>>3695095
“That must have been a heavy burden.”

“It was terrifying,” you admit. “The thought that with one wrong move I could have created a future where I never met you, Gin, Yoruichi… any number of the people who give my life meaning now. There’s a reason I disappeared to Hueco Mundo’s moon and just stayed put there until the right time.”

“So what’s that like?” Rangiku asks curiously.

“It’s actually an elaborate illusion,” you explain. “So I had Inari disguise me as the hole in the moon.”

“I get it,” Rangiku nods in a parody of understanding. “Like hell I’d get that!”

You can’t help but laugh at your daughter’s indignation. “Hell of it is I don’t get it either… not really. It’s one of those times that all I can do is the best I can, you know? Once you become a Captain in your own right you’ll learn that secret.”

“The secret?” she repeats.

“The fact that half the time we’re just making it up as we go,” you shrug. “Because at our level of ability, something that’s a threat to one of us is gonna be so unpredictable that we’re going to end up on our back foot no matter how well we think we’ve planned.”

“Speaking of planning...” Rangiku begins, and you instantly know where she’s heading. She wants to talk about Aizen. Aizen, Aizen, Aizen, everything’s all been about Aizen since 1900 or so… which now that’s what, eight centuries?

>I don’t have a plan for Aizen when he turns up again, other than to fight him as best I can.
>We’ll need Kisuke to come through for us with a plan, which I’ll then have to implement.
>I was thinking about who to ask for advice. It’s time to bring this to a final end already.
>Other?

>>3695098
>I was thinking about who to ask for advice. It’s time to bring this to a final end already.

>>3695098
>>I was thinking about who to ask for advice. It’s time to bring this to a final end already.

did we give kisuke the thingy we got from the fromer captain clownface?

>>3695098
>We’ll need Kisuke to come through for us with a plan, which I’ll then have to implement.

>>3695098
“I’m considering who to ask for advice,” you admit. “I threw everything I had at Aizen, and it seems like all I did was drag this out. Like he got so far before we got the Hōgyoku out of him that while it wasn’t enough for him to crush us, it put him just outside anyone’s ability to finish him off for good. Like a hundred years later he’s still forcing a stalemate.”

“That’s concerning,” Rangiku sighs dramatically. “Even after you grew so much stronger than when we first met?”

“Even then,” you decide.

“Well, who are you thinking about asking?”

“There’s really only a few people who aren’t already working on the problem,” you reason, more for your own thought process than anything else. “Artemis or Coyote maybe.”

“What about the Royal Special Task Force?” Rangiku offers.

“I don’t trust them,” you admit, “and they may be going through some internal strife right now. There’s also Kurotsuchi.”

“Why would Nemu...” Rangiku begins before realizing who you mean. “Seriously?”

“He’s a genius for sure,” you admit, “and twisted in a way Kisuke isn’t. But that also means he might come to different conclusions about what’s possible from here on.”

“But can he be trusted?”

You shake your head. “Hell no. But better him than the last resort.”

Rangiku visibly cringes. “Worse than Kurotsuchi Mayuri?”

“The Central 46,” you clarify. “Someone in there must have some insight.”

>Track down Kurotsuchi Mayuri.
>Visit the Central 46.
>Contact the Royal Guard.
>See about getting in touch with Coyote.
>Other?

>>3695381
> Track down Kurotsuchi Mayuri.
> See about getting in touch with Coyote.
I'm up for either of these options really. We can go troll the mummy freak, or go get a lesson in trolling from the furry sensei.

>>3695381
>>Track down Kurotsuchi Mayuri.
confirm anything he says with kisuke after ...

>>3695381
>See about getting in touch with Coyote.

>>3695395
Also as an addendum, if we go to see Coyote, we should take Starrk with us. Give him a chance to get back together with the family as it were.

>>3695402
if we take that route, i am in full support

>>3695381
>Track down Kurotsuchi Mayuri.

>>3695381
>>Track down Kurotsuchi Mayuri.

>>3695381
>>See about getting in touch with Coyote.

>>3695381
“As much as I hate this, we’re going to need Mayuri back,” you grumble, none too thrilled with this situation. “While I’d rather take Starrk and get high with Coyote to see what he can come up with, the gods’ hands are kind if tied in a situation like this. So unfortunately the next best thing is Mayuri’s twisted self.”

“I assume you have a plan, then?” Rangiku asks skeptically.

You shake your head with a brief snort of laughter. “What was I just saying about Captains and plans?”

“Yeah, guess I should’ve seen that right?”

“One day you’ll probably have the Ninth Division,” you tease her, provoking a shocked look. “But you’ve still got a fair bit to learn.”

The shock quickly disappears, either because you’ve given a good enough account of yourself or because she’s suppressed that immediate response. “So any ideas where to start at least?”

“Well, trying as much as I feel comfortable doing to think like Mayuri,” you muse carefully, “I have no idea. He’d just be someplace with something interesting to him.”

“So to figure out what that is,” Rangiku reasons, “you might start by asking his daughter?”

“Possibly,” you agree. “Though knowing him he might not have told her much.”

“Still think it’s worth pursuing?”

>It’s probably the best lead we have.
>Our best guess is that he’s in Hueco Mundo somewhere, trying to lay low.
>You know something? I’ll follow your lead on this one.
>Kisuke would probably know. Let’s go interrupt whatever he’s doing and berate him for being so much slower to finish his task then us.
>Other?

