The Unforgiven from Shinigami
First Division Barracks, Side Hall.
"... If there's nothing else, I'll be going now."
Kūkaku Shiba reveals the World of the Living of his trip, concealing his meeting with his uncle.
Regardless of the reason, bestowing the power of a Shinigami upon a Quincy is a grave sin.
She only stated Kisuke Urahara's conditions.
Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto frowned slightly, feeling that these conditions weren't too unreasonable, and nodded, saying, "Go."
"Yes." Kūkaku Shiba turned and strode away from the side hall.
The door wasn't closed; a hand reached out to stop it from closing, and the man squeezed in, smiling broadly, "Long time no see, Captain-Commander Yamamoto."
"Decades have passed, and you haven't changed much; you're still as unkempt as ever."
Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto opened his narrowed eyes and looked at the man in front of him. In terms of intelligence, even Mayuri Kurotsuchi was inferior.
He once admired this person greatly, but unfortunately, fate played a cruel trick on them, causing them to part ways. Even when they collaborated again, they could not maintain the same level of mutual trust.
Kisuke Urahara stroked his stubble and chuckled, "As for looks, as long as he looks like a normal person, that's enough."
"Alright, you came to see me, so you probably didn't want to reminisce. Just say what you want to say."
The First Evolution
Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto tapped his cane on the ground and began to get down to business. He had many things to do and really didn't have time for idle chatter.
Kisuke Urahara's smile faded, and he said seriously, "Actually, I'm reporting to you, Captain-Commander, that Aizen's actions in the World of the Living are very likely aimed at finding traces of Fullbringer, or more precisely, Kūgo Ginjō."
Upon hearing the name, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto frowned slightly, recalling unpleasant memories.
The first generation of Shinigami substitute system.
A rule was broken specifically for one human, allowing that human to legitimately carry out the duties of Shinigami, resulting in human rebellion.
Jūshirō Ukitake proposed this system, was severely criticized by the Central 46 Chambers at the time.
After that, Soul Society also tried to track down Kūgo Ginjō's whereabouts, but they were unable to find him for a long time.
"Does Aizen want to join forces with him?"
"I suspect Aizen wanted to kill him and seize the Soul King Fragment within him to create the Hōgyoku."
Kisuke Urahara took out the Hōgyoku he had made, his face grave, and said, "This is a very dangerous signal. It means that Aizen's understanding of the Soul King has reached a very deep level."
How much do you actually know?
Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto asked a question in return.
Kisuke Urahara smile, " Captain-Commander Yamamoto, let's not put up this kind of test between us."
The Soul King is the wedge of the world; without him, the entire world would collapse.
This is a situation that cannot be allowed to happen to us.
"Um."
Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto nodded.
The teaching materials of the Shin'ō Academy and the nobles' fervent praise of the Soul King were merely a form of atonement.
The true Soul King is merely a tool to stabilize the Three Realms.
Whether or not they have willpower is completely unimportant; in fact, it is the presence of willpower that makes them all the more terrifying.
"Can we send Squad Zero down to help?"
"No."
Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto gave a specific answer: the reason why the Squad Zero was able to go down to the Seireitei Sōya Azashiro time was because the other party's thoughts disrupted the stability of the three realms.
Emptiness cannot be extinguished.
If Hollows are lost, the balance between the World of the Living, Hueco Mundo, Soul Society will collapse, triggering a chain reaction.
But Aizen's actions were different.
They drove the Void to the World of the Living, causing considerable human casualties, but because those Voids were too weak, they were not enough to threaten the balance of the three realms.
If that standard isn't met, the Squad Zero won't intervene.
Their stance is not entirely aligned with that of the Gotei 13.
To put it bluntly, the Squad Zero didn't really care that all Gotei 13 were wiped out and Aizen took over Soul Society.
"That bald monk is really confident."
