To be fair, Saten Ruiko was pretty confident about how much stronger she'd gotten recently.
By her own estimate, she might not be able to beat the real Accelerator yet, but she could probably hold her own.
But now it wasn't just one Accelerator in front of her—it was six! Even if each clone was weaker than the real one, the sheer number made up for that.
No—actually, it might even be worse than facing the original!
Saten Ruiko didn't feel confident about fighting six of them at once. She was starting to panic. But when she turned to look for Anran for backup, he was already gone.
She quickly pulled up the group chat and messaged: Anran-san, where are you?
This is an Actor: I'll leave the clones to you. I'm going to check things inside.
Skirt-Flipping Maniac: Wait—wait, hold up!
Saten Ruiko's face went pale. She was about to use Shunpo to chase after him, but two clones blocked her path. Their thin arms raised, and fists flew toward her.
Boom boom boom.
A deafening explosion shook the lobby of the Advanced Education Bureau. Thick smoke rose and filled the entire space.
Doujin Artist: Ruiko-chan's okay, right?
Amegakure Village's Angel: Of course she is. Don't underestimate Anran-san. Even if he's not next to her, he's still always watching out for Ruiko.
Machete Girl: Yeah, I remember Anran-san noticed something was off inside the building even before he stepped in.
Soul Society's Bad Guy: So it's kind of like a stronger version of spiritual awareness?
This is an Actor: The proper term is "divine sense." It's when you use your mental power like waves to scan the area around you. It also works as a marker—any place covered by my spiritual power, I can teleport to instantly.
Wig Guy: That's super handy. Can we learn it?
This is an Actor: You can. But first, you'd need to become a god.
Curly-haired Guy: Oh, alright then—guess we're done here.
Becoming a god—whether by earning points to buy Anran's divine power or by slowly mastering the rules on your own—wasn't something that could be done quickly.
So basically, it meant nothing right now.
Doujin Artist: The place Anran-san is in right now looks super creepy. Are those human organs?
The stream had already switched to Anran's point of view. He had taken Therestina into what looked like a storage room.
The place was full of jars and containers filled with liquid, and inside were all sorts of strange things.
This is an Actor: They're organs, but not taken from humans.
Anran walked up to a container that held something that looked like a heart. It was called a "heart" because it had that shape and was slowly beating.
But this "heart" was huge, and the veins on its surface were all bluish-purple.
After passing through the room filled with those jars, Anran walked up to a small side door. With a light flick of his finger, the entire door crumbled into dust, revealing what was inside.
Judging by the setup, this place looked like a human lab.
All sorts of machines were neatly arranged around the room. In the center was a semi-circular air chamber. Inside it, a young man in a white surgical gown was lying down with his eyes closed, looking very calm.
Machete Girl: Who is that?
Doujin Artist: No idea. Don't think he ever showed up in the Index story.
This is an Actor: Actually, you do know him. He just changed his face and got younger.
Amegakure Village's Angel: Kihara Gensei?
This is an Actor: Congrats, correct. Konan-senpai is really climbing her way up to high school level now.
Soul Society's Bad Guy: Oh my. And just two days ago you said I hadn't even reached middle school level. Looks like I'm way behind Konan.
Curly-haired Guy: Be content. Konan-chan was personally trained by our boss. When she first started, she was only at elementary school level too!
Doujin Artist: We're even worse. Not even at elementary level.
Scarlet Lotus Fairy: Young Master An's standards really are way too strict.
Come to think of it, Li Mochou never actually went to school or had a tutor growing up. She learned to read and write from her master, so saying she's not even at elementary level is probably true.
Amegakure Village's Angel: Anyway, back on topic. Is Kihara Gensei using himself as a test subject?
This is an Actor: Yep, and he's close to succeeding.
Anran glanced at Kihara Gensei in the chamber and gave a subtle smirk.
That old guy was actually awake, secretly using brainwaves to send commands to different parts of the building. But Anran didn't call him out—instead, he played along and treated him like a regular test subject, then left the room.
*Boom.*
A loud explosion rang out.
The side wall was violently blasted open, and a dusty, dirt-covered Saten Ruiko appeared. "Anran-san!"
This is an Actor: I'm here.
Skirt-Flipping Maniac: Of course I know you're here—I was showing how mad I am, didn't you get that? How could you leave me behind in that place all alone? How could you?!
As she sent the message, the girl puffed up her cheeks, clearly trying to look angry and pouty.
This is an Actor: If I hadn't left you there, how would your Zanpakuto have awakened?
Doujin Artist: Holy crap, Ruiko-chan's Zanpakuto awakened?
Curly-haired Guy: What the hell! Even a little girl like her can awaken a Zanpakuto, and my sword hasn't made a peep?
Wig Guy: That's because your heart's not in the right place, Gintoki. You have to treat your Zanpakuto like family. Only then will you hear its voice.
Curly-haired Guy: Oh, so that's why you had your Zanpakuto stuck between your butt cheeks?
Doujin Artist: What the hell are you saying? Are you brain-damaged or something, you wig-wearing freak?
This is an Actor: She's here.
Scarlet Lotus Fairy: ?
Machete Girl: Who's here?
This is an Actor: Ruiko-chan, this is your moment to show what you've got. Go for it.
As he spoke, a figure with purple hair and a glowing blue laser blade suddenly flashed in front of Saten Ruiko. Before she could react, the blade slashed down toward her right shoulder.
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