Urahara Kisuke landed at the edge of the ruins, his sleeves bulging with several potion bottles.
Tsukabishi Tessai followed closely behind him, his towering frame kicking up a ring of dust as he touched down.
Urahara's gaze swept across the entire expanse of ruins, taking in the fallen Hollowfied Captains and Vice-Captains littering the ground, the violently churning Spiritual Pressure in the air, and Unohana and Hasumi Ren locked in bloody combat on the battlefield.
His eyes lingered on Ren for a moment.
That degree of Hollowfication—a fully enveloped skeletal mask even curving into horns, clad in bone armor, complete with those sinister crests.
'My goodness, this is several magnitudes stronger than when we tested it in the underground cavern beneath Sokyoku Hill...'
'But this display... has he lost control?'
Just as Urahara frowned in thought, a sense of foreboding rising within him, he met Ren's gaze.
In that fleeting glance, Urahara clearly saw the resentment in Ren's eyes, seemingly complaining that he had arrived too late.
Urahara's eyes flickered slightly. As brilliant as he was, he instantly grasped Ren's intentions.
Ren had retained his consciousness. His current display was merely an act.
That meant Aizen was still nearby.
He needed someone to bail him out at the right moment.
"Captain Unohana, hold on just a little longer! I brought the antidote!"
Urahara shouted, his voice loud enough for everyone across the entire ruins to hear.
Hearing this, Ren knew the situation was secured. He gradually reeled in his Hollowfication, progressively showing signs of faltering in his battle with Unohana as the number of wounds on his body increased.
Subsequently, Unohana brought her blade down, cleaving the mask on Ren's face in two, and Ren collapsed to the ground on cue.
Without the boon of High-Speed Regeneration, blood spilled from the numerous wounds across Ren's body, making him look exceptionally miserable.
In the distance, Urahara shoved several potion bottles into Tessai's hands while grabbing others himself, sprinting toward the closest fallen figure, Hirako Shinji, at top speed.
"Grand Kido Chief, I leave the ones on the left to you. I will take the ones on the right. Just pour it directly down their throats!"
Tessai accepted the bottles without a single question, turning and charging toward Love Aikawa.
Urahara crouched beside Hirako, pried his mouth open, and poured the potion in.
Hirako's body jolted violently the moment the liquid slid down his throat. The creeping spread of the half-mask on his face noticeably stalled.
Following that, the chaotic Spiritual Pressure within his body ceased its rampage, gradually stabilizing.
At the same time, Tessai had already administered the potion to Rojuro Ootoibashi and Ushoda Hachigen, and the same suppressive effects manifested on their masks one after another.
On the distant hillside, Aizen's gaze turned cold.
This was something he had not anticipated.
When he heard the word antidote earlier, he had genuinely been startled.
Fortunately, it was merely a suppressant; it could not reverse the phenomenon of Hollowfication.
To think Urahara Kisuke had actually developed such a thing.
Without a doubt, it was the Hollowfication on Hasumi Ren's body that had provided the research material.
Just as he had used Ren to advance his research into the Hogyoku and Hollowfication, Urahara had similarly formulated a countermeasure.
A Hollowfication suppressant. Though it appeared immature and could only temporarily halt the spread of the masks rather than eradicate the soul mutation triggered by the Hogyoku.
However, to produce such a result in so short a time, Urahara Kisuke's technical prowess fully lived up to Aizen's evaluation of him.
He truly could not be underestimated.
"Lord Aizen."
Tosen Kaname turned his head, lowering his voice.
"Urahara Kisuke is actually administering suppressants to the Captains. Should we intervene and stop him?"
Aizen fell silent for a moment, then tucked the Hogyoku back into his robes.
His gaze shifted from Urahara to Unohana and Ren.
"There is no need. The practical combat effects of Hollowfication, the tolerance thresholds of Captain and Vice-Captain class individuals to the Hogyoku—the necessary data has already been fully gathered. Today's objective has been achieved."
He turned around, his back to the ruins.
"We have other arrangements to make. The plans to expose the Quincy and frame Urahara Kisuke still need to be advanced."
"It is time to set the stage. Urahara Kisuke must be eliminated. As for these Captains... he shouldn't be able to do much for them in the short term, which gives us ample time to remove him from the board."
As Aizen's words fell.
Tosen sheathed Suzumushi and followed closely behind him.
Ichimaru Gin also turned around. Before leaving, he glanced back at the white-haired figure slowly collapsing in the center of the ruins, a completely imperceptible glint flashing through his narrowed eyes.
The figures of the trio gradually faded away under the concealment of Kyoka Suigetsu.
