Muten Natsu handed control of the Spirit Ink over to Myōki and thought carefully about everything Kaien Shiba had said.
There was nothing particularly strange about Sōsuke Aizen's plan as Kaien Shiba had revealed it.
In fact, compared with their initial guess that Aizen simply intended to open the Gates of Hell, Kaien Shiba's explanation made more sense. The Gates of Hell were only one step in Sōsuke Aizen's plan to destroy the Soul King, and that fit Sōsuke Aizen's way of doing things even better.
But Muten Natsu still felt that something was not quite right.
If there was nothing wrong with what Kaien Shiba had said... then the problem lay with Kaien Shiba himself.
Muten Natsu's eyes shifted faintly.
He was not sensing that something was wrong. He had already noticed it. He just had not wanted to think about it too deeply.
Because... that was Kaien Shiba.
Muten Natsu looked at Rukia Kuchiki beside him.
The best thing to do now was to discuss it with Rukia Kuchiki and see if, by talking it through, they could identify exactly what felt wrong.
But that meant shattering the joy of a long-awaited reunion and examining Kaien Shiba, the senior who had once taken such good care of them both, with the coldest, most emotionless eyes.
That seemed a little too...
No. Muten Natsu rejected that naive thought.
This trip to Hueco Mundo involved more than just himself. It involved everyone else, as well as Soul Society and the World of the Living. He had to be careful. More careful than ever.
Muten Natsu was still thinking about how to voice his doubts to Rukia Kuchiki without ruining the joy of their reunion as much as possible.
"Muten." Rukia Kuchiki looked up and met Muten Natsu's gaze. "Something's wrong!"
"Hm?" Muten Natsu's thoughts froze for an instant.
"I feel like Kaien-sama is acting strange... but I can't say exactly what the problem is." Rukia Kuchiki murmured, then noticed the unusual look on Muten Natsu's face. "You noticed too?"
"...Mm."
"You idiot! Don't worry about my feelings. If we've noticed something wrong, of course we need to talk it over properly." Rukia Kuchiki kicked Muten Natsu. "If it really is Kaien-sama, he definitely won't mind us suspecting him. He'd even praise us for being cautious. If it isn't the real Kaien-sama... then we have even more reason to figure it out."
"Could it be..." Orihime Inoue picked up on what they meant. "That person is lying?"
"It's possible. The key issue is why he was there." Muten Natsu pointed toward Las Noches. "From that distance, he couldn't have set out to find us only after we appeared in Hueco Mundo."
Orihime Inoue thought for a moment. "Could he have done something that made us fall into the Forest of Menos?"
"If he could do that, then Szayelaporro, who specializes in research, would definitely be able to do it too. In that case, someone among us should have been sent straight into Las Noches." Rukia Kuchiki dismissed Orihime Inoue's idea. "Even a Captain probably wouldn't last long if they were sent alone into a crowd of Arrancar."
"And when we reached the Forest of Menos, he was helping the Menos capture Ashido..." Muten Natsu frowned. "But that alone still isn't enough to prove there's really something wrong with him. If he wanted to explain it away, he could still find a reason. If we could find a flaw in what he said..."
"He's someone very important to you, right? Then you must have been influenced by him a lot, in things like how you think and how you act." Orihime Inoue blinked. "So assuming he really is himself, Muten, what would you do if you were in his situation?"
Muten Natsu put himself in Kaien Shiba's position. "I would probably do the same thing."
Stay hidden, look for a chance to pass on information, and help his companions stop Sōsuke Aizen's plan.
"No." Rukia Kuchiki's little face turned stern. "If it were you, in this situation, you would definitely help us regroup with the other Captains first. After making sure we were safe, you would find a way to stop Aizen's plan on your own."
Orihime Inoue nodded in strong agreement. "That does sound like what Muten would choose."
"That's just how he is," Ririn said, deeply convinced. "If he can solve something by taking on ninety percent of the risk himself, he'll never let the people around him take even thirty percent of it."
