"Everyone, I'm back early!" Yamabuki greeted the Captains energetically.
Yamamoto coldly rebuked, "Don't make such a fuss. What kind of behavior is that? You are the Chief of Staff of the Gotei 13. Why are you back so soon? Did something unexpected happen?"
"Captain-Commander, you're so smart. You saw right away that we encountered an unexpected situation." Yamabuki said with a chuckle.
Yamamoto's face was stern. 'I knew nothing good would come of this!'
"You all may withdraw for now. I have something to discuss with the Chief of Staff." Yamamoto said.
The other Captains temporarily withdrew, leaving only Yamamoto and Yamabuki in the room.
"Speak, what happened? Whatever forced you to return must not be a small matter!" Yamamoto had already prepared himself mentally for various possibilities.
Yamabuki gave a dry laugh, "Captain-Commander, I can tell you what happened, but you have to promise not to deduct my salary. My salary has already been deducted for six months in advance, and I still have to support my family. I really can't afford any more deductions!"
"Slick-tongued! Hurry up and speak." Yamamoto said.
Yamabuki scratched his head, "Actually, it's not a big deal. It's just that we encountered some Quincy on the way, and they were key members of the enemy. But don't worry, we encountered six people in total, and five of them have already been killed by me, utterly annihilated. The remaining one was severely wounded and escaped back to their base. I was afraid of alerting their main force, so I didn't dare to pursue."
Yamamoto stared at Yamabuki without a word. He knew this kid too well. If it were just this much, would he need to withdraw early?
"And?" Yamamoto asked.
Yamabuki coughed lightly, "And... I accidentally Hollowfied, the kind where I lost myself!"
Instantly, a terrifying oppressive force surged forward.
Yamabuki was afraid the Old Man would just cut him down if he was displeased.
"Hollowfied? And changed back? Are you alright?" Yamamoto asked.
The powers of Shinigami and Hollows are mutually exclusive. Before this, no Shinigami had ever Hollowfied. Yamabuki was the first.
"I don't know, but Unohana and the others said... it seemed quite dangerous! My main reason for returning this time is to ask for a leave of absence. I want to figure out what's going on with my body. You won't refuse me, will you?" Yamabuki asked.
Yamamoto remained silent. Yamamoto knew Yamabuki's current strength best; he could be said to be the strongest in the Gotei 13 after himself. For the word "dangerous" to come from his mouth, it showed that this matter was absolutely extraordinary.
"Alright, I'll give you a long leave. Don't come back until you've resolved the issue with your body." Yamamoto said.
"The Captain-Commander is still the best to me. Then I'll be going." Yamabuki left the First Division Barracks with a chuckle. As soon as he stepped out, he ran into Unohana.
It seemed she was waiting for him there specifically.
"Let's go home together!" Unohana and Yamabuki returned home together. Along the way, neither of them spoke, and the atmosphere was very awkward. Yamabuki had already guessed what question the other party wanted to ask.
After returning home, Unohana directly locked the door.
Then, with a serious expression, she questioned, "Now you can tell me, what exactly happened to your body? That form you took earlier was Quincy power, right? Don't talk about the Soul King. Before you saw the Soul King, when we fought, you already displayed powers beyond a Shinigami. Such childish lies can only fool others, not me."
Yamabuki's expression fell. He knew Unohana would ask this question.
"Alright, alright, I get it. I'll tell you the truth. Actually, I really don't know what changes happened to my body! Really! From the day I became a Shinigami, I found that I could control reishi, which means the Quincy power in my body is innate. Also, before that, when I went to Hueco Mundo for an crusade, I accidentally awakened Hollow abilities. At that time, it was only Cero, and later, when I fought you, I awakened hardened skin and ultra-fast regeneration. But now it seems, these are not all." Yamabuki said bitterly.
The process of a soul degenerating into a Hollow is a very mysterious one.
Why did the Soul King divide the Three Realms?
It was because in ancient times, Hollows constantly devoured souls. The Soul King predicted that if left unchecked, the world would eventually be destroyed, so he divided the Three Realms: living people lived in the World of the Living, souls lived in the Soul Society, and Hollows lived in Hueco Mundo.
But even so, it still couldn't completely resolve the problem of Hollows devouring souls.
At the same time, Hollows are also formed from souls; Hollows themselves are Spirit Forms. This also means that if Hollows were completely annihilated, this world would still accelerate its collapse.
This is an insoluble problem.
Moreover, in the Four Noble Houses arc, Urahara Kisuke also personally admitted that Hollows were born earlier than the Soul King, and to become a Soul King substitute, one does not need Hollow power; gathering the powers of Shinigami and Quincy is enough. It's best to have fragments of the Soul King within one's body, which are those Fullbringers who live extremely miserable lives.
This Hollowfication was a wake-up call for Yamabuki.
The ability of a Hollow is not that easy to control.
Of course, if he hadn't successfully Hollowfied this time, he might have already been secretly killed by those Quincy.
Indeed, in the face of rule-based abilities, the spiritual pressure theory was utterly crushed.
If it was just about spiritual pressure, Yamabuki was miles ahead of Justin, but the opponent's ability could ignore any rules and directly affect his body—it was simply outrageous!
"I've already requested leave from the Captain-Commander. For a while, I'll figure out the power of the Hollow until I've completely mastered it," Yamabuki said.
Although he had been able to use the power of the Hollow before, it was ultimately only superficial. This time was different.
After this Hollowfication, he could clearly feel his spiritual pressure becoming turbid. In short, he was no longer pure.
When he used to browse forums, he saw netizens comparing Shinigami, Quincy, and Hollows. Among these three beings, the Hollows clearly had the highest innate talent.
Their various abilities were all exceptionally powerful.
They possessed the Cero for long-range attacks, bodies stronger than humans, Sonido for spatial movement, ultra-speed regeneration, and hardened skin!
With so many terrifying talents, yet a thousand years later, Hueco Mundo was full of useless Hollows.
There were only a few notable ones, and when the Quincy invaded Hueco Mundo during the Thousand-Year Blood War, the vast Hueco Mundo had only Harribel standing up to resist.
One could only say they squandered a good hand.
This Hollowfication told Yamabuki that the Hollow's potential was far more than this. If he could utilize this power well, he would have another trump card for the Blood War in six months.
Unohana nodded, "In that case, I will definitely stand by you. Go ahead and do it boldly. If you lose control, I'll cut you back to normal like last time."
Uh… that won't be necessary!
....
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