>>3698455
>Kisuke would probably know. Let’s go interrupt whatever he’s doing and berate him for being so much slower to finish his task then us.

>>3698455
>>Kisuke would probably know. Let’s go interrupt whatever he’s doing and berate him for being so much slower to finish his task then us.
also, i bet that Mayuri's daughter is around him helping in some capacity or another, so we can do both

>>3698455
>>You know something? I’ll follow your lead on this one.

>>3698455
>>You know something? I’ll follow your lead on this one.

>>3698455
>You know something? I’ll follow your lead on this one.
I'm sure she has some sort of untraceable direct line to him, or at least a listening device so he can hear us.

>>3698455
> Kisuke would probably know. Let’s go interrupt whatever he’s doing and berate him for being so much slower to finish his task then us.
It is at this point that Kisuke should feel a disturbance in the Force.

>>3698455
>You know something? I’ll follow your lead on this one.

>>3698455
“You know? I think I’m going to follow your lead on this one,” you shrug. “So what do you think should be done about this, Lieutenant Matsumoto?”

After considering the question for a few moments, Rangiku nods curtly. “We’ll press Lieutenant Kurotsuchi for information.”

“Sounds good to me,” you agree. “I’ll also be relying on you to lead the interrogation. Don’t disappoint me, alright?”

“Not my plan to,” Rangiku sighs. “Gimme a chance to find my badge real quick here...”

The two of you swiftly move to the lab complex Kisuke calls a Division grounds, with a minimum of conversation. It seems that your daughter is deep in thought, considering your situation and her next move assuming that Kurotsuchi Nemu decides to be unhelpful. By the time you reach your objective you get the impression that she’s decided.

“Alright,” you smile. “You got this”

Rangiku takes a deep breath. “Yeah. I think I’ve got this.”

You gesture for her to take the lead. “After you, then.”

The young man at the front desk wears the typical lab coat you’d expect, along with a completely lax expression that you didn’t expect. Rangiku stops across the desk from him and stares expectantly as the man reads something you can’t quite identify from the cover. There’s no response, at least not until your daughter coughs to get the man’s attention.

“Can I help you?”

“If you can help me get hold of Lieutenant Kurotsuchi,” Rangiku replies very diplomatically, “that would be great.”

“Can’t do that, ma’am,” the man replies, still having yet to look up.

“You do realize a superior officer is asking you to do something,” Rangiku begins, the facade starting to crack slightly. “Right?”

“An officer from a different Division,” the man replies. “Lieutenant Kurotsuchi is busy.”

“Aren’t we all,” Rangiku frowns. “Listen, boy. I’ve known Captain Urahara ever since he was a Third Seat in the Second Division. So when he hears from me that some rookie was giving me trouble at the door when I came over on a mission important for the security of the whole Soul Society… what name should I give him?”
>1/2

>>3701606
“That worked well,” you muse, Rangiku’s calmly considered threat having done the trick.

Rangiku nods thoughtfully. “I see why you enjoy doing it so much.”

“I know, right?”

After navigating a series of confusing hallways, you find the lab where Kurotsuchi Nemu is working. Inside you find her in a labcoat, wearing a small white hat that keeps her hair out of the way, carefully examining one of several glass tubes that’s clenched between a set of specially-designed metal tongs.

“Captain Kusajishi, Lieutenant Matsumoto,” she greets you politely, setting the tube back onto a small wooden rack where the contact between wood and glass provokes a slight sizzling sound and a whiff of burned wood. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“My Captain and I need to find Kurotsuchi Mayuri,” Rangiku answers. “We figured you would know where to start looking.

“I do not,” Nemu replies immediately.

Rangiku casts a quick sidelong glance in your direction.

>Gesture for her to continue taking the lead on this.
>Insist to Nemu that you know she’s hiding at least part of the truth, if not lying outright.
>Ask what she’s been working on that has her so busy.
>Other?

>>3701612
>>Ask what she’s been working on that has her so busy.

>>3701612
>Ask what she’s been working on that has her so busy.

>>3701612
>Ask what she’s been working on that has her so busy.

>>3701612
>>Gesture for her to continue taking the lead on this.
this the type of captain training you don't usually get

>>3701612
>>Gesture for her to continue taking the lead on this.

>>3702152
Seconding this.

>>3701612
>3d10, best of three

Rolled 6, 6, 1 = 13 (3d10)

>>3704602

Rolled 8, 1, 5 = 14 (3d10)

>>3704602

Rolled 6, 2, 6 = 14 (3d10)

>>3704602

Mediocrity, ho!

>>3704602
“What is all of this?” you ask curiously, coming just short of poking the glass vial with your finger. “What are you working on, Lieutenant?”

“Just some back samples,” Nemu explains vaguely. “The amount of laboratory work we go through here on a daily basis has increased lately, and catching up when we fall behind requires extreme efficiency.”

“I see, so that means someone like you gets to make up the difference?” you nod, following her logic. It may seem boring… but you guess that’s a large amount of the work that’s demanded by projects like the ones Urahara finds interesting.

“Precisely.”

Having completely lost interest in the samples, you gesture to Rangiku for her to continue.

She clears her throat. “Are you sure there’s nothing you want to share with us?”

Nemu quickly shakes his head in denial. “It’s as I said. I do not know where you might find Kurotsuchi Mayuri.”

