Chapter 236 Ending and Beginning

"The Hollows are indeed born out of human desires. It is precisely because of desires that humans have obsessions after death, which leads to their depravity and eventually becoming evil souls."

"But if there really is no void, such a world may not be a beautiful one."

"After all, this world has left a place for Xu since its birth. Xu has made an indispensable contribution to the stability of this world."

Xia Mu looked at the man in front of him, a man who should have been imprisoned in Hell, but now appeared in front of Xia Mu through some strange means.

Kenpachi Zaraki said calmly: "So, I was just sighing casually."

"If it were me two hundred years ago, before I understood the truth of this world, I might really think that the world without emptiness is a perfect world."

Why was Kenpachi Zaraki imprisoned in the Hell two hundred years ago?

It was because he arbitrarily transformed the souls of Rukongai, causing unrest.

So what is the cause?

He wanted to transform those numerous reforms into weapons of war, and with their help, wipe out all the Hollows in the Hueco Mundo.

At the beginning, he proposed this resolution to the Central 46th Room and demonstrated his own experimental results to those guys. The Central 46th Room approved his proposal at the beginning, but not long after, it was discovered that Kenpachi Zaraki's experiment had great side effects.

Although the whole thing can be transformed into a weapon for a short period of time, it will soon be unable to bear the power and its soul will be shattered, and even the chance to enter reincarnation will be lost.

This is an extremely terrifying thing. Perhaps with the help of such means, all the voids can be erased.

But by that time, the balance of the entire three realms would probably be broken.

As for why, knowing that it might disrupt the balance, the Central Forty-Six initially approved Kenpachi Zaraki's proposal?

Of course it is because, for the Central Forty-Six, the angle they consider things is different from that of Kenpachi Zaraki.

Kenpachi Zaraki wants to destroy all Hollows.

The Central Forty-Six wanted to take this opportunity to strengthen the power of Soul Society, or more precisely, the power that they could control.

The subsequent Mo Yao Dao incident and the support for the development of ghost weapons, the purpose of these things are actually the same.

The Grim Reapers are a group of unruly guys. Although they obey the rule of the Central Forty-Six Chambers on the surface, the stronger they are, the harder it is to control them. The key is that there are too few Grim Reapers, so they have to rely on these guys. If they can have more docile and powerful ones to use for their own purposes, it would be even better.

Compared to Kenpachi Zaraki's purpose of exterminating all Hollows, the Central Forty-Six considered that this could strengthen the living power of Soul Society.

This is also the reason why they later discovered that there were problems with this experiment and banned it directly.

But they did not expect that Kenpachi Zaraki was so obsessed and continued to conduct experiments in secret. He was finally discovered, which led to Kenpachi Zaraki being imprisoned in the Hell.

After entering Mugen, Kenpachi Zaraki did not give up his ideas at the beginning.

He thought about it seriously.

Since it is impossible to eliminate all the Voids through conquest or war, can we use other methods to accomplish this task?
He thought of the birth of Xu and turned his attention to humans.

If we could use some means to make humans have no desires, would we not have more emptiness?
As long as no more Hollows are born and there are no new Hollows to replenish the Hueco Mundo, they all have the desire to devour each other. Although more powerful Hollows will be born, their number will decrease rapidly. At that time, the God of Death only needs to eliminate these remaining Hollows, and he can be regarded as having fulfilled his dream of exterminating all Hollows in disguise.

However, this idea did not last too long.

After that, many changes took place in Soul Society.

After Natsuki, the third-ranked warrior who had once fought with him, became the new Kenpachi, he entered the eyes of Kenpachi Zaraki.

Through observing Natsuki, Kenpachi Zaraki gained a new understanding of this world.

Of course, this still did not change his original idea.

The real turning point was when Xia Mu was framed and imprisoned in Hell.

In the Underworld, Kenpachi Zaraki chose to meet his junior Natsuki.

From then on, it was like being on a pirate ship, and he became Xia Mu's eyes and ears to monitor the entire Soul Society.

Of course, Kenpachi Zaraki has special abilities. When he was in the Underworld, his Bankai was still in an activated state, constantly expanding outward and merging with all inorganic matter. Nothing in the entire Soul Society could escape his "eyes". He himself was monitoring the Soul Society. It would be better to say that he was just telling Natsuki some things than to say that he became Natsuki's eyes and ears.

Although he knew that Natsuki was taking advantage of him, Kenpachi Zaraki did not show any dissatisfaction.

