After leaving the Eleventh Division, Natsuro did not return to the Fourth. Instead, he went to the First Division to meet with the Head Captain, Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni.
Natsuro reported everything that had happened, how Zaraki Kenpachi had finally awakened his Bankai during their battle.
Upon hearing that Zaraki had managed to achieve Bankai, the Head Captain was genuinely surprised. Even without Bankai, Zaraki's strength had long been enough to qualify him as a captain, and not just any captain, but one of the strongest among the thirteen.
So with Bankai… just how powerful had Zaraki become?
The Head Captain couldn't help but feel a spark of curiosity. But it remained just that, curiosity. His old bones weren't eager for unnecessary excitement anymore.
Natsuro then explained in full detail Zaraki's state after using his Bankai.
Because once he left, if Zaraki ever lost control again, there would likely be only one person in all of Soul Society capable of stopping him, Yamamoto himself.
"So the situation is that serious?"
The old man's expression grew grave. He nodded slowly and decided that Zaraki's Bankai should only be used as an absolute last resort.
"Besides that," Yamamoto said, peering sharply at Natsuro, "I imagine you didn't come all this way just to report on Kenpachi."
Natsuro nodded.
"In my continuous battles with him, I've come to certain realizations. I no longer need to fight him any further. So, I plan to go somewhere quiet for closed-door training. I came here to ask for your permission."
The Head Captain studied him for a long moment. To tell the truth, he could no longer see through Natsuro's depth at all.
But that didn't surprise him. Natsuro was young, so young that even among the centuries-old prodigies of the Gotei 13, he was a being apart.
If Tōshirō Hitsugaya was a "once-in-a-century genius," then Natsuro was a "once-in-a-millennium" one. That was the difference in magnitude.
"Very well. I approve," Yamamoto said at last. "I'll announce your retreat formally during the next captains' meeting."
After all, he knew perfectly well that Natsuro rarely involved himself in daily division duties anyway.
"No need to trouble the others," Natsuro replied. "I've already informed Captain Unohana."
Yamamoto nodded again.
"Then, I'll be taking my leave." Without lingering further, Natsuro turned and departed, his task done.
The Head Captain watched his back as he left, lost in thought.
Natsuro made his way back toward the Fourth Division. Truthfully, he had considered challenging Yamamoto to a duel, but then again, the man was ancient. Would picking a fight with an old warrior really be appropriate?
Besides, he had no wish to expose his abilities to Yamamoto. The Head Captain's indulgent attitude toward Central 46 made him uneasy.
When he arrived at his small courtyard, he sensed no trace of Unohana's spiritual pressure, something that surprised him.
"Still in Muken?" he wondered.
He thought about it for a moment, then decided not to proceed with his next step just yet. Better to wait until she returned, he wanted to say goodbye properly.
He looked around the courtyard at the flowers and plants, unbothered. Unohana had been the one caring for them, after all.
After a long while, he heard the soft creak of the gate opening.
"Yo, finally decided to come back?" Natsuro teased as he saw her enter.
"You're leaving already?" Unohana ignored the jest and asked quietly.
"Yeah." Natsuro nodded.
"Then I wish you a safe journey," she said. "I hope you succeed in your breakthrough."
She knew nothing she said would change his mind, so she didn't try.
"I'll succeed for sure. Until next time, Captain."
Natsuro glanced at her once more.He had waited specifically for this farewell, but now that the moment came, there really wasn't much to say.
Unohana nodded silently, and he turned to go. This time, he didn't use spatial teleportation, he walked toward the great gates of Seireitei, so that the guards would witness his departure.
Unohana watched his back as he left. Then, with a faint shake of her head, she picked up her watering can and began tending the garden again.
Truth be told, after all Natsuro had done for her, Unohana had entertained many thoughts, including the possibility that perhaps… he liked her.
But a woman who had lived over a thousand years wasn't about to turn into some flustered maiden filled with romantic fantasies.
Still… if that had been the case, she wouldn't have minded giving it a try.
Yet clearly, from the way things had unfolded, Natsuro hadn't harbored such thoughts. The timing had been perfect, and yet he'd shown no sign at all.
So Unohana dismissed the notion entirely.
She didn't feel disappointed, just thoughtful.
"Then… what was his reason?" she murmured.
Unohana didn't believe anyone would go so far out of their way to help another person without some deeper motive.
But Natsuro thought differently.
After defeating Unohana, she had shared with him every bit of her swordsmanship without reservation, a gift that had greatly advanced his own growth.
To Unohana, it may have meant little. To Natsuro, it meant a lot.
That was why he didn't want to see her die, why he wanted to help her resolve the burden she'd carried for centuries.
And helping Zaraki Kenpachi benefited him, too. Zaraki was, after all, an excellent opponent.
In a sense, he had helped Unohana, helped Zaraki, and helped himself.
He needed no other justification.
He wasn't the type to compare who had "given more. "That kind of pettiness wasn't his style.
Still, it was natural for the one who had received more to wonder about motives. Even if Natsuro knew what she was thinking, he wouldn't have had an answer.
Outside Seireitei, he moved swiftly through the Rukongai districts, so fast that no one could hope to follow him.
Soon, he arrived at a remote, uninhabited area. There were no Shinigami, no noble eyes watching, he was certain of that.
He raised his hand, and with a shimmer of light, Umbreon, appeared on his shoulder.
"I'll be troubling you again," Natsuro said, rubbing the little creature's head.
He could open space gates himself, but not nearly as stably.
"Gula!"
Umbreon purred and nuzzled into his palm, its call filled with confidence, as if to say, Leave the teleportation to me!
