After bringing Ichiro to the office, the Head Captain pulled a file from a cabinet and handed it to him. As she sat down, she said, "A while ago, Kisuke Urahara submitted a study to me on Mimicry Shikai. He said you were its primary creator, so what's your opinion? Should we make it widely available, or keep it completely confidential?"
Then the Head Captain sat quietly in her chair, watching Ichiro. This was no small matter. The emergence of Mimicry Shikai and the Mimicry Zanpakuto, if made widely available, would completely shatter the balance the Head Captain had worked so hard to establish.
It was simple: the combination of Mimicry Shikai and a Mimicry Zanpakuto depended solely on resources. With enough resources, you could have enough power!
Talent played only a small part—in fact, almost none at all!
This would be a devastating blow to the common people!
Even now that Urahara had modified it so it could be released alongside a normal Shikai, the situation was the same. It still wouldn't affect the nobles; if anything, it would make noble Soul Reapers even stronger.
After all, ordinary people couldn't afford to create a Second Reiryoku Source.
Ichiro understood that too. Although the Konso lessons had improved his impression of the Seireitei,
this was a different matter altogether!
The Seireitei truly did a good job for the world as a whole. Many of its policies existed to maintain the balance between Soul Society and the World of the Living, but that had nothing to do with the situation at hand.
At its core, the Seireitei was a society ruled by nobles!
And a rather arrogant sort of nobility, at that. Their influence was harmful to the Seireitei, which was why the Head Captain had established Shino Academy and worked hard to promote common-born Soul Reapers: to prevent the nobles from monopolizing power!
The Head Captain knew the nobles all too well. Ichiro might not understand Soul Society's nobles as well as she did, but he'd read plenty of novels. As long as he assumed the worst, he wouldn't be far off when it came to the nobles.
Even so, Ichiro still wanted to make Mimicry Shikai widely available!
Because it could indeed strengthen Soul Reapers to the greatest extent. As Soul Reapers, they naturally wanted to be as powerful as possible. The stronger they were, the less destruction Hollows could cause, and the safer the humans in the World of the Living would be.
When poor, look after yourself; when prosperous, help the whole world!
However...
"Now isn't the right time." Ichiro set down the file and looked at the Head Captain.
"Not the right time? So you're determined to make it widely available?" The Head Captain pressed her fingers to her brow. From her position, she certainly didn't want that. It would disrupt her plans.
It would disrupt them sooner or later. She knew how firmly the nobles held on to their power in the Seireitei, and she also knew that making this available would inevitably put Ichiro in the spotlight.
It was too dangerous.
"Yes. It would greatly strengthen the Soul Reapers and help us protect the World of the Living. But now isn't the right time. There's still a lot of work to do."
"I trust you. Tell me what you have in mind. If it's feasible, we'll give you our full support. If it isn't, I hope you won't resent us." She sighed and clasped her hands, holding them just below her chin.
"Don't worry. I've already thought it through, and it seems quite feasible. First, what we make widely available is the ability to use Mimicry Shikai, not the technology behind it."
The Head Captain narrowed her eyes. "Like Zanpakuto?"
"Yes. But this world is full of capable people, so we can't rule out someone reverse-engineering the technology from a finished product. We need a backup plan. First, we collect all the major materials available on the market, hand them over to the Soul King Palace, and use them to make Second Reiryoku Sources with basic attributes. Then, just like Zanpakuto, the Thirteenth Division can distribute them.
"Some materials might not be completely controllable, so we'll need another measure as well. In a later refinement of the technology, we can add a material unique to the Soul King Palace as the main ingredient. That would cut off the possibility at its source! Given the Zero Division's special status, I doubt they'd hand these things out to the nobles."
"Hmm... That would mean we were adopting the Zanpakuto model completely." The Head Captain nodded. It would certainly minimize the impact. But...
"Refinement? Kisuke Urahara must have nearly perfected this technology already. What core material could you still add?"
"There are still ways to go. It's true that the dual Shikai developed by that Urahara fellow is impressive. Honestly, I didn't expect him to come up with that. But that's only one direction. Even at this stage, the technology is still just a prototype."
The Head Captain frowned, then suddenly asked, "You mean compatibility?"
"Yes. As it stands, Mimicry Shikai has to be custom-made for each person, which is far too inefficient. It would be a joke to try to make something like that widely available. So the next step is to create a universal Second Reiryoku Source, like an Asauchi. During that process, we can develop it around a material unique to the Soul King Palace. As it happens, the Soul King Palace has exactly that material."
Ichiro watched the Head Captain quietly, a confident smile on his face. He had thought all of this through, and that was why he had considered making it widely available.
"There's one problem left. How will you make sure this technology doesn't leak out of the Soul King Palace? You should know that the Soul King Palace is independent of our Thirteenth Division. We have no authority over what they do."
"..." Ichiro fell silent. He truly had no idea how to solve that problem—or, more accurately, he hadn't even considered it.
He wasn't about to make this widely available before he was strong enough. What if one day an enemy of his used it to cut him down? That would be a real joke.
In Ichiro's plan, even if they did eventually make this widely available, it would be hundreds of years from now at the earliest—at least after Aizen defected. Or, if he found a chance to kill Aizen ahead of time, they could do it sooner. But for now, he'd better forget about it and get some sleep...
Seeing that Ichiro had no answer, the Head Captain smiled. These days, she liked him more and more—like a mother-in-law doting on her son-in-law. As far as she was concerned, as long as Ichiro didn't boast and take the whole thing on himself, he got full marks!
If he did take it on, she'd give him nine out of ten and look forward to seeing what he did next.
Watching Ichiro sit in silence, the Head Captain smiled and took a box from her desk drawer. It was sealed with layer upon layer of Kido, and she handed it to him.
"What's this?" Ichiro asked curiously.
"The Oken I told you about before. It's required to enter the Zero Division," the Head Captain said softly.
"!!!" Ichiro stared at the Head Captain in shock. The box nearly slipped from his hands. He quickly steadied it, swallowed, and asked in disbelief, "The Oken? The Soul King's Power?"
"Yes." The Head Captain nodded. "But there's only a tiny amount inside. It's not enough to forge the Oken, and it will dissipate as soon as you open the box. The real Oken has to be forged in the Soul King Palace. You're still too weak for that. For now, this box is as good as a get-out-of-death gold medal—and a key to entering and leaving the Soul King Palace."
"..." Ichiro was quiet for a moment, then asked, "Captain, is someone trying to kill me?"
The Head Captain was taken aback. "Why would you think that?"
"Because, as far as I know, when those in power want someone dead, they give them a get-out-of-death gold medal."
Before you continue