Chapter 53 Soul Society: Ten
Question: What is the crime of destroying the cliff where the Double Death Hill is located in Soul Society?
A: They wouldn't be convicted, because such an outrageous and impossible thing wasn't written into the Seireitei regulations. And since the main body of the double-death beast had already been destroyed, the protruding ground wouldn't matter.
Even the locals have to thank the Kurosaki siblings, the two culprits who changed the terrain.
These were the words that flashed through Kurosaki Utsuki's mind before she lost consciousness. Her mind was racing like a kaleidoscope of thoughts. Accompanied by the loud sound of rocks cracking and falling, and the pain of her wounds completely breaking and bleeding, she took a half step back and fell softly.
·
Utsuki Kurosaki was falling between tall buildings.
It was a place she was quite familiar with, and the person who caught her in the air with a chain while she was falling was also a person she was quite familiar with.
"Can't you be a little gentler towards an ordinary soul that has lost its Death God powers?"
Kurosaki Utsuki landed steadily on the ground, looked at the Hollow, whose face was the same as her brother's but in black and white, and complained, but there was not much dissatisfaction in her voice.
Her clothes were no longer the black death suit she wore when she came here before. She was only wearing a thin white lingerie. It was self-evident what this meant.
Xu Bai on the opposite side snorted coldly and said nothing.
Kurosaki Utsuki shook her head: "This should be the last time I come here."
Before releasing the black and red mixed with blue and white crescent moon, she had completely returned the "key" and also gave it everything she had accumulated in the past six years. Those experiences and spiritual powers should allow her brother to reach the maximum level in a second.
Her brother, to whom she had entrusted everything, will inherit her will and continue to fight on her behalf.
"Xiaobai, thank you for your help in the previous battle. Although my brother seems to have some opinions about you, I still like you very much."
As she spoke, she looked at the man in black robe standing quietly in the distance.
"Of course, thank you too. Although I don't like you very much, no matter what your true nature is, you are a part of my brother."
As she finished speaking, a new figure that did not belong here appeared behind her.
The girl with the same hair color as her and who looked very similar to her—or rather, more like her mother when she was young—smiled and held her in her arms, her voice as gentle as her breath.
"Gexi." The girl said.
Kurosaki Utsuki's breathing stagnated, and then he turned around with trembling eyes and looked into the girl's eyes: "Ren Yue..."
That is her sword soul.
At this moment when she had lost her spiritual power and could no longer enter the spiritual world, her sword spirit could only come here to see her and say goodbye to her here.
Kurosaki Utahi took a deep breath, and in the embrace of the sword soul, his eyelashes drooped: "I'm sorry, Lian Yue, I did this without permission."
She lost her spiritual power and was no longer a Shinigami, which meant that her Zanpakutō also lost its home.
But the sword spirit in front of her slowly shook its head.
"No need to apologize, Utsuki. Unlike Zangetsu and the others, what you want to protect is what I want to protect," Rengetsu said soothingly. "Besides, this is not a farewell forever."
...Is that so? Can she regain her spiritual power and wield her Zanpakutō once more?
With tears in her eyes, Kurosaki Utaha embraced the sword soul in her arms, and her voice became sour unconsciously: "Then let's say goodbye for now... Renyue, I have always been grateful for your care."
She raised her head and looked at the sword spirits of Zhan Yue, and her figure gradually faded along with Lian Yue.
"You two, from now on, I'll be relying on you."
Saturday, August 8th
When Kurosaki Utsuki opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was an orange, translucent barrier. It was completely different from the color she remembered from Kaido. It took her a few seconds to realize it was Inoue Orihime's Soten Kiden.
So she looked along the edge of the bed and saw a girl with long orange hair standing at the side of the bed, concentrating on outputting spiritual power to her.
"It's okay now... Orihime-san." Kurosaki Utsuki raised her hand. She didn't feel any pain anywhere in her body, whether it was the old wounds on her waist and abdomen or the new wounds on her thighs. She didn't feel any pain at all. "Good morning, no, it looks like it's already evening."
