When Kōe followed Unohana out of the room, Matsumoto happened to arrive at Squad 4 with the injured Shinigami. Since they ran into each other, Unohana took the opportunity to examine the patient's injuries.
"A claw wound on the chest, likely caused by a Hollow. And two on the back... sword wounds?"
Sword wounds weren't necessarily caused by Shinigami. The Rukongai was full of crazed desperados, and there was no shortage of instances where they took advantage of a situation to attack a Shinigami.
However, if these two sword wounds *were* inflicted by a Shinigami, then this was no small matter. With this in mind, Unohana instructed the surrounding Squad 4 members, "Take him to the captain's office, then notify the lieutenant of Squad 13. Tell him to come here as soon as possible."
"I already sent someone..." Matsumoto was about to remind Unohana when she suddenly realized what that earlier feeling of unease had been. If those two idiots couldn't even find Squad 4, how on earth were they going to find Squad 13?
"What is it, Matsumoto?"
"Nothing!" Matsumoto immediately shook her head and quickly offered, "I'll go notify Lieutenant Shiba. It'll be faster that way, Captain Unohana."
Just as she spoke, Matsumoto felt the person on her back twitch. A soft groan of pain reached her ears; it seemed the man was waking up.
"Hana-nee, something isn't right." Unlike the surrounding Squad 4 members who breathed a sigh of relief, Kōe's brow furrowed tightly. *'What is with this increasingly frantic Reiatsu?'*
Unohana didn't answer. She simply raised a hand, signaling the squad members who were about to take the injured man to stop. She hadn't yet sensed the frantic Reiatsu building up inside him, but according to her diagnosis, it should have been impossible for this person to wake up right now.
The man's convulsions gradually intensified, and his groans grew louder. To Matsumoto, it started to sound more like the dry heaving of a drunkard...
*'He's not actually going to throw up, is he? Surely not?'*
Just as Matsumoto was trying to reassure herself, a familiar retching sound echoed, and a thick, white liquid appeared in the upper corner of her vision.
Almost simultaneously, Unohana used Shunpo to appear in front of Matsumoto. Placing her right hand on Matsumoto's right shoulder, she gave a gentle push and swung her arm back. Before Matsumoto even registered what was happening, she was smoothly pulled away and shielded behind the captain.
Kōe sprang into action as well, though his target wasn't Matsumoto, but the man on her back who was undergoing some sort of mutation.
Using Shunpo to arrive at Matsumoto's left side, he reached out with his left hand, accurately grabbing the man by the throat and hoisting him up in front of him.
More and more white viscous fluid poured out from the eyes, nose, and ears of the man in his grasp. The slime seemed almost alive; as it coated the man's body, it also crept along Kōe's arm, attempting to crawl onto him.
"Be careful, Kōe!" Unohana warned aloud. Kōe nodded, shoving the man away with a forceful thrust. Pointing his index finger at the airborne figure, he chanted, "[Bakudō #30・Shitotsu Sansen]!"
Three beak-shaped spikes of light formed an inverted triangle, pinning the man's arms and waist. However, before even a second of peace could pass, a giant hand formed from the viscous fluid on the man's back swatted the spikes apart.
Kōe frowned and pointed his index finger once more. "[Bakudō #61・Rikujōkōrō]!"
Along with the giant white hand that seemed to have become part of his body, all the flowing white slime was firmly bound by six pillars of light. No matter how much the man struggled, it was utterly useless.
"Is this Hollowfication?" Kōe asked, looking back.
"Indeed. This is my first time seeing it as well." Unohana walked up beside Kōe and let out a soft sigh. "To think it entails such a transformation. How truly tragic."
"Looks like there's no need to call Kaien over anymore. I just hope Ukitake's health holds up."
Unohana didn't reply. A pitch-black Hell Butterfly slowly fluttered out from her sleeve. She didn't know what kind of storm it would bring, but she remembered the storm from fifty-three years ago—the one that had cost the Seireitei eight captains.
Seeing this, Kōe didn't press the matter. He knew perfectly well that this Hell Butterfly was heading straight for Squad 1, where Yamamoto resided. With Hollowfication appearing in a Shinigami once again after fifty-three years, the Seireitei was destined to be in an uproar for quite some time.
