News from Hueco Mundo

Upon returning to the cave, Ye Yang began a tense period of seclusion. Unbeknownst to him, the Soul Society received a message from Hueco Mundo: "The day before yesterday, our Expeditionary Force suffered a severe attack. Nearly a hundred Adjuchas and one Vasto Lorde attacked our camp, causing heavy losses. Now, the Expeditionary Force has less than a hundred men left. In this incident Ye Yang Shihoin, the former vice-captain of the Second Division of the Soul Society and now the commander of the Second Corps of the Expeditionary Force, stayed behind to cover the retreat of the main force. When he returned to the scene to investigate, he found no bodies, but his Spiritual Pressure had disappeared, and his whereabouts are currently unknown."

This news immediately caused a huge uproar in Soul Society! Everyone knew what the disappearance of Spiritual Pressure meant, and no one expected that Ye Yang, who had only been in Hueco Mundo for a short time, would meet such an end. The entire Seireien was plunged into grief.

However, the captain of the Gotei 13 had a different opinion on this matter.

First Division, Yamamoto, sipping tea, asked his adjutant Chōjirō Sasakibe, "What's your take on this incident?"

"Genryūsai, the casualties in this incident are heavy. I suggest that reinforcements be sent to Hueco Mundo immediately," Chōjirō Sasakibe said solemnly, deeply saddened by the events.

Unexpectedly, Yamamoto said, "I have my own way of handling this matter. I'm referring to the disappearance of Ye Yang Shihoin's Spiritual Pressure. Don't you have any thoughts on that?"

The image of Ye Yang flashed through Sasakibe's mind, the most striking feature being his confident smile. For some reason, he had a feeling that Ye Yang wasn't dead yet. "Genryūsai, I won't go into what the disappearance of the Spiritual Pressure reaction means, but I have a feeling that he won't die easily. This is just my feeling, please don't worry about it."

Yamamoto shook his head. "No, no, I feel the same way you do. That kid should, no, definitely isn't dead, but it's hard to say where he is now."

"But how do you explain the disappearance of his Spiritual Pressure?" Sasakibe couldn't help but ask.

"That has to do with where he is; it's probably a place where Spiritual Pressure can be isolated..."

Within the Second Division, Ye Yang, who was originally the lieutenant of the Second Division, was deeply respected by all the members. Therefore, the Second Division was the most distressed among all the divisions. The members knew more or less about Soi Fon and Ye Yang's situation. In the captain's room, many members were comforting Soi Fon. Soi Fon was now the lieutenant and had even temporarily assumed the captain's duties.

Inside the captain's room, Soi Fon stared blankly at the doorway, neither shedding tears nor speaking, just silently watching, lost in thought.

But her teammates thought she was overly heartbroken and comforted her, saying, "Vice Captain, don't be sad. Lieutenant Ye Yang once told us that we should always look forward."

"Lieutenant Soi Fon, you must pull yourself together! Our Second Division can't just collapse like this!"

"..."

Soi Fon simply waved her hand gently and whispered, "He will come back."

"Vice Captain..."

"Stop talking," Soi Fon stopped her teammates. "You guys go out first, I want to be alone for a while."

The team members could only say, "My condolences, vice-captain," before leaving.

Soi Fon remained alone in the empty captain's room, her hands clasped in a cross, and said in a voice only she could hear, "Brother Ye Yang will come back. He promised me we'd meet again in fifty years. From childhood to adulthood, Brother Ye Yang has never failed to keep his promises. This time, he will definitely return safely. I've always firmly believed that..."

In the captain's room of the Fifth Division, two Shinigami stood. One wore a Captain's Haori with a large "five" written on it, and a pair of plain glasses concealed his slightly domineering gaze. He was the current Fifth Division Captain Sōsuke Aizen!

Beside him was a death god who still looked like a child, with silver hair and an unchanging smile. In the Seireien, there was only one such person—the genius boy, Gin Ichimaru!

If you look closely, you can see an armband on his left shoulder, which clearly shows the Fifth Division's most beautiful girl—Ma Zui Mu. In such a short time, he has already become the vice-captain, making people marvel at his genius.

The boy casually said to Aizen, "Captain Aizen, congratulations!"

Aizen asked, "Oh? What brings you this joy?"

"Of course, congratulations to Captain Aizen for eliminating another major enemy," Gin said.

Aizen adjusted his glasses and said calmly, "Gin, do you really believe he's dead? You should know him better than I do."

The boy gave a vague answer, "Sarah, who knows?"

In the Sixth Division, a handsome young man was staring blankly at the cherry blossoms. His once easily angered temper had begun to change after Yoruichi and Ye Yang parted ways. Now, Byakuya had become the Third Seat of the Sixth Division, and he was deeply saddened. He murmured softly, "Brother Ye Yang..."

