Swallowed?
Ishikawa looked at the anxious crowd, his brows furrowing slightly: "Who all got swallowed?"
"How would I know? A lot… no, a super lot of people got swallowed."
"Tell me the names of everyone you can recall."
Ishida Soken, who was standing nearby, pondered for a moment and said, "As far as I know, the people swallowed in Rukongai include Utsuki, Sake Lady, Granny Kyoka, Emiri…" Ishida Soken listed names that Ishikawa was extremely familiar with, and with each name he spoke, Ishikawa's expression grew a shade darker.
Because without exception, all these names were present in the system's favorability interface.
"And on the Shinigami side, it's said that many female Squad Members were also swallowed, and even Captain Soi Fon was not spared."
Ishikawa didn't speak but instead shifted his attention to the system interface in his mind.
It hadn't disappeared.
He carefully observed every name Ishida Soken mentioned and found that none of them had dimmed or vanished, which made Ishikawa breathe a sigh of relief.
Because for anyone who underwent reincarnation or died, their names in the favorability interface would dim and then gradually disappear.
In other words…
Those who were swallowed by his Zanpakuto had not died; they were merely trapped within his Zanpakuto's belly.
"Tell me everything that happened after I left, from beginning to end."
After confirming the survival of Soi Fon and the others, Ishikawa immediately calmed down and said in a steady tone, "Tell me everything you saw, and all the feelings you had after seeing it, even a small detail, don't leave anything out."
Ishikawa's calm demeanor helped to ease the tension in everyone's hearts.
After all, the people Ishida Soken had mentioned earlier were all good friends of Ishikawa, and they were truly afraid that Ishikawa would become enraged because of this.
Especially Kin'en and Gin'en, Ishikawa had sent them to temporarily follow Sister Soi Fon, and as a result… Sister Soi Fon was swallowed by that white-haired monster right before their eyes…
"I'll go first."
Ishida Soken was the first to step forward and say, "It first appeared here, about two minutes after you left Soul Society. Suddenly, there were terrified screams from the street outside."
"When we came out, we found your Zanpakuto, which had been missing for several days, chasing Rukongai residents on the street. When it saw us appear, that giant fox immediately turned and attacked us. Just as we were about to fight it, it took advantage of our inattention…"
Ishida Soken paused, his face looking somewhat grim: "…it grabbed Utsuki and swallowed her!"
"And after that, it also tried to capture Himura, but Himura sensed its attack immediately and dodged its grasp. Then we, along with Himura, confronted it together."
"But it didn't clash with us; it was as if it was in a hurry. After realizing it couldn't swallow Himura in a short time, it immediately turned into Reishi and disappeared from the street."
Himura added, "There's also something extremely strange: all the targets it chose were people you were very familiar with, and it seemed to know everyone's exact location, no matter how they tried to hide, they couldn't escape its grasp."
"According to reports from various places, after leaving here, it kept appearing in other areas of the west, searching for targets to swallow."
Kin'en, who had been waiting for a while, spoke quickly after Himura finished: "Gin'en and I encountered it in East 1st District. We were returning to Seireitei at the time, and it suddenly burst out from inside Seireitei and directly swallowed Sister Soi Fon."
Kin'en paused, a hint of fear on his face: "Gin'en and I went to stop it, but it just swatted us away with one paw… The Reiatsu and power it displayed were terrifyingly strong."
Listening to everyone's words, Ishikawa's face showed a thoughtful expression.
From their accounts, his Zanpakuto's targets for swallowing seemed to be female friends who had a positive favorability towards him.
In the entire District 38, almost all women who had a positive favorability towards him were not spared.
The only one who was spared was Himura, standing before him.
But her escape was entirely due to her Captain-level strength…
Hmm?
Ishikawa suddenly looked up at Kin'en and Gin'en: "You just said it burst out from inside Seireitei and directly swallowed Captain Soi Fon. Did Captain Soi Fon not resist?"
"You don't know…"
Kin'en swallowed: "Its speed was just too fast. We only saw a white blur flash by, and then Captain Soi Fon was swallowed. By the time we reacted and tried to stop it, we were just swatted away. Luckily, it wasn't interested in killing us."
Upon hearing this, Ishikawa's expression darkened.
