Urahara and Kurotsuchi

Kisuke Urahara ignored the sounds of fighting behind him and opened a small door in the wall, heading inside.

Beyond the door was a long, deep corridor. Its faint, dim lights could barely illuminate the whole place.

Unlike the free-movement area outside, this place was divided into prison cells by iron bars.

The people imprisoned here were far more dangerous or important than those outside.

Kisuke Urahara walked slowly down the corridor until he reached its deepest end.

One person was confined in the cell there.

Someone Kisuke Urahara greatly admired.

In the dim light, the prisoner was looking over several documents in his hands.

He was thin and pale, with a streak of black paint on his face that gave him a rather eerie appearance.

A chain around his ankle bound him within the cramped cell.

Only when Mayuri Kurotsuchi heard footsteps did he look up from the papers.

He raised his head, saw that Kisuke Urahara had returned, and snorted.

"There's an unfamiliar reiatsu outside... Kisuke Urahara, you brought an outsider in here without permission. Isn't that against the rules?"

"It's fine. Captain Yoruichi won't say anything."

Kisuke Urahara waved a hand dismissively.

"So, Mayuri Kurotsuchi, do you think these experimental plans are feasible?"

Mayuri Kurotsuchi had already stopped reading. He flicked the papers back to Kisuke Urahara.

"A method for genetic modification of Reishi, improving reproductive capacity and growth rate... Boring stuff."

"Since when did you become interested in this kind of thing? Without complete data to back it up, what do you expect me to see in a hastily drafted experimental plan?"

Looking at Mayuri Kurotsuchi's disdainful expression, Kisuke Urahara smiled faintly.

"You're an expert in this field, after all. The depth of your research into soul modification deserves recognition, although... it is a little dangerous."

"Well? Do you have any better ideas?"

Mayuri Kurotsuchi snorted.

"Nothing to tell you."

"Huh? I thought you'd have a more sophisticated experimental strategy than mine. It seems... my expectations were too high?"

A trace of disappointment entered Urahara's voice, and the same disappointment showed in his eyes as he looked at Mayuri Kurotsuchi.

Mayuri Kurotsuchi stared at Kisuke Urahara for a few seconds, then smiled, his smile exceptionally eerie.

"Boring. Such a crude attempt to provoke me. Kisuke Urahara, you're too boring."

"Get lost already and leave me in peace."

With that, Mayuri Kurotsuchi turned his head away and stopped looking at Kisuke Urahara.

Seeing that Mayuri Kurotsuchi wouldn't yield to either persuasion or pressure, Kisuke Urahara scratched his cheek helplessly.

"Huh? That heartless? I was even thinking of getting you out of here if I had the chance someday."

Mayuri Kurotsuchi ignored Kisuke Urahara. As though he had closed himself off, he said nothing more.

"In that case, I won't bother you any longer."

Kisuke Urahara turned his back.

"Actually, I know you can't think of a better method either."

"After all, this plan I came up with on the spot might already seem so ingenious to you that you could never hope to match it."

Hearing Kisuke Urahara's contemptuous voice, Mayuri Kurotsuchi's eyes widened abruptly.

He glared at Kisuke Urahara's back, killing intent seething.

"Kisuke Urahara!!"

Kisuke Urahara chuckled and turned his head.

"What, you don't agree?"

He shook the experimental plan in his hand.

"Then do you have a more complete idea than mine?"

Mayuri Kurotsuchi's eyes widened, and he clenched his teeth.

The thing he couldn't stand most was being looked down on.

All the more so when it was by the person he hated most.

Even though he knew full well that Kisuke Urahara was provoking him, deliberately bringing him a half-finished product to fool him, plotting who knew what.

He still couldn't swallow his anger.

"Get me paper and a pen. Today, I'll show you what a genius's design looks like!"

"I'll make you understand that you'll pay for looking down on me!"

Kisuke Urahara glanced back at the roaring Mayuri Kurotsuchi, his eyes narrowing slightly with a hint of doubt.

"Oh?"

"Didn't you think the experiment I made was boring?"

"Cut the bullshit. Get me paper and a pen!"

Urahara neither agreed nor disagreed. He took paper and a pen from his pocket and handed them to Mayuri Kurotsuchi in the cell.

At the same time, he quietly activated a surveillance bug he had placed in a hidden corner.

With that, everything was ready.

All that remained was to wait for a complete, workable plan.

Kisuke Urahara cast one last glance at Mayuri Kurotsuchi, who was writing furiously, then turned and left.

Lately, his research had been centered on that strange reiatsu, so he really wasn't interested in carrying out an experiment that wasn't very important.

Fortunately, there was a talent like Mayuri Kurotsuchi in the prison. He might as well make use of him.

Come to think of it, the owner of that reiatsu was outside right now.

It was time to collect more experimental material, too.

When Kisuke Urahara left the prison area and returned to the open area, people were already sprawled all over the floor.

Wang Xun was breathing hard, and he had picked up quite a few injuries.

But the fighting spirit in his eyes hadn't diminished in the slightest.

[Reiryoku fragments obtained ×45, Spiritual Might experience +225]

[Hakuda insights obtained ×92, Hakuda experience +460]

Ever since he had started sparring with Kaien, he had begun to suspect that there was another way to use his system.

This method of improving was even faster than his plan to join the Eighth Division or the Tenth Division and wander around the streets.

The prisoners had surrounded Wang Xun, and even with the wounded scattered everywhere, some still charged at him recklessly.

"Oh my, who would have thought you liked fighting so much, Wang Xun?"

The next moment, Kisuke Urahara appeared beside Wang Xun and stopped him from continuing to fight the prisoners.

"All right, that's enough. We still have important business to discuss."

Wang Xun kicked the last man down and raised a hand to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth.

"True. I'm a little tired myself."

Kisuke Urahara glanced at the prisoners wailing all over the floor and gave an order to the unit members hidden nearby.

"Come out and clean this up."

Only then did some members of the Detention Unit emerge from hiding. They carried the injured prisoners away one by one to give them basic treatment.

"Wang Xun, follow me."

Kisuke Urahara led Wang Xun toward a secluded corner.

When no one was looking, Urahara raised a hand and pulled, tearing open the wall to reveal a door behind it.

Seeing the surprise in Wang Xun's eyes, Kisuke Urahara smiled.

"Just a little trick. Come in and have a seat."

As Kisuke Urahara pushed the door open and entered, a wide space opened up before Wang Xun.

It looked more like a small, meticulously arranged research facility.

Wang Xun glanced around. The tables and walls were covered in densely packed data and charts, with many handwritten notes in places.

Wang Xun looked farther away and only then noticed that a vegetable patch had even been cultivated off to the side.

A small area next to it was fenced off, with chickens and pigs kept separately inside.

"You put your research facility here?"

Wang Xun was a little surprised.

"Can't be helped. I still have work to do, after all, so this is more convenient."

"Whenever I have time, I do a little research on the side. Of course, Captain Yoruichi has given her tacit approval, so don't worry."

Urahara didn't seem concerned. He walked over to Wang Xun and handed him the papers in his hand.

"Here, this is the preliminary plan for an experiment to increase plant yields. Take a look. The complete plan for the follow-up experiments will be ready soon."

At that point, Kisuke Urahara's expression grew somewhat more serious.

"We don't have to worry about anyone listening through the walls here either. Wang Xun, can you tell me the real reason you came to see me today?"