Chapter 6: The Embarrassing Battle
By modifying the structure of Hadō #1 — Shō, Mizuma could release its shockwave in a slower, softer manner, turning solid ground—or sand—into a more fluid, malleable state.
The beauty of this technique lay entirely in control.
Those brute types who only used Hadō for blasting enemies would never understand its subtleties.
He vaguely heard Urahara's voice over the communicator, praising the ingenuity of his method, but Mizuma ignored it.
He was too busy tracking the Hollow's reiatsu inside the building while fine-tuning his infiltration path. There was no time for small talk.
Strangely, the Hollow's reiatsu inside the building remained completely still—dull and unresponsive—even as he moved right beneath it.
The longer it stayed quiet, the more uneasy he became.
"…It can't be that simple, right?"
From years of experience watching and reading every trope in the book, Mizuma knew one absolute truth:
The easier a mission looked, the more likely it was to end in disaster.
How many heroes and geniuses had fallen precisely because they thought things were easy?
Maybe this place was filled with hidden traps.
Or maybe that Adjuchas-level reiatsu upstairs had already sensed him and was pretending not to notice.
And also… didn't Captain Kyōraku stick a good-luck charm on him before he left?
It should be fine… probably.
Anyway, this was just a clone. Death wasn't exactly a problem.
Reaching the foundation of the building, Mizuma adjusted the pulse frequency of his shockwaves. Slowly and silently, he shattered the stone and sand into fine dust.
After creating a tunnel into the structure, he compressed his reiatsu to its absolute minimum and leapt upward.
It took him two seconds to process what he saw—and then, completely involuntarily, he muttered one word:
"...Holy—shit."
It was, simply put, a laboratory.
Everywhere stood bulky instruments he didn't recognize—and two full rows of enormous, cylindrical glass tanks.
Well, calling them "tanks" might give the wrong idea.
They were just glass cylinders, filled with a yellow-green transparent liquid, inside which floated the distorted, half-dissolved corpses of Hollows.
It looked like the set of some cheap old horror movie.
The corpses posed no threat, but the sight still made his heart jolt. The air was thick with a foul, chemical stench that burned his nose.
He left that room immediately.
The target's reiatsu was above him—that was where the real work lay.
Stepping into the corridor, he found a long, empty hallway lined with more rooms.
Each one contained similar displays—more Hollow bodies.
Or perhaps… specimens?
So, was this a museum of corpses… or a research facility?
If it was the former, that wouldn't be too surprising. Hueco Mundo was full of freaks of all kinds, especially before Aizen's rule unified the place. You could stumble into anything out here and it'd still be "normal."
But if it was the latter…
Who in Hueco Mundo would even have the mindset to run a lab?
He didn't even have to ask—
Szayelaporro Granz, future Espada No.8.
But something didn't add up.
Before creating clones of himself through Gabriel, Szayelaporro had been a true Vasto Lorde, a top-tier Hollow.
The reiatsu upstairs barely reached Adjuchas level—and it hadn't reacted to his infiltration at all.
That likely meant it was weak.
So what the hell was going on?
A subordinate of Szayelaporro?
Or… someone else out here also had a taste for research?
Mizuma clicked his tongue. "Troublesome…"
Speculation wouldn't get him anywhere.
The answer was upstairs.
He'd just have to see for himself.
---
Everyone has their weak points.
Kurosaki Ichigo, for instance, knew next to nothing about kidō.
And Watanabe Mizuma? His weak point was science.
Like most ordinary people, the only reaction he had to complicated research instruments was: "Whoa. That looks amazing."
Ask him why it was amazing, though, and he'd be speechless.
What could he say?
He'd been a humanities major in his previous life, and in this one, all he did was study kidō.
To the science division, he was little more than a monkey playing with fire—and unless the System suddenly decided to give him a crash course in physics, that wasn't changing anytime soon.
Walking through what was probably a research facility, he couldn't help but recall the trauma of being "educated" by the Department of Research and Development.
What's this? And that? Am I Grandma Liu visiting the Grand View Garden?
[TL: Domain Expansion – Yap Session.
Granny Liu's visit to the Grand View Garden is a famous event in the Chinese classic novel, Dream of the Red Chamber. As a poor, rustic relative, she is overwhelmed by the opulence and beauty of the garden and the lavish lifestyle of the Jia family, leading to both humorous and insightful interactions. Her visit is now a Chinese expression for an unsophisticated person being exposed to and overwhelmed by a new, luxurious environment.]
Why didn't I drag Urahara here with me? Are these things traps? That one over there isn't going to transform and attack me, right?
Damn it, this job better come with hazard pay…
Moving quietly, he ascended the stairs, crossed another hallway, and reached the door from which the Hollow reiatsu emanated.
The door was ajar. Inside, he could hear rhythmic metallic clinks—but the reiatsu remained calm and unchanged.
He reminded himself of an important fact—three times, mentally:
He couldn't actually die.
Besides, he was already here.
Shrugging, he pushed the door open without hesitation.
It took him a second to process what he was seeing.
Then, a giant question mark all but appeared above his head.
There was… someone inside.
Or rather—
a humanoid Hollow.
Its reiatsu was unmistakably Adjuchas-level. Its figure resembled that of a human woman—tall and slender, her body covered in smooth, streamlined plates resembling an exoskeleton.
Her Hollow hole was at the center of her throat.
A full mask covered her entire head, shaped somewhat like a motorcycle helmet, from which long, white hair spilled freely down to her waist.
He couldn't see her face, but somehow, she gave the impression of beauty.
What caught his attention most, however, was what she was doing.
When Mizuma opened the door, she was sitting at a desk—hammer and chisel in hand—carefully working on a piece of metal.
All around the room lay piles of intricate metal components, and at the center stood a half-assembled cylindrical device.
The moment she noticed the sword in Mizuma's hand, the Hollow froze.
For several seconds, there was silence—
Then the sound of her swallowing hard echoed awkwardly through the room.
"S… Shinigami!"
Her voice was surprisingly clear—soft, almost gentle. Even her scream carried a weirdly delicate tone.
"The Shinigami's here—aaahhhh!!"
In a panic, she snatched a curved blade from beside the table and stumbled back into a defensive stance.
Mizuma blinked.
If he wasn't mistaken… her hands were shaking.
What the hell was this atmosphere?
Why did this feel so embarrassing?