Aizen Arrives, the Hollows Attack

If Tokoyo Misao truly was a great noble, what part of Soul Society's authority did he hold?

Winning him over might be a great help with things to come.

After all, that enemy's ability was simply too powerful.

Without enough like-minded companions, there was no chance of standing against him.

Many thoughts ran through Kisuke Urahara's mind, but less than ten seconds had passed.

He released the hand pressing down on his hat brim, raised his head, and smiled.

"Well, this is truly discourteous of me. I never expected the head of the Tokoyo Clan, one of the Five Great Noble Clans, to visit my little shop in person."

Still smiling, he rubbed his hands together, putting on the manner of a petty merchant as he continued:

"I hope you won't tell anyone about my shop, my lord. A business like ours does operate in something of a gray area.

"Of course, if there's anything you need, my lord, we can discuss that too."

Tokoyo Misao's eyebrow twitched. He asked tentatively, "You've heard of the Tokoyo Clan?"

"Of course. You just mentioned it." Kisuke Urahara kept smiling as he continued.

"A little shop like ours has naturally never met a great noble. We've only ever done a bit of small business with lesser nobles."

Seeing him pretend he knew nothing in an attempt to bluff his way through, Tokoyo Misao smiled and said:

"What, you're telling me Kisuke Urahara, former captain of the Gotei 13's Twelfth Division and head of the Shinigami Research and Development Institute, has never heard of the great nobles?"

"Huh?" Kisuke Urahara's smile froze on his face.

Tokoyo Misao continued, "And you were once the Third Seat of the Second Division and captain of the Correction Corps.

"You became captain of the Twelfth Division on the recommendation of the great noble Yoruichi Shihōin."

"And now you're saying you've never had any dealings with the great nobles?"

He kept smiling as he looked at Kisuke Urahara.

"So you know everything, Lord Clan Head Tokoyo. Have you come to my little shop today to arrest me and take me back to Soul Society?"

At those words, Kisuke Urahara's expression turned cold and grew deadly serious.

As he finished speaking, the door to the little shop opened, revealing the body of a muscular man wearing glasses and a handlebar mustache.

He had only leaned halfway out when Kisuke Urahara waved him back.

"There's no benefit in taking you back, and with my current strength, I couldn't do it anyway.

"If I attacked rashly, I'd only end up dead."

Tokoyo Misao waved a hand and continued:

"Besides, running into you this time was an accident. I actually came to disrupt Sōsuke Aizen's plan."

"What?" Kisuke Urahara's eyes widened, his pupils trembling.

He took two deep breaths, his chest rising and falling.

A moment later, he let out a long, heavy breath, looked at Tokoyo Misao again, and asked:

"You know Sōsuke Aizen's true nature?"

"If you mean that a hundred years ago, Aizen researched Soul Reaper Hollowfication and turned some captains into Hollows as test subjects,

"Then used the Central 46 Chambers to put you on trial and brand you and those captains traitors to Soul Society, then yes, I do know about that."

Tokoyo Misao spoke calmly with a smile, then continued before the other man could ask:

"As for how I know, there's no need to look into it. Just consider it a special ability of mine."

"I see." Kisuke Urahara quickly accepted that explanation.

As he had thought earlier, every great noble had something special about them.

The fact that the man before him knew these things could even serve as proof that he was very likely one of the Five Great Noble Clans.

"Then how do you intend to disrupt Aizen's plan?"

Aizen had forced him to leave Soul Society and eke out an existence in the World of the Living.

Many of his companions were in the same position, living in hiding every day.

Now someone had suddenly appeared, claiming he could disrupt Aizen's plan.

Though he remained wary, he naturally wanted to hear exactly how it would be done.

"You should be able to see what I intend to do soon enough. But I've talked to you this long because I want to ask you a favor," Tokoyo Misao said with a smile.

On hearing that he needed a favor, Kisuke Urahara instead looked somewhat relieved and quickly asked with a smile:

"If there's anything I can help with, please don't hesitate to ask."

"Ever since I announced at the academy that I was the head of the Tokoyo Clan, one of the Five Great Noble Clans, there hasn't been any reaction from any quarter."

Tokoyo Misao sighed as he spoke.

"My clan hasn't appeared in Soul Society for a long time.

"The previous clan head didn't tell me what property our clan left behind in Soul Society, either."

"So now, despite being a clan head, I can only mooch off the academy every day. I don't even have a residence of my own. It's truly embarrassing."

"So I hope you can help me find out what the Tokoyo Clan left behind in Soul Society."

"No problem," Kisuke Urahara agreed with a smile.

Tokoyo Misao didn't stay any longer. He walked straight out the front door and left the Urahara Shop.

Only after he was completely out of sight did the door to the Urahara Shop open. Someone walked over and asked Kisuke Urahara:

"Can we really trust what that guy said?"

"I don't know, so we need to prepare for both possibilities."

Kisuke Urahara turned and spoke to them.

"For now, activate emergency relocation mode. We'll leave here first."

Chapter 31: Aizen Arrives, the Hollows Attack

After Tokoyo Misao left the Urahara Shop, a silvery-white thread floated in his pupils.

