"As long as you understand," Koenma smiled with satisfaction.
He looked at Asuka's chest, his eyes flashing, but ultimately said nothing, only nodding.
Koenma turned around and waved to Yusuke and the others. "Alright! The crisis in the human world is resolved. It's time for me to head back to the Spirit World and catch up on some sleep!"
"Yusuke, I'm leaving the cleanup to you and Botan!"
With that, Koenma snapped his fingers. The golden Spirit World gate opened behind him once more, and in the blink of an eye, he slipped inside and vanished.
"Tch, that guy. Always running off after acting cool!" Yusuke curled his lip, then looked at Asuka and Shinobu Kocho.
He walked up to Asuka and extended his right hand.
"Old man, even though there was a bit of a misunderstanding at first, you're seriously strong! And you've got guts!"
Yusuke grinned, revealing his canine teeth. "I owe you one for this! If you ever get the chance to visit Sarayashiki City again, or if you run into any trouble and need a hand, just come find me, Yusuke Urameshi!"
"But..." Yusuke's tone shifted. "Next time we meet, I'll definitely be stronger! We'll have a proper fight, and I'll beat you to a pulp, haha!"
Looking at the simple, hot-blooded, yet fiercely righteous youth before him, Asuka shook his head helplessly.
He reached out his calloused hand and clasped Yusuke's tightly.
"I'll be waiting, Detective Yusuke."
Kurama, Hiei, and Kuwabara also stepped forward, nodding in respect to Asuka and Shinobu.
Although they hadn't exchanged many words, the camaraderie forged through fighting side by side was already etched into everyone's hearts.
Led by Botan, Senna also approached Asuka.
Even though she had lost all her memories, when she looked at Asuka, her soul instinctively felt a sense of warmth and security.
It was as if this black-haired man held something that was once incredibly precious to her.
"Um... mister, and this pretty lady," Senna bowed shyly. "I don't know what just happened, but Botan said you were the ones who saved me."
"Thank you! I'll work hard to become an excellent Spirit World Guide!"
Shinobu stepped forward and gently pulled Senna into an embrace, softly patting her back.
"Do your best, Senna! Live a good life in this world."
The glow of the setting sun spilled across the streets of Sarayashiki City, draping the recently imperiled city in a golden veil.
Under the watchful eyes of Yusuke and the others, Asuka and Shinobu turned to leave.
The crisis of the Valley of Screams merging had been resolved. The space here was continuously shrinking, and it would surely vanish from the World of the Living soon.
"Let's go."
Asuka took Shinobu's hand and dashed toward the city outskirts without looking back.
"Old man! Next time we meet, you have to come over for dinner!" Yusuke shouted from behind.
Asuka didn't answer, simply waving casually with his back to them.
With a series of spatial ripples, the aura belonging to Sarayashiki City completely faded into the breeze of the World of the Living.
The Reishi began to grow active again, and the presence of those youths could no longer be found.
"It was nothing."
Inside the Urahara Shop, Asuka set down his teacup, his tone as calm as if nothing had happened.
"It was just a Shinenju. It wasn't enough to stop me from swinging my blade."
Shinobu covered her mouth and chuckled softly, chiming in, "That's right, Mr. Urahara."
"After all, Asuka is a Substitute Soul Reaper now. He has to be a little different from how he was in the past. It's a heavy responsibility."
Watching the two of them echo each other so seamlessly, Kisuke Urahara paused for a moment.
Then, he couldn't help but let out a hearty laugh.
"Is that so? Well, that's wonderful. I'm relieved to hear it."
Kisuke fanned himself leisurely, choosing not to press the matter further.
As the former Director of the Department of Research and Development and one of the most brilliant minds in the Soul Society, he naturally knew things were nowhere near that simple.
Although he hadn't witnessed the Shinenju's fate due to the spatial fluctuations.
But he didn't believe for a second that Asuka and Shinobu could be this cheerful after making a decision that went against their true nature.
Something... some unexpected variable he didn't know about must have occurred over there...
To deceive the laws of the Three Realms and close the Valley of Screams without destroying the Shinenju...
Asuka must have utilized some terrifying power, perhaps one that even surpassed the understanding of Soul Reapers.
Furthermore, he noticed that Asuka's Spiritual Pressure seemed to have grown significantly compared to before he left for Sarayashiki City.
'...Asuka, could you really be exactly what I suspect you are...' He fluttered his folding fan, his thoughts drifting off to who knows where.
But what did that matter?
Looking at the two young Soul Reapers covering for each other, with eyes only for one another, Kisuke felt an inexplicable sense of relief.
In the Soul Society, a place governed by cruel laws, there were far too many people who would unhesitatingly sacrifice countless lives for the sake of some lofty goal.
Yet the man before him, deemed an unstable factor by the Soul King's Palace, always chose to rebel against those ruthlessly efficient rules...
'As long as he still retains that human warmth in his heart...'
Kisuke thought silently to himself.
'Then, in the end, he will always be different from the guy sitting upon the throne of heaven...'
Meanwhile, in Hueco Mundo, Las Noches.
"...Master Aizen, it seems Ryudoji and the others have failed."
Below the throne, Nichika Ubuyashiki stood holding a precise but unlit detection device, her brow tightly furrowed.
"It appears the results of this Otherworld fusion experiment were less than ideal."
"Is that so? I actually think it was quite a success."
Aizen, seated upon the throne, had changed his attire. The fitted white robes made him look even more tall and handsome.
"This experiment yielded valuable experience. At the very least, we now know that if two different Otherworlds are forcibly merged, the rules of one world will take precedence..."
"Perhaps what we need to consider is how to control this shift in rules, rather than passively adapting to it."
He stepped down from the throne and gently took the device from Nichika's hands, speaking nonchalantly. "As for those exiled, disgraced nobles... the moment they heard the news of Captain-Commander Yamamoto being killed by me, they hastily launched their own operation without even bothering to verify it..."
"Their failure was inevitable."
Nichika nodded, though she spoke up with unease. "But... why exactly did this experiment fail?"
"I heard the Seireitei dispatched a squad of Soul Reapers, but that area should have been isolated from any Spiritual Pressure environment, shouldn't it?"
Due to other mission arrangements, Nichika hadn't been able to observe Sarayashiki City alongside Kaname Tosen, leaving her with only a partial understanding of the situation.
Hearing this, Aizen toyed with the device in his hand with great interest, casually changing the subject. "Speaking of which... how much have you learned from Makiri?"
"?" Caught off guard by the sudden question, Nichika scratched her cheek awkwardly. "Um... I've learned the basic concepts, but without Magic Circuits, all that theoretical knowledge is pretty useless..."
"Nichika, have you forgotten? We are the miracle workers who will create a new world..."
Aizen unzipped the front of his clothes, causing Nichika to blush.
However, he wasn't doing it to show off his muscles.
What he wanted to show her was the object he had already embedded into his chest, shimmering with a lustrous glow...
The Hogyoku.
"Place your hand here, and try to simulate the form of those circuits..."