When Mayuri Kurotsuchi walked into Squad 12 , the place was a complete mess. He was not surprised. After all, Captain-Commander Yamamoto had only managed to make him leave Soul Society for a few days by promising to increase next year's budget.
With Squad 12 's captain absent, it was only natural that the barracks would be thrown into chaos by intruders.
However, Mayuri was not worried about his research results in the slightest. The moment he received Yamamoto's order, he had already backed up all his research. In fact, he had even made a backup of his own brain, just in case something beyond his control happened.
Mayuri casually opened a hidden device. After tapping his hands across keys that resembled a piano, a faint smile appeared on his face.
As expected, Kagerōza Inaba had never touched the true core research of his Squad 12 . That put him at ease. If it had been Kisuke Urahara instead, Mayuri would never have dared leave Squad 12 so casually.
He shut the device with relaxed satisfaction. It was time to look for those foolish subordinates of his. Scientific research required a great deal of manpower to support it, after all. Since the division had been thrown into this state, unless something unexpected had happened, something unexpected had definitely happened to his subordinates.
He walked toward the squad dormitory. One of the doors had been layered with all kinds of restrictions, and the sight was extremely familiar. With a single glance, Mayuri knew it had been done by that impostor of his.
Very good. A mere impostor dared challenge the real one's ability.
Before he realized it, Mayuri had been drawn in by these problems he had set for himself and completely forgot the purpose of coming to Squad 12 first.
After casually cutting down two enemies with his sword, Hitsugaya put away his Zanpakutō and entered Squad 12 . As Mayuri Kurotsuchi's escort, there was no need to question his attitude toward the job.
He swept his gaze over the chaotic Squad 12 but did not find any trace of Mayuri. So he simply walked toward the staircase in the corner.
Based on his experience, the more important something was, the more likely it was to be buried underground. In Hitsugaya's view, Mayuri had probably gone to check the more important laboratories.
No matter how Hitsugaya thought about it, he would never have imagined that Mayuri was currently competing with himself in a fit of stubbornness. Naturally, it was even more impossible for him to search for Mayuri in the direction of the dormitory.
The underground passage looked as if it had been deliberately left open for him. The farther down Hitsugaya went, the more doubts he had. However, when he thought that Mayuri Kurotsuchi had gone ahead first, he stopped worrying about it.
Captain Kurotsuchi was still very meticulous.
That was Hitsugaya's fixed impression of Mayuri Kurotsuchi. Dislike was one thing, but he did not deny the excellence of others.
Continuing down the path and passing several tightly shut rooms, Hitsugaya arrived at the innermost laboratory. The laboratory door was wide open, so he stepped directly inside.
Mayuri Kurotsuchi was not there?
Hitsugaya frowned. His judgment had been wrong. Without even having time to examine the laboratory, Hitsugaya immediately turned and prepared to leave. He hoped Mayuri had not run into any trouble.
His slightly hurried footsteps were a little loud. Just as he stepped forward, the entire laboratory lit up. A large screen appeared behind Hitsugaya, and a voice he was not familiar with sounded from it.
"Captain Kurotsuchi, you finally came back?"
This was clearly a pre-recorded video. The person who had come was not Mayuri Kurotsuchi, but Tōshirō Hitsugaya. When Hitsugaya turned around, he realized that the person on the screen was the target they had returned to Soul Society for: Kagerōza Inaba.
"What a pity. My laboratory is no longer here. However, the equipment you left behind can still serve one final purpose," Inaba continued.
Only then did Hitsugaya notice that this laboratory was filled with enormous nutrient tanks large enough to hold human bodies. Inside those tanks lay Shinigami he recognized and others he did not.
Beside the tanks were Reigai arranged in various postures. Around these Reigai, there were more or less fragments of strange, broken red pills.
Those were all Modified Souls?
No. They should be defective products.
Hitsugaya quickly made that judgment, because on a device connected to these tanks, perfectly round Modified Souls were being spat into a box one after another.
If each Modified Soul represented one soul, then combining that mountain-like box with the defective products scattered all over the floor, this laboratory was truly filled with remnants of souls everywhere.
What exactly was Inaba doing?
Just how much had he exploited Soul Society, and how many Modified Souls had he made? And he was using this sort of manufacturing method that completely ignored the success rate.
"You must be furious, Captain Kurotsuchi. As someone who pursues the success rate of experiments, seeing me use your equipment like this, recklessly manufacturing Modified Souls at any cost, you probably want to cut me down right now, don't you?"
"But no matter how furious you are, it is already useless. I will let your equipment serve its final purpose. Your research funds will turn into blade after blade, destroying both you and Soul Society together!"
The image on the screen disappeared. The entire laboratory began operating beyond its limits. Heat rapidly gathered, and the equipment creaked and groaned. While squeezing out the laboratory's final production capacity, Inaba also intended to destroy it completely.
What a hassle.
If Mayuri Kurotsuchi did not come, Hitsugaya had no idea how to stop these berserk machines.
His Zanpakutō fell into his hand. Hitsugaya stabbed his sword into the ground, and frost began spreading outward with him at the center. However, these machines did not seem to respond as Hitsugaya wished.