Leaving aside Captain Soi Fon, Kin'en and Gin'en's strength was not weaker than Himura's; as two of the notorious villains alongside Nishijin Ori, though somewhat simple-minded, their strength was considerably greater than Himura's.
Yet, Himura managed to evade capture, while they couldn't even react in time.
Himura couldn't possibly be lying to him.
This indicates…
His Zanpakuto was growing stronger at an inconceivable rate.
The reason it let Himura go might indeed be, as Ishida Soken said, due to being in a hurry, wanting to swallow as many people as possible before he returned.
But…
It could also be because it wasn't strong enough!
When Ishida Soken mentioned Kokumei, he didn't describe its Reiatsu, indicating that Kokumei at that time didn't give him a feeling of being irresistible.
However, Kin'en and Gin'en's accounts heavily emphasized Kokumei's Reiatsu, power, and speed!
But why would it get stronger?
Because it devoured spiritual bodies?
For Hollows, devouring spiritual bodies indeed makes them stronger, but any devoured spiritual body becomes a part of them, meaning the swallowed person would completely die.
But the people swallowed by Kokumei didn't die, yet it could still enhance Kokumei's Reiatsu. This point truly puzzled Ishikawa.
Based on his current understanding of his Zanpakuto, Kokumei possessed the ability to transform into Reishi and to encompass various energies.
But without devouring a person, to encompass them and borrow their power to strengthen itself…
Is that really possible?
Wait!
Encompass?
The word kept surfacing in Ishikawa's mind, and he felt as if he was on the verge of grasping something.
The former Kokumei was a being that came into existence with him when he first arrived in this world, but the new Kokumei was different; it was born because of the system.
But…
The system merely acted as a 'catalyst' in this process; there was no inherent connection between the new Kokumei and the system.
Because what facilitated and comprised the birth of the new Kokumei was not the system, but the dazzling white spots existing within his dull gray spiritual world…
Those star-like dazzling white spots!
Those white spots were the manifestation of all his female friends' favorability towards him. It was these white spots that gave Ishikawa the qualification to destroy the old Kokumei and create a new one.
Therefore, the people most intimately connected with the new Kokumei were precisely those who were swallowed by the new Kokumei after it materialized.
And the system, in this process, played the role of a catalyst. It materialized the favorability of Ishikawa's female friends towards him in the form of white spots. The new Kokumei, composed of the materialized emotions of these people, had already established an intangible connection with every person forming the white spots from the moment of its birth.
If his guess was correct, this should be the reason why Kokumei could strengthen itself by swallowing them.
And precisely because its existence was composed of their emotions, the new Kokumei would absolutely never harm them.
Having figured this out, Ishikawa didn't breathe a sigh of relief about his friends' safety; instead, his scalp tingled.
Because…
He had too many female friends!!!
Among them, there were countless powerful individuals. If the materialized Kokumei gathered all their power… no, not even everyone, just Unohana alone would be enough to make Ishikawa struggle to resist.
From Kin'en and Gin'en's words, Kokumei burst out from inside Seireitei, and over eighty percent of the women in Gotei 13 were acquainted with him.
If…
Ishikawa quickly shook his head.
"Oh, right."
Gin'en seemed to suddenly recall something and said, "Ishikawa, when that monster… no, your Zanpakuto, burst out from inside Seireitei, it seemed to be chased out by someone."
"Chased?"
Ishikawa was startled.
"Ah, yes!"
Kin'en quickly said, "There was indeed a disheveled, curved-sword-wielding crazy old woman with such dense killing intent that it felt like being in a sea of blood, chasing it out… Wow, you haven't experienced that feeling, Boss. Compared to her killing intent, yours is like a fart… Ah… no… it's practically comparable to yours."
A disheveled, curved-sword-wielding crazy old woman?
Ishikawa's mouth twitched slightly. Who said he hadn't experienced it?
It seemed he wasn't the only one who thought Captain Unohana was a crazy old woman; even seasoned villains like Kin'en and Gin'en called her one.
"We didn't get a clear look at her appearance, nor did we dare to… But she seemed to be wearing a white haori, somewhat like a Gotei…"
"That's enough."
Ishikawa looked at the inquiring gazes of the Kucihki siblings beside him and quickly interrupted Kin'en.
However, Unohana's appearance greatly relieved Ishikawa.
