Just as those outside were preparing to deal with the people inside the building, those inside were also observing the outside. This building was abandoned, an unfinished project; the upper floors were not even completed, and there was no cover. From some corners inside, one could get a perfect view of the outside.
Hey~ you guy standing in the middle! Seriously?!
"What can't I do? That's Kuruyashiki Kenpachi!"
"But isn't he dead? Jun Shimizu confirmed it, could it be..."
"Hmph~, it seems Jun Shimizu isn't a good person either!"
I don't know if it's good or bad, but how do I do it?
"They're making a move! Hey! People downstairs, get out of the way! They're going to throw something!"
"What's that? A note?"
"It seems so, what does that mean?"
"Hey~ Hirako, they only threw in a few notes, what should we do? Open them?"
"Open it and take a look."
After a while, a voice came from below, "Let us lay down our weapons and not resist. It would be best to send someone out to talk. Once we've determined we pose no threat, we'll leave them alone."
"Huh? How is a threat defined?"
"Ah, that's an understatement. They just ignore us because we pose no threat to the World of the Living."
"The World of the Living? What exactly do they do? They're definitely not ordinary people. Never mind, I'll go out."
Zennosuke Kuruyashiki was eating grilled squid and drinking canned beer. He'd always been so unpretentious. Yet, given his attire and demeanor, in the few times he'd come to the World of the Living, people had even approached him asking for photos. Isn't that amazing?
This time was no different. In his words, the present World of the Living is really good; the food, the drinks, and the entertainment are all great. If it weren't for the fact that he couldn't live there permanently, he would really want to live in the World of the Living forever.
He chewed on the squid, took a sip of his drink—eating and drinking didn't interfere with his work—and stared into the building. He saw someone emerge from inside, and then...
"Pfft, cough cough," Zennosuke Kuruyashiki pointed at the person who came out, a chili pepper stuck in his throat, unable to speak.
As Shinji Hirako approached, he snorted coldly, "So it really is you~, Captain Kuruyashiki."
Zennosuke Kuruyashiki quickly took a sip of sake to swallow the contents of his throat, his voice hoarse, "Cough cough, it's you?"
"An acquaintance?" Kariya Jin asked, and the others stared at him.
Mingmo smiled gently, "This is Captain Shinji Hirako, the former captain of the Fifth Division of the Gotei 13 in Soul Society."
"Hey~ who are you?" Hirako looked around, then at Kuruyashiki. "You're the only one I recognize here. Explain why you're still alive? What's the relationship between these people and Jun Shimizu?"
"Oh dear, oh dear~ I made a mistake this time," Kuruyashiki awkwardly, scratching his face and looking at Mingmo. "What happened? I haven't been paying attention to Soul Society for a long time."
So the two waited for Mingmo's answer, but instead of answering, Mingmo looked at the abandoned building. "Are the rest of the Visored inside?"
"Visored? Is that your naming convention? Not bad," Hirako clicked his tongue, "They're all inside."
Mingmo bowed slightly and smiled, "Then we'll take our leave. We can confirm that you pose no threat to the World of the Living. That's all we wanted to achieve. Kuruyashiki, if you'd like to chat with your old friends, that's a private matter for you."
"Hey~", Hirako was speechless. She hadn't expected that these people were really after the so-called safety of the World of the Living. Of course, Shinji Hirako also thought to herself that these people were really good at keeping secrets.
Kuruyashiki his chin. "Oh dear~, if I say too much, won't it be difficult? Besides, I'm not very good at talking. Hirako, I really want to talk to you about something, but I think if I were to say it, we might end up fighting. That won't do."
Shinji Hirako was completely bewildered. "What do you mean?"
"Hmm, that's what you mean," Kuruyashiki chuckled. "At first, I was really unhappy when I left Soul Society, but I gradually felt it was alright. And now, after coming to the World of the Living a few times, tsk tsk~ I don't really want to go back to Soul Society. Don't you think we're just not on the same page?"
"You really betrayed Soul Society?"
"Oh my gosh~ I knew it would be like this," Kuruyashiki stroked his full beard. "Tsk tsk~, I was like that at first too, but time and reflection really can change everything, so you guys haven't been gone for long after all."
"That might not be the case," Mingmo explained for Hirako. "Kuruyashiki- san, you haven't been following the Soul Society and don't know that exactly a hundred years ago, they were forced to leave the Soul Society in their Hollowfication form because of Aizen's actions. This was a huge humiliation, so their desire to prove they weren't traitors is different from yours."
"Oh, I see!" Kuruyashiki exclaimed, suddenly realizing. "That makes even less sense. A traitor like me would probably be eliminated by you all. Let's talk about it later."
"You"
"Hirako, relax, you'll see a different world. Okay, I didn't come here to chat with friends. I heard there's a really good Kantō in Shinjuku. I finally got around to this, so, Oka ~ wanna grab a couple of drinks?"
"Oh, that's great!" Oka turned his gaze away from the building, Kuruyashiki men, Kuruyashiki, glanced at Hirako, and then said, "Mingmo, give him a phone number so we can contact you later. Don't change your location, or we'll have to look for you again. Don't cause trouble for the World of the Living, right? Look how wonderful this world is!"
Kariya Jin also warned, "Don't cause trouble for the World of the Living," then got into the car and drove off. Mingmo handed Shinji Hirako a prepared cell phone and business card, explaining that he needed to save a lot of numbers, which had taken a long time to sort through with Urahara, so this was more convenient, and a few extra dollars wouldn't hurt.
After saying goodbye, Mingmo got into the car, followed by the Fullbringer and the Undead had come with him. The group drove off, leaving Shinji Hirako completely bewildered.