“Come on, Nemu! “Rangiku insists, dropping any pretenses. “Don’t sit there and tell me you have no idea where he might’ve gone in a situation like this!”

“You presume that I knew that man,” Nemu quietly pokes a massive hole in both of your understandings of the situation. “When it comes down to it, we were not a ‘father and daughter’. We were creator and created… though I am willing to believe that he is indeed proud of my accomplishments in his own way, do not mistake that for being the same thing as familiarity.”

“I… I still find that difficult to believe,” Rangiku admits hesitantly, before finding her strength once more. “I mean, he even gave you his name, Nemu. Surely you grew to know the man who named you, at least better than the rest of us do!”

“He gave me a number,” Nemu corrects your daughter. “It later became something more like a name, but ignoring the history behind it is the reason why you find it difficult to understand what I am telling you.”

“I will repeat myself: that man and I were not the sort to share such secrets. That is the reality.”

>Even for Mayuri, that’s just too sad. Surely you at least have some insight into how his thought process in the situation he’s been placed in would work?
>Then we’ll need access to any personal records he may have kept. If you do not feel confident in pointing us the right way, we may as well rely on his own words.
>Leave it to Rangiku.
>Other?

>>3704743
>Even for Mayuri, that’s just too sad. Surely you at least have some insight into how his thought process in the situation he’s been placed in would work?

>>3704743
>>Then we’ll need access to any personal records he may have kept. If you do not feel confident in pointing us the right way, we may as well rely on his own words.

>>3704743
>>Even for Mayuri, that’s just too sad. Surely you at least have some insight into how his thought process in the situation he’s been placed in would work?

>>3704743
>>Then we’ll need access to any personal records he may have kept. If you do not feel confident in pointing us the right way, we may as well rely on his own words.

>>3704743
>Even for Mayuri, that’s just too sad. Surely you at least have some insight into how his thought process in the situation he’s been placed in would work?

>>3704743
>3d10, best of three

Rolled 9, 5, 7 = 21 (3d10)

>>3708135

Rolled 4, 1, 9 = 14 (3d10)

>>3708135

Rolled 1, 1, 6 = 8 (3d10)

>>3708135

>>3708135
“Even considering this is Mayuri we’re talking about,” you sigh, “that’s just too sad, don’t you think?”

The mood here has gotten downright depressing as Nemu simply shrugs your question off. “It is what it is.”

“Even after all that time, you can’t say you have any sort of insight into what he might be thinking in this situation?” you press. “Nothing at all?”

It takes her a few moments, which she spends mostly staring blankly at the work in front of her. But in a momentary outburst she smashes the vials off the surface in front of her, all without changing expression. The glass vials shatter against the walls and floor, spilling their various contents.

“Are you...” Rangiku asks carefully, concerned at what you’ve both just seen.

Nemu takes a few slow, deep breaths. “I… may have a few suggestions, if that is what you’re asking.”

“Take your time,” you insist calmly, eyeing the shattered remnants of the tubes.

Several long moments later, Nemu closes her eyes. “I believe that in this situation Kurotsuchi Mayuri would be most eager to establish a new research facility.”

“Simply carrying on as he had before?” Rangiku asks.

Nemu nods curtly. “Yes.”

“With what main focus?” you press. “If you were to speculate, that is.”

“It would likely be in Hueco Mundo,” Nemu declares. “Now that the army of the Wandenreich has been dismantled there are no ‘research subjects’ to be found there.”

>Continue pressing Nemu, see if she can help you narrow down his choice of locations.
>What would be the most clever and twisted way that he could hide his operations….
>He’s probably hiding in the Forest of Menos. Lots of subjects down there, secluded.
>Other?

>>3708506
>>What would be the most clever and twisted way that he could hide his operations….
poor nemu, she needs some friends i think

>>3708506
>What would be the most clever and twisted way that he could hide his operations….

>>3708506
>>What would be the most clever and twisted way that he could hide his operations….

>>3708506
>>What would be the most clever and twisted way that he could hide his operations….


Moon base? Moon base.

>>3708506
>>What would be the most clever and twisted way that he could hide his operations….

>>3708506
>3d10, best of four

Rolled 8, 2, 10 = 20 (3d10)

>>3711419

Rolled 5, 1, 10 = 16 (3d10)

>>3711419

Rolled 6, 5, 8 = 19 (3d10)

>>3711419

Rolled 8, 4, 9 = 21 (3d10)

>>3711419

>>3711419
“So, on a scale of one to comic book villain…” you muse, already beginning to draw a conclusion in your head. “He wouldn’t be that mad, would he?”

You almost doubt yourself, but that answer seems exactly like him.

“Yes?” Rangiku asks curiously. “You have something to work with?”

“He might have pulled a me,” you guess.

“I don’t follow,” Nemu admits.

“Here, I’ll show you what I mean,” you offer, opening a portal to Hueco Mundo in Nemu’s lab. “We just need to nip off to Hueco Mundo for a moment.”

Rangiku can’t manage to suppress a sigh. “You know, it’s weird to thing about how casually we do this sort of thing these days.”

“You sure picked an interesting time to be a Lieutenant,” you agree. “Thanks to that you’ll know what it was like before and after Aizen’s rebellion and the rise of the complete arrancars.”

“So what was your idea?” Nemu presses, already tiring of your conversation.

You draw your swords. “Bankai… Resurreccion… Tenkotsuki and Kobara no Tachi!”

