Bleach: Getting Stronger Starting from Teaching at the Spiritual Arts Academy

Chapter 199 The Scheme of Hell

Kiryuki saw the spirit skeleton that had lost its mind in the prison cell.

The spirit's brain had turned to mush, but the spiritual pressure within his body was still maintaining his basic life functions, preventing him from dying immediately.

After conducting a brief examination, Kiryuki went to the next cell to check on the remains of another imprisoned spirit.

“This situation indicates that some kind of brain-destroying spiritual technique was implanted in his brain... most likely to prevent information leaks.” Kiryuu turned to the Ninth Division Commander. “What information were you interrogating him about? Under what circumstances was his brain destroyed?”

The tall, thin Grim Reaper produced the interrogation records: "These were from when we were interrogating the 'Great God of Soul Land' about information."

"The Great God of Soul Land?" Kiryuu felt the name sounded familiar and pondered for a moment.

As all the captains know, Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni and others encountered the Gates of Hell during their study tour. The Gates of Hell that appeared in Soul Society were opened by the followers of the 'Great God of the Underworld'.

They speculated that the many so-called experts who suddenly appeared in the past two years might all be pseudonyms created by the will of hell.

Kiryuki had his assistant bring out a set of spirit particle instruments to examine the distribution of spirit particles in the brain structure of the spirit corpse.

“There is indeed something in the brain of this spirit corpse.” Kiryuki stared at the distribution of spirit particles displayed on the instrument and continued, “We won’t get anything out of it by asking. Asking about the key things will trigger the spirit particle formula in the brain. Let’s try to open the skull to remove this spirit particle formula.”

Kiryuu Hikifune decided to have brain surgery and turned to Shikatoshi Nanatsuki: "Shikatoshi-kun, you will be the one to perform the brain surgery, and I will be the one to break the spirit particle technique."

July nodded: "No problem."

Kiryu's assistant took out a toolkit from his spiritual space pocket and set up a space in the prison, quickly isolating and creating a space suitable for surgery.

The assistant connected a tube to the spirit body, with the other end of the tube connected to an external spiritual pressure source.

As Kiryuki adjusted the instruments, a high concentration of spiritual particles flowed through the spirit body after a short while.

"This instrument can output such pure spiritual particles... Miss Kiryu's technology is truly extraordinary," July exclaimed.

"This spirit-gathering device was actually inspired by Shikatori-kun's 'Spirit-Gathering Pill'," Kiryuu Hikifune chuckled. "It can be used to maintain the operation of spirits. Unohana tried it and said it worked very well, so she ordered a few for the Fourth Division."

After preparing, July picked up the scalpel and cleanly and efficiently cut open the skull of the spirit corpse.

July has been studying the remains of spirits for several years, so she is quite adept at this level of surgery, and she did not damage any brain tissue when she cut open the skull.

After opening the skull, everyone saw some spell patterns composed of red spiritual particles floating inside the spirit skeleton's brain.

“This kind of spiritual particle is unusual…it’s quite different from the spiritual particles in Soul Society, the Human World, and even Hueco Mundo,” Kiryu Hikifune said, frowning.

"Have you ever seen the 'Gates of Hell' in the real world, Miss Kiryu?" July reminded her. "The feeling I get from these spiritual particles is exactly the same as the spiritual particles emitted by the 'Gates of Hell'."

“Hellish spirit particles... I haven’t paid much attention to Hell before, and I rarely go to the mortal world.” Kiryuu shook his head. “This is the first time I’ve seen Hellish spirit particles with my own eyes.”

“However, no matter what kind of technique it is, it will not work if it loses the support of spiritual particles.” Kiryuki took out a silver tube about the size of a thermometer from the spiritual particle pocket in his sleeve.

Kiryu used the long silver tube to aim at the red spell pattern floating above his head.

A few breaths later, the spiritual particles within the red spell were actually absorbed by the silver tube.

Without the support of spiritual particles, the red spell quickly dissipated.

"What is this?" July asked in surprise. "It can absorb the spiritual particles in the spell before it even destroys the spell's structure."

Techniques like these that prevent leaks usually have anti-destruction designs.

If the spell is forcibly broken, its anti-destruction function will be triggered, directly destroying the brain of the spirit corpse.

However, Kiryu's tools can absorb the spiritual particles within the spell's structure before it is destroyed. Without the support of the spiritual particles, the spell cannot be triggered even if it has anti-destruction features.

"This little thing is actually a byproduct of Kisuke Urahara's development of a spirit particle detection device, called the 'Spirit Absorption Needle'," Kiryu Hikifune explained. "The 'Spirit Absorption Needle' is too powerful in absorbing spirit particles, so it was ultimately not used in the collection module of the spirit particle detection device, but it is still quite useful for destroying this kind of spirit particle spell."

“If you’re interested, Shikato-kun, I’ll give you a ‘Spirit-Absorbing Needle’.” Kiryu took out another thin tube and handed it over. “You have the ability to perform craniotomy, so if you encounter such spirit remains in the future, you can remove the spiritual particle spells in their brains yourself.”

