Retsu's eyes snapped open—
Only to find herself standing in a place that felt eerily familiar… yet twisted by an alien presence.
A desert-like world, infinite and barren, stretched beneath her feet. The sand was a deep, fuscous brown—almost the color of dried blood—and the swirling sky churned with massive storm clouds. Towering funnels spun lazily in the distance, sucking sand into the heavens with violent force.
It was a world of silence.
A world of death.
A world without life, warmth, or mercy.
Her Zanpakutō's inner world.
Minazuki's world.
And yet… something was wrong.
This landscape wasn't how Minazuki manifested before. The gentle creature that embodied healing and kindness wouldn't produce a world like this—a world that felt suffocated by death's breath.
The air trembled with tremendous reiatsu, pressing against her soul.
But Retsu inhaled slowly and stood firm.
Yun Che had taught her Absolute Suppression.
Pressure no longer had the power to kneel her.
Not even here.
Even so, this crushing aura told her one thing plainly—
The enemy within her was not weak.
Above her, one of the swirling storm clouds began to twist unnaturally, stretching into the shape of a monstrous creature. The cyclone's center glowed with a burning red light as it cracked open—forming what looked disturbingly like an enormous horizontal eye.
It stared at her.
Unblinking.
Hungry.
This was Minazuki's world… but something inside it had taken dominance.
The Hollow.
She took a step forward, each foot sinking into the dead sand. The world felt hostile, unwelcoming—rejecting her presence.
Then…
it spoke.
"Ara… so you have finally arrived."
The voice echoed in refined Japanese, feminine yet dripping with venomous amusement. "Unohana Retsu."
Her blood ran cold.
The hollow's voice.
Before she could reply, the desert beneath her suddenly erupted.
A massive surge of red reiatsu exploded upward, blasting her off her feet. She fell to her knees under the sudden wave, sand swirling violently around her like a maelstrom. Two giant yellow eyes—pupils thin and vertical like a beast's—materialized in the air before her.
Their murderous intent was suffocating.
Slowly, painfully, she pushed herself back to her feet, refusing to bow.
"Who are you?" she demanded, gripping Minazuki's sealed blade tightly.
The eyes narrowed.
"Oh? You truly don't remember?"
The hollow's mocking tone echoed across the wasteland.
"How disappointing. And yet… not surprising."
The eyes pulsed with killing intent.
"I am the reason you were feared as a demoness. I am the wrath behind your blade. I am the bloodlust you never acknowledged… the shadow that grew inside you as you slaughtered countless souls."
The eyes glowed brighter.
"You rampaged for centuries using my name, unaware of my presence… unaware of who you truly were."
A low chuckle rolled like thunder.
"What a naïve, pathetic woman you are."
Retsu's grip tightened.
Even facing a monstrous entity—one that carried the weight of her past sins—she did not falter.
She raised her chin, eyes sharp as a blade.
"Listen well," she said clearly. "The woman I was—Yachiru Unohana—is not who I am today. I exist now for one purpose alone: to protect the one I love. My young master is my reason. My path."
She took a step forward, reiatsu crackling around her.
"So I will ask you again… Who. Are. You?"
The yellow eyes widened slightly… then burst apart in a violent shockwave.
The entire desert quaked.
Red reiatsu rushed together like rivers converging, twisting and collapsing inward. The massive storm of spiritual pressure compressed itself—tighter, smaller, sharper—condensing into the shape of a humanoid figure.
Dark crimson energy tore violently through the air, spiraling and weaving itself into the shape of a woman. Retsu stared as limbs formed one by one—
Feet.
Legs.
Waist.
Torso.
Arms.
Neck.
And then—
The figure's clothing materialized, layer by layer.
It resembled Retsu's black kimono…
but the haori was completely different.
A deep crimson haori, dyed the color of fresh blood, draped over the figure's shoulders. Black flame-like patterns licked up the hem as though hungry to consume everything they touched. The garment radiated killing intent—alive, predatory, almost sentient.
Then Retsu saw the creature's head.
Fox-like ears—tall, sharp, and covered with dark fur—stood where human ears should be. They twitched slightly, reacting to the flow of spiritual pressure as though savoring it.
Her hair was impossibly long—reaching the ground, then flowing across it like a shadow-colored river. The strands drifted weightlessly in the air, lifted by the sheer intensity of her reiatsu.
