Although it's a mission in the World of the Living realm, it's incredibly boring. Without the invasion of the Baraggan Empire, it's rare to World of the Living Menos Grande here. Generally, only the dead who weren't promptly extradited become Hollows, but this is a peaceful era, and it's normal to go months without encountering a single dead person.
When bored, I can do some research. Recently, I've started researching some special Kidō, like prophecy, which is kind of a wild idea. Because prophecy is indeed very mysterious, and no one knows if it's even possible. I've read a lot of explanations about its principles online in my past life, so I'll give it a try, anyway, it's just to relieve boredom.
But after several days of research with no progress, Chun became somewhat unhappy. He couldn't quite explain why; he'd never felt this way before when doing research—wanting to give up after a few days without results was inexplicable.
However, looking at it another way, things that were previously thought impossible with Kidō have all been tested with Zanpakuto. Therefore, Zanpakuto is even less scientific than Kidō, acting arbitrarily. So why not create a Zanpakuto that can predict the future?
Perhaps that's why Jun didn't want to continue his aimless research. Why go through all that trouble when there's an easy way? So Jun opened the Space-Breaking World and returned to Soul Society ahead of schedule.
Upon returning to Soul Society, Jun didn't go home first, but instead went to Aizen's place. Aizen wasn't home. Since Aizen's father was dead, Aizen began working on his father's legacy, becoming much busier, and his seat became the Sixth Seat.
Unable to find Aizen, Jun had no choice but to go home. Pushing open the door, he shouted, "I'm home!" Of course, there was no response; Isuzu was with the party. Only a lazy person like Jun would be so idle.
Since we're all in the team, and staying home for a while is boring, let's go back to the team.
"Yo~"
"Oh~ Chun's back," Isshin hesitated for two seconds, calculating the days, "Didn't you run back early again?"
"Haha~ The World of the Living is meaningless, and it's even more boring without Isuzu by my side."
"Do as you please, nobody can control you, you hero of Soul Society."
Jun no longer cares much about the title of Hero of Soul Society, but he has performed very well in these recent wars. Jun is the kind of person who may have minor flaws but never major ones; there are many such people in Soul Society, so there's no reason to punish Jun for this.
Like this time, he sneaked back again. So what if he came back? What can we do? Throw him in the Jail for such a small thing? It's not that serious, is it?
However, being in the team was just as boring. Asai Shinten seemed to be on a mission, or at least not there. Jun flipped through the files on her desk. Shinju had done everything she could; the remaining few things required Jun's decision, but Jun rarely needed to handle them.
Since the most important matters within the team only require the approval of a handful of Seated Officer at least seven), and if it's just a matter of a mission in the World of the Living, then the approval of the other chairpersons is sufficient. So, that's how it works.
There were also Journal about what happened when Chun went to the World of the Living. Chun picked them up and looked at them, and the first one that caught Chun's eye was an urgent order to replenish the Expedition Force.
"Hmm~?" Jun scratched his head. He had only been to Hueco Mundo a few days ago, and from the information he gathered from the Arrancar and his own sword, the Expedition Force seemed to have escaped unscathed. Could something serious have happened in the last few days? Jun carefully examined the personnel list.
At first glance, Jun immediately recognized his team's captain, Takagi, as the team's Vice-Captain, followed by the Vice-Captain of the Twelfth Division, and also Shimizu Isuzu.
"Why is there Lingling?" Jun narrowed her eyes, unable to think further. She immediately took the list to Isshin, "Hey~ Isshin! What's going on!?"
"What is that? Hmm?"
"What's wrong!?"
"The one I signed is different from this one!" Isshin she could even explain the difference, Jun directly activated her Space-Breaking World in the office.
However, this time the Space-Breaking World was incredibly uncooperative, immediately unleashing a Kōtotsu. Jun drew his sword and instantly killed it. Killing Kōtotsu only consumed five or six times more energy than killing Gillian, which wasn't difficult for a skilled fighter. Jun swiftly headed to Hueco Mundo, leaving behind the Tenth Division captain's office, shattered by the Space-Breaking World.