"Thank you so much, Kiryu-san," July said, accepting the 'Spirit-Absorbing Needle'.

"You need to be careful. This 'Spirit Absorption Needle' can only store a small amount of spiritual particles. Once it's full, it can't absorb any more." Kiryuki shook the thin tube in her hand, inside which a faint red light flowed. It was the spiritual particles, tainted with the aura of hell, that she had just absorbed from the spell.

After removing the spiritual energy spell from Linghai's brain, July stitched the skull back up.

Subsequently, the surgical incision gradually healed under the influence of the return channel.

The surgery proceeded without incident. The assistant injected the spirit with a drug to remove the effects of anesthesia, thus waking the sleeping spirit.

"Thank you for your help, Captain Hikifune and Professor Shikatori. Please leave the rest to us. We will dig out all the information we can about him," said Vice Captain Shinno.

"Send me a copy of the interrogation results later." Kiryuu nodded.

In July, he followed Kiryu Hikifune back to the 12th Division to await the results of the interrogation.

He participated in the brain surgery, and Kiryuki, having obtained the information, naturally wouldn't mind sharing it with him.

...

A few hours later, Kiryu Hikifune, who was discussing new dishes with July, received the results of his interrogation.

"That 'Will of Hell' has quite a grand scheme..." Kiryuu Hikifune read through the interrogation reports sent by the prison team, his expression growing increasingly grave.

"If it weren't for Shikatori-kun and Captain-Commander Yamamoto discovering the 'Will of Hell' plot beforehand during their study abroad... Soul Society would probably be in big trouble."

In July, after receiving the interrogation report from Hikifune Kiryu, she quickly found the key information within it—

The two spirit remains captured by the Eighth Division are not the only ones that have successfully infiltrated the Spirit Arts Academy.

The captured spirit has already implicated several students from the Spirit Arts Academy.

A group of spirit remains have quietly infiltrated the Spirit Arts Academy!

Furthermore, the prison team also uncovered another matter through interrogation.

To open the 'Gates of Hell', one needs the soul of a wicked person burdened with grave sins in life as the key.

However, these souls are often taken away by the 'Gates of Hell' while they are still in the mortal world.

The 'Gates of Hell' that I saw some time ago when I was traveling with Captain-Commander Yamamoto, used the souls of evil people that were brought to Soul Society by these spirits who had infiltrated the Spirit Arts Academy.

“These Soul Society students went to the human world during their graduation exams and brought the souls of evil people to the Soul Society,” Kiryu Hikifune said. “The Soul Society students need to be thoroughly investigated.”

"Fortunately, we found two spirit remains that haven't enrolled yet. Once school starts in a few days, these spirit remains won't need to stay in Rukongai, so there's no way to find them." July sighed.

Students at the Academy of Spiritual Arts can live in the student dormitory until graduation, and they don't have to leave during holidays.

This prevented the Shinigami searching Rukongai from finding the spirit remains hidden in the Spirit Arts Institute.

The intelligence they obtained could be said to have averted a crisis for Soul Society; continuing to leave these spirit remains at the Spirit Arts Academy would be a huge hidden danger.

“There’s another piece of information: these spirits all know about a Grim Reaper known as ‘Lord Miyamoto,’” Kiryu Hikifune said. “I think this ‘Lord Miyamoto’ is very likely the same Miyamoto Tetsuya that Shikatori-kun mentioned asking me about last time.”

Before July, it was speculated that Saito's immortal 'Hell's Voice' was in Miyamoto Tetsuya's hands.

Tetsuya Miyamoto was originally the third seat of the 12th Division. He participated in the 'Captain Instrumentality Project' and was responsible for destroying the spirit remains.

The information they now obtained from the spirit remains has further convinced Kiryu Hikifune and Nanatsuki Shikatori that these spirit remains were indeed created by Tetsuya Miyamoto.

"It's a pity that Linghai doesn't know Miyamoto Tetsuya's whereabouts. He only contacts Linghai through a single line. How cunning..." July frowned.

Miyamoto Tetsuya was prepared for Linghai's capture and did not reveal his hiding place in front of Linghai.

"Perhaps we can use these remains to lure Miyamoto Tetsuya into revealing his true colors," said Kiryuki.

However, she wasn't too confident about this. Given Miyamoto Tetsuya's cautious attitude, it wouldn't be easy to lure him out using his spirit remains.

A short while later, Yoruichi Shihouin and the Onmitsukido arrived at the 12th Division.

Because only one spirit can be interrogated, the information obtained from the interrogation may not be accurate.

After the prison squad interrogated Linghai's accomplices, in order to avoid alerting them, they immediately contacted the Second Division and ordered the Covert Mobile Unit to secretly capture Linghai in the Spirit Arts Academy.

However, even the Covert Task Force couldn't guarantee they could capture the self-destructing spirit corpses at any moment, so they still had to come to Kiryuki to retrieve the tranquilizer guns.

"Captain Hikifune, I've come to get the tools..." Yoruichi Shihouin said with some surprise, "You're here too, Master?"

