Bleach [116-117] (Patreon)

Chapter 116: The Disappearance of Suì-Fēng and the Outbreak of War

While discussing the next steps with Aizen, Yoshio received a message from Roka Paramia.

"..."

Yoshio suddenly stopped.

"It seems... the imaginary body has run into trouble," Aizen said softly.

Yoshio nodded and said, "Roka Paramia just reported to me that... 'Suì-Fēng's' core 'Tenshintai' hasn't been recovered."

The imaginary body is composed of three powers: Tenshintai, Telaraña, and Hōgyoku. Telaraña and Hōgyoku are intangible components, while Tenshintai is a tangible entity.

However, once the imaginary body disappears, these Tenshintai return to Las Noches.

Just like when the imaginary bodies of Mayuri and Tōsen Kaname disappeared, their Tenshintai also returned to Las Noches.

At this point, Suì-Fēng's imaginary body had already been defeated by Yoruichi, so her imaginary body should have returned.

"..."

In an instant, both Yoshio and Aizen fell into deep thought.

There were two possibilities for this situation.

One possibility was that before 'Suì-Fēng' disappeared, someone had already locked onto the 'Tenshintai' and kept it in the 'Human World,' preventing it from being sent back to 'Las Noches.'

After 'Suì-Fēng' disappeared, the 'Tenshintai' would only remain in that person's hands.

The second possibility was...

'Suì-Fēng' hasn't disappeared yet!

Yoshio furrowed his brows. Although Suì-Fēng's imaginary body wasn't particularly remarkable, she was still a Captain-class Shinigami, one of the thirteen peak captains of Soul Society.

An abnormality occurring with her was definitely not a trivial matter.

"Could Kisuke Urahara do this?" Yoshio asked subconsciously.

"No," Aizen said softly. "Kisuke Urahara wouldn't do such a thing. It seems..."

Aizen seemed to think of something, his eyes flashing with an unknown light, and he said, "Those people in the shadows of the Three Realms can no longer sit still."

The shadows of the Three Realms...

With that, Yoshio understood.

The shadows... that referred to...

The Quincy?

The forces in the Three Realms were limited: Shinigami, Hollows, Quincy.

On the Shinigami side, whether it was Soul Society or Kisuke Urahara's faction in the Human World, they wouldn't do something like this.

As for the Hollow side, there was even less to say.

So, it could only be the Quincy side.

Why would the Quincy, hidden in the shadows of Soul Society, make a move at this time? And targeting an imaginary body?

However...

It might not matter.

The Quincy's power was already strong enough, so a little more power wouldn't make a difference.

As the saying goes, the more liars, the better. With Yhwach, who could possess the The Almighty, Yoshio wouldn't be surprised by whatever strange things the Quincy pulled off.

In any case, the Thousand-Year Blood War was still far off.

Seeing that Aizen had stopped talking, Yoshio also lost the desire to stay.

To be honest, this matter was essentially caused by him, but he really had no intention of getting too involved.

What did Aizen and Kisuke Urahara's battle of wits have to do with him? He might as well use this time to properly study the research data he had recently obtained.

"Hmph... Mayuri."

The corners of Yoshio's mouth curled up slightly.

Mayuri, who said he wouldn't cooperate with Arrancar, had actually already established contact with them.

When Shiba Isshin arrived, he carried Mayuri's surveillance spirit bug.

And when he left, that surveillance spirit bug had ended up in Angra Mainyu's hands.

Through this surveillance spirit bug, Angra Mainyu and Mayuri had secretly reached a cooperation agreement.

Someone like Mayuri didn't care about Shinigami dignity at all.

Discovering a new species like Arrancar was an unexpected delight for him; he was already eager to research this new type of Menos Grande.

But rather than conducting research through official channels (which would inevitably be restricted), why not do unrestricted research in private?

Why did he contact Angra Mainyu through Shiba Isshin?!

Wouldn't direct contact between the two sides be better?

As long as Angra Mainyu showed value for cooperation, Mayuri wouldn't care about his identity.

What Hollow, what Shinigami, what Quincy... those with cooperative value were partners; those without...

They were just research subjects!

And Angra Mainyu was obviously a good partner.

Although he was just a Hollow, and a new-type Arrancar at that, when it came to scientific knowledge, it was truly rare.