However, Isshin didn't blame Chun. She then took out the document she had signed from the drawer and compared it. Sure enough, it had four or five fewer names than the one Chun had brought.
"Something terrible is about to happen!"
The Space-Breaking World has no location-based capabilities; its appearance depends entirely on luck. It appeared in the Silent Sand Sea; glancing at the sky, it was nighttime and there was no moon.
It was only then that Chun realized she had forgotten to bring Starrk's Wolf Fur, but she couldn't worry about that now. Chun activated her Radar Technique to its maximum extent. Because Radar Technique doesn't monitor in real time, its range is extremely long, five or six times farther than the Kakushitsuijaku.
Chun's Kakushitsuijaku had a range of several kilometers, while the Radar Technique's straight-line range was over twenty kilometers, though the response at the furthest distance was very slow. Soon, Chun received feedback that he had discovered Las Noches. Based on the Radar Technique's detection of Las Noches's shape, Chun located the south gate. After calculating his position, Chun began to advance at full speed southwest.
After running for almost half an hour, Jun finally arrived at the Expedition Force's base. The person stationed there was Kibune Hakuzō, the former Vice-Captain of the Third Division. He noticed someone rushing towards them and came out to take precautions.
"Your ship's captain! Where's Isuzu!?"
"It's the Fifth Seat Shimizu. Your wife went into the Forest of Menos with their exploration team a few days ago," Kibune Hakuzō, relieved to see that it was Jun.
But Chun's heart sank when she heard him say, "A few days ago?"
"Ah, four days ago."
"Thank you. Which direction? Never mind, you're welcome."
"What happened?" Kibune Hakuzō. If he couldn't figure it out, he wouldn't be a leader for anything. Besides, he was already puzzled by the sudden appearance of this exploration team. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Never mind~", Chun waved his hand, "I'm going to venture deeper into the Forest of Menos. It'll be better if I'm alone. Thank you for your kindness."
After speaking, Chun used Shunpo to disappear, and soon entered the Forest of Menos. He activated Radar Technique, but its effectiveness was extremely poor in the Forest of Menos. However, there was no other way; distance was king now, and it was better than Kakushitsuijaku.
"They've been gone for four days?! Damn it, this is what made me so anxious four days ago!? Why didn't I come back sooner!? Takagi Naomatsu!! If Isuzu loses even a single hair, I'll make you wish you were dead!"
Even as Jun cursed fiercely, he didn't hold much hope for Isuzu anymore. However, Aizen was among those being dealt with, and Jun felt that this might be his only hope.
"They couldn't possibly go too far, could they? There's no need to put themselves in danger during an assassination attempt."
Chun pondered this, calculating the distance he had traveled into the Forest of Menos. He estimated it to be about ten kilometers, so he stopped and increased the power of his Radar Technique. This allowed him to begin cleaning the scanned map even within the Forest of Menos.
Sure enough, a few minutes later, Jun spotted the presence of Soul Reaper in the due east direction. Jun immediately flew there and arrived in less than five minutes, where he saw Isuzu leaning weakly against a tree trunk.
Jun didn't even care who the other two people were; he just rushed over and hugged Isuzu to his arms.
"Lingling ~ Lingling! I'm here~ I'm here~", Jun realized that Isuzu might not make it.
Isuzu opened her eyes, which were unfocused, fixed on Jun's direction. She then called out in a barely audible voice, "Jun~"
The Kaido was already inside, but Jun discovered that Isuzu's Reishi core had been destroyed, with a huge gash in her chest—the fatal wound. Jun's heart sank completely, so he had to resort to the latest research, Life Synchronization, to keep Isuzu alive.
A green Spiritual Power emanated from Jun, enveloping Isuzu. Isuzu regained consciousness, her eyes gradually regaining their light. Looking at Jun, she suddenly burst into tears.
