Somewhere in Hell.
Dense black water droplets floated in the air.
In the area where the black droplets were most concentrated, there was a humanoid mass of flesh.
These floating black water droplets were all Hell's spiritual particles.
And the humanoid flesh within was a person who had fallen into Hell and was being reborn.
Each time a new sinner or a being of captain-level or higher fell into Hell, a large amount of Hell's spiritual particles would gather to reconstruct a spiritual body for them.
Whenever this happened, the gathered spiritual particles would attract many creatures from Hell.
To the creatures of Hell, these spiritual particles were a miracle cure that could repair their spiritual bodies.
Normally, it was very difficult to find a place in Hell where a large amount of these spiritual particles were gathered.
But if a soul fell into Hell for the first time and was reborn, a large amount of spiritual particles would gather, presenting a rare opportunity to collect them.
The nearby Hell creatures flocked to the floating spiritual particles.
At the same time, the humanoid mass of flesh in the air was growing rapidly.
The spiritual particles adhering to the flesh sizzled, as if strong acid was being poured on it.
A moment later, the mass of flesh grew into the form of Tetsuya Miyanomoto.
Tetsuya Miyanomoto was reborn in Hell.
However, the current Tetsuya was different from the one Sora had seen in the World of the Living.
He had a huge bone ring behind his back, and his body was covered in chain-like tattoos.
"So this is Hell?" Tetsuya Miyanomoto moved his neck, feeling no discomfort.
"Even my Zanpakutō was reconstructed... but since it's part of my soul, it falling into Hell with me isn't hard to understand." He drew the Zanpakutō from his waist.
Tetsuya Miyanomoto was not ignorant about Hell. He raised his hand, and the surrounding spiritual particles quickly gathered towards him.
These spiritual particles were very important to the inhabitants of Hell, and Tetsuya had no intention of wasting the remnants.
However, this action angered the other Hell creatures that had gathered.
The Hell creatures roared and charged, wanting to snatch the spiritual particles from Tetsuya's hand.
"This is a good chance to test if my strength has been affected."
Tetsuya Miyanomoto's Zanpakutō disappeared, turning into numerous tree branches.
Growing on these branches were not leaves, but small-finger-sized clusters of bacterial spores.
"Become nutrients for 'Akuryū'!" Tetsuya Miyanomoto waved his hand.
The bacterial spore clusters quickly detached and spread through the air.
The charging Hell creatures inevitably came into contact with the spreading spores.
The bodies of the Hell creatures changed rapidly.
Countless cracks appeared on their bodies, and dense tumors grew out.
Furthermore, the tumors on their bodies were growing at a rapid pace.
Soon, the tumors on the Hell creatures grew to the size of basketballs.
Splat! Splat!
The basketball-sized tumors burst open one after another.
From within the tumors, countless bacterial spores scattered like dandelions breaking from their stems.
The number of gathered Hell creatures was not small. With them as nutrients, the spreading speed of the spores became faster and faster.
Some of the more intelligent Hell creatures realized something was wrong, but it was too late to escape. They were soon submerged in the sea of spores and disappeared.
In just a few minutes, the area fell into a dead silence.
Only a surging sea of spores remained.
"If it weren't for that shadow space that isolated me... I could have used the Reigai in the lab as nutrients for 'Akuryū'," Tetsuya Miyanomoto thought angrily.
Katori Sora's shadow space ability was a strong counter to him.
If Tetsuya's ability had been allowed to spread, all the Reigai being developed in the laboratory would have become nutrients for 'Akuryū', and it would have been uncertain who would have won.
"A pity... that test subject will definitely be discovered. I can't continue observing it," Tetsuya Miyanomoto felt it was a shame.
The half-human, half-Hollow test subject he had spent a large amount of resources and subjects to create would surely be taken away by the Shinigami. He couldn't continue his research on it.
Now that he was in Hell, it was unrealistic to try to replicate the half-human, half-Hollow test subject.
"However... Hell's spiritual particles seem to be a good research direction," a slight smile formed on Tetsuya Miyanomoto's lips.
He remembered how the half-human, half-Hollow test subject was created.
Since half-human, half-Hollows exist, could it be possible to create a soul imbued with the power of Hell in the same way?
Imbued with the power of Hell meant being able to use its spiritual particles to repair the body and having infinite rebirth as long as the consciousness remained intact.