And behind her…
Ten enormous tails unfurled like dark banners of death.
Each tail swayed lazily, the power in them enough to crush lesser souls outright. They looked nothing like the soft, fluffy tails of a kitsune—but like segmented spears of living violence.
This was not an angel.
This was not a Shinigami.
This was something closer to a demon goddess.
But the most disturbing aspect was her face.
A sinister Inari Kitsune mask covered her features.
Red tribal markings curled around the eye slits, perfectly symmetrical. Two inverted magatama symbols rested between the eyes, and a flame-like emblem sat above each brow.
The mask's palette—violent reds and void-like blacks—created a mesmerizing, terrifying contrast. Black trails dripped down from the upper corners like dried ink until they reached the lower ear edges.
And then—
Two red straps tied the mask in place.
Straps adorned with tiny yellow bells.
But those straps were not fabric.
They were blood.
Solidified, crystallized, unholy blood.
Even breathing near the figure felt dangerous.
Retsu lifted her Zanpakutō instinctively, every muscle coiled and trembling—not out of fear… but out of primal recognition of overwhelming power.
Two glowing yellow eyes stared at her from behind the mask with lethal intent.
Eyes that radiated an ancient, predatory hunger she had never felt before.
"It is nice to see you again… Unohana Retsu."
The voice was smooth. Feminine. Refined.
Yet dripping with malice.
Retsu's grip tightened.
She said nothing.
She simply braced herself.
This… this impossibly powerful thing…
had entered her inner world?
Was this truly the Hollow she was meant to face?
No.
This was not a Hollow.
This was a monster.
The figure stepped forward, tails swaying hypnotically.
"Don't tell me you're frightened already," she purred. "Maybe this will ease your fear."
Slowly—so slowly it felt like a ritual—the figure reached up and removed her mask.
Retsu felt her breath stop.
Because beneath that demonic visage…
was her.
Her own face.
Her own features.
Her own beauty twisted into cruelty.
It was like staring at a mirror possessed by malice.
Retsu staggered back, unable to hide her shock.
"You… you're me?"
The woman laughed—a low, delighted sound.
"Hmmm… look at you. After a thousand long years, you're finally seeing me for the first time. And you didn't even know I lived inside you this whole time? How adorable."
Then, with deliberate slowness, the figure pulled apart the front of her kimono—
Revealing a jagged, horrific scar along her cleavage.
Retsu froze.
She knew that wound.
Yun Che had described it to her.
The wound inflicted by Zaraki Kenpachi.
The wound she bore until death.
The wound that defined her existence as Kenpachi.
In this new life, that scar had vanished—washed away when she was reborn as Retsu.
But now—
Here it was.
Alive.
Real.
In front of her.
A painful reminder of everything she used to be.
Everything she abandoned.
And the past stared back at her…
with ten twisting tails
and a demon's smile.
"I am your true self," the figure declared, her voice echoing across the dead desert. "I am the one who forged you into the legend you once were… the side of you that carved fear into Soul Society. I am the part you abandoned. The part you refuse to acknowledge."
Her ten tails unfurled behind her like wings of a demon queen as she spread her arms.
"I am you.
The other you.
Unohana Yachiru."
A wave of murderous reiatsu exploded outward, forcing the sand into a swirling cyclone around them.
Retsu's breath caught.
"This… impossible. No… I don't know what you're talking about." Her voice trembled as she took a half-step back. "I left that behind. I am not a Kenpachi anymore."
Yachiru chuckled—slow, mocking, venomous.
"Denial."
Her voice dripped with amusement.
With a flick of her fingers, she gathered the reishi around her, compressing it until it hardened into a long, jagged blood-red sword. She swung it experimentally, the air screaming with each arc.
"You think that by hiding behind the name 'Retsu' you can erase a millennium of slaughter?"
Retsu barely had time to raise Minazuki before Yachiru flashed forward—
CLANG!
The blood sword smashed down, forcing Retsu onto one knee from the sheer pressure. The impact cracked the ground like a meteor strike.
Yachiru laughed again, the sound echoing through the desert like the shriek of a banshee.
"You truly are stupid," she snarled. "You were born different—one of the rarest souls ever produced in that world. Your bloodlust was absolute. Your killing intent surpassed captains. Your demonic aura drowned entire districts."
