Chapter Sixteen

The threshold

It was a curious place.

Compared to the world of the living and the Soul Society, the blue sky looked as though it were a few shades dimmer. Though it was filled with a pronounced amount of reishi, the atmosphere felt different than that of the Soul Society and Hueco Mundo, and the surroundings were characterized by an inorganic wasteland dotted with bare, rocky cliffs.

In part of it were two structures that did not fit with the harsh scenery. One was a building—a luxurious, Eastern-style palace like something straight from the history books. Though it was not tall, the low, sprawling, magnificent palace emitted a distinct radiance from within the rocky and sandy space. The spectacle, which looked as though someone had replaced that section of the place with the Soul Society’s aristocratic quarters, was sure to provoke a reaction in anyone who saw it. Still, the other structure was even more bizarre. As though it were a single town, a gigantic royal palace that made one think of the Reiokyu and the Squad Zero Riden was floating in the sky. Though it loomed over the ground with an intense, intimidating weight from where it was in the heavens, there was no indication of a living being’s spiritual pressure coming from it, and it seemed like just a container floating in midair.

Directly below the curious structure, in the courtyard of the palace rooted on the ground, a woman wearing clothes from the living world—Aura Michibane—called out, “Thank you for your work, Lord Tokinada.”

The one she had spoken to, a man in luxurious Japanese-style clothing who seemed as though he were made for the palace—Tokinada Tsunayashiro—wore his usual nasty smile and said, “Yes, we had to move fairly quickly, but it seems we accomplished what we needed to in Ichigo Kurosaki’s absence.”

“So it seems everything went well for you then? I was expecting you at the Kyogoku much earlier. Were you out enjoying yourself all that time?”

Before Tokinada could reply, a flustered Hikone Ubuginu denied it. “No! It wasn’t Lord Tokinada’s fault! It was because I wasn’t able to be by Lord Tokinada’s side!”

“Yes, I’m sure that if Hikone had been with me, they would have been able to do something. However, I was the one who told Hikone to go to the Rukongai. It’s nothing for you to fret about.”

“Ugh. I’m so sorry, Lord Tokinada.”

With Hikone slinking like a beaten dog in front of her, Aura put on an inscrutable smile as she spoke to Tokinada. “But this is a curious place.”

“You’ve only been to this Kyogoku three times, isn’t that right?”

A Kyogoku. If the world of the living and the Soul Society could be likened to planets and the pipeline that connected them were Dangai, the void of space that surrounded those was called Garganta. Within that Garganta spaces occasionally floated up like bubbles that were filled with just enough reishi for humans and Soul Reapers to eke by in.

“Yes, it would be very interesting to know why places like this form in the Garganta in the first place.”

“One theory has it that they form from what were once pitiable konpaku whose souls lost their memories entirely and failed to enter the cycle of death and rebirth. If a Hollow’s final resting place is the desert of Hueco Mundo, then this is a simulated place created by humans who escaped from both Konso and the Hollows, and the souls of Soul Reapers and Rukongai residents who strayed from the flow of the cycle of reincarnation.”

“So you are saying that their reishi happens to gather to create these places?”

“There are various theories. It may be just the opposite, and when the world was reborn into the form it is in now, the reishi might have simply flowed into and gathered in the spaces that spilled out from it. Well, the details of how this space came to be are not relevant now. What is important is that this is a stronghold protected by the Garganta.” Tokinada snickered and said, “I do not think that the Four Great Noble Clans have been involved with Kyogoku since the Ryudoji family were cast out.”

He brought up the family name of an old and esteemed aristocratic clan as he let his mind run through the deeds of Soul Society ancestors who were involved in the drama that had banished them.

“I’m sure it would have been enjoyable. It’s not often that those who should consider themselves the strongest experience defeat and banishment into a Kyogoku, a place that they could not have comprehended. I cannot help but regret that I wasn’t there to see that.”

“I do not know anything about this Ryudoji clan, but if they are still alive, won’t they eventually visit the Soul Society seeking revenge?”

“I wonder if they would. Things might have already happened that I am unaware of, and they may have been settled long ago. I cannot help but look forward to the moment I will crush them if they should attempt to come now.”

