Chapter 206
He doesn't seem to have had the chance to consider that anymore.
Haruto's Reiatsu was greatly depleted. His battle with Baishin reduced his Reiatsu to less than 1/10 of what it was before World of the Living. Otherwise, he wouldn't have used Quincy techniques to attack the other side, and he wouldn't have stood there listening to Ryudoji tell stories.
--I should have rushed in and killed them first.
Regardless of whether the barrier is as indestructible as the other party claims, Haruto will not attempt to destroy it.
He needs to recover his Reiatsu first.
Otherwise, even if he exhausted all his power to shatter it, he wouldn't have enough Reiatsu to catch up—after all, that was Captain-level from a high-ranking noble family, and he possessed a considerable number of powerful spiritual tools and even Heavenly Bestowed Armaments. Reckless action would only lead to his death.
"..."
Haruto sat cross-legged on the rooftop, adopting a Jinzen posture.
The rest...
We can only wait.
More than twenty minutes later.
"Click."
With a crisp clattering sound, Haruto finally opened his eyes.
"Smack!"
The protective barrier erected by Ryudoji shattered with a deafening roar.
Haruto stood up, sword in hand.
"Captain Lisa, you're later than expected."
Above the sky, Lisa Yadōmaru, wielding the Haguro Tonbo, is releasing her Shikai.
Your message was timely.
Lisa leaped down from the air and landed lightly in front of Haruto.
None of the Seated Officer, including Ayaka, accompanied the group immediately... Once the level of the opponent was determined, those at their level became a burden.
Lisa released her palm, and a jet-black Hell Butterfly fluttered its wings and slowly flew out—it was the signal that Haruto had sent out at the moment of the attack.
"Unfortunately, my Shunpo isn't as fast as yours."
"And..."
Thump.
Lisa casually tossed it aside.
Several spherical objects wrapped in black cloth rolled to Haruto's side.
"I ran into some trouble on the way."
Lisa's earlier comment that she "wasn't as fast as you" was just a humble remark; being ambushed halfway was the main reason she was late.
"... Fullbringer?"
Haruto doesn't need to be looked at closely.
Although he hadn't learned the Fullbring yet, sensing the aura of his own kind was still quite easy for him, not to mention that even after these people died, Reishi still emanated from their corpses.
"Right."
"The Reiatsu here seems to be more than that of Vice-Captain-level?"
What truly surprised Haruto was the Fullbringer's strength.
In his memory, the Fullbringer could rival Captain-level user were the first Soul Reaper Kūgo Ginjo, and Shūkurō Tsukishima, whom he had personally trained—here we're talking about a contest, not including characters like Aura Michibane.
"One Captain-level, six Vice-Captain-level... Even the Eighth Division's intelligence network has never recorded such an exaggerated Fullbringers."
"..."
Haruto did not reply immediately.
This number of mid-to-high-level combatants is already stronger than some individual squads—whatever the reason for their emergence, it's not his area to interfere with; leave that to Shunsui Kyōraku and Captain Ukitake.
"Then they didn't escape from Captain Lisa's grasp either."
Haruto sighed.
--If the captain is an extremely strong squad, the vice-captain is unlikely to be weak either.
"No, I didn't kill it."
Lisa shook her head, then looked up at the sky, which was slightly higher up.
There--
"Whoosh!"
Mashiro Kuna's figure appeared just as he used Shunpo (Shunpo).
"Hey, Little Haruharu!"
As well as...
This Haruto, who had probably been waiting here for a long time without Haruto noticing his presence—just looking at his slightly upturned light yellow short hair was enough to tell his identity:
The Fourth Seat of the Second Division, Kisuke Urahara.
"I see."
Haruto thought to herself silently.
With this guy around, it would be strange if anything happened to the Second Division; however, Haruto didn't see Kisuke Urahara's name on the original mission list; it seems that he was temporarily replaced by Vice-Captain Ōmaeda, who was supposed to come to the World of the Living.
"Whoosh!"
When the two of them Shunpo...
"I've heard so much about you, Fourth Seat Urahara."
Haruto went over immediately.
It didn't mean anything by it; I just wanted to make sure we got on good terms beforehand so they wouldn't bother me during future research.
Or perhaps we can come and take a look when needed.
Huh?
Kisuke Urahara seemed somewhat surprised.