"I'm not that..." Muten Natsu's voice faded. He probably really would do that. "Eh?"
"That's it!" Rukia Kuchiki finally found the source of the odd feeling. "His face and tone are exactly the same, but making two juniors take the risk isn't his style."
A person's way of acting was a relatively abstract thing. It was difficult to analyze the abnormality through pure logic, while emotion could deceive people, letting them sink into the joy of reunion and overlook that oddity.
But the abnormality still existed. Once they calmed down, they could still feel that something was not quite right.
"So..." Orihime Inoue spoke with some reluctance. "The truth might be the opposite of what he said?"
In the end, the one who had taken control of that Spirit Body was not Kaien Shiba, but that Hollow.
Rukia Kuchiki looked at Muten Natsu with concern.
So... Muten Natsu lowered his eyes slightly. That was why he had not thought about it deeply before.
When he had hesitated over how to bring it up with Rukia Kuchiki, it had not really been because he was considering her feelings. It was because he did not want to pierce the dream before his eyes.
If Kaien Shiba had not died... then the heavy weight pressing on his shoulders would have grown just a little lighter.
And now, the thing that had only just begun to feel lighter came crashing down hard again.
The joy of their reunion burst like a balloon, pierced by something sharp. With a sudden, jarring pop, it vanished before his eyes.
Leaving only a mess behind.
That was exactly what Muten Natsu did not want to face.
But not wanting to face it did not mean he could avoid it.
"We have too little information right now. Kaien... what he told us is all we have. No matter what, we need to go take a look." Muten Natsu took a deep breath. "So..."
"You go find the 9th Espada alone, while we go regroup with the other Captains first." Rukia Kuchiki calmly stated the plan. "Is that it?"
Muten Natsu nodded. "That's what I was thinking too. This must be what people mean by being on the same wavelength..."
"Same wavelength, my foot!" Rukia Kuchiki kicked him, sending Muten Natsu flying off the Spirit Ink and rolling twice through the white sand. "You just want to act alone!"
Muten Natsu climbed back up. "That way, if there's danger..."
"I don't want to hear news about you from anyone else ever again." Rukia Kuchiki grabbed Muten Natsu by the collar and yanked him toward her, close enough that the tips of their noses touched. "Even if you die, I want to see you take your last breath with my own eyes!"
"Rukia..." At such a close distance, Muten Natsu could feel Rukia Kuchiki's rapid breathing from anger, warm against his face.
"Muten, if we'll get in your way, I'll leave with Rukia right away." Orihime Inoue held Ririn in her arms. "But if you need us and we aren't by your side... you won't be the only one hurt by losing someone."
"I really don't understand how your head works. Are you not afraid of dying at all?" Ririn muttered unhappily. "Or do you actually think you'll go to another world after you die? Why do you always rush ahead by yourself whenever something happens? Is there no one in this world you care about?"
A flash of realization passed through Muten Natsu's eyes.
He really had been thinking that way.
Because he had transmigrated into this world after dying, Muten Natsu did not feel much fear even when facing death.
It was just transmigrating again.
So whenever he faced a life-or-death crisis, his first thought was that he could still transmigrate to another world after dying, while if anyone else died, they were truly dead.
Since someone had to take the risk, then of course it should be him, the one who could transmigrate.
But... under Rukia Kuchiki and Orihime Inoue's gazes, Muten Natsu finally realized that if he transmigrated to another world, then to them, he would truly be dead.
To him, death might be another transmigration to an unknown destination.
But to the people around him, it would be a farewell forever.
He had almost died once before, only to be saved by Retsu Unohana. He had gone from Soul Society to the World of the Living and started a new life.
So that time, his view of death had not changed much. In fact, because of that experience, his understanding of death had become even more distorted.
That abnormal understanding of death he had carried all this time finally returned to something closer to normal in this moment.
"I understand..." Muten Natsu took a deep breath and smiled. "Next, I'm going into the enemy's headquarters and acting according to the enemy's plan. It's dangerous, but I can't choose not to go. I'm confident I won't lose, but I want to win. This will be a dangerous journey. I need your help. Are you willing to go on this adventure with me?"
