Chapter 365: Return to the Zero Division
"Haschwalth."
The man opened his eyes, saw the figure kneeling beside him, and slowly spoke his name.
Haschwalth bowed his head deeply.
The man slowly sat up.
He raised a hand and pressed it against his chest.
"My heartbeat has fully returned."
"My consciousness is nearly fully awakened as well."
"Soon, the days of being trapped in this world will come to an end."
Haschwalth spoke:
"Your Majesty, the situation in Soul Society may be more dangerous than we anticipated."
"Currently, our existence has been exposed to Soul Society. They must have prepared many countermeasures against us."
"If not for the Sternritter you left behind, perhaps a century ago, the empire would have already..."
Yhwach let out a low chuckle.
"Haschwalth... there is no need for concern."
"When I reclaim my power, nothing in this world will be able to stand in my way."
"Whether it be Yamamoto Shigekuni, or that man you mentioned who breached the empire's barrier."
"Their fates are already sealed."
"The day I regain my power will mark the Quincy's reclamation of everything."
"Dismissed."
"Yes."
Though still harboring many concerns, Haschwalth said nothing more.
He rose, bowed to Yhwach, and turned to leave.
After Haschwalth vanished into the darkness, Yhwach slowly turned his head toward Satoru's direction.
"Unknown existence lurking there, why not reveal yourself?"
If I could appear, I would have done so long ago.
Satoru's gaze was icy, as if looking at a corpse.
Yhwach remained silent for a few seconds before speaking calmly:
"Unable to appear? Or... perhaps afraid to appear?"
"No matter. In either case, when I awaken, I shall personally strip you of everything."
"By then, all shall be revealed."
Excellent. I wouldn't have it any other way.
Under Satoru's gaze, Yhwach lay back in his original position and slowly closed his eyes.
Suddenly, the scene before him shifted. He saw Aizen's back as he sat before a screen, observing data.
As if sensing something, Aizen turned to look behind him.
There he saw Satoru's expression was extremely dark, as if he had seen someone he held a deep-seated hatred for.
Reiatsu surged, killing intent roiled.
"Satoru?"
He called out in inquiry.
Satoru seemed to suddenly snap back to reality, his gaze regaining focus.
The Reiatsu and killing intent around him quickly dissipated.
Under Aizen's watchful eyes, he recounted the scene he had just witnessed.
After hearing his account, Aizen slightly furrowed his brow.
His first thought wasn't about the threat posed by Yhwach himself.
Rather, he found the timing of Satoru witnessing this scene to be rather too coincidental.
Satoru, who had never had any connection with Yhwach in the past, just happened to see Yhwach's figure through the isolation of the "Final Doctrine" after obtaining Fullbring powers.
He didn't believe there was no connection here at all.
Currently, the information they possessed was still too limited.
Although they could arrive at some conclusions through conjecture and speculation, they lacked reliability.
If they could infiltrate the Soul King Palace and obtain the texts stored there, the situation would likely improve considerably.
Unfortunately... although the Soul King Palace and the Gotei 13 belonged to the same faction, there was very little communication between them.
The past century had actually been the period of most frequent contact between the Soul King Palace and the lower world.
Whenever Yuten-dō had new generation game consoles or major game releases, they would send them up via the Heavenly Pillar Transport.
Thinking of this, Aizen's feelings were complicated.
The Soul King's personal guard, those powerful figures who had left their mark throughout Soul Society's history, rarely made requests of Seireitei - and it was actually for these things.
If he didn't know Satoru well enough, he might have suspected this guy was playing some grand scheme.
Aizen looked at Satoru.
The best option now was to have this guy establish contact with the Soul King Palace, preferably obtaining information directly from Ichibe'e Hyōsube himself.
But... as Yamamoto had once warned, it was difficult to guess what a monster who had lived for millions of years was thinking.
With such completely unequal information, it was nearly impossible to guess someone's true intentions.
If one could do that, they wouldn't be called a genius, but a god.
If the other party harbored malicious intent, actively sending them information would be no different from suicide.
Though it was somewhat regrettable, Aizen abandoned this idea.
But just then, Satoru suddenly clapped his hands together:
"I've got it!"
"?"
"I'll go find that fat monk and ask him directly!"
