Kisuke Urahara - Hōgyoku

As night deepened, the Second Division gradually fell silent.

The team members who had finished training returned to their respective dormitories, but some team members were still on missions, moving around in various hidden corners.

Kisuke Urahara, who should have returned to the barracks, appeared instead in front of the heavy iron gate of the Maggot's Nest.

"Squad Leader Urahara, are you here to inspect the work so late?"

"Why ask so many questions? Open the door."

"Yes."

Kisuke Urahara stepped over the stairs and walked down into the Maggot's Nest.

The Maggot's Nest was now completely dark; the prisoners had returned to their respective huts to sleep, with only a faint nightlight illuminating the corners.

Urahara walked straight to his hidden laboratory.

Pushing open the door disguised as a wall, the interior reveals a completely different scene from the outside.

On one side of the lab bench, various instruments flickered with a faint light, and the papers on the table recorded all sorts of complex data.

On the other side, it has been transformed into a small ecological zone.

Around it, a Kidō barrier was set up to amplify the concentration of Reiryoku.

In several neatly arranged fields, the plants are growing vigorously, their lush green leaves stretching out under the simulated fluorescent lights.

In a small area enclosed by a fence, several chickens of unusually large size were dozing in a corner, while in the distance, several rather fat pigs huddled together, grunting and squealing.

These experimental subjects, cultivated by Urahara using the Kidō Path Barrier and Reishi Control Technology, grow much faster than their counterparts in the outside world, and are also part of his collaborative project with Wang Xun.

However, after learning about it, Lieutenant Ōmaeda expressed that he was also very interested in the project.

If the application is then submitted to the Central 46 for approval, given their appallingly low work efficiency, getting it approved quickly would require a lot of bribing by Lieutenant Ōmaeda.

At that time, he will probably get involved in this project as well. I wonder how he will negotiate the cooperation with Wang Xun and how much profit he can get from it.

However, Kisuke Urahara quickly put these things out of his mind.

He walked straight through this idyllic area and came to a seemingly ordinary wall at the end.

He triggered a hidden mechanism again, and the wall opened, revealing the true core behind it.

A secret laboratory filled with all sorts of instruments.

On the cold stone tabletop, there were complex wiring pipes and various containers that shimmered with strange light.

He walked to the experimental table, opened an encrypted Reishi storage device, and began organizing the experimental materials inside.

On the experimental table lay a detailed Reiatsu sample analysis report.

Aside from complex charts and terminology, the report highlights the core conclusions.

"The Reiatsu of the sample revealed a stable 'hollow' Reishi property, highly integrated with its host's soul, ruling out signs of external contamination."

"Preliminary speculation suggests that the host possesses the potential for 'controllable Hollowfication,' but further verification is still needed."

Kisuke Urahara tidying up his things, turned around, and stared at the report.

This is what he has been busy with recently, and he has already achieved some results.

The Reiatsu contained within Wang Xun's body is very unique.

The spiritual pressure of a normal Shinigami is pure soul power, balanced and peaceful.

However, the Reiatsu of the void is mixed with desires, obsessions, and distorted soul qualities, resulting in chaos and disorder.

However, Wang Xun's Reiatsu seemed to have a trace of Hollow Reiatsu characteristics forcibly mixed into the pure power of the Soul Reaper, yet it was unusually docile and stable.

This is a phenomenon he still cannot understand.

"What lurks deep within his soul?"

"Or is it a special individual whose soul composition naturally contains the dual characteristics of Hollow and Soul Reaper?"

"There is a group of Fullbringer in the World of the Living, who seem to have been born after their mothers were attacked by Hollows during their pregnancies, and the Soul King Fragment within their bodies reacted with them. But they are different from Wang Xun, after all, he is Soul Reaper..."

It is common knowledge within the Soul Society that Soul Reaper infected with the Hollow Poison would undergo a phenomenon known as Soul Suicide and disappearance.

Wang Xun, a Soul Reaper possessing Hollow powers within him, is virtually unheard of in the history of Soul Society.

"I wonder if he can mobilize the Reiatsu within him..."

Kisuke Urahara frowned in thought, seemingly having found the key point.

The next moment, he put down the report, got up and walked to the innermost wall of the laboratory.

He reached out and pressed on several specific spots on the wall, and the wall slid open silently, revealing a small storage room behind it.

There was nothing else in the storage room except rows of specially made Reishi containers.

His gaze shifted to the other side of the laboratory, where a huge storage cabinet of unknown material stood.

He walked over and opened the cabinet door.

In an instant, a Reiatsu aura, mixed with distortion, hunger, and rage, spread out, like a tangible cold current, exuding an ominous feeling.

Kisuke Urahara looked at the densely packed, neatly arranged transparent sealed jars inside the cabinet.

Each container once contained a murky, twisting, and writhing mass of dark Reiatsu.

Those are purified Reiatsu samples of Hollows extracted from different Hollows.

The sources of these samples are quite complex.

Some of them he extracted privately from Hollows that appeared in the World of the Living or Soul Society, while others came from some less-than-compliant channels.

These malevolent Reiatsu are sealed here like specimens.

However, most of the bottles were already empty.

A dark red light flowed across the surface of the jar, illuminating Kisuke Urahara's pensive face.

He picked up a small, crystal-clear test tube containing Wang Xun's latest Reiatsu sample and examined it closely.

Inside the test tube, Wang Xun's Reiatsu wafted calmly, appearing gentle and harmless, completely out of place with the frenzied Reiatsu of the surrounding void.

Kisuke Urahara walked further in until he reached the innermost part, where he carefully opened a hidden seal, revealing what was inside.

It was a special object sealed within a unique glass container by an irregular, polyhedral barrier.

Hōgyoku.

That's what he called it.

Kisuke Urahara at the Hōgyoku, his gaze shifting back and forth between the Hōgyoku and Wang Xun's Reiatsu, yet he could not make up his mind.

Kisuke Urahara recalled the reason for creating the Hōgyoku: it was because he had sensed the upper limit of his abilities.

After achieving Bankai, his Reiatsu began to increase slowly, seemingly only able to accumulate over a long period of time.

This was undoubtedly agonizing for someone with such extraordinary talent.

Therefore, Kisuke Urahara to have some crooked ideas.

In an attempt to break the limits of the Soul Reaper's power, the Hōgyoku was created in his hands.

Concentrating a massive amount of Reiatsu into a single point might create something capable of breaking through the limits.

With this idea in mind, he began research and development.

This Hōgyoku was created by him using his Hollow Reiatsu; however, he clearly underestimated his creation this time.

The Hōgyoku's desire to devour grew stronger and stronger. He had poured countless Menos Grande ' Reiatsu into it, but it still could not satisfy it.

At this moment, the Hōgyoku was clearly beyond his control, as if it had developed its own consciousness, constantly conveying to him a desire to devour it.

This time, it wasn't just a hollow Reiatsu.

It also wants the spiritual pressure of the Grim Reaper.

Kisuke Urahara was a little scared.

He wanted to destroy it, but he couldn't. The cost of destroying it was too great for him to bear, so he could only seal it away temporarily and deal with it later.

He had already planned to give up on the experiment with the Hōgyoku.

But Wang Xun's appearance seems to offer a glimmer of hope.

Kisuke Urahara finally reached out and carefully removed the container that sealed the Hōgyoku.

The laboratory door closed silently behind him, completely isolating the space's depths and solemnity within the quiet laboratory.