Chapter 27: A New Power
Let's rewind time a few minutes earlier — to the outside world.
Mizuma, moving at full speed, soon arrived before the cavern entrance.
Only two subordinates remained, the ones Tokinada had ordered to stay behind. As for Tokinada himself, he had already disappeared.
Good. That means Aizen left with him.
Since that's the case, Mizuma no longer needed to sneak around.
Judging by their reiatsu signatures, the two men left behind were barely seated officer level at best. Still, he kept some degree of caution. With a quick Shunpo, he appeared at their flank, raised his hand, and released two Bakudō #61: Rikujōkōrō bindings in succession. The golden rods of light pinned both men before they could react.
He rushed forward, struck them each with the back of his blade, and dragged their unconscious bodies to the hidden chamber he'd dug earlier to monitor the operation.
"Feels like all I've done lately is interrogation work…" he muttered, staring down at the unconscious men. "That makes three times this week already. If I ever lose my job as a Shinigami, maybe the Punishment Force would take me in."
Since he was pressed for time, Mizuma skipped the theatrics.
He slapped one of them twice across the face, hard enough to wake him up. Before the man could regain his senses, Mizuma's eyes flared with light—Soul Beacon activated.
A few minutes later, he exited the man's consciousness, leaving behind a lifeless body, and repeated the process on the second captive.
The strain on his reiryoku was significant — his reserves dropped by nearly a third.
Soul Beacon was a useful skill, but the spiritual drain was tremendous. Using it once or twice was manageable; any more than that, and he'd be the one playing dead in the valley.
Still… it was worth it.
By cross-verifying the memories of both captives, he finally pieced together the complete picture.
His earlier suspicions had been correct.
This entire incident was orchestrated by Tokinada Tsunayashiro. He had discovered a record in his clan's ancient archives detailing the Soul King's Sword, and partnered with Katani Shinno of Central 46 to seize it.
Their plan was meticulous: Tokinada forged documents to make the Tsunayashiro and the Central 46 believe the ruins contained nothing of real value—merely old relics—and then pushed the dangerous part of the expedition onto the Gotei 13.
Meanwhile, he plotted to steal the Soul King's Sword for himself.
From the Tsunayashiro family's records, Mizuma now knew what the "Sword" actually was: a vessel containing a portion of the Soul King's power — energy vast enough to obliterate the entire Soul Society.
At least, that's what the Tsunayashiro ancestors claimed.
Even Tokinada himself doubted whether "destroying Soul Society" was literal or merely poetic exaggeration.
According to their plan, the Gotei 13's strike team was meant to die at the hands of the Guardian, leaving Tokinada and Katani free to retrieve the sword.
With no witnesses left, even Yamamoto himself would have no one to blame.
But the irony?
Katani actually believed Tokinada would "present" the Soul King's Sword to him afterward.
If a dung beetle crawled into Katani's skull, it'd starve to death trying to find a brain.
A pity.
If Tokinada had stayed a little longer instead of running, Mizuma could've made him pay — if not with his life, then with a few layers of skin.
Still, no use dwelling on it now.
As for any trouble caused by these killings? Irrelevant.
Even if Tokinada was somehow monitoring him, Mizuma wasn't the least bit afraid.
If he had appeared in his true form, perhaps he'd have to worry about being identified. But this was his Ryugetsu skin — a persona that had only appeared in Soul Society a few days ago, completely undocumented.
No name, no record, no matching reiatsu signature.
Even if word spread, Tokinada would only think, "Who's this random powerhouse interfering?"—never connecting the mysterious woman with Watanabe Mizuma.
The link between Ryugetsu and Mizuma was now entirely severed.
That meant Mizuma could move without hesitation.
After clearing the area, he returned to the vicinity of the cavern, falling into thought.
Looking back now, the entire situation felt wrong.
He'd assumed that since this event wasn't part of the original timeline, it couldn't be too dangerous—even if it involved the Soul King.
But instead, what appeared before them was the Soul King's Sword itself—something that, by name alone, could never be weaker than the Heart or the Right and Left Arms.
Why?
Why now?
The timeline was already approaching the critical moment of the Hollowfication Incident, when Urahara and the others would be branded as traitors and banished from Soul Society.
Something this outrageous shouldn't exist here.
It couldn't.
Unless… this was caused by his interference.
A butterfly's wings, rippling through fate.
If that was true, things were getting complicated.
He exhaled, forcing himself to calm down.
First things first.
Lisa and the others likely wouldn't fall so easily, but he needed to resolve this quickly—at the very least, ensure they could escape the cavern safely.
Should he enter directly?
No… not wise.
If he were to expose this current persona before the Gotei 13, he'd need a convincing backstory first. Otherwise, someone like Shunsui or Urahara would see right through him.
Which meant he needed a way to further separate the identities of "Ryugetsu" and "Watanabe Mizuma."
Fortunately, he'd just obtained something that could do exactly that.
Mizuma raised his wrist and unfastened the silver watch strapped there.
Then he pulled out a black card with gilded edges, pressed it against the watch's face, and snapped it clean in half.
Glittering motes of light swirled out, fusing into his body.
[Item: Fullbring Awakening Card]
[Crafted from fragments of the Soul King infused with Hollow reiatsu. Grants the user the ability known as "Fullbring."]
[Usage: Select an object of personal significance and break the card while holding it.]
In the next instant—
Mizuma's vision split apart.
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〔TL〕
Every 100 powerstones = 2 bonus ch.
Every 2 review after 100 ps = 1 bonus ch.