Hachihara was a little awkward.
He failed to control his Spiritual Pressure due to over-excitement and released it wildly, which resulted in attracting swarms of Gillians.
"But this was also part of the original plan."
Shimiya Takeru appeared beside them at some point.
"Well done, Hachihara."
"Hehehe~ While I'm happy you say that, aren't there a bit too many of them? How about we split up and take them down one by one? Otherwise…"
Blinding red light dyed the night sky, far surpassing a sea of fire, like a dozen small volcanoes preparing to erupt simultaneously.
Hachihara looked at the Gillians swarm in the distance, which seemed to sense danger and gathered their Cero together. He swallowed hard and finished his sentence with a stiff expression: "…this situation might happen."
The Menos Grande's special technique, Cero.
Its power surpassed most conventional Kido, and it wouldn't be surprising to be severely wounded if hit head-on.
Especially when it was a Cero bombardment.
"When I said you did well, I naturally took this situation into account."
Facing such a visually impactful scene, Shimiya Takeru appeared very calm. He used Shunpo and rushed towards the Gillians swarm.
His Spiritual Pressure rapidly surged, quickly reaching its peak.
He gripped his sword hilt and whispered the release command.
"Eight Phases Manifestation…"
"Endonemī."
A dazzling spiritual light reappeared, as if a Buddha had possessed him, displaying terrifying divine power. Every strand of his hair showed a tendency to convert into crystals, dreadful and awe-inspiring!
Boom!
A dozen Cero shots fired simultaneously.
The scenery of the material world blurred.
Only blood red, blood red, blood red remained, along with an unavoidable and inescapable… tide of Spiritual Pressure!
The next moment.
Shimiya Takeru narrowed his eyes and drew his sword.
—"Yuisen."
In a world where even sound seemed to have been stripped away, the sound of a blade returning to its sheath echoed.
The blinding red world was cut in half.
As clean and sharp as cutting paper.
The upper halves of a dozen Gillians also slid down and fell.
The remaining clouds in the sky shattered with a roar.
The Hollows in that direction were crushed to dust before even touching the sword light.
Even the shattered space was forcibly smoothed out.
The incredibly fast sword light, which could only be perceived by spiritual sense, extended to the horizon and sped towards Tokyo Bay…
Endonemī's "Reishi Fission" could amplify Spiritual Pressure by a hundredfold within eight seconds, making it exceptionally compatible with techniques like "Shichisen" and even "Yuisen," which demand extreme focus and emphasize killing efficiency.
That being said.
Even just the sword pressure unleashed could instantly obliterate an Adjuchas, let alone when used to empower "Yuisen."
The power of this attack far exceeded Shimiya Takeru's, and even many others', expectations.
The atmospheric Reishi throughout the city subtly vibrated, as if echoing with a resounding sword hum, creating a deep impact. The air inhaled into the lungs carried a metallic, rusty scent of swords, and one's heartbeat quickened, unable to slow down.
At the entrance of an abandoned factory, shielded by a barrier, Hirako Shinji gazed at the sky, casually twirling the beret he had taken off his head on his index finger.
"Hey, baldy! What are you staring at? Didn't you say we should at least clear out the small fry at the entrance? If you plan on watching me do all the work, I'll hit your face with a slipper, you know!"
Hiyori stood by, impatiently urging him.
"Idiot, can't you feel such strong Spiritual Pressure? My hair is standing on end and tangled as if I've been electrocuted; I can't even wear my hat."
"Huh? I bet you got a bald head and feel chilly, didn't you?"
"…I guess you're right this time."
"?"
Hiyori paused slightly, looking at Hirako in confusion.
When she saw his serious face, she calmed down considerably, remaining silent for a while before asking:
"So… are we still going out?"
"Going out for what? While I don't know what kind of fit Aizen, that baldy, is having to tolerate such a powerful character appearing right under his nose, or perhaps tonight's inexplicable gathering was prepared for him, it's clear that—"
Hirako grumbled as he turned around, his gaze sweeping over the other members of the Visored who had appeared at some point.
"It's not our turn to meddle this time."
…
At the entrance of Urahara Shop, a similar group of people had made the same decision.
"This is truly a timely rain! I thought I'd have to stay up all night, and I even prepared strong tea, bought at a high price, said to be very effective for refreshing the mind~"
"Is that so?"
The black cat squatting at Urahara Kisuke's feet calmly licked its paw.
"Then can it help you figure out how to clean up this mess?"
"Huh?"
Urahara Kisuke's eyes widened, proclaiming his innocence.
"This isn't my fault, so why should I be the one to clean up the mess?"
