From the Wandenreich's escape to One Piece

Chapter 84 Dialogue with Rukia

(PS: I've noticed many people think I'm making things up when I say Rukia has the Hogyoku inside her at this point. Actually, if you watch chapter 397...)

As we know from chapter 401, Rukia already had the Hogyoku inside her body before she went to the human world.

"What?! Rukia got eaten by a Hollow?"

The Seireitei, one of the Thirteen Guards of the Gotei 13.

When Ukitake heard his subordinate's report, he was completely stunned.

By this time, they had already captured the demonized Grim Reaper.

Although those Grim Reapers are very powerful after becoming demonized, even if they become stronger, they still cannot fight against Captain-level Grim Reapers.

So when they took action, the demons were quickly eliminated.

But after everything was cleaned up, Ukitake returned to the team only to find that Rukia Kuchiki had been eaten by the dragon-shaped Hollow.

This is terrible!

Rukia is Byakuya Kuchiki's sister, and someone Kaien had high hopes for. If they found out that Rukia had been devoured by a Hollow in his hands—

-

Even if they didn't say anything, Ukitake himself couldn't get over it, after all, Rukia was an important subordinate of his.

Even if she became a demon, there's still room for redemption, but people say she was eaten by a Hollow, that—

What else can we do?

If he had chosen to chase after that dragon-shaped Hollow back then, would he have been able to rescue Rukia?

But by then, the Azure Dragon Hollow had already swallowed Rukia whole.

so----

Whether he pursues her or not, Rukia is already beyond saving.

How is he supposed to explain this to Kuchiki Byakuya?

When dealing with those five monsters, Kuchiki Byakuya did not participate because there had been some trouble in Rukongai recently, involving the businesses of many nobles, so he led the Sixth Division to investigate.

If he returns and finds out that his sister has been devoured by a Hollow—

"Eh————"

Ukitake sighed. He felt he had let Byakuya down, and he also felt he had let Kaien down.

Meanwhile, Beltz was already on his way to the Sabaody Archipelago with Rukia.

About two hours later, Rukia, who had been hypnotized by him, gradually woke up.

As soon as she regained consciousness, Rukia tensed her body, because the last thing she saw before losing consciousness was herself being swallowed by a dragon-shaped Hollow.

Right, haven't I already been eaten?

How come he's still conscious?

and----

When she came to her senses, she found herself soaring through the sky, with a huge green creature beneath her!

This guy—

Isn't that the Hollow that swallowed him before?

She immediately reached for the knife, only to find that the white snow sleeve at her waist was gone.

Beltz would naturally not allow Lucia to be with her sword.

Although Rukia's strength posed no threat to him, it was better to avoid trouble.

Keeping a knife near Rukia is always a hassle.

He now needs to get to the Sabaody Archipelago at full speed and has no time to waste on Rukia's resistance.

Without her sword, Rukia was momentarily flustered, but thankfully she ultimately decided to use Kido.

However, just as she was about to sing, Beltz's voice entered her mind.

"Save your energy."

Beltz said, "I don't actually have any ill intentions towards you. The reason I arrested you this time is only because of the Hogyoku inside you."

"?"

Rukia was somewhat surprised to hear Beltz's voice.

Did I wake up after being discovered?

Despite being a Shinigami for so long, she has never actually encountered a Hollow.

In the textbooks of the Shinigami Academy, the Great Menreiki is described as an extremely dangerous being!

If a Hollow appears, royal agents will need to handle it.

This Hollow before her was the first Hollow she had ever seen. Remembering how it had swallowed her whole, Rukia knew she was no match for it.

""

Thinking of this, Rukia realized what Beltz had just mentioned about the Hogyoku.

What does that mean?

He came to capture me because of the Hogyoku inside my body?

But what is the Hogyoku?

When did this thing called Hogyoku appear inside my body again?

"I don't understand what you're saying, but I won't compromise with a mere ghost. Kill me if you want!"

"Illusion—heh, do you think I'm an illusion?"

Rukia was taken aback by what she heard. When Beltz rushed over at first, she did indeed feel Hollow's spiritual pressure.

But now, upon closer inspection, Beltz's aura is extremely strange; he has no aura related to the void at all!

"This—you're not a Hollow? Who are you?" Rukia was stunned. She had heard of strange spirits and monsters in the Three Realms, and that some souls that fell into the animal realm might transform into terrifying monsters, such as werewolves.

But I've never seen it with my own eyes!