Kisuke Urahara muttered a complaint, scratching his head as he said, "We'll have to figure something out ourselves. As for the others, forget about them. Kūgo Ginjō, who possesses the power of Fullbringer and Shinigami, absolutely cannot fall into Aizen's hands."
Even if we fail, with him there, there is still hope for this world.
This idea reminded Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto Mayuri Kurotsuchi, which was also about finding a way out and suggested that Jūshirō Ukitake be willing to sacrifice himself at a critical moment.
He was very displeased, feeling that both of them were using this disaster to bring their shady research into the open. "I will not allow that to happen."
"All right."
Kisuke Urahara shrugged and changed his request, "I want to stay at the Research and Development Institute for a while and work with Mayuri Kurotsuchi to study the mysteries of the Hōgyoku."
Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto asked in confusion, "Wasn't the Hōgyoku something you researched?"
"At the time, I thought it was too dangerous, so I didn't investigate it in depth. Now that Aizen can independently develop the Hōgyoku, I can't know less than him."
Kisuke Urahara would never underestimate Aizen; that man had once taken advantage of an information gap to outmaneuver him.
We must not make the same mistake again this time.
Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "Alright, go ahead."
"Please have the Captain-Commander write an order; otherwise, Mayuri Kurotsuchi won't cooperate with me."
Kisuke Urahara knew that person's personality quite well; if he went empty-handed, he would be kicked out without a doubt, and the Hōgyoku would remain there.
Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto turned around, wrote an order, and stamped it with the First Division's seal.
Kisuke Urahara accepted the order and said with a smile, "Then I'll take my leave, Captain-Commander Yamamoto."
"Hmm." Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto continued with his official duties.
Kisuke Urahara hurriedly left the First Division barracks and Shunpo to the Research and Development Institute.
The institution he founded hasn't changed much in appearance from back then, except that the doors are much more advanced, having changed from wooden doors to iron doors.
Kisuke Urahara stood at the door and pressed the doorbell. " Mayuri Kurotsuchi, long time no see! Please open the door, I have Hōgyoku here~"
It's like the tone used to coax a child with candy.
This is what Mayuri Kurotsuchi Kisuke Urahara; what he hates even more is that he can never refuse the man's requests.
Hōgyoku.
He was so eager to investigate that he pressed the door open button. " Nemu, bring that guy here."
"No need for that, I can do it myself."
Kisuke Urahara squeezed through the crack in the laboratory door, glanced at Nemu Kurotsuchi, and chuckled, "Wow, what a wonderful artificial soul."
Mayuri Kurotsuchi said with a grim expression, "I should have set up many traps along the way."
"Oh, I see, you've made great progress."
Kisuke Urahara replied casually that he admired Mayuri Kurotsuchi's intellect and also enjoyed teasing him.
At his level of intelligence, the only people who could pique his interest were either hot-blooded idiots with no brains or highly intelligent individuals like Mayuri Kurotsuchi.
Mayuri Kurotsuchi gritted his teeth in anger, "Oh, you're really arrogant. I need to show you my recent research."
Nemu, hand over that document.
Nemu Kurotsuchi understood immediately and presented a detailed outline of the Artificial Soul King plan.
Kisuke Urahara looked at it and said with satisfaction, "You've actually understood this much. Perfect, it'll save me a lot of explanation for the upcoming experiments."
"You..." Mayuri Kurotsuchi was at a loss for words. From the beginning, none of his surprises had ever elicited even the slightest hint of Kisuke Urahara.
It was as if everything was under control.
He's always a step behind.
This was the thing he couldn't tolerate the most. " Nemu! Get him..."
"This is Captain-Commander Yamamoto's order, requiring you and me to jointly investigate the secrets of the Hōgyoku."
Kisuke Urahara pulled out an order and said with a smile, "Let's relive the happy times we had together doing research."
Mayuri Kurotsuchi felt his blood pressure rise significantly, recalling the days when he was Urahara's assistant.
That's really annoying.
He reinstated Kisuke Urahara to the top spot as the person he disliked the most.