On the contrary, since boarding Xia Mu's pirate ship, he has gained a deeper understanding of this world.

The balance of the three realms, and the role played by the god of death during this period.

These are the new things that Kenpachi Zaraki has learned.

He re-examined his past self and found that he was so naive and childish.

After understanding more secrets, Kenpachi Zaraki completely gave up the idea of ​​eliminating all Hollows.

Now, after learning that the Great Hollows of Hueco Mundo had completely withered away, he felt even more emotional.

Because of his behavior before, seven out of ten nobles in Soul Society were killed.

Now Hueco Mundo has also withered.

This made him think of his past as a teenager.

When he was young, his family was destroyed because of the nobility and Xu.

He did not dare to take revenge on those nobles, but instead focused his hatred on Xu.

Unexpectedly, he did nothing, and these two groups that were hostile to him had already completely declined.

"So, how is Soul Society going to deal with Hueco Mundo?"

Kenpachi Zaraki asked Natsuki.

The finishing work in this world is just a small matter, the things in Hueco Mundo are the big things.

"In the past, we all had a laissez-faire attitude towards Hueco Mundo, which is why Aizen was able to hide in Hueco Mundo for so many years and build up such a terrifying force."

"Now that the Great Hollow of Hueco Mundo has died, as expected, the environment of the entire Hueco Mundo has also changed. The weight of the world will become lighter, causing the three realms to be slightly unbalanced. Fortunately, over the years, the technology of Soul Society has also improved. Next, Soul Society has decided to send a technical force into Hueco Mundo to transform the environment..."

Natsuki told the Gotei 13's subsequent plans.

Logically speaking, there should be nothing in the Soul Society that can be hidden from Kenpachi Zaraki, but these things were discussed outside the Soul Society, and even Kenpachi Zaraki was not aware of it.

“What a big deal!”

Kenpachi Zaraki sighed.

Compared to modifying the memories of humans in a city in the real world, in his opinion, transforming the Hueco Mundo would be a more ambitious undertaking.

"This is all inspired by Aizen."

"The Hueco Mundo was desolate and the Hollows were barbaric, but Aizen managed to create a civilization there. Although I have never set foot in the brand new Hueco Mundo, I have learned about the situation there from Kisuke and others. There are the sun, the moon, the stars, the flowers, the plants and the trees. You know, these should not exist in the desolate Hueco Mundo."

"Although Aizen reformed Hueco Mundo in order to fulfill his own ambitions, he wanted those Hollows to become his soldiers and help him fight."

"But his transformation of the Hueco Mundo environment still inspired us."

"In the past, due to the backward administrative methods, the Gotei 13 had no time to take care of anything other than Soul Society."

"Now, various spirit particle communication devices have made the connection between the Death Gods closer, and various new weapons have greatly improved the strength of the Death Gods. This battle in Hueco Mundo has proved the value of these weapons. We can now have spare capacity for external expansion."

"Build a more stable passage between Soul Society and Hueco Mundo, and create a gate. At the same time, build bases in Hueco Mundo, imitating Aizen's Hueco Mundo, and send Shinigami to garrison in the bases from time to time, just like the Shinigami of the 13th Division are stationed in the human world."

"Put the entire Hueco Mundo under the supervision of Soul Society. If anything happens in Hueco Mundo, we will be the first to know."

"At the same time, because the Great Hollows in Hueco Mundo have completely withered, there is no need to worry about the Death Gods stationed in Hueco Mundo encountering any accidents. With the current Kidou weapons, ordinary Hollows can't do anything to them."

Natsuki talked freely and informed Kenpachi Zaraki of some of Soul Society's current plans.

"So, have you decided, Gotei 13, which division will be in charge of these matters?"

Xia Mu said something that was unexpected, but also reasonable.

"Sixth Division!"

Kenpachi Zaraki was stunned for a moment, then nodded.

“It’s really suitable!”

In the first generation of the Gotei 13, there was no division of functions. All the squads at that time had the same function, which was to be killers.

It was not until the rebellion of Yhwach was quelled and the situation in Soul Society became stable that the Gotei 13 completed its transformation. Many nobles took over the team one after another, and the functions of the Gotei 13 were officially determined. To date, it has been nearly a thousand years.

Even for the long-lived god of death, this is a long time.

And now, as the situation in Soul Society changes again, the functions of some squads are also going to change.

Such as...Squad 6.