Your familiar synchronization begins to take hold, and you feel your mind shifting into a new and heightened state of awareness and perspective.

“Here,” you declare, pointing to the moon.

“That’s absurd,” Rangiku insists.

Nemu on the other hand merely nods. “It suits him.”

“Then let us see...” you muse, opening your hand and grasping lightly at the image of the moon in front of you. “Ah. Impressive, Mayuri.”

With a strong pull you peel away the layers of illusion hiding Mayuri’s laboratory in Hueco Mundo, revealing a single building set low in the moonlit sands.

>Find the door and bang on it. Mayuri may have no idea you found his lair.
>Go in through the walls. No chill.
>Just wait. No doubt he already has you under observation.
>Other?

>>3711660
>>Find the door and bang on it. Mayuri may have no idea you found his lair.
if he doesn't answer immediatly, go through the wall, we don't have the time or patience for his brand of bullshit

>>3711660
>Go in through the walls. No chill.

>>3711660
>>Find the door and bang on it. Mayuri may have no idea you found his lair.

>>3711660
>>Find the door and bang on it. Mayuri may have no idea you found his lair.
No reason to be rude. Well, there's a lot of reasons when it comes to Mayuri, but come on. We're "asking" him for a favor, let's at least pretend.

>>3711660
>>Find the door and bang on it. Mayuri may have no idea you found his lair.

>>3711660
You spend the next several minutes circling the building before finding a roughly door-sized panel of the outer wall marked by incredibly fine gaps in what is otherwise a perfectly smooth exterior. Then you knock on this spot which you can only assume is the door inside.

After waiting for a few moments, you knock a little harder with still no response. Next you knock hard enough to shake dust and a little bit of the paint off the exterior wall.

“I know you can hear me!” you declare loudly. “There is no way a man like you neglected to rig a system of external cameras. Open this door before I open the wall instead!”

Still receiving no reply, you draw your sword with a small flourish. “You asked for this.”

Before you make your first strike, you hear a faint hiss as the gaps around the door vent compressed air, then the door settles inward just slightly. A gentle nudge pivots it open, and you can see that the door itself is probably about six inches thick. It seems to be some sort of…

“A reinforced layered composite shell?” Nemu muses.

“What, was he expecting a war to break out?” Rangiku frowns. “And the rounded shape… was he expecting to have to break up a blast wave? He does realize that the Gotei 13 doesn’t have literal nukes, right?”

“Some of our Captains may be more closely compared to walking nuclear arms than any conventional weapon,” you admit, “so perhaps this type of fortification is not uncalled-for.”

“Its profile would not be a problem in terms of detection radius either,” Nemu nods in agreement. “Since spiritual senses are not exactly like radar.”

“Anyway,” you interrupt before Rangiku can even ask Nemu to explain what the hell she meant by that… especially since in some cases spirit-based sensory abilities do rely on bouncing reiatsu off objects, and just like radar a round structure would immediately bounce said reiatsu back to the sensor without fail.

The stairs hug the exterior wall, running in a circle down to an open grated floor about thirty meters below the level of the entry landing. You can see all the way down into the dimly-lit distance… each level is a circular hallway with a floor like this one, sandwiched between two smooth walls. One the external, one the internal… almost like…

“A pressure hull?” you muse. “What could he possibly be doing that necessitates such a design?”

>Investigate some of the premises
>Head straight down to the bottom floor
>Just start shouting and banging until Mayuri tells you where he is
>Try to use your reishi sensing to locate him
>Other?

>>3714354
>>Try to use your reishi sensing to locate him

>>3714354
>Investigate some of the premises

>>3714354
>>Investigate some of the premises

>>3714354
>>Investigate some of the premises

>>3714354
>>Head straight down to the bottom floor

>>3714354
>3d10, best of three

Rolled 10, 4, 10 = 24 (3d10)

>>3717015

Rolled 10, 4, 10 = 24 (3d10)

>>3717015

Rolled 7, 1, 4 = 12 (3d10)

>>3717015

>>3717043
>>3717045
>[x] Doubt

>>3717015
Without delay, you set about testing your surroundings in minute detail.

The outer shell of this building is made from layers of metal with a core of seki stone, with structural beams running both as vertical ribs and horizontal rings… in fact it really feels like the ‘hallways’ that ring the interior comprise the structural support for the whole building. The inner wall on the other hand is much thinner, made from a single layer of metal. Rapping on it with your knuckles reveals exactly how thin it is, little more than the walls of a storage shed.

“I see,” you muse, realizing the trick that explains this discrepancy. “Do you feel that?”

Rangiku’s eyes narrow in suspicion. “Is the air circulating in here?”

“An inducement fan,” Nemu theorizes, “located at the bottom floor and directing cooled air upwards at a constant rate, with little or no turbulence.”

“He is using it to lower thermal emissions,” you explain, “so that the temperature of the outer shell is more indicative of the surrounding environment. Whatever he is doing here must generate a fair amount of waste heat.”

“How the hell did he build all this?” Rangiku wonders aloud.

You shrug. “How do you reckon anything in the Seireitei is built?”

“Out of reishi?” Rangiku guesses.

“So you know the answer after all.”

“You know what I mean.”

“I assume he designed a tool which uses his Captain-class reiatsu to organize reishi within the environment,” you offer, coming to the only logical conclusion. “Much the same way Captain Urahara or any of the Royal Special Task Force would first have had to invent their own tools of their respective trades.”