Under Aizen's what-the-hell-is-Komamura-doing-here gaze, Satoru crossed his arms and showed a triumphant smile:
"First of all, my teacher is definitely out of the question. If he knew what was going on, he would have told me already without me having to ask."
"In that case, we might as well go straight to the source and ask the one who's lived the longest and knows the most!"
Aizen remained silent.
Satoru, though often giving the impression of having given up on thinking, always somehow managed to grasp the simplest solution to problems.
Though he wanted to dissuade him, there was no doubt this was indeed the best approach available now.
So, the next question is... will the Soul King Palace agree to receive him over such a trivial matter?
...
...
[Welcome, most welcome!]
[Fine tea and meals are prepared, ready (scratched out) awaiting young friend Satoru's arrival!]
"..."
Looking at the reply in his hand, Aizen narrowed his eyes.
He had to admit, this was rather absurd.
Back when he worked at Central 46, he had seen some correspondence between the Soul King Palace and Seireitei.
The Soul King Palace had always been curt and dismissive toward Seireitei.
Aside from maintaining superficial courtesy in replies to the Five Noble Clans, their responses to everyone else could almost be described as icy.
Yet now, they were treating Satoru, a mere captain, with such warmth.
Looking closer, the scratched-out word seemed to be "respectfully await."
Hyōsube Ichibe'e, leader of the Zero Division with a million-year lifespan, actually showing such attitude toward Satoru...
No matter how you looked at it, this was just too bizarre.
Aizen felt he had reason to suspect whether Satoru might be the Soul King's illegitimate child.
If so, everything would make sense.
That inexplicable binding ability, the insane capability to gather all things' strengths into one, the power to freely wield shadows from beyond this world...
And the reason for the monk's increasingly clear attitude was likely because he couldn't initially confirm Satoru's identity, but as certain clues emerged, he gradually became certain of it.
For instance, others being unable to master all these powers simultaneously, with only Satoru being the exception... things like that.
Thinking this, Aizen shook his head with amusement.
He'd really been infected by Satoru's influence, coming up with such bizarre deductions.
Anyway, though many doubts remained, they would have to be set aside for now.
When Yamamoto learned that Satoru had been summoned to the Soul King Palace again, he was quite surprised.
His first thought was whether this troublesome disciple had caused some major incident, making the Zero Division consider righteous elimination of a comrade.
Though somewhat concerned, thankfully this wasn't the first time someone had ascended to the heavens.
With a cannon blast from the Shiba Clan, Satoru soared up to the higher realm.
...
...
BOOM!!!
The Heavenly Pillar Transport landed steadily.
The hatch opened, and Satoru took his small step, a giant leap for Seireitei kind.
At this moment, he was not alone.
Senjumaru Shutara stood not far away, her bone-like prosthetic arms crossed over her chest, wearing an exasperated expression.
"Stop fooling around... I've been waiting here for quite a while. Hurry up and come, Kirio has prepared a feast for you."
Nearby, a man with an airplane-style haircut spoke up:
"Really, what is that monk thinking? Making me personally come receive someone as insignificant as Mikami Satoru?"
"Hey, kid Satoru, what did you bribe him with?"
Satoru was somewhat surprised to see Kirinji Tenjirō.
Just as he was about to greet him, he suddenly noticed the dark-skinned man standing nearby.
"Old Man Ōetsu!"
Satoru's eyes lit up.
In a flash, he appeared before Nimaiya Ōetsu.
"Has my Phoenix Palace got any new technicians on duty?"
"?"
"Slip of the tongue, slip of the tongue... Has my Phoenix Palace got any new beautiful sword spirits?"
"?"
Looking at the man with shining eyes before him, Ōetsu couldn't help but feel like he'd been screwed over by Komamura.
In the past, he had always considered himself one of the thickest-skinned individuals in the Soul Society.
Never did he expect to be slightly outmatched by this guy.
He looked Satoru up and down.
Among the three present, he was the only one who could guess the monk's intentions.
The thought that this guy before him actually possessed such qualifications left him with mixed feelings.
He reached out and patted Satoru on the shoulder.
"Don't worry, as long as you can still come, my Phoenix Palace will always be open for you!"
He deliberately emphasized the words "Phoenix Palace" as he spoke.
Satoru was somewhat surprised.
