you do attack, you'll be an enemy!!" Masaki warned Uryū Ishida.

Ishida watched Ten Unohana gradually disappear into the distance, then dejectedly crouched down.

"Mm, that's basically what happened." After returning to the villa, Ten Unohana had finally finished explaining what had happened to him under the women's questioning and had earned their forgiveness. But the condition for their forgiveness was either tragic or blissful: he had to push all the women down together, or spend his nights sleeping alone.

Well, this was a question of whether to be a beast or worse than a beast, and Ten Unohana was torn. Being a beast wasn't good; there were all sorts of things he wasn't comfortable with. But the problem now was that people from Soul Society might show up at any moment. Because of Ichigo, Soul Society wouldn't allow a Soul Reaper with no official status to remain out in the world.

But it would be bad if a Soul Reaper captain who had a grudge against him showed up.

What Ten Unohana didn't know, however, was that Aizen had already set his sights on him because of the Hōgyoku. As a result, Soul Society still discovered Rukia's suspicious activities, and by chance found out that she had been in contact with Ten Unohana.

And so Soul Society began assembling a combat force, at the Captain-level.

The reason: bring Rukia back, and capture or kill Ten Unohana if possible.

As for Rukia's crime, it was contact with Ten Unohana, a major criminal of Soul Society!!

Before Soul Society had finished assembling the combat force for Ten Unohana, he had already learned everything about the operation.

Ten Unohana didn't care much about that, but what angered him was that pushing the women down had to be postponed yet again because of all these matters.

Meanwhile, on Kisuke Urahara's side,

Isshin said to Kisuke Urahara, "I've decided to have Ichigo train for Shikai after all, so he can increase his strength as soon as possible."

Kisuke Urahara said, "I have no objections to that."

So, after waking up and briefly recovering, Ichigo threw himself back into training. For some reason, Yasutora Sado also found his way there, giving Kisuke Urahara another student. Kisuke Urahara didn't have much of a problem with that. How many students of this level couldn't he teach?!

Ten Unohana looked at Tatsuki Arisawa before him. "You want me to teach you??"

"Yeah."

Ten Unohana asked in confusion, "All right, let's put that aside for now. First, tell me how you found this place."

"I followed Orihime in?!"

Orihime Inoue said awkwardly, "Tatsuki is my good friend, so I thought I'd ask you to teach her, Brother."

Ten Unohana looked at Tatsuki Arisawa and said, "My training is strict, but I won't supervise you. How far you get will depend on your own self-discipline. If you can strictly carry out my instructions, you'll be ready to leave my tutelage."

"What if I exceed your requirements?" Tatsuki Arisawa asked, unwilling to admit defeat.

Ten Unohana and all the women looked at Tatsuki Arisawa at once. She looked at them and asked, "Did I say something wrong?"

Ten Unohana came back to his senses and said, "I wouldn't say you said anything wrong. It's just that if you exceed the requirements, heh heh, then you'll stay here!!!"

Tatsuki Arisawa nodded, but what she didn't know was that everyone who lived here was one of Ten Unohana's future wives.

Meanwhile, on Kisuke Urahara's side,

Ichigo Kurosaki had also begun his Shikai training, while Yasutora Sado practiced his own abilities nearby.

Outside a building not far from Kisuke Urahara's place,

Ten Unohana stood with Orihime Inoue.

Orihime Inoue asked in confusion, "Brother, weren't you going to take me to train? Why did we come here? Where is this?"

"Creak—"

The door slowly opened, and a joking voice rang out from inside the building. "Oh my, I never expected Lord Unohana to come over!!"

This was the Visored's base.

Ten Unohana said to Orihime Inoue, "All right, let's go in!"

"Oh."

"Hey, Shinji Hirako, where's your Visored member Hachigen Ushōda?"

"Huh~~~~~~"

"All right, stop going 'huh.' Honestly, I've got a task for you. Teach her the basics of barriers." As he spoke, he showed Orihime to Hachigen Ushōda.

Hachigen Ushōda said, "Teach her? Does she have a barrier-related ability too?"

Ten Unohana said, "Yes. Hurry up. You only need to teach Orihime the most basic knowledge about barriers. As for anything else, you can teach her if you want to, or not if you don't. You have half a day; just explain the basics to Orihime. As for the more advanced techniques, I'll give those to her."

Over on Ichigo Kurosaki's side,

"Forget that fear, look ahead, and move forward. Never stop. Retreat and you will age; be afraid and you will die." Listening to Zangetsu's words, Ichigo Kurosaki shouted, "Zangetsu!"

Ichigo Kurosaki completed his Shikai, and because Zangetsu was an always-released Zanpakuto, it remained in its Shikai state at all times.

Compared with Ichigo Kurosaki's completed Shikai, everyone else's training wasn't progressing nearly as quickly.

Orihime had finished listening to Hachigen Ushōda's explanation and had begun listening to Ten Unohana's. As for how Ten Unohana knew about these things, he had anticipated this day long ago and had specifically memorized methods for using barriers in the Great Spirit Book Gallery.

As for Tatsuki Arisawa, Ten Unohana had already decided to bring her into his harem. Gwahaha...

The various developments in the World of the Living had no effect on the assembly of Soul Society's combat force. One captain after another began preparing to set out for the World of the Living...

Byakuya Kuchiki, captain of the Sixth Division; Shunsui Kyōraku, captain of the Eighth Division; and Jūshirō Ukitake, captain of the Thirteenth Division. Only three captains were being dispatched, but Kyōraku and Ukitake were both veteran captains. Even this was only a probe by Yamamoto, who had ordered the three captains to see whether Ten Unohana had any fighting strength. If he didn't, they could seal him and bring him back to Soul Society. If he wasn't strong, they were to kill him if they could, and flee if they couldn't, doing their best to keep themselves safe.