Bleach: Reborn — Chapter 321 - Bargaining Chips (Patreon)

Chapter 321, Leverage

"Let's start with the old man's current condition." Wayne wasn't in any rush to name his price. Jumping straight to demands would cause the relationship between Hueco Mundo and Soul Society to collapse before the ink was dry.

"Reviving the old man isn't impossible. The Hōgyoku makes that much feasible." Wayne paused. "But what state he'll be in after revival — that's another question entirely."

"What do you mean?" Shunsui Kyōraku frowned. "Does he only come back as a Hollow?" Honestly, as much as Kyōraku wanted the old man Yamamoto breathing again, if he came back as a Hollow, the old man would probably slit his own throat on the spot. For a man like him, that would be the ultimate humiliation.

"Turning the old man into a Hollow or an Arrancar is the simplest revival method on my end. Quick, clean, efficient." A sly smile touched the corner of Wayne's mouth. "But the old man himself probably wouldn't agree to that."

"If there's another option, I'd like to hear it." Shunsui Kyōraku let out a slow breath.

"The damage done to the old man came from the Quincy. They carry a power that directly devours and erases souls. The one force that can counter it is Hollow power — the two are natural enemies. So using Hollow power is the most effective way to purge that Quincy energy from his body. That's why I said turning the old man into a Hollow is the fastest and most straightforward path." Wayne laid it out plainly. "Out of respect for the old man's pride, let's set that option aside for now and talk about the others." He gestured toward Orihime Inoue, who was still deep in concentration, healing away at the far side of the room.

"You know Inoue's ability well enough — whatever she rejects becomes reality. That's one possible path to fully restoring the old man." As he said it, Orihime turned her head and glanced over at Shunsui Kyōraku. Her face was written all over with exhaustion.

"There is one problem, though. If Inoue were to fully revive the old man to his prior state, the Reiatsu required would be an astronomical figure. And to sustain that state, I would have to give her the Hōgyoku — so she could continuously replenish her Reiatsu and keep Sōten Kisshun running.

During that time, the treatment cannot stop. Not for a moment. The old man's body can be preserved in the solution, but a soul left in a state of death for too long..." Wayne let the pause land. "You understand what that means."

"He'd lose every memory he should have had." Shunsui Kyōraku's brow furrowed hard.

"Exactly. That's why, when I revived Kina back then, I chose the method that preserved her memories, reincarnating her directly as a Hollow, then using the Hōgyoku to reshape her into an Arrancar form closer to human."

"Is there truly no other way?" Considering Orihime's Reiatsu capacity and how long she could realistically sustain it, going through with this plan carried an enormous risk. To put it bluntly, the odds of a full recovery were far too slim to bet on.

"There is one more method." Wayne shrugged. "Use the Hōgyoku to extract the Reiatsu inside the old man, have Inoue heal him at that exact moment, then use the Hōgyoku's power to bring him back. The cost is that the old man would lose the title of Soul Society's strongest Soul Reaper." He added evenly, "That said, it doesn't stop him from training his way back up."

"Starting over from zero." Shunsui Kyōraku pressed two fingers to his temple. "Wayne, you've had your eye on the old man's Reiatsu from the very beginning, haven't you."

It wasn't really a question.

"That's why I'm letting you choose, Commander-General." Wayne neither confirmed nor denied it. He simply returned the ball to Kyōraku's court.

"Hah." Shunsui Kyōraku smiled bitterly. "Do I even have a choice? Then I'll leave it to Inoue, please revive the old man right away."

"I... I'll do my best." Orihime gave a small nod. She had no part in this negotiation, that much was clear. Wayne had asked her to heal both the old man and Izuru Kira, but no matter how she looked at it, that ask had felt more like an order. Still, she'd owed Wayne a favor for a long time. This was as good a way as any to settle it.

"Then, Wayne, what else do you need from us?" Shunsui Kyōraku knew the deal wasn't finished. Everything so far had only been his side of the choice. Wayne still hadn't named his price. Whatever it took, as long as the old man came back alive, he, Shunsui Kyōraku, would shoulder it.

"Ryūjin Jakka." Wayne raised one finger. Ryūjin Jakka was the old man's Zanpakutō. Its Bankai had been sealed, but once the old man was alive again, he'd still be able to use it. "Ryūjin Jakka goes back to the old man, that'll help him rebuild his Reiatsu through training. But the portion of Bankai power that Yhwach sealed, I'll be collecting that for myself. After Yhwach is defeated, naturally. I'll go claim it then."