Old Ōetsu isn't spitting rhymes anymore—my youth is over.
Led by Senjumaru Shutara, the group of four arrived at the Sleeping Pig Palace.
Hikifune Kirio was already waiting there.
Under her preparations, lavish feasts were laid out on tables, so extravagant they were almost blinding.
"Master, I didn't expect you to come back so soon. I'm really happy!"
Seeing Satoru, Hikifune Kirio smiled.
When she was promoted to the Zero Division, she had mentally prepared herself to hardly see anyone she once knew for hundreds, thousands, or even several thousand years.
Never did she expect a familiar face to drop by so frequently. How wonderful.
The five of them indulged heartily in the feast at the Sleeping Pig Palace.
After eating and drinking their fill, Nimaiya Ōetsu took Satoru to the Phoenix Palace, where he enjoyed the treatment befitting a nightclub king.
Finally, Kirinji Tenjirō took him to soak in a hot spring and prepared an elegant room for him to rest.
Lying on the soft bedding, Satoru closed his eyes comfortably.
This Soul King Palace hotel is really great—I should come here more often in the future.
An hour later, he suddenly opened his eyes and sat up.
Damn, no.
I didn't come here to enjoy Yamato... ahem, I didn't come to the Soul King Palace for leisure.
Rolling out of bed, he stepped out into the night and made his way to Hyōsube Ichibe'e's detached palace.
From afar, he spotted a figure standing at the entrance.
As if sensing Satoru's arrival, the figure turned to look at him and grinned.
"Oh my... Satoru, why are you here so soon? Aren't you going to rest a bit more?"
Satoru narrowed his eyes.
"I feel like someone's scheming behind my back, so I'll skip the rest for now."
"What?! Such a thing exists? This old man will never stand idly by!"
The monk's eyes widened sharply, adopting a posture ready for a fight.
Then, he suddenly grinned:
"Let's not talk about that for now. Come, come, Satoru, this old man will show you something!"
Bringing Satoru along, he entered the room and turned on the LSP4.
Quickly pressing buttons, he pulled up the achievement interface.
"Look! This old man's feat!"
He extended a thick finger, pointing at a line of text on the screen.
"Oh... this is truly remarkable."
Satoru was somewhat surprised.
"No Damage Against Sponge Gourd" - even he hadn't obtained this achievement.
The frolicking sponge gourd was practically Brownian motion.
If it were his real self, of course he could easily handle it.
But, no matter how powerful your real self is, it's fake; the you in the game is the real one.
Operating the screen's robust fierce woman, Satoru admitted he couldn't get this achievement.
Seeing Satoru's reaction, the monk couldn't help but feel pleased.
He worked hard to earn this trophy precisely to see this reaction from other players!
But immediately after, he couldn't help but click his tongue.
"This old man obtained this trophy quite quickly, in theory, yet still failed to be the first."
"Before this old man, someone already got this achievement first... Satoru, with this game you created, could someone be using cheats?"
Satoru scoffed.
"I have General Urahara on my side, how could cheats run rampant?"
"Hmm..."
The monk showed a frustrated expression.
If there were no cheats, it meant he was truly outmatched in skill.
To think there was such a powerhouse in the Three Realms.
He really wanted to meet them.
As the monk pondered these random thoughts, Satoru looked at him:
"Great Monk, I didn't come here to play games with you."
"A few days ago, I saw Yhwach..."
Under the monk's gaze, he recounted what he had seen in detail.
"What exactly is this situation? Why did I see these things? And just how strong is Yhwach?"
Hearing this, the great monk raised his hand and stroked his messy beard.
"You saw Yhwach... because after gaining new power, you formed a special resonance with him."
He spoke slowly, as if considering his words.
"Although Yhwach is a Quincy, he is no ordinary Quincy."
"Among all people currently existing in the world, he might be the one closest to the essence of power... one of them."
"Aside from him, probably only you can approach the essence of power so closely."
"That's likely the reason you suddenly saw him."
"As for how strong Yhwach is, before he fully awakens, even this old man cannot be certain."
"However, I do have some conjectures."
At this point, he looked at Satoru and grinned.
"If you're worried, little friend Satoru, this old man can spar with you to see how much you've improved recently, and who is more qualified... who is stronger compared to Yhwach?"