Chapter 207
"..."
"The Ryudoji Clan is capable of controlling Blanks on a large scale."
Although Kisuke Urahara most likely knows, Haruto still needs to provide information.
"So they have a way to manipulate the Valley of Screams... which is the main reason why Soul Society feels threatened."
Kisuke Urahara replied immediately.
To make the Soul Society feel threatened? The size of Dangai is limited; even the largest Valley of Screams is still a small space... Can a small space cause such a commotion?
"What does control Valley of Screams energy?"
"But that alone can't really do anything; their method is missing the most crucial element."
Haruto and Kisuke Urahara questions and answers, but no one interrupted them—except for Lisa, no one else knew about this secret.
"What is missing?"
"Since the spirits of the Fourth Seat Haruto have become Blanks, where did their original memories go?"
"... Agata."
Haruto naturally thought of Agata's strange state.
"It seems that Fourth Seat Haruto, has already seen the Shinenju."
The answer was exactly as expected.
"Is she an aggregate of countless Blanks memories?"
"Yes, the official name given by Soul Society is 'Shinenju'."
"... No wonder."
A twist of fate? A single misstep!
"With the Shinenju, the Ryudoji Clan can fully control the power of the Blanks."
"Whether it's causing Valley of Screams to deliberately collide with Soul Society, or detonating Valley of Screams to cause part of the Dangai to collapse, resulting in a collision between the World of the Living and Soul Society..."
"They're all good choices for them."
Volume 1: Chapter 125, A Sudden Entering the Valley of Screams!
What will be the consequences?
"According to my and Captain Hikifune's estimates, the former will cause Soul Society to lose about two hundred Rukongai districts, and the damage to Seireitei will be calculated separately."
The Soul Society only has 320 Rukongai districts in total. If you lose about 200, that's more than half!
"The latter is..."
Kisuke Urahara pondered for a moment.
"Have Fourth Seat Haruto seen any movies set in the World of the Living? There must be some that depict the 'nuclear winter,' right?"
As expected of the store manager, he even knows about this kind of thing.
"That's so exciting?"
The former wiped out half of Soul Society, while the latter crippled the entire Soul Society... In terms of power, it was already at the level of Captain-Commander Yamamoto's full-force attack. If Soul Society didn't react, that would truly be a strange thing.
"We won't let that happen."
Lisa interrupted their conversation.
"If the Shinenju are activated, Valley of Screams falls under Ryudoji's control, Soul Society will not hesitate to use the Kidō Cannon."
"..."
Haruto looked at Kisuke Urahara for knowledge.
"Kidō Cannon..."
Kisuke Urahara thought for a moment and then answered.
Consider it Heavenly Bestowed Armaments of 'world' caliber.
"The principle is similar to that of the Sōkyoku of Sōkyoku Hill, but it is even more exaggerated in 'scale'—in order to obtain this power, more than half of the Kidō Corps, including the Great Kidō Master, need to join forces."
As for its power...
Kisuke Urahara lowered his head, the shadow of his slightly split bangs obscuring part of his gaze.
"Eliminating Valley of Screams in one strike is no problem."
"Probably, it can also destroy the World of the Living within a radius of about 300 spirit miles."
"!!"
300 lingli?
This is no longer just wiping out the city; one shot would have completely obliterated the neon lights, and the resulting side effects would be immeasurable!
That's why we rushed over.
"With the route from Soul Society to the Dangai blocked, the Kidō Cannon is the best solution the Central 46 Chambers can think of."
"But considering that we are still on missions in the World of the Living..."
"If we don't leave quickly, we definitely won't survive if we get caught in the crossfire."
Soul Society.
The headquarters of the Kidō Corps sect.
The giant tree-shaped spear, resembling a flower bud about to bloom, had its tip pointed at the strange phenomenon in the "sky" of Soul Society.
A desolate and vast canyon landscape.
That's the Kidō Cannon...
And the Valley of Screams from the Soul Society's perspective.
In the not-so-spacious area, people wearing hooded hats and with "seal" stickers on their foreheads were dressed in distinctive attire.
Soul Reaper is ready.
They are the Kidō Corps, one of the three major organizations of the Soul Reaper, alongside the Gotei 13 and the Stealth Force. From a historical perspective, the Kidō Corps are even older than the Gotei 13, dating back to the era before Zanpakuto existed.
Pity.
