This Is Way Too Ridiculous!

Seeing everyone appear, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

"You're finally back!"

"The readings on the Reiatsu detector were all over the place. I was worried another Adjuchas might show up."

"How could that be?"

Retsu Unohana smiled gently.

"It's already very rare for even one to appear."

"If another had shown up, I'd have started wondering whether Hollows migrate too."

"Good point."

Scratching his head, Kisuke Urahara nodded cheerfully.

"Captain Unohana, Lieutenant Aizen, thank you for your hard work."

"Were any of the students hurt or killed?"

"Most of them only have minor injuries. They'll be fine soon."

Whether intentionally or not, Sōsuke Aizen spoke up in response.

"Thanks to student Kuchiki dealing with the Adjuchas in time, things went as smoothly as they did. Otherwise, the outcome would never have been so easy."

"He... dealt with the Adjuchas on his own?"

Startled, Kisuke Urahara instinctively looked at Kyōsuke Kuchiki.

He vaguely recalled the Kidō genius everyone had been talking about over the past few days, and finally put a face to the name.

"That really is impressive."

"Not at all. The other students helped me a great deal too."

"If I'd been on my own, I definitely couldn't have dealt with it so smoothly."

Kyōsuke Kuchiki wore a perfect noble's smile, and his words were just as polished and formal.

But Retsu Unohana, standing beside him, suddenly chuckled.

"You really are modest, student Kuchiki."

Having said that, she didn't elaborate.

"Captain Urahara, Lieutenant Aizen, I'll take my squad members and the injured students back first."

"You two take your time."

Watching her leave, Kisuke Urahara was momentarily taken aback.

Was it his imagination?

Why did it feel as though Retsu Unohana held Kyōsuke Kuchiki in such exceptionally high regard?

Exceptional combat strength and talent alone wouldn't make that Captain Unohana, who "never showed her emotions," pay someone so much attention.

Realizing this, Kisuke Urahara couldn't help taking a closer look at the young man before him.

The next second, he froze.

"Hm?"

"What is it, Captain Urahara?"

Aizen's voice rang out.

"No... I was just thinking how clean student Kuchiki is."

No, it went beyond just being clean.

The Reiatsu detector had been in complete chaos, so there must have been a considerable number of Hollows in the World of the Living, and they must have been very powerful.

Yet there wasn't a speck of dust on the young man's Soul Reaper robes, let alone blood!

It was as though there had been a vacuum around him while he fought.

In other words...

In a battle like that, neither the Gillians nor the Captain-level Adjuchas...

Had managed to touch him directly!

As he realized this, a flicker of astonishment crossed Kisuke Urahara's face!

If his senses weren't wrong, the young man before him gave off no trace of Reiatsu at all!

How could he be so powerful that even a Captain-level opponent couldn't get close to him?!

It was completely unscientific!

In an instant, the way he looked at Kyōsuke Kuchiki grew a little strange.

Seemingly noticing this, the young man silently looked back at him.

"Captain Urahara, is there something wrong with being clean?"

"I really don't like getting dirty."

"No, no, no, nothing's wrong. I think it's great!"

Quickly shaking his head, Kisuke Urahara put on a smile like a crooked merchant's.

What should I do?

He suddenly wanted to study this young man!

He didn't give off the slightest trace of Reiatsu, yet he still possessed tremendous strength. How on earth did he do it?

Did he have some special ability?

Or was his constitution different from other people's?

"Student Kuchiki, do you have anything to do next?"

"I have a lot of questions I'd like to ask you about this incident."

"...No, no thanks."

Sensing that something was amiss, Kyōsuke Kuchiki shook his head at once and firmly refused. "I'm very tired today. I want to go home and rest."

"Thank you for the invitation, but let's leave it for another time."

"...Ah, all right!"

His voice tinged with regret, Kisuke Urahara spread his hands.

"Get plenty of rest, student Kuchiki."

"If there's anything you want to ask me, you're welcome to come find me at the Research and Development Institute anytime."

"I'll be sure to show you proper hospitality!"

"Uh, all right."

Kyōsuke Kuchiki answered, but he really couldn't stand the strange enthusiasm in Kisuke Urahara's gaze. He quickly fled with a few Shunpo steps.

Before leaving, he didn't forget to provoke Sōsuke Aizen one more time.

"Lieutenant Aizen, I'll leave it to you to explain the Adjuchas and the Gillians I told you about to Captain Urahara."

"I'm heading back first!"

"..."

Watching the young man's retreating figure quickly disappear, Kisuke Urahara turned to Aizen.

"What's this about?"

"Heh heh, that."

Sōsuke Aizen pushed up his glasses and smiled.

"Let's go to the Research and Development Institute. I'll explain it all to you there."

"Actually, I've always been very much in agreement with your ideas and abilities, Captain Urahara."

"..."

Chapter 32: This Is Way Too Ridiculous!

A little over ten minutes later, at the Research and Development Institute.

"Student Kuchiki meant that the Adjuchas was exceptionally intelligent?"

Kisuke Urahara knitted his brows, looking thoughtful.

"Yes."

Sōsuke Aizen nodded.

"It knew to set an ambush in advance and put out bait."

"It could even summon so many Gillians. It wasn't like an ordinary Adjuchas."

Hearing this, Kisuke Urahara tapped his fingers on the table.

"It was probably a specialized variant."

"Recently, several Soul Reapers have already sent in reports."

"They said there were some very strange Hollows, as though they'd been modified, with intelligence and behavior that didn't match their ranks."

"Perhaps..."

"Perhaps?"

Aizen prompted mildly.

Glancing at him, Kisuke Urahara swallowed the rest of his words.

Perhaps someone in the Seireitei is conducting some strange experiments on Hollows.

He shook his head and put on his trademark crooked-merchant smile.

"Oh, I haven't figured out what comes after that 'perhaps' either!"

"Lieutenant Aizen, you went to so much trouble rushing out to the rescue. You must be tired too!"

"I won't keep you for tea today. Hurry back and get some rest."

"Is that so?"

The bespectacled man slowly rose to his feet, the expression on his face like a perfect mask without a single flaw.

"Then I'll be going."

"Bye-bye!"

Kisuke Urahara waved, and only when the other man's Reiatsu had completely vanished did his expression return to normal.

He tapped the table, his face somewhat gloomy.

He couldn't tell whether it was his imagination or intuition, but he had a vague feeling that Sōsuke Aizen seemed to be hiding something from him about the Adjuchas.

Should I ask student Kuchiki?

After hesitating for a moment, Kisuke Urahara abandoned the idea.

After all, he had no hard evidence, only an insubstantial feeling.

Without a clue to go on, he wouldn't be able to ask much either.

Besides, this might have something to do with those nobles.

A long time ago, Kisuke Urahara had compiled the relevant records at the Research and Development Institute. Among them were all kinds of forbidden research conducted by the nobles of the Seireitei in secret.

They included experiments to modify Hollows, and even Hollowfication Experiments on Soul Reapers.

Things were always troublesome when nobles were involved.

After all, even the Central Forty-Six Chambers, which governed the Soul Reapers, were nothing more than the nobles' plaything.

Thus, Kisuke Urahara also gave up the idea of investigating further.

Kisuke Urahara turned around and opened the Reiatsu detector's historical data.