Soul Society was exceedingly cautious in handling Kisuke Urahara.
They had suffered plenty at his hands.
Over sixty years ago, one of Urahara's Hollowfication experiments resulted in the Captain of the Third Division's Fifth Patrol Squad, the Captains of the Seventh and Ninth Divisions, the Lieutenants of the Eighth and Twelfth Divisions, and even the Vice-Chief of the Kidō Corps all entering Hollowfication, inflicting severe damage on Soul Society.
Keep in mind, Soul Society has only thirteen captains; of those, four Hollowfied. Meanwhile, the Captains of the Second and Twelfth Divisions defected—nearly half the captains were effectively incapacitated, dropping Soul Society's fighting strength to its lowest point!
During his betrayal, Aizen Sōsuke once said—
Gotei 13's greatest advantage lies in its thirteen captains. But with three captains defecting and four trapped in Hueco Mundo, Soul Society's fighting power is gravely weakened.
That statement applies perfectly to the Hollowfication incident of the past.
That incident was only the beginning. Subsequent Hollow-related abnormalities experienced by Soul Society have now also been pinned on Kisuke Urahara.
For example, in that little game Aizen Sōsuke and Yoshio played back in the day, the unfortunate Third Division captain who died…
And finally…
The mysterious Bull-Head Hollow incident.
In Soul Society's eyes, Kisuke Urahara could be called "heinously guilty." Naturally, they were extremely cautious about deciding his fate.
Mostly because they still didn't fully grasp the principles of Hollowfication and feared any Shinigami they sent would fall into Urahara's trap and Hollowfy again.
Thus they ordered the Research and Development Institute to produce tools capable of isolating Hollowfication. Until those were ready, Central 46 would not rashly go after Kisuke Urahara.
According to intelligence Yoshio received, the Twelfth Division was on the verge of developing a similar invention. Once that was done, it would be time for Gotei 13 to settle accounts with Urahara.
That was why he said what he said to Aizen Sōsuke then.
He believed that Aizen's push to turn the Hollows of Las Noches into Arrancar was likewise intended to stir up trouble in the near future.
From Aizen's words, he felt that Urahara was wasting away in the Human World. With talent like that, he should be allowed to fully exercise his abilities—not be stuck running a corner shop in some small town.
Yoshio didn't quite know Aizen's next move, but the battlefield would probably be Hueco Mundo.
Perhaps these Arrancar would be in play soon.
It seemed his arrival was finally going to significantly change the plot. Could it be that a war between Hollows and Shinigami would break out even before Kurosaki Ichigo was born?
Yoshio followed Aizen Sōsuke back to the great hall of Las Noches. Aizen sat upon the throne, facing a light screen like a virtual monitor displaying data on various Menos Grande.
These Hollows were ones Yoshio had collected over the past three years.
Nelliel had chosen to remain in Hueco Mundo back then as well—because she saw Hueco Mundo's future in Aizen Sōsuke.
Hollows like her were rare—most came for Aizen Sōsuke's power.
"In just three years to reach this level, Yoshio-kun—you've done well." Aizen Sōsuke chuckled, eyes on the Menos data.
"I worked hard when I served Captain Aizen," Yoshio said with a smile. "So then, Captain, have you decided who will be Espada?"
"I'll leave that to you—the Commander of the Espada," Aizen said lightly, dismissing the screen.
Originally, that commander post belonged to Tōsen Kaname, but now, since Yoshio had been in Hueco Mundo for years, no one was more suitable.
Meaning, from now on, who qualified as Espada would be decided by Yoshio.
"I'm awful at picking people," he sighed. "Captain Aizen always gives me the tricky assignments."
"Don't you often assign tasks to Hinamori?" Aizen replied. "You should be busy once in a while too."
"Forget it—we'll deal with that later."
Rubbing his temples, Yoshio admitted, "I have to head home today."
"Last time I returned, I promised to have a drink with Captain Kyōraku—I can't send a fake to meet him."
"What a sly fox," Aizen murmured. "If Captain Kyōraku spots anything amiss, you can forget about working under me anymore."
"Got it, got it," Yoshio said, walking toward the door.
As he neared the exit, he stopped, turned, and looked at Aizen on the throne. "Right… Captain Aizen, I've had Roka Paramia prepare what you asked for."
"Such a convenient ability." Aizen's tone sounded like praise for Roka Paramia, yet also like a hint to Yoshio. "Let them act freely."
"Mhm."
Yoshio nodded, left the hall, and returned to his quarters.
His room connected to a massive laboratory—his own. Over the three years, he'd been conducting small experiments of his own as well.
He always remembered: science and technology are the primary productive force!
"Yoshio-sama."
By now, Roka Paramia had also completed her Arrancar transformation, but as a mid-tier Menos, even with the Hōgyoku's enhancement, only half her mask had broken.
Her eyes were gray, with medium-length black hair and a slim build, though her gaze lacked spirit.
Seeing Yoshio enter, she bowed respectfully: "Everything is ready."
"You've worked hard."
He spoke kindly, then looked at the twelve jarred instruments in the room—resembling the cultivation tanks where Hollow White had once been kept.
Inside were twelve souls.
Yoshio narrowed his eyes, looking—he saw the forms of those twelve souls.
"Kisuke Urahara, what a genius."
Softly he said, "The Hōgyoku… what an interesting invention."
In Seireitei, any Shinigami—even a still-studying student, or a hedonistic noble scion—would be stunned at the sight of these twelve souls.
Because these twelve souls…
Were the twelve captains of Gotei 13!