Orihime Inoue's face flushed. "I... I'm willing..."
"You idiot!" Rukia Kuchiki puffed out her cheeks and kicked him angrily. "Of course we're going on an adventure together!"
Whoa...
Ririn thought the atmosphere had gotten seriously weird. They were supposed to be going on an adventure together, but the way Muten Natsu said it made it sound like they were going off to get married.
Orihime Inoue's shy reaction only made it seem even more like that.
Rukia Kuchiki's matter-of-fact attitude was interesting too.
If they were holding a baby right now, the mood would jump straight to married life.
This family of three... four... no, that did not sound quite right.
Ririn could almost see the confused look on their future child's face. She could even hear the child crying... well, maybe the child would not actually cry?
Where was that crying child coming from?!
When she saw all three of them looking in the same direction, Ririn realized the crying she heard was not her imagination.
"Waaaaahhh!"
A small child in a willow-green cloak was sprinting across the white sand, bawling in a childish voice.
Behind the child, a thin purple Hollow with a termite-like mask, a yellow Hollow with an enormous head and bloated body, and a huge worm with horns on its Hollow mask were chasing after him, screeching strangely.
"Waaaaahhh!" That was the child crying.
"Ooooooh!" That was the termite Hollow shouting.
"Wohahahahaha!" That was the big-headed Hollow yelling.
"Bawaaaaah!" That was the huge worm roaring.
"Santen Kesshun!" Orihime Inoue summoned Shun Shun Rikka. "I reject!"
A triangular golden barrier formed behind the child, bringing the three Hollows' chase to an abrupt stop.
Muten Natsu swept out Spirit Ink and forced the three Hollows back. After Rukia Kuchiki shielded the child, he raised his blade toward them.
"No! Don't!" The child struggled to stop him. "Don't hit them... don't hit them... We'll go play somewhere else right away... Sorry..."
"Play?" Muten Natsu paused and turned to look at the child. "You..."
The willow-green hood covering the child's head slipped down, revealing a small, still-childish face.
Short lake-green hair, golden-green eyes, and rose-colored marks like horizontal birthmarks on the cheeks. A broken skull mask sat on her head, with a clear black crack running through it that matched the direction of the vicious scar extending from her forehead to the right side of her nose.
Rukia Kuchiki noticed the mask on the child's head. "You're... an Arrancar?"
"Yep!" Seeing that Muten Natsu had stopped, the little girl answered with a smile. "Nell is an Arrancar."
"I'm Nell's brother." The Hollow with the termite mask introduced himself. "My name is Pesche!"
"And I am Nell's brother, Dondochakka!" The yellow, big-headed Hollow, Dondochakka, introduced the black giant worm together with Peche. "And this is our pet, Bawabawa!"
Orihime Inoue looked at the scar on Nell's head with some distress. "You were just... playing? Really playing?"
"Yep~" Nell nodded hard. "We were playing Infinite Chase. We didn't expect it to cause such a misunderstanding..."
Dondochakka and Pesche immediately dropped into a deep prostration. "We're so sorry!"
"You don't have to apologize that much." Muten Natsu was still a little doubtful. "But you were crying so hard just now..."
"If I don't cry hard enough, it won't feel real!" Nell answered seriously. "That's what makes it fun!"
"...Then go on and keep playing." Muten Natsu waved a hand and prepared to leave.
They might be Arrancar, but they were pitifully weak. Muten Natsu could not bring himself to attack such a weak child.
"Where are you going?" Nell ran a few steps after them. "There's nothing fun in Hueco Mundo. Let's play together!"
"We're going to do something very dangerous." Rukia Kuchiki bent down and patted Nell's head. "It's better if you don't come with us."
"She's right!" Pesche nodded repeatedly. "Nell, let's go play somewhere else."
"But..." Nell's mouth drooped. "They tried to help Nell just now. Nell wants to help them too."