“You’re going to the Spirit Arts Academy to arrest someone, right? I’ll come along too,” July said.

"It would be even better if the teacher could help." Yoruichi Shihouin nodded repeatedly.

Having a familiar teacher from the Spiritual Arts Academy around makes it much easier to catch people.

After Yoruichi Shihōin and the Onmitsuki obtained the tranquilizer guns, they arrived at the Spirit Arts Institute with Nanatsu.

"I haven't been back for several years. I never expected that my return to the Spirit Arts Academy this time would be with the mission of capturing junior students." Yoruichi Shihouin said with some emotion, "I don't know what these people did to deserve the secret arrest of the Covert Force."

Yoruichi Shihouin hadn't received much detailed information yet and didn't know the true identities of these 'junior' and 'junior' students.

“This matter is very complicated and of great importance, but since you’re in the Covert Squad, you should be able to see the relevant intelligence when you get back,” July said.

The Covert Squad is very well-informed, so July didn't have to tell Yoruichi Shihouin about the spirit remains.

Yoruichi Shihōin and the Onmitsukidō changed into their in-house student uniforms, so they wouldn't attract attention when walking with Nanatsu Shikatori.

In July, I first went to the office to get a list of college students and found out the classes and dormitories of all the students on the list.

Afterwards, July led Yoruichi Shihouin and the members of the Onmitsukito to the student dormitory.

"Shikatori-sensei!" a student from the swordsmanship training class greeted July. "Are these the new students?"

The upperclassmen they encountered on the way mistook the girl following July for a freshman.

"Yes, Mizutani-kun, do you have time? If you do, could you explain the student rules to these new students?" July smiled and nodded.

"Of course!" The students in the swordsmanship training class nodded repeatedly.

In July, I entered the dormitory alone. There were six names on the list in my hand. Apart from two who were returning students, the other four were lower-year students.

According to the information from the spirit corpse, the two students who brought the souls of sinners to Soul Society during their graduation exams deliberately failed the exams.

They chose to extend their time at the Academy of Spiritual Arts by delaying their graduation.

In July, we prioritized finding these two students, who were roommates.

He pretended to be looking for another student in their dormitory, whose advanced course was in swordsmanship.

After a few moments of knocking, a short-haired man opened the door.

Upon seeing his teacher's sudden visit, the short-haired man became somewhat nervous: "Shikatori-sensei, is there something you need?"

"Shirata-kun, could you do me a favor?" July glanced at the two Spirit Corpse Academy students staring at the door. "The wooden swords in the swordsmanship room need to be replaced, and I need some manpower."

"No problem!" The short-haired man breathed a sigh of relief. He had thought that his swordsmanship class last semester was so bad that Mr. Shikato didn't want him to choose the swordsmanship refresher course anymore.

July casually waved to the two Spirit Relic Academy students in the dormitory: "Come and help me out too."

The two students from the Spirit Relic Academy, not wanting to attract attention, did not refuse their teacher's request and followed along.

July led the three of them out of the dormitory and arrived at Yoruichi Shihouin's place with the Onmitsukido.

July said, "You take a few freshmen over there to move the wooden knives. I have other things to do."

July exchanged a glance with Yoru Shihouin, and she quickly responded, "Okay!"

Mizutani Oto, who was explaining the rules of the Spirit Arts Academy to the 'new students,' enthusiastically said, 'I'll go help too!'

There were two students from the swordsmanship training class there, one of whom was also their roommate. The two spirit students did not suspect him and followed them out of the dormitory.

“I know where the warehouse is, but if we want to get the wooden sword, we need to talk to Shirai-sensei first,” Mizutani Oto said.

Mizutani Oto led a few people to Shirai Riko's office.

Upon entering the office building, Yoruichi Shihouin noticed that there were few people around. Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention to them, he immediately waved his hand to signal his subordinates to begin their operation.

Upon receiving the hand signal, several members of the Covert Surveillance Team immediately subdued the two students from the Reanimation Academy.

"What are you doing?!" Mizutani exclaimed in surprise. This was the first time she had ever seen a freshman take the initiative to attack an upperclassman.

Chapter 200 Things Hidden in the Shadows

After being shot with tranquilizer guns, the two spirits immediately fell into a peaceful sleep.

Mizutani Oto and Shirata Kazuki were stunned, not understanding why these freshmen would suddenly take action.

But before they could react, they were knocked down by tranquilizer guns, just like the two spirit corpses.

The Covert Task Force operates in secrecy, and to avoid causing unnecessary disturbance and alerting the enemy, they also took down Mizutani Oto and Shirata Kazuki.

The Covert Task Force then took the four to Shichigiri's office for inspection.

They carried a spirit particle detector provided by the 12th Division, which could detect whether these four people were spirit remains.

After Shikatori was promoted to department head, he also had a separate office, so no one would disturb him when he brought the spirit body here to keep it safe.

"Vice Captain of the Four Maple Academy, these two are spirit remains, the other two are just ordinary students. The list is correct," reported a member of the Covert Mobile Squad.