“True genius is creating the tools of creation,” Nemu adds, earning a surprised stare from your daughter. “Is what I assume Kurotsuchi Mayuri would say.”

Unfortunately, your search only offers the barest hints of where Mayuri might be at the moment: at one end, or the other. The top floor would give the best view of the spaces below, while the bottom floor is where the machinery that keeps this facility running is located.

>Top floor
>Bottom floor
>Other?

>>3717096
>>Top floor

>>3717096
>>Top floor

>>3717096
>Top floor

>>3717096
>>Bottom floor

>>3717096
>>Top floor

>>3717096
You backtrack, heading back to the highest of the circular walkways and searching around the entire inner wall for an entry point. Failing to find one, you head down to the level you were on before, then to the second level down where you eventually find another pressurized hatch. With similar caution to the outer hatch, you pry this open and peek inside.

What you find is a laboratory with, almost nonsensically, covered ladders which lead to gantries elevated above the entry level. The floor is solid, remarkably so, and all around are large metallic devices which seem to give a view downwards further into the facility.

Mayuri himself is seated at what looks like a tremendous pipe organ, but which on closer inspection is a terminal which only looks like a vast musical instrument due to its many different keyboards, levers, pulls, and switches as well as the multitude of pipes and bundles of wire that run in, out, and through it.

Directly in front of him is a six-monitor setup, one of which displays, predictably, a security feed from both inside and outside his facility.

“You are a difficult man to find, Kurotsuchi Mayuri,” you comment. Mayuri doesn’t even do you the courtesy of turning around, not like you expected him to.

“By design, I assure you,” he replies, staring directly at the screens in front of him while continuing to press keys and pull levers. “Speaking of which, how did you know there was an illusion there to penetrate?”

“You are several centuries too late for that trick to be considered novel,” you chide him.

“I see, so that anomaly I detected did have something to do with your disappearance after all,” he muses, finally turning his head to glance at you. “So, what do you want?”

>Your daughter is here.
>What the hell are you doing in here that requires all the preparations?
>We need your help in finishing Aizen off. I assume you have kept tabs on the situation?
>Other?

>>3720562
>We need your help in finishing Aizen off. I assume you have kept tabs on the situation?
>We both can agree that him getting the ability to warp all of reality to his will is not a good thing.

>>3720562
>Your daughter is here.

>>3720562
>>Your daughter is here.

>>3720562
>>We need your help in finishing Aizen off. I assume you have kept tabs on the situation?
>>We both can agree that him getting the ability to warp all of reality to his will is not a good thing.
mayuri ain't the sort that would get rocked by mentioning nemu.

>>3720562
>>We need your help in finishing Aizen off. I assume you have kept tabs on the situation?

>>3720562
>Your daughter is here.

>>3720670
they may pretend not to, but they have plenty of emotions bottled up in there. you just have to hit the right buttons to bring them out.

i think nemu is pissed that mayuri left her behind for so long. i think she wanted to go with him. i think she's been wanting to see him.
and i think mayuri would probably feel bad about it deep down if she said something about it.

>>3720562
>>What the hell are you doing in here that requires all the preparations?

>>3720755
I think you may have underestimated just how much of a crazy dick Mayuri is.

>>3720921
I think you may have underestimated just how human he is.

>>3720971
But he isn't human. He's a shiggydiggy.

>>3720562
“Your daughter is here as well.”

“I can see that.”

And that is all that comes of that observation. Since you can tell when a conversation like this one isn’t going to go anywhere, you decide to let the matter drop.

“Then are you also aware of why we are here?” you press.

Mayuri sighs, waving his hand dismissively. “Of course, it’s completely transparent. You people only bother me when you need something after all… so am I to take it that Aizen Sōsuke is still alive?”

“He is biologically immortal,” you observe, “so yes. I would say that he is still alive.”

“And so you came to ask me what you should try next,” Mayuri states. It’s not a guess, he knows exactly why you’re here but wants you to say it aloud.

“That is correct,” you admit. “We need your advice on how to solve this problem permanently.”

Mayuri leans back in his chair. “Have you considered letting him have what he’s after?”

There’s a full three-second pause before anyone else speaks.

“Say what!?” Rangiku demands.

“Look at your own state,” Mayuri insists, pointing at your mutilated ninth tail. “A nine-tailed kitsune is considered a kami, a fully divine being, and would logically be bound by the rules regarding divinities. So you hacked off a part of your own ninth tail, didn’t you? Judging by your confused expression you must have done it instinctively.”

“So, if you would have been bound by those rules why would Aizen not were he to become the Soul King? Think about it, have you ever seen the Soul King wandering around freely? Has he ever spoken to anyone in the lower realms directly? What does he even look like?”

>That is stupid, you are stupid for suggesting it, and you should feel stupid.
>Easier said than done. Should he not be clever enough to avoid such a trap?
>Okay, tell me more about the specifics of how you see this working.
>Other?

>>3723890
>Okay, tell me more about the specifics of how you see this working.
Let's hear him out first, we did give that benefit to a lot of people after all.

>>3723890
>In part because he had his limbs hacked off and his organs scooped out, leaving him a dumb paraplegic unable to influence anything. Aizen won't have such a handicap if he becomes Soul King.

>>3723890
>That is stupid, you are stupid for suggesting it, and you should feel stupid.

