"I've truly never heard that before!"
"Lord Aizen, should I cut the power?" Tōsen Kaname asked respectfully, believing it to be a prank and attempting to immediately shut down the monitoring equipment.
"No!"
It was beyond Tōsen Kaname's expectation.
Aizen shook his head indifferently, rejecting him without hesitation!
"Kaname, there's no rush…"
Aizen calmly watched the monitoring screen, his eyes flickering, and commanded coldly, "Continue watching! This matter might not be that simple."
A strong intuition told Aizen—
The appearance of the inventory video was not accidental!
Driven by curiosity, he decided to continue watching!
Sure enough…
Shortly after Aizen's words fell,
The screen flashed, and another line of text slowly appeared!
"NO. 15"
"The Strongest Brain, Urahara Kisuke"
"P.S.: At least 5 updates daily. New author, new book, seeking support. Flowers, tips, and review votes are desperately needed! I hope all esteemed readers will give ample support. Deeply grateful!"
"Chapter 02: Shopkeeper, you're on the list!"
At the same time.
It wasn't just the underground secret room of the Fifth Division.
The same thing was happening in various corners of the Seireitei.
Squad One Barracks.
"What is this?"
An aged voice rang out.
The Captain Commander, whose white eyebrows hung like willow branches, was processing squad duties at his desk. He looked at the transparent light screen that had suddenly appeared before him, and a strong sense of vigilance emerged on his wrinkled face.
Not long ago.
A transparent light screen, two meters tall, appeared in the room without any warning!
The image on the light screen was exactly the same as what Aizen and his two companions saw—the inexplicably appearing inventory video!
"Inventory of the Soul Reaper World, Top Fifteen Strongest Ranking?"
Looking at the text in the video, the Captain Commander was not curious; instead, he slammed the wooden desk hard, showing an expression of disgust.
He was the strongest Shinigami of a thousand years!
No matter how people ranked privately, the old man would always be ranked first.
This was an indisputable fact!
Therefore, the Captain Commander had always been indifferent to topics related to strength rankings, and had even previously ordered a ban on discussing them in public.
And the light screen that suddenly appeared before him.
Made him immediately think of Nemu Kurotsuchi, that maverick and unconstrained mad scientist!
This scene unfolding before his eyes.
It was very likely Nemu Kurotsuchi's latest scientific experiment!
"Chōjirō, contact the Technology Development Bureau immediately and find out exactly what's going on!" From his low tone, it was clear that the Captain Commander was already feeling a bit of anger.
Being rigid and conservative, he disliked pranks.
If it weren't to figure out the situation, he would have immediately shattered the light screen before him!
"Yes, Captain Commander!"
The Western-style old man, Chōjirō Sasakibe, respectfully acknowledged and was about to leave the squad office.
Suddenly, the picture flickered.
Then the inventory began!
"NO. 15"
"The Strongest Brain, Urahara Kisuke"
…
"Urahara Kisuke?!"
Looking at this long-unseen yet familiar name.
A ripple suddenly appeared in the Captain Commander's normally placid eyes, and he subconsciously stopped the Western-style old man: "Chōjirō, wait!"
"Captain Commander, do you suspect this is Urahara Kisuke's doing?" As a long-time subordinate, Chōjirō Sasakibe guessed the Captain Commander's thoughts just from a single glance.
"Exactly. If it's him, he certainly has the ability to do something like this! But what's the purpose of doing so?" The Captain Commander's tightly furrowed brows revealed a hint of doubt.
Urahara Kisuke.
This man, who had once amazed him and founded the Technology Development Bureau, had long been gathering dust in his memory.
Ever since his defection from Soul Society all those years ago.
News of Urahara Kisuke had vanished forever, like a stone sinking into the sea.
After a hundred years,
Urahara Kisuke's reappearance in such a manner unexpectedly piqued the Captain Commander's curiosity!