Although he was extremely sad, he did not shed a tear. In his mind, crying was tantamount to a defeat of the body for the soul. So he chose to remember him silently.

In the captain's room of the Eighth Division, two people were drinking sake side by side. It was easy to guess that they were Shunsui and his friend Ukitake. As they drank and chatted, Ukitake said, "Have you heard? It seems the Shin'ō produced a few more geniuses today."

Shunsui, however, was unsurprised. He chuckled, "A genius? In recent years, the only genius has been that boy who graduated in just one year, right? His name is Gin Ichimaru, and he's already the Third Seat. That's truly remarkable."

"We can't compare them to geniuses; they're already quite good compared to the other students," Ukitake said.

All that could be heard was Shunsui sighing, "Speaking of geniuses, who can compare to the Shin'ō Golden Triangle back then? Compared to them, all other geniuses would probably pale in comparison."

Ukitake seemed to be thinking about the past, when the three of them were full of vigor and ambition, but now... "Yoruichi and Urahara have become captains, and Ye Yang is also a vice-captain. The name of the Golden Triangle is well-deserved," Ukitake exclaimed.

Shunsui: "In terms of strength, Ye Yang is still above the other two, but unfortunately he is naturally undisciplined."

"Now one of them has defected to the World of the Living, another has disappeared without a trace, and Ye Yang... Heaven is jealous of talent!" Ukitake couldn't help but sigh. If Ye Yang were still alive, he would have become one of them a hundred years later, one of the top combat forces in Soul Society.

But Shunsui burst into laughter upon hearing this. "Ukitake, you don't actually think he's dead, do you? He can't be dead? Don't be ridiculous, Jūshirō!"

Ukitake asked in confusion, "You mean he's not dead? Then how come..."

"I don't know the specific reason, but if you ask me to believe that he sacrificed himself, I'd rather believe that the Old Man Yama would run naked in the street," Shunsui said decisively.

"But..."

Shunsui slowly said, "Ye Yang's strength is by no means inferior to yours or mine. Do you think he will be killed by Vasto Lorde? Besides, the Shihoin Clan is known for their Shunpo (Shunpo) technique. Even if they can't win, escaping shouldn't be a problem. I just don't know what his current situation is."

"What! His strength is no less than yours or mine? So he..." Ukitake hesitated, then stopped himself.

"Ah, he must have already come into contact with the existence of the boundary," Shunsui said, taking a sip of sake.

Ukitake's face showed disbelief. "How is this possible? He's only been cultivating for about fifty years, how could he possibly have reached the boundary of us Shinigami?"

"Nothing is impossible, that's why I said all geniuses pale in comparison!" Shunsui said with an expectant expression. "I wonder what it will be like when you come back?"...

Rangiku, who recently joined the Tenth Division, has already become Seated Officer and is now the 10th Seat. Because Ye Yang and his group often ran into Rangiku when they went out drinking, Rangiku and Isshin Shiba are acquainted. Moreover, Ye Yang had previously told Isshin to take care of him, so Rangiku and Isshin are now considered familiar with each other.

Rangiku took out the sake she had hidden in the cabinet and started drinking alone. Suddenly, the door was flung open, and Isshin Shiba burst in, yelling, "Haha, I finally caught you! You were drinking in the office? I've always wanted to catch you but never succeeded. Now you have nothing to say, huh? Hey? Why aren't you saying anything?"

Rangiku ignored Isshin and continued drinking. Isshin walked over and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Captain, you said Teacher Ye Yang is really..."

Isshin Shiba understood immediately. So that's what it was about. "Don't worry. Didn't the news say it was just the disappearance of spiritual communication? They haven't found a body, so there's no way to prove his death. Since he's not dead, he must be in some state where the outside world can't sense his Spiritual Pressure, or he's in a special environment, isolated from the outside world. Either way, it's good news for us, isn't it?"

"Really? He's not dead?"

Isshin to comfort her, saying, "It's alright. Ye Yang's strength is such that he won't die so easily. We must believe in him."

"Kindness!"...

At the Shihoin Clan, Ye Yang's father, Shihoin Seigen fainted upon hearing this news. He only had one son and one daughter, Yoruichi, who had disappeared without a trace, and now Ye Yang had suffered this misfortune. He simply couldn't bear such a blow!

But his wife's words cheered him up again. "Husband, you don't need to be like this. Think about it carefully. When has Ye Yang ever made us worry since he was a child? When has he not faced difficulties with a smile and resolved those things that seem unbelievable to us with ease? I believe he must have his reasons and confidence for doing so. Besides, no one has confirmed his death, has he? As parents, we should believe in our child."

Shihoin Seigen suddenly realized, yes, his son had never disappointed him. No matter what the situation, he could handle it with ease. He crossed his hands and silently prayed. "Ancestors of the Shihoin Clan, please bless your descendants to return safely..." (Please add to your favorites and recommend!)