"Who are they? That person?" A group of people approached, and Kensei Muguruma was the first to ask.
"That's Kuruyashiki Kenpachi! Jun Shimizu is definitely involved, my god!" Shinji Hirako stared at the business card, which read "Shimizu Special Processing Response Co., Ltd.., Ltd." "Haha, hahaha, Jun Shimizu is their boss!"
A group of people took the business cards and looked them over one by one. Shinji Hirako opened his phone, opened his phonebook, and swallowed hard. There were offices in cities large, medium, and small all of Japan; the number of people...
"Just how large is this?"
Why name the company after Shimizu? The reason is that Jun felt there was little point in hiding it anymore. Those who knew knew, but they certainly wouldn't tell the Soul Society. And those who didn't know, well, they just didn't know, so it was fine.
Shinji Hirako racked his brains, then stood up and said, "No way! I'll die if I don't know some things! I'm going to find that Kuruyashiki guy and ask him, tsk~"
"What's wrong? I'll go with you," Kensei Muguruma said.
"Hey, hey~, Hirako, what are you afraid of, you bald guy! There are so many of us!" Hiyori Sarugaki shouted.
Unlike the original work, Lisa Yadōmaru wasn't involved in the events of that time. After all, she was taking care of her two younger sisters, and Jun knew that Aizen was up to something. She had Aozumi and Kōga secretly tell Jun not to go out and cause trouble, as it was very dangerous.
Jō, Lisa Yadōmaru, and Nanao are all very obedient and good girls, so they weren't really involved. However, the Visored's numbers are still much larger than in the original work because the overall strength of the lower and middle ranks of Soul Society has been greatly elevated by Jō. Many of the original work's Vice-Captain- level figures are now replaced by the Visored's thirty-four members.
"No," Hirako shook his head, "Kuruyashiki isn't the strongest one leading this team. That big guy, over two meters tall, is the real deal. I've never seen him before, I don't know where he came from, yet he's stronger than Kuruyashiki!"
The melancholic man, Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi, agreed with Hirako's words, "I think so too. I don't know if you guys noticed, but even from this distance, and with the Barrier, that man could still sense my gaze. I stared at him for a few seconds, it was truly Kongbu!"
"Huh? Was that guy responding to us peeking? Now that you mention it, I think he made eye contact with me too, damn it!" Love Aikawa swallowed hard.
"Then let's have the four of us Captain-level go. Our strength should be enough, right?" Kensei Muguruma suggested.
Hirako looked around and finally said, "Kunan, Qianlimu, you two come along too. Let's go."
"Oh my gosh~", the green-haired girl in the tight-fitting clothes Mashiro Kuna, smiled broadly, as if she were on a spring outing.
"Understood!" Senrime Shintarō, the kid who witnessed the Kakyō incident back then, was later recruited and, with his formidable strength, rose to the position of the Third Seat the Third Division. Then, a hundred years ago, he was accidentally caught up in the chaos.
The Visoreds did have a vehicle, but it wasn't very good—a small van. Six people squeezed in; Kensei drove, and Hirako, in the passenger Hirako, searched for a while before dialing Kuruyashiki's number.
While making a phone call, Shinji Hirako switched back to the phone book and began checking how many specific names were listed.
We can see that the initial group consisted of the Undead, represented by Miki Ichirin, Kariya Jin, Yoshino Sōma. Among the Undead, Kariya Jin wasn't the strongest; he only ranked fourth. The top seven Undead all possessed captain-level strength, including Kariya Jin, by today's standards, was roughly equivalent to Sajin Komamura's.
These seven people occupied seven positions. Then there were thirteen other Undead who could take charge, including Miki Ichirin and Yoshino Sōma, making a total of twenty Undead.
Not all the names listed here are real; most are Romanized, and some are even homophones. This is why Hirako had to search so hard to find Kuruyashiki.
The Zanpakuto personification currently includes 49 characters, three Visoreds, Little Lion's best friend Sōjirō Kusaka who hasn't been listed yet), eight Arrancars, and four Fullbringers, making a total of 84.
Because it's impossible for them to appear simultaneously, many of these people can't get through on the phone. The same goes for others, including Arrancar and Soul Reaper. Only those who come to the World of the Living can use their own phone numbers.
However, 84 is already a Kongbu number. Even if we calculate based on Captain-level combat power, there are seven Undead, two Visoreds (Visored Zennosuke Kuruyashiki and Ashido Kanō), and all eight Arrancar. Looking at it this way, the number of Captain-level or higher under his command has already reached seventeen, surpassing the Gotei 13, and that doesn't even include the Zanpakuto (soul -Zanpakuto).
The call was answered quickly, "Hirako?"
"Ah, it's me," Shinji Hirako said, turning on speakerphone so the others could hear too.
"Are you looking for me?"
"Ah, I've already gone to find you."
"Shinjuku Nanchome, Ichidaime Uoko"
Didn't you two say you were going to eat Kantō?
"Haha, I suddenly think sushi and caviar rice are pretty good, and I've never been here before, shall I try them? Hahaha"
"Understood, I'll be there soon."
"How many people are there? What are you going to eat? Even if you're here to discuss business, you should at least eat while you talk, right?"
"Six of you, you..."
"Caviar rice bowl!" Mashiro Kuna was the first to speak.
"We'd like sushi, and do you also want caviar rice bowls?" Kensei Muguruma asked.
Senrime Shintarō swallowed hard. "I want that too."
"Two servings of caviar rice bowl, for a total of six people."
"OK! Waiting for you guys to come over, I think I heard Kensei's voice? I'm not mistaken, am I?"
"That's right, it's me, Kuruyashiki- san!"
"Haha, looks like we're all old friends. See you later!"