Chapter 240: Self-Rescue
Comprehensive Relief Station, Intensive Care Unit…
Ishikawa, his entire body wrapped in bandages, lay on the hospital bed, feeling a sense of helplessness.
"Ishikawa, I heard you encountered Aizen. Did Tosen also come to Soul Society?"
In the vast Intensive Care Unit, not only Ishikawa but also dozens of Shinigami lay, most of whom were ordinary Squad Members and Seated Officers.
According to the conversations of the Fourth Squad Members, it seemed that all Intensive Care Units in the Comprehensive Relief Station were already full.
The sudden rebellion of the Zanpakuto had caused severe damage to the Gotei 13.
And the one asking Ishikawa at this moment was the only other seriously injured Captain in this Intensive Care Unit besides Ishikawa: Komamura Sajin.
"..."
Ishikawa ignored him.
On one hand, he genuinely didn't want to, and on the other, even if he wanted to, he couldn't open his mouth.
Although Urahara Kisuke's medicine was extremely effective for spiritual body repair, it had little effect on the terrible internal situation; neither the Spirit Core nor the Binding Threads and Soul Sleep showed any signs of recovery.
For an ordinary spiritual body, even if it didn't die now, it would have completely lost its Shinigami abilities.
And Ishikawa's current situation was similar.
The empty feeling made Ishikawa experience an unprecedented sense of weakness. The damage to the crucial acupoints, which were fundamental to a Shinigami, could no longer be healed by self-recovery alone.
If this situation continued, even if Ishikawa's body recovered, he would permanently lose his Shinigami abilities and become an ordinary Rukongai resident.
Unless he could use a large amount of experience points to add to his physique, only then, with the system's unique properties, could he fully recover.
But this 'large amount'…
The value might be extremely exaggerated.
He was basically a vegetable now, unable to even open his mouth, so how could he obtain such a huge amount of experience points?
Ishikawa opened the system interface in his mind, wanting to see if there were other ways to save himself.
…
Name: Ishikawa
Race: Human
Level: Second Stage
Physique: Top-tier (800842 / 1000000)
Reiatsu: Top-tier (626158 / 1000000)
Hakuda: Top-tier (16 / 1000000)
Shunpo: Top-tier (24586 / 1000000)
Zanjutsu: Top-tier (168654 / 1000000)
Zanpakuto: Advanced (99999 / 100000)
…
Special Skills:
[Chantless Kido] Top-tier (21464 / 1000000)
[Kaido]: Advanced (40638 / 100000)
[Post-chanting]: Top-tier (248 / 1000000)
[Kaminawa] Advanced (48947 / 100000)
[Shunko]
[Utsusemi] Advanced (58468 / 100000)
[Reiatsu Crest] Top-tier (124860 / 1000000)
Current Experience Points: 80480
[Yoruichi Favorability +1, gained 9600 experience points, current favorability: 46]
[… ]
[Yoruichi Favorability +1, gained 19200 experience points, current favorability: 50]
[Soi Fon Favorability +1, gained 10240 experience points, current favorability: 57]
Of these more than eighty thousand experience points, over seventy thousand were provided by Yoruichi and Soi Fon, while the remaining scattered experience points were obtained from rescued female Squad Members because Ishikawa organized the Ninth Squad for rescue. Although Ishikawa didn't personally rescue them, the rescue order was issued by him.
Therefore, all female Squad Members who were rescued showed an increase in favorability towards Ishikawa.
Normally, over eighty thousand experience points would be enough to heal most of Ishikawa's injuries instantly.
But for his current injuries, the help it could provide was minimal.
And most importantly…
His physique was already nearing its limit. Even if he added more points, he could only add another 200,000. Judging by the effect of the experience points consumed when he previously used the sacrifice, it was impossible for him to fully recover.
However, a physique strength of 800,000 already allowed Ishikawa's body's defense to rival the combined strength of an Espada's Hierro.
As for strength…
Even if he truly lost all his Reiatsu, his strength alone would still be enough to deal with most Espada.
The premise was that the opponent could clash head-on with him; otherwise, Ishikawa, who couldn't even stay airborne, could only hop and jump to chase after them.
Before the battle, Ishikawa's physique was just over 640,000. At that time, he didn't feel anything profound.
But the moment his physique value broke through 800,000, Ishikawa felt as if his body had suddenly entered another level. The reason he was able to survive the sacrifice of Itto Kaso and not turn directly into ashes could be entirely attributed to his physique breaking through the 800,000 mark.
