Indeed, not much time was wasted.
From Shikai to Bankai, then to being defeated.
Less than a minute.
The charged ultimate move was extinguished with a single strike.
Close-range slashes were entirely ineffective.
In the end, he was even sent flying by a single strike…
Was this really what a Captain like him should experience?
How could he feel that even if this experience were applied to an ordinary Shinigami squad member, there would be no sense of incongruity?
A sharp pain shot through his shoulder, like a needle piercing his skin, instantly jolting Kensei Muguruma awake.
He slowly turned his head, looking around, his eyes reflecting the varied gazes of the crowd.
There was astonishment, confusion, sympathy…
He slightly parted his lips, seemingly wanting to say something, but the words caught in his throat, as if blocked by an invisible force.
Forget it…
He was tired…
It was truly meaningless.
Silence enveloped him like a heavy dark cloud.
After a while, he lightly twitched his eyebrows twice, then slowly raised his hand, signaling his surrender.
This action made Kuna Mashiro, who was not far away, exclaim, "Kensei!"
Knowing what she wanted to say, Kensei Muguruma immediately waved his hand to interrupt her.
There was no need; anyone with eyes could see that he had already lost.
Close-quarters combat under Bankai, with his power increased by more than five times, yet he was still sent flying by a single strike…
With such a vast disparity, continuing the fight would only be asking for trouble.
As his thoughts, mixed with words, just faded, he suddenly felt a discomfort in his body.
At his shoulder, it felt as if countless tiny ants were gnawing at him, that tingling, itchy, yet slightly painful sensation made his brows furrow sharply.
He closed his eyes, trying to sense the changes in his body.
A moment later, his expression drastically changed.
He wanted to say something, but found his body was no longer under his control.
Unaccountably hunched over, he struggled to regain his sanity but let out an unintelligible roar.
This scene left the Shinigami on the sidelines, including the Captain-Commander, utterly bewildered.
"Muguruma…"
Yamamoto Genryusai slightly furrowed his brow, his words unfinished, when directly opposite him, Tsugikuni Yoriichi suddenly noticed something amiss.
His gaze was fixed on Kensei Muguruma; in his perception, Kensei, who was originally a Shinigami, now had a hint of a Hollow's presence about him.
"Hollow?"
To verify his suspicion, Tsugikuni Yoriichi calmed himself, ignoring the gazes of those around him. To prevent any unforeseen circumstances, he suddenly released his Zanpakuto.
He then said, "Teacher, there's a problem. Please seal off the area and disperse unrelated personnel. As for what the problem is, I'll explain after I come out."
"Bankai."
Boundless black flames suddenly filled the entire space, the flames surging like black waves.
The surrounding environment instantly changed, and suddenly, only Kensei Muguruma remained in front.
Yamamoto Genryusai, though perplexed, considering that Tsugikuni Yoriichi would not act without reason, gave a soft hum and then ordered the Captains present to evacuate the crowd.
The activation of the domain caused their positions to shift, instantly moving from inside the arena to outside, as if repelled by that space.
Kuna Mashiro was unwilling to leave, her eyes filled with stubbornness and worry.
Yamamoto Genryusai, considering her identity, did not force her to leave.
Once the crowd had dispersed,
the Captains gathered together, chatting idly:
"Is this his Bankai?"
"A domain type?"
"Who among you knows how you got out?"
"I was cracking melon seeds, blinked, and the stuff was gone, and so was I."
"What's that? Captain Hirako had it worse. He was leaning back in his chair with his legs crossed and fell right on his backside."
Having said that, the Captain of the Seventh Division, Aikawa Roujūrō, with his round afro, looked at Kyōraku Shunsui: "Kyōraku… what's going on?"
"Why did he directly activate Bankai? And what about Muguruma…"
"Don't ask me, I don't know much more than you do." Kyōraku Shunsui smiled helplessly, reaching up to adjust his straw hat, looking as if he couldn't help.
"Seriously, I only have a partial understanding of his Bankai ability. After all, Bankai has always been our trump card."
"Who would reveal all their trump cards?"
"The only thing I know is that he can freely select an opponent and pull them into that space. In that space, he and the Head Captain are both invincible."
"As for the transfer of position, it should be related to the nature of that space. That's not important. We can only wait now."
"Because in that situation, besides Yoriichi, no one knows what happened to Kensei."
Kyōraku Shunsui sighed.
Beside him, Jūshirō Ukitake coughed twice and then echoed, "That's right, but I believe he must have his own difficulties."