She pushed forward, forcing Retsu to slide back across the sand.
"For over a thousand years, you built mountains of corpses… and enjoyed every second. That pleasure, that madness, that hunger—those emotions birthed me."
Retsu's eyes widened as the truth struck like a blade.
Yachiru continued, voice darkening.
"You balanced me and your gentle side once. You controlled me. You kept me hidden. Untouched."
Her smile twisted into something feral.
"But after you died—after you surrendered the Kenpachi title—you weakened. Became pathetic. Soft. That softness disgusts me."
Crimson energy surged through her sword, making it crackle like lightning.
"And now, thanks to that poor fox spirit whose soul entered your body—"
She gestured at her own ears and tails.
"I devoured it. Every last scrap."
Her tails snapped like whips behind her, shaking the very air.
"The Ten-Tailed Demon Fox," she purred. "Such delicious power. Now it belongs to me. A power of my own."
Her grin widened, sharp and merciless.
"And I will use it to consume you whole."
She raised her hand. A sphere of condensed crimson energy formed—unstable and humming with lethal power—and hurled it at Retsu.
Retsu dodged—
BOOOOOOM—!
The explosion swallowed half the desert. Shockwaves hurled her across the dunes, ripping her haori and shredding her clothes. She skidded violently and collapsed, coughing sand from her lungs.
Pain shot through her body.
She pushed herself upright with Minazuki as a crutch, blood dripping down her lip.
She wasn't strong enough.
Not physically.
Not in reiatsu.
Not yet.
But she stood.
Yachiru hovered above her, a towering shadow framed by ten writhing tails. Crimson energy pulsed around her like a demonic halo.
"Ara… still alive?" Yachiru taunted. "Persistent, aren't you?"
Her mocking smile widened.
"Good. It wouldn't be any fun if you died too quickly."
Retsu wiped the blood from her cheek.
Her body trembled.
Her breathing was rough.
Her reiatsu flickered.
But her eyes… burned with resolve.
She faced the demon borne from her sins.
Her past.
Her darkness.
Her other self.
Because she knew—
If she ran here, she would never stand beside Yuuki again.
And so she raised her blade, glaring back at the ten-tailed demon with unyielding determination.
The battle for her soul had only just begun.
"Even if I was that vile…" Retsu inhaled slowly, forcing her battered body upright. "I have been reborn. I have a new life. And it no longer matters whether you are my inner Hollow or the remnant of a demon fox."
Her reiatsu pulsed, soft yet resolute.
"I will subdue you—and I will control your power."
With a single step, she inhaled the spiritual air of her inner world, channeling healing kido into her body. Her wounds began stitching themselves together, albeit slowly.
Yachiru tilted her head, amused.
"Let's see if you're capable of that."
She vanished.
A streak of red.
Then—
BOOM—!
A blood sword slashed down from above. Retsu barely raised Minazuki in time, the impact shaking her arms violently. Yachiru attacked without mercy, a whirlwind of claws, tails, steel, and killing intent. She toyed with Retsu—just like she always toyed with her preys a thousand years ago.
Retsu retreated, deflecting blow after blow. Healing. Breathing. Surviving.
But Yachiru was relentless.
"Hand over your body," the Hollow snarled. "Now."
"I refuse!" Retsu roared back. "Yuuki-san is waiting for me. I won't lose here!"
Yachiru scoffed.
"Then I'll just kill you."
They clashed again—sand exploding beneath their feet.
Retsu staggered from the impact, but her voice steadied.
"Why? Why do you despise me so much?"
Yachiru's blade halted mid-air. Her yellow eyes narrowed.
"Zaraki Kenpachi," she hissed. "Remember him? Of course you don't."
Retsu froze. The name meant nothing… but the emotion behind it sent chills down her spine.
"Hmph," Yachiru sneered. "Back then, you never bowed to anyone. You carved your name in blood. You were fear incarnate. You were Kenpachi."
She stepped forward, the sand cracking under her power.
"But you lost—once. A simple match. That idiot boy wounded you, and suddenly you grew soft."
Retsu's heart pounded.
Yachiru's voice sharpened.
"Thousands of years of slaughter—ruined because you wanted a 'fair fight.' And then? You died by his hand. Pathetic."
Retsu flinched as if stabbed.
