novelblue
Chapter 158
Chapter 158
Chapter 158
T/N: Long chapter! Btw these count as 2 chapters in one. We will be having a couple of more after this one. And yes, the word count is the same as it would be in 2 separate chapters. This one is even longer.
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A torrential rain connected heaven and earth in the Seireitei.
Although it was daytime, the sky was as dark as night.
Two figures moved cautiously along a long wooden corridor.
Leading in front was Kaelith.
His footsteps were light, his spiritual pressure fully suppressed, like a leopard searching for prey.
Following behind was Shunsui Ky?raku.
His expression was serious, and he occasionally raised his hand to adjust the hat on his head.
Through the deep V-neck on his chest, one could see that his torso was still wrapped in bandages.
Reaching the corridor’s corner, Kaelith stopped.
He leaned against the wall, poked his head out slightly, and observed the situation around the corner.
After a few seconds, he turned to Shunsui and made an “ok” gesture.
Shunsui nodded gently.
The rain continued to fall, and the atmosphere was far from pleasant.
They used every skill they had to infiltrate this residence.
Finally, they stopped before a sliding door.
‘Ready?’ Kaelith asked with his eyes.
‘Don’t worry, no problem!’ Shunsui responded with a cruel smile.
In the next instant, both of them moved.
Whoosh!!
They yanked open the sliding door.
Shunsui entered the room at lightning speed, expressionless like a demonic spirit, lunging at a figure caught completely off guard.
But the target was no ordinary person.
Facing Shunsui’s near-ambush strike, he was momentarily shocked, but instantly reacted.
“Enk?sen!!”
Raising his hand, he unleashed Bakud? #39 without incantation.
A circular light shield appeared out of thin air between Shunsui and the target.
Shunsui reacted quickly and changed direction the instant the shield formed, but he was still slightly slower. The target had already turned and was running toward the window.
He shoved the window open, the corners of his mouth curving upward.
Just Shunsui? Did he really think he could catch him?!
Then he saw another figure appear at the window.
Crack!!
A flash of lightning lit the scene.
Half in light, half in shadow, that face wore a smile far more gleeful than his own.
Seeing this face, he almost screamed in terror.
The shock was like turning on the lights late at night and discovering Freddy standing there.
In that instant, Kaelith laughed and burst in through the window, slamming him to the floor.
“Kekekeke! Let’s see where you’ll run now!”
With the target pinned, Kaelith used a shadow to light an oil lamp in the room.
The gentle lamplight illuminated the three of them.
The one Kaelith had pinned down was a handsome man with long white hair.
It was J?shir? Ukitake.
However, he wasn’t wearing his Shihakush? and haori, but a set of white patient’s clothes.
Shunsui adjusted his hat and grinned.
He quickly walked over and held down Ukitake’s legs.
“No… Shunsui, Kaelith, you can’t do this to me!”
“We trained under the same master and should look out for each other. We must never turn against one another, lest we become a laughingstock!”
Kaelith sighed. “Sorry, Senior Brother. I don’t want to overthrow my superiors… but the other side is too strong, we have no choice!”
Hearing this, Ukitake’s heart filled with despair.
As he looked on in agony, Kaelith shouted:
“I’ve caught Ukitake-senpai!!”
“My, my~ how wonderful.”
At some unknown moment, a figure appeared at the door.
Illuminated by the lightning, her presence was even more terrifying than Kaelith’s had been.
Retsu Unohana approached Ukitake with a gentle smile and crouched down beside him.
“Captain Ukitake, you must take your medicine properly.”
Ukitake was on the verge of tears.
Staring at the medicine bowl in Unohana’s hand, he made his last feeble plea: “At least… give me the normal medicine. This batch is far too strange!”
Usually, his medicine was bitter but still drinkable.
This time, he couldn’t even describe the taste.
Bitter, spicy, sour, salty—every flavor had reached an extreme.
One sip felt no different than descending into hell.
Even though he had been sick for centuries and had drunk more medicine than a young Shinigami had drunk water, he was still terrified of this potion.
Unohana smiled.
“No can do.”
“If you had stayed quietly in bed, you could continue taking the normal medicine.”
“But you disobeyed medical orders, led a team to quell the rebels, and your body suffered serious damage from the exertion.”
“If you don’t want to be bedridden for years again, please drink this medicine obediently.”
Ukitake still wanted to bargain, but Kaelith and Shunsui had lost their patience.
They each grabbed one of his arms, lifting his upper body.