Natsuro chuckled softly. He had to admit, the little creature had been an incredible help.
With that thought, he gave it a playful poke.
Moments later, with Umbreon's assistance, a pitch-black rift opened before him. Natsuro stepped through.
And soon, he emerged into what looked like an enormous library.
"So this is the legendary Great Spirit Book Corridor, huh?" he murmured, glancing around. "Its defensive barriers aren't as impressive as I expected."
Towering bookshelves surrounded him like walls, stretching endlessly into the depths.So many volumes, so many records…
How was one supposed to find a single piece of information among all this?
Natsuro frowned, scanning the rows, until at last he noticed a pattern and stopped before one particular shelf.
He pulled out a book, his own record.
Flipping through it quickly, his brows knit tighter and tighter.
The book documented everything he had done since arriving in Soul Society, every action, every word. It even mentioned his past spatial departure from Soul Society,and now, his arrival here to read the book itself.
And the writing continued, line by line, recording him as he stood there reading.
"So it's true," Natsuro muttered."Everything that happens in Soul Society… is recorded here."
But soon, he noticed something odd.
The Great Spirit Book Corridor only chronicled events, the surface of what occurred.
It didn't record the reasons why.
It seemed that the reason for Natsuro's visit to the Great Spirit Book Corridor hadn't been recorded at all, apparently, that was just how the system worked.
The Corridor could only record the actions and words of Shinigami within the Soul Society, what they did, what they said, but not their thoughts. Unless a Shinigami explicitly voiced their thoughts aloud, those inner motives would never appear in the records.
For example, Natsuro's Meikyō Shisui had its Bankai name listed only because he had spoken it during battle. Thus, the records did indeed note that Natsuro possessed a Bankai.
But that was the extent of it.
There was no mention of the actual ability of Meikyō Shisui's Bankai, nor of the changes that occurred after it had undergone Hollowfication and Arrancar evolution.
Because, outwardly, Meikyō Shisui looked exactly the same as before, no visible change.
"Still… that's troublesome. If someone were to check my file later…" Natsuro rubbed his temple, a little annoyed. But when he glanced around at the endless walls of books filling the corridor, he relaxed slightly.
With this many records, and more being added every day, it was impossible for the Kuchiki clan's archivists who guarded the Corridor to review them all.
So the chances of his file being noticed were actually quite low.
Unless someone from that family was actively monitoring him, and since he had never interacted with them, that seemed unlikely.
After thinking it over, he replaced his own book on the shelf. Then, he turned his attention to the true reason he had come: to verify certain things.
Things Kisuke Urahara had once hinted at the origin of the three worlds, the origin of Zanpakutō, and information about the Soul King.
He also intended to check the personal records of Kisuke Urahara and Aizen Sōsuke.
After a long time browsing, Natsuro finally finished reading what he sought, and his eyes narrowed, his mind churning with shock.
Kisuke's explanation of the Three Realms' creation turned out to be true.
And the origins of Zanpakutō… No, more precisely, the material used to create Asauchi (the blank prototype swords) was actually the souls of Shinigami or ordinary residents!
Even more shocking, to enhance an Asauchi's potential, it wasn't made from a single soul, but from multiple souls merged together into a single, unconscious spiritual core.
He thought about how some members of the Gotei 13 treated the Rukongai residents, as nothing more than expendable resources, tools to maintain the balance of the Three Worlds.
He sighed softly.
Cruel, but true.
Still, Asauchi themselves weren't the worst of it. Few Shinigami ever reached Shikai, and even fewer achieved Bankai. When those who hadn't reached Shikai eventually died, their Asauchi could simply be reclaimed and reused.
So in the grand scheme, the creation of new Asauchi was rare, and the system had become largely self-sustaining.
Natsuro shook his head, there was no point in dwelling on it. This wasn't a world he intended to change. He was only a passerby.
But then he reached the records concerning the Soul King, and that was what truly stunned him.
The legendary being worshipped as the god of Soul Society… had been dismembered and turned into a living stump, sealed inside a crystal, his power forcibly harnessed to maintain the balance of the Three Worlds.
To him, it was absurd beyond belief. He refused to believe that the Soul King had been weak, if he had truly willed it, could the Five Great Noble Houses really have subdued him?
The whole thing reeked of contradiction.
If anyone had dared to do something like that to him, Natsuro thought coldly, he'd have taught them what the word "death" meant firsthand.
The revered "Soul King", reduced to this…
He remembered the old man he'd met when he first arrived in Soul Society, bowing reverently at the mere mention of the King, and now found it almost laughable.
He hadn't expected to uncover anything particularly important, his curiosity had merely led him to look. Yet what he found was far more explosive than he could've imagined. Still… to him, even if the Soul King were already dead, it wouldn't matter much.
As for the records on Kisuke Urahara and Aizen Sōsuke, they were relatively ordinary.
Just as he had deduced earlier, the Great Spirit Book Corridor recorded only what they did and said, not why they did it.
Thus, there was no entry describing the true power of Kyōka Suigetsu, since Aizen had never spoken of it aloud.
Urahara's experiments, on the other hand, were meticulously documented, but they were so technical that even he couldn't make full sense of them.
Beyond that, there wasn't much else of interest.
Once Urahara left for the World of the Living,the records ceased entirely as the Corridor could only forcibly record what happened within Soul Society. It had no jurisdiction over the Human World or Hueco Mundo.
Aizen's record, meanwhile, contained no surprises, except for one recent anomaly.
Lately, Aizen had been secretly opening Garganta gates and repeatedly traveling to the Human World.
"What's Aizen doing in the World of the Living all the time?" Natsuro muttered, puzzled.
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