Sure enough, something had changed!
With his eyes closed in thought, no matter what, there had to be an entrance and exit. Otherwise, how could Ryudoji Yanlong and his group wander around everywhere?
How had they gone to Karakura Town to capture people, then entered the "Valley"?
"Think carefully! What abnormalities did Yanlong's group have?" He closed his eyes, and every scene since he had entered this other world rapidly flashed through his mind.
His encounter with Ichigo Kurosaki, Shizuku being captured... Soul Society...
Time passed bit by bit. About thirty minutes went by.
Uchiha Hiko suddenly opened his eyes. "Why did Yanlong keep carrying Shizuku upward to an altitude of ten thousand meters at the beginning?"
"Could the entrance be up there?"
"And why was Kuchiki Rukia unable to enter when she was just one step away from opening the passage to Soul Society?"
Uchiha Hiko had carefully calculated and deduced that one-step distance before.
Given Kuchiki Rukia's speed and reaction time, even if she had been ambushed and shoved forward—
She should have been pushed into Soul Society. There was no way Shizuku could have been taken away while Rukia herself failed even to touch the threshold of the passage.
And there was one more major point of suspicion.
Kuchiki Rukia's wound was on her chest, which meant she had been ambushed from the front.
Could the enemy have emerged from inside the passage???
Uchiha Hiko turned and stepped toward the ground, moving at incredible speed as the roaring wind howled past his ears.
He returned to the ground in less than a minute.
Shinji Hirako was still standing at the entrance of Urahara Shop, quietly waiting for Uchiha Hiko.
"Shinji! Whatever objections you have toward me, now isn't the time to hold a grudge."
"Fly up into