District 70 of East Rukongai, a land already barren and desolate, had been reduced to scorched earth and ruins stretching as far as the eye could see.
An intensely nauseating stench of Hollow reiatsu lingered in the air, mingling with the sour odor of rotting souls and the lingering smell of burning. It clung to the air like an affliction embedded in bone.
The Tenth Division and Eleventh Division had just completed several days of bloody purging and containment here. The scars of battle remained horrifying to behold, with furrows plowed through the earth by violent sword pressure and Kidō.
However, the Tenth Division had cleaned up the aftermath thoroughly. Every trace of contamination had undergone rigorous reishi purification. Now, this land, razed to bare earth, had officially been handed over to the Fifth Division and Twelfth Division.
Fifth Division Captain Zhu Sibo Zhengyuan stood on the scorched earth in the white haori that marked his rank. The cold late-autumn wind stirred its hem as he lowered his gaze to the remains of trees at his feet, grotesquely twisted by violent reishi collisions. His brows slowly drew together, unmistakable gravity in his eyes.
"Captain Urahara, can you tell what's wrong here?" Zhu Sibo Zhengyuan looked ahead at Twelfth Division Captain Kisuke Urahara, who was crouching on the scorched earth.
His hair was a mess, and he paid no attention to his appearance. In his hand was an oddly shaped reishi detector covered in copper-colored gears and vacuum tubes. Its metal needle was making a piercing noise against the dial.
"Oh dear, these readings really are a headache..."
Using a specially made silver knife, Kisuke Urahara lifted a small clump of bloodstained soil from deep inside a scorched pit. He narrowed his eyes and leaned closer to examine it for