Kaelith pinched Ukitake’s cheeks:
“Captain Unohana, don’t bother explaining to him. Let’s do this!”
Unohana nodded with a smile.
Under the rain-filled sky, Ukitake’s screams echoed throughout the Fourth Division.
………
……
After dealing with Ukitake, Kaelith and Shunsui returned him to his sickbed.
Ukitake lay there, moaning pitifully.
The two culprits simply set up camp in his room, chatting away.
“Kaelith, how have things been going with Old Man Yama lately?”
Shunsui, having procured a small flask from who-knows-where, poured a bit for himself and Kaelith.
Kaelith grunted: “It’s fine.”
Shunsui laughed: “Don’t pretend. Last time I passed by the First Division, I heard Old Man Yama roaring.”
“From the spiritual pressure fluctuations, I’m sure that after the lecture came a good beating!”
Kaelith’s eyes widened:
“Lecture… you call that a lecture? It was pure abuse!”
Then he rattled off a series of incomprehensible lines like “getting familiar with new moves doesn’t count as being beaten” and “as long as I can get out of bed the next day, it’s not considered being beaten.”
The sick room instantly filled with a cheerful air.
Just as Shunsui said, with Aizen gone these past few days, Kaelith had been out of luck.
Not long ago, during the four-way talks, Yamamoto learned that Kaelith had defeated Kuchiki K?ga and was overjoyed.
The old man happily asked how Kaelith won against Kuchiki K?ga.
His first thought was that Kaelith might have learned Bankai in battle—maybe a very powerful, broken-ability Bankai.
Seeing Yamamoto’s high expectations, Kaelith confidently described the “Shuangchong Siggu” technique he’d created. (t/n: Shuangchong Siggu- translates to Double Quadruple Bone. Basically San S?kotsu, but done twice at the same time)
He had thought Yamamoto would weep with joy, praising him as a genius.
He never expected that after hearing the explanation, Yamamoto almost exploded with rage.
“Idiot!”
“Your body isn’t fully mature yet, using even one ‘Shuangchong Siggu’ bone technique is reckless and could cause hidden injuries… and now you’ve made an even more extreme version, using your legs?!”
“I’ve told you countless times not to use that move recklessly, yet not only did you not listen, you doubled down and invented a leg-based version?!”
“Why not just develop a head-based double bone technique and smash your own skull while you’re at it?!”
“Even though the hot springs you use for healing are a divine treasure in the medical field, overuse can have side effects… and what you have isn’t even the original, just a knockoff!”
“At this rate, I’ll have to arrange your funeral sooner or later!”
Under Yamamoto’s furious glare, Kaelith scratched his head.
“A Shinigami’s occupation is inherently high-risk… considering the gap in strength, it’s normal for you to see me off first, right?”
That one line almost made Yamamoto’s blood pressure erupt.
To make Kaelith feel his anger, Yamamoto summoned him daily for the next few days, delivering hard-earned lessons via his fists.
As Kaelith sighed and drained his cup of clear liquor, he put it down and stood up.
“It’s about time for today’s training… Uncle Shunsui, I’ll be off.”
“Ukitake-senpai, take care of your health and drink your medicine properly.”
Ukitake let out a pained groan.
Under Shunsui’s watchful gaze, Kaelith left the room.
Shunsui wasn’t sure if it was an illusion, but even though Kaelith was going off to be beaten, Shunsui seemed to catch a hint of joy in his departing figure.
It had to be a misunderstanding… Wait why am I the Uncel?!
………
……
“Hah!!”
Yamamoto gripped a bamboo sword and brought it down on Kaelith’s shoulder.
It wasn’t even a special technique, just an ordinary strike, yet it felt as if a mountain had fallen.
Kaelith had no time to dissipate the force. He was slammed straight into the floor.
After a few struggles, he pulled his head out of the floorboards.
Looking at Yamamoto, who stood not far away with a sword in hand, exuding a transcendent aura, Kaelith felt a surge of emotion.
Yamamoto was still Yamamoto, the old master was still the old master.
Even after defeating Kuchiki K?ga, he was still powerless before Yamamoto.
If only S?suke had sent him directly to the First Division back then and let the system bind him to Yamamoto, he’d be invincible by now!
Blowing wood chips off his head, Kaelith gripped his bamboo sword and pointed it at Yamamoto:
“Again!”
