Inside Soul Society's Shinigami Research and Development Institute, warning alarms blared one after another, filling the room with a tense, oppressive atmosphere.
A staff member shouted urgently into the communicator, "Report! Multiple unknown high-density reiatsu signatures have suddenly appeared in the World of the Living. There are many of them, and their intensity is extremely high!"
Another staff member hurriedly asked, "Where exactly?"
"Karakura Town!"
"Lock onto the source of those reiatsu signatures immediately and confirm their precise location! I'll report this to Captain Kurotsuchi right away."
The staff members busied themselves operating various instruments, attempting to track and lock onto those mysterious reiatsu sources.
But then, without warning, every signal vanished.
The screens went dark, as if some power had deliberately blocked them.
"What's going on? Why did the reiatsu signals suddenly disappear?" someone cried out in surprise.
The others also looked confused.
None of them had ever encountered a situation like this before.
The reiatsu signatures that had been so clear moments ago had disappeared without the slightest warning, leaving everyone completely baffled.
"Check the equipment and make sure everything is running normally. See if there's a malfunction," someone suggested.
They immediately began inspecting the devices, but after a thorough check, they found no issues at all.
Everything seemed disturbingly strange.
...
"Phew… that was close. We almost got noticed by Soul Society!"
Kazuma patted his chest in lingering fear and quickly cast a barrier.
The captains who had returned from Hell with him all looked at him in confusion.
"Why did you suddenly set up this barrier?"
Kazuma explained, "Sorry, I forgot to tell you earlier. Soul Society is very different now from how it was in the past. They have methods to monitor high-density reiatsu fluctuations in the World of the Living. With the strength of your reiatsu, you're basically like fireflies glowing in the dark! The moment you returned to the World of the Living, Soul Society noticed."
Chigiri Shijima asked in confusion, "So what? We were originally from Soul Society anyway. Does it matter if they discover us?"
Kazuma smiled bitterly.
"For now, I suggest everyone avoid appearing in Soul Society's field of vision. Because of certain special reasons, I'm currently a wanted criminal there. If they find out I'm still alive, it will probably bring quite a bit of trouble."
"I see…"
Only then did the captains understand.
"In that case, we should suppress our reiatsu first."
After high-density reiatsu fluctuations appeared in Karakura Town, the first to react were Kisuke Urahara's group and Shinji Hirako's group.
They rushed toward the location where the reiatsu had erupted as quickly as possible.
But the moment Kazuma sensed their reiatsu, he immediately made a decision and led everyone away.
"Tanned Guy, haven't you been talking about wanting to see that outstanding descendant of yours? She's among the people chasing after us. What do you think? Interested in meeting her?"
Kazuma suddenly remembered the matter, and a wicked smile tugged at his lips.
"Oh?" Chika Shihōin raised an eyebrow, curiosity appearing on his face. "So the group chasing us is the Kisuke Urahara and Yoruichi you mentioned earlier?"
"That's right. And not just those two! The captains who were framed and persecuted a hundred years ago, then forced to flee Soul Society, are here too," Kazuma explained with a smile.
Hearing that, everyone's eyes lit up with excitement.
They were very curious about these younger captains and could hardly wait to test their strength.
In particular, Chika was interested in his descendant, Yoruichi Shihōin.
During their idle chatter in Hell, Kazuma had mentioned that she was known as the Flash Goddess, and that title had made them even more curious.
They wanted to see whether the name truly lived up to its reputation.
Kazuma led the group of captains to conceal their reiatsu and hide inside an abandoned industrial complex.
To ensure their movements remained secret, he also specifically sealed Rukia's reiatsu.
After all, with Rukia's current strength, if her reiatsu was not hidden, Urahara and the others would easily notice her.
Rukia herself had become deeply interested in these captains as well.
Before this, she had only known Kisuke Urahara as a cross-world merchant who could obtain goods from Soul Society.
But after this trip to Hell, she learned that Urahara's true identity was actually the former captain of the Twelfth Division.
"They're here. Everyone, be careful."
A black cat was the first to arrive at the abandoned industrial complex.
Soon after, a man wearing a striped green-and-white bucket hat and wooden sandals appeared as well.
Then came a group of fashionably dressed young people.
Seeing that Urahara and Yoruichi had arrived ahead of him, Shinji Hirako greeted them with a stiff face.
"Urahara, did you find that group?"
"No. We chased them here, but their reiatsu fluctuations suddenly disappeared. They must be hiding."
Kisuke Urahara looked around at the buildings inside the industrial complex.
...
"Kazuma, where is that descendant of mine you mentioned? Why can't I see her?"
Chika Shihōin frowned, his gaze searching repeatedly among the group below.
Logically speaking, members of the Shihōin Clan tended to have darker skin, so they should have been easy to recognize.
But after scanning the people below, he could not find anyone who matched.
Kazuma lightly pursed his lips and said softly, "Do you see that black cat?"
Chika froze for a moment.
Then his eyes widened in disbelief.
"Don't tell me Yoruichi is that cat!"
Seeing Kazuma nod in confirmation, the captains present all struggled to hold back their laughter.
Every one of them looked as if they were about to burst.
"Chika, your descendant really knows how to enjoy herself," Chigiri Shijima teased. "Instead of maintaining a perfectly good human form, she turns into a cat! Just how much does she like cats?"
Rukia, meanwhile, stood there completely dazed.
She had never expected that the black cat was actually the former Second Division captain, Yoruichi Shihōin.
It was simply too unbelievable.
"I do not have such an embarrasing descendant!"
After receiving Kazuma's confirmation, Chika Shihōin nearly exploded with rage, speaking through gritted teeth.
His already dark face now looked even darker, as though it had gone from glossy black to matte black, making one think of the bottom of a burnt pot.
His body trembled with anger, as if he might erupt at any moment.
"Calm down, Tanned Guy."
Kazuma held back his laughter and patted Chika on the shoulder.
"Maybe Yoruichi just really likes cats."
Chika took a deep breath and desperately tried to calm himself, repeatedly rebuilding his mental defenses.
'Don't get angry. Don't get angry. Yoruichi just likes cats. It's nothing serious! As long as she's strong enough, that's all that matters.'
Chika slowly regained his composure and decided not to dwell on Yoruichi turning into a cat for now.
"All right. You've all seen this group now. Any thoughts?" Kazuma asked.
Chigiri Shijima joked, "At least introduce the others to us first. Otherwise, how are we supposed to know who's who?"
"That white-haired muscular man is Kensei Muguruma, former captain of the Ninth Division."
"The one with a dead-eyed face and short blond hair is Shinji Hirako, former captain of the Fifth Division."
"The expressionless one with long blond hair is Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi, former captain of the Third Division."
"The guy with sunglasses and an afro is Love Aikawa, former lieutenant of the Seventh Division. Don't be fooled by the fact that he was only a lieutenant. He had already mastered Bankai back then. There just wasn't a vacant captain position at the time, so he remained a lieutenant."
"The man in green with the wooden sandals and hat is Kisuke Urahara, former captain of the Twelfth Division. He's a scheming guy, and a mad scientist on top of that. The Shinigami Research and Development Institute was founded by him."
"The green-haired girl is Mashiro Kuna, former lieutenant of the Ninth Division."
"The girl with the long ponytail and glasses is Lisa Yadōmaru, former lieutenant of the Eighth Division. She's a perverted female lecher."
"As for the remaining two, they're the former Chief and Vice-Chief of the Kidō Corps."
After introducing everyone to the gathered captains, Kazuma smiled with great interest.
"So, which one of you wants to stretch your legs?"
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