Chapter 386: Divine Miracle
West Rukongai, District 67.
Two middle-aged men stood under the eaves of a dilapidated house, surrounded by over a dozen people.
Their expressions varied—some excited, others worried.
The only thing they had in common was their worn, simple clothing and bare feet touching the ground.
"Ichiro, don't hesitate. This is a good thing!"
"The Seireitei established that... parliament to give us poor folks a voice!"
"If you go there, you'll be a big shot. You'll definitely be able to secure benefits for our District 67!"
Another nodded in agreement:
"That's right, Ichiro. I think the Seireitei is serious this time."
"That guy Yonshiro, who bullied everyone into voting for him as representative just because he's strong—the Shinigami sent by the Seireitei saw right through him and arrested him!"
An older soul sighed with emotion:
"Young man, you're missing the point... Arresting Yonshiro isn't surprising. What's truly unbelievable is that after arresting him, they conducted investigations to confirm his character and reputation. Only when they had solid evidence proving he was unfit to be a district representative did they formally disqualify him..."
"If it were the nobles of the past, they'd just arrest and kill anyone they disliked. There wouldn't be any of these procedures."
Hearing this, several people around nodded in agreement.
Those living in districts beyond the sixties had never held much goodwill toward nobles or the wealthy.
But... this time, the Seireitei seemed genuinely different from before.
Amid the crowd, the man called Ichiro raised his hand, gesturing for silence.
"Everyone, I understand what you're saying."
"The problem now is that District 67 is so far from the Seireitei. It takes at least a month to get there."
"At that pace, forget attending meetings—even safety on the road isn't guaranteed. What's the use of joining the parliament?"
"If you ask me, there's no issue with joining, but don't get your hopes up about them changing anything..."
At these words, the crowd's expressions grew solemn.
Nearby, three Shinigami awaiting the outcome exchanged glances.
In truth, they also saw this as a major issue.
When they set out from the Seireitei, they hadn't thought much of it.
But after trekking all the way to District 67, their feet were nearly worn out.
And this was despite their ability to use Flash Step.
For ordinary souls relying solely on walking, reaching the Seireitei would be... unthinkable.
Similar discussions were happening almost everywhere in districts beyond the thirtieth.
Suddenly, a voice rang out from the crowd:
"Don't panic. I have a solution."
The villagers froze, turning toward the source of the voice.
There, standing among them as if he'd been there all along, was a man wearing a Shinigami Uniform and a Captain's Haori!
"A... a Shinigami?!"
The villagers stepped back in surprise.
Under everyone's gaze, Satoru crossed his arms and grinned.
"Your demands, I, Satoru Mikami, have truly heard them!"
Satoru Mikami?
Hearing this name, the villagers showed somewhat puzzled expressions.
Not far away, the three Shinigami responsible for awaiting the results suddenly narrowed their eyes.
The three of them used Flash Step to approach.
"Acting Captain-Commander, sir!"
The three knelt on one knee, paying respects to Satoru.
Hearing how the three addressed the man, the villagers showed astonished expressions.
Captain-Commander??
To them, Shinigami = important figures, rarely seen unless Hollows appeared.
Seated officers = important figures among important figures, difficult to encounter even once in a lifetime.
As for higher ranks like vice-captains or captains, there was simply no possibility of any contact.
Now, they had actually skipped several levels and directly met the Captain-Commander!
Although he was only acting, in these people's eyes, there was practically no difference.
Everyone began kneeling down.
But halfway through their movement, they saw Satoru reach out and grab one of them:
"Stand up! No kneeling allowed!"
"The Captain-Commander is gone! No one deserves your kneeling!"
"I'm not worth your kneeling either!"
"I came to Rukongai for only three things!"
"Establish councils, push progress, develop transportation!"
"The first two don't need my attention now, so I'll solve the last one first!"
Saying this, he looked around.
Soon, he found an unobstructed empty space.
Walking before the empty space, Satoru spread open his hands.
With his movement, a dense shadow slowly rotated open.
Soon, the rotating shadow expanded to about one and a half meters in diameter.
Standing before the vortex, Satoru nodded with satisfaction:
"Passing through this vortex will take you directly to the White Path Gate of Seireitei."