When he heard Angra Mainyu asking him for research data, he knew this Arrancar had value to exploit.

Thus, the two sides privately established a fragile cooperative relationship—yes, a very fragile one.

Angra Mainyu secretly transported Arrancar to him, and Mayuri provided his technology.

So now Yoshio had obtained some scientific data, all of which were in his most interested field: 'biological modification' data.

This even included some data from the 'Nemuri Project.'

The Nemuri Project was Mayuri's research to create 'self-evolving souls.' Nemuri 1-6 all failed; only Nemuri 7 maintained soul stability.

Nemuri Seven was his current Lieutenant, Nemu Kurotsuchi.

The data Yoshio obtained was from Nemuri 1-3, meaning he only got the failed research data.

That was normal; Mayuri regarded Nemuri Seven as his treasure, so how could he easily hand over Nemuri Seven's data to others?

Of course, the research data from Nemuri 1-3 was already sufficient; after all, you eat one bite at a time.

No matter how the outside situation developed, at least he had gained enough.

Now, let the people outside fight; even if they tore the sky apart, it didn't matter.

This time, he had obtained research data from both Kisuke Urahara and Mayuri; this data was enough for him to study for the next ten years.

"Yoshio-sama..."

In the laboratory, seeing Yoshio walk out, Roka Paramia respectfully said, "Regarding Suì-Fēng..."

"You don't need to worry about this matter," Yoshio said. "Because it involves those people, it's not an area you can interfere in right now."

"I understand." Roka Paramia nodded.

Yoshio walked to the computer and pulled up the monitoring of Hueco Mundo.

Looking at the images on the monitor, Yoshio couldn't help but sigh, "No matter how many times I see it, I can't help but marvel at the wonder of Kyōka Suigetsu."

"Even though it's a scene displayed by a machine, it has a hypnotic effect. This is probably what the Fullbringers call 'pantheism.'"

The mechanism of Fullbringers' abilities is to extract and manipulate the souls residing in matter.

Every substance in the world has a soul—not just animals and plants, but even telephone poles, chairs, and even glass cups have souls.

And the most terrifying aspect of Aizen's Kyōka Suigetsu is its ability to hypnotize all souls!

In theory, when hypnotic power acts on a person's body and consciousness, they will only believe that the world in their eyes has changed.

They might think, since their five senses are unreliable, why not use reliable machines, like monitors, to observe? Machines will faithfully record everything that happens, right?

However, the reality is not so.

Once trapped in Aizen's Kyōka Suigetsu hypnosis, all images you see, no matter through what tool you view them, will produce the same effect.

Even if watching through a monitor from thousands of miles away, as long as you're under Kyōka Suigetsu's hypnosis, you can't escape its hypnotic effect. What enters your eyes isn't the real monitor image, but the hypnotic image altered by Aizen.

For example, right now Yoshio was looking at the Espada on the screen, and what appeared in his eyes...

Wasn't Arrancar, but...

Shinigami!

Strictly speaking, Visoreds!

Even when viewed through the monitor, it was the same.

Under the influence of Aizen's Kyōka Suigetsu ability, the Espada appeared to Yoshio... and the Gotei 13 as the past Visoreds and Kisuke Urahara's team!

Of course, if they met in person, Kyōka Suigetsu couldn't fool Yoshio.

Because Yoshio could see others' Souls Ability; even if appearance changed, reiatsu changed, no matter how similar A and B were, A's Souls Ability wouldn't change.

However, in the entire Three Realms, only Yoshio could see Souls Ability.

Sitting in front of the monitor, Yoshio set aside all his research.

Research was indeed something that brought self-satisfaction, but nothing was more important than watching a show.

Although he himself wouldn't easily intervene and wasn't particularly concerned about the subsequent developments, he still wanted to watch the spectacle.

Watching the excitement is a genetic code etched deep in everyone's soul!

And here, it wasn't just the Espada's surveillance footage; the imaginary bodies maintained by Roka Paramia's ability were also being monitored.

Now, as tensions escalated, the imaginary bodies began to take action.

For example...

Retsu Unohana!

.........

"..."

In Hueco Mundo, at the Shinigami temporary base.

Retsu Unohana set down the vase in her hand and gazed into the distance.