"Fifteenth place…"
"If he was showing off, he shouldn't have ranked himself at the very bottom. Moreover, his strength shouldn't even be in the top fifteen."
The Captain Commander pondered for a moment, then voiced his thoughts.
It wasn't that he looked down on Urahara Kisuke.
In the old man's impression, during the years Urahara Kisuke served as a captain, his research was impeccable; otherwise, he wouldn't have founded the Technology Development Bureau.
But!
In terms of combat ability, Urahara Kisuke's performance was unremarkable; he had barely even fought a few times!
Therefore,
The Captain Commander did not believe that,
With Urahara Kisuke's strength, he was qualified to be among the top fifteen in the Soul Reaper World.
"Why don't we continue watching?" Chōjirō Sasakibe instinctively suggested.
Listening to the background music from the video,
His curiosity was also deeply piqued.
"Hmm… let's continue watching!"
The Captain Commander stared intently at the light screen.
His torch-like eyes exuded the unique authority of a superior.
—
Human World.
Karakura Town, Urahara Shop.
"What the hell is this?!"
"Inventory of the Soul Reaper World, Top Fifteen Strongest Ranking? Shopkeeper, you're actually on the list!"
Inside the shop, Tessai Tsukabishi, wearing old work clothes, removed his old reflective glasses and exclaimed in disbelief.
Just now,
A transparent light screen had suddenly appeared!
Tessai Tsukabishi's first reaction was to think it was the shopkeeper's prank.
But then he remembered that just a few minutes ago, he had force-fed Urahara Kisuke some medicine, and the latter was currently squatting in the toilet with diarrhea.
He then dismissed the idea of suspicion.
"Is the Gotei 13 behind this?" Tessai Tsukabishi frowned.
Projecting images out of thin air.
Only the Technology Development Bureau would likely possess this ability.
Could it be…
Their whereabouts have been exposed?
As soon as he thought of this, Tessai Tsukabishi's expression gradually became serious.
"Tessai, what nonsense are you spouting?"
"What strongest ranking? I'm actually on the list? I should be ranked first!"
At this moment,
The toilet door opened, and Urahara Kisuke emerged, clutching his stomach with a pained expression.
"Shopkeeper, you didn't wipe properly, did you?" Tessai Tsukabishi sniffed his nose and took a step back with a look of disgust.
"You have the nerve to say that! If you hadn't forced me to take that medicine, would I have been squatting for an hour?!" Although his tone was one of complaint, Urahara Kisuke's expression clearly showed no sign of taking offense.
Apparently, he had long grown numb to such pranks.
"Huh… what's this?!"
After finishing his complaints,
Urahara Kisuke quickly noticed the transparent light screen.
Looking at the video image and the text on it, his reaction was the same as Tessai Tsukabishi's; he immediately thought of the Gotei 13.
"Is this a trap deliberately set by the Gotei 13?"
"It's very possible!"
"But then again, has the Technology Development Bureau's level become that advanced?"
Urahara Kisuke frowned.
He casually grabbed a bottle of soy sauce from a nearby shelf and threw it at the transparent light screen.
Then he was astonished to discover that.
The bottle of soy sauce passed right through the entire light screen, unable to cause any substantial damage!
"That's quite interesting, huh…"
Seeing this scene, Urahara Kisuke's eyes immediately gleamed with brilliance.
"Shopkeeper, what do you say? Could it be Aizen's doing?!"
Tessai Tsukabishi vaguely felt uneasy.
Besides the Gotei 13, he quickly suspected Aizen.
That man had caused them a lot of trouble back then!
"I'm not too sure either."
Urahara Kisuke shook his head, quickly relaxing. He gently pulled down the brim of his bucket hat and said in a leisurely tone, "But instead of making wild guesses, why don't we just keep watching? Anyway, business at the shop has been dismal lately, so it's a good way to pass the time."
"Also…"
"Don't jump to conclusions before we figure out what's going on."
Urahara Kisuke then emphasized.