Cold, icy rain beat wildly against his face.
In a daze, Byakuya seemed to hear a familiar voice. Before he could react, the Reishi particle before him was wrapped in rainwater and transformed into a crystal-clear ice bead.
"There's no time to grieve, Head of the Kuchiki Clan."
Byakuya Kuchiki finally remembered who that voice belonged to.
It was the Tenth, the person he had gotten along with so well during this period. This time, Byakuya had come to the World of the Living precisely to customize the home furnishings that the Tenth liked.
Byakuya turned back.
Just as he had expected, through the shattered window, he saw the Tenth's gentle smile. Standing beside the Tenth was Rukia Kuchiki, who was crying so hard she looked like a tear-stained mess.
A faint blush rose on Byakuya's face.
How long had they been here?
He suddenly remembered that when he had first spoken with Hisana, her gaze had seemed to drift away for a brief moment. She had also believed his words about Rukia without the slightest doubt.
Could it be?
From the moment Hisana appeared, the Tenth and Rukia had already been standing behind him?
Then had Rukia seen the childish, lovestruck side he showed while interacting with Hisana?
The elder brother image he had painstakingly maintained for so many years collapsed with a crash at that moment.
"What are you standing there for? Hurry up and bring your wife's Reishi out! Time is tight, the task is heavy—move!"
Thump, thump.
A knocking sound came from beside him.
When Byakuya turned his head, he saw Tsunayoshi hanging onto the side of the cabin, constantly patting it and urging him to act.
Byakuya no longer knew what expression he should use to show his complicated feelings. He could only turn into his spiritual body, place the ice bead into his robes, and step out of the Ferris wheel.
Only then did Byakuya realize that the Ferris wheel's framework was not occupied by only Tsunayoshi and the others.
Tōshirō's entire mission team was also present.
Especially Rangiku, who was covering her mouth and secretly laughing. Byakuya could already guess that it would not be long before his embarrassing display spread throughout the entire Soul Society.
Forget it.
If he lost face, then he lost face.
At least Hisana's Reishi could still remain with him.
After returning to his senses, Byakuya felt a trace of warmth from the cold bead in his robes.
"Why have all of you gathered here?"
After comforting himself, Byakuya returned to his icy expression.
As long as he forgot quickly enough, the one who had lost face would not be him.
"Brother…"
Rukia urgently wanted to say something, but the words would not come out.
The scene just now had allowed her to truly feel how deeply Byakuya loved her sister.
While the Tenth gently patted Rukia's shoulder to comfort her, he said to Byakuya, "I came for Lady Kuchiki's Reishi. Head of the Kuchiki Clan, would you like to try? To let Lady Kuchiki truly return? Consider it my gift for staying at the Kuchiki manor during this time."
"You mean resurrection?"
Byakuya's pupils shook violently. He immediately thought of what he and the Tenth had been doing earlier.
"A Modified Soul? That would not be the real Hisana."
Although the offer was extremely tempting, Byakuya still rejected the Tenth's proposal.
Letting Hisana remain inside an artificial body—how would that be any different from a puppet?
"Of course a Modified Soul alone would not be enough," the Tenth said with a confident smile. "But what if we add an artificial soul? The two masters are already prepared. Make your decision."
"I trust you!" Byakuya said without hesitation.
The Tenth's words had that kind of power. Without realizing it, people would entrust him with all of their faith.
"Then let's go."
The Tenth nodded to Rukia.
Rukia wiped away her tears with one hand and used her Zanpakutō with the other to open the Senkaimon connecting the World of the Living and the Soul Society.
The Senkaimon opened directly in front of the Squad 12 barracks.
The Tenth, Byakuya, Rukia, and Tsunayoshi filed inside one after another. As for Tōshirō and the others, they had to go to Squad One first to make their mission report.
Squad 12 was extremely busy.
Every squad member was occupied with their own work, and no one came to receive the Tenth and his group. The Tenth did not mind. He simply led the others straight toward a sealed laboratory.
After they entered, all kinds of instruments inside flashed with light.
The current captain and lieutenant of Squad 12 , as well as its former captain, were already waiting there.
"We'll be troubling you next, Captain Kurotsuchi, Urahara ," the Tenth said first.
"I'll say the ugly part up front," Mayuri Kurotsuchi said bluntly the moment they arrived. "Using Modified Soul technology to preserve the memories and then importing them into an artificial soul for resurrection is theoretically feasible. But you should not hold much hope. There is too little material, and the success rate is too low."
"Well, we won't know until we try, will we?" Urahara said, hiding his face behind his fan.
"Also, having this man present puts me in a bad mood, so the success rate drops by another ten percent."
Mayuri pointed at Urahara with undisguised anger.
If the Tenth had not personally requested it, Mayuri would never have performed the same experiment as Kisuke Urahara. As far as the two of them were concerned, there was only a relationship of surpassing and being surpassed.
Of course, that was Mayuri's own opinion.
Kisuke Urahara did not care. In fact, when Tsunayoshi had come to him on the Tenth's behalf, he had been rather willing.
Before Byakuya arrived, Mayuri Kurotsuchi and Kisuke Urahara had already combined their artificial soul and artificial Soul King technologies to create a blank individual.