The Sixth Division is a team of nobles. In the former Soul Society, the nobles were a force that could not be underestimated. In other words, the Shinigami who were born as commoners were the latecomers. There have always been many conflicts between nobles and commoners, so naturally, special people are needed to take charge of these matters.

The Sixth Division, led by the head of the noble family, the Kuchiki family, is the division that specifically handles these matters.

For a long time, the Sixth Division played the role of peacemaker and was also the private domain of many noble Shinigami. If they were asked to join the Gotei 13, the Sixth Division would be their first choice. But that was in the past.

Are there still nobles in Seireitei now?

Of course there is.

But there are only a few nobles left, and they are a rare species.

Because of Aizen, the power of the nobles has completely withered, and the commoner Shinigami now occupy the dominant position. In addition, the Central Forty-Six Chambers has been in name only many years ago, and now this system is basically completely abandoned.

The Sixth Division has lost its meaning of existence.

There is no need to set up a special team for those nobles.

Therefore, after Urahara Kisuke proposed to reform the Hueco Mundo and stabilize the balance between the two worlds, the captain of the Sixth Division, Byakuya Kuchiki, volunteered to propose that the Sixth Division be responsible for this matter.

Although the current Sixth Division is still known as the Noble Division, if the Sixth Division continues to be responsible for matters related to Hueco Mundo, it is likely that in a few years it will change its name to something like "Hueco Mundo Special Forces" or something like that.

……

After Aizen's issue was resolved.

Xia Mu finally had some free time.

The 11th Squadron is a combat team and is only responsible for combat missions.

Now that all combat missions have been completed, the final matters naturally have nothing to do with them.

However, the rest of the squads were extremely busy.

The finishing work for the three worlds, the real world, Soul Society, and Hueco Mundo, will not be completed in a short period of time.

The Shifengyuan family.

Xia Mu came here to attend a cocktail party.

It's the annual Ye Yi birthday again.

Urahara Kisuke did not come.

Soi Fong, who Yoruichi often brings with her, stayed in the Second Division to handle the division's affairs because there were too many things going on recently.

Only Natsuki, a more laid back person, came to Shihouin's house to attend Yoruichi's birthday party.

"How old is your birthday?"

Inside the Shihouin family, Natsuki met Yoruichi's younger brother, Shihouin Yushiro, but he did not stay here for long. He just said happy birthday to his sister and left. Only Natsuki was left with Yoruichi.

He asked Ye Yi a rather suicidal question.

In human society, asking a woman's age is considered a taboo.

However, Ye Yi was not angry. Instead, he told Xia Mu his age truthfully, "I'm about 262 years old. Even if you remove the first 200, I'm an old woman in my sixties. I'm old enough to be a grandmother."

There was a hint of emotion in Ye Yi's words.

"Old? I don't think so. You know, the lifespan of us Shinigami is different from that of humans. Humans, whether ordinary or not, can only live for a hundred years. But we are different. Because we have spiritual power in our bodies, as long as the spiritual power does not dissipate, we can live forever. The captain has lived for thousands of years. Some Shinigami are still in their infancy in the first hundred years, and they all look like children or teenagers."

"From my perspective, you have only just reached adulthood. You can maintain this state for at least several hundred years before you gradually age."

"Then should I feel lucky?" Ye Yi rolled his eyes at Xia Mu. "Although what you said makes sense, I still feel uncomfortable when I hear you say that I will grow old sooner or later."

"Hehe..." Xia Mu smiled and happily accepted Ye Yi's rolling eyes.

Ye Yi's tone suddenly became low again, "Although you are right, according to what you said, I will still be at my peak for many years to come, but too many things have happened over the years, and I feel tired."

"Now that Yushiro has grown up, I want to give up the position of head of the family."

"Huh?" Xia Mu looked at Ye Yi in surprise.

"Hey, don't look at me like that. I'm serious. The reason I chose to be the head of the Shifengyuan family, and the only female head in history, was purely because the Shifengyuan family had no successors, so I had to take over. But who told my parents to give me a younger brother later?"

"Now that my younger brother has grown up, it's better to give the position of head of the family to him, a male."

"It is more legitimate for him to be the head of the family."

Natsuki's thoughts flowed, and he thought of the events in the original work. In the original work, Yoruichi rebelled against Soul Society with Urahara Kisuke in order to rescue him. As a result, Shihouin Yushiro was forced to take on the role of the head of the Shihouin family at a young age.

Also because of her young age, the captain of the Second Division can only be Soi-Fong.

"What about the second squad? Are you going to give the captain's position to Yushiro?" Xia Mu asked the question directly.

