Chapter 207: I Don't Think I'll Ever Forget Him
The work discussion with Shiba Kaien was about setting the tone for what was ahead and working out the basic preparations.
Simple to describe, but just getting a rough framework together had taken over an hour.
Nothing to be done about that. Verbal discussion was a fairly rough mode of communication.
What they'd done so far was only a preliminary exchange of perspectives. To get anything to the actual implementation stage, formal documentation would still need to follow.
Of course, that portion of the work would essentially fall to Matsushita Yusuke.
After all, Squad 11 was only the support role this time.
After leaving the izakaya and returning to the compound, Matsushita Yusuke tidied up quickly, then used reiatsu to set up his room with a barrier, isolating it from the outside.
After raising his reiatsu to captain level and continuously pushing his Kido, his use of barrier techniques had become increasingly fluent.
A seal of this level was something he could now produce almost effortlessly.
So why was he setting one up in his own quarters?
There was naturally a reason for that.
"..."
Matsushita Yusuke crouched down and drew a formation-like shape on the floor with his fingertip.
No special tools or paint required. Simply condensing and drawing out reishi was enough to achieve the same effect.
After completing the sequence, he let out a quiet breath and did a brief check on his work.
This was a reishi-gathering formation in a different sense of the term.
Through this method, it could pull together nearby reishi particles in a relatively covert manner.
In reality, this wasn't a technique derived from Soul Society. The people who lived here generally had no shortage of reiatsu available to them. While there were theoretically areas in Soul Society where reiatsu was thin or nearly nonexistent, like the higher-numbered outer Rukongai districts, within the Seireitei itself this would never be an issue.
This was, in the most literal sense, a place where spiritual energy was dense.
'Although this is a technique adapted from Hueco Mundo, using it in Soul Society... it doesn't seem to produce any adverse effects?'
The situation in Hueco Mundo was as previously described. As an independent third territory, it had new life continuously being born within it.
But the way Hollows were born was different from ordinary creatures.
The most basic individuals were born directly through reishi condensation, emerging in the purest possible form.
Which also explained why Hueco Mundo was like an infinite spawn point, with a new group suddenly appearing every few days no matter how many you killed.
And Matsushita Yusuke's current experiment was built on exactly this principle. A test of whether it could be transplanted.
What happened if you brought it to Soul Society?
While this was still in the testing phase, Matsushita Yusuke had already taken a series of precautions.
He took the lump of flesh from his robes and carefully placed it in the center of the formation.
Now. Begin.
Snap.
With a single snap of the fingers, like a precise instrument engaging, the formation activated instantly and showed a bright blue light.
The entire bedroom stirred without any wind.
That looks like a Servant summoning circle. Like something is about to leap out and ask me a question.
Ahem. Back to business.
Matsushita Yusuke half-closed his eyes and directed a portion of his concentration toward managing and drawing from the reiatsu flow.
'Not bad... the output is manageable. There's basically no chance of exposure at this level.'
At the same time.
Zaraki, who had been sparring in the training room, suddenly stopped.
Because the person he had just sent flying hadn't stopped at the wall. Instead they had taken the door and windows down with them and crashed out into the corridor.
He raised his right hand and scratched his slightly itchy scalp with his little finger, clicking his tongue.
"What... did the barrier formation give out again?"
When something that should be running normally stopped working, problems like this happened.
Before he could react, a head was already peeking in from outside.
Gin Ichimaru spoke in a carefully neutral tone.
"If the captain sees this he's going to blow up. Clean it up first?"
Both sides went quiet for a moment. Then they reached an understanding.
Zaraki turned and shouted toward the back.
"...No choice about it. Hey! Everyone get over here and help!"
That was the plan, but the administrative staff who came running at the news didn't choose patience. They gave Zaraki a complete and thorough earful.
"How many buildings are you going to break in a single month?! The defensive barriers aren't there to be wasted like this. Squad funds are running out!!!"
In the original story something like this probably happened too. But there, Zaraki was the captain. A squad member who could actually yell at him simply didn't exist.
Here, though?
A mere seated officer. Sit there and take it.
Zaraki was thoroughly unhappy about it but couldn't find any grounds to argue, and could only lead his sparring group in head-down apologies.
Try to be more careful next time...
During the cleanup, though, Zaraki quickly noticed something off.
"Hold on..."
He pointed to the barrier marks in the corner, his expression completely baffled.
"There's no wear here at all. Why did it suddenly fail?"
Barrier technique failures were usually a cascade from maintenance falling short. But looking at this... it was like a brand-new phone freezing up two days after purchase.
Neither logical nor reasonable.
"Let me see... huh? That's strange. Why did it stop? Is it not absorbing reishi?"
Setting aside the minor incident within Squad 11, Matsushita Yusuke's full attention was on what was in front of him.
He watched the flesh placed at the center of the formation trembling, writhing, beginning to very slightly expand.
It twisted into shape little by little until finally breaking free of its crimson outline, recovering that distinctively familiar milky-white base color.
After about three minutes, a miniature but otherwise identical version of the Hollow alt stood complete inside the formation.
A proper revival.
"How are you feeling?"
The alt spread its hands and looked itself over, then said quietly:
"I... lost?"
"Yes. Cut in two by one swing. The rest of you is probably on a dissection table at the Research and Development Bureau right now. By the way... how did it feel? Fighting the old man?"
"Very strong. I don't think I'll ever forget him for the rest of my life."