In Soul Society, Just Trying to Coast into Retirement

As the mighty King of Despair, ruler of Hueco Mundo, how could he just die like this? He had not enjoyed enough of the pleasures that power brought. Where had this bastard even come from?

Were Soul Reapers in Soul Society all this terrifying?

"Baraggan, you little bastard! Don't run! Are you even a man? Come back and fight me! I'll beat you to your knees!" Yamabuki Chidori repeatedly teleported with his Space Ability. Baraggan saw this and sped up his Sound Steps. One chased while the other fled, and by that night, every Hollow in Hueco Mundo knew that Baraggan had been chased and hacked at by a Soul Reaper wielding a sword all night long!

Chōjirō Sasakibe and Hachisato were both dumbfounded!

Had Brother Yamabuki drunk fake booze? This was way too fierce!

All kinds of Kido, spirit arrows, and Ceros flew wildly through the air, covering the sky and earth. Yamabuki Chidori's Reiatsu seemed to have no upper limit!

Baraggan was chased by Yamabuki Chidori from east to west, then from west to east. Yamabuki Chidori desperately devoured the surrounding spirit particles like a perpetual motion machine!

Hachisato checked the time, then shouted at Yamabuki Chidori, "Chief Strategist, the agreed time is almost up! Get over here!"

Yamabuki Chidori pointed at Baraggan. "Get over here! Let me cut you once! I won't be satisfied until I've cut you!"

Baraggan panted as he hid amid some ruins, sticking out half his head to cautiously peek at Yamabuki Chidori.

Where the hell had this lunatic come from?!

He wanted nothing more than to send this god of plague away immediately!

Just then, a Soul Gate appeared in the open space. It seemed Soul Society had finally overcome its technical obstacle and opened the gate.

Yamabuki Chidori also dispelled his Perfect Sanctification, swaggering over to the Soul Gate with his sword over his shoulder. Still unwilling to let it go, he turned and pointed his blade at Baraggan. "Just you wait. This isn't over! I'll come again tomorrow. I won't stop until I cut you once!"

Baraggan's face turned green!

What sins had he committed in some past life?!

"Let's go home!" Yamabuki Chidori led his two underlings into the Soul Gate.

Only then did Baraggan let out a deep sigh of relief.

The moment Yamabuki Chidori entered the Soul Gate, his expression turned extremely ugly. His throat moved, and he spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with fragments of internal organs. Worse still, blood began pouring continuously from his eyes, ears, and nose!

"Yamabuki..."

"Don't talk, don't look back, go! Hurry!" Yamabuki Chidori had not expected this incomplete Perfect Sanctification to damage the body so severely. It practically traded lifespan for a forced burst of strength, causing nearly irreversible damage to the internal organs.

Yamabuki Chidori took one step before his entire body went limp and he collapsed onto the ground. Baraggan happened to see it all.

"So this brat had been forcing himself to hold on! He's finished!" Baraggan regretted it bitterly. He should have rushed in and finished him off, but they had already entered the Soul Gate. It was too late to pursue them now, and there might even be reinforcements waiting on the other side. He would not gamble his precious life on that.

Hachisato carried Yamabuki Chidori on his back and sprinted forward. A moment later, he finally saw light ahead!

Side Effect of Perfect Sanctification

Soul Society had already received word. Yamamoto was waiting where the gate would open, afraid these brats might bring back a huge pack of Hollows!

Very soon, hurried footsteps came from the Soul Gate. Judging by the sound, there were only two people?

Yamamoto frowned. Had they suffered casualties? That was unavoidable. After all, exploring Hueco Mundo had always been extremely dangerous work.

The first person to rush out of the Soul Gate was Chōjirō Sasakibe. The instant he returned to Soul Society, he roared, "Go get a doctor! Captain Commander, hurry and get a doctor! Something happened to Brother Yamabuki!"

Yamamoto raised a brow. Then Hachisato rushed out of the Soul Gate with Yamabuki Chidori on his back.