“But you’ve already made the Thirteen Court Guard Companies your enemy and need to deal with them first, don’t you?”

As she spoke indifferently of the might of those they would confront, Aura smiled thinly. Seeing that smile, Tokinada let his lips twist into another smile that had an entirely different connotation.

“Yes, that is exactly how it is. Although it’s only a fraction of them. Are you frightened?”

Tokinada queried as though testing her, and Aura shook her head quietly.

“No. Kisuke Urahara was, of course, frightening, but if he is considered a top class, powerful individual in the Thirteen Court Guard Companies, then I believe I should be able to deal with the rest.”

“Don’t get too conceited now. Kisuke Urahara is certainly a man of infinite counterplans. However, the Seireitei is a den of thieves. Do not forget that even an ordinary soldier may hold a zanpaku-to with a power that would be most disadvantageous to you.”

Though he was warning her, Aura could not miss the curiosity that tinted the back of his eyes.

If that were to happen, this man would likely laugh about it.

This noble who came to praise me for having nearly invincible power would surely sneer at me the moment I displayed shock at meeting a passing soldier who could easily destroy me.

Even understanding that, Aura still stood by the man’s side.

Tokinada, understanding what was in Aura’s mind, continued as though to tease her, “However, I am looking forward to it. Though you were able to obtain such power because you do not have any love or attachment in this world…in the world after we remake it anew, perhaps you will find something you are just slightly attached to… If that happens, I am genuinely, honestly looking forward to finding out whether you become stronger or weaker. Isn’t that right, Hikone?”

“Yes! I don’t really understand what you are saying, but if you are looking forward to it, then I am too!”

Hikone smiled innocently at Tokinada’s words.

Though Aura’s expression changed for just a moment when she saw Hikone’s reaction, she did not reveal that to them. She pulled the conversation back to its original topic as though trying to cover up her feelings.

“Will you meet with Kisuke Urahara? He is currently being kept captive in one of our group member’s powers.”

After pondering this for a moment, Tokinada shook his head.

“Let’s not. He is the kind of man who could kill us with one spell. We must be cautious of him, and though it was no mistake to capture him, having me meet with him directly would be like a commander running up to the front line of a battleground. I do not intend to stain my hands with my own blood with suicidal actions.”

His predatory smile distorted all the more. “We will have him create a Hogyoku after we destroy everything he was meant to protect. No, maybe we should in fact take them hostage without breaking them. However, I do have some desire to see his face the moment I kill the people he loves.”

Tokinada wavered about how exactly to treat Urahara, as though it were as inconsequential as picking out a new book to read. Aura thought that this was the man’s weakness as well as his greatest strength. She spoke up as though she had remembered something. “Actually, when we captured Kisuke Urahara, another Soul Reaper also fought us.”

“Ah yes, I was interrupted before I was able to look at the footage directly…but spiritual pressure data other than Urahara’s was observed. Since the Kurosaki father and son are gone, was it the Thirteenth Company that is currently occupying the town?”

“It was the assistant captain of the Ninth Company, Shuhei Hisagi.”

“Hisagi…Hisagi? Ah, yes! Kaname Tosen’s disciple!”

Recalling the face of the man whose life he had ruined, Tokinada started to speak, joy filling his voice. “Ha ha ha! What a strange coincidence! I was hoping to take my time making a plaything of him, but it seems that I may be breaking him earlier than intended. Though I was looking forward to seeing how he would report on my inauguration in the Seireitei Bulletin.”

“He is cut off in Karakura Town. He likely cannot come here. Then again, I do not think he would have been able to come here even if he had been in the Soul Society.”

As Aura casually described the current situation, Tokinada shook his head.

“No? The Soul Society people will likely come. In a few hours…no, it might only be ten minutes or so. If Mayuri Kurotsuchi is with them, he will likely immediately discern my goals and location.”

“Are you fine with that? Based on Shunsui Kyoraku’s personality, he will likely proceed in secrecy, but he would still send in very skilled people for the occasion.”

“That is exactly why he will do what I expect him to. His coming here is a good thing, since the tricks I have used become weaker with time. If we are going to get this done, we should do it quickly.”

