You had no chance at victory.
Do you understand now?
What?!
What’s the matter, loser?
Y-You…
Surely you didn’t fail to realize that I had changed places
with the fake one a long time ago, did you?
Oh come now, Inaba.
They say “a cornered rat bites the cat,”
but you couldn’t tell that you bit a tiger?
Captain Kurotsuchi…when did you…
When?
Now that’s a silly question.
When the lieutenants in your invasion force
appeared in the World of the Living, that’s when.
Unfortunately for you, my powers are far beyond
the abilities of you ordinary folk to comprehend.
But while I managed to swap places with my Reigai,
the people who were supposed to come to the
Soul Society to take it back never showed up.
That’s why it took so long to reveal myself.
Wonderful…
Truly wonderful, Captain Kurotsuchi.
However…
Don’t forget that you are still playing on my field.
You certainly are a cocky one!
Don’t you forget that you completely pissed me off!
Who are you?!
Huh?
Kurosaki…
Guys?
Does this mean I’m in the World of the Living?
Yeah, that’s right.
You’ve finally come out of it, Kurosaki.
Urahara… Nozomi…
Weren’t you going to defeat Kageroza?
Huh?
Weren’t you going to put a quick end to this?
Sorry…
I said…to come back.
Don’t be so hard on me.
At least I was able to make it back.
Which reminds me, Renji…
Was it you who rescued me from the Cleaner?
Huh?
All I did was bring you back here after I found you
collapsed in the Precipice World.
Then…
Who was that Soul Reaper?
Kurosaki, the Cleaner swallowed you up after all?
Huh?
Do you know something about this, Urahara?
Yes, I do.
But before that, would you like some tea first?
Not bad, Inaba.
I never would’ve guessed
you enjoyed close combat.
Did you think
you could capture me with such a weak attack?
Don’t get so full of yourself.
That was just to buy some time.
I see. For Ashisogijizo?
But as I mentioned earlier,
everything is under the control of my field.
Oh?
This Ashisogijizo renders
the limbs of anyone it strikes useless.
Ordinarily, you should already be unable to move,
but it seems you want to tell me
you were completely prepared.
All right, shall we give it a test then?
I’ll keep my eyes closed for a bit.
If you can move, go ahead and attack me.
Well, what’s the matter?
I won’t fall for that,
Captain Kurotsuchi.
When you make a move like this, you…
You…
What’s the matter?
Oops!
This can’t be.
My body can move… So why?
It’s this.
What?!
I injected this drug into you with my first blow.
This drug stops human thought processes.
Stops…thought?!
If I had suddenly slashed at you,
your defensive instincts would have
probably allowed you to avoid my attack.
But you thought
about how I would attack
and how you would deal with it.
You used that drug to stop those thoughts?
Inaba…
Do you know what a scientist fears most?
It’s oblivion.
We scientists stake our lives on developing
and maturing our knowledge in countless variations.
Nothing can take its place.
It is our very soul.
When my drug takes effect,
you will completely forget how to think.
You will forget how to use the knowledge
you’ve accumulated until now.
Those who stray from the fixed Precipice World
are condemned to wander within it for all eternity
until the Restrictive Current or the Cleaner swallows them.
And they die.
This is something you are all well aware of.
Of course,
there are several ways to escape, as Kurotsuchi did.
But there is no way to be swallowed by
the Cleaner, like Kurosaki was, and survive.
Then what happened to me?
I don’t know.
Huh?!
After all, it’s never happened before.
I’ll look into it.
But I don’t expect to find a quick answer.
Man, that’s not helping.
However, I did find out the reason why
Kageroza is so obsessed with the Precipice World.
The reason?!
Yes.
Kageroza researched a way to control
and use the Precipice World,
but that was not his true purpose.
What do you mean?
I’m saying he had another purpose
for studying the Precipice World.
That purpose was
to obtain specific information
hidden in the Precipice World.
Well, what’s the matter?
What’re you waiting for?!
Hurry up and finish him off!
I will heal you immediately!
Not only did he…out do me…
He…stopped…my thoughts.
Today, and only today…
I will admit…my weakness.
If you overexert yourself, your body will…
What about my body?
It’s obviously become weaker.
What?!
Sorry I’m so weak!
Oh?
You can no longer think
but your angry emotions got the better of you.
That is a surprise.
What’s this?
A Soul Candy?!
No, that’s not a Soul Candy.
A Mod Soul?!
Yes.
Kageroza’s objective in studying
the Precipice World was to
obtain information hidden there regarding Mod Souls.