"He had already won, there was no need to use Bankai, but he still used it…"
"This indicates that something unimaginable, or rather, something that cannot be seen by us, must have happened to Kensei."
"Information is limited, let's observe for now. It's just tough for that child, Kuna Mashiro…"
Jūshirō Ukitake's eyes swept over Kuna Mashiro, who was extremely anxious not far away, his gaze filled with emotion and regret.
Hirako Shinji grimaced but said nothing. Although that fall just now didn't injure him badly, it certainly made him lose a lot of face.
He could imagine that for some time to come, some Captains would use this incident as after-dinner conversation.
That kid…
He's really not cute at all!
…
At the same time.
Within the domain.
Black reishi formed a blade, which Yoriichi held in his hand.
He stepped forward; Kensei Muguruma, visibly hunched over, already showed some signs of Hollowfication.
A white mask grew on his face, and some areas of his body developed Hollow-like black holes, while the surrounding flesh was corroded by Hollow reishi, and white bone armor rapidly covered him.
Why did he suddenly Hollowfy?
Yoriichi slightly furrowed his brow.
Kensei Muguruma's transformation seemed very sudden to him, like someone leisurely eating and drinking tea suddenly turning into a monster…
Where did the problem occur?
Today…
Or, before?
It couldn't have been just now.
Thoughts surged like a tide. Seconds passed in his inner world, while only an instant passed in reality. Under Yoriichi's gaze, Kensei Muguruma slowly raised his eyes.
His eyes were already covered by the mask, but Yoriichi could still discern his current emotions through the mask's slits: rage, and…
A trace of clarity hidden deep within his soul.
That gaze seemed to say:
— Kill him.
"Impossible."
"You are a Captain. Until I understand the situation, I will not kill you."
Yoriichi responded calmly, and as he spoke, the black sharp blade transformed. With the change in the reishi's nature, countless holy lights suddenly rose, illuminating the surroundings.
White reishi condensed into a sword in his hand.
Facing Kensei Muguruma's violent gaze,
he slowly plunged the sword into his body.
Slowly, he pushed it in.
The meter-long reishi sword sank into his body as if swallowed by a swamp, not emerging from his back.
But visibly, his condition and the clarity in his eyes rapidly improved.
The Hollow's reishi was quickly suppressed, and the Shinigami's power rapidly transformed it. Large pieces of white bone armor flaked off Kensei Muguruma's body as if withered.
Everything seemed to be developing in a positive direction.
However.
Yoriichi could sense it.
His power only suppressed the Hollowfication; once he left this domain, Kensei Muguruma would Hollowfy again and lose his sanity within ten minutes…
But the remaining time was sufficient.
His thoughts spread out. Under Yoriichi's calm gaze, the violent rage in Kensei Muguruma's eyes rapidly dimmed, like a dying ember.
Only a "clack, clack, clack" sound was heard.
By the time the strange mask on Kensei Muguruma's face disappeared without a trace, its fragments scattering like snowflakes on the ground,
his condition temporarily improved, and he regained the calm demeanor befitting a Shinigami.
At this moment, Yoriichi slowly spoke:
"What happened?"
"Why did you suddenly Hollowfy?"
Kensei Muguruma bent over, gasping for breath. The sudden change just now had truly made him extremely uncomfortable.
It was as if two personalities were fighting within him; he completely lost control of his body, only able to watch his consciousness plunge into endless darkness.
He was drenched in sweat, which soaked his white clothes, and veins bulged on his forehead.
Hearing Yoriichi's question, he suddenly widened his eyes, looked up, and gritted his teeth:
"You ask me?"
"Tsugikuni Yoriichi, I'd like to ask, what exactly did you do to me?"
"Hmm?" This questioning retort, full of doubt, truly surprised Yoriichi. Was this related to him?
He didn't seem to have done anything.
Noticing Yoriichi's puzzled gaze, Kensei Muguruma gritted his teeth and said, "It's right here!"
He tremblingly pointed to his shoulder, "The change started from here!
"At first, I thought it was just an ordinary injury, but I never imagined that something was constantly drilling into my flesh from my wound, corroding my reishi, polluting my reishi!"
"By the time I reacted, it was already too late. I couldn't speak, nor could I control my body. An unknown creature appeared inside me!"
"That is the Shinigami's mortal enemy!"
"A Hollow!"
"Tsugikuni Yoriichi, don't you have anything to explain?"