Tokinada clapped a hand on Hikone’s head to pat it, and thinking of the face of his old enemy who would be coming shortly, he spoke his desires with a joyful voice: “Now I can openly kill all of those who disturb my entertainment in the name of mutiny.”

≡

THE Seireitei, Kutsuwa Town,
Eleventh Company barracks

Returning from speaking with the messenger that had been dispatched from the First Company, Kenpachi appeared in front of Madarame and Yumichika still in his captain’s coat. He gave them a blunt order. “Ikkaku, Yumichika, we’re heading out.”

“Yes, Captain!”

They replied to him simultaneously, then the two started to dash after Kenpachi, who had broken into a fast run. Though they had not been told specifically where they were going or why, if a messenger formerly from the Secret Remote Squad was sent, he likely had received a secret order.

Though they had no idea whether they were heading toward certain death, it wasn’t as though that would cause Madarame or Yumichika to become timid. Perhaps because Kenpachi also knew that, he didn’t specifically ask them to prepare themselves for such a situation. Those who shouldered the yarrow knew by instinct that their one and only reward was the spray of blood that soaked them on the unending battlefield.

Following Kenpachi, Madarame asked Yumichika, who ran behind him and to the side, “But with the captain being called and the Second Company going on the move earlier, what exactly happened?”

Yumichika shrugged and shook his head. “Who knows? As far as strange happenings go, I guess Hisagi went to the living world too.”

“He did?”

“It was to do an interview in Karakura Town. He’s probably talking to Shino too, I bet.”

“Shino, huh…? Wonder if she’s actually doing her job right.”

Thinking of his sister, who had been haggard for a while after the Quincy war, Madarame worried about her current condition.

“I saw her partner once, and he just didn’t look all that reliable…”

“Yeah, he’s Yuki from the Sixth Company’s younger brother, isn’t he?”

“Rikichi, huh? That guy was Renji’s underling. Now he really had a backbone.”

Rikichi Yuki was a young Soul Reaper from the Sixth Company and was famous for aspiring to be like Renji Abarai, to the point that he had gotten the same tribal tattoo over his eyebrow. In Madarame’s eyes, his skills were still nowhere near Renji’s, but he remembered the Soul Reaper showing some guts in the combined practices with the Sixth Company. “Well, at worst, he came from Shinoreijutsuin, and he was dispatched in a Jureichi like Karakura Town. He must have something in him.”

≡

The world of the living,
Karakura Town, Mitsumiya,
Urahara Shoten underground facilities

“W-w-w-what are we going to do, Shino?! H-how could Mr. Urahara have gotten kidnapped?! Maybe this is the end of the world…”

Under the painted blue sky, Ryunosuke’s tearful voice reverberated in Urahara Shoten’s basement, a sprawling space that seemed to defy the laws of physics. Though it was underground, that underground place that resembled outdoors was the place where Ichigo Kurosaki, Renji Abarai, and Yasutora Sado had undergone their training in the past. That space, which Urahara had created for Ichigo overnight, was called the “Study Room.” Its special features were a fake sky and withered trees, and was a place where Soul Reapers could go berserk without repercussions.

In response to Ryunosuke, who was crying and yelling, Shino seized his head from behind as though performing a headlock on him.

“Why’re you such a Debbie downer?! This is the exact time! When! We’ve got to! Be calm and collected!” Shino punctuated her words as she put her all into constraining him. “Your older brother’s the third seat of the Sixth Company, isn’t he?! Can’t you learn to be like him even a little?!”

While suffering under her arm, Ryunosuke’s eyes still had tears in them as he objected. “Ow ow ow ow… B-but Rikichi is terrible at taking care of the hell butterflies and he once chopped pickles with Assistant Captain Abarai’s zanpaku-to and got a teacup thrown at him…”

“Who asked you to describe every episode of bad luck your brother had?! I’m saying do something about how you’re always relying on Mr. Urahara!”

“Ow ow ow ow, but the Seireitei Bulletin was saying that we have no idea how many times the Soul Society could have been in ruins if Mr. Urahara weren’t around!”

