"You have an idea too?"
Yoruichi immediately looked suspicious. Beside her, Sui-Feng was still basically cosplaying as a "steam princess," stuck in a daze after that earlier close contact and unable to recover.
In her mind, Naraku Sora was the definition of efficient execution.
One second the target was confirmed, the next second he was already charging straight at it.
Planning? Strategy? Thinking before acting? Reading the situation?
With him, it was like none of that existed.
The stereotype had already set—good luck changing it now.
"Hey, hey, what do you mean by that?!"
Naraku felt his world-shaking genius had been insulted and demanded loudly, "Do I look like some brainless guy to you?"
To be honest, Yoruichi really wanted to nod.
But she stopped herself—doing that would be a little too brutal.
Ignoring Yoruichi's internal struggle, Naraku said seriously:
"You understand the composition of the Maggot's Nest better than I do."
Yoruichi nodded. "The 'special detention' members are mainly Shinigami who officially withdrew from the Gotei 13. Fundamentally, they didn't necessarily commit crimes."
"But because the Central 46 have a… peculiar way of thinking, they insist the Gotei 13 is a noble organization that must never have 'formerly qualified' members who later become 'unqualified.'"
"So they secretly deal with potentially 'unqualified' dangerous individuals by forcing them to resign, then placing them under special detention."
"Clean cut. Everyone goes into the Maggot's Nest."
Naraku grinned. "More accurately, they're 'dangerous individuals' according to the Central 46—not true criminals."
"Recently I ran a little social experiment in Reviving Hell, the Central Prison's First Layer. I called it 'Hope Therapy.' The results were excellent."
"Those criminals cried their eyes out and repented their sins."
"If it works on them, why not try it on these so-called 'dangerous individuals' too?"
Yoruichi sat down on the spot, thinking.
...
...
The Maggot's Nest sat in the northwest corner of Second Division's barracks, surrounded by a massive moat. Just looking at its scale was impressive.
When the trio crossed the moat and arrived at the gates, the Onmitsukidō guards weren't surprised.
Both lowered their heads.
"Yoruichi-sama!"
"Oh, good work."
Yoruichi waved casually, signaling them to open the gate.
As one of Second Division's key facilities, the Maggot's Nest was wrapped in multiple layers of Bakudō barriers set by the Kidō Corps, maintained on a regular schedule.
But since its founding, the specially detained Shinigami had never staged a jailbreak.
Most of them were relatively compliant.
Led by Yoruichi, Naraku and Sui-Feng went deep into the mountain.
They passed through a quiet tunnel, opened another door—
And a bright, spacious underground holding area came into view.
Unlike the Central Prison, there were no restraints here. There weren't even proper cells.
They could walk and talk freely. The only rule was: they couldn't leave the Maggot's Nest.
But right now, the place was clearly in the middle of a riot.
Noise slammed into the ceiling. Tangible Reiatsu tangled together and churned like boiling water.
Noticing newcomers, many Shinigami turned their eyes toward the doorway.
When they recognized who had come, their gazes sharpened dangerously.
"So it's the newly appointed Captain Yoruichi."
"And she brought two little followers—are they the new directors of the detention unit?"
"How weak. Don't tell me you think those two kids can subdue us."
As "dangerous individuals," they had no entertainment to speak of.
If there was anything that relieved stress, it was beating up those lofty "Shinigami officials."
Once you entered the Maggot's Nest, even the Second Division captain had to set her Zanpakutō aside.
And when it came to Hakuda?
They didn't fear those empty-name-types at all.
"Hope Therapy, as the name suggests, means giving someone hope in the middle of despair."
Naraku rolled his shoulders. His joints creaked with a sharp sound like a bowstring being drawn tight. Blood-red Reiatsu curled around him like smoke.
The injuries he'd taken sparring with Aizen had already healed more than halfway under high-speed regeneration.
Sui-Feng stared at him in shock, completely unable to understand what just happened.
In the space of a single breath, the boy who'd looked harmless a moment ago turned into a demon crawling out of hell, his vicious aura suffocating.
In that sea of crimson, Naraku gave them a feral smile.
"Come on, everyone. Whoever beats me becomes free from this day forward!"
The Maggot's Nest erupted.
Countless eyes stared at him in disbelief.
They didn't believe a word this blond punk said—until they saw Yoruichi standing calmly beside him, offering no rebuttal at all.
Then the whole place boiled over.
Roars and howls sounded like they could flip the entire cavern. Heavy Reiatsu surged like a breached dam, flooding toward the entrance.
Sui-Feng's face went pale, but she still stepped in front of Yoruichi, holding her post like her life depended on it.
And then—
The first attacker who lunged forward stopped dead mid-charge, his huge head caught in a single hand.
The size difference was ridiculous—like a child palming a basketball with one hand.
Naraku held the man by the skull and smiled at the rest of them. He exhaled softly, looking completely relaxed.
Compared to real sparring or life-and-death fights, this felt more like stress relief.
There were certainly elites in here—some on the level of seated officers—but that didn't mean they had an advantage in Hakuda.
Not every Shinigami had 200% growth potential and Hollow power.
Naraku casually threw the big man away. The body slammed into the wall hard enough to imprint a human-shaped outline, rubble and dust raining down.
Naraku looked up at the rioting Shinigami and offered them a gentle smile.
Then—
He charged.
Wrapped in blazing Reiatsu, he crashed straight into the crowd like a runaway dump truck at full horsepower.
In an instant, the air filled with violent booms.
Sui-Feng watched the brutal spectacle in horror, her understanding of Hakuda being rewritten in real time.
She'd never imagined that without a Zanpakutō, a Shinigami could still be this absurdly strong.
Not a single person lasted even one exchange with Naraku.
Between his fingers, shockwaves burst out and shot in all directions, turning into slicing gales that smashed every attacker apart like rotten wood.
Even Yoruichi couldn't help clicking her tongue.
Not long ago, she'd taken the Araki commission through the Onmitsukidō and fought Naraku personally.
She'd underestimated him and taken a small loss—but she'd believed that if she got serious, she could crush him easily.
Now, just watching the fight, she could feel the pressure rolling off him.
How long had it been?
If he kept growing like this… he might not even care about the Head-Captain anymore.
In less than a minute, almost everyone was down and unable to move.
Naraku grabbed the last man by the collar, smiling warmly.
"Now…"
"Do you understand what hope is?"