"Calm down. What happened?" Yamamoto stepped forward to examine Yamabuki Chidori's injuries. He ordered Hachisato to lay Yamabuki Chidori flat on the ground, then pressed lightly with his hand. To his horror, he discovered that Yamabuki Chidori's muscles had already lost their elasticity, leaving a deep pit where he pressed.

"Bring Tenjirō Kirinji here at once!" Yamamoto roared.

Shunshun Shidō, whose Flash Step was the fastest, hurried off to fetch him.

Yamamoto's expression darkened. With Yamabuki's strength, he should not have been injured this badly!

Tenjirō Kirinji arrived quickly. Without wasting a single word, he crouched down and began examining Yamabuki Chidori's body.

A moment later, Tenjirō Kirinji's face turned extremely grim. He turned to Chōjirō Sasakibe and asked, "What enemy did you encounter in Hueco Mundo? I've never seen injuries like these! His internal organs are rapidly failing, and cells across large areas have lost their vitality. A few minutes later and he might have been beyond saving! Hurry, take him to my clinic. There may still be a chance."

No one dared delay. They hurriedly sent Yamabuki Chidori to Tenjirō Kirinji's clinic.

Yamamoto's face remained grim. "Chōjirō Sasakibe, come with me."

Chōjirō Sasakibe followed Yamamoto into the office.

"What enemy did you encounter in Hueco Mundo? With Yamabuki's strength, he shouldn't have ended up like this!" Yamamoto asked solemnly.

"It was Baraggan, the king of Hueco Mundo." Chōjirō Sasakibe's eyes flickered.

"The king of Hueco Mundo? Does he have some unusual ability?"

"No... Two or three minutes before we returned, Brother Yamabuki was still chasing the king of Hueco Mundo around and cutting at him! But the moment he entered the Soul Gate, he was nearly done for. I suspect..." Chōjirō Sasakibe suddenly remembered Yamabuki Chidori's instructions. No matter what happened, he was not to tell anyone what he had seen.

"Speak!" Yamamoto slammed a hand onto the table. "Yamabuki is badly injured. It may have something to do with what you're hiding."

Chōjirō Sasakibe had no choice but to tell him everything he had seen.

When Yamamoto heard that Yamabuki Chidori could control spirit particles and fire Ceros, his expression did not change at all.

Chōjirō Sasakibe watched Captain Commander Yamamoto's face cautiously, afraid he might say something wrong.

"So, in the end, Yamabuki activated a strange state to fight the king of Hueco Mundo. He was not injured during the battle, but his body quickly broke down afterward. Is that right?" Yamamoto asked in a deep voice.

Yamabuki Chidori had been the first subordinate he recruited and one of the founders of the Gotei 13. Yamamoto had never asked about Yamabuki Chidori's identity, but now it seemed this brat was hiding many secrets.

"Chōjirō, you cannot tell anyone about this. Heaven knows, earth knows, you know, and I know. Including Hachisato outside, if a fourth person learns..." A vicious light flashed in Yamamoto's eyes.

"I absolutely won't tell anyone!" Chōjirō Sasakibe hurriedly said.

"You may leave first. Send Hachisato in." Yamamoto spoke in a low voice.

Chōjirō Sasakibe quietly withdrew.

Yamamoto knew of the Quincy. Based on Chōjirō Sasakibe's description, that power to control spirit particles was very likely a Quincy ability. Why would such power appear in a Soul Reaper? And Yamabuki Chidori had already achieved Shikai. He was unquestionably a Soul Reaper.

However, Yamamoto did not suspect Yamabuki Chidori. It could be said that without Yamabuki Chidori, the Gotei 13 would never have come this far.

No matter what identity the brat had, as long as he did not do anything to harm the Gotei 13, Yamamoto would never allow anyone in Soul Society to harm Yamabuki Chidori.

At that moment, Hachisato entered.

The moment he stepped inside, Hachisato felt the Captain Commander's completely undisguised killing intent. Terrifying pressure crashed down on him like a mountain collapse and tsunami. Even breathing became a luxury.

"C-Captain Commander..."

