Preperations

(Ryoto's pov)

I was so close to dying. Like God damn. I think in the last month, I was more often close to death than I was in my whole life before, and now this number will go up by one if I do what I'm about to do, and I'm not looking forward to it. Although I'm feeling more confident thanks to my power boost. I would say I'm back to 100%, but it's more like 50%... or is it 75%? I mean, I have half of my arms and 3/4 of my limbs. It doesn't really matter, but thinking about stupid things helps clear my mind, especially when I can barely move.

Yhwach couldn't have possibly made his timing worse for me if he wanted, and that may have been his intention. I would say good for him but fuck him. That fucker is making my life harder.

Soi Fon, after hearing my order, tried to carry both Rin and me because Rin soon collapsed under her own weight. Thankfully, Aizen understood that fighting us would be more detrimental than it was worth, so he didn't attack us even if killing us in our current state would be easy. Maybe he somehow respected our resistance, but I doubt I'll ever know.

Shortly after Soi Fon tried dragging us, we met up with Ichigo's group. Seeing my and Rin's state, they quickened their run. 

On an entirely unrelated note, for some reason, I feel closer to Rin than ever before. Strange. I mean, I was always close to her, and I can confidently say that I understand her, but now I feel it's... more.

"Oy, Ryoto-san! What happened!?" Ichigo, the loudest of the bunch, asked.

"You see, I went to pick up flowers in the garden, and this happened." Sarcasm was literally dripping out of me. Maybe it's a blood loss. Realizing that I may have sounded a bit too harsh, I corrected myself. "The fight didn't go as well as I hoped. And before you ask, Rukia is relatively safe. I mean, as safe as one can be right now. Starrk is protecting her, and he is strong. Now we don't have much time. Help Soi Fon get Rin and me back to the Study Chamber. I need to see Unohana as soon as possible. Inoue-chan, your help will be needed, so prepare yourself."

I needed to hurry up. I don't know what Yhwach's plan is at the moment. This whole invasion could be a diversion for all I know, but he could very well speed up his plan since he lost the surprise advantage or rather execute his plan before it's lost completely. It doesn't help that Yama-jii will be, at the very least, a bit tired after Shunsui-senpai and Jushiro-senpai stall him.

It didn't take too long to get there. Both Unohana and Isane were looking after Masaru and Akio. Ichigo tried to lay me next to Unohana, but I instructed him to get closer to the hot spring. Unohana followed, and so did Soi Fon, who didn't want to leave my side while looking immensely guilty. Thankfully, Unohana, even though she noticed her behavior, didn't ask. Rin was left in Isane's competent hands, but even when the distance between us grew, it didn't feel like that at all. That was strange.

"Unohana," I started addressing the Captain of Squad 4. "I need you to heal me as fast as possible to the best of your abilities."

She seemed slightly confused by my request, as that's what she had been doing for me all that time. She just nodded, but I quickly clarified myself.

"What I mean is that I don't care about the morality of your healing. I don't need Retsu Unohana, the Captain of Squad 4, but Yachiru Unohana, the first Kenpachi and former Captain of Squad 11. The one who learned how to heal only to prolong her fights and doesn't care about her patient's well-being as long as he/she survives."

Hearing my clarification, Unohana narrowed her eyes dangerously.

"So you know that much. I wonder where you heard about it. A certain sake-loving Captain should pray it wasn't him. Otherwise, I would need to punish him."

I shook my head.

"Nothing like that. I have known it for a long time without anyone's help, but we don't have time for my explanation. Please just do it. I know that it's against the rules, your honor, or whatever it is with Kenpachi's title, but I need Yachiru. If you do it, I'll really be in your debt. I'll give you the best fight in your life if that's what it takes for you to help me."

I didn't have much time to try to persuade Unohana, so I hoped my plea would be enough. However, instead of just accepting my plea, as I hoped, she asked an additional question.

"Are you confident in stopping, I can only assume, the Quincy King? If I'll heal you at whatever cost, will you be able to stop this invasion?"

This was an unexpected question. I know that I'm not the strongest, but I believe I am in the upper half of strength when ranking Captains, so her doubt is understandable, but that was before my surprise power-up.

"I'm not just confident," I answered. "I'll do it, and that's it. Currently, I am capable of killing a God if I need to. A false God is nothing more than an inconvenience."

I may exaggerate in saying that Ywhach is not an issue in my current state, but I have much bigger chances at the moment than I ever had before—even when I had two arms.

She then looked at me and tried to find any evidence of falsehood, but seeing none, she sighed as she made her decision.

"As a medic, I don't recommend what I'm about to do..." Unohana started.

"Then it's good that you won't treat me as a medic." I finished with a small smirk. "Also, a small warning. My blood is poisonous. I mean, you'll lose fingers and Zanpakuto if you touch it." To prove my claim, I bit a bit of skin on my thumb and allowed my blood to drop to the ground, where it evaporated after eating some of the ground. 

Even when the situation is terrible, I just love seeing the reaction of people around me when I do that. Before I got the reaction of the younger ones, I ripped part of my clothes that still hung around me and would protect my dignity if I cared enough about it.

"Inoue-chan, if you would please start healing me now. Unohana if you would."

"Before I start, I need to warn you one last time. This procedure may cost you a few hundred years of life. It will cause you an immense amount of pain. Are you certain you want to proceed?" 

Like I would back off at this point. A few hundred years is nothing, and I very well could earn this year back and more in the future thanks to the system and missions.

"Do it."

And so I put the cloth in my mouth so I wouldn't bite my tongue by accident.

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END

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