"It will automatically absorb Reishi from the air to replenish its power."
"Usually station someone to watch it, don't let unrelated people enter casually. When you need to go to Seireitei for meetings, just go through it."
Hearing this, the villagers widened their eyes, feeling as if they'd seen a ghost.
Although they didn't know what the White Path Gate was... passing through this gate could take them directly to Seireitei?
Could such a miraculous ability exist in the world!
This is the Captain-Commander? So powerful!
The three Shinigami responsible for confirming council representatives were first somewhat surprised.
Then, they couldn't help but want to complain.
The Captain-Commander is still alive and well, sir. Are you sure there's no problem with saying "The Captain-Commander is gone"...
Suddenly, one of the Shinigami thought of something and instinctively said:
"C-Captain Mikami! District 67 has sparse Reishi. If we let the portal absorb Reishi from the air, wouldn't that cause the residents here to..."
Halfway through his sentence, he suddenly regretted speaking up.
Their leader had just unveiled his proud project, and his comment felt like slapping him in the face.
Would there be any good outcome from this?
The expressions of his two teammates nearby also turned grim.
Meanwhile, the villagers looked terrified.
District 67 was an area with extremely scarce resources.
Here, souls could barely sustain themselves by absorbing the minimal Reishi from the air.
If something else started competing for that Reishi, it would likely severely impact their livelihoods!
Satoru, however, chuckled lightly:
"Do you think I, Satoru Mikami, wouldn't have considered such a thing?"
"Rest assured, I've established numerous Reishi replenishment stations in Districts 78 to 80."
"Soon, these nine originally poorest districts will reverse their flow and supply abundant Reishi."
"By then, these areas will become as prosperous as the top ten districts!"
The villagers were stunned upon hearing this.
Establishing Reishi replenishment stations in Districts 78 to 80? How would that even work?
...
...
Rukongai, North District 79.
Starkk stood in a wasteland, stretching lazily.
Beside him, a massive Garganta hovered silently.
An immense amount of Reishi continuously poured through the Garganta into the Soul Society.
Not far away, Shunsui Kyōraku adjusted his straw hat.
Although he had been briefed beforehand by Satoru about Las Noches being "allies" and the plan to channel Reishi from Hueco Mundo into the Soul Society, witnessing it firsthand still felt surreal.
"Um... Mr. Starkk, right?"
"Hmm?"
Starkk looked toward Kyōraku.
"Yeah, Starkk. That's me."
Seeing the older man's half-awake demeanor, Kyōraku felt strangely conflicted.
He cleared his throat:
"This Garganta is semi-permanent, correct... How does Las Noches ensure that wandering Hollows from Hueco Mundo won't slip through into the Soul Society?"
Hearing this, Starkk smiled faintly:
"Captain, Hollows are much simpler creatures than you Shinigami."
"Though it might not be appropriate for an Arrancar to say this... Hollows behave more like wild animals."
"As long as we Arrancar from Las Noches leave our spiritual pressure around this area, wandering Hollows won't dare approach."
"Moreover... Lord Aizen has already arranged for Las Noches specialists to guard these semi-permanent Garganta. Any accidents would be handled immediately."
Kyōraku nodded with mixed emotions.
Indeed, according to Starkk, Las Noches had anticipated every possibility and made thorough preparations.
They had essentially maximized all feasible precautions.
Normally, this would be convincing enough.
But the thought of cooperating with Hollows still left him unsettled...
Throughout the border regions of Rukongai, multiple semi-permanent Garganta opened.
Vast quantities of Reishi poured in continuously.
Even Shinigami felt an unprecedented revitalization under such massive Reishi infusion, let alone ordinary souls.
The concentration of Reishi in Hueco Mundo far surpasses that of the Soul Society.
In the Seireitei, Shinigami still need to eat and drink to sustain their energy consumption.
In Hueco Mundo, simply breathing is enough.
The Shinigami responsible for handing over the semi-permanent Garganta stared at the black hole before them, from which infinite Reishi poured forth, and a single thought crossed their minds—
The future of the Soul Society is about to change.
However, at the same time, there were many others even more astonished than them.