A strange spiritual pressure was approaching, giving the feeling of an impending storm.

For the 8th Kenpachi, she had a natural sensitivity to battle.

But...

"Except for that person, I will not fight again."

Suddenly, a familiar voice came from outside the door.

Retsu Unohana paused, her gaze turning to the door. She walked over, and the door opened.

Outside the door, as the voice had suggested, it was none other than herself!

"Are you surprised?"

"Retsu Unohana" looked at her own expression and said coldly.

The real Retsu Unohana shook her head: "No, I've already learned about 'Tenshintai' from Mayuri. Are you another me created by 'Tenshintai'? Who used 'Tenshintai'?"

"I don't know," 'Retsu Unohana' said indifferently. "We were probably born guided by some lingering thoughts in Soul Society's reishi. Once time passes, we will disappear."

"Oh? Thoughts?" Retsu Unohana knew nothing about this. She looked at her other self and suddenly asked, "Then, which of my thoughts formed you?"

'Retsu Unohana' looked at her original body, and a killing intent emanated from her.

"My own incompetence!"

!

Retsu Unohana's pupils dilated sharply, and the next moment, she saw the imaginary body's blade pressed against her throat!

"You should know, right? The resentment toward my own incompetence, the contempt for my own martial prowess!"

How could Retsu Unohana not know?

Hundreds of years ago, she encountered Zaraki Kenpachi in Rukongai.

He was just a child, yet he possessed combat power surpassing hers!

If that was all, then so be it. Retsu Unohana would willingly die under the blade of someone stronger than her!

Even if killed by Kenpachi, she would have no regrets!

However, what humiliated Retsu Unohana the most was...

That child, in order to fight her, subconsciously suppressed his own power, making himself weak and feeble to dance with her!

In that moment, she was almost in despair!

She was too weak, so weak that the opponent had to seal his power... This made Retsu Unohana despair over her own weakness, and... hate her own weakness!

If the "imaginary body" was born from this thought, then her goal was...

"You... are you going to kill me?"

Even with the sword at her neck, Retsu Unohana only said softly: "Since you are me, you should know that only that child can kill me."

"Then, let's fight to the death," 'Retsu Unohana' said coldly. "Using our earliest, most primitive methods. If you win, I will naturally disappear."

"If I win, then I will be the true Kenpachi, completing your unfinished business."

"..." Retsu Unohana looked at her imaginary body, a ripple appearing in her calm eyes.

Then, the "imaginary body" opened the "Senkaimon" again.

"Let's go to Dangai."

The imaginary body said coldly: "The environment in Dangai is good; no one will interfere."

With that, she stepped into the Senkaimon.

Watching the imaginary body enter, Retsu Unohana remained silent for a moment before stepping into the Dangai passage as well.

A battle would unfold there.

A sinner who had long sealed her sword and resolved to unseal it only for that man would face her past self!

.........

The moment Retsu Unohana disappeared, the space around the temporary base shattered everywhere!

The captains inside the base all widened their eyes, because at that moment, they felt an extremely powerful spiritual pressure!

"What?!"

Shiba Isshin sensed this reiatsu and exclaimed, "What's going on?!"

He used Shunpo to arrive in the courtyard, only to see waves of powerful reiatsu emerging like monsters from the shattered spaces around...

Shinigami?!

Although these people weren't wearing shinigami uniforms, from their spiritual pressure, they were undoubtedly Shinigami.

Although Arrancar could break their Hollow masks, they couldn't make the masks completely disappear; their spiritual pressure was still that of Hollows.

But now, these people were clearly not Arrancar!

There were no masks on their faces, and the spiritual pressure on them undoubtedly belonged to...

Pluses!

Pluses (complete) and Hollow (empty) are two classifications of souls. Shinigami belong to 'Pluses,' meaning 'complete souls.'

"Hehehehe... It seems they're all old acquaintances." At this moment, Mayuri Kurotsuchi's voice rang out. He had also arrived in the courtyard, looking at the figures emerging from the sky, appearing not at all tense.

"This is bad."

Tōsen Kaname also appeared, saying slowly: "Currently, there are only three captains in the base."

"Where's that idiot Kenpachi?! And Captain Retsu Unohana?!" Shiba Isshin was startled. He knew that to prevent anything from happening to the temporary base, they had left five captains behind.

