Chapter 15: A Job Well Done, A Reward Well Earned
[Quest 1: Eliminate at least 10 Hollows during the Hueco Mundo expedition.]
[Eliminated: 10 / 10]
[Quest Complete]
[Reward Granted: +4 Free Attribute Points]
Mizuma let out a long breath of relief, casually dumped all four new points into reiryoku, and leaned back until he flopped flat against the tatami.
His first real battle since becoming a Shinigami—(all the others had been one-sided slaughters)—had gone fairly well.
That Kidō detonation might not have outright killed Szayelaporro, but it had definitely turned his entire lab into scrap metal.
He couldn't see the results with his own eyes, but... oh, it must've been chef's kiss levels of satisfying.
Anyway, he'd earned his break.
Time passed quickly after that.
Following Mizuma's disconnection with the Technology Development Bureau, Urahara immediately ordered a team to enter Hueco Mundo, dismantle the stabilizers, and seal them away. The crisis in Rukongai finally came to a close. With Urahara's genius, it wouldn't be long before he figured out a way to prevent such incidents from ever happening again.
As for Mizuma's "ambush by a potential Vasto Lorde-class Hollow," Captain Kyōraku had already filed the report and escalated it upward. How that case would be handled remained unclear—but odds were, it wouldn't fall back on a lowly Fifth Seat.
For now, after Fourth Division restored his reiatsu, Mizuma had one lingering nightmare to face.
Reports.
Reports, reports, and more damn reports!
By the time he'd finished and turned them in, he had to go back and clear the backlog of paperwork he'd slacked off on during his "recovery." Only then could he say he'd finally patched the holes.
---
Soul Society — Midnight. Rukongai, Northern District 12.
"Alright, let's see how this one performs."
Hidden beneath a moonlit alleyway, Mizuma drew Ryugetsu. Holding it upright before his chest, he steadied his breathing, exhaled slowly—then spoke clearly:
"Distort, Ryugetsu."
At once, the world warped—an uncanny shift, like the awkward splice between two almost-identical frames of film. The scenery stayed the same, but he changed.
His "resolution" dropped. From 8K Ultra HD to 240p blur. Mizuma's entire form became a mosaic-like smear—his features nearly indistinguishable.
He tested it by striking a nearby tree. The blade carved a clean gash—but when he triggered a buried Kidō trap, the resulting explosion simply passed through him.
As if he were a phantom.
This was Ryugetsu's final Shikai ability: Temporal Displacement.
While active, Mizuma's true self existed a fraction of a second in the past. Almost no attack could touch him, though his own strikes would land one instant later.
An invincible combo—immortal body plus delayed strike.
Of course, just like all his other forms, it had a fatal drawback.
Watching his reiryoku drain like water from a broken dam, Mizuma panicked and immediately released the state.
Eight seconds. Just eight seconds, and his entire reiryoku pool was dry.
"Am I 50/50 Hatake or something? Why am I always out of energy?"
After a moment of exasperated muttering, he decided to test another new trick from Ryugetsu.
Well—"new" wasn't exactly right. More like an upgraded variant of an old one.
"Divide, Ryugetsu."
He lifted the blade.
But this time, no clone appeared beside him. Instead—he began to change.
"...The hell?"
Inside Eighth Division's quarters, the real Mizuma—still "recovering" from his wounds—blinked in disbelief.
A cool, feminine voice drifted from the shadows.
"The hell, indeed."
Standing before him was Ryugetsu—or rather, Mizuma himself, wearing her skin.
Appearance, body, even reiatsu signature—completely different. Even Kyōraku or Lisa wouldn't recognize him like this.
The principle behind "Division" was simple: it pulled a version of himself from a past moment in time to serve as a clone. When all clone slots were full, a new one would overwrite the oldest—like saving over a file.
But Ryugetsu herself also existed within those temporal time.
As the spirit of the Zanpakutō, she was, technically, part of him—fully subject to his command, even over her body.
Thus was born a flawless disguise ability.
Or rather... a perfect transformation technique.
"Now this..." Mizuma whistled, grinning, "...this is what I call a proper reward for good work."
He gave her a thumbs-up before dismissing the form and pulling his awareness back into his main body.
Next on the agenda: a little well-earned slacking off—
...Yeah, no.
He couldn't afford that.
By his calculations, Kisuke Urahara's exile wasn't far off. The great upheaval of Soul Society was about to begin. It would be hard to keep fishing for peace and naps once the world flipped upside down.
If he wanted to preserve his peaceful "slacker's life," he had to prepare—now.
From the moment he'd crossed into this world, Mizuma knew it wouldn't be easy. He already had a mental list of every major enemy he might face:
The damned Wandenreich, the smug Aizen, the pompous Central 46, and that smug time-god wannabe Tokinada.
Too many clowns with god complexes in this universe.
But in game terms—if the Wandenreich were the final boss of the main story, Aizen was the best early-game power-level skip.
After all, Yhwach's end goal was to return the worlds to chaos—a reset no one would survive. Beating him was non-negotiable.
Central 46, meanwhile? A pack of feudal fossils rotting in their own arrogance. Worthless old bureaucrats who clung to power and ruined everything they touched. He'd lost count of how many times he'd cursed them out under his breath.
Of course, knowing it was one thing. Actually fighting them was another. He couldn't take any of them head-on—yet.
So the question became:
How does one defeat enemies far beyond their level?
Simple.
You call in reinforcements.
And who in all of Soul Society had beef with both the Wandenreich and Central 46?
Why, none other than the reformist pioneer himself—Captain Aizen Sōsuke.
The man's debut rebellion wiped out Central 46, and his later exploits made him the MVP of the Yhwach War. Who better to ally with?
Besides—Mizuma wasn't even sure being on Aizen's side was bad.
If Aizen took over the upper echelons, that'd be way better than those bureaucratic fossils in charge now.
At least with Aizen in power... a man might finally get some decent nap time.
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〔TL〕
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