"Agreed." Kyōraku nodded without hesitation. The old man wasn't even alive yet; worrying about power levels at this stage was pointless. Besides, the force of Ryūjin Jakka's Bankai was far too overwhelming for the old man's current state anyway. Better to start from Shikai and work his way back up.

"Second — I want everything the 12th Division has. All technology, shared with us."

"Tch." Wayne glanced over at Mayuri Kurotsuchi as he said it. Mayuri let out a single cold snort and said nothing else. That counted as consent.

"Anything more?" Shunsui Kyōraku glanced at Mayuri, then turned back to Wayne.

"Third, on the matter of maintaining balance between Soul Society and Hueco Mundo: I'll allow your people to hunt Hollows. But not the core members of my forces. On this point we can reach something mutually beneficial, we provide the location, you provide the manpower. It serves two purposes: training your squad members, and helping us clear out non-allied Hollows. Two birds, one stone."

"Only you could make recruiting free muscle sound so principled." Shunsui Kyōraku gave a rueful smile. "It's not unreasonable. I agree."

"Fourth — I want Sōsuke Aizen."

"That's not possible." Shunsui Kyōraku's expression went flat and serious. "Aizen was sentenced by the Central 46 to Muken. Without their consent, I cannot agree to that. And beyond that, I won't allow the man who brought ruin to Soul Society to walk free again."

"Then give me Gin Ichimaru." Wayne offered the second condition without missing a beat, as if he'd known exactly what Kyōraku would say. "Gin Ichimaru was Aizen's accomplice, yes, but he turned on Aizen at the last moment. His sentence should be lighter, I'd expect. Handing him over to me shouldn't be a problem, should it?"

"That... I'll need to consult the Central 46."

"Take your time. I'll wait for your answer."

The negotiation wrapped up cleanly. Wayne dropped the pleasantries and got to work, directing the Hōgyoku to begin drawing the Reiatsu out of the old man's body. At the same moment, Orihime threw her full effort into the healing. Starrk stepped forward as well, channeling a stream of Reiatsu laced with the power of Life Law into the solution, keeping the fluid and everything submerged in it active.

"The Hōgyoku's going to need a while to work. Should we..." Wayne glanced around. With everything he'd wanted now secured, the tension had visibly left his shoulders. "...go get something to eat?"

"I'll pass. I need to get back to my division and consolidate the data." Mayuri Kurotsuchi turned on his heel and left.

"Mayuri." Wayne called after him. "Our side has made considerable progress in researching the Quincy as well. If you're interested, you could sit down with Szayelaporro and compare notes. We have your data records on file, but we could also establish a joint research project, Hōgyoku research included."

"Hmph. Pointless." Mayuri tossed the words back with practiced contempt and kept walking out of the lab.

Though his stride did seem just a little wider than before.

"Ah... Wayne, you really do have a talent for giving me headaches." Watching Mayuri go, Shunsui Kyōraku pressed a hand to his forehead with theatrical suffering. "And it's only my first day in this position."

"For the sake of Hueco Mundo's interests." Wayne smiled mildly. "Come on, food first, talk while we eat. Oh, and Inoue." He looked back at her. "I'll have someone bring food to you. Can you hold on a little longer?"

"Hm? Of course." Orihime nodded. "Besides, working with the Hōgyoku's power is doing no small amount for my own growth."

"You've worked hard." Wayne dipped his head slightly, then walked out of the lab with Shunsui Kyōraku.

"Wayne, regarding Yhwach, what are you thinking?" With the negotiation behind them, Kyōraku turned to the battles still ahead. He'd given Wayne quite a few concessions today, but truthfully, nothing Wayne had asked for would cripple Soul Society. Every demand was within his power to absorb. The old men of the Central 46 wouldn't kick up much fuss over terms like these.

"Actually, I've already been to Yhwach's base." The negotiation was done, and Wayne seemed to slip naturally back into his Tsukishiro Hinamori mode, easy, conversational, no more sharp edges showing.

"You found their base?" Shunsui Kyōraku's eyebrows shot up. "Can you give us the coordinates?"

"It wouldn't help." Wayne shook his head. "I know you want revenge. But with the Gotei 13's current strength, what are the real odds of wiping out those Quincy?"

"Ah..." A long, low exhale. "To think you've seen the Seireitei like this. How embarrassing."