Hachisato was different from Chōjirō Sasakibe. Chōjirō Sasakibe's background was very clean. Yamabuki Chidori had picked him up from the Rukon District, where he had only a younger sister to depend on. Yamamoto also understood the boy's temperament well enough to trust him completely.

But Hachisato was different.

He had been an assassin and often dealt with the great nobles. His network of connections was deeply tangled. Though he had joined the Gotei 13, Yamamoto could not truly trust him.

Yamabuki Chidori was obviously hiding certain secrets, and not a single one of Soul Society's great nobles was any good. If someone with ulterior motives exploited those secrets, the consequences would be impossible to predict!

Between Yamabuki Chidori and Hachisato, Yamamoto chose Yamabuki Chidori without the slightest hesitation.

Hachisato lowered his head and knelt on one knee. His back was already drenched in cold sweat. He was a smart man. How could he not realize that the Captain Commander wanted to silence him? The Chief Strategist must have some unknown secret, and he had unfortunately witnessed that fatal secret!

No matter what he said now, it would be useless. His life and death rested entirely on the Captain Commander's whim!

"Hachisato. Yamabuki chose to protect you even in a desperate situation, so it seems he trusts you greatly. I do not trust you, but I trust Yamabuki's judgment. If even half a word about today's matter leaks out, you know the consequences." Though Yamamoto's Zanpakuto could reach sixteen million degrees Celsius, every word he spoke at that moment was like ice from the deepest hell, making one's entire body tremble.

"Rest assured, Captain Commander! I will never betray the Chief Strategist! Otherwise, may I be cut into a thousand pieces!" Hachisato felt as if he had received a pardon. He knew he had passed this trial.

If he truly betrayed Yamabuki Chidori, forget the Captain Commander—his master, Shunshun Shidō, would never let it go. He would definitely clean house first and sever all ties with him.

If he waited until the Captain Commander became enraged...

The Five Noble Clans might end up with only four.

"Enough. You may leave." Yamamoto said.

Hachisato stood up respectfully and left the Captain Commander's office.

Yamamoto took a deep breath. It seemed Soul Society was destined not to remain peaceful. He only hoped those nobles who had long lurked in the shadows would not stir up trouble at a time like this. Otherwise... otherwise, he could only begin a massacre!

Bone Hell and the Blood Pool

Tenjirō Kirinji was doing everything he could to save him. At this point, Kido was completely useless. Yamabuki Chidori's life force was rapidly draining away.

Even with all his strength, Tenjirō Kirinji could only barely stabilize Yamabuki Chidori's condition.

"There's no other way. I can only use this thing that's still in the experimental stage on you! I'm really curious how you managed to get yourself into this state!" Tenjirō Kirinji pressed a button, and the floor of the room split apart to reveal an underground passage. Carrying Yamabuki Chidori, Tenjirō Kirinji entered it.

Beneath the passage were two hot springs.

One was white, and one was red.

These were two things he had been researching. The white hot spring was called Bone Hell. Soaking an injured person in it would release all of their damaged Reiatsu and bodily tissue.

Then, he would throw the injured person into the red hot spring, Blood Pool Hell, replenishing their flesh, blood, and Reiatsu. By repeating this process, no matter how severe the injuries were, the person could recover completely.

Yamabuki Chidori had been injured far too badly this time. Nearly all of his internal organs had failed, while large areas of cells throughout his body had died. He soaked back and forth between the two hellish hot springs for three days before his damaged body was completely restored.

Three days later, Yamabuki Chidori slowly opened his eyes. His entire body was soaking in warm water, cozy and comfortable.

"I'm actually still alive? Damn, I really am lucky!" Yamabuki Chidori touched his face. At least he had not been disfigured.

Before he could recover his bearings, Tenjirō Kirinji walked up and punched him. "Have you slept enough? If you have, crawl over to the red pool yourself! Damn it, I haven't slept for three days and three nights just to save you!"

Only then did Yamabuki Chidori realize he was soaking in a hot spring.

Was this the legendary Bone Hell and Blood Pool Hell?