"When you reincarnated," Yachiru continued, "you lost your bloodlust. Your edge. If you still had it, you would RULE this world. This entire continent would bow."
Yachiru's tails erupted in crimson flames.
"That is why I despise you."
She swung.
A monstrous crescent of reiatsu tore through the desert—
and Retsu was hurled across the landscape like a ragdoll.
CRAAAAAASH!
She slammed into a jagged mountain, shattering it into rubble. Blood dripped down her forehead as she forced herself to crawl out of the debris.
Again, she pressed a hand to her wound—healing herself through trembling breaths.
Again, she rose.
Yachiru hovered above, sneering.
"You use healing… while I use carnage. How fitting."
Retsu glared up at her through blood and sweat.
She launched forward.
One step—
Two—
Three—
But compared to Yachiru's centuries of killing mastery, she was a novice sparring against her own past perfection.
Blow after blow shredded her defenses.
Every strike told a story Retsu didn't remember—
but Yachiru did.
All too well.
Then Yachiru sighed.
"Fine. I've played enough."
Her reiatsu erupted.
A massive fox-shaped arm—pure red energy—formed behind her. It stretched outward, twisting in the air like a monstrous limb.
Before Retsu could dodge—
WHOMP—!
The fox arm snatched her, lifting her helplessly into the air. Retsu struggled, but the crushing spiritual force pinned her limbs as if trapped in a demon's fist.
Yachiru pulled her close, face-to-face.
Her yellow eyes glowed with insane delight.
"When I kill you…" she whispered, voice like venom, "I'll kill your precious young master next."
Retsu froze.
"And that red-haired friend of yours," Yachiru added. "I'll hunt her down too."
Her grin widened into something feral.
"Then I will take your body—
and I will reign over this world."
The ten tails flared behind her like a crown of annihilation.
Retsu could feel her soul trembling.
But deep inside her chest—
beneath the crushing pressure, beneath the fear—
a spark ignited.
Because the moment Yachiru threatened Yuuki…
A different kind of power stirred.
Retsu suddenly fell silent.
So silent that even the raging winds of the inner world seemed to stop.
Yachiru's smug grin faltered.
Something… was wrong.
She felt it before she saw it—a surge of power so ancient, so primal, so absolute that even she instinctively recoiled.
Retsu's body began to glow.
Her right eye blazed crimson, swirling with violent ferocity.
Her left eye flooded with blue, calm and cold as the depths of the ocean.
Yachiru's face twisted in surprise.
"What—?"
She tried to tighten the giant reiatsu fox-arm around Retsu—
But the arm began to crumble.
Its crimson energy disintegrated like ashes in the wind…
burned away by an aura Yachiru had never felt before.
Her grip broke completely.
Retsu dropped gracefully to the ground, landing on her feet—and the earth shattered beneath her from the pressure she unleashed.
A chime echoed across the inner world.
====================
[Ding… Activating Spirit of Yin and Yang.]
====================
A divine warmth surged through Retsu's veins as an ancient power—one sealed within her since birth—finally awakened.
She felt memories she didn't possess.
She felt instincts she never learned.
She felt a legacy she never realized existed.
Yin and Yang.
Light and Dark.
Good and Evil.
Day and Night.
Two opposing forces—two polar extremes—
flowed into her simultaneously.
A myth whispered in Soul Society resurfaced:
"There exists a soul born with reiryoku of dual nature—
a being who carries both salvation and annihilation."
A soul capable of balancing karma itself.
Retsu was that soul.
Her Yang—her violent, destructive side—had developed for a millennium…
until it was shattered in her final defeat.
Her Yin—her calm, healing side—had begun to grow afterward…
but died incomplete.
The cycle halted.
Until now.
Blue aura erupted around her—
not gentle like healing kido,
but fierce like frozen waves, purging corruption.
It washed over Yachiru's reiatsu arm, burning it away molecule by molecule.
Yachiru jerked back, truly alarmed.
"You—! This power—!"
But before she could react—
The sky turned crimson.
The swirling monster cloud above them convulsed violently, screaming with ancient reiatsu. It spun into a colossal vortex—a tornado of blood-red energy—ripping the desert apart.
It wasn't attacking.
It was responding.
Crimson reiryoku—the twisted Yang she once wielded in life—
flooded toward Retsu like a tidal wave.