Hiyori Sarugaki, who had been listening to them from the sidelines, yelled in an irritated voice, “Shuddup! Any world that relies on that baldy Kisuke supporting it would be in ruins after three days, you dolt! What idiot said that?! What kind of numbskull was writing that fake news?!”

A voice addressed Hiyori from behind as she grabbed Ryunosuke’s collar. “That was me.”

Shuhei Hisagi, a glum look on his face, stood there. He was looking glum not because Hiyori had called his article fake news, but because Kisuke Urahara had been kidnapped before his very eyes and he hadn’t been able to do anything about it.

Hiyori fixed a stare on Hisagi and moved her eyes up and down as though appraising him.

“Hunh? Who the heck are you? Weren’t you Kensei’s assistant captain or something? What’re you doing here?”

“Well…I was interviewing Mr. Urahara.”

“Don’t avoid my eyes. Are you thinking ‘What a troublesome person I’ve run into right in the middle of all this trouble?’ Eh?”

“Well, yeah, half of me is…”

Hisagi, who spoke as though he weren’t really there in spirit, had spoken his honest feelings. At that point, a vein throbbed on Hiyori’s forehead as she twisted up the hem of Hisagi’s clothes.

“You’re actually telling me to my face, baldy?! Are you mocking me?!”

When Ryunosuke saw that, he thought…

She’s probably actually trying to grab him by the collar. She’s just too short to reach.

…but because he, of course, instinctively sensed that it would endanger his life, he didn’t say it out loud. On the other hand, Hisagi, who had been caught up in this mess in such an absurd way, seemed upset for a moment until he looked like he remembered something and replied, “Th-that’s right—I’m teasing you!”

“Hungh?!”

“C-Captain Hirako said, ‘If you see Hiyori, make sure to tease her for me’!”

“Whyyy that dumb little balding eggplant! Does he think he can give orders like that just because he’s got the authority of a captain?!” Hiyori turned to the empty sky and yelled, flapping both of her arms. Now released, Hisagi felt bad that he had brought up Hirako’s name to avoid the brunt of the attack, and he considered apologizing to Hirako after the fact. Actually, Captain Hirako did tell me to do that…

As he was considering that, someone spoke to him from behind. “Have you and your zanpaku-to recovered now?”

“Yes, I’m fine. Thank you for your help.”

Hisagi bowed his head respectfully to the giant with a characteristic haircut, Tessai Tsukabishi. Though Tessai was currently a candy shop worker, in the past he had been an influential figure in the Seireitei as the leader of the Kido Corp and had skills that rivaled Urahara’s. It was even rumored that he excelled at a particular type of kido technique, which he was better at than Urahara.

Hisagi reflected upon his own pitiful state and lowered his head in front of the man who had served a prominent role in the Soul Society when he had been only a child.

“I’m sorry…it happened right in front of me. Mr. Urahara was…”

“Please don’t worry yourself over it. It was the shop manager’s carelessness that caused him to be kidnapped, and all it means is that the opponent was just as powerful. Based on what you said, it seems their intent was not to harm the shop manager, so in the first place we should just be happy that no harm was done to him.”

Hisagi wanted to accept the man’s words, but at the same time, the intense self-admonishment bubbling up from within him wasn’t so easy to escape from, even with the other man’s kindness.

“No. I couldn’t do anything, again.”

“Why are you being so negative?”

“It’s always like this. When something is essential, when it’s important, I’m not strong enough. I couldn’t show my face to Captain Tosen or Captain Muguruma after how they trained me.” Hisagi replied to Tessai in a mumble, as though he were speaking to himself, as he gripped his hands into fists. When she heard those words, Hiyori once again got involved.

“What? What is wrong with you? Grumbling pitifully is irritating enough, but why’re you calling Tosen ‘captain’? You underestimating Kensei?”

The girl seemed quietly angry in a way that was different from her prior anger. Hisagi denied her assertion while also being unable to easily brush it away. “No, that’s not what I mean. Captain Muguruma is an amazing captain. I’m grateful, and I’m indebted to him. But Tosen, who taught me my way of life, is someone who I feel even now is a captain to me in the same way.”

“Why’re you being so serious? Seriously, Kensei is being too soft on you, allowing that behavior.”

