Thanks fo reaching 100 power stones ! Here is the promised chapter, let's get to 200 power stones now !!
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We return to one month ago—when Yunoi Yōgaku captured three undercover agents planted by the Gotei 13.
From their interrogations, it was revealed that the earliest of the infiltrators had been embedded nearly nineteen years ago, though they'd only recently gotten close enough to the Bakuyaō Blades to make a move.
Unfortunately for them, that move was noticed immediately by Yunoi.
Over the course of the following month, Yunoi made no effort to be merciful. The three Shinigami were repurposed as live test subjects.
While the Bakuyaō Blades required voluntary acceptance to fully override a Zanpakutō, their malignant aura could still corrode a wielder's spirit without permission. And to refine methods of resisting that corruption, Shinigami who could hold out were essential.
Under constant, high-intensity exposure to this spiritual poison, two of the agents broke down and died. Only one—Kisaragi Shin'etsu—lasted longer.
But even he, in recent days, had finally lost his mind to the corruption.
The reason so few Bakuyaō users were present in the training halls was simple: they'd been ordered to watch over Kisaragi, in case he lost control.
So that's it, Shuuichi thought grimly. Yunoi was afraid that if I learned about Kisaragi, I'd become even more resistant to accepting a Bakuyaō Blade myself.
Now that he understood, everything made sense.
But trying to hide it from him? That was pointless.
Even without his advantage of future knowledge… even without Aizen's guidance… after two decades of getting his hands dirty for the Kasatani family, there was no way Higashi Shuuichi would ever willingly abandon his Zanpakutō to take up a cursed weapon like Bakuyaō.
Unless he was absolutely desperate.
As for Kisaragi's fate, there was no mystery left. His death was inevitable. The only question was whether it would happen in a training hall—used to toughen Bakuyaō troops—or on an operating table to further Yunoi's refinement of the weapon.
Shuuichi stepped out of the secret Kasatani facility, feeling… conflicted.
He didn't feel any hero's guilt. Kisaragi had accepted a spy's role, and he would die a spy's death. That was the cost.
What truly troubled him was the timeline.
Nineteen years ago.
That was… just one year after Shuuichi himself had joined the Kasatani family under Aizen's orders.
It was close enough to raise suspicion.
Then, as he walked through the streets of Seireitei, his pulse suddenly quickened.
A face flashed in his mind—gentle, disarming, deceptively harmless.
Urahara Kisuke.
If there had been a critical leak in Shuuichi's past, it would've been twenty years ago, when he'd fought Yoruichi of the Second Division and collapsed from exhaustion inside their barracks. He'd been unconscious and wounded, and his treatment had been entrusted to Urahara.
And at the time…
Shuuichi had been carrying the weapon case containing Raika, the Bakuyaō Blade of flame and lightning.
After waking up, Shuuichi had checked the case. It was untouched. No seals broken, no traces of interference. Plus, back then, he'd been under the false impression that simply touching a Bakuyaō would cause it to override his Zanpakutō.
So, between that and Urahara's courteous demeanor, he'd assumed everything was fine.
Even later, when he learned that Bakuyaō required voluntary consent, he never revisited that night. In his mind, that event had already been filed away as "safe."
But now?
Urahara definitely tampered with it.
In hindsight, it was painfully obvious. Urahara had probably analyzed Raika thoroughly while Shuuichi was out cold—perhaps just not long enough to uncover its secrets. But the chilling aura it radiated couldn't be faked. Urahara would've noticed.
No wonder, Shuuichi thought bitterly. No wonder he asked those strangely specific questions afterward. He was testing me.
That would also explain why Yoruichi had never contacted him again. Why even Suì-Fēng, who used to sneak in visits, had eventually stopped coming entirely.
Urahara must've discovered something. Enough to raise flags, at least.
After all, even though Shuuichi had never crafted or wielded a Bakuyaō himself, the evidence was circumstantial but damning:
He worked for the Kasatani family.
His missions were never kept from Unohana.
He'd been carrying Raika when treated by Urahara.
And Urahara was no fool. The only man in Soul Society whose intelligence rivaled Aizen's.
Still, if Urahara really had proof, he wouldn't have needed to plant spies.
Which meant: Urahara suspected—but couldn't confirm.
That gave Shuuichi some relief.
The Kasatani's secrecy really is airtight…
If not for Shuuichi's future knowledge and Aizen's Kyōka Suigetsu, the Bakuyaō project would've remained a complete enigma to the Gotei 13.
Their noble status granted the Kasatani clan an immense amount of "resistance" against investigation.
Even if the Gotei suspected something, they couldn't move openly.
But now that Urahara's involved, Shuuichi thought grimly, I need to start covering my tracks.
Before this, he'd been safe:
He'd never used a Bakuyaō.
He'd never built one.
He'd only followed Kasatani orders.
If pressed, he could always plead ignorance.
But now that Urahara had likely identified Raika, Shuuichi could no longer claim total innocence. He'd known of its existence twenty years ago.
And if someone dug deeper? Looked into his mission logs?
They'd find that during his supposed vacation in the World of the Living, Shuuichi had actually gone to Hueco Mundo.
That opened up a floodgate of dangerous questions:
How did he get there?
Who authorized it?
What else had he done?
I need to clear my name—before it's too late.
Shuuichi's expression hardened.
It was time to clean house.
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For this week I will do more release depending on the power stones !
100 Power Stones = 1 chapter (in addition to the daily update)
So give stones if you want mooooar !