Above the World of the Living, a Senkaimon slowly materialized.
After the gate opened, Sora and Yoruichi Shihōin emerged.
Following behind them were several elite members of the Onmitsukidō.
The Onmitsukidō had been tasked with investigating Tetsuya Miyamoto's experimental base, and Sora had accepted Yoruichi's invitation to accompany them.
Currently, Sora and Aizen's research on Hollow Reigai had made some progress. They were now capable of producing Reigai with the strength of a normal Hollow. In time, it was not impossible to producing them to the Gillian level.
However, their progress with Shinigami Reigai was still very limited.
Therefore, Sora was very interested in the Shinigami Reigai technology that Miyamoto possessed.
Based on his observations, Miyamoto could already mass-produce Shinigami Reigai at the level of a squad member.
After a long period of development, Miyamoto's technology was far superior to the sealed technology in the Seireitei.
Just then, two cloaked Onmitsukidō scouts appeared before them.
These two had been sent ahead for reconnaissance.
"Vice-Captain, according to the intelligence from the prison squad, Miyamoto's experimental base should be at the bottom of this lake," a scout said, pointing to the massive lake below.
"Have you found the entrance?" Yoruichi asked.
"We have. We just used an instrument to detect spiritual pressure fluctuations, but we couldn't find any. The base is likely shielded with materials like Sekkiseki to block them," the scout reported.
Tetsuya Miyamoto had built his base at the bottom of a lake in the World of the Living, with the exterior of the underwater structure shielded by Sekkiseki. It was extremely well-hidden.
For so many years, neither the Quincy nor the Shinigami active in the World of the Living had discovered this secret base.
"Take us to the entrance," Yoruichi nodded.
"Yes, sir!"
The two scouts led the group to a thicket on the lakeshore.
They walked along the edge of the bushes for a few dozen meters and found a large boulder hidden within.
According to the intelligence from the prison squad, this boulder, not far from the shore, was the entrance to the base.
"The passage into the base is hidden beneath this rock," the scout said.
The two scouts moved the boulder aside, revealing a tunnel with clear signs of artificial construction.
"Everyone, stay alert. Before we find Miyamoto, try not to alert anyone inside. He can open a Garganta, and we can't let him escape!" After laying out the plan, Yoruichi spoke to two of her subordinates, "You two guard the entrance. If you notice anything, contact me immediately via Denreishinki!"
"Yes, sir!" the Onmitsukidō members responded.
"Professor, let's go in first," Yoruichi said.
Sora nodded and was the first to enter the man-made tunnel.
Perhaps due to its proximity to the lake, the tunnel was damp, with some standing water on the ground.
Droplets of water occasionally fell from the ceiling.
As they were all Shinigami, they naturally avoided stepping in the water and making noise. The group passed through the tunnel without making any extra sound.
They quickly reached a stone door.
The door was made of Sekkiseki. Beside it was a combination dial carved with many animal patterns. The correct pattern combination had to be entered to open it.
They already knew the password from the interrogation intelligence. A scout stepped forward and turned the dial a dozen times in the correct sequence and number of rotations.
After a series of crisp clicks, the stone door slowly opened.
The moment the door opened, the guard inside was killed, his neck snapped by his own shadow, before he could even see who was outside.
Yoruichi stepped past the door, her eyes scanning the surroundings warily.
She then gave a hand signal to follow, indicating it was safe.
Beyond the door was another passage, but this one was noticeably cleaner and neater than the tunnel outside. The walls were paved with brick.
The group walked through the long, narrow passage and arrived in a spacious hall.
"This level is the living and training area. The experimental area is one level down. The entrance is on the right," Yoruichi whispered, pointing to the right side of the hall.
This was the base's living area. Many spiritual bodies in white lab coats and white kimonos were moving about.
Newly created Reigai needed a period of adjustment.
They had to be taught some common knowledge about the Soul Society and undergo some training before being sent there.
Sora used his shadow space to hide the group in a corner's shadow, and they moved along the edge toward the right side of the hall.
As they moved within the shadows, no one noticed anything unusual.
An elevator was needed to get to the next level, but it was also guarded.
The elevator was used frequently, and others on this level could come to use it at any time. If they took out the guards, their intrusion could easily be exposed.
However, the Onmitsukidō was prepared for such situations.
Sora acted, snapping the guard's neck with a shadow and pulling his body into the shadow space.
An Onmitsukidō member took out a white, dough-like substance and pressed it onto the dead guard's face.
A moment later, the white substance had formed into a perfect replica of the guard's face.
He handed the face to a comrade of similar height. "Your turn."
The Shinigami took the face and put it on. The once-blank face instantly came to life, looking no different from the living guard.
"Let's keep moving," Yoruichi said.
The group took the elevator down to the experimental area.
Inside, countless glass tanks were arranged neatly throughout the hall.
Floating within the tanks, which were filled with reishi nutrient fluid, were Reigai in various stages of cultivation.
"Is Miyamoto trying to create a Reigai army?!" Yoruichi was shocked.
Although she had read the intelligence and had some expectations, seeing the tanks in person, she was still stunned by the scale of the laboratory.
Without even counting, Yoruichi estimated there were several hundred Reigai here. On the level above, there were also dozens or hundreds of active spiritual bodies.
This base contained nearly a thousand Reigai!
However, most of them were still in the developmental phase.
Sora observed the forms within the tanks and noticed something.
Miyamoto's creation process started from the embryonic phase!
Many of the Reigai here were still just embryos or infants.
This was different from his own creation method.
He and the Seireitei directly used the reishi of adult Shinigami to develop adult-sized Reigai.
As someone with a deep understanding of spiritual bodies and Reigai, Sora could deduce a lot from what he saw.
"If Miyamoto is developing these Reigai from the embryonic phase... then the time investment is much higher," Sora thought.