Hiyori clucked her tongue and didn’t pursue her attack any further. Possibly because her own past self and Shuhei as he was now had some similarities.

It was back when she was the Twelfth Company’s assistant captain. She had recalled the days when she continually reminded Kisuke Urahara, “I don’t accept you as my captain,” because she had idolized her former captain, Hikifune, so much.

When Hiyori turned around with a docile look on her face, Hisagi had no idea how to respond.

“I…”

He couldn’t get the words out since he didn’t know what to say. Unable to stand by and watch, Tessai clapped Hisagi on the back and told him, “Don’t debase yourself like that. You yourself are a Soul Reaper who has survived his own fair share of carnage during a long military service, Shuhei Hisagi. Though you blame yourself, your eyes still have life in them.”

“That just means I’m not dead yet. I may have survived carnage, but I only just barely survived alive through luck. Treating me like a hero would be giving me undue credit.”

Hisagi spoke somewhat masochistically, and Tessai quickly responded, “Yes, you certainly are different from Mr. Ichigo Kurosaki.”

“I know that better than…”

“Well, that is not what I mean by it.”

Cutting off Hisagi, Tessai spoke in a more serious tone than usual. When he heard Tessai's voice, which had power in it, Hisagi remembered once again that this man standing in front of his eyes had once been called the “Commander of the Kido Corp.”

“Mr. Kurosaki’s way of fighting is to disregard his fear. On the other hand, I can see constant, uniform fear in your eyes. But even though you hold that fear in your chest, you still choose the path of battle and are continuing to be a Soul Reaper, are you not?”

“But that’s…”

Hisagi internally recalled Kaname Tosen’s teachings.

“If you’re really afraid of fighting…

“You’ve already acquired something invaluable as a warrior!”

Hisagi made a vow. If everyone had fear, he would simply walk by its side of his own volition. However, would he be able to walk alongside that fear even now?

In the first place, do I…really know what the true meaning of fear is?

Hisagi already constantly had that worry. The words Tosen had said when they faced one another were still burned cleanly into him.

“I thought I told you. Those who don’t know fear have no right to fight.”

“You haven’t changed at all.”

“Even in those words of yours, there wasn’t a hint of fear lurking in them.”

There was no hesitation in those words, and Hisagi had been captured by the illusion that his teacher Tosen had seen through to the very depths of his soul with his unseeing eyes, to the point that the words themselves made him fearful.

That doubt once again revived in Hisagi. As though he were seeing through that new worry as well, the former Kido Commander, Tessai, called out to Hisagi, “This is not a matter of whether you or Mr. Kurosaki is correct.”

Tessai recalled the past hero and impressed upon Hisagi a truth: “Mr. Ichigo Kurosaki is certainly a hero who has saved the Soul Society, or perhaps even the world, multiple times. However, he is a novice who has not lived even a full twenty years.”

“Kurosaki is impressive specifically because he’s become so powerful at that age. And to think that he’s supposed to be a novice compared to me…”

“This is a matter of the strength of your soul. He is still in the middle of growing. His soul is both strong and frail. If he is able to confront someone as strong as Aizen, then there must be times when he has confronted hopelessness and despair.”

Those from Urahara Shoten who had watched Ichigo Kurosaki for a long time knew this. When Rukia Kuchiki had been taken away to the Soul Society, Ichigo Kurosaki wasn’t able to figure out the technique for getting to the Soul Society and had lamented, “I can’t do anything myself.” They knew about when his close friends’ pasts had been stolen by the Fullbringer Tsukishima, and how he had turned his back on that reality as well. However, Ichigo Kurosaki's soul hadn’t been crushed by those events.

In the former situation, Kisuke Urahara had offered his hand, and in the latter, Rukia Kuchiki had, and Ichigo Kurosaki had waved off his fear and summoned the power to sweep aside his distress.

Though it wasn’t something Tessai had been a part of, Ichigo Kurosaki had almost been seized by despair in front of Yhwach’s power in the war with the Quincies. However, he had been offered a hand at that time by those he had saved, and that bravery to stand up from the pit of despair had become his power to continue fighting. Though Tessai had not seen the moment itself, he knew that was the true nature of Ichigo’s strength.

