The Epic of Leviathan (A Mutant's Ascension)

Chapter 425 - Unohana Retsu (I) & Cero...

[Captain's Quarters, 4th Division] 

Unohana Retsu could be seen sitting near the window basking in the moonlight… her Zanpakutou resting in her lap. She was dressed in a loose white shihakusho and she was slowly undoing her braid with a calm look on her face. 

She finally finished undoing the braid revealing a scar right in between her collarbones. She traced the scar and her demeanour flickered for a moment… for a moment the calm look on her face was gone, replaced by a menacing look. 

(Image Here) 

She turned towards the moon as her hands started to trace the hilt of her Zanpakutou. 'I have changed and I didn't even notice…' Retsu thought staring towards the moon. 

'Today, I decided to put aside my duty as a Captain so that I could keep meeting Reo-Kun… this is the first time I have done something like that and I can't bring myself to regret it' Unohana Retsu thought as she stopped tracing her Zanpakutou. 

She picked up her Zanpakutou and pulled it out… she stared at the edge of the blade… 'Old friend, what is happening to me? Is it good or bad?' Retsu asked but no one answered her question.  .

A gentle smile appeared on Retsu's face as she kept staring at the blade of her Zanpakutou… 'I feel happy when I am with him… I feel free from all the burdens… but do I deserve this?' Retsu asked and the smile on her face faded away. 

'He only treats me like that because he doesn't know me…' Retsu thought with a serious look on her face. 'He will run away in fear as soon as he learns my true nature… I am a monster' Retsu declared inside her mind. 

'He might stay… you will never know until you try' a new voice was heard inside Retsu's head. Retsu frowned but she still smiled as her Zanpakutou finally answered her. 

'...I don't know what is going on with me… but whenever I think of Reo-Kun leaving me, I feel a pang inside my chest' Retsu said and heard a laughter… 

'That is because you care about him… that is because you want to continue spending time with him' Retsu's Zanpakutou answered. 

'That I do… I have never felt anything like this… I love how he brings new types of food for me… I don't want to lose any of this… that is why I ignored my duty today' Retsu said with a kind smile but by the end, her smile faltered. 

'And I am proud of that… you have served the Gotei 13 for more than 1000 years, don't you think it is about time that you do something for your own happiness?' her Zanpakutou asked and even though Retsu wanted to refute… ultimately, she didn't. She knew that her Zanpakutou was right. 

'But you know I can't… I can't get any closer to him… My destiny is to die…' Retsu said with a longing look on her face. 

'Hah… I know you might have fooled the others but you can't fool me… I know all of your secrets… you simply lost because you wanted to lose… you simply wanted to pass on the title' her Zanpakutou retorted heatedly. 

Once again Unohana Retsu had nothing to say… she simply smiled. 'You know me too well…' Retsu trailed off. 

'You know… you are simply lying to yourself, right?' her Zanpakutou asked and Retsu reluctantly nodded her head. 

'I know… and spending time with Reo-Kun has taught me to be free…' Retsu said and once again a cheerful laugh rang throughout her mind. 

'Then why are you still trying to suppress your desires?' her Zanpakutou asked and Retsu didn't answer. 

'You don't need to be afraid… the Unohana I knew was never afraid… that woman followed her desires' her Zanpakutou answered and Unohana Retsu felt the presence of her Zanpakutou disappear from her mind. 

'...Follow my desires…' Retsu mused as she sheathed her Zanpakutou… once again she started to stare towards the moon as she once again traced her scar…

[POV Reo] 

Now that I am finally done with the Kido Spells, I should start looking at the other side of the spectrum. The Kido Spells took a lot of my time…

Well except for some Bakudo Spells or Binding Spells… as they could already be used on the Physical Plane in their original forms… like Bakudo #1 Sai was used by Rukia to bind Ichigo. 

Thinking about Shinigamis, a silhouette of a woman flickered into my mind. Unohana Retsu… she is a very dangerous and eccentric woman… that might be why I like her…

I think I should tell her the truth about myself… I don't want to lead her on without giving her the whole truth… from what I have seen, she is insecure. She hides it very well but it is there. 

Next meeting… I will come clean during our next meeting. I will respect her decision… whatever her decision is. Now enough about that… I have something else to do… 

With that thought, I appeared inside the Forest of Menos. It is a subterranean area within Hueco Mundo… this is the hiding place of Hollows from Arrancars. This is an area below the surface of Hueco Mundo's desert. 

I looked around and found that the forest was filled with large trees made of silvery quartz material. The trees extended to the surface as they dotted the landscape of the desert in Hueco Mundo.

Countless Gillian class Hollows live here and they follow the commands of the Guardian of the Forest of Menos and his followers. The Adjuchas in charge of the Forest of Menos are under the command of Sosuke Aizen.

There is also a Shinigami who lives in here… his name is Ashido Kano if I am not wrong. He had been stranded in here since a planned assault on Hollows who had invaded the Soul Society. 

Now enough about history… I appeared in front of Gillian who was loitering around the forest aimlessly. As soon I arrived in front of the Gillian, it noticed me and turned its head towards me. 

A red orb appeared in front of the mouth of the Gillian and after a few seconds, the Gillian launched a red beam in my direction… I didn't bother to defend myself… the beam didn't even leave a scratch on me or my clothes… 

I could see that the Gillian was confused but after a few seconds… it decided to attack me again… once again a red orb started to form in front of its mouth and after a few seconds, the Gillian launched the crimson beam towards me. 

Once again I didn't bother to defend myself but I kept analyzing the Cero. I wanted to know how to use Cero… I am not a Shinigami but I can still use the Shinigami Arts… it won't hurt to try the Hollow Arts too.

Once again the Gillian was confused when it noticed that I wasn't hurt. So once again the Gillian attacked me and I allowed it to… 

After seeing the attack three more times I concluded that it was a powerful energy blast made of concentrated spiritual energy. I gave it a try and it exploded in my hand. My hand was very durable so no harm was done… 

Now that I knew how to use Cero, I no longer needed the Gillian. So, I pointed my finger towards the Gillian. Hado #4 Byakurai, and a blue lightning bolt shot out of my finger and blew a large hole on the Gillian's head. 

The Gillian disappeared into white particles after that… hmm… My Hado #4 is much stronger than Byakuya Kuchiki. Once again I tried Cero and once again it exploded in my hand… hmm… this is going to be hard. 

I returned to Knox as I made my way to the backyard… I started to practice Cero and it kept exploding in hand… but I started to get better control over it. Hollows don't learn Cero by practice… it comes to them instinctually. 

After a few hours, I finally succeeded in casting a Cero… now that I got a hang of it Cero was pretty easy and simple. Just collect some spiritual energy outside your body and then release it towards your desired target. 

It is simply hard to control the concentrated spiritual energy outside your body… Hollows can do that instinctively. After you release the energy, you simply need to keep it pointed in a certain direction. Not that hard when you get a hang of it. 

Just like walking… it isn't hard after you get a hang of it… though Dora is an exception. Now that I know how to use Cero, I decided to increase the power output…

After another couple of hours, I was finally satisfied with my Cero. Now, I needed to work on the charging time… I want it to be instantaneous… I also wanted to use Cero without a gesture, like Coyote Starrk.

One step at a time Reo… one step at a time… first, let's work on the charging time then I can work on firing Cero without a gesture…