"Captain Kyoya."
At the entrance of the 12th Division, the guards quickly saluted upon seeing Kyoya.
They were quite familiar with him.
Back when Kirio was still around, Kyoya would visit the 12th Division periodically, so nearly all members of the division recognized him.
"Yeah, has Captain Urahara returned?"
"Yes, Captain Kyoya."
"Take me to him."
"Understood, please follow me."
Kyoya nodded.
After the Captains' Meeting, he had deliberately waited a few hours before coming… this was to give Kisuke enough time to settle into the 12th Division.
After all, not every division was like the 11th, where strength alone could earn everyone's obedience.
The 12th Division was the Research and Development Institute. Here, scientific prowess mattered far more than combat ability.
After defeating Kiganjo, Kyoya had swiftly gained his squad's recognition.
But in the 12th Division, Kisuke would first have to demonstrate his research skills to earn the respect of its members.
However, what puzzled Kyoya was that the division's member leading him wasn't taking him to the Captain's office but to another location instead.
A few minutes later, Kyoya found Kisuke in the 12th Division's training grounds.
At this moment, Kyoya suddenly remembered that in the Anime, after becoming the 12th Division's Captain, the first thing Kisuke did wasn't using his intellect to impress the researchers.
Instead, he coaxed the division's Lieutenant, Sarugaki Hiyori!
Hiyori was one of the few in the 12th Division who hadn't risen through the ranks due to scientific ability.
Her position came from her connection to the former captain, Kirio.
Having been raised by Kirio since childhood and treated like a daughter, Hiyori saw Kirio as a mother figure. Thus, she held nothing but contempt for Kisuke, the man who had taken over as Captain.
From the moment Kisuke stepped into the 12th Division, she had done everything possible to obstruct him from handling division affairs.
Now, she had even challenged him to a fight, hoping to defeat him and humiliate him in front of everyone.
However, Kisuke wasn't someone a half-baked Lieutenant like Hiyori could mess with.
No matter how fiercely Hiyori attacked, Urahara effortlessly dodged every strike.
His approach, though born from his reluctance to bully a child and his promise to Kirio to look after Hiyori, only served to infuriate her further.
In her eyes, Urahara's refusal to fight back was the greatest insult!
"Chop Cleanly, Kubikiri Orochi!"
Boom!
Leaping high into the air, Hiyori drew her Zanpakuto and called out its name.
Instantly, the expressions of the 12th Division's members in the training ground changed.
"Not good!"
"Lieutenant Hiyori, stop!"
If their earlier scuffle could be dismissed as playful, something neither Kisuke nor the division's members took seriously, then the moment Hiyori drew her Zanpakuto and released her Shikai, the situation escalated entirely.
Panicked voices rose as everyone tried to stop her.
But unfortunately, Hiyori was too consumed by rage. Her enlarged, serrated Zanpakuto was raised high, poised to strike Kisuke down with lethal force.
It looked as though she bore some deep-seated grudge, intent on killing Kisuke.
Yet, none of them were strong enough to intervene in time.
On the ground, the resigned expression on Kisuke's face faded.
Given Kisuke's originally lazy personality, he disliked drawing attention or involving himself in unnecessary trouble.
But Yoruichi hadn't wanted his talents to go to waste, languishing in obscurity as a mere member of the 2nd Division. Even as her friend, Yoruichi couldn't prioritize him over the Shihoin Clan's interests, as she couldn't just step down and hand him the Captain's positiion.
It just so happened that Kirio was promoted to Zero Division, and at this moment, there was no candidate among the Gotei 13 who could take over as Captain of 12th Division, so Yoruichi had pushed Urahara into the role.
And because of Yoruichi's relationship with Kirio, Kisuke had been entrusted with looking after Hiyori…
'Miscalculation…'
Kisuke's mind raced.
If this had stayed hand-to-hand, no matter how rough it got, it could've been written off as a spar.
But drawing a Zanpakuto changed everything.
The 12th Division wasn't a combat-focused division like the 11th Division.
'Had Lieutenant Sarugaki been spoiled too much by Captain Hikifune?'