At the same time, as someone who had only recently returned to the Seireitei and was a close friend of Urahara and the others, it was entirely expected that he would fall under suspicion. However, since he had been under the constant surveillance of the Onmitsukidō, proving his innocence wouldn't be difficult.
The person who would take the fall for the Hollowfication experiments had already been chosen, and the one who would pay the price for these suspicions wouldn't be Shihouin Kōe.
And that was exactly what happened. A month later, news of the second Hollowfication incident originating in Squad 4 reached the Urahara Shop in the World of the Living. But even after having Yoruichi return to Soul Society to gather intel, the only thing presented to Urahara was a cold, predetermined outcome.
*Former Squad 13 3rd Seat, Shiba Miyako, while leading a squad on a mission, was suspected of participating in Urahara Kisuke's Hollowfication experiments. Following the exposure of her actions, she is now missing.*
This was also the reason Yoruichi had returned to Soul Society. Starting half a month ago, they had noticed a significant increase in the number of Shinigami arriving in the World of the Living. Even lieutenant-class Shinigami had made appearances.
Something had definitely gone wrong in the Seireitei, and it was highly likely related to Aizen. This thought naturally surfaced in the minds of both Urahara and Yoruichi. Since it involved Aizen, Kōe should have made a move, which led them to believe that Kōe had likely met with trouble as well.
But to their surprise, the one in trouble wasn't Kōe, but Shiba Miyako—someone they hadn't considered at all. And of course, it wasn't just Miyako; even Kaien, whom they had intentionally kept in the dark from the very beginning, had been implicated.
*Former Squad 13 Lieutenant Shiba Kaien, feeling immense shame over his wife's actions, has resolved to resign from his position as Squad 13 Lieutenant and has now withdrawn from the Gotei 13!*
There was no such thing as "withdrawing" from the Gotei 13. As the former captain of Squad 2, Shihouin Yoruichi didn't even need to think about it to know that Kaien had been labeled a potential threat due to Miyako's incident and was likely locked up in the Maggot's Nest right now.
These kinds of covered-up truths were a common occurrence in the Seireitei. If she were still living there, Yoruichi wouldn't have found anything unusual about it.
The manhunt for Shiba Miyako likely stemmed from Central 46 having acquired a substantial amount of circumstantial evidence. However, this evidence couldn't definitively link Shiba Kaien to the Hollowfication incident. Because he was a candidate for a captaincy, they had simply thrown him into the Maggot's Nest for temporary observation.
But the problem was, it was absolutely impossible for Shiba Miyako to have any connection to them, let alone any Hollowfication experiments! No, wait—even the Hollowfication experiments had nothing to do with them!
"What should we do, Urahara? Do you want me to go to the Seireitei and contact Kōe to see what's really going on?"
Although Urahara desperately wanted to know the truth behind all this, his rationality compelled him to refuse Yoruichi. From the moment Kōe stepped into the Seireitei, they had lost the ability to initiate contact with him. Even if the messenger was Yoruichi, the one known as the Flash Goddess and the Demon Cat, she couldn't infiltrate the Seireitei completely undetected.
His thoughts were currently a mess. The mastermind behind this storm was undoubtedly Aizen, but why were the Shiba couple at the center of it?
Was it because of the Hōgyoku? That was the only reason Urahara could think of, but the question remained: why the Shiba couple? In his and Kōe's plans, the probability of Kōe getting into trouble was far higher than anyone else's, let alone the Shiba couple, who were innocent in every conceivable way.
*'Could Kōe be diverting attention? Has Aizen already noticed Rukia?!'* From that perspective, the Shiba couple was indeed the perfect choice for a diversion.
But wouldn't that just be exposing himself? Urahara knew exactly where the Hōgyoku was located. Once Aizen confirmed that the Hōgyoku wasn't with the Shiba couple, Kōe, the one who fabricated these illusions, would undoubtedly bear the brunt of his wrath.
In that case, this diversion wasn't for self-preservation. But if it wasn't to protect himself, why shift the focus to the Shiba couple?
Urahara couldn't figure it out. He suddenly felt as though Kōe was a complete stranger to him. In his mind, Shihouin Kōe had always been a synthesis of himself and Yoruichi—highly rational, yet retaining a rare and precious emotional sincerity.
*'Wait... if I consider it from that angle, can I decipher this incident?'*
"Just who are your rationality and sincerity directed toward, Kōe?"