Demon Slayer: The Journey That Began When I Became Yoriichi's Sister

Chapter 636 Regeneration Effects

No?

Yu Zi was slightly taken aback, then frowned. After a moment, she realized what was happening and her expression showed a look of sudden understanding.

"Oh, you mean they don't understand themselves, right?"

Because Zanpakuto are the continuation of a Shinigami's soul, saying that they don't understand their own Zanpakuto is actually saying that they don't understand themselves. This is the difference between Shinigami and Quincy.

From a deeper perspective, Shinigami seek power from within. Whether it is Shikai or Bankai, they need to communicate with their Zanpakuto, which is essentially a dialogue with their inner self.

The butterfly's eyes were slightly closed: "That's right."

"So, what the butterfly means is that I don't understand myself?" Yuko understood what the butterfly meant.

“Of course, the essence of a Zanpakuto’s soul is the embodiment of that soul. I won’t lie.” Butterfly calmly raised her Zanpakuto, her purple eyes reflected in the hazy, broken blade. “The reason why Shinigami cannot hear its voice or know its true name is because Shinigami has not yet found its inner self.”

"I...I don't understand."

Yuko opened her mouth, seemingly wanting to say something but then stopping herself.

She doesn't understand her own feelings?

Admittedly, many people spend their entire lives wandering and confused, seeking the voice of their hearts and searching for their true selves deep within. Yuko did not feel that living a few hundred more years would allow her to fully understand her inner thoughts.

But she also didn't think there was anything wrong with what she was doing.

“Yes, Yuko certainly can’t understand.” Butterfly closed her eyes slightly. “That’s why you can’t hear my voice.”

Yuko blinked: "A voice?"

“I actually told you my name a long time ago. My name is…” the butterfly said calmly, as a silent movement suddenly occurred in its mouth.

Yuko could only watch as her lips moved, but she couldn't hear what she was saying at all.

The butterfly spread its hands: "See? Can't you hear me?"

Yuko's eye twitched slightly: "You didn't say a word at all, did you?"

"Pfft~" Butterfly couldn't help but chuckle at her words. "Just like what Yuko would say."

“I see, I understand now.” Yu Zi nodded to herself. “It was my mistake not to learn lip reading.”

The butterfly smiled and shook its head: "It's no use, it's a matter of understanding."

Even if you learn lip reading, you still won't be able to tell the difference.

Yu Zi sighed and scratched her head in annoyance: "Then you should just tell me directly."

"That's the only thing... it won't work."

Butterfly pursed her lips slightly, casually twirling her sword, her purple eyes gazing at the surrounding blood-red thorny jungle.

"Well then, let's continue."

Yuko looked intently at the butterfly, gripping the Shura in her hand tightly: "Wouldn't it be more direct to communicate with power?"

“No, I just feel it’s time to end this.” Butterfly shook her head slightly.

"Ugh, that's not cute at all."

"It's okay, I think Yuko is cute, that's enough."

Yu Zi retorted, "Hey, if you say that, I'll be too embarrassed to do it."

"Then I won't be polite."

The moment Butterfly finished speaking, she appeared in front of Yuuko, her Zanpakuto slashing straight down.

Yuko's pupils contracted slightly, and she quickly raised her Shura Blade to parry.

Because of the thorns all around, Yuko deliberately arranged the thorn bushes behind her to be even denser, so that she could judge the direction of the butterfly's movement by the damage to the thorns.

Therefore, the butterfly did not choose to appear behind Yuko, but rather in front of Yuko, where she deliberately exposed more gaps.

That kind of spatial jump movement, without spatial restrictions, is simply impossible at the same level.

“Do you know, Yuko?” Butterfly spoke abruptly.

"what?"

Yuko subtly manipulated the thorns behind the butterfly to extend towards her.

Butterfly's lips curled up slightly: "Actually, I could have taken you down in three moves from the very beginning."

"That level of trash talk isn't enough." Yuko held Butterfly's Zanpakuto, not taking Butterfly's words seriously at all.

Although the butterfly possesses the advantage of a Zanpakuto, its power is not strong enough to instantly kill her.

At the same time, the thorny blood whip behind the butterfly shot out rapidly.

The butterfly did not turn around, but continued to fight with Yuko.

Because of the thickets behind her, Yuko is now somewhat restricted and unable to nimbly dodge, leaving her with no choice but to confront the butterflies head-on.

