Koutarou reaches to help Li once he starts coughing.

"Commander... The fact that such a subject brings you to such an emotional state does tell me this is something I cannot leave without some sort of reply.

You asked me why I fear Von Geister, and what I gave you was the short-hand answer. I may not know what building a nuclear device entails exactly, but I am aware of what an atomic bomb is capable of. I was already within the Command Division back when the first one had been detonated.

As you'll recall, while the conflict with the Hollows had still been raging back then, we were also acutely aware of the Second World War. It was, in fact, making our job more difficult. Here's something you may not know, because it never made it into the Gotei records: when I heard about the Hiroshima detonation, I almost initiated a small-scale revolt in the Gotei. I appealed to Central for us to intervene and was, as you can imagine, rebuffed. I was intent on going over the Central's decision and stopping the Americans myself, possibly while requesting that Medical took care of the survivors of the blast, but the Kenpachi stopped me. He made me see what the potential consequences of my actions would have been, in his own unique way.

The funny thing is that, according to himself, the man agreed with me. But he still couldn't let me do that, because I wasn't scared of the potential consequences.

Your comparison to trees or microbes is faulty. Trees aren't sentient, even though they are alive. But Von Geister is. So is Izanami. Thus far, the single constant of all individuals in his age category is that they are some of the most powerful creatures we have come to know in our history. We likely possess more strength than he does combined, it's true. But our combined strength takes more time and intelligence to wield than his does. You say his blocking my God Missile shows he fears it. But knowing he can block it inspires more fear in our collective numbers than my God Missile does.

It has been said many times that courage lies not in lacking fear, but in moving on in spite of it. I have, to this day, not let fear halt me. I don't plan on starting today.

By contrast, Commander, you speak of wielding a weapon that has forced more souls into the cycle of reincarnation in a single day than most Hollows have in a decade with enough calm to unnerve even those who will be building it. I have more than enough respect for your wisdom to call such an attitude brazen and reckless by any standards.

Perhaps you ought to learn fear so you can conquer it properly. Just as I will continue to train so that actually using my God Missile does not become necessary.

If you'll excuse me, the expedition awaits."