After all, apart from Yoruichi, no one in Soul Society has recognized his value—even the Captain-level Fullbringer they killed was taken down with his secret assistance from Mashiro Kuna, so the battle credits seemed to have nothing to do with him on the surface.
"Isn't the saying 'Fourth Seat Haruto' reversed?"
Although he didn't know the reason, Kisuke Urahara still extended his right hand to Haruto came to greet him; at least from the perspective of their factions, Haruto was an ally of his side, Kisuke Urahara had no need to show any wariness or hostility.
"Of course not."
Their hands clasped tightly together.
"..."
Then they all pretended nothing had happened and quietly parted ways.
That's enough for the greetings.
Lisa interrupted their "friendly exchange."
"Fourth Seat Urahara."
"Whoosh!"
At that moment, the faint sounds of Shunpo) could be heard all around.
--After confirming that the threat had been eliminated, Soi Fon and the Seated Officers of the Eighth Division hurriedly caught up.
"Could you please tell everyone about the current situation?"
Lisa seemed a little awkward when she gestured.
She didn't know when it started, but these Fourth Seats seemed to have become more useful than her, the vice-captain.
"Good."
Kisuke Urahara nodded slightly to the crowd.
"The Dangai, connecting the Soul Society and the World of the Living, has been shut down by a hidden enemy using technological means."
Kisuke Urahara started off with a major scandal.
"With Captain Hikifune's skills, it would take about 30 hours of attempts to open it; if we step up our efforts, we can probably reduce the time to 12 hours."
Others might not easily believe this, but Haruto certainly did—it wasn't that Kisuke Urahara Kirio Hikifune, but rather that when two geniuses exerted their strength simultaneously, the effect was definitely more than just one plus one equals two...
Even though the enemy had been preparing for this day for a long time.
Unfortunately, there's still not enough time.
Kisuke Urahara changed the subject.
"..."
12 hours isn't enough?
It seems that Ganryū Ryūdōji's plan to seal himself for 24 hours has allowed him a considerable amount of extra time.
"Out of necessity."
"We could only establish limited contact with the Soul Society for a short period of time through special means, sharing the intelligence we had with each other."
"Cough."
Kisuke Urahara throat.
The following content is the important part:
"The instigator of this incident is Ganryū Ryūdōji, a high-ranking nobleman who was banished to the Dangai by Soul Society a thousand years ago."
... Dangai?
Ryudoji did mention that his family was exiled, but the place of exile was Dangai... How is that any different from simply killing the entire clan?
Kōryū and Kōtotsu.
These two elements are enough to devour any soul that has long resided within them.
"They possessed a considerable amount of Heavenly Bestowed Armaments that they had looted from the Shihoin Clan during the years of internal strife; and based on this and their family's secret teachings, they gradually mastered the skills to survive in the Dangai during their exile."
Most upper-class nobles possess one or two special skills, and even the most powerful nobles rely on unique abilities; however, since Kisuke Urahara didn't explicitly state it, it must be a secret that even the Central 46 Chambers couldn't easily reveal.
"Not only that."
"Because they spent a sufficient amount of time within the Dangai, the Ryūdōji Clan even discovered what is now Valley of Screams, the largest such site recorded in Soul Society."
"... Valley of Screams?"
Haruto seemed to have heard the name before, but it wasn't a very strong impression.
"As souls fall from the World of the Living into the Soul Society, a small percentage inevitably fall into the Dangai due to various problems."
Kisuke Urahara didn't skip this part; instead, he explained it to Haruto —there are many "useless" things that aren't taught in the Shin'ō Academy's textbooks.
"These guys lose their memories of life and death, becoming special spirits called 'Blanks'... Fourth Seat Haruto, should have already encountered one, right?"
"Really."
Haruto didn't know how Kisuke Urahara knew he had contact with the Blanks, but he did learn the names of those "red hats" through this.
"A large number of amnesiac Blanks accumulated in the Dangai, and the semi-stable space that eventually formed was the 'Valley of Screams'."
"... Space formed by the condensation of souls?"
"Right."
In response to Haruto's question, Kisuke Urahara nodded firmly.
"Won't it be swallowed up by the Kōryū or the Kōtotsu '?"
That's why it's said that the discovery of such a large-scale Valley of Screams is truly a rare occurrence in history.