Exposed on the Spot

"..."

Shunsui Kyoraku's eye twitched sharply.

He wasn't from the technical division and hadn't understood every academic term in Mayuri Kurotsuchi's lengthy explanation, but he had grasped the point...

That bastard Mayuri was saying:

Either Kyoraku was so useless he couldn't walk, or his excuse was so bad even a dog wouldn't believe it.

"Ahem... Maybe... maybe there really was something unusual about that woman's arrow. She's a Quincy, after all. We know nothing about her abilities."

Kyoraku could only push through the embarrassment and try to pin the blame on a lack of intelligence.

In short, Mayuri had demolished his excuse on scientific grounds.

If he didn't brush this off quickly, by tomorrow morning the whole Seireitei would be buzzing with rumors that Kyoraku really was a spy for the True King's Palace.

"Oh? A special ability? You still won't admit it?"

Seeing Kyoraku stubbornly cling to his story—and even question his professional judgment as a scientist—Mayuri ran out of patience.

"If Captain Kyōraku says he can't move, I'll help him test that. If his legs really have no feeling, they're no use to him. I might as well cut them off and study some tissue samples!"

Before he had even finished speaking, Mayuri whipped his Zanpakuto from his waist. Without the slightest hesitation, he brought its bloodthirsty edge down toward Kyoraku's lower body.

If that blade landed, Kyoraku stood to lose more than his legs. His happiness for the rest of his life would go with them—a clean sweep of all three legs.

"Hey, hey, hey! You're really doing this?!"

At the sight of the blade hurtling toward him, Kyoraku's scalp prickled. He could practically feel a chill between his legs.

The lunatic really would cut him!

The 12th Division could reattach severed limbs, but he wasn't about