["Learn... to control hellfire?"]
The young Muten Natsu looked at Retsu Unohana in confusion. She had just explained how dangerous hellfire was, and now she was telling him to try to master it.
["Isn't that forbidden?"]
["Then,"] Retsu Unohana asked with a smile, ["what do you intend to do?"]
["I'm not really sure... Seal it away? Or just forget about it and avoid using it as much as possible?"]
["If you want to solve a problem, you must first admit it exists."] Retsu Unohana's voice was gentle. ["The more you try to run from it, the more you'll corner yourself with nowhere left to escape."]
Muten Natsu hesitated, then nodded.
He understood what she meant.
Every act of avoidance feels like a solution.
But no matter how many times you run, the problem remains.
And in the process of running, the ability to solve it slowly slips away.
["I don't know the exact reason,"] Retsu Unohana said softly, brushing a hand through Muten Natsu's black hair, ["but the fact that you can ignite hellfire means you have the capacity to control it. Otherwise, that Hollow would have been burned to nothing, not turned into a doll to heal your body."]
...
Violent power surged.
The ground beneath Muten Natsu's feet cracked and collapsed as the force he could not yet control burst outward, making the surrounding air tremble.
His gaze passed through the lieutenant charging at him and met Retsu Unohana's calm, gentle eyes.
I can... do this.
Muten Natsu drew a deep breath.
The scales on his shoulders extended and branched, forming a pitch-black ring behind his head.
Threads of black flame seeped from the scales and coiled around the ring.
It looked like a dim halo.
Or a dark, burning sun.
The ring burned silently behind his head as the rampaging power gradually steadied.
"Pierce!" The white-haired Chōjirō Sasakibe's Zanpakutō transformed into a guard-mounted rapier, golden lightning flashing along its length. "Gonryōmaru!"
He thrust forward at blinding speed, like a bolt of golden thunder.
Muten Natsu raised his hand and caught the blade, then struck Chōjirō Sasakibe away with a single palm.
"Crush!" Marechiyo Ōmaeda roared. "Gegetsuburi!"
A massive spiked flail appeared in his hands, only to be shattered instantly by Muten Natsu's kick.
Ōmaeda himself was sent flying back even faster than he had charged in.
"Run, Itegumo!" Isane Kotetsu's Zanpakutō split into three blades as she slashed toward Muten Natsu.
His figure flickered.
He appeared behind Isane Kotetsu and tapped her lightly. She collapsed unconscious.
A frigid Reiatsu closed in at high speed.
Muten Natsu swung his arm and blocked Byakuya Kuchiki's Zanpakutō.
"Muten Natsu..." Byakuya Kuchiki's expression did not change. His voice was cold, unmoved by the fact that his blade had been stopped barehanded. "You have committed repeated grave crimes. I will kill you, then capture Rukia Kuchiki and carry out her execution."
Muten Natsu looked at him calmly. "Then try."
A figure shot past, impossibly fast.
Suì-Fēng had originally aimed to capture Muten Natsu, but with Byakuya Kuchiki engaging him, she shifted her target to Orihime Inoue and Rukia Kuchiki instead.
Her form was nearly invisible to the naked eye as she closed the distance with terrifying speed.
But another blurred figure arrived even faster, seizing Suì-Fēng and dragging her away from Rukia Kuchiki and Orihime Inoue.
"Guh... let go of me!" Suì-Fēng grabbed the wrist clutching her collar. "Who are you?"
"My, my... don't be so loud." Yoruichi Shihōin pulled down the cloth covering her face. "You're still as hot-tempered as ever."
Suì-Fēng's eyes widened in disbelief. "It's you... Yoruichi..."
"Long time no see." Yoruichi Shihōin dragged Suì-Fēng over the edge of the cliff, light flaring in her palm. "Suì-Fēng."
Boom!
A violent burst of Reiatsu tore through a wide swath of trees below.
"My, my..." Shunsui Kyōraku surveyed the chaos. "Things turned into a complete mess in no time."
"You still have the leisure to watch others?" Leaning on his cane, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto fixed his gaze on Jūshirō Ukitake and Shunsui Kyōraku. "As captains, you would dare to do such a thing..."
"We're in trouble!" Shunsui Kyōraku grabbed Jūshirō Ukitake. "Looks like retreat is our only option, Ukitake!"
Without waiting for a reply, he pulled Jūshirō Ukitake and leapt off the cliff.
"Shunsui..." Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto tilted his head slightly, his aged eyes opening fully.
"I will take care of the injured," Retsu Unohana said calmly. "Captain-Commander, there is no need for concern."
After holding her gaze for a long moment, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto vanished.
Retsu Unohana slowly drew her Zanpakutō, its curve exaggerated and elegant.
The blade slipped free from her hand as it left the sheath, transforming midair into a willow-green, single-eyed creature shaped like a stingray.
Minazuki, a rare biological-type Zanpakutō.
It could not only fly, but also heal.
As for how...
Minazuki opened its mouth and swallowed Chōjirō Sasakibe and Marechiyo Ōmaeda whole.
That was the treatment.
Retsu Unohana lifted Isane Kotetsu onto Minazuki and gave it a gentle pat.
Minazuki carried them into the sky, heading toward the 4th Division while beginning to treat Isane Kotetsu along the way.
When Minazuki landed, its three-clawed appendages touching down lightly, members of the medical squad rushed over.
"Captain Unohana!"
"Are you injured?"
"Lieutenant Isane Kotetsu!"
"I'm fine." Retsu Unohana patted Minazuki. "Let them out."
Minazuki opened its mouth and expelled the two it had swallowed.
Retsu Unohana raised her scabbard. Minazuki twisted and liquefied like thick ink, flowing back inside and returning to the form of a Zanpakutō.
"Their injuries aren't serious. Minazuki should have stabilized them." Retsu Unohana's gaze lingered briefly on Chōjirō Sasakibe. "Take those who are still unconscious to the nearby Sixteenth Relief Station and let them rest."
"Yes!" the medical squad responded in unison.
Isane Kotetsu had suffered the lightest injuries and had already awakened after Retsu Unohana's treatment.
She stared toward the cliff.
There was no longer any Sōkyoku there.
Only the empty edge.
Events were unfolding in ways she could not comprehend. The only small comfort was that Muten Natsu had clearly held back when he struck her.
Despite everything, Muten Natsu was still Muten Natsu.
But when she thought about him now facing the 6th Division Captain, worry rose in her chest once more.
"Leave matters over there to those who are handling them," Retsu Unohana called gently. "Come with me, Isane. Right now... there is somewhere I wish to go."