As everyone knows, the Second Division is inherited by the Shihouin family. Since the first captain of the Second Division, it has always been the head of the Shihouin family. In terms of pedigree, it is even better than the Sixth Division of the Kuchiki family.

"I'm going to give the captain position to Soi-Fong!"

Yoruichi said something that surprised Natsuki.

Xia Mu was silent for a long time before he said, "Are you really willing to give it up? Or, have you really made up your mind?"

Yoruichi said softly: "It doesn't matter whether you are willing or not. This is a brand new era. Although the Second Division was founded by my ancestor Shihouin, my Shihouin family has been in the Second Division since the establishment of the Gotei 13, but this does not mean that we have to be in charge of the Second Division for generations."

"When Shiba Isshin disappeared, Shiba Kaiyan gave up the position of captain of the Tenth Division. If we really want to let go, with the precedent of the Shiba family, it is not surprising that I, Shifengyuan, give up the Second Division."

"In fact, this is also what several of us great nobles have discussed recently, to gradually give up control of the Gotei 13."

"The decline of the nobility is a fact. Now that we have entered a new era, this era should be controlled by the commoner death gods. Rather than provoking conflicts between the nobility and the commoners, sometimes letting go is the right choice."

"The Sixth Division volunteered to go to Hueco Mundo to carry out construction, which was a transformation."

"If the transformation is successful, then from now on, the Sixth Division will no longer be a noble team, and will not have to deal with matters related to the nobles. Naturally, the captain position will no longer need to be held by the Kuchiki family, the head of the nobles. Perhaps at that time, it will be time for the Kuchiki family to let go."

"A new era?" Xia Mu heard the seriousness in Ye Yi's words and couldn't help but sigh.

“Thinking carefully, more than two hundred years have passed since I came to Soul Society. The Soul Society now is completely different from the one I remember. I don’t know if this new era has a ship that can carry me…”

Xia Mu's life can be considered complete.

At the beginning, he was different from ordinary souls. He did not reach Soul Society, but appeared in Hueco Mundo. If he followed the normal trajectory, he would either degenerate into a Hollow or be swallowed by other Hollows due to the unique environment of Hueco Mundo.

But he was lucky.

Encountered the god of death who was on an expedition in Hueco Mundo.

By chance, he grasped the knife and became a god of death.

Since then, he has stepped into a magnificent world and become a part of the tide of the times.

From Hueco Mundo to Rukongai, from an ordinary team member to a chief officer, and then to a vice-captain and captain, there are always things that push Natsuki to move forward. Natsuki climbs step by step to the top of the world of death, and in the process, his strength continues to improve.

Over the past two hundred years, he has fought against many beings.

A Quincy, a Shinigami, a Hollow, his footprints have also covered Soul Society, the real world, Hueco Mundo, and he recently took a trip to the mysterious Hell.

It can be said that except for the Spirit King Palace where the Spirit King is located, which he has not yet set foot in, this world has no more secrets for him.

The Palace of the Spirit King might be a mysterious place for ordinary gods of death, but Xia Mu himself has another identity. He is a time traveler, and he is extremely familiar with the situation in the Palace of the Spirit King, so it doesn’t matter whether he goes there or not.

"When I think about it, I have been moving forward passively all my life. I can't say I am walking on thin ice, but I am indeed cautious. Maybe I should slow down a bit."

After learning about the other party's decision from Ye Yi's mouth, Xia Mu couldn't help but have such thoughts.

But soon, he gave up again.

"Although Aizen's crisis has been resolved for the time being and he has been banished to hell, the crisis facing this world is not just Aizen alone."

In other words, Aizen has always been just an accident.

He was a threat that rose up halfway, and finally the Gotei 13 had to treat him as a formidable enemy and engage in a decisive battle with him.

Apart from Aizen, the real enemy should be Yhwach.

Compared to Aizen, this guy is more dangerous.

Thousands of years ago, he led the Quincy Legion to stir up chaos in Soul Society and almost destroyed the entire Soul Society.

Although he was defeated later.

But Youhabach did not die.

The remaining Quincy lurked in the shadow of the Soul Society and built a magnificent spirit particle space. Although the spirit particle space was eventually discovered by the Gotei 13, the entire world was destroyed under the Kidō Cannon, and the remaining Quincy were almost wiped out.

But Youhabach did not die.

The sanctification several years ago had already confirmed this.

According to that song, it won't be long before the war with the Quincies begins.

(End of this chapter)