The Unforgiven from Shinigami
The morning light was soft, and the breeze was gentle.
Mayuri Kurotsuchi had sensed the anomaly even before the surge of Reishi, and instead of continuing to run forward, she stood at the boundary between the shadow and sunlight on the wall.
He gripped the Zanpakuto, his face, covered in fake skin, displaying a perfectly measured sneer. "Oh ho, a wanted criminal from the Seireitei standing before me, the captain of the Twelfth Division? What brings you here?"
Reishi materialized, Sōya Azashiro stood in the sunlight, his expression unchanged, and said, "I need your help."
Mayuri Kurotsuchi narrowed her eyes slightly, not refusing outright, but instead asking, "Tell me first, what benefits can you offer me?"
"Here's a copy of the experimental procedures for creating an Artificial Soul King."
Sōya Azashiro's calm words stirred up a storm within Mayuri Kurotsuchi. His golden eyes nearly popped out of his head, his mouth slowly widening, half of his gold tooth gleaming in the sunlight. "Interesting. What favor do you want me to do? Take down the Second Division Captain?"
"No, I want you to continue with Spearhead Project, creating Modified Soul with strong combat capabilities."
Sōya Azashiro's idea was not a spur-of-the-moment thought, but a conclusion he had reached after thinking about it recently.
He kept thinking about how to purify Hueco Mundo and how to quickly eliminate the threat of Hollows being born from humanity in the World of the Living.
In his search for the answer, he began to peruse the archives in the Great Spirit Book Gallery, hoping to draw upon the wisdom of his predecessors and devise a new solution.
I stumbled upon a document about the Modified Soul experiment conducted by the Central 46 Chambers, which involved sending people to carry out the Spearhead Project.
A thought crossed his mind: if he continuously strengthened Modified Soul with drugs, and then merged with it himself, would he be able to withstand the Menos Grande of Hueco Mundo?
However, there was a small problem with this plan: he didn't know how to create Modified Soul.
The only solution is to suppress that plan.
Based on what had just happened, Sōya Azashiro felt that this man wasn't entirely law-abiding, and decided to give it a try.
Mayuri Kurotsuchi stroked his chin. "You want to use Modified Soul to attack Hueco Mundo?"
"Yes, the more the better."
Sōya Azashiro nodded. He could handle the Arrancar with just Gigai's Kidō, but if the other Espada were around, he would be at a disadvantage.
At this point, the ability to Modified Soul comes in handy; by restraining it only slightly, he can kill those Arrancar.
"Okay, I promise you." Mayuri Kurotsuchi agreed, as he was currently racking his brains trying to figure out how to deal with Seireitei Sōya Azashiro.
It's wonderful if the other party comes to you of their own accord.
The loss would be too great if the entire Seireitei were destroyed.
Helping Azashiro reach Hueco Mundo would be a different story.
It doesn't matter if the Hueco Mundo is damaged; he can still legitimately study the structure of the Garganta.
The benefits of helping were so numerous that Mayuri Kurotsuchi couldn't refuse.
"Really? I look forward to your results."
The Sōya Azashiro and feet turned into mist and dissipated.
Mayuri Kurotsuchi the opportunity to ask, "On September 9th, the person who actually took action shouldn't be Ryū Amakado, right?"
"Hmm." Sōya Azashiro answered the question and then disappeared completely.
"As expected," Mayuri Kurotsuchi muttered, a smirk playing on her lips. "Anyway, it's none of my business. Nemu, go back and conduct the Modified Soul experiment."
"Yes, Mayuri."
Nemu Kurotsuchi nodded obediently.
A dessert shop in the shopping street of Shin'ō District.
Rangiku Matsumoto rested her cheek on one hand and gently stirred her coffee with a spoon in the other, her eyes glancing towards the door, clearly waiting for someone.
She wasn't wearing Shihakushō today; instead, she was wearing a sleeveless, moon-white kimono. The neckline was still the same as always, very low; otherwise, her chest would always feel stuffy and not breathable.
The spoon spun around and around until she saw the door open and a woman with glasses and a braided hairstyle walk in. She quickly raised her hand and waved, "I'm here, Natsuko!"
Point Guard Here
Natsuko Akiyama walked over from the doorway and said with a smile, " Rangiku, with your looks, no one would ignore you no matter where you sit."
Rangiku Matsumoto brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and said, "So that's how you see me. Actually, it's not impossible."
I can accept what Natsuko said.
"Nonsense, I don't want to get stabbed by Captain Ichimaru."
Natsuko Akiyama replied with a smile that she, Rangiku Matsumoto, and Gin Ichimaru were all in the same class.
However, Gin Ichimaru was a genius; he graduated in just one year and joined the Gotei 13, serving as the Third Seat of the Fifth Division.
They worked their way up for six years before being assigned to different teams.
"Don't talk nonsense. Who knows what his attitude is? I'm just his childhood sweetheart."
Rangiku Matsumoto looked somewhat dejected. Back then, in order to catch up with Gin, she had also joined the Gotei 13.
As a result, Gin's attitude towards her during their time at school was completely different from what it was like in Rukongai, but it wouldn't be accurate to say they were complete strangers.
Every year when the persimmons ripen, I would always send her dried persimmons.
Although every division sent them, and apart from the Tenth Division, most of them didn't like persimmons.
She still firmly believed that this must be a gift from Yin to hide her shyness.
Hmm, probably, maybe, perhaps that's the case.
Thinking of those troubling matters, she shook her head and said, "Let's not talk about that guy. I have something else to discuss with you today."
"No way."
Natsuko Akiyama refused outright, picked up her coffee, and took a sip.
This Western concoction was a favorite of the Vice-Captain Sasakibe, and some of the team members tried it and found it to be quite delicious.
Where there is demand, there will naturally be buying and selling.
Rangiku Matsumoto blurted out, "Hey, I haven't even asked you for help yet."
Natsuko Akiyama said irritably, "It's nothing more than the issue of compensation for Junrinan's losses. Let me tell you, the Tenth Division needs to pay 1.04 billion rings, not a penny less."
"This is too much. It's clearly the 11th Division causing trouble. Please, transfer more of the money to the 11th Division."
Rangiku Matsumoto clasped her hands together and bowed her head.
Natsuko Akiyama said with a helpless expression, "To tell you the truth, this matter was personally supervised by Captain-Commander Yamamoto, and no one dared to tamper with it."
Having said that, Rangiku Matsumoto had no choice but to give up and instead asked, "Could we apply for an additional subsidy for the Tenth Division?"
"That won't work either."
Natsuko Akiyama shook her head again, saying, " Captain-Commander Yamamoto hasn't been in a good mood lately, and he's been working several times harder than usual, so it's unlikely he'll do anything underhanded."
Rangiku Matsumoto asked, puzzled, "Has something big happened again?"
Natsuko Akiyama hesitated for a moment, then leaned forward and whispered, "I heard it from someone else, so please don't tell anyone."
"Mmm," Rangiku Matsumoto nodded repeatedly, leaning closer and saying, "Go on."
"It's said to be because of Captain Unohana."
"Hey, is that kind of relationship between them?"
Rangiku Matsumoto, having forgotten to advocate for the members' welfare, asked with curiosity, "Tell me in detail."
"I don't know the details, but it's said that Captain Unohana submitted a written application to Captain-Commander Yamamoto to teach Captain Zaraki."
"And then Captain-Commander Yamamoto got jealous?"
"No, what are you thinking? It sounds like the consequences of this incident are very serious, Captain Unohana is very likely to die."
"What?!" Rangiku Matsumoto was utterly shocked.