"Don't." Wayne shook his head. "I'm the king of Hueco Mundo. The safety of Soul Society means nothing to me, strictly speaking. But for certain reasons, I've left ties here. Different factions don't have to mean no cooperation. The issue is simply that Soul Reapers and Hollows carry an irreconcilable contradiction between them, I can't get directly involved."

"Ha." Shunsui Kyōraku shook his head. "Who could have imagined it, the former captain of the 10th Division, reincarnated as the king of Hueco Mundo." He let out a wry breath. If only the Wayne standing beside him were still that captain, at least Soul Society wouldn't have taken such a beating.

"Back then I was only the leader of a faction. I have the years I spent growing inside Soul Society to thank for reaching where I am now." Wayne said it plainly. "But let's not go down that road. Back to the Quincy." He steered the topic back on course. "One of my subordinates was captured by Yhwach. I had placed a spatial marker on her beforehand, that's how I located his base and pulled her out."

"Which means we can't re-locate the enemy's headquarters ourselves."

"No." Wayne shook his head. "The enemy's headquarters is right inside the shadow of the Seireitei."

"...Hmm?"

"The Wandenreich. That's what the enemy's soldiers call it." Wayne explained. "It's a subspace hidden within the Seireitei's own shadow. The Quincy carved it out using their unique abilities. As long as the Seireitei casts a shadow, they can slip into Soul Society without making a sound, which is also why the Soul Shield Membrane never reacted to them. They didn't invade from outside. They were already there from the start. All they have to do is invert the subspace, and they're standing in the middle of the Seireitei."

"This is critical intelligence." Shunsui Kyōraku's expression hardened. "We need to bring Captain Kurotsuchi up to speed so we can start working on countermeasures. If the enemy exists inside a subspace within the Seireitei, does that mean they can monitor any defensive measures we deploy? That they could even invert the entire subspace at will, and turn our own home ground into their fortress?"

"Yes and no." Wayne said. "They could invert the spatial layer and reshape the Seireitei into a Wandenreich stronghold, that's true. But personally, I don't think that's going to happen anymore. When I went to get my subordinate out, I used my power to level the place. What they called the Wandenreich is gone. The destruction there now is no less than what Soul Society has suffered. Even if they tried to invert it, all that would come through is rubble. There's no home-ground advantage left to speak of."

"You..." Shunsui Kyōraku stopped walking. "You completely destroyed the enemy's headquarters?"

He was quiet for a long moment.

"I had no idea. All of that, happening without us even knowing."

"Anyone who captures me pays a price." Wayne smiled lightly. "Oh, and while I was at it, I wiped out every soldier stationed in the Wandenreich as well. Don't thank me. I'm calling that one a freebie."

"Ahaha... So that's why we haven't seen any of their foot soldiers." Shunsui Kyōraku laughed, a little awkwardly. He clearly hadn't quite recalibrated to this version of Wayne yet. "So to sum it up: while the enemy was sending their elites into Soul Society, you hit their base from behind, razed it completely, and now all that's left of them is their elites and their leader?"

"Not necessarily." Wayne shook his head. "As far as I know, one of their members has the ability to control the dead. If they use that, roughly forty percent of the foot soldiers could come back in some undead state. And Yhwach now holds the power of Ryūjin Jakka's Bankai, if he uses that to raise the fallen as skeletal troops, their numbers could return to what they were before. Possibly more. Their combat strength wouldn't be what it was, but they'd still be bodies on the field."

"Then we do need to set up defenses inside the Seireitei."

"Better safe than sorry." Wayne glanced at Kyōraku. "It's a shame, when I had Yhwach cornered, Ichigo Kurosaki showed up. Otherwise I might have had the chance to get hold of the seal on Ryūjin Jakka's Bankai." He paused. "Speaking of which, where is Ichigo Kurosaki? He's been missing since the meeting started."

"Right now? The 12th Division, most likely." Shunsui Kyōraku considered it for a moment. "His Zanpakutō snapped in two during the battle. Captain Kurotsuchi's working on repairing it in the lab."

"Can it actually be repaired?" Wayne asked, already knowing the answer.

"Most likely, no." Shunsui Kyōraku shook his head. "A Zanpakutō destroyed during Bankai apparently can't be fixed. But it'll be fine, someone capable of restoring it will turn up before long."

"Oh?" Wayne raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

Shunsui Kyōraku smiled.

"A group standing guard at the Soul King's side. Absurdly powerful, every last one of them."

➤ Next: The Hero at Twilight