There was no sunlight coming through the window on one side, and it was unknown how long she had slept.
"Ge Xi-san!" The girl beside her looked at her happily, but did not stop outputting her spiritual energy. "Good evening!"
After hesitating for a few seconds, the girl continued, "I want to do something else."
"Didn't you cure me?" Kurosaki Utsuki supported herself on the bed and rose smoothly, confirming that the wounds on her body had completely healed. "Perfect treatment."
Inoue Orihime shook her head. "It was Captain Unohana who treated Utsuki first. I only treated her afterwards..."
"But," Kurosaki Utsuki interrupted, "The Shinigami's Kaido is a method of transforming spiritual energy to accelerate the healing of wounds."
She then lifted the front of her tunic, revealing the front of her once-injured thigh. "It's all thanks to Orihime-san that there's no scar left."
Inoue Orihime was still hesitant: "But Utahiki's spiritual power..."
"It's okay. It's not an injury nor a sequelae." Kurosaki Utsuki shook her head. "It's simply because it didn't belong to me in the first place, and now it's returned to its rightful owner."
"Huh?"
Kurosaki Utsuki didn't continue the topic. Although returning all her power to her brother was a decision she made on her own, she didn't feel any regret, but she still felt a little regretful: "How long have I been sleeping?"
She didn't think that today was August 6th, the day of Rukia's execution. She was so hungry that she had no feeling.
Inoue Orihime tilted her head and thought for a moment: "A little over two days. It's now eight o'clock in the evening on August 8th."
Another two and a half days? How long has she slept since arriving in Soul Society...
"Where's Aizen?"
"I heard from Miss Yoruichi that he escaped to Hueco Mundo. He was seriously injured by the swords of Miss Utahiki and Kurosaki-san, but because he was covered by the "Anti-Membrane" used by the Hollow, no one was able to stop him."
“…I see.”
This was something Kurosaki Utsuki had expected; someone so scheming as to leave a way out would definitely leave a way out. It was just unknown what he would do with the Hogyoku after getting his hands on it. Would he be like some scheming villain savior, shouting "I'm done with this" and pressing the Hogyoku to his face?
However, thinking about how Yueya Tianchong had tried his best to inflict a heavy blow on him, which was considered revenge for the stabbing he had done to her, she felt a little relieved.
Since she had no spiritual power left, she could let the Death Gods figure things out on their own. Those captains were mostly elderly, thousands or even hundreds of years old, and there was no need for a sixteen-year-old girl like her to worry about them.
In comparison, she was more worried about her teammates: "How's everyone? Is everyone okay?"
Inoue Orihime nodded immediately. "Yes, everyone is doing well, and their previous injuries have healed. Ishida-san has been busy with something recently, so we can only see each other during meals. Chad-san seems to know someone in Rukongai and often goes there during the day. Ganju-san has gone home, and when we said goodbye, he said that onee-san would be very angry."
She paused for a moment before talking about the most crucial person: "As for Kurosaki-san, he is——"
"Orihime-san." Kurosaki Utahi interrupted her. The short-haired girl glanced towards the door and smiled, "Let's sneak out."
“Eh, eh?”
"I want to take a bath." She said seriously, "I know a good place. I'll take you to the hot springs."
Of course, Inoue Orihime would not refuse. The two of them climbed out of the ward through the window one after the other, avoiding the members of the Fourth Division. They first went to the cafeteria to get a few rice balls, and then ate while walking, and successfully arrived at the "ruins" of the Double Killing Hill.
The destination is the underground training ground of Yoruichi Shihōin and Kisuke Urahara.
Originally, without the Shihouin family's flying equipment, it would have been difficult to enter the entrance under the cliff. However, not long ago, the sharp corner of the cliff was cut off with a knife. In order to clean up and repair the site, the team responsible for post-war reconstruction fixed a lifting equipment driven by spiritual power from the top of the cliff - it seems that it was also loaned by the Shihouin family.
It was already 10:30 pm, and the repair team had already finished their work and returned to the barracks. The area was deserted. The instigator of this situation generously borrowed a lift and, with the help of his friends' spiritual powers, successfully reached the "underground practice ground."
