The punch landed squarely on Yamabuki's eye socket.
It hurt so much that tears welled up in his eyes. That bastard must have done it on purpose, aiming specifically for his face!
However, he had risked the punch to make his escape, hearing Tenjirō Kirinji cursing behind him: "You little brat, stop right there! Don't think I don't know who you are!"
Hmph, as long as he wasn't caught red-handed, he would deny it to the death!
Anyway, there were no surveillance cameras in this era. What could anyone do to him?
The next day at work, Yamabuki wore large sunglasses to cover his black eye.
Chōjirō Sasakibe curiously leaned over. "Brother Yamabuki, why are you wearing sunglasses?"
"Don't you think they look cool? Here, I have a pair for you too!" Yamabuki took out another pair of sunglasses and gave them to Chōjirō Sasakibe.
"Thank you, Brother Yamabuki!" Chōjirō Sasakibe happily put them on.
However, as soon as Yamabuki entered the squad barracks, he saw Tenjirō Kirinji standing there, staring at him with a fake smile. Feeling guilty, Yamabuki gave an awkward smile in return.
"Sigh! My house was broken into yesterday; a mouse got in. Does the Chief of Staff know anything about that?" Tenjirō Kirinji asked chillingly.
"No… I don't."
"That mouse was very fast; after I punched it, it disappeared in a flash. But never mind, nothing was stolen anyway." Tenjirō Kirinji suddenly waved his hand and tossed over a small bottle of medicine. Yamabuki caught it.
"What is this?"
"Bruise ointment," Tenjirō Kirinji said flatly.
A cold sweat broke out on Yamabuki's back. "Why are you giving this to me?"
"The dignified Chief of Staff going on a mission with a black eye—you might not be afraid of losing face, but the Gotei 13 is! Find a secluded spot and apply it later. And also…" Tenjirō Kirinji paused slightly here. "Although the technology for the White Bone Hell and Blood Pool Hell is mature, it must not fall into the wrong hands. Otherwise…"
"Ahem. Understood." Yamabuki's eyes shifted nervously behind his sunglasses.
Fewer than ten people in the entire Gotei 13 knew about the White Bone Hell and Blood Pool Hell, and they were all Captain-level. Besides Yamabuki, no one else was interested in them.
Just then, the Captain-Commander walked in.
Everyone fell silent, waiting for the Old Man to speak.
"Yamabuki mentioned to me that we might face a major battle in the future. Our current numbers are insufficient, so we need to expand recruitment. Our first recruitment only covered Seireitei and the nearby Rukongai. This time, we will expand the scope to include all of Soul Society and all three hundred and twenty districts, without missing a single one," Yamamoto said.
The emergence of the Quincy was a significant event. Yamamoto had already informed the Captains, who vaguely guessed that a fierce battle might be coming.
"Starting tomorrow, all Captains will go to various parts of Soul Society to promote the Gotei 13 and recruit personnel. I, as the Captain-Commander, will lead the way. Yamabuki, the responsibility of guarding Seireitei is temporarily entrusted to you… Hmm, leaving you alone makes me uneasy. So, Saitō Furōfushi and Kinroku Izuhara, you two will also stay and guard Seireitei," Yamamoto said.
In this era, three Captains working together were nearly invincible.
"Don't worry, leave it to us," Yamabuki said solemnly.
"Good, you are dismissed," Yamamoto said faintly.
The emergence of the Quincy was indeed an alarm, but it didn't make Yamamoto nervous. He was very confident in his strength. He didn't care about any 'King of the Quincy'; if they dared to show themselves, he would cut them down.
With the impending personnel expansion, the required resources would also increase greatly, especially Zanpakutō and uniforms. All these logistical issues were to be decided by Yamabuki alone.
Oh, right!
A flash of inspiration struck Yamabuki. He might as well take this opportunity to standardize the Shinigami uniforms and have all production and manufacturing go through his shop. This would not only solve the uniform problem but also allow him to make a huge profit!
I'm truly a genius!
