"Neliel, this is Baraggan's subjugation mark. It's for you," Kazuma said, casually tossing the carved bone token into her hands.
Neliel caught the mark, looking at it with deep confusion.
"You're giving this to me?" She didn't quite understand why Kazuma would hand over absolute authority over Las Noches to her.
Kazuma smiled and explained, "It's better for you to be in charge of Hueco Mundo's internal affairs. You actually live here, after all. If there's a problem you can't handle with your own strength, use that to summon Baraggan and his cronies as your personal attack dogs. If it's something even they can't handle, contact me. You've just witnessed my strength; I don't need a token like this."
He firmly believed Neliel was more suited to manage the chaotic affairs of Hueco Mundo, ensuring no other rogue Hollows organized an invasion of the Soul Society.
He himself had no intention of staying in the barren desert long-term.
With Baraggan subjugated, Neliel now had a terrifying fighting force at her disposal.
Neliel nodded, gripping the bone mark tightly.
She knew full well that Kazuma's strength had completely surpassed her imagination.
He truly didn't need an army of Hollows.
"You're right," Neliel said gratefully. "Kazuma, you've gotten so strong! The first time we met, we were pretty much evenly matched. Now, I have to look up to you! I knew you were a genius, but I didn't expect you to become this ridiculously powerful."
"In that case, I won't be polite. I will accept the mark and keep the peace in Hueco Mundo."
Kazuma beamed at Neliel, feeling incredibly gratified.
He had absolute confidence in her; she was a true, honorable warrior.
"Honey," Kazuma said, turning to Batsu'unsai with a fawning, exaggerated expression. "I was thinking of teaching Neliel Flash Blink 2.0 while we're here. What do you think?"
"Flash Blink 2.0? Is that a newly developed version?!" Neliel's eyes lit up.
She looked at Kazuma, muttering to herself, 'So that's it, you little rascal! You were secretly researching a new, faster version behind my back!'
"You can teach her," Batsu'unsai said, nodding slowly after a moment's thought.
"You're the best, honey! Let me give you a kiss to celebrate it," Kazuma said, overjoyed.
He immediately leaned in to kiss her cheek.
"Hey, I'm not finished yet."
Batsu'unsai suddenly stepped back, cutting him off with a sly, knowing smile.
She crossed her arms. "I said she can learn it, but you don't have to teach her. I will personally stay behind and teach Neliel."
Hearing this, Kazuma was totally dumbfounded.
He cursed inwardly, his wife had seen through his little scheme to slack off and spend the day hanging out with the two of them!
"Then... what about me?" Kazuma asked guiltily, having been caught red-handed trying to be lazy.
"You are going to go track down Kuruyashiki and Ashido," Batsu'unsai ordered. "I'll stay here with Neliel so she can show me around Hueco Mundo while we train. It's a win win arrangement!"
Batsu'unsai had already decided on her itinerary.
"What if something happens to you two out here?!" Kazuma protested, still reluctant to wander the desert alone.
Batsu'unsai glared at him. "Something happens? What could possibly happen? You literally just hung the strongest entity in Hueco Mundo upside down and beat him into submission. Besides, with my newly evolved strength and Neliel by my side, do you honestly think we'll be in any danger? Hurry up and get lost. Go find your friends."
"Oh," Kazuma replied meekly, utterly defeated. "Then I'm off. You and Neliel get along well okay?"
"Get lost! Go on! Don't disturb my heart-to-heart with my new sister," Batsu'unsai said, shooing Kazuma away with her hands.
Kazuma watched the two women walk off, chatting animatedly.
"My wife doesn't love me anymore! Ah, life is just so helpless and tragic," he sighed dramatically.
"I should probably think about how to actually find Kuruyashiki and Ashido. Where the hell could they be?"
As Kazuma walked aimlessly through the white dunes, his thoughts drifted, contemplating the possible locations where the two missing Shinigami might be hiding.
'Since Ashido originally came here to subjugate rogue Hollows before they could invade the living world, the most likely place for him to be is the Menos Forest, right? After all, that underground cavern is where the largest concentration of Gillian are born.' Kazuma muttered to himself.
His eyes lit up as he made a decision—he would head to the Menos Forest first.
"Luckily, I keep a record of the Menos Forest's exact coordinates the last time I was here. Otherwise, finding the entrance in this endless sandbox would have been impossible," Kazuma said with relief.
However, when he finally arrived at the gaping subterranean entrance and dropped into the Menos Forest, a new problem presented itself.
The underground quartz forest was incomprehensibly vast, filled with towering crystal trees and suffocating darkness.
"Finding two specific people in this labyrinth isn't going to be an easy task," Kazuma frowned, feeling a headache coming on.
"I've got no other choice. I'll just have to take a stroll while constantly pulsing my stellar Reishi as a sonar. Fortunately, since I practically rebuilt Kuruyashiki's internal organs a few weeks ago, I have his exact Spiritual Pressure signature memorized down to the cellular level. I'm not completely in the dark."