"How else will you seize the opportunity to connect with Kurosaki ichigo and that individual hailed as the strongest prodigy in Soul Society's history, and earn their trust?"
Yoruichi snorted, looking as if she had seen through his facade long ago.
"Don't forget, those two are on very good terms with Aizen. You have very few cards left to play. We still don't know Aizen's specific plans, but the longer we drag this out, the more disadvantageous the situation becomes. I can feel him playing a grand game, and if he succeeds, the consequences will be unimaginable."
"Miss Yoruichi's intuition… I certainly trust it, but… sometimes fate's tricks are even more unreasonable. The more one schemes, the more likely one is to face an intractable predicament."
"For example, the death of Mr. Kurosaki's son, which I never anticipated."
"As for going to Soul Society and being targeted by Aizen, with their relationship as good as master and disciple, it seems quite normal to me. After all, it's Aizen; he always enjoys playing with people's hearts."
Urahara Kisuke's lips curved into a bitter smile.
"It sounds like you don't intend to build a relationship with them in your usual style and then guide them to discover Aizen's conspiracy."
Yoruichi narrowed her cat eyes, asking in surprise.
"That wouldn't be something a good person would do, though I don't mind being called a black-hearted merchant. However, the premise is achieving the goal, but right now, I'm more concerned that doing so would backfire, and the probability is quite high."
Urahara Kisuke shook his head.
"So."
"So?"
"Why not try to go with the turbid flow of fate?"
"Say something I can understand!"
—"Ouch!"
Urahara Kisuke, whose face was covered in scratches by Yoruichi, Covering his nose and muttered: "I meant that even though Mr. Kurosaki's son is gone, isn't there still a very special talent?"
"Are you talking about… Inoue Orihime?"
Yoruichi was half-skeptical.
"I don't see anything special about her."
"Precisely because of that, she stands out."
Urahara Kisuke's answer sent Yoruichi into deep thought.
Indeed.
An ordinary girl from a common background actually became a Substitute Shinigami.
While someone with an extraordinary bloodline, destined for greatness from birth, died young.
It was utterly ironic.
Even more puzzling was that the girl who became a Substitute Shinigami, despite her humble origins, seemed anything but ordinary based on her performance.
The Shinigami power from another seemed to have broken some balance.
Coupled with the absence of a certain person's spiritual power affecting the surroundings.
Or rather… suppression.
This led to the girl, Inoue Orihime, possessing an unpredictable unknown quality.
No one knew what she would become.
This seemingly resembled the "possibility" represented by vast potential, but in reality, there were subtle differences.
Because, as Yoruichi said.
She didn't possess visible, vast potential.
Even so, she was full of change.
It felt like no matter what happened in the future, as long as she was there, there would be a glimmer of hope, allowing people to muster the courage to move forward.
In other words, "hope."
Yoruichi inexplicably felt a chill in her heart and quickly shook her head to dismiss the thought.
A mere human girl, no matter what, could not rise to that height. At most, she was an "exception" accidentally born among humans, a situation that had also occurred in history.
Many heroes came from humble backgrounds and rose with the times.
Karakura Town, as a contemporary highly spiritual area, already possessed strong spiritual properties, so it was quite reasonable for it to produce one or two naturally occurring "oddities."
Thinking this, Yoruichi immediately felt relieved.
"Tonight's commotion is also related to that young girl. To be safe, I'll go check on the situation."
"Then I'll leave it to you, Miss Yoruichi~"
"Don't just sit around either. With such a big incident, Soul Society definitely won't stand by idly. You should seriously think about what countermeasures to take next."
Urahara Kisuke watched Yoruichi disappear into the night, smiling bitterly:
"…Yes, I should also consider countermeasures."
"I wonder if sitting down and having a good talk with Aizen would make him abandon those pathetic ideas… Ahaha, that cold joke really should be heard by Miss Yoruichi."
The bitter, complex laughter melted into the increasingly muggy night wind.
…
The wind, scorching hot from spiritual pressure, blew across his face.
The light on Shimiya Takeru's body rapidly dimmed, like a life flame extinguished.
Hachihara and Rindo Yu quickly stepped forward, wanting to help him, but Shimiya Takeru waved his hand, declining.
"I'm fine."
Seeing that he still had the strength to create a spiritual particle foothold in the air, the two felt much relieved.
However, they didn't know that Shimiya Takeru had immediately used both of his two daily uses of the "Compound Potion" right after his Shikai ended.
After all, being in the Human World where spiritual particles were sparse, recovery was especially slow. Moreover, the current situation was not yet completely clear, and he wouldn't allow himself to fall into a predicament.