After successfully soaking in the hot spring, Kurosaki Utsuki finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Inoue Orihime, who was traveling with her, was still marveling at the fact that there was such a large space and such a large open-air hot spring hidden beneath the Double Killing Hill.
Originally an indoor hot spring, the roof was cut off, turning it into a semi-open-air bath where the moon could be seen. Thus, the great achievements of Urahara Kisuke and Shihoin Yoruichi hundreds of years ago were finally revealed to the public.
"...Will Mr. Urahara think I'm taking revenge on him?" Kurosaki Utsuki muttered softly, and then called Inoue Orihime in. "Don't worry, no one in the Bleach world is bold enough to take a bath here."
And if she guessed correctly, most of the squads were busy at this time - especially the 359th squad that had lost its captain, the 10th squad whose captain was seriously injured, the 6th and 11th squads that had been severely damaged in the previous battle with them, and the 4th squad that was never idle... there were really not many squads left.
As a result, just as she finished speaking, a figure suddenly fell from the sky and landed lightly not far from her. He untied his belt as he walked, obviously preparing to take a bath in the dead of night. At the same time, the man's voice came over -
"Xiao Gexi, you are here after all."
It's Yoruichi Shihouin.
Kurosaki Utsuki raised her hand and said hello. She heard the sound of water entering the water beside her, and then she heard Yoruichi say, "Ichimaru Gin wants to see you."
...Hmm? Who?
Kurosaki Utsuki was stunned for a moment before her eyes widened in surprise: "He didn't escape to Hueco Mundo with Aizen?"
It's true that when she questioned Inoue Orihime earlier, she only asked about Aizen's situation. But she had assumed the three were a united team, sharing joys and sorrows, life and death together, and that if they had to escape, they would definitely escape together. She had never imagined that there would be one left.
"When you and Ichigo unleashed Getsuga Tensho, Ichimaru was closest to him, and you took away his spiritual pressure, temporarily rendering him defenseless. The fact that he was able to survive such injuries, let alone escape, was all thanks to the Soten Kiden."
"Hey—Orihime-san is really amazing."
This was genuine admiration. When Kurosaki Utsuki swung her sword, she had a momentary doubt whether Ichimaru Gin would be cut in half by her and her brother. Now that he was able to be caught alive by the god of death, she was sincerely happy.
The girl who was called out scratched her head shyly: "Hahaha, not that great..."
"You don't have to be so modest at a time like this." Kurosaki Utsuki once again used her own injuries as an example. "The wound that Aizen's sword pierced through me is now completely gone. That's a miracle that even plastic surgery can't achieve, except for Orihime-san."
Ever since she woke up, she'd been able to sense Inoue Orihime's disappointment—not because she'd woken up, of course, but because she hadn't been able to help her recover her spiritual power. Perhaps something else had happened during the previous battle, like she'd been held back or hadn't been able to help effectively.
Considering that their companion Uryu Ishida was captured by the Grim Reaper, while Orihime Inoue managed to escape, it is not difficult to imagine that it was Ishida who let Inoue escape and he fought the enemy alone, and the enemy even asked him to untie the Soul-Dispersing Gloves to fight.
However, she felt that Orihime Inoue had done a good job.
For an ordinary girl who has never experienced a battle, and may have never even fought, it is not easy to stand with them resolutely, to persist until now, to be strong and never back down, and even to feel lost for not being able to help afterwards.
Her praise obviously made the girl happier: "It's good to be able to help Ge Xi."
Kurosaki Utsuki curled the corners of her mouth. The moon was bright outside and the stars were sparse. From her angle, she could clearly see the white tower that once imprisoned Kuchiki Rukia. She didn't know when it would be used again.
But the biggest problem right now...
As the mist rose, Kurosaki Utsuki carefully glanced at the two people beside her along the water surface, then retracted her gaze and looked down at herself, and quickly sank most of herself into the water, leaving only her head outside.
It's okay for Yoruichi, but Inoue Orihime is her age after all, so why is there such a big gap between them...
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