Kazuma sighed helplessly and began to act.
He released a steady, rhythmic pulse of his stellar power, letting it permeate the dense Menos Forest while carefully observing his surroundings.
He hoped to either find a direct clue or simply attract the attention of Ashido's survival group.
After wandering the crystal labyrinth for an hour and cutting down a few aggressive Gillian, Kazuma's sonar finally pinged a match.
He sensed Kuruyashiki's distinct Spiritual Pressure, and right beside it was another, highly disciplined fluctuation of Shinigami Reiatsu.
'As expected, my judgment was flawless.'
Kazuma immediately triggered Flash Blink, blurring toward the coordinates.
Deep within the forest, Kuruyashiki and Ashido were resting by a small, hidden campfire.
Seeing a blurry figure rapidly approaching their position through the gloom, they could vaguely make out the distinct black and white robes of a Captain.
The two battle-hardened veterans immediately gripped their swords and stood up, ready for a fight. But as the figure drew closer, they relaxed their vigilance in sheer confusion.
They could clearly see the man walking toward them, yet they couldn't sense a single drop of Spiritual Pressure from him.
It was as if he didn't exist.
"Yo, Kuruyashiki! You gave me quite a problem searching for you. The one next to you must be Ashido, right?" Kazuma called out cheerfully from a distance.
Ashido looked at Kuruyashiki with a deeply puzzled expression.
"Do you know him?"
Hearing the voice, Kuruyashiki's eyes widened in realization. "Know him? That's Satou Kazuma, Captain of the Seventh Division! He's the monster who saved my life back in the Seireitei. I have no idea why he's wandering around Hueco Mundo, though. If it's really him, it makes sense that we can't sense his Spiritual Pressure. His power operates on a completely different level!"
"Captain of the Seventh Division?" Ashido narrowed his eyes. "Just how strong is he?"
Kuruyashiki stroked his chin, offering his honest assessment. "How strong? Easily on par with the Captain-Commander."
Ashido's eyes widened in shock. "A Shinigami as strong as Old Man Yama? Why haven't I ever heard of him in the Gotei 13 before?"
"It's said that Captain Kazuma had an accident and disappeared for a few centuries, which happened to be around the exact time we were most active in the Gotei 13. I didn't look into the specific details, but the man is a living legend."
"Well, someone who could save your life from Azashiro's blade must be a decent person," Ashido said, forming a generally positive impression of the approaching Captain.
While the two were whispering, Kazuma casually strolled up to the campfire.
"Captain Kazuma, what brings you to the depths of Hueco Mundo?" Kuruyashiki asked, respectfully bowing his head.
"I haven't had much squad work to do lately, so Batsu'unsai and I came to Hueco Mundo for a little vacation," Kazuma said with a bright, cheerful smile.
"Huh?"
The two hardened survivalists stared at him, utterly speechless.
A vacation?
"Then why are you alone down here in the Menos Forest? Where is Captain Batsu'unsai?" Ashido asked, genuinely bewildered.
"Oh, she's wandering around the desert topside, having a girls' day out with a local friend."
"Captain Kazuma, Hueco Mundo is incredibly dangerous," Kuruyashiki warned, sweat dropping. "You shouldn't let her wander alone."
"Don't worry about it," Kazuma waved a hand dismissively. "We already hung the self-proclaimed King of Hueco Mundo upside down and beat him into submission. We also vaporized a few of his followers who didn't know their place. Hueco Mundo is a very safe tourist destination now."
The two survivalists listened to Kazuma's casual recounting as if they were hearing an absurd fairy tale.
'Hung Baraggan up and beat him?'
The sheer audacity was too ridiculous to process!
"There's really not much danger in Hueco Mundo anymore," Kazuma continued. "Kuruyashiki, Ashido, do you two want to return to the Soul Society with me? I can open a Garganta right now."
The two men considered the offer for a long moment, exchanging a heavy glance.
Finally, Ashido spoke for them both. "Thank you for your incredibly kind offer, Captain Kazuma, but we won't be returning to the Soul Society just yet. Although you've dealt with the greatest threat topside, the vast majority of the Hollows that invade the World of the Living are born right here in the Menos Forest. Unless the entire forest is systematically wiped out, the source of the problem will never be resolved. This is our duty."
Kazuma nodded slowly. "Alright, I respect your decision and your dedication. By the way, if you ever encounter a female Vasto Lorde with teal hair, don't attack her! Her name is Neliel Tu Odelschwanck. She's a close friend of mine and Batsu'unsai's. Though, honestly, it's not like you two could beat her in a fight anyway."
"Since she is a friend of yours, Captain, we will absolutely not attack her," Kuruyashiki promised.
As for Kazuma's blunt comment that the two of them were no match for her, Kuruyashiki and Ashido didn't take it entirely seriously.
But it didn't matter, when they inevitably encountered Neliel in the future, they would quickly understand that Kazuma hadn't just been talking nonsense.