"This is—"
Yachiru froze.
It was her original killing aura.
Her true Kenpachi energy.
The vile, destructive force that slaughtered entire districts.
That power now flowed into Retsu—
Alongside the calm, soothing Yin energy.
Side by side.
Not clashing.
Not devouring each other.
Fusing.
Becoming a single, unified current.
"The two sides…" Yachiru whispered, pupils trembling.
"Two sides of the same coin… merging?"
Retsu lifted her head, breath steady, eyes glowing red and blue.
A new presence began to form at Retsu's side.
The swirling energies pulled together like fabric weaving itself into flesh.
A thin, humanoid figure emerged—
wrapped entirely in bandages from head to toe,
its form hidden beneath a long, tattered light-green hood.
The hood's hollow opening was pitch black—
so deep, so endless—
it felt like staring into the void between worlds.
The figure's presence twisted the air.
It radiated perfect balance.
Not evil.
Not good.
Neutrality incarnate.
Yachiru stepped back instinctively.
"Impossible… You…" she whispered, voice trembling.
"Unohana Retsu…
I never knew…"
Her eyes widened, sharp yellow irises trembling.
And the bandaged entity slowly turned its faceless void toward Yachiru—
Releasing a pressure that made even the ten-tailed demon fox hollowtake a step back.
"You…"
Yachiru's voice shook—not with fear, but with pure disbelief.
Minazuki, their shared Zanpakutō, had made its choice.
It stood beside Retsu.
Not her.
Not the demon fox.
Not the hollow born from centuries of slaughter.
But the woman who had embraced a new life.
"The Zanpakutō chooses its master…" Yachiru whispered. "And it chose you."
"Minazuki…" Retsu breathed, rising slowly to her feet.
Yin's blue light and Yang's crimson fury spun around her, merging into a spiraling cyclone that tore apart the remaining desert. The air trembled. The earth cracked. Her braided hair unraveled, each strand floating weightlessly as her reiatsu formed a violent storm.
Then she opened her eyes.
One pupil glowed blood-red.
The other shimmered icy blue.
They burned with a resolve so fierce, so absolute, the whole inner world bowed beneath it.
"You can kill me…" Retsu said softly.
"You can humiliate me… torture me… break every bone in my body…"
The ground beneath her began to fracture and bleed, the once-calm desert shifting into a grotesque red landscape, pulsing with demonic energy.
"But you…"
Her voice dropped to a deadly whisper.
"…will never touch him."
A black-red vortex enveloped Minazuki, reshaping its form. The healing creature turned into a weapon of pure, merciless execution. Retsu gripped the hilt, drawing the blade toward her palm and running her hand down its length.
Blood spilled over the steel.
Her voice deepened—ancient, commanding, terrifyingly calm.
"Bankai…"
The sword melted, reshaped, and solidified.A short, blood-dripping blade appeared—dark as pitch, lined with crimson veins that pulsed like a beating heart.
The entire air reeked of iron and death.
"Minazuki: All Things End."
Yachiru's eyes widened, then curved into a delighted smile.
"She's back… My original self is back."
Her tails rippled behind her. "No… this time, she's even stronger."
But there was something new.
Something strange.
Retsu's expression was not twisted by bloodlust.
Not stained with madness.
Not warped with joy for killing.
Her face held only—
Pure.
Unbreakable.
Determination.
Yachiru felt her excitement spike.
"This might be fun!"
She lunged.
Retsu met her halfway.
BOOOOOOM—!!
Their clash erupted like a nuclear explosion, vaporizing entire dunes. Sword met sword—
Bankai vs. Hollow Blade—
and the shockwave shredded the world around them.
Retsu moved differently now.
In the real world, she could barely string three flash-steps together.
But now?
She vanished and reappeared like lightning.
Like she had been flash-stepping for a millennium.
Yachiru grinned as a hit landed, slicing deeply into Retsu's shoulder—
But Retsu didn't flinch.
Not even a twitch.
The Yin-Yang energy flared in her body—
—and her wound closed instantly, without a scar.
This time, Retsu inhaled deeply…
and charged.
They clashed again and again, explosions rocking the inner world until the desert became a wasteland of rubble and blood-tinted sand.
But with every exchange—
Retsu grew stronger.
Yachiru weakened.