What they needed to do now was take the portion of Reishi belonging to Hisana, use Modified Soul technology to preserve the memories within that Reishi, and then transfer those memories into the new soul.
"Byakuya, take out the Reishi that the Tenth froze," Tsunayoshi said.
Byakuya carefully held the ice bead in his palm. He stared seriously at Tsunayoshi.
"Everything that happened today—were you guiding it?"
Tsunayoshi had appeared several times, deliberately guiding Byakuya and Senna's interactions.
Especially at the end, when the Valley of Screams was destroyed. Byakuya had clearly not needed to take Senna back to the World of the Living, yet under the influence of Tsunayoshi's words, he still brought Senna to the Ferris wheel and spent time alone with her.
At the time, Byakuya's entire attention had been on Senna and the part of Hisana's memory within her. He had not thought too deeply about anything and had easily been guided by Tsunayoshi's words.
Tsunayoshi clasped his hands behind his head and said casually, "It was the Tenth's idea. I was just the one carrying it out."
He was not at all afraid that Byakuya would feel some other emotion.
Although Byakuya's actions had been guided by him, they had ultimately still been Byakuya's own choices. Tsunayoshi had merely accelerated the process a little.
"The two masters said they needed Lady Kuchiki's purest memories. Through the bond formed between you and the Memory Rosary, I believed that in her final moments, she would definitely let you see Lady Kuchiki again," the Tenth said calmly.
As for the memories related to Senna gradually vanishing from people's minds, it was not that the Tenth was heartless.
Even the Tenth had already forgotten the girl's name and could only refer to her as the Memory Rosary.
"So what is inside this bead belongs only to Hisana's memories?" Byakuya asked as he looked at the ice bead.
"No. The Memory Rosary's memories are far too mixed. In order for Lady Kuchiki to manifest, other people's memories are still mixed in as well," the Tenth said.
"You're the Tenth, correct? Forgive my bluntness," Mayuri said rudely. "Modified Soul technology does not require much Reishi, that is true. But a single Reishi particle is absolutely not enough, especially when it still needs to be divided again."
"Give up. This experiment cannot be completed. Stop wasting my time."
Mayuri directly reached a conclusion.
"Don't be so hasty, Captain Kurotsuchi. I already told the Tenth about the difficulties of this experiment. The Tenth said he would solve them," Urahara said, looking as though he was waiting to enjoy the show.
"That's right. Leave it to us," the Tenth said. "Tsunayoshi, I'll need you to cooperate with me in a moment. Follow my instructions exactly."
"The Reishi inside the ice bead is extremely fragile. Once unsealed, it will immediately disappear into the air. Therefore, we must maintain its Reishi state."
"I will use gentle Sky Flames to harmonize the environment inside the laboratory and keep the Reishi stable. Tsunayoshi, you will use flames of other attributes to gradually transform the Reishi into material usable for the experiment."
"I understand. I'll follow your lead," Tsunayoshi agreed immediately.
The Zanpakutō symbolizing his Shinigami power was already drawn, ready for action at any moment.
"Head of the Kuchiki Clan, once we begin, you must accurately identify Lady Kuchiki's memories from among several or perhaps dozens of memories. The faster, the better."
"I do not know what memories will appear, so you must judge for yourself. This is extremely important. The faster you are, the less Reishi will be consumed."
"I understand!"
Byakuya nodded solemnly.
In his mind, he was already frantically recalling every little moment he had spent with Hisana.
"Finally, to the two masters. I will provide enough of Lady Kuchiki's Reishi to you. As for preserving the memories and fusing them with the soul, I must ask both of you to take great care."
"Rest assured. We do not make mistakes in our fields of expertise."
Urahara put away his fan.
Along with it, he put away his usual carefree expression.
He was serious now.
Mayuri did not reply. He brought Nemu Kurotsuchi to the Modified Soul apparatus and answered through action.
Rukia silently crouched in the corner.
This concerned the resurrection of her elder sister Hisana, so she had to be present.
But she also refused to allow herself to interfere with the experiment. All she could do was minimize her presence as much as possible.
"It seems everyone is ready. Then let us begin."
The Tenth had already put on his Sky Gloves. With a hook of his finger and a movement of Reiatsu, the ice bead flew in front of Tsunayoshi.
Orange flames ignited on both of his hands at the same time.
An orange ripple quietly spread throughout the laboratory.
Everyone felt as though they had been enveloped by some kind of power, and the uneasy atmosphere calmed at that moment.
The Tenth quietly sensed the changes in the Sky Flames filling the room. The orange ripple gradually became transparent and invisible.
His harmonization was complete.
Within the Sky Flames, all things would be accepted. Everything would maintain its original state.
"Tsunayoshi, use the Sun attribute to melt the ice bead. Use the light of the sun to infuse energy into the Reishi and maintain its activity."
Under the Tenth's command, Tsunayoshi switched to the Sun-attribute Shikai. His hands formed an empty cradle around the ice bead, and a faint yellow light shone between his palms.
Following the Tenth's idea, he used warm sunlight to melt the cold, solid ice.
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