Setsuna looked at the female Menos kneeling on the sand and nodded with satisfaction.
"Very well, rise, Harribel." He gestured for her to stand. "We can discuss the details slowly later. For now..."
Setsuna turned, looking behind him.
Yoruichi, Zaraki, and Azashiro had already stopped.
Barragan's massive skeletal form lay at the bottom of the sand crater. The ghostly flames in his eye sockets were as faint as a candle flickering in the wind. Cracks covered his entire skeleton. His Reiatsu was on the verge of extinction.
His giant axe lay broken in two pieces nearby. He had completely lost the ability to resist, though he wasn't quite 'dead' yet.
"Bring our 'former King of Hueco Mundo'," Setsuna instructed. "We should return. Let our new 'King' handle the aftermath here."
...
11th Division, Captain's Private Quarters.
This place had been temporarily arranged into a highly ceremonial dining space.
In the center was a wide obsidian table, its surface polished like a mirror, reflecting the soft flames of light, condensed from pure Reishi, flickering around them.
An indescribable, rich, and complex aroma filled the air. It was a fragrance that seemed to act directly upon the soul, evoking the deepest desires for ascension from the very core of one's being.
In the center of the long table rested the main course for the evening.
It was not in the form of an ordinary dish. It looked more like a work of art composed of flowing, faintly luminous amber and dark gold Reishi Matter.
Its form shifted subtly and constantly, sometimes like layers of blooming Reishi Flowers, sometimes like a condensed stellar vortex.
Just by looking at it, one could feel the immense, primordial Reishi contained within, belonging to a Vasto Lorde-class Menos, along with the ultimate harmony achieved after refinement through Kido techniques and sublimation through culinary skill.
This was the [Funeral Feast of the Fallen Hollow King], meticulously prepared by Setsuna using the [Soul Cuisine] technique he had learned from Hikifune Kirio and subsequently improved upon.
The core ingredient was Barragan's spiritual essence, supplemented by various rare Reishi Materials.
Setsuna briefly explained the source of the main ingredient.
Zaraki grinned, rubbing his hands together without a care. "Meat from a skeleton? Sounds tough enough! Since it's hard to cut, I wonder how it tastes!"
In his eyes, it was only natural to make full use of a powerful opponent after defeating them.
Azashiro's expression was calm as usual. He nodded slightly. "Efficient utilization of a Vasto Lorde-class Menos's Reishi conforms to the principle of resource optimization."
His thinking leaned more towards pure rational analysis.
Aizen wore his usual gentle smile. "To feast one's comrades on the flesh of a defeated enemy chief… this both demonstrates martial merit and supplements the spiritual base. Setsuna-nii's arrangements are always so deep."
Only Yoruichi, upon learning the source of this exquisite delicacy, widened her golden cat-like eyes. Her throat moved slightly, and a clear hesitation and physiological resistance appeared on her face.
Making her eat a skeletal Hollow King who had been roaring not long ago... Even if the dish looked exquisite and the aroma was tempting, the psychological hurdle was truly difficult to overcome.
"Yoruichi," Setsuna looked at her, his voice calm and carrying a knowing smile. "Don't feel burdened. In the Living World, there was a great hero in ancient times who resisted foreign invaders. He wrote a poem: 'With ambitious hunger, I devour the flesh of barbarian foes… laughing and talking, my thirst quenched with the blood of my enemies.'"
He explained slowly. "During Barragan's rule over Hueco Mundo, the number of times his Menos Grande invaded the Living World and harassed the borders of the Soul Society is countless. How many innocent souls were erased because of his ambition? Today, we share his essence. In a sense, we are avenging the dead, using the enemy's power to nourish the bodies and souls of the guardians."
Seeing Yoruichi's brow relax slightly, though she still hesitated, Setsuna switched to a more essential explanation.
"Moreover, from a Reishi-ological perspective, the essence of this dish is a highly purified, transformed, and reconstituted aggregate of Reishi. Just as after a person dies, their spiritual body decomposes, returning to the most basic Reishi, dispersing into the world. And the Reishi in nature will recombine to form new spiritual bodies or matter."
"This dish is simply taking Barragan, a high-concentration Reishi Aggregate, and through technical means, decomposing and resynthesizing it into a form that is easier to absorb and tastes excellent. You can think of it as an extremely advanced form of 'molecular gastronomy', except our molecules are Reishi."
"Molecular gastronomy?" Yoruichi blinked. She hadn't heard this unfamiliar term before, but she could understand the logic.
Yes, everything in the Soul Society is fundamentally composed of Reishi. The essence of Shinigami training is also absorbing and refining Reishi.
This dish before her was simply taking purified Reishi from a special source, which had been thoroughly transformed, and presenting it in a delicious form.
Thinking this way, the intense resistance in her heart indeed subsided significantly.
She looked at the tempting glow on her plate, then glanced at Zaraki, who had already started eating, swallowing mouthful after mouthful with satisfied grunts.
"Seems... not such a big deal?" She took a deep breath, carefully picked up a small piece of the flowing amber-gold, and put it in her mouth.
Instantly! An indescribable, supremely layered richness and umami exploded in her mouth!
It wasn't just a stimulation of taste… it was a warmth, fullness, and pleasure that reached directly into the soul.
A vast and gentle Reishi Flow required no effort to refine, naturally integrating into her spiritual body, bringing a clearly perceptible nourishment and strengthening.
Even more wonderful, the flavor seemed to carry a hint of weathered 'gravitas' and a ultimately purified 'clarity'… contradictory yet harmonious.
"Mmm...!" Yoruichi's eyes suddenly lit up. "It's delicious!"
She no longer cared about any psychological barriers and, like Zaraki, enthusiastically began enjoying this unprecedented soul feast.
Setsuna watched his companions' reactions, smiled slightly, and finally began to taste his own portion.
As the ultimate deliciousness spread through the depths of his soul, Setsuna felt a long-missed, near-perfect pleasure.
This wasn't just the satisfaction of appetite… it was the perfect resonance of his Gourmet Cells with the combination of high-quality ingredients and skill.
The Gourmet Cells within him, after long-term accumulation and suppression, had reached the critical point for evolution.
Now, catalyzed by this 'ultimate feast', with the King of Hueco Mundo as the ingredient and Captain-level Kido culinary technique as the guide, that final thin membrane was finally breached!
Hum!
A force, far more deep and vast than when he broke through to 1st-Class Reiatsu, one that seemed to touch some primordial source, awoke and erupted from the depths of Setsuna's soul.
It wasn't a simple expansion of Reiatsu, but a leap in essence itself.
The Reishi Flames within the private quarters suddenly froze, as if time had solidified.
Zaraki, Azashiro, Aizen, and Yoruichi all stopped moving and stared at Setsuna in shock.
They felt an indescribable sense of 'presence' radiating from Setsuna. It wasn't oppression, but a higher level of Reiatsu, as if he himself had become the embodiment of some law. The surrounding Reishi Environment spontaneously submitted to and resonated with him.