"Strip."
"Again?"
Naraku stared at her warily, his whole expression screaming nope.
This awful woman's personality was somehow even worse than Unohana's. Whether it was experiments on individuals or tests related to hollowfication, her first line was always: take your clothes off.
Shutara Senjumaru paused, looking at him with some curiosity.
"Are you really not even a little interested in an upgraded shihakushō?"
"I… uh…"
Naraku opened his mouth, but the refusal died on his tongue.
For all her terrible quirks, when it came to actual work, this woman was terrifyingly competent.
Besides, he could already smell the "this is actually broken as hell" aroma.
"Don't tell me the improved shihakushō works on me too?"
Shutara nodded. "Of course it does."
"Honestly, I've never understood how a piece of clothing meant to cover people up could be that important," Naraku sighed. "So… can a kind and beautiful onee-san please explain it to me?"
Shutara smiled. "Well, you really did ask the right person."
Naraku: "…"
He'd expected her to be at least a little humble.
Sensing his thoughts, Shutara tilted her head and glanced sideways at him.
"Are you saying I'm not beautiful?"
Her tone was calm, but there was enough killing intent in it to freeze his spine.
"You're gorgeous," Naraku said instantly, with zero hesitation, following his heart.
Brutal honesty was survival.
Shutara's smile deepened, and she began:
"In the early years of the Gotei 13, there was actually no such thing as a 'shihakushō.' They just standardized uniforms by making them all black."
"That idea was actually inspired by Hollows."
Naraku folded his legs and sat down in front of her, listening seriously.
"Unlike Shinigami, Hollows don't have Zanpakutō as offensive tools, but their steel-hard hides cause enemies all kinds of trouble."
"Using that as a base, I combined clothing with a Shinigami's spiritual power and created the shihakushō—a uniform with built-in defense."
"On top of that, I added self-repair—if it's torn apart in battle, you can restore it by channeling Reiatsu into it."
"Most importantly, I bound the concept of the shihakushō to Shinigami themselves. When you officially join, your shihakushō is issued and tagged to you, just like your asauchi."
"As for little extras like automatic cleaning and dust repulsion… those aren't worth mentioning."
Her tone said "minor features," but there was a faint pride she couldn't quite hide.
If mastering Bankai was enough to put a Shinigami's name in the history books, then her invention had literally altered the course of Soul Society itself.
Naraku nodded slowly. "So basically, shihakushō already existed when the Gotei 13 was founded."
Shutara inclined her head. "That's right."
"So that means you're at least—"
Before he could finish, a chilling look hit him like a blade. Worse than before, it felt like something horrifying had locked onto him.
Naraku shut his mouth on reflex. If he kept talking, something very bad was definitely going to happen.
Shutara shot him a sour look and continued:
"Over these past days of research, I've found that although reishi is the base unit making up the world, its nature is still extremely complex."
"Overall its properties are similar, but if you subdivide it, you can classify it into hundreds, even thousands of types. The difference between some reishi types is greater than the difference between a Shinigami and a wild beast."
"But interestingly, two types of reishi that most researchers assume should mutually repel each other actually share common ground."
"Shinigami and Hollows."
Naraku's eyes widened. So that's where the inspiration came from.
He was someone who could perfectly control Hollow power. Shutara had drawn his blood more than once and run a string of experiments. It made sense she'd notice something.
"Since you understand," she said, "take the clothes off."
She raised her pale hand. A fine needle appeared between her fingers, Reiatsu condensing into thread as it passed through the eye.
Naraku stared at her suspiciously.
"Why do I get the feeling you're trying to screw me over?"
Her hand froze for a moment, then she put on a hurt expression. Just as she was about to speak, he cut her off.
"Let me guess. Your next line is, 'Would I ever lie to you?'"
Shutara: "?"
Naraku sighed. "And then, with your actions, you'd prove that yes, in fact, you would."
After all this time, he'd learned exactly what she was like.
There would be benefits—but the "traps" would be there too.
Shutara sighed softly. Get tricked enough times and even a fool grows up. Honestly, she liked his clueless version a little better.
The moment her sigh faded, the colorful hanging cloths dropped from the ceiling in total silence—
Then whipped forward at terrifying speed.
The air even popped from the pressure.
Crap. She's going in by force.
Fine. Time to fight the noble battle of "keep your clothes on."
Naraku bared his teeth in a fierce grin. Reiatsu surged upward, a visible pillar of light shooting to the ceiling. The shockwave howled, blasting the attacking fabric back.
His Reiatsu was still slightly weaker in quantity, but in quality it had already surpassed others at his level.
With boosted growth potential and Hollow power fused into him, he could stand comfortably above most Shinigami.
Forget vice-captains—he was confident he could at least fight a captain.
Confidence blazing, Naraku locked his openly aggressive gaze on Shutara Senjumaru.
Then—
He saw her lips curl into a very pretty smile.
Her Reiatsu dropped.
Time seemed to freeze.
A tidal wave of spiritual pressure slammed across the room. The air thickened like liquid mercury, crushing in from all sides.
His organs felt like they were being squeezed in a vise.
Naraku suddenly wasn't so sure of himself anymore.
Wasn't this kind of overwhelming power supposed to be something you only got after getting the Soul King's blessing and forging the Ōken to join the Royal Guard?
What the hell was this suffocating Reiatsu?
"For Shinigami your age, this is usually the period of rapid growth," Shutara said, as if trying to justify herself, speaking as though none of this were her fault.
"A strip-check is just a necessary procedure."
"Come now. Let me see if you're developing properly or not…"