He turned toward the end of the street, found the Spirit Ribbons of Renji Abarai and the other two, and sped over with Shunpo.

A moment later, he arrived beside the three, who were waiting boredly by a flower bed.

As soon as he appeared, Renji Abarai asked loudly:

"Where did you go? Senior Shūhei Hisagi just sent us a message telling us to go back."

"Something must have gone wrong. We should hurry back and see," Momo Hinamori quickly added.

Tokoyo Misao nodded and headed toward the meeting point Shūhei Hisagi had set.

When they were still a few hundred meters away, he spotted a familiar Spirit Ribbon in the dark night sky.

There was no mistaking that special Spirit Ribbon, so red it was almost purple—Sōsuke Aizen had arrived.

He said softly, "Senior Shūhei must have called us back because something happened.

"Keep watch on our surroundings at all times. If we encounter an enemy and have to fight, form a three-person defensive formation immediately."

"Big Brother Misao, do you think Hollows will appear?" Izuru Kira asked nervously.

When they had arrived in the World of the Living, Shūhei Hisagi had used a detector to scan several kilometers around them. Only after finding no trace of Hollows had he allowed them to split into squads to perform Soul Burials.

Now that their senior had ordered them to regroup, it really could be because Hollows had appeared.

"It's all right, Kira. We've practiced the defensive formation many times at the academy. We can definitely handle a Hollow."

Momo Hinamori spoke cheerfully, but her steps had noticeably shortened and quickened, and her small hand gripped her scabbard tightly.

Renji Abarai spoke with a serious expression.

"Don't worry. We've kept practicing our formation. There won't be any problems."

When the three of them had been in the regular class, their shortcomings in various areas had been so pronounced that Tokoyo Misao had suggested they form a three-person team to compensate for one another's weaknesses.

Renji Abarai had some talent for Zanjutsu and Hakuda, but had made no progress at all in Kidō.

Rather than counting on him to attack with Kidō, it was more practical to have him rush in and slash a couple more times.

Momo Hinamori, on the other hand, excelled at Kidō, but her Zanjutsu and Hakuda were all too ordinary.

Izuru Kira had no particularly outstanding strengths, but no glaring weaknesses either. He did, however, prefer using Bakudō.

The three of them could form a team consisting of a warrior, a mage, and a support.

Earlier, Tokoyo Misao had been able to see the familiar Spirit Ribbon above the meeting point from a distance.

As they drew closer, he kept his gaze forward rather than looking up and staring at the sky.

Soon, they reached the meeting point.

Shūhei Hisagi and the other two were already counting the people who had returned.

His brow furrowed even more tightly when he saw Tokoyo Misao's squad.

"There aren't many people here. At least three squads haven't returned." Tokoyo Misao glanced around and saw that, aside from them, only one other squad had made it back.

When they had first set out, they had split into five squads of three or four people each.

Shūhei Hisagi picked up a wooden tablet again and stared intently at it. A moment later, he gritted his teeth and said:

"I've notified Soul Society and requested backup. For now, everyone will stay together and wait for it to arrive."

The moment he finished speaking, a figure appeared behind the members of the other squad.

Before that squad or Shūhei Hisagi could react, a shrieking blade of wind cut through the air, slicing the three squad members in half at the waist.

Squelch. Thud.

It was the dull sound of the students' bodies hitting the ground.

"What?" Shūhei Hisagi had just turned around when he saw a huge figure standing beside the three students' corpses, opening its horrifying mouth to reveal sharp teeth.

That strange white mask proved what it was—a Hollow!

"Enemy attack! Fight!"

Shūhei Hisagi let out a piercing roar and gripped his sword in both hands. He was just about to push off with his right foot when Kanisawa and Takashika rushed past him.

The two leaped high, reaching the white mask on the Hollow's head, and swung their Zanpakuto down fiercely.

The giant Hollow merely clenched its fists and crossed its arms to block their attacks.

It let both blades sink into its arms, trapping the Zanpakuto in its wounds, then swung its arms down.

Two more dull bangs rang out, and the ground cracked in a spiderweb pattern for several meters.

Kanisawa and Takashika took the full force of the impact. Their bodies struck the ground, bounced into the air, and fell back down.

Both opened their mouths and spat out blood.

Gripping their Zanpakuto, they shakily tried to get back up.

But they had barely pushed themselves up when their strength gave out and they collapsed again.

"Kanisawa! Takashika!" Shūhei Hisagi rushed forward and stood in front of them. "Are you all right?"

Both were badly injured. They couldn't even speak, only lie on the ground, gasping for breath.

Seeing his two classmates gravely injured, Shūhei Hisagi raised his sword and roared, "Die, you bastard!"

He was so fast that the giant Hollow saw only a blur before he vanished.

Shūhei Hisagi appeared behind its neck and slashed.

The giant Hollow instinctively swung both hands behind it, but its massive body came at the cost of speed, and it couldn't stop the blow.

The blade swept across the back of the Hollow's neck, but it only opened a bloody cut, sending a spray of blood into the air.

After landing the strike, Shūhei Hisagi stepped on the air and slipped between its wrists to reach its front.