Suddenly, Yuko realized she had been cornered by the butterfly.

This location...

She can dodge, but if she does, the butterfly will inevitably follow, and the attack from behind will miss.

Almost without hesitation, Yuko stood firm and, despite the extremely inconvenient circumstances, took the blow from the butterfly's sword squarely to her chest. At the same time, she gripped her Zanpakuto tightly with both hands, intending to keep the butterfly rooted to the spot.

Butterfly raised her head expressionlessly, the thorny, blood-red whip behind her about to touch the back of her head.

"You lost, Yuko."

Ignoring the pain in her chest, Yu Zi grinned and said, "Of course..."

However, something unexpected happened. The thorny blood whip that was supposed to pierce the butterfly's body collapsed just before it hit her, turning into tiny, blood-red ice crystal fragments that scattered.

Not only the thorny blood whip, but even the dense thicket of thorns around it seemed to be affected, collapsing from top to bottom.

Yuko stared in shock at the scene and couldn't help but ask, "What did you do...?"

Butterfly suddenly pulled out the Zanpakuto that was stuck in Yuko's chest, took two steps back, and with a flick of her wrist, the illusory Zanpakuto turned into a point of dark purple spirit and dissipated in the air.

Yuko looked confused and opened her mouth to speak, but suddenly felt a sharp pain in her chest.

She looked down at her chest, where a dark red bloodstain was rapidly staining her clothes.

No regeneration...

The injury, which should have healed immediately upon the removal of the blade, was not repaired.

Yuko's pupils contracted slightly: "Regeneration..."

Was the regeneration interfered with?

Yu Zi's vision went black, and she felt an unprecedented loss of strength in her body. Her legs buckled and she fell forward.

The expected sensation of touching the cold ground did not come; instead, a pair of slender yet strong arms caught her steadily, followed by a faint, pleasant fragrance.

"Ikuko!"

Yoruichi's exclamation shattered the silence of the training ground. She transformed into a blur and instantly appeared beside Butterfly, her eyes filled with anxiety as she looked at Yuuko.

“Don’t worry, I avoided the heart.” Butterfly knelt on the ground, letting Yuko lie gently on her lap.

"Cough... I never expected this move." Yu Zi coughed up a mouthful of blood, and the scene before her eyes became somewhat blurry.

Yoruichi squatted down: "Idiot, don't say anything yet."

"Ouch~ You know what, it actually hurts a little..."

As soon as Yu Zi finished speaking, she fell into a coma.

"Ikuko?!"

Butterfly looked up at Yoruichi: "Aren't you going to stop her bleeding?"

"Tessai!" Yoruichi saw the blood spreading more and more from Ikuko's chest and quickly told Tessai to step forward and use his healing technique to heal Ikuko.

"Wait," Butterfly stopped them. "I hope to use medicine from the present world and bandages."

"Why..." Yoru asked instinctively, then paused as if realizing something.

The butterfly smiled slightly and explained, "I am indeed a product of Yuko's heart, but at the same time, I am also a manifestation of another person's will."

“It’s the image of the person that Yuko idealizes… no, it should be the image of the person she hopes for.”

Yoruichi paused for a moment: "That person?"

Butterfly shook her head, not wanting to go into details: "Since becoming a demon, Yuko has often liked to fight in this way."

"You mean... an exchange of injuries?" Kisuke Urahara covered his face with a paper fan, having already guessed the possibility that the Zanpakuto was unwilling to accept Yuuko.

“That’s right, this method is certainly not wrong. It is the most suitable and effective way to fight for ghosts.” Butterfly closed her eyes slightly. “But I feel sad from the bottom of my heart about this behavior of not cherishing one’s own body.”

"She should cherish herself more."

Butterfly let out a soft breath: "Then, I'll leave Yuko in your care."

"Also, please don't tell Yuko what I'm thinking."

Yoruichi sighed: "Of course."

This is a matter between the Zanpakuto and the Shinigami; all they can offer is the method, not interfere.

Moreover, the way they tell their stories makes it impossible for Yuko to experience her inner self.

Things that haven't been personally experienced can't be deeply imprinted in your heart.

Butterfly carefully handed Yuuko over to Yoruichi, then smiled at everyone: "I'm very grateful to you all. Thank you for being there for Yuuko."

Yoruichi paused for a moment, then a slight smile appeared on her lips: "No, it's more accurate to say that Yuuko helped us a lot."