If it also possessed the characteristics of a human soul, it might be able to travel freely to the World of the Living, or even the Soul Society and Hueco Mundo.
...
Half a year later.
Spiritual Arts Academy office.
"You're applying for early graduation?" Sora looked at the application form Kakyō handed him. "If you apply now, the assessment mission will be quite difficult."
According to the current regulations of the Spiritual Arts Academy, the earlier one applied for early graduation, the higher the assessment requirements.
Ever since the rumor spread that early graduates received preferential treatment in the Gotei 13, many students became eager to apply for early graduation.
With more people competing, the difficulty of the early graduation assessment naturally increased.
Back then, the early graduation mission for Kana Azashiro and the others wasn't actually that difficult.
If not for unexpected incidents, having a seated-officer-level Shinigami like Akane Saitō and a powerful teacher like Katori Sora leading the team was enough to handle most surprises.
But even so, one hundred percent safety could not be guaranteed.
"Yes. I plan to specialize in the path of Kidō, but the Academy has no more Kidō to teach me. My Zanjutsu, Hakuda, and Shunpo skills have reached the standard of a Shinigami squad member. Staying in the Academy any longer would be a waste of time," Kakyō explained. "So I would like to apply for early graduation. Please approve it, Professor."
"Joining the Kidō Corps early is a good idea. Exposure to more types of Kidō will be very helpful for your growth," Sora nodded.
Kakyō was currently in a rather awkward phase.
She had already learned all the basic Kidō taught at the Academy.
She had also learned most of the intermediate-level Kidō that Sora knew.
But she wasn't yet at the level to learn the powerful Kidō that Sora had mastered.
So, Kakyō's Kidō skills had reached a bottleneck.
Joining the Kidō Corps and being exposed to more types of Kidō there was the best way for her to break through this bottleneck.
"I will forward this to Director Kotetsu and have her arrange it. We'll see if there's a suitable graduation assessment mission for you," Sora accepted the form.
The assessment missions involved coordinating with the Gotei 13's mission schedule. The application could only be approved when a suitable mission became available.
...
A few days later, just as Sora was about to rest, he sensed a communication signal from his Hell Butterfly.
At Sora's current level, as long as his spiritual body was not injured, he didn't need to sleep.
It was just a long-held habit that made him not give up on sleeping at night.
Sora stood up and picked up the Hell Butterfly from the table.
An urgent voice immediately came from it: "Katori-kun, my sister's condition has suddenly worsened! Please come and see her!"
Sora quickly recognized the voice as Akane Saitō's and frowned.
Shizuku Saitō's injury was the same as Batsu'unsai Katori's; her spiritual core was damaged.
According to standard Kaidō treatment plans, Shizuku could not be saved.
Therefore, she had agreed to the experimental treatment plan proposed by Katori Sora—
Cultivating a Reigai to replace Shizuku's spiritual core.
However.
Only half a year had passed. Even with the spiritual body growth agent promoting its development, Shizuku's Reigai was far from meeting the standard for a spiritual core replacement.
Replacing it with the Reigai's spiritual core now would not be enough to withstand Shizuku's Spiritual Pressure.
"Akane-san, don't panic. I'll be right there." Sora hung up and immediately set off for the Seireitei.
Shizuku's condition had been stable before, with only a decrease in her strength, so she had not been relieved from duty.
Sora guessed that this relapse was likely due to an accident during one of Shizuku's missions.
Sora moved quickly, soon entering the Seireitei and arriving at the 3rd Division barracks.
The 3rd Division was a bit restless tonight; many Shinigami were gathered in the main hall.
Sora also saw his disciple, Kana Azashiro, in the crowd.
"Professor!" Kana Azashiro trotted over. "Why are you here?"
"Shizuku Saitō is a patient I'm treating. Her sister told me her condition has relapsed, so I came to see," Sora scanned the crowd but didn't see the Saitō sisters. "Do you know what happened?"
"Shizuku went to the World of the Living for a mission and was attacked by a Hollow in the Dangai!" Kana explained to her teacher what she had just found out.
"A Hollow attacked a Shinigami in the Dangai?" Sora frowned. This was a rather rare occurrence.
The Dangai was the passage between the World of the Living and the Soul Society.
Hollows usually traveled between Hueco Mundo and the World of the Living through a Garganta and rarely appeared in the Dangai.
