[Fish-Man Island]
Inside the ruined royal palace, Shutara Senjumaru's body was being pulled by four ropes, suspended in the cold air in a posture like a sacrificial offering. Every inch of her skin was exposed under the dead, silent gaze of this empty palace.
With her current body completely devoid of spiritual pressure, not to mention breaking free, she could not even commit suicide.
Without spiritual pressure, she could not harm herself in the slightest.
The once-proud, resilient spiritual body forged by the Royal Key had now become the most extreme irony.
She was trapped inside her own body, reduced to a cornered beast stripped of its claws and fangs, yet unable even to seek death.
Right now, she was a lamb waiting to be slaughtered, something anyone could toy with.
The only thing that could be considered fortunate was that Rosse perhaps regarded her as a private trophy and had no intention of letting others guard her or humiliate her. This was her only comfort.
Suddenly, that familiar presence descended once more.
Shutara Senjumaru snapped her eyes open, her gaze like a blade quenched in ice, stabbing straight toward the god-and-demon-like figure at the palace entrance.
A cold smile filled with provocation and contempt appeared on her face.
"Heh! It's only been two days, and my body already has you this obsessed? Or is it that you're just unwilling to accept that you didn't get anything out of me?"
Even now, she thought Rosse was trying to extract information from her, which was why he used physical torment to torture her.
But to be honest, once or twice was mental torture.
After it happened too many times, she simply stopped caring.
As long as he didn't let other people humiliate her, if it was just Rosse, she could still accept it.
What she feared was her spirit sinking into ruin, not that bit of physical torment from Rosse.
Rosse said nothing. He merely walked up beside Shutara and grabbed her waist, yanking her backward.
"Mm!"
Shutara Senjumaru let out a muffled groan. Intense pain and an electric sensation spread through her entire body, yet she only turned her head coldly and stared at Rosse's face.
"Did you know? Soul Society has already identified Sui Feng as a traitor and wants to use this Central 46 trial as bait to lure people from the Hollow King Palace into taking the hook. And at this trial, all three members of the Zero Division except the monk will attend," Rosse said with a smile.
"How do you know all this?", Shutara Senjumaru's body jolted, and she nearly lost control of her mind.
How could this kind of information possibly be known by Rosse?
If Rosse even knew about Soul Society's ambush lineup, then wouldn't that mean Soul Society was completely transparent to Rosse on one side?
In that case, what meaning did the secrets she had been keeping still have?
But very quickly, Shutara Senjumaru calmed herself, snorted coldly, and said, "I won't believe the nonsense you made up. Don't think that just because you're inside my body, I'll relax my guard because of it."
"In your current state, is there any need for me to lie to you?"
Rosse let out a soft laugh. As his body moved swiftly, his fingers lightly traced along Shutara Senjumaru's back.
"Hmph!"
Shutara Senjumaru let out another muffled groan but did not deny Rosse's words.
Indeed, just as Rosse said, in her current state, deception had no meaning anymore—
'No, that isn't right! There is still one last use.'
"You want me to surrender to you? To willingly become your slave?", Shutara Senjumaru phrased it as a question, but her tone was filled with certainty.
In her view, this was the only reason Rosse would lie to her, and it was a reason she could accept.
If he didn't value completely occupying her body and mind, why would he imprison her like this?
Taking some even more disgusting direction to humiliate her, or simply killing her, would be more effective than imprisoning her like this.
"Not a bad guess, but what I want is for you to willingly serve me."
Rosse wore a satisfied expression, even narrowing his eyes in enjoyment. Yet his feet continued to shift back and forth, as if preparing for something.
Perhaps Shutara Senjumaru herself had not noticed that whenever her emotions became intense, the world grotto she had created would unconsciously contract.
When a soul was inside that world, as the grotto contracted, it could fall into a state of sudden enlightenment, as if every cell could feel the most violent impact.
"Impossible. Give up on that idea."
Shutara Senjumaru became emotionally agitated and struggled unconsciously, trying to fling Rosse's soul out of her world grotto.
But unfortunately, in her current state of having no spiritual pressure at all, she simply could not do such a thing. Instead, her constant struggling gave Rosse an even more comfortable experience.
———
[Two Hours Later]
Rosse let out a light breath, emerging through Shutara Senjumaru's mouth, finally washing away the filth from his soul.
After finishing his relaxation, Rosse slightly bent down, smiling as he stroked Shutara Senjumaru's hair, and said in a gentle voice:
"Sometimes, things don't shift just because of what you think. Do you believe that in the not-too-distant future, Soul Society will think you betrayed them?"
"Impossible. I never did anything to betray Soul Society."
Shutara Senjumaru said bitterly, forcefully spitting the mouthwash in her mouth toward Rosse.
Rosse merely tilted his body slightly, effortlessly dodging it like brushing dust off his shoulder. Not a single drop touched him.
"You think you didn't. But that's what you think, not what they think."
His words were like a devil's whisper. And his body began to prove that maxim.
Light and shadow started to twist around him.
His form was no longer fixed. Like a piece of metal thrown into a furnace, it began to melt and deform, until it was finally cast into another appearance, one that Shutara Senjumaru knew all too well.
Rosse stood there wearing her face, using her voice, and softly said, "Look. Now, I am Shutara Senjumaru."
It had to be said that compared to her current self, wearing the emperor's new clothes and looking utterly disheveled, the person before her looked far more like that great Weaving Guardian of the Zero Division.
Dignified, elegant, composed, everything flawless beyond reproach.
Even the six bony arms that symbolized her identity had, on Rosse's body, recovered their original splendor and ferocity.
"Impossible! What kind of transformation technique is this?"
Shutara Senjumaru stared at Rosse intently, trying to find a flaw in his transformation.
But even she herself had to admit that whether it was temperament, figure, or appearance, Rosse's imitation was a perfect match, with no difference at all.
'But how was this possible?'
"Wait. These past few days of tormenting me... was it to collect data on my body?"
Shutara Senjumaru looked at Rosse in shock and uncertainty, trying to cover up her panic with meaningless words.
She knew exactly what would happen if Rosse went to Soul Society wearing this face.
There was no need to think about it. Rosse would act on behalf of the Hollow King Palace using her body, and do vile things that Soul Society could not tolerate.
Once that happened, whether she had betrayed them or not, in the eyes of Soul Society, she would already be a traitor.
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