As for his Zanpakuto, it had been stuck at 99999 for a long time.
It wasn't a bottleneck, but rather because the Zanpakuto hadn't recovered. Ishikawa had a feeling that once his Zanpakuto was fully repaired, this value would directly skyrocket.
As for its momentary manifestation during the battle, it wasn't because the Zanpakuto had recovered, but rather with the help of the Zanpakuto's true form… which was the little dog, a temporary physical form of the Zanpakuto was condensed.
It was still too early!
Currently, Ishikawa's strength was already enough to overwhelm most Captains of the Gotei 13.
He even feared no encirclement by Captains.
However, facing Aizen fused with the Hōgyoku, his preparations were still insufficient.
If he had been able to move at that time and possessed the ability to seal the Hōgyoku, he could have completely sealed the Hōgyoku in that instant, thereby interrupting Aizen's evolution.
A more stable approach should have been like Urahara Kisuke.
Judging from Urahara Kisuke's words, when he saw Aizen could fuse with the Hōgyoku, he had already given up on destroying Aizen.
Because the Hōgyoku's immortality would cause Aizen to continuously evolve and revive no matter what injuries he sustained. Killing him would only cause his evolution path to deviate, making him more extreme, and unable to truly eliminate him.
The evolution path deviates…
Whether it was good or bad was still hard to define.
But one thing was certain: the moment he severely injured Aizen was undoubtedly the best time to seal the Hōgyoku or Aizen, but unfortunately, his body could no longer withstand the sacrifice of Itto Kaso.
It was too late to say anything now.
The same opportunity was unlikely to reappear. From the conversation between Aizen and Urahara Kisuke, Aizen would probably not appear again for some time.
But when he reappeared, it would mean his evolution was complete, and the extent to which he would have fused with the Hōgyoku at that point was a complete unknown.
Ishikawa sighed inwardly and then began to carefully examine the various abilities he possessed.
Reiatsu Crest?
No, with the current state of his Spirit Core, rashly activating Reiatsu Crest would only cause the Spirit Core to completely collapse, and then he would truly be dead.
After a careful search, Ishikawa's gaze fell upon Kaido.
To gain the favorability of the Fourth Squad Members, he had once studied Kaido diligently.
But when his mastery of Kaido surpassed Isane and was second only to Unohana, Ishikawa had completely given up on further studying Kaido.
Not to mention investing experience points, he had completely put Kaido out of his mind in his daily training.
However…
His current situation, to recover, the only possibility was indeed Kaido.
However, ordinary Kaido might not be able to help him.
Because, no matter how strong one's mastery of Kaido was, there was still a limit to it.
If the Binding Threads and Soul Sleep were not severely damaged, they could generally be healed within Seireitei.
But damage to the Spirit Core, which maintains the spiritual body and can be called the heart of the spiritual body, has been an incurable disease in Soul Society's countless years of history.
Countless spiritual bodies have died from this illness.
If it were just the relatives of ordinary Squad Members, it would be fine, as they would only receive the full efforts of the Fourth Squad's treatment, not the full efforts of the entire Seireitei's treatment.
But among those who died from Spirit Core damage were many nobles, and even family members of the Four Great Noble Clans, which was enough to show that it was almost impossible to treat the Spirit Core purely with Kaido.
Unless Kaido was elevated to an extreme never before reached in the history of Soul Society, there might be a slight possibility of healing himself.
This thought had just emerged when Ishikawa extinguished it.
Because the required experience points were simply too many, and it might not even heal him.
However…
Kaido was a very important reference.
If he could, with the help of the system, like when he created the Hollow Mark, use Kaido as a foundation to forge a new path, creating a brand new Kido specifically for healing vital points like the Spirit Core and Binding Threads, then he might be able to fully recover at the minimal cost.
The predecessor of Reiatsu Crest, the Hollow Mark, was a completely new Reiatsu Crest system created by Ishikawa, independent of previous Reiatsu Crest systems. This could also be replicated in Kaido.
And most importantly…
Ishikawa was not without a clue, because he had a very good reference target.
Orihime!
Her ability cannot be entirely called a healing ability, but rather an ability to completely 'reject' and nullify the effects and damage things have sustained. It can be said to be a rule that infringes upon the realm of gods!
