Chapter 389: Hell Reformation
"Yo, Sōsuke!"
Seeing Aizen flying toward him, Satoru, who was in the midst of his grass-mowing spree, grinned and greeted him.
"What's the current situation?"
Faced with such an unserious individual, Aizen refrained from scolding him and went straight to the point.
Even he couldn't claim to understand Hell thoroughly.
Every second spent here increased the risk.
There would be plenty of time to discipline Satoru after they returned; it wasn't worth wasting effort here.
While swinging Risō Jakumetsu and reducing large swathes of sinners to ash, Satoru explained:
"I plan to reconstruct Hell."
"?"
Although Aizen had witnessed many miracles from Satoru, he couldn't help but freeze for a moment upon hearing this.
Unlike the Three Realms, Hell was a world that had existed since the era of chaos.
Even the Soul King had no authority to interfere with Hell.
You, Satoru, aren't even the Soul King yet—at best, you're a youthful, wishful version—where do you get the courage to reform Hell?
As if guessing Aizen's thoughts, Satoru clarified:
"Not a complete rebuild, just some fine-tuning on the existing foundation."
Under Aizen's gaze, he briefly outlined his idea.
After listening to Satoru's explanation, Aizen fell into thought.
What Satoru intended to do was, in simple terms, just one thing.
Transform Hell, which had largely relied on manual management, into a fully automated system.
In the past, to maintain stable operation, Hell depended on jailers, that is, the will of Hell.
Without jailers, the torment suffered by souls fallen into Hell would significantly decrease.
Some of the stronger ones could even exploit loopholes to completely avoid Hell's torment.
As a result, the rate at which sinners fell into despair would drastically slow down.
Unable to despair, they would continue to exist in Hell, occupying its space and resources. Over time, they might even cause damage to Hell itself.
Groups like the "Crimson Lotus" faction mentioned in the "Hell Chapter" were a prime example.
Fearless of everything except the will of Hell, they had almost turned Hell into a vacation spot.
This was why Hell had always insisted on maintaining the jailer system and had sought to eliminate Satoru upon learning of his ability to liberate jailers.
Understanding this, Satoru conceived an idea.
Since Hell itself cannot manage these prison guards, why not just do it for them?
As Satoru explained to Aizen, beneath their feet the sinners had already trampled and climbed over each other, forming a massive human mountain nearly a hundred meters tall.
It was like something out of a zombie movie.
These sinners roared with eerie cries, reaching their arms toward the figure in the sky.
Watching them, Aizen raised his hand and made a grasping motion in the air.
With his gesture, a massive Kurohitsugi erupted from the ground, enveloping the entire "human mountain."
Soon after, the hundred-meter-tall black coffin dissipated.
All the sinners inside had vanished.
Of course, they weren't simply swallowed by spatial distortions, leaving no trace.
When sinners die, they are consumed by hellfire and resurrected in the depths of Hell.
After eliminating thousands of sinners with a single strike, Aizen surveyed his surroundings.
An endless ocean of sinners continued surging toward them from all directions.
Just as Satoru had said, without an automated processing system, Hell's demand for prison guards would only keep increasing.
He turned to Satoru.
"What should we do?"
Satoru pointed at his own chest:
"By utilizing the power of the Hōgyoku."
"Before, I tried directly modifying Reishi to add new functions to Hell."
"But... the Reishi in Hell is somewhat different from that in our Three Realms."
"Small-scale modifications aren't problematic, but for large-scale transformations, the accumulated energy consumption increases exponentially."
"However, if we combine it with the Hōgyoku's wish-granting ability to filter Hell's Reishi and convert it into normal Reishi, my operations would become much simpler!"
Hearing Satoru's plan, Aizen gave him a surprised look.
Not because there was anything wrong with the plan, but because he hadn't expected to hear the word "exponentially" from Satoru's mouth.
It felt somewhat out of character.
Under Satoru's gaze, Aizen closed his eyes.
Light emanated from the eye he usually kept covered.
Simultaneously, the Hōgyoku embedded in his chest began to glow brilliantly.
After activating the Hōgyoku, his spiritual pressure began to transform rapidly.
Within seconds, the surrounding Reishi started to grow restless.
