Unohana's Panic (2)

Fourth Division, Liu Ziyun's dormitory.

Retsu Unohana returned to the empty room. She stood at the door, closed her eyes, and her spiritual senses spread out like a spider web, carefully searching every corner of the room. This time, she was no longer in a hurry to find Liu Ziyun's whereabouts, but calmly, meticulously, and inch by inch, she searched.

The walls, floors, ceilings, beds, desks, wardrobes... every place bore traces of Liu Ziyun's Reiatsu, but those traces were rapidly dissipating, as if their owner had completely left this world. But Retsu Unohana didn't give up; she knew that if Liu Ziyun truly wanted to leave something behind, he would place it somewhere she could find it.

Suddenly, she opened her eyes.

She walked to the desk and gently tapped the surface. Solid. She then tapped the wall, also solid. But when she walked to the bedside and tapped the seemingly ordinary wall, the sound was subtly different—it was a hollow echo, extremely faint, yet to Retsu Unohana's keen senses, it was as clear as thunder.

Retsu Unohana crouched down and examined the wall closely. On the surface, it was no different from the surrounding walls—the same material, the same color, the same texture, even the Reiatsu fluctuations were exactly the same. But her intuition told her that something was hidden here.

She reached out and gently pressed her hand against the wall. Reiatsu slowly flowed in.

A faint golden light suddenly appeared on the wall. Within the light, a hidden compartment slowly opened. The edges of the compartment were as smooth as a mirror, clearly meticulously designed; even the most discerning senses would find it difficult to detect.

In the hidden compartment, a letter lay quietly.

The envelope had a few words written on it, "[For my Xiao Lielie]".

The familiar handwriting, the slightly cynical style, made Retsu Unohana's heart skip a beat. Her hands trembled as she took out the letter and opened it.

The handwriting on the letter was neat and clear, and it was written by Liu Ziyun himself.

My Xiao Lielie:

When you open this letter, it might be because my Reiatsu Substitute has dissipated, or it might be because I haven't appeared for a long time.

However, don't worry. I have a premonition that something might happen during my training trip. Just do as I said and let everything unfold naturally. Prepare what needs to be prepared, fight what needs to be fought, and don't show that you knew about this from the beginning. Trust me, everything will develop in the best way possible.

As for me, I don't know if I'll ever be able to come back. But when I do, I want to see you still here. If you're gone, I'll go and kill your successor, and while I'm at it, I'll also kill the Captain Kyōraku who allowed you to inherit the Kenpachi. You know I'm a man of my word, I do what I say.

So, when you're ready to die to carry on Kenpachi's name, come visit my secret training base. Hope I'm already dead—otherwise, you'll be in for a headache. After all, even I'm afraid of myself when I'm insane. At that point, I could turn not only the Three Worlds upside down, but even the Soul King Palace.

Hmm, you don't know my training location yet. Well then, I'll draw it for you. On another piece of white paper, stick the Talisman I left you there, and you'll see my training location. You should always carry that Talisman with you, right? I remember you always kept it closest to your heart, didn't you?

Remember this: if you dare not come and go to inherit Kenpachi's name, I will truly go mad. So, come and collect my corpse before you go. At least let me see you one last time, let me know you are still alive and still care about me.

If it's not a corpse, I'll tell you another way to pass on Kenpachi's name—that would be the best of both worlds. You could fulfill your mission without dying, wouldn't that be great?

You must remember this: if I go mad, I could wreak havoc on the Three Worlds. So, you absolutely must come and see me before then.

Your dear Liu Ziyun]

After reading the letter, Retsu Unohana's eyes welled up slightly. She took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. Every word in the letter made her feel Liu Ziyun's care and trust for her, which strengthened her resolve to find him.

She took out the Talisman from her bosom—it was given to her by Liu Ziyun a long time ago, who said it was part of their secret code and only reacted to her Reiatsu and his.

At that moment, as she took out the Talisman, she suddenly discovered that it contained a power that both terrified and comforted her. That power seemed capable of destroying everything, yet also of resurrecting the dead. It lay quietly in her palm, yet it seemed to contain the mysteries of the entire universe. She could feel that power pulsating gently, like a sleeping life waiting to be awakened.

Following the instructions in the letter, Retsu Unohana affixed the Talisman to another sheet of white paper.

In an instant, a map appeared on the white paper. The map marked a clear path, starting from her current dormitory and ending at a hidden location underground in the Fourth Division. The path was marked with various symbols and hints, clearly meticulously designed by Liu Ziyun. The Talisman flew off the paper and landed back in her hand, as if it had completed its mission.

Retsu Unohana put away the map and Talisman and walked to the wall. Following the map's instructions, she affixed the Talisman to the wall.

The golden light shone again. This time, the wall didn't open the hidden compartment; instead, it transformed into a portal of light. Inside the portal was profound darkness, as if leading to another world, another dimension. Within that darkness, faint starlight could be seen, like the most distant stars in the night sky.

Retsu Unohana took a deep breath and stepped into the portal.

In an instant, she felt her body enveloped by a gentle yet powerful force, and then she was transported to a completely unfamiliar space. It was a strange feeling of weightlessness, as if she had been stripped of reality and entered some illusory dream. When she turned around, the portal had disappeared, leaving only a stream of light that flew into her hand and transformed back into the Talisman.

Behind her, the portal in Liu Ziyun's dormitory transformed into a person identical to Retsu Unohana. That person turned and left the dormitory, went to the Captain's Office, summoned Isane Kotetsu, and said in Retsu Unohana's voice, "I need to go into seclusion for a while. Don't let anyone disturb me until I emerge from seclusion."

Isane Kotetsu nodded respectfully, finding nothing amiss.

(Note: This portal was a special device created by Liu Ziyun after he Complete Shikai. Its principle is similar to Senkaimon, but its function is more singular—it can only connect his secret training base and his dormitory. He had already set it up before he left, just in case. The creation of this device requires a large amount of Spiritual Power and mental energy, and even Liu Ziyun took a long time to complete it.)