Yamamoto: “……”
Seeing Kaelith’s body covered in bruises, even his face marked with injuries, yet still bursting with vitality, Yamamoto felt a bit overwhelmed.
This level of training would have made Shunsui cry for mercy long ago.
But this kid, who was suffering, seemed to be enjoying it more and more.
Suddenly, Yamamoto recalled a time centuries ago, when Unohana Retsu hadn’t changed her persona yet.
If he put these two together, wouldn’t there be some interesting chemistry…?
“Teacher, teacher?”
“Oh no, sudden senility?”
“What should we do… if the Captain-Commander is senile, we’ll have a power vacuum. Someone must take over temporarily.”
“Well then, as the Captain-Commander’s disciple, I, Kaelith, must shoulder this responsibility!”
“As acting Captain-Commander, my first decree is that all female Shinigami must replace their hakama with short skirts!”
Yamamoto: “?”
Watching Kaelith excitedly consider how to use his authority, Yamamoto responded with a sudden surge of spiritual pressure.
In the trembling air, Kaelith was pressed face-first into the floor, unable to move.
Satisfied by the sight of Kaelith’s struggles, Yamamoto nodded and left the dojo.
A few minutes later, Kaelith emerged as well, covered in wood chips again and wounds from splintered floorboards.
By now, the rain had lessened significantly.
The air was cold, and Kaelith shivered the moment he opened the dojo door.
At this rate, winter probably wasn’t far away.
Pulling up his collar, Kaelith prepared to find Yamamoto.
He hadn’t taken more than a few steps when he smelled a fragrance.
Just the scent alone stirred childhood memories.
Following the smell, Kaelith soon discovered Yamamoto under the eaves outside his study, roasting something over a fire.
Seeing food, Kaelith smiled and hurried over.
“Hey, teacher, what are you doing? Need any help?”
Yamamoto glanced at him without responding.
Kaelith didn’t mind and sat down beside him.
Yamamoto was roasting sweet potatoes, and there was already one done.
Kaelith laughed, took it, peeled it, and took a bite.
The flesh was soft, fragrant, and perfectly roasted.
Kaelith couldn’t help but praise it.
For an old man, Yamamoto’s culinary skills were excellent.
Just a simple open flame, yet it produced the same flavor as the big furnace-roasted yams Kaelith had tasted at a temple fair in his childhood.
As he ate, Kaelith instinctively looked at the fire used for roasting.
One glance and he was stunned.
Beneath the sweet potatoes lay a sword.
With a purple-wrapped hilt and an unremarkable oval guard.
Most Shinigami rarely saw this blade, as it was usually concealed in Yamamoto’s wooden staff.
But as the close disciple, Kaelith was all too familiar with it.
He’d even oiled this sword himself when Yamamoto got lazy.
Seeing this sword, Kaelith almost spat out his sweet potato.
“Ry?jin Jakka?!”
Yamamoto gave him a strange look.
“What’s wrong?”
Kaelith swallowed the sweet potato, speechless: “Teacher, this is the strongest Zanpakut? in the Soul Society, and you’re using it to roast sweet potatoes?”
“What’s wrong with that? I’m also the strongest Shinigami in the Soul Society, and here I am roasting sweet potatoes.”
Kaelith stared at Ry?jin Jakka for a few seconds, then shook his head and sighed:
“You should cherish your Zanpakut? more. Zanpakut? have minds of their own, we should treat them like family.”
Yamamoto finally lost his composure.
Anyone could lecture him on this topic except this kid. What nonsense!
………
……
Covered in injuries, Kaelith returned to the Second Division.
He moved with purpose, quickly passing through the barracks.
Before long, he reached a small room.
“Hey! Kisuke! Are you in?!”
Standing at the door, he called out cheerfully.
Inside was silence.
Kaelith nodded: “Alright, I’m coming in!”
Pa!
He pushed open the door and entered.
Kisuke Urahara: “?”
Damn it, I didn't even say anything!
Where did “Alright” come from?
Under Kisuke’s stunned gaze, Kaelith smiled.
Considering Kaelith’s bruised and swollen face, that smile looked quite terrifying.
“Kisuke, come with me?”
Kisuke Urahara: “……”
What’s this about?
Did this devil suddenly change tastes, no longer favoring pretty girls, but becoming interested in someone like him?
He instinctively took a step back: “No!”
Kaelith’s expression changed, his smile vanished.
“Come with me!”
He reached out, grabbed the despairing Kisuke Urahara, and turned to leave.
"I don't swing that way!"