He was the mighty King of Despair, the King of Hueco Mundo. How could he die like this? He had not had nearly enough fun with his power. Where the hell had this bastard come from?
Had the Soul Reapers of Soul Society become this terrifying?
"Baraggan, you cowardly bastard! Stop running! Are you even a man? Come back and fight me! I'll beat you to your knees!" Yamabuki Chidori kept teleporting with his Space Ability. Baraggan saw him and sped up his Sound Steps. As one chased and the other fled, every Hollow in Hueco Mundo learned that night that a Soul Reaper had pursued Baraggan with a blade for hours!
Chōjirō Sasakibe and Hachisato were stunned!
Had Yamabuki gotten into some bad liquor? This was insane!
Kidō, Reishi Arrows, and Cero flew everywhere. Yamabuki Chidori's Reiatsu seemed limitless!
Yamabuki Chidori chased Baraggan from east to west, then west to east, desperately devouring the surrounding Reishi like a perpetual-motion machine!
Hachisato checked the time and shouted, "Chief Strategist, we're almost out of time! Get over here!"
Yamabuki Chidori pointed at Baraggan. "Get over here! Let me slash you once! I won't be satisfied until I do!"
Panting, Baraggan hid among the ruins and cautiously peeked out at Yamabuki Chidori.
Where the fuck had this lunatic come from?
He wished he could send this menace away at once!
Just then, a Soul Gate appeared in the open ground. It seemed Soul Society had finally overcome the technical difficulties and opened the gate.
Yamabuki Chidori released his Perfect Sanctification, slung his sword over his shoulder, and swaggered toward the Soul Gate. Still unwilling to let it go, he turned and pointed his blade at Baraggan. "Just you wait! This isn't over! I'll be back tomorrow, and I won't stop until I've slashed you!"
Baraggan's face went green!
What had he done in a past life to deserve this?
"Come on. Let's go home!" Yamabuki Chidori led his two companions into the Soul Gate.
Only then did Baraggan breathe a deep sigh of relief.
The moment Yamabuki Chidori entered the Soul Gate, his expression turned grim. His throat worked, and he spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with fragments of his organs. Blood began streaming from his eyes, ears, and nose as well!
"Yamabuki..."
"Don't talk. Don't look back. Keep moving! Hurry!" Yamabuki Chidori had not expected his incomplete Perfect Sanctification to damage his body so badly. It had practically traded away his lifespan for a brief surge of power, inflicting nearly irreversible damage on his organs.
Yamabuki Chidori took one step before collapsing, his body drained of strength. Baraggan happened to see it.
"So the brat was bluffing all along! He's finished!" Baraggan bitterly regretted not rushing in to finish him off. But Yamabuki Chidori had already entered the Soul Gate, and it was too late to catch him. Reinforcements might be waiting on the other side. Baraggan would not gamble his precious life to find out.
With Yamabuki Chidori on his back, Hachisato sprinted onward. At last, he saw light ahead!
The Side Effects of Perfect Sanctification
Word had already reached Soul Society. Yamamoto waited where the gate would open, wary that the youngsters might bring a horde of Hollows back with them!
Hurried footsteps soon came from the Soul Gate. Judging by the sound, there were only two people?
Yamamoto frowned. Had they lost someone? That was hardly unexpected. Exploring Hueco Mundo was dangerous work.
Chōjirō Sasakibe was the first to burst through the Soul Gate. The moment he reached Soul Society, he shouted, "Get a doctor! Captain Commander, please, get a doctor! Something's happened to Yamabuki!"
Yamamoto raised an eyebrow. Then Hachisato rushed through the gate carrying Yamabuki Chidori.
"Calm down. What happened?" Yamamoto went to examine Yamabuki Chidori. He told Hachisato to lay him flat, then pressed gently on his body. To his horror, Yamabuki Chidori's muscles had lost their elasticity. His fingers left a deep indentation.
"Bring Tenjirō Kirinji here at once!" Yamamoto barked.
Shunshun Shidō, whose Flash Step was the fastest, hurried off to fetch him.
Yamamoto's face darkened. With Yamabuki's strength, he should not have been injured this badly!
Tenjirō Kirinji arrived quickly. Without wasting a word, he crouched and began examining Yamabuki Chidori.
A moment later, Tenjirō Kirinji's expression turned grim. He faced Chōjirō Sasakibe. "What kind of enemy did you run into in Hueco Mundo? I've never seen injuries like these! His organs are failing rapidly, and vast numbers of his cells have died. A few minutes later and he'd have been beyond saving! Hurry, take him to my clinic. There might still be a chance."
No one dared delay. They rushed Yamabuki Chidori to Tenjirō Kirinji's clinic.
Yamamoto's face was dark. "Chōjirō Sasakibe. Come with me."
Chōjirō Sasakibe followed Yamamoto to his office.
"What enemy did you encounter in Hueco Mundo? With Yamabuki's strength, it shouldn't have come to this," Yamamoto asked gravely.
