Treatment

Afterward, under Yoshikami Tsume's arrangements, Chiba Makoto was placed in a house with a relatively decent environment to make preparations, while Yoshikami Tsume hurried off to prepare as well.

After quite some time, Yoshikami Tsume led in an elderly woman with graying hair and an exceptionally gaunt spirit body. She held a little girl who, by the standards of living humans, looked to be around seven or eight years old.

"Makoto, can you see whether they can undergo that Kaido treatment?"

Yoshikami Tsume spoke in a carefree, easygoing tone, seemingly trying to ease the nervousness of the elderly woman behind him.

Having prepared in the house for quite a while and fully entered the proper state of mind, Chiba Makoto nodded and answered, "Sure. Leave it to me."

"Good."

Yoshikami Tsume then strode out with light steps, not forgetting to close the door behind him.

"There's no need to be nervous..."

Chiba Makoto guided the elderly woman holding the little girl to sit down. His voice was gentle and warm, as if he were merely making ordinary conversation to soothe their nerves.

"What should I call you?"

"Sorry, it was too long ago. I've forgotten."

"And what is your relationship with this little girl?"

"She's the granddaughter I adopted. When I found her, she was only this tall, crouching beneath the eaves and crying without stop..."

Perhaps Chiba Makoto's gentleness had opened the elderly woman up. She talked on and on, nearly chattering nonstop, every word revolving around the little girl in her arms. Her eyes seemed to gain a little more light as well, as though that little girl had become all her hope and light.

From what the elderly woman revealed, Chiba Makoto learned that the little girl was a soul sent from the World of the Living by a Soul Reaper through soul burial, randomly delivered to this remote, barren, and somewhat chaotic district of Rukongai.

Although the little girl possessed a trace of Reiryoku and thus felt hunger, requiring occasional meals, which made life quite difficult for the two of them, the two equally lonely souls had continued to depend tightly on one another—until the little girl suddenly fell unconscious...

"Then do you understand the possible consequences that the Kaido known as 'Soul Transplantation' may have on your spirit body?" Chiba Makoto asked for one final confirmation.

"Yes. Please, Soul Reaper-sama."

The elderly woman nodded, lowered her head to look at the little girl in her arms, whose gaze was numb and vacant, seemingly without the slightest expression, and said, "This child is everything to me. If she can recover, I'll be grateful to you for the rest of my life."

"Alright!"

Chiba Makoto nodded solemnly. He then carefully examined the grandmother and granddaughter before having them lie down together on a large bed.

"Then I'm starting. Have a good sleep. When you wake up, your granddaughter will be able to smile and laugh normally again."

Chiba Makoto then drew the Zanpakuto at his waist and released it. He controlled two blades of grass to coil around their spirit bodies, continuously repairing them before truly beginning the Kaido known as Soul Transplantation.

Outside the house, Unohana Retsu stood atop a rooftop, watching Chiba Makoto perform Soul Transplantation through the window. She carefully observed every detail of his actions, ready to reveal herself at any moment and remedy any mistakes he made.

Even Unohana Retsu believed that treating them in this manner was merely a meaningless act of spreading the harm from one soul to two.

In particular, what these residents had mostly lost were the portions of their souls related to emotions. Therefore, even after undergoing Soul Transplantation, both spirit bodies would inevitably retain emotional deficiencies to some degree.

From Unohana Retsu's perspective, aside from earning Chiba Makoto some goodwill from Soul Reapers born in Rukongai, the only benefit of this laborious undertaking was that it would promote Chiba Makoto's own growth.

As the Soul Transplantation Kaido Chiba Makoto was using proceeded flawlessly onto the proper track, a trace of approval flashed through Unohana Retsu's eyes.

As expected, Makoto's talent is quite outstanding...

Then, reassured, Unohana Retsu no longer focused on the scene inside the house and instead began considering the issue behind this small-scale incident of missing soul fragments.

"Based on the information currently known, this is highly suspicious. It cannot be handled as an ordinary incident. The Captain-Commander must be alerted to take it seriously..."

Unohana Retsu murmured.

Naturally, Chiba Makoto had no idea that Unohana Retsu was secretly watching him. After successfully using Soul Transplantation to use part of the elderly woman's soul as a spirit-body anchor, stabilizing the little girl's spirit body once more and supplementing her soul to make up for some of her missing emotions, Chiba Makoto finally let out a breath, sweat beading on his forehead.

However, Chiba Makoto did not stop. Instead, he did everything he could to complete the little girl's final spirit-body repairs.

Fortunately, his studies in the Fourth Division during this period had given Chiba Makoto a breakthrough-level understanding of the structure of spirit bodies themselves. Moreover, the little girl's spirit body had not completely collapsed, so it only needed to be repaired with All Things in Nature's ability.

A moment later, as the green glow representing Kaido faded from Chiba Makoto's hands, he did not forget to perform one final examination on the rather cute little girl.

Very good. There aren't any extra parts on her body, and her repaired spirit body will be able to develop normally in the future...

Looking at the little girl lying before him, Chiba Makoto could not help nodding in satisfaction at his first large-scale Kaido treatment.

When Chiba Makoto opened the door, Yoshikami Tsume, who had been waiting outside for a long time, hurried over and anxiously asked, "Makoto, how did the treatment go?"

"Sorry..."

Chiba Makoto instinctively offered a polite apology, and Yoshikami Tsume's face instantly went pale. His eyes reddened completely, and he looked as though he might collapse at any moment.

Seeing this, Chiba Makoto hurriedly finished, "Sorry to keep you waiting. The treatment was a success. They only need to rest for a while before they wake up."

Yoshikami Tsume's nearly devastated expression froze. Not knowing whether to laugh or cry, he said, "Makoto, could you not pause so dramatically when you talk?"

"You were obviously just too anxious."

Chiba Makoto spoke with an innocent expression, looking nothing like someone taking the opportunity to get revenge.

After a pause, Chiba Makoto looked at Yoshikami Tsume's reaction and curiously asked, "Do you have some kind of relationship with them?"

At that, a trace of reminiscence appeared in Yoshikami Tsume's eyes as he said nostalgically, "That was a story from more than ten years ago. If not for her kindness, I probably would have..."

Before Yoshikami Tsume could finish, Chiba Makoto cut him off without hesitation.

"Stop, stop, stop. Let's call in the next resident who can undergo Soul Transplantation treatment."