>>3723890
>>3723902
>>3723900
these two are relevant

>>3723890
>>3723902
>>3723900
These

>>3723890
>Easier said than done. Should he not be clever enough to avoid such a trap?

>>3723890
supporting:
>>3723900
>>3723902

>>3723890
>Okay, tell me more about the specifics of how you see this working.

>>3723890
“And how do you propose that should work?” you press. “While I remain open to suggestions, I have trouble seeing yours as practical. After all, the current Soul King is missing his arms, legs, and many of his internal organs… Aizen would have no such handicaps.”

“Tell me this then,” Mayuri replies, “was the Soul King’s body split before or after he became the Soul King?”

There’s a long pause.

“Tokinada wasn’t especially clear,” Rangiku admits quietly. “He was too busy freaking out over the fact that we killed several of the severed limbs.”

“And yet he was clear about one thing,” you recall. “It was done out of fear, after having seen what it could do before it became the Soul King. That at least suggests that despite his claim not to know many of the other details, the dismemberment occurred as a separate process to that which turned it into the Soul King.”

“In that case, it would also suggest that once the conversion took place,” Mayuri extends your breakdown of the situation, “the Soul King was powerless to stop his own dismemberment. Meaning that despite what the Great Clans may have feared at the time the Soul King itself was incapable of defending itself. Like clipping the wings of a fly trapped in amber.”

>I do not believe this is a viable plan. What other alternatives can you think of?
>If Mimihagi can confirm the order of events you suggest, you might actually be right.
>Assuming I agree with your reasoning, what do we do about the revived Izanagi?
>Other?

>>3726052
>>If Mimihagi can confirm the order of events you suggest, you might actually be right.
>>Assuming I agree with your reasoning, what do we do about the revived Izanagi?

>>3726052
>>Assuming I agree with your reasoning, what do we do about the revived Izanagi?

>>3726052
>>I do not believe this is a viable plan. What other alternatives can you think of?

>>3726052
>If Mimihagi can confirm the order of events you suggest, you might actually be right.
>Assuming I agree with your reasoning, what do we do about the revived Izanagi?

>>3726052
>If Mimihagi can confirm the order of events you suggest, you might actually be right.
>Assuming I agree with your reasoning, what do we do about the revived Izanagi?

>>3726052
>>If Mimihagi can confirm the order of events you suggest, you might actually be right.
>Assuming I agree with your reasoning, what do we do about the revived Izanagi?

>>3726052
>Assuming I agree with your reasoning, what do we do about the revived Izanagi?

Leaving Izanagi aside, I do see some other issues with this line of thought. Name, that while we can logically deduce that in the moment he was unable to defend himself, we don’t really have any way of knowing if that would CONTINUE to remain the case, do we? We don’t exactly have much frame of reference, besides our thoroughly crippled current Soul King. It’s very possible that without such crippling measures in place, the Soul King, and by extension Aizen should he assume the same position, could regain full control of his former faculties, on top of the abilities he would then possess as the Soul King. It seems like a bit too much of a risk to put it up to incomplete logic and deduction.

>>3726052
>If Mimihagi can confirm the order of events you suggest, you might actually be right.

>>3726052
“Assuming for a moment that Mimihagi can confirm that order of events,” you frown, “and assuming that Aizen could be prevented from regaining his former strength once he is made into the Soul King, then I have one additional question… how would you propose we handle Izanagi once he is revived?”

“You need not avoid the issue of Aizen’s possible revival,” Mayuri shrugs dismissively, turning back to his many monitors. “I can assure you that for him it would be quite impossible. He may be immortal but he is no god, and once rendered helpless as the Soul King it would be a simple matter to dispose of his severed limbs to ensure that he never regains his full power. As for Izanagi, I suppose you and Aizen would have to kill him.”

“If that is even possible,” you counter.

“Need I remind you that we already know it to be impossible with Aizen?” Mayuri reminds you despite having phrased it as a question. “Both of them are problems that will need to be dealt with anyway, so why not deal with them using a single elegant solution?”

With your ability, with Aizen’s and Kyōka Suigetsu’s abilities, and with the Royal Special Task Force and Yoruichi’s near endless supply of specialized tools and weapons backing you? That might actually not be an impossible task.

>I will consider it, assuming Mimihagi confirms your theory and Urahara turns up nothing promising.
>It may prove to be our only real option, so it make sense to prepare.
>I do not like it. Even if Mimihagi’s reply is favorable there are too many uncertainties.
>Other?

>>3728050
>I do not like it. Even if Mimihagi’s reply is favorable there are too many uncertainties.
But
>I will consider it, assuming Mimihagi confirms your theory and Urahara turns up nothing promising.

Also
>Have you considered returning to the seireitei once this is over? It's not too late, you know.

>>3728050
>I do not like it. Even if Mimihagi’s reply is favorable there are too many uncertainties.

>>3728050
>I do not like it. Even if Mimihagi’s reply is favorable there are too many uncertainties.
But
>I will consider it, assuming Mimihagi confirms your theory and Urahara turns up nothing promising.

>>3728050
>>I will consider it, assuming Mimihagi confirms your theory and Urahara turns up nothing promising.

>>3728050
>I do not like it. Even if Mimihagi’s reply is favorable there are too many uncertainties.
But
>I will consider it, assuming Mimihagi confirms your theory and Urahara turns up nothing promising.

>>3728050
>I will consider it, assuming Mimihagi confirms your theory and Urahara turns up nothing promising.

