Kisuke asked Flanna to warn Ophis and Lilith regarding their Zanpakuto while he returned back to Japan in contemplation, 'I messed up. Just because it's natural doesn't excuse me for not noticing something very obvious. It's not that Hyousube Ichibei knows the names of all Zanpakuto but he's the one who granted them instead of the Shinigamis and Arrancars who owned them.'
Kisuke soon reached the meeting place with Soifon and thought to himself, 'I wonder if Aizen-san figured this out? Maybe it's because of this that he wanted to discard his Zanpakuto but still retain its ability.'
Although he really had a complicated relationship with Benihime, Kisuke still couldn't understand Aizen's point of view on why he decided to discard his Zanpakuto until now. Benihime has always been a part of his life and there's no question that Benihime was a part of his own soul. Maybe because of that, it felt so natural and he failed to question something so simple.
"What's the long face?", all of a sudden a voice came from his side and when he turned around, he saw Soifon staring at him.
"How can you be sure of what's behind my mask?"
"Although I hate to admit it, I've known you long enough to figure out what expression you're making just from your body language." Soifon really hated to admit it on his face but his current expression terrifies her, "So what's the bad news?"
Kisuke shook his head with a sigh, "Nothing. I just overlooked something crucial."
"It's not going to be detrimental to us, is it?"
"I noticed it before anything bad could happen, so it's fine." Kisuke then took out the same tools to extract Soifon's blood and flesh and immediately went to do his work methodologically.
And while Kisuke was busy with his work, Soifon sent a telepathic message to Kisuke through Magic, [The Seireitei is finally moving. They want to secure a piece of territory in Hell.]
[Where is it?]
[I'm not really sure but they seem to be targeting a wide plain and intended to build an outpost there.]
[But even with personnel completely trained in Magic, I doubt they'll do something this big with all the threats looming.]
[It's still a secret and even I am not sure of its authenticity, probably to avoid the leak of information since we don't exactly know where Szayelaporro is getting his information from, but it seems that Captain Kurotsuchi was able to develop a drug that significantly reduces our opponents' regenerative ability while also putting them in extreme pain as they restore themselves.]
[That's amazing. How did he do it?]
[I'm still gathering information with my men and the Visual Department but I suspect that he secretly travels to Hell with the captured Aaroniero Arruruerie to experiment with him.]
[Aaroniero, huh? Nothing really beats a live sample. Maybe I should catch one for myself too.]
[In any case, with funding and support from the nobles, things are moving incredibly fast and the first pioneers might be leaving today consisting of the members of the 12th Division with the aforementioned nobles' private army.]
[No one else volunteered?]
[Several Captains wanted to go too but the Captain Commander forbade them, at least this and the next batch of the pioneers.]
Kisuke finished his work and cured Soifon's wounds with his Magic, [Thanks for the heads up. I'll probably start moving too. I can use their movement as a smokescreen.]
Soifon narrowed her eyes at him while fixing her clothes. It was already proven that he indeed had a few bugs roaming the Seireitei, 'But what exactly is the information he doesn't have? Or is he pretending not to know?' To this day, Soifon was still figuring out how much information was flowing to him from the Seireitei with only small successes.
"Well then, I'll be taking my leave. I have to return to my barracks to prepare some of my men to go with the pioneers."
Kisuke didn't stop her and Soifon instantly disappeared from his sight. As soon as he felt her presence disappear, Kisuke suddenly spoke out loud, "I think it's about time we speak, isn't it?"
A few seconds later, from the shadows of the abandoned alley, footsteps began to ring as the sound of wooden sandals hit the concrete ground.
Kisuke turned around and soon enough, light hit the figure of the stalker, "This is the first time we're meeting, I believe? Nice to meet you. You can call me Belial."
The dark-skinned man with thick, black hair that is shaven and dyed green on the sides of his head completely stepped out of the shadows and also introduced himself, "I wonder if it's really our first time meeting, but nice to meet you too. I'm Nimaiya Ouetsu."
Kisuke instantly became wary due to his first remark but he still retained his calm demeanor, "The Third Officer of the Zero Division, God of the Sword, I see. It's an honor to meet you. However, this isn't the place to have a proper conversation. If you don't mind, I have a place in mind that no one will bother us."
"Lead the way, Belial-san. I've also wanted to talk to you for a long time. I just didn't expect Kurotsuchi-kun's Magic Concealing Cloak not to work. When did you notice?"
"Half a year ago."
Ouetsu's eyes widened, "So around the first time I started following that lass, yet you pretended not to notice me. Also, did that lass notice me too?"
Kisuke shook his head, "No. It works perfectly fine. But to us who have been mastering the art for years, we know several ways people hide their presence so we have several detection methods to counter them." He then turned around towards the direction of the mansion Serafall bought and started walking.
Ouetsu didn't say anything and continued hiding himself. He only started following Kisuke when he took some distance from him, 'This guy has a familiar scent of a Zanpakuto... But where have I met him before?'
Kisuke, on the other hand, wondered if he could trust this guy because the moment he started asking the questions that he wanted answers to, it was going to be risky for him, 'According to Kyouraku-san, he's the only guy who thinks slightly different from the rest of the Zero Division. But to what extent exactly? In any case, I have to figure out what's the true identity of Hyousube Ichibei's Zanpakuto. Right now, that's the only clue I have to escape from his control over names.'
Editors:
28th00: Oh, it’s the sword harem guy.
