Not long after—
When the three Shiba siblings hurriedly arrived at Kofuseyama, they were greeted by a sight so shocking it made their eyes ache.
Looking around—
Almost the entire hillside, as far as the eye could see, was completely stripped bare.
Not a trace of vegetation remained.
All that was left were widespread scars of destruction—
And a colossal crater, like the impact site of a fallen meteor.
"T-This… how is this even possible?!"
"The whole mountain's gone bald! This isn't the Kofuseyama I know at all!"
Coming to a stop and hurriedly scanning the surroundings,
Shiba Ganju felt his scalp go numb, swallowing hard in fear.
If not for the remnants of a broken mountainside still standing—
He would've seriously wondered if they'd come to the wrong place.
"This is way too insane!"
"That crater— it nearly punched straight through the entire mountain!"
"It's hard to imagine that Kofuseyama was almost flattened!"
Shiba Kūka stared wide-eyed.
The apocalyptic scene before her completely shattered her understanding of reality.
After all—
West Rukongai had eighty districts in total.
And among so many districts—
The Third District was famous precisely because of Kofuseyama.
Its unique mountain scenery had always been admired by countless souls—
One of the few places in all of Rukongai actually considered a sightseeing spot.
But now?
Because of that terrifying spiritual pressure—
Kofuseyama had all but vanished, nearly razed to the ground.
If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes,
Kūka could never have imagined an outcome this absurd.
However—
While the siblings were still reeling from shock—
The one leading them, Shiba Kaien, had remained silent the entire time.
His dark eyes were stretched wide,
Locked unblinkingly onto the bottomless crater.
Deep in his gaze flickered an unmistakable hint of dread.
Because—
The moment Kaien arrived at Kofuseyama—
With his keen perception and powerful spiritual pressure senses—
He had already discovered the figure standing at the bottom of the crater.
Bai Chen.
"That can't be right…"
"The source of the spiritual pressure that nearly destroyed the entire mountain…"
"…is actually a young man?!"
Kaien was stunned.
Deeply shaken.
From this distance, he could only make out Bai Chen's rough appearance—
A distinctly youthful face.
And that alone made it even more unbelievable.
Everyone knew—
Soul Society's history was ancient and vast.
Over the centuries, countless geniuses had been born.
And Kaien himself was one of them.
He still remembered clearly—
Back when he applied to the Shinō Academy and took the reiatsu assessment—
A Level Six result had already caused a sensation.
The moment he enrolled, he'd been labeled a super-genius, the center of everyone's attention.
Yet now—
Looking at the devastation before him—
And feeling the lingering turbulence in the air even as the spiritual pressure slowly faded—
Kaien had no choice but to admit it.
This unfamiliar youth's talent in reiatsu surpassed his own back then—
By hundreds of times, if not more.
Even someone universally acknowledged as a once-in-a-century genius—
Ichimaru Gin—
Would inevitably have his halo dimmed before spiritual pressure of this world-shaking scale.
At the same time—
Just as Kaien stood frozen in awe—
Bai Chen, who had been busy acclimating to his current level of spiritual pressure, slowly opened his eyes.
"…?"
"So it's because I didn't consciously restrain it…"
"…that all the vegetation and forests on the mountain were wiped out by my spiritual pressure?"
The moment he took in the surroundings—
The sight of the ravaged landscape left Bai Chen momentarily stunned.
After a brief pause, he scratched the back of his head, a little embarrassed.
He hadn't meant to cause destruction.
It was simply that after awakening the Ultimate Sage Body, his reiatsu had become far too overwhelming.
As a result—
Everything around him had been unable to withstand his presence,
Leading to outright destruction.
However—
Before Bai Chen could dwell on it any further—
A voice called out from the edge of the crater not far away.
"This young man…"
"May I ask your name? And… that disturbance earlier—was that your doing?"
The sudden voice made Bai Chen frown slightly.
When he turned toward its source—
He realized that at some point—
Shiba Kaien had already appeared nearby.
The vice-captain was studying him closely,
His gaze sharp, cautious, and probing.
"…You're Shiba Kaien?"
Their eyes met.
After just a single glance—
Bai Chen recognized him immediately, surprise flashing across his face.
Still—
Considering that this was Kofuseyama—
A place where, in the original story, Kaien trained back when he still lived in Rukongai—
Bai Chen quickly composed himself.
Meeting Kaien's gaze head-on, he answered calmly:
"Bai Chen."
What he didn't expect—
Was that this was their first meeting, and he'd only just given his name—
Yet the very next second—
Kaien extended an invitation straight away.
"Bai Chen…"
"Would you be interested in joining the Gotei Thirteen?"