In the rapidly cooling environment, the equipment's operating efficiency actually seemed to increase slightly. The Modified Souls were being spat out faster and faster.
Hitsugaya gripped his Zanpakutō tightly. He truly was not good at handling situations like this.
In that case, he would destroy it.
Presumably, Mayuri Kurotsuchi would not care about the loss of these instruments.
After hesitating for less than a second, Hitsugaya made his decision. But just as he pulled out his Zanpakutō, the box filled with Modified Souls suddenly emitted a burst of light and vanished from the laboratory.
Again?
Combining this with the two Modified Souls he had just cut down outside, Hitsugaya could already guess that Inaba was collecting Modified Souls.
But right now, Hitsugaya could not concern himself with that. He had to first stop the equipment that was still continuously producing Modified Souls.
"Sit Upon the Frozen Heavens! Hyō—"
Just as Hitsugaya was about to solve the current crisis with one strike, a gentle yet dignified voice stopped him.
"Please wait, Captain Hitsugaya!"
In the next moment, the Tenth and Byakuya Kuchiki appeared together behind Hitsugaya. After rushing with all their might, they had finally made it in time. If Hitsugaya brought his sword down, this laboratory would probably truly be destroyed.
"You are Tsunayoshi Sawada's Zanpakutō?" Hitsugaya asked the Tenth after glancing at Byakuya.
Byakuya nodded lightly, confirming Hitsugaya's guess. The Tenth then explained, "This laboratory will still be useful later. Please show mercy."
"I don't mind, but these machines do not look easy to stop." Hitsugaya put away his Zanpakutō, folded his arms, and walked to the side to watch.
"Leave it to me."
The Tenth smiled gently. With a turn of his palm, a swallow and an Akita appeared in his hand. As they leapt from the Tenth's palm, the two animals immediately returned to normal size.
"Jirō, Kojirō, I'll have to trouble you to calm this place down first."
Jirō the Akita immediately barked, while Kojirō the swallow circled around the laboratory in flight. Through their efforts, Rain Flames quickly spread throughout the entire laboratory.
The calming property took effect. The equipment that had nearly reached the brink of collapse gradually quieted down. The Tenth slowly increased the concentration of the Rain Flames, then hardened the flames. The surface of the entire laboratory was covered with a layer of ice-like material.
This ice layer, formed from hardened Rain Flames, still retained its calming effect. The laboratory's time seemed to freeze at this moment, and everything remained in a state of stillness.
"Wouldn't it be better to just destroy it?" Hitsugaya asked in confusion. The Tenth's series of actions gave even him a headache to watch.
"The Modified Soul technology will still be useful later. It is best to preserve the equipment and data for now," the Tenth explained.
Hitsugaya once again glanced at Byakuya. Seeing that Byakuya did not deny it, he stopped dwelling on the matter. He pointed at the scattered remnants of souls on the ground and said, "Inaba is frantically manufacturing Modified Souls. Who knows what other scheme he has?"
Hitsugaya quickly shared with the two of them everything he had seen in the laboratory. The Tenth and Byakuya exchanged a glance, becoming even more certain of their earlier speculation.
"Captain Hitsugaya, you probably did not notice the communication. Kisuke Urahara suspects that Kagerōza Inaba intends to use Captain-Commander Yamamoto's Zanka no Tachi to destroy Soul Society," Byakuya Kuchiki told Hitsugaya, including the contents of the communication.
"That's impossible! These impostors cannot even use my past complete form. How could they possibly use Captain-Commander Yamamoto's Zanka no Tachi?"
Hitsugaya immediately denied it. That fake Hitsugaya could not even complete his adult form, let alone use a world-destroying power like Zanka no Tachi.
"That was what we originally thought as well. But after coming here, we can roughly guess one or two things," the Tenth said. "Kagerōza Inaba may be trying to exchange quantity for quality."
"Quantity for quality?" Hitsugaya immediately thought of Inaba's frantic production of Modified Souls. "You mean he is using Modified Souls to stack up Reiatsu?"
"Exactly. We saw traces of your attack outside Squad 12 . If I'm not mistaken, there were no Modified Souls dropped beside those Reigai, correct?" the Tenth asked.
"Right. No wonder that copy attacked Senior Isshin at the end."
Only now did Hitsugaya understand why that fake had aimed his final Ryūsenka at the fake Isshin.
"The result was the same on Captain-Commander Yamamoto's side. No Modified Soul dropped from the fake Sasakibe either," Byakuya Kuchiki added.
"So all the Modified Souls have gone into Inaba's hands," Hitsugaya said with certainty.
"Not only the Modified Souls. The Captain-Commander's copy was not in Squad One either. Unless something unexpected happened, the two of them should currently be together," Byakuya analyzed.
"Kagerōza Inaba's location is crucial. Who can find him?" the Tenth asked.
"Where is Captain Kurotsuchi?" Byakuya asked Hitsugaya.
"I don't know. I haven't seen him since I came in."
"Find Mayuri Kurotsuchi and restart the dormant power of Squad 12 . Only researchers understand the thought process of other researchers," the Tenth decided immediately.
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