"Baraggan, the King of Hueco Mundo." Chōjirō Sasakibe's gaze wavered.
"The King of Hueco Mundo? Does he have an unusual ability?"
"No... Two or three minutes before we returned, Yamabuki was still chasing the King of Hueco Mundo with his sword! But as soon as he entered the Soul Gate, he nearly died. I suspect..." Chōjirō Sasakibe suddenly remembered Yamabuki Chidori's instruction: no matter what happened, he must not tell anyone what he had seen.
"Speak!" Yamamoto slammed a hand on the desk. "Yamabuki is gravely injured. What you're hiding may be the reason."
Chōjirō Sasakibe had no choice but to tell him everything he had seen.
Yamamoto's expression did not change when he heard that Yamabuki Chidori could control Reishi and fire Cero.
Chōjirō Sasakibe watched Captain Commander Yamamoto's face nervously, afraid he might say something wrong.
"So, to fight the King of Hueco Mundo, Yamabuki entered a strange state. He wasn't injured during the battle, but afterward his body rapidly gave out. Is that right?" Yamamoto asked in a low voice.
Yamabuki Chidori had been the first subordinate he recruited and a founder of the Gotei 13. Yamamoto had never questioned his background. Now, though, it seemed the brat harbored many secrets.
"Sasakibe, you must not tell anyone about this. You know, I know, and Hachisato outside knows. If a fourth person finds out..." A murderous light gleamed in Yamamoto's eyes.
"I won't tell anyone!" Chōjirō Sasakibe said hurriedly.
"Go outside and send Hachisato in," Yamamoto said.
Chōjirō Sasakibe quietly withdrew.
Yamamoto knew of the Quincy. From Chōjirō Sasakibe's account, that power to control Reishi was likely a Quincy ability. Why did a Soul Reaper possess it? Yamabuki Chidori had already achieved Shikai. He was a Soul Reaper through and through.
Even so, Yamamoto did not suspect Yamabuki Chidori of wrongdoing. The Gotei 13 could never have come this far without him.
Whatever the brat's identity, as long as he did nothing to harm the Gotei 13, Yamamoto would never allow anyone in Soul Society to hurt him.
Hachisato entered.
The instant he stepped inside, he felt the Captain Commander's undisguised killing intent. Terrifying pressure crashed over him like a landslide and a tidal wave. Even breathing felt impossible.
"C-Captain Commander..."
Hachisato was different from Chōjirō Sasakibe. Sasakibe's background was spotless: Yamabuki Chidori had found him in Rukongai, where he had lived with only his younger sister to rely on. Yamamoto also knew the young man's character and could trust him completely.
Hachisato was another matter.
He came from a background in assassination and often dealt with the great noble families. His connections ran deep. Though he had joined the Gotei 13, Yamamoto could not fully trust him.
Yamabuki Chidori clearly had secrets, and not one of Soul Society's great noble families was worth a damn. If someone with an ulterior motive exploited those secrets, there was no telling what would happen!
Between Yamabuki Chidori and Hachisato, Yamamoto chose Yamabuki Chidori without hesitation.
Hachisato knelt with his head lowered, his back soaked in cold sweat. He was clever enough to realize the Captain Commander might kill him to keep the secret. The Chief Strategist had to be hiding something, and Hachisato had been unlucky enough to witness it!
Nothing he said now would matter. His life rested on the Captain Commander's whim!
"Hachisato. Yamabuki chose to protect you even when cornered, so he must trust you. I don't trust you, but I trust his judgment. If you breathe a word of what happened today, you know the consequences." Yamamoto's Zanpakuto could reach sixteen million degrees Celsius, yet every word he spoke felt like ice from the Nine Netherworlds, making Hachisato tremble.
"Rest assured, Captain Commander! I would never betray the Chief Strategist! If I do, let me suffer Death by a Thousand Cuts." Hachisato felt as if he had been granted a reprieve. He knew he had survived this ordeal.
If he truly betrayed Yamabuki Chidori, the Captain Commander would not be the only problem. His own master, Shunshun Shidō, would never let it go. Shunshun Shidō would surely dispose of him first and sever all ties.
If the Captain Commander's fury fell on the family...
The Five Noble Clans might become four.
"Very well. You may go," Yamamoto said.
Hachisato rose respectfully and left the Captain Commander's office.
Yamamoto took a deep breath. It seemed Soul Society was destined for unrest. He hoped the noble families lurking in the shadows would not cause trouble now. Otherwise... he would have no choice but to cut them down!
Bone Hell and the Blood Pond
Tenjirō Kirinji was doing everything he could to save Yamabuki Chidori. At this point, Kido was useless. Yamabuki Chidori's life force was draining rapidly.
Even with all his effort, Tenjirō Kirinji could barely stabilize Yamabuki Chidori's condition.
"No choice. I'll have to use something that's still experimental on you! I'd love to know how you managed to do this to yourself!" Tenjirō Kirinji pressed a button. The floor split apart, revealing a passage below. He picked up Yamabuki Chidori and carried him down.