Now, Kisuke had to figure out how to minimize the fallout.
Originally, according to Kisuke's idea, he wanted to provoke the anger of Hiyori, and then, when Hiyori was the most angry, he would be deliberately hit by Hiyori, so that Hiyori and everyone in the 12th Division could feel his 'sincerity'.
But now, Hiyori had drawn and released her Zanpakuto, so he couldn't afford to play along anymore.
At the very least, taking a few punches and kicks from Hiyori wouldn't have been a problem for Urahara.
But if he were directly slashed by Hiyori's Kubikiri Orochi, he'd be lucky to escape with severe injuries, if not outright killed!
He wasn't at a level where he could shrug off a Zanpakuto's slash.
In fact, among the Shinigami, only Zaraki could withstand attacks below Captain-level with his bare body.
According to Zaraki himself, the density of Reiatsu covering his body surpassed the sharpness of most Shinigami's Zanpakuto. Thus, unless an attack reached Captain-level, it wouldn't even be sharp enough to scratch his skin.
…Well, Aizen Sosuke had also demonstrated something similar.
Ichigo's slash after using his Bankai had been effortlessly blocked by a single finger from Aizen…
As Kisuke pondered, a figure suddenly appeared in front of him, raising a hand to intercept Hiyori's descending slash.
Clang!
Under the stunned gazes of the 12th Division's members, Kyoya caught Kubikiri Orochi mid-air with his bare hand.
"Captain Urahara, I hope I'm not interrupting your little game?"
Kyoya glanced back, casually setting Hiyori down before addressing Kisuke.
"Not at all. Thank you, Captain Kyoya."
Urahara blinked, then expressed his gratitude.
Kyoya's intervention was the best possible outcome for him.
This way, whatever thoughts the 12th Division's members had would be directed at Kyoya instead.
Of course, those who cared about Hiyori would also be grateful that Kyoya had prevented her from committing the grave offense of assaulting a Captain.
Disrespecting hierarchy was a serious taboo in the Seireitei, especially for someone without the strength to back it up.
"So, what brings you to the 12th Division, Captain Kyoya?"
"A few years ago, I asked Captain Hikifune to develop gravity-based training equipment. But now that she's stepped down and you've taken over, I wanted to ask if you'd be willing to continue the project."
"Gravity equipment?"
Kisuke raised an eyebrow, "May I ask what you intend to use it for, Captain Kyoya?"
Though he hadn't specifically researched gravity manipulation before, Kisuke had absolute confidence in his abilities. He didn't think creating such a device would be beyond him.
Moreover, as the new captain, completing an unfinished project left by Kirio would significantly boost his standing among the division's members.
But before that, he also needed to understand what Kyoya wanted to do with this gravity device.
He had his own principles.
Continuing Hikifune's research to earn the division's trust was one thing.
But whether the final product should be handed over to Kyoya was another matter entirely.
"Ah, that's my fault for not explaining."
Kyoya rubbed his chin and said, "If I don't clarify the purpose, the device you make might end up useless to me..."
"Here's the thing, Captain Urahara."
With a casual flick of his wrist, Kyoya's hand blurred, generating a sonic boom as a transparent shockwave tore through the training ground, leaving a meter-long gash in the earth.
"My body is still developing."
"And I want to fully unlock the potential within it."
"But at my current physical strength, ordinary training methods barely make a difference."
"So, I was thinking… if I could train in an environment with ten or even a hundred times the gravity of the Seireitei, my progress might accelerate exponentially."
"Therefore, when designing the gravity device, it'd be best if it could either create a gravity chamber or take the form of an adjustable wristband. That'd be more convenient."
"Training under ten to a hundred times normal gravity?!"
Kisuke sucked in a sharp breath.
With his intellect, he instantly grasped the implications.
At three to five times gravity, most seated officers and below would struggle to even stand.
At ten times gravity, even Lieutenants and high-ranking seated officers would find movement severely restricted.
Anyone weaker might be crushed outright.
As for a hundred times gravity…
That was unimaginable.
Kisuke couldn't speak for other Captains, but as for himself… he'd probably be flattened into paste within minutes.