The souls of this world possessed flesh-and-blood bodies made of 'reishi', similar to the 'kishi'-based bodies of humans in the real world. They also aged, got sick, and died.
Even for an ordinary soul with Shinigami potential, the growth time of their spiritual body was much longer than that of a normal human soul.
The time required to develop a Reigai from an embryo to an adult form would not be short.
"Miyamoto must have mastered a technique to accelerate the growth of infant-form spiritual bodies," Sora concluded.
According to the information from Shingo Mizutani, his granddaughter's Reigai had been created within the last few years.
This was a much shorter development time than for a soul with Shinigami potential.
Sora recalled that when he had dissected the Reigai made by Miyamoto, he had found that the development of their spiritual core, saketsu, and hakusui did not match the development of their spiritual body.
The spiritual core is the center that holds a Shinigami's spiritual pressure, while the saketsu and hakusui are the points that generate spiritual power. They are all vital points of a Shinigami's spiritual body and are closely related to its strength. Yet, in those Reigai, the development of these points lagged far behind that of their bodies.
This was likely a result of using a body-maturation acceleration technique.
Miyamoto used this technique to mature the spiritual body to the limit that the spiritual core could handle.
The development of the body, in turn, would promote the development of the spiritual core, saketsu, and hakusui.
This way, the time Miyamoto needed to develop an embryo into an adult Shinigami was greatly reduced.
"If I can get my hands on that maturation technique, this trip will be well worth it." Sora wanted to verify his theory, but first, he needed to find Miyamoto or his research data.
Now that they were on the same level, there were no more Sekkiseki barriers. Sora could use his spiritual perception to sense the spiritual pressure fluctuations on this floor.
He quickly locked onto the strongest one.
"Yoruichi, help me find the room where the research data is stored. I'll deal with Miyamoto. His strength may have already reached the captain level," Sora said.
"Alright!" Yoruichi had no objections.
The Onmitsukidō's original mission was just to confirm the status of this base. She only needed to report what they had found to the Seireitei to complete her task.
With Sora's involvement, the mission had now become the capture of Tetsuya Miyamoto.
Sora moved quickly through the shadows, rapidly closing in on Miyamoto's location.
Once he was near, Sora directly opened his shadow space.
Miyamoto noticed the expanding shadow and quickly retreated.
During his study tour with Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, Sora had tested the expansion speed of his Bankai's shadow space. It was even faster than Yamamoto's Shunpo!
At close range, it was nearly impossible to escape the capture of the shadow space using Shunpo alone!
The pitch-black shadow space instantly enveloped Miyamoto's body, pulling him inside.
"Your experimental base is quite large. Even my shadow space can't cover it completely," Sora said, somewhat envious.
Although the Mizutani family was only a mid-tier noble clan, they were very successful in business and had substantial assets. With their continuous supply of resources, Miyamoto's experimental scale had grown larger and larger.
"Katori Sora..." Miyamoto's face showed surprise. "I didn't expect to see you here."
"You've been hiding in the World of the Living for so many years, yet you still know who I am," Sora raised an eyebrow.
"Of course, I know you. Even while staying here, I'm not completely ignorant of what happens in the Soul Society," Miyamoto said with some emotion. "From being brought to the Seireitei by Katori Batsu'unsai to growing into a captain-class Shinigami, it's only been a little over a decade. In the entire Soul Society, there are probably few who have grown at such a speed!"
"More importantly, this body of yours is still just a Reigai!" Miyamoto's gaze on Sora became intense.
"It was a mistake. When you were brought to the Seireitei by Katori Batsu'unsai, I didn't realize you were from the last batch of Reigai we created."
"By the time I started paying attention to your history, you had already grown strong," Miyamoto said with regret.
At the time, Miyamoto was the 3rd Seat of the 12th Division and knew that Kirio Hikifune was attempting to use Reigai technology to treat Batsu'unsai.
However, he did not know that the Reigai Shutara Senjumaru had taken was ultimately given to Batsu'unsai.
Therefore, he hadn't paid any attention to Sora during his early growth.
Being in the World of the Living, his information from the Soul Society was always delayed.
It was only after hearing about the rising star Katori Sora from his Reigai and the Mizutani family that he deduced Sora must have been the Reigai that Senjumaru had taken back then.
"But... to think you would deliver yourself to my doorstep... This is truly delightful! Hahahaha—" Miyamoto's smile was slightly unhinged. "Such a precious specimen should be studied thoroughly by me!"
"Let me see what secrets are hidden within you!!!"
Miyamoto suddenly waved his hand, and the surrounding glass tanks instantly shattered.
Crash, crash, crash—
As the tanks broke, the reishi nutrient fluid spilled all over the floor, and the Reigai inside opened their eyes.
However, an ominous, dark red light glowed within their pupils.
Just then, a flash of light streaked across the room.
The dozen or so newly awakened Reigai were instantly cut in two.
"So this is the Katori Style swordsmanship. Truly excellent!" Miyamoto laughed wildly. "But it's useless!"
For some reason, the flesh on the severed surfaces of the Reigai's bodies suddenly began to writhe, and the wounds quickly sealed together.
The Reigai were instantly restored to perfect condition.
"Is this your Shikai ability?" Sora frowned. He could faintly sense some strange connection between these Reigai and Miyamoto.
"Hadō #73: Sōren Sōkatsui!" Miyamoto recited the name of the Hadō spell without an incantation, but he didn't raise his hand to cast it.
Sora's eyes narrowed. He saw the Reigai all raise their hands, each firing two blue blasts of spiritual flame.
With a dozen Reigai simultaneously casting Sōren Sōkatsui, more than thirty blasts of fire shot toward Sora at once!
The thirty-plus blasts of fire instantly engulfed him.
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!!!
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