[Seireitei, 12th division territory]

Running alongside Gojo, Nemu couldn’t help but take a look at his side profile.

Even though she wasn’t particularly well acquainted with emotions and had a rather low EQ, she could still understand that he was angry on her behalf.

All her life, the few people she had interacted with had always been angry at her, not for her.

After all, at the end of the day, she was nothing more than a doll, a weapon created for no particular purpose. She could not even be said to be unique.

The 7th Nemuri.

That was her number. 

Six came before her. She did not know what happened to them, but they were most likely deemed as failures and erased.

Of course, if there was a 7th, nothing stopped an 8th, a 9th, or even a 100th to come.

A worthless, disposable tool.

That was how she could most accurately describe herself.

Back when Gojo had captured her and used his space Kido, she had already determined that she had no chances of survival.

She did not struggle because she had already determined that her chance of escaping was zero.

Only…She felt a little reluctant.

Living a worthless life and dying a worthless death.

But she had been surprised, she had been spared.

Why was it? 

She did not understand. She could not understand.

But she wished to understand. She needed to understand.

“Why did you spare me?”

She asked after they stopped using Shunpo for a short while.

“Hm?”

He seemed surprised by her question,

“You are still stuck on that?”

“I do not understand... Your decision is irrational. If I give your secret away, you will be branded as a criminal.”

“Heh… And? It isn’t like being a criminal is such a big deal.”

Looking at his side profile while he chuckled and uttered such words, she finally understood.

He was free.

Be it in the way he acted or the way he thought.

He was completely different from her.

For the first time in her life, Nemu felt her heart speed up and beat far faster than it should have. At the same time, she could feel her cheeks grow warmer.

She did not understand the fuzzy and warm feelings that were sprouting inside of her.

All she knew was that she yearned for more of it.

Once they reached the main building, Gojo remarked that most if not all people were absent. Aside from some guards, there were basically no Shinigami.

“What’s happening?”

“Our division is the one with the fewest members in the Gotei 13. Also, most of them are scientists, so they spend their time in the underground base.”

“Then lead the way.”

---

A few minutes later;

“Hmm… I know I am the one who brought you here and told you to lead the way, but is this really okay?”

Gojo scratched his head as he asked with an awkward expression.

From the moment they took steps into the facility, they had to pass tens of different checkpoints. Each with its own security system. 

It was honestly freaky how much the guy they were going to visit seemed to care about his own security.

At this point, Gojo knew that if he had come alone, even though the infiltration would still succeed, it would clearly not be as easy.

After all, he couldn’t really just blow up everything and enter.

Well, he could but it would have been a pain.

Still, it was honestly pretty weird. After all, she was supposed to be kidnapped. He couldn’t understand why she was so compliant.

‘Is she tricking me? Is it a trap?’

The possibility of it being the case was pretty high. But Gojo just shrugged.

Worrying about things without taking action was a waste of time.

Finally, they reached a large door seemingly made out of metal.

“We have arrived.”

‘Man, this feels so underwhelming.’

He had been prepared for explosions, drama, revelations and so many things.

But, just like this, he reached the boss room??

What about the grinding?

What about the hordes of mobs that served absolutely no purpose aside from stalling for time?

He sighed, and knocked on the door, 

“Hello, hello? I know you have been observing us from the start. Open the door… Pretty please?”

Nemu opened her eyes wide at the brazen display. She had thought that he would try to sneak up all the way until the end, so this really came as a shock to her.

“Satoru Gojo. You are really a special specimen.”

The voice of a man filled the white hallway.

“Man, has anyone told you that your voice is creepy? Now then, open the door before I blast it.”

“*Snort* You can try. This door has been created with a special alloy that–”

<<Black flash: Blut Arterie>>

*BOOM*

The voice of Mayuri, previously full of derision, stopped at the unbelievable sight.

The door had been specially created to take on even Hado in the 70s without any scratch.

But that man managed to completely distort the door with just one hit?

Gojo also seemed surprised, 

“Oh? This door is surprisingly tough. I was pretty sure that I would have taken it down in one hit.”

Black and red lightning surrounded his body, while blue energy-like veins appeared on his arm.  

Over the five years, Unohana did not simply train his skills in Zanjutsu. 

She had dedicated herself to train his physical skills to the utmost possible.

The result was this skill. In the beginning, it put a strain so high on his body he felt like he would explode.

Now though, he could use it for an extended amount of time without much problem.

“Well, if one isn’t enough, I guess a second one will do.”

Clenching his fist, he was about to bring it down a second time when,

*Psshh*

The sound of the door as it tried to open, sounded in its ears.

Sadly, because of the damage it just received, it did not manage to open fully. 

“See? If only you had opened the door sooner, we could have avoided all this unpleasantness. Sigh, such a shame.”

Using the gap, he entered the boss room.

Nemuri, who was as shocked as Mayuri, tried to follow, but a hand stopped her.

“Tch, tch, tch. You stay here. It won’t be long, I assure you.”

Giving her a smile, he raised his hand and interlocked his middle and index fingers before murmuring, 

“Curtain.”

Immediately, the scene in the interior of the room vanished after an opaque barrier appeared in front of her.

Placing her hand uneasily on the barrier, she couldn’t help but wonder what those two were about to talk about.

What she could not guess was that what was about to happen behind the curtains would be the first step toward an event that would shake the foundation of the Seireitei.

-----

(AN: Well, the next chapter will be the end of this little arc. Hahaha, let’s see what Gojo has in mind.)