"Jun~ I'm so sorry~ I'm so weak~ I ended up dragging you down again~"
This sentence was so direct it brought me to tears. Why would a woman, after being plotted against and assassinated, say such a thing to her man?
"What are you saying?! I failed to protect you! It's all my fault!"
"No~", Isuzu wiped away Jun's tears and shook her head, "Only I know how busy you are, only I know how great you are. You are working hard for Soul Society, and you have something more important in your heart. This is not your fault."
Nothing is more important than you!
"But it was for me, for our child, wasn't it? I'm sorry, Jun, in the end I didn't give you or our child," Isuzu said, crying as well. "I was too weak. I always felt like I would be a burden to you. I always felt like I might not be able to protect the child. I was always afraid."
"No, no, no~ no!"
Jun felt like he was going crazy; pain and regret were gnawing at his heart. If it was about the child, it might not be Isuzu's fault. Jun hadn't married in his previous life, and his relationship with his girlfriend ended quickly before he was transported to the Soul Society, making it impossible for him to have children. After arriving in Soul Society, due to various reasons, coupled with a lack of humanity, he became increasingly careless about this matter, which was probably the more important reason.
"Lingling, we'll have plenty of time to talk about this later. Let me get revenge for you first."
Jun put down the Isuzu and looked at the two people, Aizen and Takagi.
"Sorry, I didn't."
"No need. You have your own circumstances. I believe you can do it and won't refuse. What I just want to know now is, Takagi, you bastard, who are you working for?"
Jun doesn't need Aizen's apology. At this point, there's no point in saying anything to Aizen; just believing Aizen's right is the best course of action. Jun's ability to remain calm at this moment is truly amazing, utterly inhuman.
"You all"
"Hadō 90.9, Execution by Lingchi"
Jun touched Takagi's hand briefly, and Takagi tried to block it, but it was fine; a touch was enough. Jun realized that Takagi's Spiritual Power was almost depleted, likely due to Aizen's actions. Aizen might have been waiting for Jun's arrival. Of course, if Jun didn't arrive before Isuzu's death, Aizen would wait for Jun to arrive and then hand Takagi over to him.
Ah~!
Takagi thought everything was alright, but as soon as he put his hand back, a piece of flesh suddenly tore off his shoulder—a very thin piece. Then, immediately afterward, a piece tore off his abdomen, then his back, his neck—it was all over, piece after piece was falling off.
He felt excruciating pain, unbearable to him. This Kidō technique was purely designed to torture people. Because the Ninety-Seventh Technique is the Kurohitsugi, the nine techniques from Ninety-Seventh to Ninety-Seventh are all forms of torture.
"Tell me who you work for, and then you can die. I have no interest in knowing anything else."
"If you tell me, I'll make you die faster. Otherwise, you'll have to watch helplessly as pieces of your flesh are cut off, your internal organs and bones are removed bit by bit, and the pain will only increase because the power of this Kidō itself is inflicted with suffering."
The sheer threat overwhelmed Takagi. Soul Reaper's pain threshold is low, but this was different; the agony was unbearable for him.
"It's Higashiyama! It's Higashiyama who wants you dead! He was afraid you wouldn't be able to kill anyone here, so he did this! While you're still in the World of the Living..."
Before he could finish speaking, Chun placed him inside a bubble and threw him off the tree root. Hearing the long, drawn-out scream, Chun didn't kill him; let him die in agony. Chun had said she wanted him to suffer a fate worse than death.
"Heh, you weren't exactly clean back then, and now you're in too much trouble."
Now that Jun knows the whole story, he realizes that the person he killed—the one who stopped Isuzu from entering the hall at the noble promotion ceremony, the only son of the Higashiyama Family —wasn't careful enough; he shouldn't have acted so directly that day.
"Fine"
"You go, I'll accompany her on her final journey."
"Well, here, take these knives. Aren't you going to use them?"
"Thanks"