After bidding farewell to Kotetsu Isane, Tsukasa Suō's figure departed as the night deepened, his silhouette quickly merging into the crisscrossing layout of the Seireitei.
An extremely faint scent of medicinal herbs drifted along the Seireitei paths. Carrying his bountiful haul of ingredients, Tsukasa Suō returned to his secret base. The stone slab lowered, sealing off the outside world.
In the hot spring cottage, he opened various paper wrappings, and the rich aroma of medicinal herbs immediately spread in all directions. Tsukasa Suō mobilized his Reiatsu, enveloping each herb and grinding them into an incredibly fine powder. Next, he fetched a cylinder of honey and heated it using Kido, removing excess moisture to make it thicker and more pliable.
Following Unohana Retsu's advice, he readjusted the proportions. He took a ceramic jar and poured in the powdered medicine according to the ratio, wrapping and sealing the remainder.
No fire was needed, nor any external tools. It was merely a matter of grinding various herbs into powder by specific ratios, mixing them with meticulously boiled honey, and finally rolling them into round pills.
This was Tsukasa Suō's method of alchemy. There were no mysterious operations involved; it was simply the sum of everything he could access and master. No furnace or true fire, no formation assistance, and none of those profound, enigmatic hand seals found in legends. Yet, this simple method had allowed him to bring out the medicinal properties more effectively in the past.
But this time, it was slightly different.
Tsukasa Suō did not merely mix them. He attempted to use Kaido techniques during the blending process, allowing these Reishi particles—each with their own unique characteristics—to meld with one another. Strands of Reiatsu were injected into the medicinal paste, and under his guidance, countless active Reishi collections of varying attributes gathered into a cohesive mass.
The room was silent, save for the rhythmic movements of his hands and the sound of his focused breathing. This process lasted for a considerable amount of time, until he felt the medicinal paste beneath his palms form a perfect whole.
With a precise sense of touch, Tsukasa Suō rolled the paste into equal-sized black pills, lining them up neatly on prepared clean oil paper, and used Tenran to accelerate the drying process.
"My thanks to Captain Unohana."
Facing the fragrant pills before him, Tsukasa Suō showed a sunny smile. He had taken every word Unohana Retsu said today to heart, including her instructions before parting. At the time, he had found it a bit strange why she had suddenly made that specific point. Initially, Tsukasa Suō thought it might be because she feared an accident might occur during his next treatment of a patient without her present, hence the special instruction.
But on the way back, he carefully reflected on the process of learning Kaido today. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration gave birth to this unique idea. If his Kaido could guide and assist an injured person's own Reiatsu to complete the repair of their spiritual body, then could it also guide the Reishi within medicinal herbs to fuse with each other?
After realizing this, Tsukasa Suō applied the Kaido techniques he learned today while crafting the pills.
Under his keen perception, the Sanyuan Pills formed this time were completely different from any batch he had refined in the past. The Reishi structure of the pills before him had undergone a total transformation, incomparable to what came before. Their surfaces held a deep luster, as if possessing a faint, rhythmic pulse of life, engaging in an extremely weak exchange with the surrounding Reishi environment.
Promptly, Tsukasa Suō took a pill and flashed to the open space outside.
"Hado #90: Kurohitsugi!"
He cast the Black Coffin directly through Incantation Abandonment. The pitch-black sarcophagus rose abruptly in the clearing, causing the air in the underground space to vibrate. One, two, three—
The coffins rose one after another like a silent forest of monuments growing wildly on the wasteland. They stood scattered, their force fields interfering and overlapping with one another. At this moment, all the surrounding Reishi fell into the distortion of pitch-black gravity. The air became heavy and viscous, and the surrounding light seemed to be devoured.
Standing before the scene of his own making, Tsukasa Suō clearly felt his body's energy depleting rapidly due to the continuous casting of high-level Kido. He immediately popped the medicine into his mouth.
The pill melted instantly, turning into countless trickling streams that rapidly flowed into his Saketsu and Hakusui. It nourished his nearly parched spiritual body with unprecedented efficiency. Tsukasa Suō's originally pale face regained its color almost in a flash.
The nourishment was exceptionally fast. In an instant, he reached a judgment: combined with the hot spring, roughly three pills would be enough to replenish the energy he had just expended.
Training is great!
That night, Tsukasa Suō rediscovered the passion he felt when he first practiced Kurohitsugi, pushing toward an even higher limit.
In the 13th Division's office, Tsukasa Suō pushed open the door with a smile of joy and satisfaction.
This ease did not last even a moment. The second he stepped over the threshold, a large hand that had been waiting for a long time silently locked around his neck from behind the door.
"You brat, you didn't say a word about your body having problems!"
"You vanished for the entire day yesterday!"
"If Kotetsu Isane from the 4th Division hadn't sent a message back this morning saying your treatment ended successfully, I would have thought something really happened to you!"
The person responsible controlled their strength perfectly; it caused no sensation of suffocation, but pinned him firmly in place. Immediately, Shiba Kaien's voice, sounding clearly huffy yet full of worry, rang in his ear.
Tsukasa Suō looked around; everyone was watching him with the same concerned gaze. He immediately directed an inquiring look toward his only accomplice from yesterday.
"I—had—no—choice!"
Beside them, Kotetsu Kiyone threw her hands up, her face a picture of helplessness as she mouthed words at him. Originally, she had intended to honestly help Tsukasa Suō keep the secret as agreed, but Shiba Miyako's sharp observation had detected something was wrong. After a round of questioning, she had honestly laid out the entire situation.
Seeing Kotetsu Kiyone's "you're on your own, good luck" sympathetic expression, Tsukasa Suō's corner of his mouth twitched. He surrendered without a second thought.
"I was wrong. There won't be a next time!"
This trial was likely unavoidable. His face instantly switched to an expression of sincere contrition, his tone laced with regret.
However, Shiba Kaien clearly wasn't buying it. "Sit down!"
He led Tsukasa Suō to the center of the office and pulled a chair in front of him. His gaze, sharp as a blade, fell upon Tsukasa Suō as he spoke solemnly.
"There was a problem with your Saketsu and Hakusui, yet you didn't come to me or Miyako first, nor did you go to the Captain. You insisted on waiting until Kiyone returned. You don't take your own health seriously enough!" He took a deep breath, suppressing the emotions churning in his heart.
"I know—that's exactly why I didn't want to say anything," Tsukasa Suō sat down obediently and lowered his head, sighing as he answered with helpless sincerity. "You guys know my level of Kaido. Although the state of my Reiketsu was a bit abnormal then, I felt I could control it. I just didn't want to make a big scene and worry everyone. I thought I'd get a check-up first."
As these words were spoken, the atmosphere in the office stalled slightly. The others understood in their hearts; with the situation unclear, most of them would likely have been unwilling to speak up as well.
Shiba Kaien stared at him, reading the stubbornness that refused to affect others. He said with concern, "No next time! If there's any abnormality with your body, you must tell the Division. You can't do this again!"
"Yes, I promise!"
"You brat!" Shiba Kaien stood up and roughly ruffled Tsukasa Suō's hair until his inner frustration was satisfied.
Tsukasa Suō was wobbled back and forth by the ruffling but didn't dare resist. He could only sit there with a head of hair that had instantly become a messy bird's nest, a look of resignation on his face.
The group shared a light laugh. His comical appearance caused the previously heavy atmosphere to dissipate instantly.
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