Among them, Kyōraku Shunsui had gone to Karakura Town to report the message, and Jūshirō Ukitake had gone to Soul Society to report the message; afterward, the two would meet directly in Karakura Town.

They had suddenly lost two powerful captains here, but their situation wasn't dangerous because even with two fewer captains, they still had five captains.

But now, why were there only three captains here?

"That beast-like idiot was probably easily tricked away." Mayuri Kurotsuchi's words carried obvious sarcasm; he and Zaraki Kenpachi had always disliked each other.

"As for Retsu Unohana..."

Mayuri Kurotsuchi didn't say much, but the meaning in his words was very clear: She wasn't here!

In other words, they now only had three captains?!

The enemies were...

Eight?!

Eight people, which was the number of Visoreds members excluding Kisuke Urahara and Yoruichi Shihouin.

Only eight Espada had appeared; Yammy and Picaro did not appear.

Because their body sizes were too disparate, it would be troublesome to alter people's perceptions of them.

Yammy's body was too massive; adjusting it to a normal human size like the Visoreds would require precise modifications.

And Picaro's body was too small, for similar reasons.

Kyōka Suigetsu was indeed a powerful ability; it could make people see a dragon as a fly or a flower field as a swamp. However, the more extensive the modifications and the finer the changes, the greater the consumption on the user.

Since two had to be excluded anyway, it was best to exclude the largest and smallest, which would consume the most from Kyōka Suigetsu.

"It seems they're all old acquaintances, so..."

While Shiba Isshin was still in shock, Mayuri Kurotsuchi looked at the 'Visoreds' and said: "Kisuke Urahara wouldn't have sent you just to catch up, right?"

"Those captains who were exiled to Soul Society a hundred years ago, have they all undergone Hollowfication?"

!

Hearing this, Shiba Isshin finally confirmed these people's identities!

He had become a captain too late. Although he knew about Kisuke Urahara and the Hollowfication incident he orchestrated, he had never seen those captains and lieutenants.

He never expected to meet them under such circumstances.

As Mayuri Kurotsuchi said, their appearance now was definitely not just to catch up!

Chapter 117: Kisuke Urahara's Rescue

"Mayuri, your mouth is still as foul; it's really disgusting."

What the real Halibel said, these people didn't know, but at least under Kyōka Suigetsu's influence, the Hiyori she was portraying said these words.

"Is that so..." Mayuri Kurotsuchi said with a fake smile. "How interesting. I don't remember when my subordinates would talk like that."

"At that time, I was the Lieutenant, and you were just the 3rd Seat," 'Hiyori' continued. "I don't remember when a 3rd Seat could talk to a Lieutenant like that!"

"Don't waste words," Baraggan said coldly. "I just want to kill these people now."

With the strength of their eight, killing these three captains would be as easy as pie.

However, there was no trace of panic on Mayuri Kurotsuchi's face; instead, he wore a hint of mockery: "How pathetic. After Hollowfication, has your spirit become no different from a Hollow's? In that case, why not let you escape the void and pain sooner?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he pressed a button, and then...

The doors of the surrounding rooms opened, and out walked...

Baraggan's pupils contracted sharply because he saw the guy with the straw hat he had fought before.

Hadn't he already gone to the Human World?

And he wasn't the only one shocked; there were also...

"Hey, Mayuri!" Shiba Isshin looked at another version of himself and couldn't help but say: "What the hell are you doing? What's going on? Why is there another me?"

Not only another him, but from the various rooms emerged Kyōraku Shunsui, Jūshirō Ukitake, Suì-Fēng, and Kuchiki Byakuya!

Five captains!

Plus the three of them, that made eight people. Eight against eight—no matter how you looked at it, they had the advantage!

"Don't look at Mayuri like that; this has nothing to do with him."

The other Shiba Isshin said to his original: "Mayuri just discovered us; he didn't create us."

"Don't look at me like that; I'm real," Kyōraku Shunsui shrugged and said.

"Me, Ukitake, and Captain Suì-Fēng are all real. As for Captain Kuchiki and Captain Shiba... according to Captain Kurotsuchi, they seem to have been created using Tenshintai. Because of their obsessions, they targeted the Bull-Head Hollow from before, so they cooperated with Mayuri."