There were barriers set up by Shinigami in the Dangai. If a Hollow appeared there, it meant something was wrong with the barriers.
"Yes, that's what Shizuku said when she came back. She's been taken to the medical room now," Kana said. "We're preparing to investigate the Dangai."
Kana had matured now, and Sora was confident in her strength, but he still reminded her, "A Hollow that can destroy the Dangai barriers is probably not simple. Be careful."
"Don't worry, Professor!" Kana Azashiro waved and led her team out of the hall. "I'm off to my mission!"
Sora entered the corridor and went to the 3rd Division's medical room.
Walking into the medical room, Sora saw the 3rd Division's vice-captain, Chiyari Iba, and the Saitō sisters.
Shizuku Saitō appeared to be unconscious, and Chiyari Iba was treating her with Kaidō.
"Vice-Captain Iba, Akane-san." Seeing that both were completely focused on the unconscious Shizuku, Sora spoke up to get their attention.
"Katori-kun! I'm sorry to disturb your rest so late, but please save Shizuku!" Akane Saitō's expression was frantic. Seeing Katori Sora enter was like seeing a savior.
"Katori-kun, you're here... Her condition is very bad. I was going to send her to the 4th Division, but Akane-san insisted on having you come..." Chiyari Iba said helplessly.
Because the creation of Reigai violated the Central 46's prohibition, Sora's treatment of Shizuku was not made public.
However, although Chiyari Iba didn't know the details, she knew that Katori Sora was proficient in Kaidō, so she didn't stop Akane from calling him over.
"Let me check her condition first." Sora stepped forward to examine Shizuku's injuries.
Shizuku's injuries were severe; it was remarkable that she managed to hold on until she returned to the 3rd Division before collapsing.
But because of this, the injury to her spiritual core had flared up, and the damage had worsened.
Shizuku's situation was now extremely critical.
Fortunately, Sora had spent over a decade by Batsu'unsai Katori's side and had often gotten medicine from Unohana to suppress spiritual core injuries. He was very experienced with this type of damage.
"Miss Shizuku's spiritual core injury has worsened. It must be treated as soon as possible." Sora didn't say much more, wrote a list of medicines, and gave it to Akane Saitō. "Go to the 4th Division and find Captain Unohana directly. Only she has these medicines."
Akane Saitō took the list and ran out.
Chiyari Iba had already finished cleaning the wound, so Sora directly used Kaidō to treat Shizuku.
If the wounds on Shizuku's body were not healed quickly, the damage to her spiritual core would likely continue to worsen.
Sora's Kaidō level was far superior to Chiyari Iba's, and the wound on Shizuku's abdomen was healing rapidly.
Seeing this, Chiyari Iba couldn't help but exclaim, "Katori-kun's Kaidō skills are truly as impressive as they say! Such a severe wound is healing so quickly!"
Only an expert could understand the advanced Kaidō techniques involved. Chiyari Iba's skill was no less than that of a Kaidō instructor at the Academy, and she had just treated Shizuku's wound herself, so she knew the difficulty better than anyone.
If it were up to her, she could only delay Shizuku's death, not heal an injury of this severity.
A dozen minutes later, Shizuku's wound had completely healed.
Akane Saitō also returned with the medicine from Unohana.
"Miss Shizuku's spiritual body is severely depleted. She needs to rest and recover during this time," Sora instructed. "Also, brew these medicines for suppressing the spiritual core into a decoction and have Miss Shizuku drink it as soon as possible."
"I'll go brew the medicine right away." Chiyari Iba took the medicine packet and went out to prepare it.
"Thank you so much!" Akane Saitō bowed deeply.
"I have already promised to treat Miss Shizuku, and I will not go back on my word." Sora paused, and seeing that Chiyari Iba had left the medical room, he revealed the truth. "Akane-san, I hope you are mentally prepared."
Akane Saitō's body trembled slightly, a sense of foreboding filling her heart.
"Please speak, Katori-kun..." Akane Saitō nodded with difficulty.
"The injury Miss Shizuku sustained this time has severely worsened the damage to her spiritual core. Even with Captain Unohana's medicine, it won't be able to suppress it for long..." Sora sighed softly.
"Then... how much time does Shizuku have?" Akane Saitō's voice trembled slightly.
"I'm afraid she won't even last a month," Sora said gravely.
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