Even when she was trying to survive in Rukongai, she had never seen such a huge blue dragon!

"Since it's not an illusion, isn't that enough?"

Beltz did not reveal his identity, but simply said, "We have no reason to be enemies."

"—What is the Hogyoku you mentioned?" Rukia asked. "A magical artifact that can extract a person's inner desires and grant them." Belz didn't hide anything. As the saying goes, sincerity is the most touching thing. Once the enemy lowered their guard, they could speak their heart.

In fact, if Beltz wanted to, he could use his psychiatric abilities to hypnotize Rukia directly.

He had always said that Pepe's abilities were suited to the world of adult anime, but what about his own abilities as a psychologist?

However, since Rukia was, after all, a character he greatly admired in his previous life, and not some evil villain, Beltz would not exert any forceful control over her.

However, with proper guidance from a psychologist, there shouldn't be any problem.

Through their interactions, Rukia will be more likely to believe Beltz and develop feelings for him.

"To fulfill—your wish?"

Rukia was somewhat surprised: "How is this possible?"

She didn't know Beltz's abilities, but she did know how perverse it was to grant a wish.

But Beltz uttered words that made Rukia's pupils dilate: "Why do you think Shiba Kaien died?"

"?!" Rukia exclaimed, "What did you say?!"

"Why is this related to Lord Kaien?"

"After becoming the adopted son of the Kuchiki family, you lost contact with your old friends. After that, Shiba Kaien was the only person who entered the depths of your heart."

Beltz said casually, "During this process, did you develop any admiration for him?"

"————" Rukia paused for a moment before saying, "Of course———— there is."

"So, when you learned that Shiba Kaien already had a wife, was there even for a fleeting moment—"

"Shut up!" Rukia exclaimed angrily, her expression a mixture of embarrassment and rage. "What are you saying?!"

A terrible thought suddenly occurred to her: if that were really the case—

Doesn't that mean that Lord Haiyan's death was not only caused by his own hands, but also led to by his own actions?!

"I am indeed talking about something that will cause you pain."

Beltz could sense the pain in Rukia's heart.

What he was actually going to say was that when Rukia felt admiration for Shiba Kaien, the Hogyoku read her wish.

Then, Shiba was killed.

Rukia, of course, could not accept this.

Although this is just Beltz's speculation, he believes it is indeed a very likely possibility.

Aizen once said to Ichigo Kurosaki, "Do you really think that I can't determine the location of the Hogyoku in the hundred years since it was completed?"

He already knew that the Hogyoku was inside Rukia, and he deliberately sent Rukia to the human world to contact Ichigo Kurosaki.

So when did he find out?

That's right, it was the incident with Shiba Kaien!

The reason Shiba Kaien died that time was because of the modified Hollow Metastasia created by Aizen.

Beltz speculated that Aizen might not have initially intended for Metastasia to kill Shiba Toru, but the influence of the Hogyoku altered Metastasia's course of action, which allowed Aizen to confirm the Hogyoku's power and location.

"Shut up! Shut up! Don't say another word!"

Rukia punched Beltz in the back in pain, but her strength was less than that of a massage, and Beltz barely felt anything.

In that instant, he almost destroyed Rukia's worldview.

Then, in an instant, his worldview was reshaped.

"But naturally, they also possess the ability to resurrect others."

i

Rukia's pupils dilated again; in this short period of time, she had been shocked far too many times.

"Resurrection—how is that possible?"

Rukia shook her head again.

Although she claimed to be the Grim Reaper, she had only ever heard of people in the mortal world being able to be resurrected to some extent after they died.

But if it's Death who dies, there's never been a case of resurrection.

"Could it be... the Hogyoku?"

She suddenly thought of the Hogyoku within her. According to Belz, the Hogyoku could read her inner desires. So, if she wished for Lord Kaien's resurrection, wouldn't that be possible—

"Don't think about it."

Beltz said calmly, "Although the Hogyoku can grant wishes, it can only do what you are capable of under your own limits. So the so-called wish of the Hogyoku is actually just extracting the potential within you."

"If it's something you yourself can't do, then the Hogyoku can't be realized."

"There are many ways to revive the dead. If you can help me, I can help you revive Shiba Kaien and Shiba Miyako."

Beltz said softly, "It's not about blaspheming the dead, but—a true resurrection."

He knew that people in Japanese anime had a strange feeling towards the dead, believing that bringing the dead back to the human world was a desecration of the dead.

So he made a point of mentioning that it was a true resurrection.