With the rise of Shigekuni Yamamoto over the past two millennia, the status of the Kidō Corps has gradually declined; although it has not yet become a mere nominal vassal like the Stealth Force, the position of the Great Kidō Master can no longer be compared with that of Captain-Commander Yamamoto.
Below the imposing Kidō Cannon.
Shigekuni Yamamoto, Tessai Tsukabishi, and Kirio Hikifune stood at the very front, while the rest, including Vice Kidō Master Hachigen Ushōda and a Gotei 13 captains, trailed far away from the Kidō Corps group's formation.
"Ready to launch."
His firm and powerful voice was in stark contrast to the enemy's assessment of Shigekuni Yamamoto corrupt and conservative.
"..."
The problem is that his instructions did not receive an immediate response:
This is, after all, the headquarters of the Kidō Corps, and its members only obey the orders of the Great Kidō Master Tessai Tsukabishi.
Is there a problem?
Shigekuni Yamamoto looked at the great Kidō priest on his left.
"..."
Tessai Tsukabishi propped up the square picture frame that came from the Kuchiki Clan.
This is our first time working with the Captain Hikifune.
"In order to avoid causing unnecessary additional damage to the World of the Living and disrupting the balance of the soul, it would be best to allow for more time for adjustment and calibration."
After exchanging a glance Tessai Tsukabishi and Kirio Hikifune spoke.
"... how long?"
"Twenty minutes."
Kirio Hikifune took over Shigekuni Yamamoto's question.
Is that enough?
Shigekuni Yamamoto wasn't asking if there was enough time to test the Kidō Cannon, but rather whether this time would lead to new changes in Valley of Screams.
"Please trust the judgment of the Seireitei Research Institute."
"... Can."
After obtaining Shigekuni Yamamoto's consent, Kirio Hikifune turned his face slightly and winked at the Second Division behind him.
As Yoruichi gave an "OK" sign, Byakuya, who had come here under the guise of a visit with his grandfather and the Sixth Division, secretly breathed a heavy sigh of relief.
It would be best to avoid using the Kidō Cannon if possible.
Once this thing is launched, not to mention Kidō Corps World of the Living recover its strength, it will create a whole host of problems and troubles in the Soul Society is not much better. In the same amount of time to come, the Gotei 13 will probably never have a holiday again.
For a common goal.
Even though the hope was slim, everyone hoped that the team in the World of the Living could step up their efforts—if it weren't for the problem with the Dangai, some team leaders would probably have already personally gone to the Valley of Screams to kill that descendant of the Ryūdōji Clan.
"Fourth Seat Urahara."
What you just said was...
"The passage from Soul Society to the Dangai has been blocked?"
"Oh dear, oh dear~"
Kisuke Urahara smoothed his frizzy bangs; he probably really wanted a hat with a brim right now.
"The Fourth Seat Haruto are truly..."
"Wait a mininute!"
Their conversation was temporarily interrupted.
The one who spoke was Third Seat Tatsufusa Enjōji, whose style was completely out of place with the Eighth Division —in terms of attire, physique, fighting habits (and gender).
"Fourth Seat Urahara, the range you just mentioned is... 300 spirit li?"
It wasn't that he was slow to realize it; it was simply because the number was too outrageous.
That's right.
Kisuke Urahara was not upset about being interrupted.
"That..."
What happens to souls in this World of the Living?
Surprisingly, one person among them asked a question befitting the Soul Reaper.
"..."
What happens to the soul?
The Valley of Screams is a space composed of souls, Kidō Cannon can wipe it out completely, so erasing the souls of the World of the Living is naturally no problem.
Judging from the range of the Kidō Cannon, the number of people affected is conservatively estimated to be in the hundreds of millions—even the annihilation of 30,000 Quincy would cause a change in the Shutara Scale, with 200 million souls disappearing into thin air...
The balance of the three realms will undoubtedly be severely affected.
For a long time to come, the Gotei 13's focus will likely shift to "making the residents of Rukongai disappear" and sending even more powerful expeditionary... suicide... kamikaze assault teams into Hueco Mundo.
The people present were all shrewd; they were all fully aware of the situation, and the only reason they remained silent was:
The order to fire the Kidō Cannon was issued by the Central 46 Chambers.
As long as the issue of Valley of Screams doesn't affect the lives of those noble lords, and they don't need to do the remaining dirty and tiring work, then naturally there's no "problem" at all.
Captain-Commander Yamamoto wasn't senile.