"Captain, you really know how to make trouble for me!"
Kisuke Urahara said helplessly.
He sensed the malice in Mayuri Kurotsuchi's eyes.
This newcomer did not come in peace!
Being smart, he quickly figured it out—
Katori Sora must have told them something along the lines of "whoever is more capable gets the higher position"!
"Don't worry about the small details," Sora chuckled. "Weren't you always complaining about having too much work? Now that you have these two helpers, your job will be much easier!"
Urahara sighed softly. With someone eyeing his position so aggressively, he didn't think things would be easy at all.
However, if the Technology Bureau had two more capable people, he could indeed delegate some of the research and development tasks and focus on studying Hell reishi.
Since these two were chosen by Katori Sora, their abilities were likely not a concern.
Urahara sized up Mayuri and Akon, trying to analyze them.
"Lieutenant Urahara, I'm Akon," Akon introduced himself cautiously.
"Mayuri Kurotsuchi," Mayuri said casually, gently shaking the dish.
Mayuri's attention was no longer on Urahara. He was very interested in the Hell essence in the dish.
He was a native of the Soul Society. Although he had been to the human world before, he had never seen a Hell Gate open, so this was his first time seeing anything related to Hell.
"What types of reishi technology have you two worked with before?"
Urahara asked.
He planned to delegate some R&D tasks to focus on developing Kidō and spiritual tools that used Hell reishi.
"I previously did some drug development work at the Mizutani Trading Company. They were health-related drugs that pushed the potential of spiritual bodies," Akon answered truthfully.
The Mizutani family's company was involved in many industries, and Akon had been a researcher responsible for developing medicine there.
"A researcher from the Mizutani Trading Company... a very impressive record."
Urahara rummaged through a desk piled high with documents and books for a while, finally pulling out a stack of papers. "Then I'll put you in charge of developing the 'Spirit Food Pills'."
"'Spirit Food Pills'?" Akon took the papers.
"This is a medicine designed by the Captain. 'Spirit Food Pills' are easily absorbable pills made of high-concentration compressed reishi. I want you to find a way to increase the efficiency of reishi intake," Urahara explained.
Souls with spiritual potential need to consume a large amount of reishi food during their growth period. Sora's goal in developing these pills was to make it easier for souls in the Rukongai to lower the cost of obtaining reishi food.
"It's difficult to get food in some of the poorer districts of the Rukongai. If we could provide them with 'Spirit Food Pills', more people would have the chance to become Shinigami. They could also be given to academy students to increase their reishi intake efficiency. This is a great thing for the entire Soul Society. As expected of the Captain, to think so far ahead!" Akon said, trying hard to fit in.
Urahara stared at Akon for a long moment.
He had actually woken up the moment Akon and Mayuri entered the lab.
He remembered that Akon had clearly shown interest in the 'Bakkōtō'.
Assigning him the 'Spirit Food Pills' project now was actually a test of Akon's character.
Urahara suddenly felt that this young man was a much greater threat to him than the eccentric Mayuri.
"Lieutenant Urahara... did I say something wrong?"
Akon looked puzzled.
"It's nothing... The development of the 'Spirit Food Pills' is yours. This project isn't difficult, it just requires tedious spiritual body testing. It's a good opportunity to lead a team and train research assistants."
Urahara shook his head and looked at Mayuri on the other side.
Mayuri was still observing the Hell essence in the culture dish. He had even opened the lid and taken some of it out.
"Definitely a troublemaker..."
Urahara's eye twitched, and he sighed.
A small amount of Hell essence exposed to the Soul Society's environment would dissipate easily.
After Mayuri fiddled with it for a moment, the Hell essence in the palm-sized dish had almost completely vanished.
"Interesting... it neutralizes with the reishi in the air," Mayuri grinned. "Lieutenant Urahara, if you're going to assign me a research task, give me the 'Hell essence' project."
"Ah... I didn't expect you to be interested in things from Hell too," Urahara scratched the back of his head. "But that's the research area I'm interested in as well!"
Urahara had rarely found something that interested him this much and was unwilling to hand the research over to Mayuri.
"You two can collaborate and share your research progress. But the most important thing right now is to establish a training system for researchers and cultivate qualified personnel. The current class at the academy is about to graduate. I'll be recruiting a batch of newcomers, and I hope you two will guide them well."
Sora spoke up, seeing the two were starting to become confrontational.
However, Sora was actually happy to see them like this.
If Urahara and Mayuri got along peacefully and teamed up against him, then he would be the one with a headache.
"The Captain's proposal is good. We can share our progress periodically," Urahara pointed to a mountain of data on another table. "See that? All that data is related to Hell essence."
"Heh..." Mayuri paid no attention to the data, only taking a container with a Hell reishi sample from the desk. "This is enough."
...
Half a month later.
The captains of each division gathered in the 1st Division courtyard.
Today was Yoruichi Shihōin's captain proficiency test ceremony.
After returning from Hueco Mundo, Yoruichi had declared that she would become a captain by taking the proficiency test.
However, having just learned Bankai, she was still a bit nervous about challenging a captain for their position.
The test wasn't about winning or losing. Gaining the approval of three captains was enough to qualify, but all the other captains and lieutenants would surely come to watch. She couldn't embarrass herself with so many people witnessing it!
Therefore, she had been training with her professor during this time to get used to her Bankai's abilities.
Yoruichi's opponent for today's test was the current Captain of the 2nd Division.
The position was held by an elderly woman named Hōkagesa, the head of the minor noble Hō family.
After the Shihōin clan's influence had waned and they no longer held the captaincy, it was this old woman who had shouldered the burden of the 2nd Division.
However, she was now old and lacked energy.
In recent years, she had rarely handled the 2nd Division's affairs, which were mostly left to Yoruichi as the acting leader.
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