And then—
Retsu raised her Bankai with both hands.
Blue and red energy gathered at the tip—
blood, light, night, fire, ice—
everything swirling into one devastating slash.
"SEVER!"
She unleashed it.
A colossal bluish-red blade of energy tore across the landscape, devouring everything in its path. It struck Yachiru directly, consuming her and hurling her into the ground with earth-shattering force.
KRASHOOOOOOM—!!!
The entire inner world shook.
A crater dozens of meters deep opened where Yachiru fell.
Dust settled.
Then—
A figure burst upward from the crater, ragged but smiling, landing before Retsu.
They stood face-to-face.
Blood dripping.
Swords raised.
Eyes burning.
And both—
smiling.
Because at last—
they were fighting as equals.
"It is about time we end this."
Retsu's voice was calm… almost too calm.Her Bankai dripped blood as she pointed the blade directly at the monstrous shadow she once was.
Yachiru stabbed her own sword into the ground, dragging it up to her left side as she shifted into a stance dripping with bloodlust. A wicked smile spread across her lips.
"Indeed," she murmured. "The last one standing… wins."
Silence settled.
For a heartbeat… nothing moved.
Then—
Their reiatsu erupted.
Red and blue energies roared through the inner world, twisting the sky, shattering the earth, blowing apart dunes in all directions. Retsu and Yachiru shot forward like two meteors colliding, blades aimed to kill.
Their swords crossed in a single, perfect line—
BOOOOOOOOM—!!!
A sun exploded between them.
Crimson and azure energy spiraled outward in a massive sphere, expanding, devouring the desert, shredding everything to dust. The very fabric of the inner world trembled, ripping open cracks of raw spiritual void under the force of their clash.
The explosion lasted seconds.
Minutes.
Or maybe only an instant.
Time lost meaning.
When the violent light finally faded, the desert was gone—
replaced by a colossal crater thousands of meters wide.
At its center stood two silhouettes—
Retsu and Yachiru—
their swords locked in the final struggle.
Neither moved.
Neither blinked.
Then—
CRACK.
A sharp sound echoed through the crater.
Yachiru's eyes widened as a single fracture ran down the length of her blade.
Another.
Another.
SNAP—!!
Her sword broke cleanly in half.
The top half fell to the ground, embedding itself into the sand with a dull clang.
And with that—
Yachiru dropped to her knees.
The fight had drained the very core of her being. Her fox tails sagged, flickering weakly. Her demonic armor cracked and faded. But her smile… her smile was bright, proud, almost joyful.
Retsu raised her Bankai blade and brought the tip to Yachiru's throat.
The command was silent.
Yield.
Yachiru understood instantly.
She let her remaining half-blade fall from her hand, the remnant of her weapon clattering uselessly onto the ground.
"It was a brilliant fight," she said softly, breath uneven. "You regained your former glory… no…" She chuckled. "…you surpassed it. This time you became even greater than who I used to be."
Yachiru closed her eyes, completely exposing her throat to the blade.She accepted her defeat without resistance—because she knew the truth:
Retsu had surpassed what she could not.
Retsu held power without collapsing into bloodlust.
Retsu carried strength without losing herself.
Retsu was… better.
And so, she whispered with unwavering calm:
"Now do what you must."
Her voice held no trembling. No bitterness.
Only acceptance.
"Finish me."
She waited for the killing blow.
Waited for her own end.
Waited for the steel to slide across her skin.
But instead—
She felt something warm. Soft.
Something wrapping around her, not in violence, but in… comfort.
"H… huh?"
Her eyes snapped open.
Retsu wasn't killing her.
Retsu was hugging her.
Arms wrapped tightly around Yachiru's shaking form, holding her close with a tenderness the demon fox had never felt in her entire existence—past or present.
Retsu whispered, her voice trembling with conviction:
"I know you hate me for losing in the past. Maybe you were right… I was weak. I fought only for myself and my title. I followed orders without understanding my own path. But now I have a purpose. A real purpose."
She held Yachiru tighter.
"I have a new life—and I have my young master. He told me that when power is used to protect, an even greater strength awakens. That is the path I want. I won't end you… because you are part of me. My shadow. My other half. My twin sister. My true self."
Yachiru stiffened—shocked, speechless.
She had wanted to crush Retsu's spirit.