Though ordinary people wouldn't notice, at Satoru's level of perception, he could easily detect that the fundamental programming of the Reishi constituting their surroundings was undergoing complete transformation.
Under the combined power of the Hōgyoku and Aizen, the programming language of this Reishi was being converted from its Hell version to the Three Realms version.
Satoru showed a pleased expression.
Although he had complete confidence in Aizen's ability to accomplish this, actually witnessing it still gave him a pleasantly surprised feeling.
He also closed his eyes and began working alongside Aizen.
Aizen and the Hōgyoku were responsible for decoding.
Satoru was responsible for rewriting.
Two transcendent beings who had broken past their limits began their major overhaul of Hell.
....
..
A Shinigami patrol squad touring through Seireitei suddenly stopped in surprise.
Everyone looked up at the sky.
A somewhat blurry image had appeared in the sky without anyone noticing.
Displayed in the image were Satoru and Aizen standing above Hell!
"Is that... the Acting Captain-Commander, and Vice-Captain Aizen?"
"Where are they?"
"Is this some new training exercise?"
First Division. Yamamoto leaned on his cane, gazing sternly at the sky.
Hell...
What the hell is that brat doing in Hell?
As he pondered this, he suddenly watched in astonishment as the scenes showed the structures around Satoru and Aizen in Hell transforming into particles of light, rising and dissipating into the air.
Then, these particles of light gradually converged, taking on a new form...
Witnessing this unbelievable spectacle, Yamamoto couldn't help but widen his eyes.
Luzhinomiya Clan grounds.
All the Shinigami of the Luzhinomiya family, including those supporting the Gates of Hell, wore expressions of disbelief.
"Captain Mikami... is remodeling Hell?"
"How is that possible? How could anyone accomplish such a thing?"
"This is... a true miracle!"
Eighth Division barracks.
Kyōraku and Ukitake both stared wide-eyed at the scene in the sky.
"My, my... That little junior brother of ours really knows how to shock people more and more."
Kyōraku adjusted his straw hat and sighed.
Ukitake felt the same.
Kisuke Urahara stood on the streets of Seireitei, quietly observing the spectacle in the sky.
The more he grew, the more grateful he felt.
Back then, being threatened into joining the Mikami Group was truly a blessing...
...
...
After an unknown length of time, when Satoru reopened his eyes, Hell had completely transformed.
First and most noticeably, the entire first layer of Hell had been flattened.
At the very center of the first layer, a massive vortex several kilometers high slowly rotated like a galaxy in the cosmos.
This vortex was the focal point of Satoru's remodeling project.
Contained within it was his Outer World Shadow.
The Outer World Shadow was the complete opposite of things within the world.
Therefore, through Satoru's adjustments, this slowly rotating vortex possessed an extremely terrifying attractive force.
Even Captain-level experts, when facing this vortex, would have no choice but to be sucked into it.
After being drawn into the vortex, the sinners would arrive at the second layer.
This was the core layer of Hell that Satoru had reconstructed.
After being swept through the great vortex of the first layer, the sinners would basically lose all ability to resist.
Upon reaching the second layer, they would be thrown into conveyor-belt-equipped pipelines where, based on the concentration of Sinful power each carried, they were rapidly sorted and dispatched to different workshops.
These workshops stored various punitive measures of Hell.
Flames, molten iron and copper, icy cold...
Some were original torments of Hell, while others were newly added by Satoru.
In the original Hell, sinners had moments to catch their breath and attempt to evade the torture.
But after Satoru's modifications, the damned no longer enjoyed such fortune.
Sorted and processed, they would endure endless torment in workshops corresponding to their sin levels.
Among them, the irredeemably wicked would, like the original Hell prisoners, disintegrate from boundless despair, transforming into the desert at Hell's lowest layer.
Those who genuinely repented during the torture could reenter the cycle of reincarnation.
Of course, even after rebirth, the suffering endured in Hell would be seared into their souls' depths.
In subsequent lives, these pains would occasionally surface in the damned's dreams and thoughts, instinctively deterring them from further evil.
Satoru felt somewhat contemplative.
If Sōya Azashiro learned of this operation, he'd probably immediately propose dragging all of humanity down for a round of torment...