This at least indicated that Unohana hadn't been swallowed by it; instead, it was… chased out of Seireitei by Unohana.
To provoke such a strong reaction from Unohana, it was likely that Isane had been swallowed by Kokumei.
He just didn't know how many Shinigami it had swallowed before Isane.
Things got out of hand.
Ishikawa's mouth twitched slightly, and he suddenly realized he seemed to have stirred up a massive hornet's nest…
Leaving aside the Zanpakuto for now, if Unohana realized what happened afterward, he really might be hacked to death by her.
No, he must quickly capture that little rascal!
But where to find it?
Ishikawa had already used his sensory nerves to search the entire western region while listening to everyone's accounts, but he hadn't found any trace of his Zanpakuto.
Unohana was the same.
However, seeing the worried expressions on everyone's faces, Ishikawa suppressed his unease and said with a smile, "Don't worry, those who were swallowed are not in danger."
No danger?
Kin'en and Gin'en looked at Ishikawa suspiciously: "Sister Soi Fon was swallowed right before our eyes, literally swallowed alive."
Ishikawa glanced at the two of them. These two had been reluctant when he first told them to follow Soi Fon, but now, after just a few days, they were already calling her "Sister" one after another.
"Being swallowed doesn't mean death."
Ishikawa shook his head and didn't explain further. Now that Kokumei's whereabouts were unknown…
If it was killed by Unohana, that would naturally be for the best; it wasn't as if it couldn't recover anyway.
But if it escaped, it would be very difficult to find it again.
However…
Even if it escaped, it probably wouldn't go to Seireitei again for a short period.
The reason was simple: Ishikawa was a very quick learner, and his Zanpakuto, being one with him, should be no exception.
At least until it dared to face Unohana, it would absolutely not dare to go to Seireitei again.
But finding it, when it could transform into Reishi, wouldn't be easy. However, he could consult Captain Unohana about this.
Since she could chase Kokumei, it meant that even when it transformed into Reishi, Captain Unohana still had a way to track it, and even force it out of its Reishi state.
Was the Reishi it transformed into different from the surrounding Reishi?
Judging from the fact that Kokumei appeared and caused trouble less than two minutes after he left, it was highly likely that Kokumei had been hiding around the Everything Store during this time.
It's just that he had lost his Reiatsu, so he hadn't noticed it.
But now that he had recovered his Reiatsu, if it were to transform into Reishi in front of him again, he should be able to detect something amiss, just like Unohana.
So, as long as it appeared, tracking it shouldn't be difficult.
The only thing that gave Ishikawa a headache was…
After this incident, Kokumei would only become more cautious until it gained what it considered sufficient strength to contend with him. Finding it again would be a difficult task.
Thinking of this, Ishikawa turned to look at Kuchiki Rukia and Himura.
Meeting his gaze, Himura didn't react much, but Kuchiki Rukia was shielded by Byakuya, staring at Ishikawa with a cold expression, as if she had vaguely guessed Ishikawa's thoughts.
"…"
Ishikawa's mouth twitched slightly:
"Don't look at me like that. I am indeed thinking of using Himura and Rukia as bait to lure my Zanpakuto out." Ishikawa paused, then said in a serious tone, "But whether they act as bait or not, my Zanpakuto will still seek them out."
Upon hearing this, everyone was stunned.
"I should say that all my female friends are its targets. It has a mysterious connection with all my friends, and it can borrow their power by swallowing them."
Ishikawa didn't hide this point, because Kokumei's target was too obvious, so obvious that it didn't even require investigation… This made Ishikawa inwardly curse, 'Can't you just swallow some people I don't know?'
Although Kokumei swallowing people Ishikawa didn't know wouldn't help it at all.
But at least it could provide some cover, couldn't it…
Upon hearing this, everyone's gaze towards Ishikawa immediately became incredibly strange.
Even Ishida Soken couldn't help but sigh inwardly, truly, what kind of master, what kind of Zanpakuto.
"However, you don't need to worry about the safety of those who were swallowed."
Ishikawa met their strange gazes, his mouth twitching as he said, "If the swallowed people die, it will no longer be able to borrow their power. So, those people are merely encompassed within its body; their lives are not in danger."
Upon hearing this, Kuchiki Byakuya couldn't help but look at his adopted sister, his gaze clearly conveying one meaning:
Just break off your friendship with this guy!