Wanted to force her into madness.
Wanted to drag her back into the slaughter she once ruled.
Yet here… Retsu held her with kindness so overwhelming that her hatred cracked.
"You…" Yachiru whispered, unable to meet her eyes. "You even call me sister… after everything I said?"
Retsu smiled—innocent, warm, radiating a gentleness that felt foreign yet comforting to Yachiru.
"That goes without saying."
Her Bankai dissolved in a slow cascade of crimson particles.
The bloody landscape of slaughter rippled—
and transformed back into the serene healing world Retsu once knew.
She took Yachiru's hands, lifting her carefully to her feet.
"I won't cast away who I used to be," Retsu said softly. "That includes you."
Yachiru's breath caught in her throat.
"I am Yachiru… and I am Retsu.
I won't run from either side anymore."
Retsu's eyes glowed with the balance of Yin and Yang—
a harmony even Yachiru never achieved.
"I will become the strongest again—not for pride, not for a title, not for slaughter…"
She stepped forward, pressing her forehead gently to Yachiru's.
"…but to protect the people I love."
Then she extended her hand—
not in dominance, not in control—
but in partnership.
A request.
A bond.
"I'm asking you," Retsu said with a gentle smile, "to fight with me."
Yachiru's expression softened—really softened—for the first time since she manifested. With a small, almost elegant bow of her head, she returned Retsu's smile.
"Then I am more than willing to serve you again… Sister."
The title carried no mockery this time.
No disdain.
Only respect—
and acceptance.
She had finally realized it:
She could not change Retsu.
But Retsu had changed herself—into something even they had never been before.
A better version.
A balanced version.
A version both halves could finally coexist within.
Yachiru exhaled lightly, as though letting go of centuries of resentment.
"To tell you the truth…" she said, brushing off sand from her kimono, "the power I used earlier wasn't my full strength. Had I unleashed everything from the very beginning, your body would've exploded instantly." She shrugged, as if speaking of the weather. "And then I'd have died along with you. Not ideal."
Retsu's eyes widened.
"So… you were holding back?"
Yachiru gave a small, amused smirk.
"Hmmm. I was restoring you… not destroying you. I used only the portion of my power that your body could withstand. I expected to defeat you and take over—but you surprised me. You surpassed even what I believed possible."
She raised her hand—
and reiryoku swirled between her fingers.
A mask began forming over Retsu's face.
It wasn't the same as Yachiru's full Inari Hollow Kitsune mask.
This one was a half-hollow mask, beautifully carved from white bone streaked with black and crimson.
Two solidified blood threads tied it behind her head, each ending with a small bell—softly chiming with the inner world's wind.
The mask covered her eyes and nose, leaving her mouth visible.
Instantly, fox-like ears sprouted from Retsu's head, twitching once as her senses sharpened.
A swaying tail of spiritual energy unfurled behind her—
A Visored.
A Hollow.
A Shinigami.
A perfect fusion.
"This mask," Yachiru explained gently, "lets you borrow only a single tail's worth of my power. For now, your cultivation and physical body can't withstand anything more." Her smile turned proud. "Even so, this half-mask lets you exceed your realm by anentire level. The full mask will be two. You will grow another tail when that happens."
Retsu touched the mask lightly, feeling its weight—
feeling the connection to Yachiru through it.
"Yachiru, I—"
She wanted to thank her.
"Save it."
Yachiru stepped behind her, voice losing its arrogance and turning strangely warm.
"So long as you live, I'll always support you."
Then Yachiru hesitated—rare for her—and spoke with surprising gentleness.
"If you want… I can return your memories. All of them. Your entire previous life."
Her voice echoed across the desert.
"You would regain your mastery of Kido, your martial arts, your thousand years of swordsmanship. You would be the true Kenpachi again."
Retsu froze.
Memories.
Power.
Identity.
Everything she once was—everything terrifying, everything awe-inspiring—was within her reach.
But so were the new bonds she had created in this life.
Her innocence.
Her warmth.
Her love.
She thought of Yuuki—
and her decision crystallized.
Calmly, with a serene smile, Retsu shook her head.
"I don't need them," she whispered. "I have a new life now, and I wish to fill it with new memories—my own memories. With my loved ones. With you." She reached out and gently touched Yachiru's cheek. "You will be Yachiru Unohana—my strength, my partner, my shadow. And I… I wish to live as Retsu Unohana."