>>3728050
>>I will consider it, assuming Mimihagi confirms your theory and Urahara turns up nothing promising.
It does seem fairly elegant if it pans out.

>>3728050
“I confess that I still do not like this plan,” you admit sternly. “However… assuming that Mimihagi can confirm your theory regarding the timing of the Soul King’s dismemberment, and that Urahara can turn up no more promising leads, I will consider it as a possibility.”

Mayuri simply sighs, and waves you off. “That is my advice, which you came here seeking. But if you’re either too proud or too fearful to act on it, then that’s your own business.”

Rangiku very nearly explodes on him right then and there, but a subtle motion from you stops her short of that. Instead it’s Nemu who speaks next.

“Do you have anything further to say?”

Mayuri does not turn around. “This will likely be the last time we speak, Nemuri Nanagō. I should be the one asking you that question.”

“I see,” Nemu replies quietly. “I suppose I do have one thing to say.”

“And that would be?” Mayuri presses.

“Thank you.”

After a few moments, Mayuri turns and nods. “It was my pleasure.”

>Ask why Mayuri is talking like he doesn’t expect to see any of you again.
>Wait until you’ve left and ask Nemu about it.
>It’s honestly none of your business either way.
>Other?

>>3730081
>>Ask why Mayuri is talking like he doesn’t expect to see any of you again.

>>3730081
>Ask why Mayuri is talking like he doesn’t expect to see any of you again.

>>3730081
>>Ask why Mayuri is talking like he doesn’t expect to see any of you again.

>>3730081
>>It’s honestly none of your business either way.

>>3730081
>>Ask why Mayuri is talking like he doesn’t expect to see any of you again.

>>3730081
“Why are you talking to us like you do not intend to see us again?” you ask. “Are you so lacking in faith in our abilities?”

“Nothing of the sort,” Mayuri turns away to return to his work. “And the reality of the situation is none of your business. But if you have to know, perhaps you will see me again some time. But we will likely not see each other again.”

“Now, if you’ll excuse me I have work I need to be doing. I trust you know the way out?”

You begin to say something else, but find Nemu’s hand on your shoulder. When you meet her eyes, she silently shakes her head. In return you nod.

Once outside and back under the moonlight, you press Nemu for an explanation… and what she tells you is nothing short of stunning. However, the more she says the more it almost makes sense coming from Mayuri.

“Kurotsuchi Mayuri is well aware of his numerous shortcomings,” Nemu begins rather bluntly, setting the tone right away. “And he is also well aware of the cycle of life and rebirth. This has been one of his research interests for a hundred years.”

“Why?” Rangiku demands.

“Because he lost his only daughter,” Nemu explains, “Nemuri. It was his attempts to recreate Nemuri that led to his arrest and confinement within the ‘Maggots’ Nest’ where Captain Urahara found him. I am the results of the seventh such attempt, the first which he considered even to be a partial success.”

“However he must understand at this point that he has no further pathways to continue his research,” Nemu declares. “He has betrayed the Soul Society, albeit through understandable reasoning, and he has repeatedly failed at his goal. Thus, he has considered a novel point of failure to be addressed.”

“Himself,” you guess.

Nemu nods. “This facility was likely created to assist Kurotsuchi Mayuri in reincarnating himself in a controlled fashion, based on the abilities of a particular arrancar which Aizen Sōsuke recruited.”

>His own business.
>I cannot permit it.
>The Seireitei must be informed.
>Other?

>>3730480
>His own business.

>>3730480
>>His own business.

>>3730480
>>His own business.
lets keep our eyes open for him when he returns to the soul society reincarnated, to give him a chance to redeem himself in a new life

>>3730480
>>The Seireitei must be informed.

>>3730480
> I will be keeping a close watch, as will the other Arrancar, but otherwise this is his business.
This is some very interesting character development for Mayuri. I'd always thought he was fun and creepy but a little two-dimensional. Giving him a deep-seated desire to restore his lost child makes him much more 'human', even if he's still a complete nutter.

>>3730480
>His own business.
>I pray that he finds what he's looking for in his next life.

>>3730480
>His own business.

>>3730480
>>His own business.

>>3730480
“It is his own business,” you decide aloud, opening a portal back to the familiarity of the Seireitei. “That being said, I hope he finds better the next time.”

“Are you sure this is okay?” Rangiku asks quietly.

You shake your head. “If this is what he has decided, and it will not harm anyone else, then I consider it a situation where I have no business acting either way.”

“After all he is no longer a Captain.”

>Nemu, please accompany us to see Captain Urahara.
>Nemu, please return to Urahara. I will speak with Captain Shihōin.
>I have business with the Royal Special Task Force.
>Other?

>>3732342
>>I have business with the Royal Special Task Force.

>>3732342
>Nemu, please accompany us to see Captain Urahara.

>>3732342
>>Nemu, please accompany us to see Captain Urahara.

>>3732342
>I have business with the Royal Special Task Force.

>waiting for a tiebreaker

>>3732342
>>Nemu, please accompany us to see Captain Urahara.

>>3732342
>>Nemu, please accompany us to see Captain Urahara.

>>3732342
“Nemu, please accompany us to see Captain Urahara,” you decide, sealing your two zanpakuto. “I’d like to see if he has any alternatives to Mayuri’s plan.”

“Of course, Captain,” Nemu nods obediently.

