Chương 181: CHAPTER 201: Imperfection
The mansion's lobbies, adorned with ornate carpets and dimly lit chandeliers, echoed with the sound of a heavy coffin being dragged. Kisuke maneuvered through the corridors as if he intimately knew every twist and turn.
Just as he took a turn, a familiar face entered his sight. Cirucci greeted him with a scowl.
"Would it kill you to add wheels to that thing? The unbearable noise is disturbing their rest."
Cirucci contained her anger because of Kisuke's earnest attempts to fix her Zanpakutō in the past. Even if he didn't succeed, he tried his best.
Kisuke raised the tip of his hat, staring at Cirucci with wide eyes. "We're taking this coffin to the basement. I have a question, Cirucci-san. Did you cut off your Hollow traits?"
He quickly dismissed the idea upon sensing her spiritual pressure. Had she discarded her Hollow traits, her power would've considerably diminished rather than growing more intense.
"Or you restored your Zanpakutō and sealed your Hollow traits in there?"
"I did just that," Cirucci said, arching her left brow skeptically. "Leader helped me restore my Zanpakutō. His flames are miraculous."
A shiver ran down Kisuke's spine at the fervor in her eyes, reminiscent of a zealot's. In their last meeting, she was depressed as hell. Now she had the passion of a cultist.
Her transformation was startling, to say the least.
"Well, ain't Kazuya the savior of everyone here?" Lilynette quipped as she arrived with Starrk, Apacci, and Menoly. "Yet nobody fucking wants to help him. Y'all are the worst friends."
Lilynette continued throwing sarcastic remarks, still bitter that nobody went to help Kazuya.
Apacci clenched her fists, her Reiatsu flaring in response. "I'd do anything to go up there and stab Kazuya's enemies with my chakrams… but my help might sabotage his schemes. Like Starrk said before, it's complicated."
Lilynette shrugged. "I'm done preaching. If anything happens to that guy, I'm gonna kill everyone here, then the guy who kills him. I'll avenge him!"
Stark ran his fingers through his hair. "Lilynette, focus that energy somewhere else. He'll be fine, I promise."
Kisuke, who was deep in thought until now, opened his mouth. "Tessai, let's start the process. We'll discuss the limitations of Kazuya's Zanpakutō later."
If his Zanpakutō could restore a part of someone's soul, then it should also be capable of restoring Yoruichi without requiring the help of Hōgyoku to merge her Soul Boundaries.
Tessai nodded, and under Kisuke's guidance, they arrived at an unsuspecting staircase leading down to the basement.
Tessai entered the basement and performed a mix of high-level and forbidden Kidō spells in succession. After the colorful display of Kidō spells faded, the small basement transformed into a massive underground zone rivaling that of the Urahara Shop.
"Wow…" Lilynette murmured, applauding in awe. "Now that Kisuke's shop is dead, can we live here from now on?"
Apacci shrugged. "Ask Kazuya. He decides what goes on around here. I'm just his maid."
"Awww, pretty please," Lilynette pleaded with sparkling eyes. "Kazuya won't say no if you ask on our behalf."
"He won't say no to you either."
"Fuck…" Lilynette cursed under her breath. "Starrk, it's up to you now."
"..."
The former shopkeeper turned to the party of Starrk, Lilynette, Apacci, and Menoly. "I'll be busy for some time. Can everyone keep an eye out for Kazuya's Reiatsu? Don't hesitate to help him. His life is more important than anything."
After Kazuya had saved him and helped Yoruichi, Kisuke couldn't bear the thought of losing him, even if it meant exposing Kazuya's identity and risking their mission.
Apacci nodded, a look of determination in her eyes. "If it comes to that, I'll not hesitate."
Kisuke turned towards the stairs, a small smile playing on his lips.
'Yep, this is a cult.'
He clenched the metal chain and dragged the coffin through the door. Closing the door, he asked Tessai to cast a force field around the whole underground area. Disturbing the residents posed a risk to his life.
Kisuke brought the Hōgyoku from his sleeve, broke its seal, and poured his Reiatsu into it. The Hōgyoku remained unresponsive — Kisuke's Reiatsu fell short of activating the Hōgyoku.
"I'm not qualified for the job."
Tessai scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Do we wait for Kazuya now?"
"I expected this to happen someday," he said calmly and tugged at the coffin's chains before completely yanking it. Yoruichi, in her Hollowfied state, was tied to the coffin with Reishi bindings, her form completely frozen under the influence of forbidden Kidō.
Though Yoruichi was just a little over 5 feet tall, she didn't fill the entire coffin. There was a compartment under her, housing a box that looked like an old television without a screen.
"Tessai, behold 'Seishin Zōkyō', the solution to our current problem."
Tessai's glasses gleamed. "A Reiatsu enhancer? You managed to finish that project! Do you know how big of a break—"
"Don't get too excited, big man. Just see how useless it'll be in a fight."
Kisuke picked up the box and started tinkering with it. At the back of the box, two tubes, one red and one green, were attached. Kisuke connected the green tube to the Hōgyoku. Then he cut his wrist and inserted the red tube into the wound.
Closing his eyes, he fed his Reiatsu into the tube. The box named Seishin Zōkyō inflated like a balloon as it stored the Reiatsu, enhanced it through compression, then pumped the enhanced Reiatsu into the green tube.
The Hōgyoku started emitting a cold, eerie glow.
"We succeeded," Kisuke said with a sigh of relief and yanked the red tube. He took the Hōgyoku and stood before the slumbering Yoruichi. "An imperfect solution, but it's all I can do at the moment."
The Hōgyoku started glowing as if responding to his desires. Yoruichi's Hollow Mask fell off into small white flakes, followed by her arm that was protected under a layer of Hierro. She cast off all the Hollow traits and returned to the Yoruichi they used to know.
Only on the surface.
"Tessai, you can remove your Kidō."
Tessai performed complex hand gestures, and the green glowing energy around Yoruichi dissipated.
Kisuke poked Yoruichi's face with the tip of his staff but she showed no signs of waking up. "The Hollowification and battle with Aizen drained her Reiryoku… let's leave her to rest."
Kisuke plopped down on the ground, cross-legged, and crossed his arms. Tessai sat in the same manner as Kisuke. The childhood friends settled after one of the most hectic days of their lives.
One minute, two minutes, five minutes… Time flew by in silence.
Only after fifteen minutes did Kisuke break the silence. "Tessai, Aizen was even more dangerous than our predictions. We frankly underestimated his willingness to obtain my Hōgyoku."
Tessai nodded. "Using a simple field trip of students to force the Gotei 13's hands… he is a despicable animal."
"Tessai, you didn't witness what I did. Aizen casually cast a Level 90 Kidō spell with no chant. Kazuya was right. He isn't just a Captain with a powerful Bankai — he is a disastrous threat to everything with his strength alone."
"You guys."
The mischievous yet mesmerizing voice drew their attention — they saw an enchantingly beautiful woman with long, silver hair standing at the door, looking down at them with scorn.
...
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