Goyya: After reading the ‘can’t fear your own world’, I have the impression that he’s the most reasonable guy out of everyone in Zero Division.
Ouetsu didn't immediately enter the mansion when the masked man went in and instead went around to another side to enter through one of the windows.
It would seem that the masked man already expected this as he ignored his actions and just slowly walked towards the direction of the basement. As soon as the masked man arrived at the door to the basement, Ouetsu silently appeared behind him.
Still wordless, the masked man opened the door and led the Shinigami deeper inside, and soon enough, they arrived at a small room with various barriers placed on it. Due to the intense amount of barriers present, even Ouetsu, who'd just recently started learning about Magic, couldn't help but marvel at the suffocation he could feel from it.
The masked man stepped into the room but Ouetsu didn't do the same and continued staring at him, "Did you really think that I'll enter a trap prepared by someone who invaded the Royal Palace just like that?"
"I was hoping that you would since you followed me quietly up to here." The masked man answered nonchalantly.
Ouetsu was a bit taken aback and asked again, "And what made you think that?"
"Because instead of Soul Society or the Seireitei, you're hiding from the other Royal Guards. More specifically, from Hyousube Ichibei."
Ouetsu was startled but didn't let it show on his face while repeating his question, "And what made you think that?"
This time, the masked man didn't immediately reply and contemplated his options. Since he knew that no amount of explanation could make him step into this room, he didn't bother answering him. However, if they want to discuss anything with substance, it's paramount to avoid Hell's gaze and the only way to do that surely is to leave the Human World, 'Should I risk it?' Kisuke thought to himself.
He could try to slowly gain his trust, but that would take too much time which he doesn't have right now and it's not even certain if he could do that in the first place.
On the other hand, if he risks it and fails, the entire Seireitei and Royal Palace will become aware of him. He would be lucky if they just ended up sending a few assassins and trackers. Worst of all is that Ichibei himself and the others from the Zero Division would be hunting him down.
However, if he's successful, he'd be able to obtain the assistance of one of the greatest weapons he could use against Ichibei.
After a few more seconds of contemplation, Kisuke sighed and placed his hand on his mask, 'Ah... Fuck it. Become a wanted man? Nothing really new. I also already prepared the girls' return trip in case of emergency or the situation became too dangerous. The rampage of Holy Power back then was a blessing in disguise.'
Because of that event, it became a lot easier for Kisuke to secure their retreat in case the whole world turned against them.
Ouetsu wondered what the masked man was trying to do until the latter pulled off his mask and it instantly and dramatically changed his appearance, "!?"
Kisuke, without his disguise, smiles at Ouetsu, "Shall we continue?"
Ouetsu calmed himself and thought about it for a few moments before stepping into the room and saying, "Fair enough."
Kisuke immediately closed the door behind him and fully activated the barriers prepared for the room.
"So that wasn't the full capability of this room," Ouetsu commented while looking around, feeling the intensity of Magic Power in the room thickened.
After putting the room in lockdown, Ouetsu thought that they'd start talking, but just as he was about to say something, Kisuke signaled him to stop, "Not yet."
Kisuke ignored the confused Ouetsu and placed his hand on the wall.
A few seconds later, a thin black line appeared on the wall and soon it turned into an opening that revealed a world with chaotic colors, "This is?" Ouetsu muttered in suspicion.
"The Dimensional Gap. We'll have to go through here to leave the Human World." Kisuke briefly explained before stepping out of the room.
Ouetsu followed him with curiosity and found the space they stepped into was so hostile that no normal person could ever survive, "This is way worse than the Garganta."
"This way," Kisuke called out, opening another portal and stepping into it.
As he had been doing, Ouetsu followed him and soon arrived at a familiar place full of dilapidated structures and perpetually dark clouds covering everything in sight, "...Could it be... The Zaraki District?"
"No better place to do an important and secret talk than under the lamppost, right?" Kisuke closed the portal and erased all of its traces.
Ouetsu sighed and said, "You really are full of surprises, Urahara-kun."
"It's always been my forte." Kisuke grinned at him, "Shall we use a random abandoned hut?"
"Preferably somewhere that doesn't smell so bloody."
"Then let's walk for a bit." Whether Kisuke could pull Ouetsu to his side or not will mostly depend on the latter's view on things and there's really little the former could do about it, 'I hope Kyouraku-san's state is accurate.'
.
.
.
With a warm tea prepared, Ouetsu immediately went directly on point, "So, what did you want from the Royal Palace?"
Kisuke took a sip of his tea before answering, "I already told the answer to Hyousube-san, but in case he didn't tell you, I said I wanted to confirm who the first Shinigami who was born from Hell made an agreement with."
Ouetsu became silent for a brief moment before asking, "And what did he say?"
Kisuke was happy that Ouetsu confirmed his words for him, 'This means he's more willing to cooperate than I expected.'
"Did you really think that he'll entertain my question? I'm just glad that I was able to escape unscathed. And I just really want to see if the one holding up the world right now is the King of the Quincies."
Ouetsu leaned back and took his cup of tea, "That's true. If you could get close like that to that thing, he wouldn't humor you unless he's incredibly interested in something."
"What's this? It sounds like you hate the lynchpin or something."
Ouetsu's eyes immediately rose up and stared directly at Kisuke. With a very serious expression, he said, "I really can't understand how others wouldn't. Even for the sake of maintaining the worlds."
Kisuke's hand froze as he shuddered at his voice that contained a little bit of hostility, 'Jackpot!'
Editors:
28th00