"Did you even bring your brain? When I actually believed your nonsense back then, I must have left my own brain in some godforsaken place!"
"Construct an empire within shadows? You first have to ensure there's a damn space inside the shadows!"
"Is your comprehension really this low? No, you don't have a shred of comprehension at all! I said space. The shadow isn't the key, the key is the space!"
"Constructing a space using Reishi first? That idea is rather interesting, but these pieces of trash you gave me offer absolutely no insight in that direction!"
"And you actually told me to develop it based on this? Is that something you can achieve just by flapping your lips together?! Either come back to see me with higher-grade materials, or get lost! Do you know what you should do now? Don't let me see your stupid face again!"
"..."
When Kōe emerged from the Royal Weaving Facility, the night had completely enveloped the Seireitei. Even though the surroundings were deserted and dead silent, his brain was still buzzing. It felt as if there were hundreds of Kurotsuchi Mayuris inside his head, insulting his intelligence in every conceivable way.
Although he hadn't explicitly stated the existence of the Wandenreich, Kōe had brought up every possibility he could think of to Mayuri. Naturally, the other party had refuted every single one of them without exception.
Ultimately, Mayuri's perspective was that a shadow itself did not possess spatial properties. The so-called construction of an empire within shadows was equivalent to building an empire within a dimensional space. The shadow was merely a door, and this door could be absolutely anything.
Dimensional spaces did exist, but currently, no pathways to any dimensional space had been discovered in Soul Society, let alone within the Seireitei. Shinigami had resided there for over two thousand years; no one was more familiar with the place than they were.
As for creating space out of thin air using Reishi, in Mayuri's words, that was borderline miraculous. If Quincies possessed such an ability, would they have been eradicated by the Shinigami twice? Of course, he didn't completely deny the possibility. He just needed more and better samples to study whether there was any potential for mutation in a Quincy's ability to absorb Reishi.
In short, by the end of it, Mayuri had made it explicitly clear that he would not waste any more effort on this matter unless Kōe could bring him better materials—such as the still-living Holy King, Konrad.
Kōe swore that if he were the current ruler of the Seireitei, never mind Konrad, he would definitely send Kyōraku Shunsui over to slap Mayuri in the face. After all, he remembered that Shunsui's Shikai had a technique that launched attacks through shadows.
But was he? No! So thinking about all this was just adding to his own frustrations. Should he go beg Yamamoto again and ask him to allocate Konrad to the Royal Weaving Facility too?
That was far too whimsical. Unless Yamamoto harbored some sort of unconditional, doting love for him, the old man would definitely ask for a reason. And the moment he asked, Kōe would be completely stumped.
Or maybe he should look for Urahara? But the research materials were still in Mayuri's hands. Furthermore, trying to convince Urahara to abandon his own research goals without being able to reveal the full truth was a bit unrealistic. The man was quite opinionated.
Without realizing it, Kōe had arrived back at the Squad 1 barracks. He had ruled out every possibility he could think of, causing him to scratch his head in sheer irritation.
Right now, he felt like a referee stepping in to play a game of Werewolf. He clearly had omniscient vision, but he was terrified of being blindly poisoned by the Witch or voted out by the mob, turning a simple matter into something incredibly complicated. *'This is the curse of human suspicion!'*
Before he could take another two steps, Kōe collided head-on into someone's chest. "Sorry, I was thinking about something and wasn't watching where I was going!"
"Apologies, apologies, I was lost in thought and didn't notice!" the person opposite him apologized in unison.
Kōe lifted his head and happened to lock eyes with the man. Although they hadn't met often, he still recognized this person—the Captain of Squad 11 in the Seireitei, Kuruyashiki Kenpachi.
"Shihouin Kōe?"
"Yeah, that's me. Do you need something, Kenpachi?" Kōe asked cautiously, noting Kuruyashiki's pleasantly surprised expression. He wasn't exactly familiar with the man standing before him!
"I was actually looking for you!" Kuruyashiki Kenpachi said excitedly, grabbing Kōe's arm. Kōe wasn't considered short, but in front of the towering Kuruyashiki, he looked like a little chick.
Kuruyashiki couldn't help but be excited. He had come to Squad 1 for two reasons. The first was to plead for leniency for Azashiro Kōzō. After all, Azashiro Sōya had been very cooperative ever since his arrest. In light of that, he hoped to leave a surviving spark for the Azashiro clan, even if it meant long-term imprisonment.
However, this idea was met with fierce condemnation from Yamamoto. The fact that the Azashiro clan had committed such an act proved that they still harbored resentment over what the Seireitei had done to their family a century ago. There was absolutely no need to leave a surviving spark for such a clan.
With his first objective temporarily thwarted, Kuruyashiki had bumped right into the returning Kōe. The second reason for his visit just so happened to involve him.
"Kenpachi, if you have something to say, just say it. Can we not get physical?" Being embraced by such a muscle-bound brute was truly uncomfortable. If it were anyone else, Kōe would have kicked them away long ago. But since it was Kuruyashiki, he could only offer gentle persuasion.
He had no choice. The physique of the man before him was directly proportional to his strength. According to what Yamamoto had told him in private, as the seventh generation Kenpachi, Kuruyashiki's strength had long been recognized. The Royal Guard—Squad 0, the direct subordinates of the Soul King's Palace—had even invited him to join their ranks. However, claiming that he couldn't stand boring guard duty, he had rejected the invitation and remained in the Seireitei.
With a character like this, if Kōe actually delivered that kick, the one who would end up flying away would definitely be himself. There was no doubt about it.
But this raised a question. How was someone as strong as Kuruyashiki eventually killed by Zaraki, thereby losing both the title of Kenpachi and his position as Captain? Or perhaps the one Zaraki defeated was a later Kenpachi? Kōe tried hard to search through the memories of his past life for an answer.
Unfortunately, he really didn't know much about the lineage of the Kenpachi title. He only knew that the contemporary Kenpachi of the future was Zaraki Kenpachi, and that the first generation Kenpachi, originally named Unohana Yachiru, had since changed her name and become the Captain of Squad 4, Unohana Retsu.
While Kōe's mind was wandering, Kuruyashiki had already blurted out everything he wanted to say. But after waiting for quite a while, the little guy in front of him remained silent, looking completely dazed as if his soul had been sucked out.
Seeing this, Kuruyashiki unceremoniously delivered a sharp flick to Kōe's forehead. "Little guy, are you even listening?!"
"I spaced out for a second. Could you repeat that, Kenpachi?" Kōe said sheepishly, rubbing the spot that had just been flicked.
"Sōya is going to be executed in a week. He wants to see you one last time before he goes. When can you find the time to make a trip over?"
"Sōya? Azashiro Sōya?"
Kuruyashiki nodded and continued, "Although he did the wrong thing, especially since he once harbored killing intent toward you, it's already come to this. Just consider it fulfilling his dying wish."
Based on the principle of leaving some leeway for future encounters, it would be better to go see him. But the problem was Azashiro Sōya—did such a character exist in the future? Kōe thought about it. It seemed like there wasn't. In that case...
"Well, people are always bound to leave behind some regrets in life, so I think I'll pass!"
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