What are Mod Souls?
Let me! Let me!
I will explain.
At one time, the Soul Society
was involved in a project called “Spearhead.”
THIS IS PROJECT “SPEARHEAD”!
SOUL
INJECT
HUMAN
The plan was to place artificial souls specialized
for battle inside the soulless bodies of deceased humans
WOOSH
KOFF
HOLLOW
to use them as advance troops in the battle against Hollows.
It’s been a while since you ruined things like that.
Ruined what?
Never mind, keep on going.
You suck.
The project was quickly abandoned,
but the result was the development of Mod Souls.
Kon is a surviving Mod Soul.
You can’t talk anymore?
I wanted to ask why you possess Mod Soul technology.
Sorry about that, Mayuri Kurotsuchi.
From the very beginning …I’ve been on…
a different level than you people.
What are you up to now?
In simple terms, this is one way to use Mod Souls.
Surprised?
In short, you made the Mod Soul you swallowed
just now take the effects of the drug I injected.
Yes.
Well, it’s not perfect yet, but this is how it is.
Wait!
But how did you find out
that Mod Soul data was hidden
in the Precipice World?
By pure chance.
When we rescued Kurosaki earlier,
I sensed something odd about the Reishi
that lingered around Kurosaki.
When I did an analysis,
I found fragments of previous
Mod Soul development data.
Kageroza used that data
to create the Mod Souls of the Squad Captains.
It’s just as you said.
Nozomi?!
How did you come to learn that information
on Mod Souls was hidden in the Precipice World?
Out with it already.
With a little more time,
we’ll eventually find out everything anyway.
Just exactly who are you?
Nozomi?
You knew, didn’t you, Kujo?
All right.
I’ll tell you.
He…
I…
-…developed the Mod Souls. -…developed the Mod Souls.
Developed, you say?
Stop with the lies.
It’s not a lie!
What?
Project Spearhead was scrapped,
and it was decided that every Mod Soul
and the immense research done
up until then would be destroyed.
The Mod Souls I strove to create were
to be incubated from a portion of a Soul Reaper’s Reishi
and inherit their mental structure,
and beyond that, enhance their capabilities.
Do you understand?!
This was sublime research
that approached the realm of the gods!
But your research was deemed dangerous.
Project Spearhead was scrapped
because they rejected the immorality
of using the dead as implements of battle.
Allegedly…
But that wasn’t the real reason.
The very ability to freely control
the capabilities of Mod Souls was judged a threat.
Correct.
They were afraid of my research.
I could not forgive their foolishness.
Before everything was destroyed,
I converted that immense amount
of information into special Reishi
and tossed it into the Precipice World.
Then, over a long period of time,
he studied the Precipice World
and retrieved the information that was inside the Cleaner.
So that’s how it was.
So that’s it?
That bastard created Mod Souls?
Kon.
No wonder you couldn’t trust me.
No, that’s not true.
Then what?!
You’ve kept quiet all this time!
Kon, stop…
You thought of me
as nothing but one of Kageroza’s creations!
Kageroza didn’t create you.
How do you know that?!
Because…
What is it that scientists fear most?
You said it was oblivion, didn’t you?
I agree.
I could not forgive having my creation
forgotten and buried in time.
Is that why you came up with the idea
of resurrecting Project Spearhead?
That’s right.
I will rule the Soul Society with my invasion force.
What is this Spiritual Pressure?!
Until now, they were holding back their power.
In other words, this is
the true power of Reigai!
And…
You brought them back to life?!
They’re Mod Souls.
As long as one retrieves their core,
they can make any number of spares for the Reigai.
Any number, you say? Don’t joke around.
Not even you could create Reigai
that could withstand this much Spiritual Pressure!
Kyoraku!
Man, here we go again.
This is getting interesting!
Lady Yoruichi!
Right!
What?!
Soi Fon!
You can’t expect to win in your condition.
Because…
The very first Mod Soul developed…
was…
me.
Hey Nozomi. If you’re a Mod Soul,
does that mean part of your body is also enhanced?
It’s obviously not your boobs.
Your arm, huh? No wonder you were strong.
Pervert!
No, it’s your legs?!
Now it’s a headbutt?!
Illustrated Guide to Soul Reapers!
You must all be wondering,
so I will tell you how Lady Yoruichi rescued me!
I was held captive,
and unable to even move.
When…
Soi Fon!
Lady Yoruichi!
I’ve come to rescue you.
I was also there with you…
Huh?!
No, never mind.