“I’ll head back to the Ninth Division,” Rangiku declares. “Continue our own arrangements, if that’s okay.”

“Of course,” you nod in agreement. “See you in a bit, then.”

You head straight for the Research bureau, wasting no time doing so. Though you’re fairly certain that Urahara will still be working, and won’t have produced an answer for you yet, there’s always a chance that he’s reached an early conclusion and so there’s no sense in waiting around.

After being ushered through a series of hallways you reach a lab where Urahara is working at a computer station, his haori and labcoat hanging up on pegs on a nearby wall.

“Come on in!” he greets you. “So did you make any breakthroughs?”

“Maybe,” you reply cautiously. “I tracked down Mayuri, it was a lot easier than I thought.”

“And what’d he have to say?”

You can’t help but sigh. “That the easiest way to handle the situation would be to let Aizen become the Soul King and bank on it rendering him powerless.”

After a few minutes, Urahara nods thoughtfully. “Well, I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t considered the same solution. Trouble is it’s relying on what we assume about the nature of the Soul King.”

“He did make a good point,” you admit. “That if the Soul King lost his limbs after becoming the Soul King, it’s likely that he was powerless to stop it. So it’d be a good chance that Aizen would be in the same position.”

“Anyway, our alternative would be to find some other way to seal him.”

>So do you have any other ideas for which technique to use?
>Which do you think should be our first choice?
>Any word from Yoruichi yet?
>How is the interrogation of Mimihagi going?
>Other?

>>3735134
>Which do you think should be our first choice?
>Any word from Yoruichi yet?

>>3735134
>>Which do you think should be our first choice?
>>Any word from Yoruichi yet?

>>3735134
>>How is the interrogation of Mimihagi going?

>>3735134
>Which do you think should be our first choice?
>Any word from Yoruichi yet?

>>3735134
“So has Yoruichi gotten back to you yet?” you ask Urahara. “I’d like to start considering what our first option should be.”

Urahara nods. “She mentioned some fragmented sources that seem to largely corroborate the story we’ve gotten so far, but nothing new. She also mentioned that she’d bug you about it when she found something that was actually worth mentioning.”

“Anything else?” you press.

“She also told me to stop calling her while she was working.”

“Yeah, that sounds like her.”

“Indeed.”

Urahara reaches down to pull a lever under the seat of his chair, letting him spin to face you and lean back in it. “If you were asking me, the only plans we have right now are sealing him with conventional means and letting him become the Soul King.”

“We both know the problems with the latter,” you continue, leaning back against the edge of a nearby desk. “So tell me about the former, since it seems to me there’s an obvious problem there as well.”

Urahara sighs. “We would need to find fighters capable of dealing with Aizen, who are also able to use the sealing kidō.”

“Which cuts down on the number of people we can rely on,” you nod, following along with the logic. “I know a few kidō techniques that would work, though Yoruichi is more versed...”

You pause for a moment.

“… and Tenkotsuki tells me that I can rely on her knowledge to compensate and match Yoruichi’s skill. So that brings us to two.”

“Yamamoto and Kuchiki Ginrei would have been ideal,” Urahara shakes his head, “but, well… you can see the problem with that.”

“What about you?” you ask.

He shakes his head again. “I’m not sure I can keep pace with him, just in terms of his basic speed and power. At best I could be useful as support, so call it two and a half? Three quarters?”

“Five-eighths?” you offer.

Urahara chuckles. “Let’s go with two and a half, simpler that way. But Miss Halibel can’t use kidō, nor can Miss Apacci despite her many other adapted skills.”
>1/2

>>3737530
“Your sister is a non-combat type,” Urahara reminds you next, “despite being an expert with kidō. There are also Hachi and Tessai who are in the same position.”

“So we have a total of four who by your estimation can tangle with Aizen as he is now,” you reiterate, “and a further four who would be capable only of performing sealing, with two of us capable of doing both.”

“Is that about right?”

Urahara nods wordlessly.

>I think we need to consider using lower-strength sealing kidō. Then Gin, and maybe even Rangiku or some of the other Captains could help.
>This may be an ‘all-hands’ sort of situation.
>Then we’ll certainly need the Royal Special Task Force in any event.
>Maybe that means the Soul King trap should be the first plan, with fighting and sealing being our backup?
>Other?

>>3737535
>>Then we’ll certainly need the Royal Special Task Force in any event.

>>3737535
>Then we’ll certainly need the Royal Special Task Force in any event.

>>3737535
>>Then we’ll certainly need the Royal Special Task Force in any event.

>>3737535
>new thread tomorrow

only 151 posts...
really sad to see. i've been following shinigami savant since the early days, and i really miss the old threads, back when there were write-ins, arguments, conversations and speculation. When was the last omake? When was the last time king posted any post-thread statements from characters?

It feels like waiting for a novel to update with new chapters at this point. These types of threads may fit king's schedule better, but It just feels like it's coasting to a pre-planned ending without much player interaction. It's an ending that i want to see for sure after all this time, but i can't help feeling sad that it ended up like this...
I wonder if king really even enjoys running it anymore, or if it's just a chore to him.

>>3740449
It's down to four things, the way I see it. My dumb scheduling demands, the fact that I've been running for four and a half years, the switch to /qst/, and arc fatigue all add up.

All I can say is when we finally get to the threads where Aizen returns and the final ending arrives, I'll do what I can to try and get that same energy back.