All but the Fifth Division Captain, Aizen Sōsuke—every other captain was in those tanks!
Of course, these were not the real captains, but "imaginary bodies" created through special means.
Kisuke Urahara truly was a genius.
Even Aizen Sōsuke firmly believed that.
Many knew the Onmitsukidō possessed a special spiritual device called the "Tenshintai," which helps its user achieve Bankai.
Zanpakutō training for Shinigami boils down to Shikai and Bankai.
Shikai requires a "manifestation" and "Release Call" with the Zanpakutō; Bankai requires "Materializationn" and "Subjugation."
Generally speaking, Materializationn takes at least ten years of training.
But with the Tenshintai, you could force the Zanpakutō to materialize by impaling it into the device.
If you could subdue your spirit during that period, you could achieve Bankai.
However, aside from Kisuke Urahara, no one else had reached that level.
What few knew was—
Kisuke Urahara had also developed a tool similar to the Tenshintai, called the Hōgyoku—
The Reversal Body.
Its function was to use your own memories, amplify them, and then create an imaginary body identical to yourself to fight.
Like the Tenshintai, it was a tool to train a user's combat ability.
If you used the Reversal Body, and added the information and thoughts extracted by Roka Paramia's Resurrección: Telaraña, plus Aizen Sōsuke's Hōgyoku, you could create long-lasting "imaginary bodies."
These imaginary bodies were almost identical to the originals, and could even reach a deeper "sword-and-man-as-one" state.
Of course, this couldn't compare to true unity. It was simply, as originally designed for the Reversal Body, a slight improvement over the original.
Kisuke Urahara designed the Reversal Body to help a user continually push past their limits—to break through when facing a slightly stronger version of themselves, and surpass their past self.
And even with Roka Paramia's Resurrección: Telaraña, and Aizen's Hōgyoku, what was amplified wasn't power but duration.
Each imaginary body could survive outdoors for at least a month.
If Roka continued supplying Resurrección: Telaraña, they could persist even longer.
Per Aizen's plan, these counterfeit captains would be dispatched to Seireitei.
Controlling them wouldn't be easy; whatever they did once inside Seireitei was no concern of Yoshio.
His job was merely to deploy them.
"Roka Paramia, get ready. I'll open a Garganta shortly, and we'll deploy together."
"Yes, Yoshio-sama," Roka answered with the same respectful tone.
Yoshio glanced at Roka, then at her Souls Ability.
It wasn't easy for a Hollow to attain a Souls Ability. Even if spiritual power met the threshold, some Hollows in the original story never manifested one.
Like Roka Paramia—for all her brief original appearance, perhaps due to that brevity and mostly novel presence, she didn't have a Souls Ability prior to becoming an Arrancar.
Only after her Arrancar transformation did her Souls Ability reveal itself.
Roka Paramia's Souls Ability was the ["Telaraña."]
["Telaraña: usable only after permanent acquisition; upon use, generates a special organ that can produce Resurrección: Telaraña."]
Whether judging by her impression, experiences, or abilities, it was the most fitting Souls Ability for Roka Paramia.
Though it looked not unlike acquiring someone else's ability.
And though Roka was steadfastly loyal to him, her favorability remained only in the thirties—because Roka Paramia, as a Hollow, was originally a modified Menos Grande and was born with emotional defects.
You could say she lacked a self.
Thus her favorability was hard to raise, and Yoshio was currently trying to repair the defect in her soul to see if he could restore her emotional system.
Naturally, that would be a long and arduous task.
Gazing at the "imaginary" captain bodies, Yoshio fell into thought again.
After pondering a moment, Yoshio entered Hollowfication.
He opened a Garganta and stepped straight into Soul Society.
Roka Paramia would be sending the captains' "imaginary bodies" in as well, so it was better for him to go first.
He canceled Hollowfication and made for Seireitei at a brisk pace.
This time he returned via the eastern gate, the Blue Stream Gate. After greeting the gatekeeper Kaiwan, he entered Soul Society.
He had plans to drink with Kyōraku Shunsui tonight—really just an excuse to return.
Yoshio's true goal was to get back to his home—his safehouse.
Only there could he avoid all prying eyes.
Because after Starrk's Hōgyoku enhancement, the Vasto Lorde Arrancar's favorability toward him had finally reached sixty.
Still far from eighty, but it meant he could use "Spirit Split" once.
He intended to go see what that Spirit Split actually entailed.
He needed a clone to do the things he himself couldn't conveniently do.
Because he was almost always under Aizen Sōsuke's watch, which meant many things were off-limits.
Taking advantage of the chance to drink with Kyōraku Shunsui tonight, he'd return to his safehouse and complete this task.
Of course, this would have to wait until after drinks with Kyōraku—this would be his first attempt, and he didn't know what might happen.
No need to have an accident before meeting Kyōraku Shunsui.
With that thought, he hurried toward the Fifth Division.
"Tōshirō!"
As soon as he came back, Yoshio saw Tōshirō Hitsugaya and called out, "Where are you headed?"
"On patrol," Tōshirō sighed. "And you? Where were you all day?"
"Must be rough for Captain Aizen to have a lieutenant like you."
"Haha," Yoshio chuckled. "I'm having drinks with Captain Kyōraku later—want to come?"
At present, Hitsugaya was the Fifth Division's 3rd Seat. Though he hadn't been there long, he was already the third-highest ranked in the division. Hinamori who graduated earlier than him was only Sixth Seat.
Next, he would be transferred to the Thirteenth Division.