“Mr. Ichigo Kurosaki is certainly a man of many qualities. However, he was neither an almighty, complete hero nor a strong, firm tree upon birth. Because of that, he was able to grow into his strength.”

There was a pressure in Tessai’s words, as though he wouldn’t accept anything less than agreement. Hisagi felt this man had survived a great number many more carnages than he himself had during his time in the Soul Society.

“If brushing off perplexity, grief, and occasional despair and fear becomes Mr. Kurosaki’s strength, then it is those who have walked alongside fear for a long time who have the role of protecting his weaknesses in the moment he is sinking in tears. What you have is strength.”

“What I have…?”

“It is not that you are special. One source of fear is death. What are Soul Reapers, who are the ones that guide souls who have strayed from the path, supposed to do if they cannot protect others from fear?”

Tessai then stopped, cleared his throat with a cough, and finished what he had to say. “That is what the shop manager would likely say, in a more concise way. An oaf like myself might not have his persuasiveness.”

In the next moment, Hisagi hit his face with his own fist.

“Mr. Hisagi?!”

“Tessai Tsukabishi, Kido Commander, thank you very much. You’ve opened my eyes.”

“Right now, I am but a humble candy store employee. Please disregard that as a joke.”

At that point, Tessai felt reassured by the look in Hisagi’s eyes. The worry and hesitation had disappeared entirely. Hisagi, who had bowed at the silent Soul Reaper leader, had cut through his doubt and moved on in order to do what he needed to in his role as a Soul Reaper.

Jinta, who had been watching from afar, seemed fed up. “That Soul Reaper sure is simple if he’s gonna get all gung-ho over a lecture from somebody like Tessai… Bleh.”

“Don’t be like that,” Ururu said, karate chopping him in the head. “I think it’s cool the way Soul Reapers are awkward like that.”

≡

Inside Urahara Shoten

“If we just had a lead…”

Hisagi, Tessai, Hiyori, and the others returned above-ground and were searching for any kind of clue as to where Aura and Yukio had gone after the earlier fight. There was still a thin boundarylike film over the sky, and they were still cut off from making contact with the Soul Society. Wondering whether there was a lead there, Hisagi noticed something strange.

Since when had that been there? There was a small sphere placed on top of the store counter that released a strange reishi. It had a drawing of Urahara’s face and the first character of his name marked on it. As though it had reacted to his spiritual pressure the moment Hisagi picked it up, the sphere bounced and splattered red fluid on the store’s floor. The paint dripped, wriggling on its own until it spelled out a sentence.

“Whoa… What the heck is that?!”

“Please look for Ms. Aura’s believers. They will likely have a ‘pillar.’”

“Is this a message from Mr. Urahara?!”

It was likely something he had prepared during the earlier fight, right before giving Hisagi Gentei Kaijo.

“What’s that thing about a ‘pillar’? Does it have something to do with what their goal is?”

If that were the case, then did that mean in that short time, Urahara had considered the possibility that he would potentially be kidnapped? Just as Hisagi was thinking he really had to have been the most remarkable person in the Soul Society, Hiyori yelped in dismay after catching sight of the bloody sentence. “Gross! What the heck is this supposed to be?! It looks like it was written by a murder victim—with his own blood!”

After Hiyori shouted that, a supplemental bloody sentence appeared.

“P.S. To those who saw this and thought it was some written-in-a-murder-victim’s-blood horror movie cliché: You have no sense of humor. Big time.”

“Shut it!”

Hiyori stomped on the bloody sentence many times with the force of a Gatling gun and created cracks in the floor of the store.

Though that was curiously similar to Ichigo Kurosaki’s reaction in the past, she had no way of knowing that.

“What should we do, Shino?! I thought that too, so I must have no sense of humor either.”

“There’s no point in talking about that.”

While Ryunosuke and Shino were talking to each other on the sidelines, Hisagi was confused as his stock in Urahara fluctuated intensely.

“Don’t you think that postscript was strangely long?”

Looking at Hisagi, Tessai shook his head awkwardly.