Hearing the implied meaning in his words, Yoriichi slightly furrowed his brow and slowly asked, "You mean, all of this was done by me?"
"Otherwise?" Kensei Muguruma questioned, tilting his head back, intending to make his posture more assertive.
But seeing Yoriichi's attitude, and the actions he had taken towards him…
Kensei Muguruma's raging anger suddenly died down, and a crack of doubt appeared on the sturdy wall of his mind.
If all of this was done by him,
then why would he save him?
And…
There was no enmity between him and Yoriichi.
Why would he use such insidious methods?
Given his strength, there was no need for such tricks, was there?
The more he thought about it, the more something felt off, but… who else could it be?
Like a dark cloud hanging over his head, Kensei Muguruma felt like he couldn't breathe, as if an invisible hand was tightly gripping his throat.
His peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of his Zanpakuto, which had exited its released state, lying beneath him.
Immediately, he recalled the scene of his confrontation with Tsugikuni Yoriichi.
Suddenly.
His thoughts froze.
— Speaking of which.
Is there another possibility?
He suddenly looked up.
"What's going on with your Bankai?"
Kensei Muguruma asked, "Why can it suppress my Hollowfication?"
"Oh, you mean that." Yoriichi regained his composure, "Nothing, just purification."
"By purifying the Hollow's reishi into ordinary reishi, and then infusing it with Shinigami reishi, the Hollowfication will be alleviated."
"However, since the reishi that constitutes your body itself has been contaminated, for a short period, unless you abandon this body, the Hollow's reishi cannot be removed."
"You…"
At this point, Kensei Muguruma raised his hand to interrupt: "In short, I can't return to normal, right?"
Yoriichi looked at him: "Yes, and no."
"Over time."
"The reishi originating from the Hollow can be removed, but because your spiritual pressure is too strong, the time required will be counted in years."
A simple example: if you pour half a cup of ink into a cup, to dilute that half cup of ink until no trace of it is visible, it would require at least tens of times the amount of clear water.
This can be done in a few seconds.
Kensei Muguruma's body, however, was like a lake into which someone had poured highly corrosive ink, enough to pollute half the lake.
To completely clear it, the required quantity would be at least a hundred million times that of the former. This is not a small number.
To this, Kensei Muguruma took a deep breath: "Ignoring the situation of complete clearance, as it stands now, how long can I last in the short term?"
"Ten minutes to half an hour, I suppose. Using Kido might suppress it for a bit, but not for more than half a day. Do you want to go out?"
"Of course I do! I am Kensei Muguruma. After what you've said, I already know what happened. Someone coated my Zanpakuto with poison!"
"No, damn it, they didn't coat it; I did! Someone swapped the stuff I use to maintain my Zanpakuto!"
The appearance of the wound allowed the poison coated on the blade to flow in, and without personally experiencing it, no one would have guessed what had happened.
Who would have thought that what caused him to Hollowfy
was actually…
Blade oil.
This stuff is as common as food. It's like eating a meal; unless someone has paranoid delusions, no one would specifically test for poison before eating.
Although Zanpakuto do not need maintenance because they don't rust, some Shinigami, based on their experiences before death or out of habit, regularly maintain their Zanpakuto.
He was one of them.
Whenever he thought of this, Kensei Muguruma's anger surged. This was blatant murder; there were traitors within the Seireitei!
They actually dared to target a Captain this time. It was too outrageous. He had to go out and expose these truths.
Although he might not find the culprit, it was better than dying with a grievance!
Yoriichi remained silent. Kensei Muguruma's change in attitude and his explanation allowed Yoriichi to infer the general course of events.
An indescribable heaviness. Using someone else to kill?
No…
This was meant to kill him.
His injuring Kensei Muguruma was just an accident. Due to Yamamoto Genryusai's secrecy, very few Shinigami knew his true strength.
To the outside world, his strength was probably comparable to Kensei Muguruma's, so others would assume their fight should be evenly matched.
And if he were to be injured by him…
Even Tsugikuni Yoriichi, who usually had little emotional fluctuation, was somewhat annoyed now. He took a slight breath:
"Regarding this matter, I will report it to Teacher. If it's true, Teacher will not stand idly by."
"Kensei Muguruma, remember, I will release Bankai shortly."
"You must do your best to maintain your composure, maintain your current state. Only then can we break this deadlock."
At this point, Yoruichi Shihouin's words suddenly echoed in Tsugikuni Yoriichi's ears.
The current situation was indeed as she had said.
Even a powerful Captain, with a single misstep, could die suddenly