Witnessing Satoru's grand spectacle, Aizen couldn't help but shake his head slightly:
"This is what you called 'minor adjustments'?"
Satoru scratched his head and chuckled:
"I really did only intend minor adjustments at first."
"But after renovating the first layer, it felt so perfect that the subsequent supporting facilities would lack aesthetic cohesion if they didn't match up.""
"The more I modified, the more I felt that since the earlier parts were done so well, the later ones couldn't be too sloppy..."
"And it ended up like this."
Hearing this, Aizen fell silent.
Though he didn't approve of Satoru's excessive measures, he deeply understood and recognized this progression.
Occasionally succumbing to that perfectionist drive was indeed quite intoxicating.
Meanwhile, the Will of Hell entities that had been pursuing Satoru gradually came to a halt.
Aizen looked downward.
As far as the eye could see, the Will of Hell beings slowly lowered their blades.
Then, all Will of Hell entities knelt down simultaneously.
From all directions, they knelt toward Satoru.
Observing the scene before him, Satoru revealed a triumphant expression.
He crossed his arms, his posture straightening noticeably.
Under the gaze of all Will of Hell entities, he waved his hand:
"My subjects! Heed my command, unleash the Earth Rumble!!"
Yet all Will of Hell entities remained motionless, showing no response.
Enraged, Satoru shouted:
"Traitors! All traitors!"
"Drag me out and execute me!"
"Wait, no... drag them out and execute them!"
Aizen approached him and remarked calmly:
"Enough, stop wasting time."
"Clearly, Hell is proactively seeking reconciliation."
"You've already resolved Hell's operational issues. Until new problems emerge, the Will of Hell no longer needs to exist."
"Now, you can fulfill your promise."
Hearing Aizen's words, Satoru grew contemplative.
He nodded and stepped before the Will of Hell entities.
In the next instant, an enormous shadow expanded from beneath his feet, instantly stretching endlessly to cover the entire land.
All Will of Hell entities standing on the shadow gradually transformed in appearance.
The massive Will of Hell entities vanished.
In their place stood humanoid Shinigami.
All of them were once renowned powerhouses of the Soul Society.
After death, their heavy spirit particles couldn't be converted, leading them to be cast into hell and becoming its guardians.
After countless years, they had finally regained their original forms.
Among them were some of the founding Gotei 13 captains whom Satoru recognized.
The restored powerhouses initially appeared confused.
But soon, as their intellect returned, memories of what they had "witnessed" moments ago gradually surfaced in their minds.
Recalling Satoru's unbelievably absurd actions, all the powerhouses looked at him with grateful eyes.
One by one, these Shinigami who had once shone brightly in their era bowed respectfully to Satoru.
A figure suddenly appeared before Satoru.
It was a brawny man with long hair, radiating a straightforward and decisive aura.
He wore a white Captain's Haori similar to Satoru's.
"Yo, junior. We meet again."
Satoru narrowed his eyes at the man before him.
Kenpachi Kuruyashiki - the Kenpachi from three generations before him.
During the first disaster brought by the Gates of Hell, it was precisely because hell had dispatched him to use that insane Bankai in the Seireitei that nearly destroyed it.
Had Aizen not sacrificed his life force to support him, enabling the successful use of "Mikami Paradise," the outcome would have been uncertain.
Satoru grinned:
"That word 'again' is quite well chosen."
"Senior Kuruyashiki, were you conscious during your last descent to the Soul Society?"
If this guy had been conscious and still dared to use that terrifying Bankai in the Seireitei, he'd have to make him experience the reformed hell workshop!
Seeing Satoru's expression, Kenpachi Kuruyashiki first froze, then suddenly understood why he was being asked this.
He quickly waved his hands:
"Just kidding, just kidding... I was still a captain of the Seireitei after all. How could I do such a thing while conscious!"
"When I said we meet again, it's because I saw you dispel my Bankai in my memories!"
"Hmph..."
Satoru looked suspiciously at the man before him.
But soon, he shook his head.
"Never mind. You'll soon be reincarnated anyway, so this is pointless."
Hearing this, Kenpachi Kuruyashiki slightly started.
Then, he grinned:
"Is that so... Well, that's fine too."
"But before that, Captain Mikami, I have an unreasonable request!"