"Tsk—"
The moment Kensei Kenzuru opened his eyes, he felt as if his waist had been pounded on all night. It was sore, aching, and he couldn't muster any strength.
I need to talk to Sōsuke about getting a better bed. Lying on this thing for one night not only didn't relieve fatigue, it made me even more tired. I don't know how Sōsuke, with his slender frame, manages to sleep on it.
Rubbing his lower back, he stood up, hung his precious Zanpakutō at his waist, and walked out yawning.
"Sōsuke! You need to change this lousy bed!"
Aizen was standing with his back to Kensei in front of a lab bench, data streaming across a precision instrument. Kensei walked over and patted Aizen's shoulder weakly, wanting to see what had captured his friend's attention so completely.
But the moment he glanced at the densely packed data and graphs on the screen, Kensei felt his brain warning him: looking at such simple stuff would lower his intelligence.
"Ahem." Kensei took half a step back, as solemn as if entrusting a kingdom to a regent. "I'll leave this unskilled labor to you. I need to go check if Mashiro and the others are slacking off in their training."
Kensei turned and made his escape, not giving Aizen a chance to stop him.
Only after the sound of Kensei's retreating footsteps faded did Aizen's gaze slowly lift from the analysis report in his hand. This freshly printed report was crumpled from his grip, his fingertips slightly white from the pressure. An uncharacteristically heavy shadow passed over Aizen's usually calm face.
"How is this possible..."
Aizen murmured to himself, his eyes scanning the anomalous values on the paper again. According to the samples collected from Kensei last night, the instruments detected that the types of energy within his body were alarmingly complex. Many were previously unseen, but there was one he absolutely could not mistake.
"How can there be Hollow power within Kensei?"
Could it be that something as utterly absurd as a Soul Reaper and a Hollow combining to produce offspring actually happened? Even if there were no reproductive barriers, would any Soul Reaper actually feel physical attraction towards a Hollow?
Aizen set down the report and rubbed his throbbing temples, feeling that Kensei defied logic in every way. Clearly, his body contained so many different types of power, yet in daily life, he could only mobilize the portion representing a Soul Reaper. The other factors currently lay dormant, awaiting some trigger to activate.
Is Kensei himself unaware of the abnormalities within him?
The moment this question arose, Aizen, based on his understanding of Kensei's brain, supplied the answer: Even if he one day truly used Hollow power, he'd probably just run over to boast about it to me, wouldn't he?
As if amused by the imagined scene, Aizen let out a soft chuckle and began trying to apply the remaining Kensei samples to the Hōgyoku experiments. If Kensei's body can accelerate the Hōgyoku's creation, then his identity should become obvious.
Kensei strode to the location in the Rukongai where Mashiro and the others were training for Bankai, deftly entering the barrier that isolated the movement.
"Private Urahara! How is the progress of our three recruits?" Kensei clasped his hands behind his back, adopting the posture of a superior inspecting the troops as he leisurely walked over to Urahara Kisuke. "Is Mashiro still getting beaten up?"
"Reporting, sir! As of early this morning, Mashiro has mastered the training for Bankai."
Hearing this, Kensei sucked in a sharp breath. This Mashiro really goes all out, fighting his Zanpakutō without even sleeping. He looked at Rokushō Mashiro, covered in wounds, and a look of respect appeared in his eyes. With this kind of determination, I'll make you the vanguard when we attack the Wandenreich.
"Thank you, Kensei! I've mastered Bankai now!"
Mashiro looked at Kensei with eyes swollen to slits, his voice trembling with excitement, even wanting to release his Bankai to show Kensei.
"Alright, alright. Since you've got it, come with me to see Old Man Yama first. Save your Bankai demonstration for him."
Hurriedly stopping Mashiro, whose hand was already on his Zanpakutō, Kensei offered a few words of encouragement to Love Aikawa and Mashiro Kujaku before taking Rokushō Mashiro back to the Seireitei.
When Old Man Yama sees I've produced a seated officer who mastered Bankai in just a few days, won't he be so shocked he'll hand over the Captain-Commander position to me?
"Kensei! Something's wrong in the Seireitei!"
Still lost in his fantasy, Kensei heard Mashiro's warning beside him. Squinting, he looked ahead at the Seireitei, where plumes of thick smoke were rising from several locations.
That's not right. The Quincy invasion is at least a century away. Has Yhwach revived early?
"Let's go!"
Kensei grabbed Mashiro and sped up. He sensed a familiar yet unfamiliar layer of Reiatsu enveloping the skies above the Seireitei. He needed to hurry and see what was happening. He couldn't let anything happen to Old Man Yama.
"Heheh, two more have arrived."
The moment the two entered the Seireitei, a cold, raspy, unfamiliar voice reached their ears. Kensei and Mashiro halted abruptly, instantly standing back-to-back and drawing their Zanpakutō to prepare for a possible attack, their eyes scanning the surroundings warily. Muramasa emerged slowly from the shadows, looking with interest at the Asauchi in Kensei's hand.
"Bankai—Tekken Dappū!"
Seeing the enemy appear, Mashiro shouted and released his Zanpakutō, charging at Muramasa, ready to eliminate the mastermind behind the Seireitei's chaos.
"How is this possible?!"
The iron fist about to strike Muramasa's abdomen stopped uncontrollably. Then, the iron treads covering his body vanished, and Mashiro directly reverted from his Bankai state. The familiar bōsōzoku iron-clad figure appeared before Mashiro, making his pupils contract slightly.
"Tachikaze?! Why did you suddenly appear?!"
No one answered Mashiro's question. As if back during the Tenshintai training, Mashiro once again faced the attacks of his own Zanpakutō.
"It seems this one's Zanpakutō is quite dissatisfied with its master."
Muramasa was momentarily surprised by the aggressiveness displayed by Rokushō Mashiro's Zanpakutō, then reached out and made a grasping motion towards the Asauchi in Kensei's hand.
The Asauchi began to vibrate violently, an eerie purple light shimmering along its blade. Kensei felt a tremendous force from his hand, and then the Asauchi flew from his grip. Countless spirit particles surged towards the Asauchi floating mid-air. Muramasa felt the seemingly endless Reiatsu he shared with Kōga being momentarily drained.
"Normally, I cannot awaken a Zanpakutō that hasn't achieved Shikai. But your Zanpakutō seems to harbor quite a bit of resentment."
Though Kensei had lost his Zanpakutō, it didn't affect his combat ability. What was there to say to a Zanpakutō like Muramasa? Might as well take this chance to see what his own Zanpakutō looked like.
Kensei felt his "Supreme Bone" resonating with his Zanpakutō. Surely it must be a beautiful girl.
Vast spirit particles constructed an elegant figure. Kensei saw a tall woman who appeared to be in her twenties, with silver-white hair tied in a high ponytail, grid-patterned blue eyes, and wearing something resembling a laboratory coat, slowly surveying her surroundings.
"You are my Zanpakutō?"
Kensei looked at the woman with a weird expression, sizing her up. She has the face of an aloof, ascetic type who keeps strangers at bay, yet I can feel sky-high rage emanating from her. What have I done to my sword lately?
"Tell me where Aizen is! Now!" The Zanpakutō spirit Shunpo'd in front of Kensei, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him violently. "I'm going to tear that bastard to pieces!!!"
Kensei looked with a weird expression at the Zanpakutō that had just appeared and was already clamoring to kill Aizen. A question couldn't help but arise in his heart:
Sōsuke, what on earth did you do to my Zanpakutō?
***
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