Seeing that the timing was about right, Urahara stood up from beside Hirako Shinji.
Ren was currently kneeling on one knee, the bone armor on his body cracking and peeling off as his Hollowfied Spiritual Pressure completely dissipated.
Unohana stood opposite him, gripping her Zanpakuto and panting softly.
"Captain Unohana."
Urahara jogged over swiftly, inserting himself between the two.
"I have a potion that suppresses Hollowfication. Let me check his condition."
Unohana's gaze bypassed Urahara's shoulder and landed on Ren.
Seizing the momentary window, Urahara crouched into a half-squat and asked softly.
"Aizen has already left, hasn't he?"
Ren opened his eyes, scanning his surroundings with his peripheral vision, before giving a slight nod.
His breathing was ragged, his wounds slick with blood, painting an incredibly wretched picture.
Urahara stood up, patted the dust off his knees, and turned to Unohana.
"I've taken a look. Once Ren's Hollowfication recedes, he will be perfectly fine."
"His constitution is different from those Captains; his tolerance for Hollowfication is much better."
Unohana looked into Urahara's eyes and gave a small nod.
Seeing Unohana's reaction, Urahara knew she had likely guessed something. Reaching a tacit understanding, he continued.
"Hollowfied entities are highly aggressive. Once they lose control, they harbor hostility toward all living things nearby. This can be verified by observing the other Captains."
"What's most important next is how we go about resolving the Hollowfication afflicting the Captains. That is the real problem."
Urahara looked at the Captains, whose states had somewhat settled but remained highly unstable, his brows knitting tightly.
It seemed highly unlikely that he could completely eradicate the Hollowfication state from their bodies.
It looked as though he could only use the Hogyoku to indirectly guide them, stabilizing the Hollowfication into some sort of conventional state while retaining their rationality. That would already be pushing the limits.
He wondered where Aizen's ultimate goal for the Hogyoku's development lay.
To what extent could a perfect Hollowfication go...
Urahara was equally filled with curiosity regarding that conclusion.
To the side, Unohana sheathed her blade, walked past Urahara, and knelt in front of Ren.
Looking at the heavily wounded Ren, whose Spiritual Pressure had bottomed out, she leaned over.
Pale green Kaido Reishi spilled from her palms, covering the deepest wound on Ren's chest.
The warm, healing Spiritual Pressure seeped into his subcutaneous tissue, repairing the torn muscle fibers and splintered bones.
Ren felt his wounds closing at a rapid pace.
Under the soothing touch of Unohana's Kaido, Ren felt a sense of tranquility seeping deep into his marrow.
Unohana's fingers moved slowly along the edges of the lacerations, the Reishi precisely mending every inch of damaged tissue.
She kept her head lowered, her long hair cascading down to veil most of her face, obscuring her expression.
Lying on the rubble-strewn ground, Ren slightly opened his eyes and stared at the tips of Unohana's dangling hair, momentarily at a loss for words.
Silence lingered for a moment.
"Are you feeling better."
Unohana asked, her tone flat and devoid of any discernible emotion.
"...Much better."
Unohana's hand paused.
The spiritual power of the Kaido in her hand suddenly intensified sharply. Ren let out a muffled groan.
That healing Spiritual Pressure penetrated deep into the parts of his wound that had not yet fully closed, bringing a sharp, throbbing ache.
"How about now."
Seeing Ren's inability to voice his suffering, Unohana's fingers dialed back to a normal amount of force, and the Kaido became gentle once more.
She did not look up at him, merely uttering a single sentence in an incredibly low voice.
"After we go back, you will tell me everything, completely and in its entirety."
"I will not allow a single omission."
She paused.
"Otherwise, the next time I swing my sword, it will not end at this level."
Ren remained silent for two seconds.
"...Yes, Captain."
The green light of the Kaido continued to flow steadily over his wounds.
To an outsider, this would appear as nothing more than a heartwarming scene of a Captain treating her injured subordinate.
Urahara, standing a few steps away and observing the scene, tactfully turned his back to tend to the other Hollowfied Captains.
Tessai had already finished distributing the potions. Cracks spiderwebbed across the masks on the faces of the fallen Captains and Vice-Captains as the Hollowfication process was temporarily suppressed.
But the cracks were only temporary. Beneath those shattered traces, the bone material was still sluggishly attempting to regrow.
Urahara crouched beside Kuna Mashiro, checking her vital signs, yet his gaze drifted past the edge of the ruins, sweeping toward that empty hillside in the distance.
Aizen was already gone.
Retracting his gaze, Urahara carefully laid Mashiro's head flat and looked toward Tessai in the distance.