"Satoru, have you heard... Captain Mikami came to our East 70th District yesterday afternoon. With a single wave of his hand, he created a portal directly to the eastern gate of the Seireitei!"
"What? East 70th District? Captain Mikami was clearly in our South 55th District yesterday afternoon!"
"Huh? You're all confused. Captain Mikami was in our West 67th District all afternoon yesterday, and he even answered the questions we asked!"
One by one, the Shinigami responsible for parliamentary selections returned to the Seireitei for mission debriefings and engaged in similar conversations.
After compiling all the information, everyone was shocked to discover—Captain Mikami had simultaneously appeared in all districts beyond the 20th zone in the four directions of the Rukongai yesterday afternoon!
A full 240 districts, 240 Satorus, and 240 portals!
Upon confirming this, the Shinigami couldn't help but feel as if they'd been utterly bewildered.
How is this possible... How was this achieved?
Though it was hard to believe, after personally visiting other districts and confirming the constructed portals in each area, they could only widen their eyes and accept this reality.
In no time, the legend of Satoru splitting into 240 copies and opening paths from the entire Soul Society to the Seireitei spread far and wide throughout the Soul Society.
...
...
Seireitei, Eleventh Division.
In Aizen's room, he looked helplessly at a certain individual lying in a coffin-like chamber.
Satoru lay inside the life-support pod, hands folded over his stomach, with a serene expression on his face.
Tōshirō stood nearby, continuously summoning ice dragons with Hyōrinmaru to cool Satoru down.
From yesterday afternoon until now, he had repeated this process countless times.
If not for the endurance training he had been doing all these years in preparation for emergencies, he would likely have collapsed from exhaustion by now.
Jūshirō Ukitake arrived with several documents, intending to seek opinions from Satoru and Aizen.
Seeing the scene before him, he froze in surprise.
"What is... this?"
Aizen spoke up, looking at Ukitake:
"To solve the transportation issue from the Rukongai to the Seireitei, this guy pulled 240 versions of himself from parallel worlds and sent them to various districts of the Rukongai simultaneously."
"Although these avatars were mere projections with almost no power, the burden was still unimaginable."
"As a result, not only did he deploy the projections, but he also constructed 240 semi-permanent teleportation devices based on his shadow abilities at the same time."
"If Yamamoto-sama and I hadn't been there to stabilize his condition simultaneously, he wouldn't be lying here now—he'd be in the Fourth Division."
Ukitake: "..."
Decades ago, when he heard about Satoru's outrageous actions, he would merely sigh and think, "My junior can be quite the daredevil sometimes."
Now, when he hears about Satoru's outrageous actions, he no longer knows how to react.
Because these feats have reached a level of absurdity that he simply cannot comprehend.
Pulling over two hundred versions of himself from parallel worlds and projecting them into reality... constructing over two hundred portals leading from Rukongai to Seireitei...
Never mind two hundred, with his abilities, he couldn't even manage one.
Is this the realm of Transcendence that little junior brother mentioned before...?
For a moment, Ukitake felt a pang of envy.
Not envy of the immense power.
But envy that Satoru could use his own strength to carry out his resolve and fulfill his promises.
Such a feat, looking across past and future, was probably something only little junior brother could accomplish.
And he too had something he could do for him.
That was to exert his utmost effort to complete the establishment of the council and its supporting projects!
Finally, amid intense preparations, the first All Soul Society Conference officially commenced.
As a member of the Power Transition Committee, the Shiba Clan was responsible for the logistical preparations of this conference.
However, the person in charge wasn't Shiba Kaien.
But rather Shiba Isshin, wearing a Captain's Haori with a bitter expression on his face.
After receiving Shiba Kaien's threatening letter, he had originally intended to ignore it.
Just one Ichigo—if he lost him, so be it. At worst, he could just give him to Kaien.
Unexpectedly, Yuzu discovered the letter.
Yuzu brought Karin to Masaki, tearfully pleading for their brother to come home.
Faced with choosing between her husband and daughters, Kurosaki Masaki smilingly made her decision.
And that was why he was here now.
Watching the Rukongai representatives file into the conference venue, Kurosaki Isshin silently cheered them on.
Do your best, everyone!
Hurry up and complete this power transition so I can retire properly!