Tenjirō Kirinji had actually been hiding this trick up his sleeve!

"I slept for three days?"

"More than that. I'm curious what enemy you encountered to suffer injuries like this. Even if someone were slowly sliced apart into minced meat, they wouldn't end up this way!" Tenjirō Kirinji said with a curious expression.

Yamabuki Chidori said weakly, "Curiosity killed the cat. I advise you not to be so curious."

Yamabuki Chidori had never expected the price of Perfect Sanctification to be so high!

Ransōtengai's power only caused a person to lose all their spiritual power, while the complete version of Perfect Sanctification had no side effects at all.

But his version had nearly sent him straight to the grave.

"You should be secretly celebrating just for surviving. If I had not happened to finish researching Bone Hell and Blood Pool Hell, your ashes would be in a box by now. If you don't want to talk, I won't force you. Just do less of this sort of thing in the future. I'm the one who suffers in the end. I'm exhausted. I'm going to catch some sleep first! Alternate between the pools yourself, and don't soak too long. Overhealing in Blood Pool Hell will also cause your cells to die. You studied medicine too, so you understand this much. I won't remind you again." Tenjirō Kirinji dragged his exhausted body away from the hot springs.

Yamabuki Chidori scooped up a handful of spring water. This thing was fun! He wanted to make one for himself too. Once he got out, he had to pester Tenjirō Kirinji relentlessly. After all, this guy was going to Zero Division in the future. It was not too much to ask him to leave behind his life-saving techniques before he left, right? It was for the development of the division!

Yamabuki Chidori shamelessly found excuses to convince himself.

After soaking in the hot springs for three days, both his body and Reiatsu had recovered to their peak. Not only that, he discovered that his Reiatsu had increased by another large margin, becoming much stronger than when he had fought Baraggan.

It seemed that every time he was pushed into a desperate situation, a portion of his potential would be awakened.

This trip to Hueco Mundo had not only released his Zanpakuto, but also awakened his Perfect Sanctification. Though his Perfect Sanctification was still incomplete, he had plenty of time to study it gradually.

After this near-death experience, he understood the principles of Perfect Sanctification. By madly absorbing the surrounding spirit particles, quantitative change would create qualitative change, greatly increasing one's strength in a short period of time.

Of course, it did not come without a price.

It was like pouring water into a cup. A cup could only hold a limited amount of water, so how could one pour an entire vat into it? The answer was simple: smash the cup against the ground, turning form into formlessness. Then one could pour in as much as they wanted.

But smashing it looked cool, while using that cup to hold water afterward was impossible.

In other words, this was entirely a one-use skill.

The similar Perfect Sanctification-like power Ransōtengai would unleash centuries later worked on the same principle.

What Yamabuki Chidori needed to consider now was how to add more water without breaking the cup.

When he left the hot spring, he found none of his clothes nearby. He could only follow the stairs back to the room and see if he could find the clothes he had worn before.

But as soon as he entered the room, he found a whole crowd waiting there. Almost all the captains had arrived, including those two women!

"You look much more energetic! Looks like you're fine now!" Shunshun Shidō greeted him with a smile.

"Yeah! Full of energy! None of my parts fell off either!" Yamabuki Chidori replied with a grin.

"Pervert! Running out here naked! I'm going to get a stye!" Saitō Fubōfu kicked Yamabuki Chidori in the stomach. "Get back in there and put on some clothes!"

"You little shrimp, just you wait! Didn't you say you could defeat me in three seconds when we first met? Believe it or not, I can pin you down and beat you up in three seconds now!" Yamabuki Chidori clutched his stomach and cried out miserably.

"In your dreams! Defeat me in three seconds? If you've got the guts, fight me!" Saitō Fubōfu shouted as she viciously stomped on Yamabuki Chidori's stomach.

Too bad she was wearing wooden clogs. It would be better if she were barefoot, and even better if she wore stockings!

Yamabuki Chidori thought regretfully. Wait, this world... probably didn't have stockings yet, right?

If I made stockings, could I make a fortune?