“I apologize. The last sentence was preloaded in the sphere from the start…”

≡

Kukaku Shiba’s residence,
the Rukongai

“I see. I understand what you’re saying, I do, but…” After making a humble expression, the man opened his eyes wide and yelled, “Why have you gathered at our house after all of that?! C’mon, it’s just weird!”

In the reception hall of the Rukongai’s pyrotechnician Kukaku Shiba’s residence, Ganju Shiba’s voice echoed. The heel of the residence’s owner, Kukaku, came down on top of Ganju’s head.

“Ow!”

“Stop making a commotion, Ganju. We have guests!”

“Aren’t you being a little too generous, sis?! Are you actually going to treat all of these people as guests?!”

Rubbing his head, Ganju looked over the faces scattered around the guest room. Including Ganju and his sister, there were over twenty people gathered in the space. The number itself wasn’t unmanageable; the issue was the breakdown of those who had gathered. There were the three usual freeloading Fullbringers. There were the three Soul Reapers: Hirako, Nanao Ise, and Yoruichi Shihoin. There were the three Arrancars: Grimmjow, Nelliel, and Halibel. There were the Kurotsuchi Corpse Unit’s Quincies Candice and Meninas, as well as Liltotto and Giselle who stood to their right and left, and also Bambietta who was crouching quietly in a corner of the room—this tallied up to five Quincies in total. On top of that, there were of course the Kurotsuchi Corpse Unit Arrancars Dordoni, Cirucci, Luppi, and Charlotte clumped in a corner. Then there were the two who were staying on the side, observing everyone in the room: Mayuri Kurotsuchi and Najahkoop.

The connotation may have been slightly off, but “motley crew” had the right ring to describe the people gathered there and the peculiar atmosphere in that reception area. However, unlike a crew, their relationship couldn’t be described as one of camaraderie.

“Hey, stop taking advantage of the confusion to ‘observe’ us, you peeping tom.”

At Liltotto’s words, Najahkoop, who was at Mayuri’s side, shrugged.

“Why’re you being so self-conscious? I mean, if I were going to stare you down, then I would start with you two, Lil and Gigi. When Bazz-B betrayed me, you were complicit, weren’t you? Huh?”

“How should I know? Bazz-B burning his friends from behind is normal? You were just being a dunce for not dodging it.”

Liltotto ignored the fact that Bazz-B had once also hit her from behind. Going along with it, Giselle pretended to be scared as she hid behind Candice and said, “Oooh, that’s so scaaary. That you’d dredge up something from so long ago is just depressing on top of being gross.”

“W-why you little…”

Najahkoop scowled. Meanwhile, Luppi from the Corpse Unit glared at Grimmjow as he yelled, “How much longer do I have to wait? I wanna hurry up and tear apart this brute’s guts.”

Luppi tried to provoke Grimmjow with the aim of angering his opponent, but before Grimmjow could say anything in return he ended up on the receiving end of an electric current that ran through his whole body, putting him in agony.

“AHHHHhhhh?!”

Then, Mayuri, whose hand gripped the electric shock switch said, “Really now, can you not even read the room? Even when I gave you such a perfect opportunity, you weren’t able to get it done in time. Don’t embarrass me.”

“Guh. Someday I will definitely break you…”

“It seems you have regained your rebellious spirit. I am just glad you have the ability to talk back at me like that.”

When Mayuri increased the voltage yet again, it was not just Luppi who screamed. It seemed all the members of the Corpse Unit were being shocked, and they yelled in unison as they tumbled to the room’s floor.

“Gwah gah gah gah?!”

“Why are we getting shocked too?!”

Dordoni and Cirucci were shrieking as usual.

“Ha ha. This is great. More, give me more! Make me even more radiant!”

“Ha ha ha ha ha, I can’t move and it feels so strange.”

Whether Charlotte and Meninas were resistant to it or simply dull, they didn’t seem to be suffering much. Candice also brushed it aside with ease. “Hmph, a current like this is nothing to me.”

“Hm? What is this? Wait! No way! Wait, wait, wait!”

Instead of an electric current, her attack was switched to the hallucination of centipedes crawling all over her body, and she ended up screaming too.

