Bleach: My Zanpakutō Is the Entire Underworld

Inside the 4th Division barracks, Asano Kiyoshi lay on a hospital bed, his entire body wrapped in bandages, looking thoroughly bored.

Beside him sat a man with a slightly aloof, cool demeanor. The man glanced sideways at Kiyoshi with mild curiosity and asked:

"Your injuries aren't minor — three puncture wounds, twenty-seven cuts of varying depth, six torn muscles, and three bone dislocations. By any measure, that should keep you in bed for one or two weeks. So how is it that you're already up and walking around — and it's not even the end of the afternoon?"

Saying this, the man stepped closer with genuine interest, studying Kiyoshi's body.

"And the way your body is healing — the speed of your tissue recovery is clearly unusual. If you don't mind explaining, I'd like to know. Just curiosity, of course — you don't have to say if you don't want to."

Looking at the man, Kiyoshi gave a small smile and said,

"No need to be so polite, Vice-Captain Kiyonosuke. I studied Kaidō (healing kido) here under Captain Unohana for a while. So after the fight, I did some basic treatment myself. (He'd actually planted the mark for Wangxiangtai but didn't activate the rewind, so there were no side effects.)"

Hearing this, Yamada Kiyonosuke frowned slightly. He glanced at the clear evidence of emergency treatment — but its effect was much better than typical Kaidō — and pressed,

"That emergency treatment worked remarkably well. Could you teach me sometime?"

Faced with this utterly unpretentious request from Vice-Captain Yamada, Kiyoshi quickly reached out to stop him from bowing and said,

"Vice-Captain, no need to be so formal. Actually, I think there's plenty of room to reform Kaidō at the structural level. When we heal injuries, most spiritual particle structures can be optimized. For example, the channels near the trachea and left brachial artery — these can be…"

With the computational power granted by his Zanpakutō, Kiyoshi had long since found many ways Kaidō could be improved — he'd just never had the time to organize them. Now that Yamada Kiyonosuke was willing to discuss this seriously, he had no reason to refuse. After all, if during the Thousand-Year Blood War arc the Soul Society's medical system had been better — maybe fewer people would have died.

If the 4th Division and 12th Division could share their research more openly — could the entire medical system be revolutionized?

Kiyoshi had so many things he wanted to do — not just research for its own sake…

The two talked for a long time, deep in discussion about reforming Soul Society's medical system — only stopping when Captain Unohana arrived.

Unohana smiled gently as she entered and said,

"Oh my, I see I came at the wrong time. I'm disturbing an excellent discussion."

Yamada Kiyonosuke respectfully bowed to Unohana and said,

"Not at all, Captain. It's just that Asano Kiyoshi has remarkable insight into Kaidō. We found we had a lot in common. I'll compile our discussion into a report for your review. In my opinion, many of Kiyoshi's ideas are worth studying — and implementing."

Hearing her vice-captain's words, Unohana looked quite surprised. She knew full well that her vice-captain was proud and exacting — getting him to praise someone this highly was extremely rare.

And if she remembered correctly, Kiyoshi had only begun studying Kaidō under her about a month ago. Even if he'd learned quickly, it shouldn't have been enough to impress Kiyonosuke this much.

Unohana felt a flicker of doubt — but that was normal. After all, the way Kiyoshi's Kaidō could restore him so close to full health was something you'd never notice without experiencing it firsthand.

Yet from Kiyonosuke's praise, Unohana gleaned other meanings too. She looked at Kiyoshi and gave him her trademark "kind" smile, her tone "gentle" as she said,

"Ara~ So little Kiyoshi kept a few things from this Kaidō teacher of yours, hm?"

Though she was smiling, Kiyoshi felt a chill crawl up from his tailbone to his scalp — like a stampede of hungry high schoolers charging the cafeteria. His brain went numb!

The pressure from Unohana's presence left Kiyoshi momentarily speechless. He forced an awkward grin and stammered,

"How could I ever do that, Captain? It's just… I had a sudden epiphany in the last month!"

Unohana smiled knowingly. Yamada Kiyonosuke caught Kiyoshi's desperate glance for help — and wisely slipped out of the room.

Outside, Kiyonosuke wiped the sweat from his brow, then shivered with a muttered grumble:

"What do you take me for, you water ghost? Trying to drag the rest of us down too? Why do you think I treat the Captain with so much respect? Back then — well, never mind. Captain Unohana's personal charm is… quite 'persuasive'… especially in the 'physical' sense."

Inside the room, Captain Unohana looked down at Kiyoshi — who was practically melting in a cold sweat — her eyes narrowed in that signature sweet smile.

After a full minute of silence — just when it felt like Kiyoshi might die of dehydration — she finally stopped toying with him. Still smiling, she said,

"The Head Captain wants to see you. I'll take you to him."

Kiyoshi practically sagged with relief at her words and quickly said,

"Captain Unohana, there's no need — I can walk there myself."

Unohana didn't answer — she simply repeated, still smiling,

"Let me take you."

"…Yes, ma'am."

It was already close to dusk. Unohana carried a large lunchbox as they walked together, chatting.

"Today's fight was splendid. You performed very well… Very much to my taste."

Kiyoshi scratched the back of his head and awkwardly laughed,

"Giving it my all in battle was the least respect I could show him. By the way, Captain Unohana — why the big lunchbox?"

Unohana smiled sweetly at the obvious topic change and said,

"Because every fireworks festival, the Head Captain insists on showing off his cooking. But every time, it's the same few dishes — to be honest, I've grown tired of them. And he takes forever, too — plus Ryūjin Jakka's heat in the summer is… unbearable. So I prepare my own meal in advance. This way, the Head Captain can save his energy — after all, he is getting older, hmm~?"

Looking at Unohana's gentle smile, Kiyoshi felt a shiver down his back. The corner of his mouth twitched. He remembered Yamamoto had been grumbling before the festival about wanting to show off his cooking skills…

So it's true… once you peel back the surface, Unohana's definitely pitch-black inside!

T/N: For up to 20 chapters ahead on all my translations, become a p@tron at [email protected]/LordHipposApostle

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