The only pity was…
The manifestation of this rule was still based on Reiatsu, and Orihime's own Reiatsu strength could only support her in using this ability for healing and defense. Even if her Reiatsu were stronger, it would only help the treated person recover Reiatsu while healing them.
Moreover, because the vessel for the rule, the hair clip that activated the rule, was just an ordinary object that crumbled upon touch, her ability was completely unsuitable for combat.
The hair clip, as the core, not to mention Hollows and Shinigami, even ordinary humans could destroy it with a little effort.
Putting aside these shortcomings, the inherent terror of this rule itself was unquestionable.
For Ishikawa now, this rule had extremely high reference value and provided him with a research direction.
However…
When he created the Hollow Mark, Ishikawa only succeeded with the help of Cirucci. During this process, Cirucci provided him with countless fodder Hollows, Gillians, Adjuchas, and even Arrancars who were her subordinates, as test subjects.
Although it was only for a short month, tens of thousands of Hollows died due to Ishikawa's experiments.
It even alarmed Las Noches, and Cirucci, for his safety, once wanted to stop the experiments and send Ishikawa out of Hueco Mundo.
Fortunately, it eventually succeeded.
And after returning to Seireitei, Ishikawa discovered that his experiments in Hueco Mundo had even affected Soul Society.
Fortunately, since no high-level combatants were lost, the impact was not significant, far from reaching the point of disrupting the balance between the two worlds; it was just a slight influence.
But if such a thing happened in Soul Society…
Within half a day, Ishikawa would be confronted by Captain-Commander Yamamoto wielding Ryujin Jakka.
The essence of the Shinigami collective, in some respects, was even more terrifying than Hollows.
But compared to the mutually slaughtering Hollows, Shinigami still possessed basic rationality and bottom lines. If he conducted inhumane experiments, his identity as a Central 46 Sage could only restrain other Captains. For Captain-Commander Yamamoto…
He would absolutely not hold back when cutting him down, and might even arrange a one-stop cremation service for him, leaving no bone fragments of Ishikawa, and possibly even making him work after death…
That old man was extremely ruthless!
Such experiments that would cause massive casualties clearly could not be carried out.
However, going to research the Spirit Cores of a large number of test subjects would inevitably lead to casualties.
Of course…
He could also choose to research Orihime.
But Orihime's favorability towards him made Ishikawa unhesitatingly abandon this idea.
Besides, she had already been taken away by Aizen's subordinates before he rushed to the Thirteenth Division.
Neither of these paths worked, so what should he do?
Lying on the hospital bed, Ishikawa was incredibly conflicted, and what annoyed him was…
There was also a big dog beside him, constantly asking him about Tosen Kaname.
I'm wrapped in bandages like a mummy, can't you tell?
Speaking of which…
Among so many Captains, you're the only one who got cut up like this by your own Zanpakuto, and you still have the nerve to ask so many questions.
Hmm?
Ishikawa suddenly froze, enduring the pain to turn his head and look at Komamura Sajin beside him.
Ishikawa had some understanding of Komamura Sajin's clan.
They fell into the Animal Realm due to sins committed in their previous lives, but did not completely die, and came to Soul Society, transforming into werewolves.
The werewolf clan, although living in Soul Society, had always resided in remote, uninhabited areas, completely avoiding contact with Rukongai and Seireitei.
The reason Ishikawa knew about the werewolf clan was not due to records within Seireitei, but because of Ōmaeda.
In the entire Soul Society, the Ōmaeda Family family was the only one that had business dealings with the werewolf clan.
Ōmaeda exchanged food and other necessities for the specialties within the werewolf clan's living areas, such as gemstones.
Most of the gemstones in Ōmaeda's bedroom came from the werewolf clan.
Of course.
Ishikawa wasn't interested in the werewolf clan, but he was very interested in the Humanization Technique that Komamura Sajin would use in the future, according to his memories.
Because, besides the Hōgyoku and the Oken, it was the only ability that possessed immortality.
Although it only granted temporary immortality and came with a very heavy price after the effect ended.
The werewolf clan indeed possessed a certain peculiarity. Although Komamura Sajin's appearance resembled a dog more than a wolf.
By the way…
Given this guy's personality, if I said I was researching him to save Captain-Commander Yamamoto, he probably wouldn't refuse, right?
Moreover, Captain-level individuals should be quite resilient, right?
At least they wouldn't die like those fodder Hollows after a bit of research, right?