She smiled softly.
"I don't want to lose my new feelings for Yuuki-san. I wish to start over as Retsu. Just normal Retsu."
Yachiru stared at her for a long, silent heartbeat.
Then she sighed—
not in exasperation, but in acceptance.
"…As expected of my sister."
And for the first time in their shared existence—
they both smiled the same smile.
"I see… For him, you're willing to let go of who you were."
Yachiru's lips curled into a sly, fox-like smile. Her ears perked up mischievously.
"And focus on becoming who you are."
Before Retsu could process the softness of the moment—
SMACK.
"Ee–Eeep!"
Retsu jolted, jumping in place as Yachiru's palm connected sharply with her rear.
Yachiru put her hands on her hips, grinning like a troublemaking older sister.
"If you love him that much, you should start doing something about it. You're willing to share him—good girl—but you should at least show him who the main wife is."
Retsu's entire face turned crimson.
"I–I… I only hug him… and talk to him… anything more is…"
Her voice shrank to a whisper as she stared at the ground, twirling her fingers like a shy maiden.
Yachiru sighed dramatically.
"Mouu. Look at these."
She suddenly reached forward, grabbing Retsu's breasts from behind.
"HYAH—!"
Retsu squealed, face going tomato-red as her entire body stiffened.
"These are weapons, Retsu. Weapons. Not decorations."
Yachiru gave them an extra squeeze just to bully her.
Retsu's brain promptly short-circuited.
Letting go, Yachiru chuckled.
"She's hopeless… completely hopeless."
She leaned in close, lips brushing Retsu's ear like a whispering devil.
"If you don't make a move… I'll make one for you."
Her voice dripped with sinful glee.
"I can even bed him for you~~~~"
Retsu's soul briefly departed her body.
"No—no! Young master Yuuki is— is… mine to… to…"
Her voice shrank.
"...mine to b–bed…"
Yachiru grinned like a fox who'd found a delicious new toy.
"Retsu. Our minds and senses are linked."
She tapped her own temple.
"I learn what you learn. I feel what you feel. If you love him, then I love him too. Which means—"
Her tone turned wicked.
"—when you mate with him…"
Retsu's ears turned red.
Her fox tail froze mid-swish.
"...he'll be mating with both ofus."
Retsu made a small squeaking noise.
Yachiru's grin widened internally.
She's too fun to tease. The angelic demon is shy about mating—how adorable.
"Now run along," Yachiru said, giving Retsu's rear one last decisive tap.
"Ah—!"
Retsu jumped again, her fox ears flicking upright and her tail swishing uncontrollably—
excited
embarrassed
and very, very flustered.
"Go to him," Yachiru said with a teasing purr.
"Make sure Yuuki-san gets to enjoy… all of this."
Retsu covered her burning face with both hands—
But she didn't deny it.
"Before you go," Yachiru added with a sly curl of her lips, "if you do manage to mate with him… we can tag in and out. Take turns."
Retsu froze.
Her entire brain crashed.
"W–W–W–WHAT?!"
But before she could even form a proper scream, Yachiru's body dissolved into crimson mist, vanishing from sight.
"YACHIRU!? WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?! COME BACK HERE—!"Retsu shouted into the void of her inner world, fox ears fully erect in panic while her tail fluffed up to twice its size.
Only silence answered her.
…Until, far off in the distance—on the far edge of the inner world's horizon—
a silhouette reappeared.
Yachiru stood on a jagged cliff of red stone, the wind whipping through her long hair and ten dark tails. Her Inari mask dangled from her hand as she stared toward Retsu with a predatory smile.
"That girl and her young master…"
Her voice echoed hauntingly through the suddenly-still desert.
"…will bow the whole universe one day."
The wind shifted—carrying her voice through the hollow sky, sultry and amused.
"Who knows how many little vixens will flock to his side?"
A gleam of wicked delight entered her eyes.
"I'm looking forward to meeting you in person, Yuuki-san."
She licked her lips slowly, deliberately.
"You'd better watch out."
Her tails spread behind her like a demonic halo.
"Mama likes her prey fresh."
With that final sinful whisper, she vanished into crimson light—
leaving Retsu alone, flustered, overwhelmed, and burning red from ear to tail.