After the captain's meeting that lasted several hours finally ended, when Ichigo walked out of the gate of the Tenth Division, his mind still felt a little dazed.
It was his first time attending such an intense meeting. It was far more exhausting than sitting through a full day of classes.
"Why do you look like that? Cheer up. You're still young, you can't be this worn out already," Yoruichi laughed and casually slapped his shoulder.
"Hey, seriously, how did you manage to sit through several hours of a captain's meeting?"
Ichigo complained loudly. After spending the past few days around her, he felt like he understood her personality pretty well. It didn't seem possible for her to look this unaffected.
"I haven't been a captain for so long. Everything feels fresh to me."
Yoruichi stretched lazily, her words carrying a hint of nostalgia.
She had actually listened very seriously today.
Among the topics were the future arrangements for Soul Society, Rosse's plan to popularize the methods for Bankai and Shikai, the official start of Hollowfication experiments within the Gotei 13, and even Aizen volunteering to become the first test subject.
Things that would have sounded completely fantastical back when she was a captain now somehow didn't feel strange at all under Rosse's arrangements.
She could even foresee that with the help of Kisuke's Hogyoku, Soul Society would soon master the related techniques of Hollowfication, and their strength would experience a huge leap.
However, when she thought about Urahara Kisuke, Yoruichi's expression dimmed slightly.
Logically speaking, she should be more familiar with Kisuke.
But at this moment, she would rather believe that Hirako Shinji and the others were completely innocent than believe that Kisuke truly knew nothing.
'That bait called the Hogyoku… was it meant to draw out Kyoraku, or to frame Aizen, or perhaps Rosse?'
Even now, she couldn't give an accurate answer.
'Urahara… just how much do you actually know…'
Yoruichi looked up at the sky and remained silent.
Originally, she had planned to question him when she returned to the Human World, but now the passage connecting the two realms had been cut off, so for the time being there was nothing she could do.
———
[The Human World, Karakura Town]
Buzz!
Without any warning, the space in front of the Urahara Shop suddenly let out a harsh, grating wail.
Immediately after, a small Garganta opened, and an astonishing captain-level spiritual pressure spilled out.
But that captain-level spiritual pressure only lasted for less than a second before disappearing.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Almost the instant the Garganta opened, two figures appeared at the shop's entrance.
"Why would a Garganta appear here?"
Tsukabishi Tessai pushed up his reflective glasses. His tall body tensed, and both hands had already formed the hand seals for a Bakudo.
Meanwhile, Urahara Kisuke lowered the brim of his hat. Although that carefree smile still hung at the corner of his mouth, the fingers holding Benihime tightened slightly.
Ever since the passage connecting Soul Society and the Human World had been completely cut off a few days ago, they already knew something had gone wrong.
The moment the two of them steadied themselves, two blood-soaked figures were thrown out from inside the Garganta.
They slammed heavily onto the concrete ground, splashing a pool of bright red blood. Both of them were unconscious.
"Captain Kyoraku and Captain Ukitake?"
After seeing clearly who the two people on the ground were, even the usually calm Tsukabishi Tessai couldn't help shouting in shock.
Even these two veteran captains had ended up like this, and they had come from Hueco Mundo.
Just what had happened in Soul Society?
"Tessai, don't stand there."
Urahara Kisuke's voice came immediately, "Give them emergency treatment right away. I need to greet our other guest first."
"Yes! Urahara-dono!"
Tsukabishi Tessai didn't waste a single word. His massive body burst forward with astonishing speed as he picked up the unconscious pair and rushed into the shop, leaving only a string of hurried footsteps behind.
After dealing with the injured, Urahara Kisuke still didn't lower his guard.
He slowly turned around and looked toward a corner hidden in the street's shadows, lightly tapping his folding fan against his palm.
"Since you're here, there's no need to keep hiding. Ishida-kun, shouldn't you be in class at this hour?"
Tap! Tap! Tap!
Crisp footsteps sounded.
From within that stretch of shadow lengthened by the setting sun, a young man wearing a neat white shirt slowly stepped out.
Ishida Uryu was holding a glowing spirit bow in his hand. Behind the lenses of his glasses, his gaze was cold and alert.
"These two people don't just have Shinigami spiritual pressure on them. There's also that disgusting Hollow stench. And…"
Ishida Uryu stared at Urahara Kisuke and demanded, "They came out of a Garganta. Urahara Kisuke, what exactly are you Shinigami up to?"
Ever since Ichigo left, he had resumed hunting Hollows in Karakura Town.
Part of it was to catch up with Ichigo's footsteps. The other reason was that Soul Society had completely stopped sending Shinigami, leaving Karakura Town, a heavily spiritual area, unattended.
If he didn't step in, Hollows would start overrunning the place.
This time, he had also sensed the Garganta appear and rushed over immediately.
"Oh my, don't be so tense, Ishida-kun."
Facing the boy's questioning, Urahara Kisuke snapped open his folding fan with a swish, covering half his face. His tone was full of that infuriatingly frivolous lightness.
"As you can see, those two are captains from Soul Society. They… well, probably got slightly injured while having a friendly exchange with those big fellows from Hueco Mundo. Definitely not suspicious characters."
"Slightly injured?"
Uryu let out a cold laugh. The spirit bow in his hand didn't disperse.
"You call that slightly injured? Judging from how they look, they probably left half their lives back there. And…"
He pushed up his glasses, his gaze sharp as a blade.
"If they were just injured, why didn't they return to Soul Society for treatment? Captains of this level are actually hiding out in your shabby little shop like refugees. No matter how you look at it, that's suspicious."
Ishida Uryu didn't believe a word of his nonsense. From the fact that Ichigo had deliberately gone to Soul Society, and the fact that no Shinigami had been stationed in Karakura Town since, it was already clear enough that something had happened over there.
"Haha! Maybe Captain Kyoraku and the others just aren't very skilled after all. But as for what exactly happened, I don't know either. If Ishida-kun wants to hear the story, why not wait until these two wake up and have them tell it together?"
Urahara Kisuke chuckled as he spoke, casually pulling Ishida Uryu into the matter as well.
He didn't think very highly of Ishida Uryu's combat strength or potential, but he still held respect for Ishida Ryuken.
Right now, it was obvious that something had happened in Soul Society, so every bit of fighting power was worth pulling in.
Once Ishida Uryu got involved, Ishida Ryuken would be forced to participate passively as well.
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