Mayuri Kurotsuchi had actually known about the imaginary bodies for a long time, because the moment the imaginary bodies appeared, his own imaginary body had secretly contacted him.

After obtaining information on Tenshintai from the Daireishokairō, he further confirmed one of the components of Tenshintai.

So he judged that the Gotei 13 captains had definitely been replaced, and considering the opponent might be Kisuke Urahara, Mayuri Kurotsuchi was happy to compete with Kisuke Urahara.

Thus, he secretly found the replaced and trapped captains, released them, and kept them as his trump cards.

Like the ones appearing now...

As for 'Kuchiki Byakuya' and 'Shiba Isshin,' they had come to him on their own because their target was the Bull-Head Hollow in Hueco Mundo. To go to Hueco Mundo, they needed Mayuri Kurotsuchi's help.

Mayuri Kurotsuchi used this to secretly hide five captains!

That's why he allowed Retsu Unohana to fight her imposter in Dangai, because he knew leaving Retsu Unohana wouldn't be useful.

She probably wouldn't contribute in battle and could only play a supporting role; it was better to let her leave, making the enemy think their combat power had decreased, thus launching a full attack!

Only when the enemy attacked could he counterattack!

"Kisuke Urahara, you think you're so smart, but all of this is within my plans."

Mayuri Kurotsuchi said confidently.

The imaginary bodies of Kuchiki Byakuya and Shiba Isshin were also maintained by his reiatsu amplifiers, so even if the other side wanted to make them disappear, they couldn't. At least...

Surviving this great battle wouldn't be a problem.

"Are you... smug?" Halibel looked at the triumphant Mayuri Kurotsuchi and couldn't help but say: "Unfortunately, all of this is within Aizen-sama's expectations."

Under Kyōka Suigetsu's embellishment, what others heard was of course not "Aizen-sama," but it was replaced with "Kisuke Urahara."

"What if eight against three becomes eight against eight?"

"Eight sharks can devour eight goldfish in one bite!"

Crack, crack, crack...

The space suddenly made strange sounds, and Mayuri Kurotsuchi furrowed his brows.

"The Garganta has already been sealed. You can wait here; when Soul Society sends people to check, they'll only find your gnawed corpses."

Eight against eight, Espada against captains—the battle was about to erupt!

......

And just as the war erupted in Hueco Mundo, Yoshio received a message that shocked him immensely.

This message didn't come from Hollows, but from Shinigami.

"What?"

Yoshio said somewhat surprised: "Kisuke Urahara has launched an attack on Karakura Town?"

He received the message from the Gotei 13 communicator: Kisuke Urahara was leading the Visoreds to surround the Third Division heading toward Honshu Island. Now, the Sixth Division and Seventh Division had rushed there, and the previously supporting Ukitake and Shunsui had also arrived.

Now, the Fifth Division was also required to rush to the battlefield immediately.

This message left Yoshio unable to process it right away.

What the hell? Kisuke Urahara isn't coming to Hueco Mundo to save lives, but instead launching an attack on Shinigami in the Human World?!

After confirming that Kisuke Urahara and the others had appeared in Karakura Town, all squads in the Human World had rushed toward Karakura Town.

And since Yoruichi Shihouin had already escaped, they expanded the target area to Tokyo, preparing to turn the entire Tokyo upside down.

However, not only did Kisuke Urahara not flee with the Visoreds, but he actively launched an encirclement against the Shinigami in the Human World?

No, we're just trying to draw aggro for you; you don't need to jump out and draw the Gotei 13's hatred yourself, right?

Yoshio didn't understand Kisuke Urahara's intention at first, but soon he realized.

Although Yoshio and Aizen were both in Hueco Mundo, they still had Aizen's clone left by Kyōka Suigetsu in the Human World, as well as their comrade Ichimaru Gin!

So...

Kisuke Urahara was directly targeting Ichimaru Gin and their clones!

If something happened to the clones, then...

If the clones impersonating him and Aizen in the Human World met with misfortune, then in the eyes of the Gotei 13, he and Aizen would truly be dead!

Then this identity would be wasted!

So they had to protect their identities and not let themselves become clones!

This way, they would leave Hueco Mundo!