The Universal Villain

As Shen made his way to the exit of the cave, Rukia followed behind him, holding her Zanpakuto's sheath in her hands, Shen received a notification from the system.

[Baboon Zabimaru Spirit Killed. Reward: 912941 XP and 742 SP]

[Snake Zabimaru Spirit Killed. Reward: 428375 XP and 346 SP]

[Renji Abarai Killed. Reward: 21283 XP and 30 SP]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

'EXP wasn't my goal from this little trip, but I didn't think I would get three levels out of this.' As Shen's eyes went down the list of notifications, Shen's eyes landed on what he had been waiting for. 'This is it!' Shen's excitement was visible on his face after all this was what he fought Zabimaru for in the first place.

[System Task Updated. Task Completed: 2/4]

'Eh?' Looking at the notification, Shen was confused. 'I was expecting it to give me a little bit of information or some type of reward but this...' Looking at the value saying he had completed two out of four tasks Shen's confusion grew but so did his anticipation. 'Well, at least I know now that it is passable. I can't help but wonder what the reward would be, though.' Something that required him to fight a Zanpakuto's true form must be more than worth it.

'Alright, It just means I have something to look forward too.' Closing the notifications, Shen couldn't wait to return to Soul Society. 'But first I need to make preparations.' Making it to the exit, Shen spread his Ki around the area sensing for any living beings nearby. After searching for a moment, Shen retracted his Ki turning to look at Rukia.

"You did well keeping them away from this place, but I do have a question." Looking at Rukia's condition, Shen paused for a moment. "Why are you covered in blood." After killing the different scouting squads, Rukia returned to the cave immediately, and this point, the blood had thoroughly dried, making it worse.

Looking down at herself Rukia pulled at her clothes inspecting them for a moment before looking back up at Shen preparing to say something. "You know what, nevermind." Holding out his hand, Shen cut her off as a new set of clothing materialized in Shen's right hand as he threw them at Rukia. "I don't want to waste SP getting your clothes to make sure you keep them clean this time."

Taking the clothes Shen gave her Rukia nodded as she walked away into the forest to change her clothes. Seeing Rukia leave Shen put his focus back on the task at hand. 'Now then if I'm going to invade the Soul Society I can't do it alone. I'll need an army that can fight against Soul Reapers, and sadly, my little orb trick won't be as effective the second time around.'

"Well, It should be fine if I use it one more time." Speaking to himself, Shen heard rustling as Rukia returned. "Good, your here. This might have been unsettling if you didn't." Shen gestured at Rukia to come as his eyes changed as Shen activated his Sharingan. As his Sharingan began to change as it spun, it melted into itself, forming a pattern in Shen's eyes.

Taking a deep breath, Shen felt a sharp pain in his eyes as he spoke. "Mugen No Ryoiki: Sosa." Unlike before, within the inner world of Zabimaru, instead of the world around Shen falling away into an abyss, the ability Shen was using now seemed a lot more concentrated.

Shen's right eye became bloodshot as one spot on the ground began to reveal an endless void as if the world itself was hollow. 'This is a lot more taxing than I thought.' Having just unlocked his Mangekyou Shen knew how to use it the moment the ability was unlocked thanks to the system however the toll it took on his eyes was something he didn't expect.

Pushing on the void in the ground began to morph as if it was alive as it began to spread itself into the world Shen was in. Watching this scene from behind Shen even Rukia involuntarily took a step back as if she was hypnotized by what was transpiring in front of her. "Now, this is where it gets interesting."

Deep within the Research and Development Institute within the Soul Society, the sound of machines running could be heard. Within a green tube filled with a strange liquid was Renji. "Hmm, very interesting." With a disturbing grin on his face, Mayuri's yellow teeth were in full view as he looked at the data on the screen.

"Although Renji's soul is still residing within his own body, it seems his consciousness is elsewhere. Not only that but from what I can tell, his soul is in a constant state of unrest as if he was in a struggle." Looking at Renji floating in the green tube. "However his body is still here meaning he must be having an internal struggle but I cant seem to figure out why?"

Tapping away at the keyboard in front of him Mayuri continued to delve deeper into his research on Renji's condition before he was stopped. Suddenly the lights in the facility turned red as the computer in front of him began showing warning signs. "Hmm? What is this?" Closing the error messages on the screen, Mayuri tried to figure out what was happening only to learn that the computer had been disconnected from Renji entirely.

'This makes no sense. This machine should be able to read his soul entirely.' Tilting head Mayuri's eyes began to move in cohesively as he thought to himself. 'The only way that it wouldn't be able to detect his soul is if-' Before Mayuri could finish his thoughts, something caught his eye. Looking at Renji within the testing tube, a black spot began to form on his c.h.e.s.t.

Looking at the black spot grow, it began to engulf Renji's very being as well as draining the liquid within the tank. Narrowing his eyes on the ever-growing spot on Renji's body Mayuri turned around. "Nemu!" Calling for Nemu, it didn't take long for the sound of footsteps to be heard as a young woman dressed in a modified Shinigami garment along with long hair tied into one long braid.

"You called Master Mayuri?" Bowing Nemu looked around, noticing the warning signs covering the computer monitors. "Open the chamber and grab Renji I still need him for future experiments." Pointing to Renji whos entire c.h.e.s.t was almost consumed by the black spot, Nemu didn't hesitate to nod to Mayuri.

"As you wish." Walking over to the testing tube Nemu entered a code into the keypad causing all the remaining liquid to drain away as the chamber glass slid upwards, causing Renji's body to fall to the floor. Taking a step into the chamber, Nemu reached out to grab Renji, but the moment her hand came in contact with the black void covering his body, something happened.

As if it was a vacuum, Nemu felt herself being pulled as her arm went further into the darkness covering Renji's body. Turning her head, she calmly looked at Mayuri. "I seem to be being s.u.c.k.e.d in." Listening to Nemu Mayuri seemed unfazed. "Yes, I noticed. Hurry up and follow me. It seems Renji's body is unretrievable."

Turning away from Nemu without offering her any assistance, Mayuri walked away with a smile on his face. 'However, It seems I have discovered something much more intriguing.'