Below the passage were two hot springs.
One was white, the other red.
They were the two things he had been researching. The white spring was called Bone Hell. Soaking an injured person in it expelled their damaged Reiatsu and bodily tissue.
Then he would put the injured person into the red spring, Blood Pool Hell, to replenish their flesh, blood, and Reiatsu. By moving them back and forth, he could restore them completely, no matter how severe their injuries.
Yamabuki Chidori's injuries were especially severe. Nearly all his organs were ruined, and cells throughout much of his body had died. Only after three days of soaking him in the two hellish springs was his damaged body fully repaired.
Three days later, Yamabuki Chidori slowly opened his eyes. Warm water surrounded him. It felt wonderful.
"I'm still alive? Damn, I'm lucky!" Yamabuki Chidori touched his face. At least it seemed intact.
Before he could recover his bearings, Tenjirō Kirinji came over and punched him. "Done sleeping? Then crawl over to the red pond yourself! Damn it, I haven't closed my eyes in three days and nights trying to save you!"
Only then did Yamabuki Chidori realize he was soaking in a hot spring.
Were these the legendary Bone Hell and Blood Pond?
Tenjirō Kirinji had something like this up his sleeve?
"I slept for three days?"
"More than that. What I want to know is what kind of enemy you met. How did you end up this badly injured? Even if someone suffered Death by a Thousand Cuts and was finely minced, they wouldn't look like this!" Tenjirō Kirinji looked genuinely curious.
Yamabuki Chidori said weakly, "Curiosity killed the cat. I'd advise you not to ask."
Yamabuki Chidori had not expected Perfect Sanctification to come at such a high price!
Ransōtengai's power merely left a person without spiritual power, while a complete Perfect Sanctification had no side effects at all.
His version, on the other hand, had nearly killed him outright.
"Be glad you survived. If I hadn't just developed Bone Hell and Blood Pond, your ashes would be in a box by now. If you don't want to tell me, I won't force you. Just do less of this in the future. I'm the one who suffers for it. I'm exhausted, so I'm going to sleep! Switch between the springs yourself, but don't soak too long. If Blood Pool Hell overtreats you, your cells will die just the same. You've studied medicine, so you know that. I won't remind you again." Tenjirō Kirinji dragged his weary body away from the springs.
Yamabuki Chidori scooped up some spring water. This stuff was amazing! I want to make one too. Once I get out, I'll have to pester Tenjirō Kirinji until he tells me how. He's going to join the Zero Division someday, so asking him to leave his lifesaving technique behind before he goes isn't unreasonable, right? I'm doing it for the division!
Yamabuki Chidori shamelessly talked himself into it.
After three days in the springs, both his body and Reiatsu had returned to their peak. More than that, his Reiatsu had risen substantially. He was considerably stronger than when he had fought Baraggan.
It seemed that whenever he was driven to the brink, some of his potential awakened.
His trip to Hueco Mundo had not only released his Zanpakuto but also awakened Perfect Sanctification. His version was incomplete, but he could study it at his own pace. He had plenty of time.
After that brush with death, he understood how Perfect Sanctification worked. By absorbing surrounding Reishi at a frenzied rate, it produced a qualitative change that greatly increased a person's strength for a short time.
Of course, it came at a cost.
It was like pouring water into a cup. A cup could hold only so much. How could you pour an entire vat into it? Simple: smash the cup on the ground. Once it no longer had a shape, you could pour in as much as you liked.
Smashing it might look impressive, but afterward the cup could never hold water again.
In other words, it was a one-use skill.
The power Ransōtengai would unleash centuries later, similar to Perfect Sanctification, worked on the same principle.
What Yamabuki Chidori needed to figure out now was how to add more water without breaking the cup.
When he left the springs, he found none of his clothes nearby. He could only follow the steps up to the room and look for what he had been wearing before.
Instead, he found a crowd waiting for him. Nearly every Captain was there, including the two women!
"You look much better! Seems you're all right!" Shunshun Shidō greeted him with a smile.
"Yep! Full of energy, and all my parts are still attached!" Yamabuki Chidori said with a grin.
"Pervert! You came out wearing nothing! I'm going to go blind!" Saitō Fubōfu kicked Yamabuki Chidori in the stomach. "Get back in there and put some clothes on!"
"Just you wait, shorty! When we first met, didn't you say you could beat me in three seconds? Believe it or not, I could pin you down in three seconds now!" Yamabuki Chidori clutched his stomach and howled.
"Dream on! Beat me in three seconds? Fight me and prove it!" Saitō Fubōfu shouted while stomping hard on Yamabuki Chidori's stomach.
Too bad she was wearing wooden sandals. Bare feet would've been better. Stockings would've been even better!
Yamabuki Chidori felt a pang of regret. Wait. Did stockings even exist in this world?
If I made them, could I earn a fortune?
Before you continue