"Tessai-san, prepare a heavy sealing spell."
"I need a stable Spiritual Pressure isolation field to gather all the Hollowfied individuals together. The subsequent processing cannot be conducted in such an open environment."
Tessai nodded. His hands formed seals, and a massive array of spell crests surged across the ground, erecting a semi-transparent barrier around the fallen Captains.
Urahara darted swiftly inside the barrier, examining them while rapidly organizing the next steps in his mind.
The suppressant was merely a temporary stopgap. The Hollowfication seeds planted in these people's souls by the Hogyoku had not been eradicated.
To permanently resolve this problem, he needed time and far more complex technology.
And a sufficiently safe location.
The Seireitei... could they still go back?
Urahara had a vague premonition that whatever Aizen did next might implicate him.
Coupled with the Quincy's machinations, it was very difficult for him to predict how things would unfold from here.
Urahara raised his head and looked toward Ren, who was being healed by Unohana.
The latter happened to look over at the same time.
The two exchanged a look across the dozen-meter distance.
"Urahara, there is no way Aizen will just abruptly drop things after pulling all of this. The Seireitei will thoroughly investigate this incident, and he will definitely find a scapegoat."
"You need to be careful. Under the influence of Kyoka Suigetsu, we have no way to prove our innocence."
Hearing this, Urahara instantly realized the implication.
What Ren said was highly likely. If Aizen were to look for a target like that, the most probable candidates would be him and Ren.
Urahara's brows furrowed tightly. He gave a slight nod and turned his head away once more.
There were many difficult problems lined up before him.
But at the very least, the worst-case scenario had been temporarily averted.
Unohana finished treating the final wound on Ren's body. She retracted her palm and stood up.
She looked down at Ren.
Ren also looked up at her.
She didn't say anything else, turning and walking toward the Hollowfied Captains, preparing to use Kaido to further stabilize their conditions.
After taking a few steps, she paused.
"Stand up slowly. Your bones have just been reset; strenuous movement will snap them again."
After saying this to Ren, Unohana did not turn back, continuing to walk forward.
Looking at the Hollowfied Captains, her brows knitted deeply.
Even with her hundreds of years of medical experience, she had never encountered a situation like this.
Urahara knelt beside Kuna Mashiro. The Spiritual Pressure on his fingertips probed into the spiritual node at the side of her neck, his frown deepening.
The potion's suppressive effect was waning.
Although the cracks on the masks were widening, fresh bone fibers constantly sprouted from the edges of the fissures, attempting to reseal the gaps torn open by the suppressant.
The breach left open at the core of her soul by the Hogyoku was instinctively fighting back against the external suppression.
He stood up and moved on to the next.
Rojuro Ootoibashi's condition was slightly better. With a thicker foundation of Spiritual Pressure and stronger soul capacity, the potion could hold out for a while longer.
Love Aikawa and Yadomaru Lisa lay side-by-side, their breathing heavy.
Sarugaki Hiyori's Hollowfication progression was the most volatile; the Hollowfied Spiritual Pressure within her was fluctuating violently at an irregular frequency.
By the time Urahara had finished checking them one by one and stood up again, Unohana had just retracted her hand from Hirako Shinji.
Her expression remained composed, but Urahara noticed that her brow was furrowed deeper than usual.
"How does it look, Captain Unohana?"
Urahara asked.
"I am powerless to help them."
Unohana frowned tightly and let out a soft sigh.
"Although having a Spiritual Pressure at the Vice-Captain level or above has allowed them to endure this shattering of their soul boundaries, they will not last much longer."
"Their souls are undergoing an irreversible transformation. The composition of their Spiritual Pressure is being rewritten from its most fundamental structure."
She stood up, looking at the individuals collapsed on the ground.
"Your potion can temporarily suppress the spread of the masks, and the effect is indeed quite good. Under normal circumstances, this would already be an incredible achievement."
"But the current situation has exceeded the boundaries of Kaido. Now that the limits of their souls have been torn asunder, they are slowly gravitating toward becoming Hollows."
"If this process continues, it will ultimately devolve into Soul Suicide. Their bodies will not be able to withstand the coexistence of two diametrically opposed forces within the same vessel, not until one completely annihilates the other."
"This is a phenomenon I have never encountered. Kaido has almost no effect on this level of structural damage to the soul."
"Even the Hot Spring Demon of Squad Zero could not mend damage on this scale from its root."
She fell silent for a moment.
"Unless... we can find the source that caused this mutation and analyze how its energy operates."
She looked at Urahara, a layer of scrutiny entering her gaze.
"I am quite curious about how those potions of yours were concocted. Perhaps, you have some ideas?"