The butterfly smiled slightly and then slowly disappeared. Soon, only a Zanpakuto, straight into the ground and emitting a faint purple light, remained in the spot.

Yoruichi picked up her Zanpakuto and, following the instructions of Kocho, simply used some herbs and gauze to bandage Ikuko.

Yuko's chest was completely pierced. Although she was not in mortal danger, the injury was serious. Without the advantage of regeneration, she would probably need several months to recover.

That Miss Butterfly probably wanted to make Yuko cherish her body more through this method.

Just as Ikuko said, it is a gentle Zanpakuto.

……

She didn't know how much time had passed before Yuko regained consciousness from her dazed state and slowly opened her eyes. What came into view was the ceiling of the bedroom upstairs in the clinic.

"Hmm..." She subconsciously tried to get up, but the sharp pain in her chest made her let out a soft moan and fall back down.

"Sigh~"

Yuko gasped and reached for her chest, where two rough bandages were wrapped around it.

Before she could figure out what was going on, the room door was suddenly opened.

"You're awake?" Yoruichi looked down at Yuuko with her golden eyes and blinked. "How are you feeling?"

Yuko lay motionless on the bed: "It hurts so much, I feel like I'm about to die."

Yuko focused her energy on accelerating regeneration, but her body did not respond accordingly, and the pain in her chest did not lessen at all.

"So you can feel pain after all." Yoruichi struggled to suppress the urge to smile as she carefully helped Yuuko up. "Would you like something to eat?"

"To be honest, I'm not hungry." Yu Zi clutched her chest, her brows furrowed. "Did the butterfly... interfere with my regenerative abilities?"

"I never expected there to be such a move."

She looked around and found the butterfly on the bedside table. She reached out to take it, but then curled up because of the pain in her chest.

Seeing this, Yoruichi sighed, took the butterfly, and placed it on the quilt.

Yuko stroked the scabbard and casually said, "I said, the training is over, shouldn't I be able to recover now?"

The butterfly did not respond.

Yuuko looked up and asked Yoruichi, "What's going on?"

Yoruichi shrugged: "I don't know, this guy turned back after defeating you."

Another wave of pain shot through her chest, causing Yuko to curl up involuntarily.

"This kind of continuous pain feels more painful than the instantaneous pain."

When her regenerative abilities were still intact, Yuko didn't think being hit by a knife was a big deal.

Just as Yoruichi was about to complain, Yuuko asked, "Did Yoruichi bandage me up?"

Yoruichi snorted coldly: "Of course, you should be grateful..."

Yuko asked, puzzled, "Why wasn't I treated using the Return Path?"

"...You have quite a lot of demands." Yoruichi's lips twitched first, then she explained with her prepared words, "I've already used the Resurrection Technique on you, but the stab was too deep, so even the Resurrection Technique can't restore you immediately."

"Is that so?" Yu Zi stretched out her hand, and a green light appeared in her palm, which she pressed against her chest.

The healing process was extremely slow, which shows that the injury was indeed very serious.

This is only to be expected, since she took the butterfly's sword right to the chest.

The Reincarnation Path is not as convenient as one might imagine. Even with the help of Retsu Unohana from the Reincarnation Path, the severely injured Shinigami could only barely survive, and would need a period of quiet recuperation afterward.

but……

Yu Zi sighed, put away what she was holding, and replied, "At least the pain has been relieved."

She was about to lift the covers and get up when she said that.

Yoruichi stopped her movements: "What do you want to do?"

Yuko looked out the window at the sky: "What am I doing? Of course, I'm getting up to go to work. It's already so bright, it must have been a whole night."

She closed her shop in the late afternoon, near dusk, while it was already night at the Urahara store.

"Ah, no, that's not it." Yoruichi blinked. "You've been sleeping for three days already."

"...Um, what about my shop?"

"What time is it, and you're still thinking about your shop?" Yoruichi was speechless. "Don't worry, I've asked Mr. Kurosaki to take care of the shop for you."

"...I hope he doesn't ruin my reputation."

Yoruichi rolled her eyes and decided to ignore her, instead asking, "Would you like something to eat? For most people, eating mild foods at this time can speed up recovery."

“I can sense it, but the regenerative ability is limited, and the body shouldn’t need it…” Yuko said, meeting Yoruichi’s gloomy expression.

"Eat, have some."