Chapter 129 – First Came…
Guren's eyelids trembled, slowly opening; his gaze fell on the white roof above his head, moving to the side to see the curtains that hid him. He turned his head to the side, seeing the chakra suppressing handcuffs keeping him in place.
"Is this necessary?" His voice was hoarse, which came as a surprise even to himself.
He waited for an answer, but there was none, even though the surrounding was filled with noise. Still, something strange about them almost seemed unnatural.
"Don't tell me world ended while I was asleep," Guren raised his body, trying to free his hand from the handcuffs. He tightened his cute jaw, trying to pull his hand out of the thick cuffs, raising his body, arching his it, turning. He fell down on the bed, sighing, "Who made these...? Wait...what happened to my chakra?"
He was brimming with chakra just yesterday, so much that he had to make chakra absorbing clothes and clocks. And gloves and boots, and he still had enough to take on an Otsutsuki. Now, there was barely any, and this handcuff couldn't be the cause of it, right?
"It is the cause of it."
Guren raised his eyebrow at the man who opened the curtain, looking at him with a grin hiding behind his fan, watching Guren.
"I am not going to ask if you read my mind."
Kisuke titled his head, only to hear Guren continue, "Yes, I am that smart."
"Hoho!" Kisuke slammed the fan on his palm, closing it, laughing to hide the sweat on the back of his neck. He knew if he didn't break it somehow, then the other guy would catch on to every thought he'd have.
"That's true. Although it didn't work."
Kisuke's mouth twitched, and his eyes followed.
"That's rude."
"I didn't even think anything!"
"You were going to say monster."
"I was!" Kisuke sighed, "Probably."
He turned, grinning, taking out a banner with handcuffs, "Then you know how I made them?"
"Katasuke was being too nervous and couldn't imagine what truly excessive chakra levels are like. You, on the other hand...you probably know if you fought against the last owner of Hogyoku."
"Ting! Ting! Ting! Exactly right!" Kisuke rubbed his hands, grinningly watching Guren, "I even created nice clothes for you! Do you want to see?"
"Can I refuse?"
"Will you?" Kisuke looked at him with big puppy eyes.
"No," Guren lay on the bed, waiting.
"Ta~da~! The maid costume!"
"Nope. Too boring, and I don't serve."
"Ok~! I have more! The Shrine Priestess!!"
"I already have one Shrine Priestess outfit," Guren curled his lips, losing his confidence in Kisuke.
"Well," Kisuke's face became grave, "I have one more..."
He turned, taking out a dress hanging on the hanger, grinning knowingly, "How about this...?"
Guren raised his eyebrows, "Well, I can't refuse this one...but before that, will you tell me why I in the replica of the hospital am? And why did you put this thing on me?"
"Huhu, you figured that out so soon."
"There is a slight vibration in the air. With so many sound noises, the airflow should be trembling erratically, but there was a rhythm to it. Almost as if we are somewhere underground. I wondered if the World ended, but then the recoded sounds wouldn't make sense."
"Hmm, so troublesome," Kisuke held his hat, "I am not sure if it's the right decision to leave the Hogyoku with someone like you."
"If you are worried about the World that you so desperately want to preserve, then the threat you face doesn't come from me. Rather we both have the same goal."
"What might that be?" Kisuke curiously watched him.
Guren looked away, "First came the Conqueror, and Conqueror breeds War.
War brings forth Evolution, Famine, and Death.
Famine swallows the World.
Death is invisible, inevitable, and ever-present.
The Healer is Dead,
and Disaster Breeds in Hell.
In the end, the Conqueror regains Silence."
"What is that? It sounds ominous," Kisuke's eyes became deadly serious.
"If the timeline between both Worlds is put together. Ignoring the disharmonized flow of time during the time of merge. Then Death was born after my birth but existed before I was born. Karin's brother was the third to be born, and one of us died in the womb; as for the last...it's in Hell. According to what Hogyoku showed me, for my self-preservation, once Disaster appears, then all pieces would be in place for him to reach his...Bankai...and that would mean our Death."
"Oye, oye, that is quite an accusation to make," Kisuke felt a cold sweat drip down his back.
"Who connected the worlds? You really didn't believe that it was an accident?" Guren shot a look at him.
"How do you even know that?"
"You don't understand Hogyoku, do you? Its memories are vast and contain everything from the first day you created it. It was quite an experience, reading a few of them."
Kisuke parted his lips to speak, closing them when the door was slammed open.
Sakura rushed inside, opening the curtain by force, "Guren."
"Mom," Guren cutely grinned, making Kisuke laugh and wave his hand, "Then I will come later to see you, and don't forget your dress."
"Thank you for that."
Sakura thanked him, putting Guren's head on her thighs, stroking his head, "You ok?"
"Yeah," Guren smilingly closed his eyes. Maybe it was a bad idea to call Kisuke over, but then, he prepared a story just in case. As Jay, he had an identity, the savior of the World. The people, the ninjas from this World, had put their roots down. The others...well, he was having a relationship with a few, and the others were basically won over.
It would be hard to shake his status, and there was no way to prove that these bodies were created from broken Shikai unless they could manage to kill one, and it turned into a Shikai shard.
The only one they could even think about killing was his body inside the Hell. Anyway, this wasn't a solution, but a problem that was bound to blow upon his face. Still, he didn't need all the time in the World, but just enough for those times to come.
"Why was there a need for this?" Guren pointed towards the handcuffs.
"Because your chakra was becoming too overpowering for others...we had to. Just a little while, and we'd be done on putting the new system in your clothes. Is this the dress you chose," Sakura looked at the clothes with a strange look, sighing, "You...did I do something wrong when you were in my womb?"
Guren chuckled, "No. It's not that...I have lived such a long life, and I had so many personalities...I chose this one for this body. As simple as that."