“As you see, regardless of whether my underlings are Quincies or Arrancars, I can have them properly disciplined, so there is no concern in that regard. Though I cannot take responsibility over the wild Quincies and stray Arrancars.” Mayuri addressed this to the Soul Reapers as well as Kukaku and her brother.

Grimmjow watched Luppi rolling on the ground with faint breath and said with mixed feelings, “You seem like you’ve been caught up in a bit of trouble.”

“Grr. Stop looking at me like you pity me. That’s not a good look on you.”

After glancing at Luppi, who tried to put on a brave face, Grimmjow’s interest waned as he put his hostility on the backburner.

“Killing someone in that state isn’t any fun. Hurry up and escape it or something.”

“You make it sound so easy!”

With the tension mounting, the reception hall was getting out of hand.

“I’ve got one thing to say.”

Kukaku’s piercing voice resounded, and those who had been making a commotion all stopped at the same time.

“This is my house. I don’t mind you being rowdy, but if you’re going to cut each other up then take it outside.”

Though her voice was soft, there was an energy in it that indicated she wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“That woman’s strong.”

“Yes. She doesn’t seem to be a Soul Reaper, but I suppose…I suppose there were some strong people lurking around.”

Halibel could comprehend Kukaku’s power through the spiritual pressure in her words, and Nelliel agreed with her.

Needless to say, those who knew Kukaku from the start, like Ginjo and the others, became quiet and subdued. The same was true for the Quincies and Corpse Unit. Other than Mayuri Kurotsuchi, that is, who marched to the beat of his own drum.

“Well, to think that you were using a firefly for lighting until now. Though you are descendants of the Shiba family, you are living quite a frugal life. You repel visitors by being too simple and economical.”

“Can we kick him out first?”

There was disgust in Kukaku’s eyes, but Yoruichi shook her head.

“I know how you feel, but please bear with him a little longer.” Then, still sitting cross-legged, she lowered her head deeply to Kukaku. “I’m sorry. I’ve dragged you into trouble again.”

“Don’t worry about it. I told you before, didn’t I? I love trouble,” Kukaku replied with a cheerful smile. She suddenly noticed something. “Say, where’s Soi Fon? Wasn’t she with you?”

“Yeah, she’s not the type to think that the enemy of her enemy is a friend. I ordered her to go check out the abnormalities within the Seireitei, so she’s headed there.”

“Right, I see. I don’t dislike it though—working against a mutual enemy.”

While they were having that conversation, they felt several spiritual pressures making their way down from upstairs and along the hallway. One of the spiritual pressures among them was more pronounced, wild and ominous. Those who noticed it opened their eyes wide when they realized who it was—Grimmjow recalled the identity of that spiritual pressure from a memory deep within himself.

“This presence…”

It was the spiritual pressure he had encountered at the boundaries of his perception when he was near death after being cut down by an Espada named Nnoitora. It was the spiritual pressure of the man who had killed Nnoitora with an overwhelming power.

The camp of female Quincies all took on a cautious tinge in their eyes and made it known that the person who was about to make an appearance was someone they considered a threat. And Giriko Kutsuzawa, who normally seemed utterly calm, broke into a cold sweat on his forehead as his eyes roved around.

Amidst that strained atmosphere, the sliding door to the reception hall opened and five Soul Reapers appeared.

“What kind of a gathering is this?”

This dubious question was asked by the owner of the atrocious, magma-like spiritual pressure, Kenpachi Zaraki.

Madarame, who followed him, also scowled when he glimpsed the faces in the hall. When Yumichika noticed Charlotte and Giselle, he rudely let out a “Blergh.” Additionally, Kensei Muguruma stood beside them and gazed around silently. Appearing from behind those four, the hat-wearing Soul Reaper with a particularly graceful air, Shunsui Kyoraku, revealed himself.

“Well, it seems everyone is present. What a joy it is that there are even beautiful ladies here.”

Kyoraku spoke flatly, but those in the room understood his meaning. Though the spiritual pressure around Kyoraku wasn’t as wild as Kenpachi’s, they recognized that it was cold and keen, like a blade that had sunk to the bottom of a body of water.

“Now, how about we get started right away?”

Kyoraku clapped his hands together and said in a light tone, “It’s time to supplant the Four Great Noble Clans.”