He immediately proposed this idea to the Captain-Commander.
Yamamoto had also considered this. Standardizing uniforms would make them appear more formal, but there had never been a suitable opportunity. Now that Yamabuki had his own clothing factory, they could solve this matter simultaneously.
"Alright, I'll leave this to you. And I won't let you suffer a loss; the noble families will be paying," Yamamoto said grandly. Since he wasn't paying himself, he was happy to be generous!
Yamabuki had already thought of the prototype for the Gotei 13 uniform: the famous shihakushō.
However, the shihakushō had almost no practical use. Some said it was a defensive item with extremely low defense, while others said it was a tool to detect a Shinigami's spiritual pressure.
For example, when Kurosaki Ichigo transformed into a Shinigami, the shihakushō would automatically appear on him.
Moreover, the more damaged the uniform, the greater the Reishi loss. However, these effects were almost negligible for ordinary members.
After returning to the factory, he told Senjumaru Shutara about this. She patted her chest and guaranteed she would handle it.
Thus, the prototype of the shihakushō was created.
Besides the common shihakushō, there was also the Captain's haori. The haori was a pure white cloak with an uneven bottom resembling bird feathers, hence its name!
Although it had no practical use, it was undeniably cool!
Imagine thirteen Captains wearing shihakushō and haori, moving freely amidst thousands of troops, taking enemy leaders' heads as easily as picking something from a pocket. How thrilling would that be?
He also prepared a set for himself, except his haori didn't have a squad number on the back, but the character '謀' (Strategist)—for he was a genuine strategist!
Oh, should I get a feather fan too? When fighting, I'll wave my fan and, with a laugh, watch the enemy's mighty ships turn to ashes! How can a single word like 'cool' describe it?
I'm getting carried away! Ahem!
Soon, thanks to Senjumaru Shutara's efforts, the first shihakushō and Captain's haori in Soul Society's history were born. Yamabuki immediately took them to show the Captain-Commander.
Yamamoto was very satisfied and, with a wave of his hand, allocated a large sum of money for the production of the shihakushō.
The Captain's haori that Yamabuki brought was immediately worn by the Captain-Commander.
After resolving the squad's affairs, Yamabuki returned to the underground training ground at his home. In the center were two hot springs, which were replicated versions of the White Bone Hell and the Blood Pool Hell.
Yamabuki found that he was not only exceptionally talented in combat but also learned much faster than ordinary people. After analyzing the formulas of the two hot springs, he quickly replicated them exactly.
I truly am the chosen one.
Let's talk about Retsu Unohana's abilities.
Unohana will be appearing soon, so let me discuss her abilities here.
Currently, there are two mainstream theories regarding Unohana's Bankai.
First: Over-healing, leading to cell necrosis, which is why Zaraki Kenpachi instantly turned into a skeleton. (Another theory is that Kenpachi turning into a skeleton was due to his own ability awakening: Nozarashi: A Skeleton Exposed in the Wilderness.)
Second: A rule-based ability, cause-and-effect acceleration.
Being born is the 'cause,' and eventually dying and decaying into white bones is the 'effect.' All Things' End accelerates this cause-and-effect process.
If this is the case, her Shikai is not merely healing; it could also be 'cause-and-effect acceleration.'
For example, if a person has a small wound on their hand, the ultimate result is the wound healing.
But in the Blood War, Rukia, Byakuya, and Renji were severely injured, and the ultimate result pointed to 'death.' If Shikai were used for treatment, it might accelerate death. Therefore, it exceeded Unohana's healing limit, and they had to be sent to the Zero Squad.
So, I personally lean towards the second conjecture. If you have any thoughts, please leave a comment to discuss.
If there are no objections, Unohana will appear the day after tomorrow, and her Bankai's ability will be rule-based cause-and-effect acceleration.
Of course, this is just my opinion. If you have different opinions, go with what you think. Blame Kubo Tite for not explaining such a cool ability clearly! o(￣ヘ￣o#)
....
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