goyya 1167-1176
Chapter 1167 Shinji Hirako part 3 | Patr
September 19
AN: I'm sorry that it took a while. I won't make it long since I already said it on my discord.
I decided to write a new draft and outline to the bleach arc since I finally found an appropriate setting for the 'villain' to match the climax that I'm hoping for.
Inspiration suddenly came so I decided to do that first before I lost it, hence the delay. I'm sorry about that and thank you for you understanding.
=============================================
Kisuke's mind raced again and he tried figuring out what was in the notes that incriminated him.
When Kisuke revealed his appearance, there was a temporary shock in Shinji's eyes before his calm remained, and he said, "Stop thinking about it. Even if you dissect Soifon's words in that note, you won't be able to find anything."
Kisuke gave up and sighed again, "Then what is it, Hirako-san? I'm really at a loss here."
"Well, the most simple explanation is that you underestimated us."
"..." Kisuke remained quiet.
"Most of the time, you underestimate yourself, however, you also sometimes do the same with the people who you consider as your comrade." Shinji grabbed the tea kettle and poured tea for himself, "Those who don't know you might think that you're looking down on everyone, but for those who truly know you, that's the furthest thing from the truth. You just like underestimating things around you for an additional safety net. While it's useful in a conflict, it'll only cause misunderstandings in times of peace."
"And that misunderstanding is on my part?"
Shinji grinned at him and answered, "Correct. Though it's mostly just Soifon, it was enough for a series of events to add up."
Shinji then took a sip of the already cooling tea before continuing, "Did you know, I already found your mannerisms and your way of fighting to be suspicious the moment I first saw you?"
"Let's say that's true, but that's too far-fetched on top of there being no evidence."
"Kisuke, please remember." Shinji placed down his cup and directly met Kisuke's eyes, "Because I didn't reach out just for that far-fetched possibility that Aizen was able to do what he wanted."
"Still, that's not for you to call me out with such conviction. I know you'd take an observer's approach if you're not sure enough."
"You know me well, but that's where Soifon's note comes in. I'm sure that you know that anything related to the Seireitei is serious official business for her, but did you know that there's really only one person, including Yoruichi, that she'll act casual with?"
Kisuke thought about it and finally got where Shinji was coming from, "...That's me?"
Shinji started chuckling, "That's right. If you were any other person, she'd be more 'official' with that note and probably knows that too. Just like me, you underestimated her. You looked past her not being bothered to put up appearances to you."
Kisuke sighed again and scratched his head, "And the last clue probably came from Ise-san here, right?"
Nanao almost jumped when her name was called and refocused her senses. Even now, she didn't understand how Shinji could act like normal and she'd been thinking about what Shunsui wanted her to do in this moment.
"So you noticed it too. She's been acting way too weird, as if she wanted to say something so bad but was not allowed to do so. I'm guessing that she probably heard something from Shunsui so I just asked you directly."
"N-no! Captain didn't tell me anything! I just overheard it when he's talking on his phone!"
'He was able to override the silencing effect of that phone?' Kisuke asked himself.
Meanwhile, Shinji turned to Nanao and gave her a suspicious look, "So you heard from him? You know he's not careless with something like that."
Nanao could only keep her mouth shut because she can't refute that.
Shinji turned his head back to Kisuke and asked, "Since when did you come in contact with him?"
"A while back."
"I see." Shinji suddenly stood up and fixed his attire, "There you have it. Three people that you underestimated working together. I don't know what you're trying to achieve but be more careful if you don't want your identity revealed." He then left his seat and turned around towards the exit, "Ise, let's go before everyone becomes too suspicious."
"W-wait! Captain Hirako! Aren't you going to ask more!?"
Shinji didn't turn around and started walking, "My words from earlier still apply. It's better answered by actions instead of words. And it's Kisuke we're talking about here. We don't know how he'll mislead us so it's just better to watch what he'll do."
Nanao still wasn't satisfied but she had no choice but to follow Shinji. She bowed her head to Kisuke with a complicated expression and briskly walked behind Shinji.
Shinji and Nanao reached the door but before they went through it, Shinji turned his head for one final time, "Later, Kisuke."
Kisuke stood up and smiled at Shinji, "Yep. Later. It was good to see you again."
Shinji only waved his hand back and left the mansion. As soon as they went through the gates, they disappeared with Flash Steps.
Kisuke reactivated his disguise and disabled the barrier around the mansion. He wanted to call and ask Shunsui what he was trying to do but he stopped himself and figured that he'll first wait for Shinji to confront him, 'If I were to guess his intentions for letting Ise-san in on this mess... It's that he wanted to let me know that I shouldn't push my luck too much. That's fair since Hirako-san was able to figure me out with just a few clues. Thank goodness that he's a trustworthy one. If it was someone like Mayuri, I'm not going to have a good time.'
Kisuke left the mansion and disappeared in a random alleyway.
As soon as he returned, he heard hurried footsteps coming his way and a few seconds later, Soifon appeared before him, "How did it go?"
Kisuke smiled wryly and said with a defeated tone, "You got me."
The happy Soifon couldn't help but grin, "As expected of Hirako. He doesn't disappoint. And the fact that he's the one who appeared to you could mean that Captain Commander knows about you too."
Since it'd be useless to hide that further from her, he nodded and asked, "When did you start getting suspicious?"
"The moment I was able to move on from the fact that you're still alive. The matters regarding Sitri Serafall have been going smoothly... Too smoothly, even. So when I knew that it was you, there's only one person not right in the head to secretly cooperate with you."
"I guess I really was pushing my luck too much." Kisuke wanted to grab Soifon's nose to stop her from grinning but he didn't really want his hand cut for no reason so he refrained from it, "To think there's this many holes in my actions... I should lay low for now."
"You're not going against our deal just because I found a loophole in your contract, right?"
"Of course not. Let's go to the Multimedia Room. Yoruichi and my own experience is hard to explain with just words so I prepared something for you to understand at least a tiny bit of it."
Editors:
28th00: I mean, these people knew you for like a century or two, of course they'll notice your tells my dude.
7
Chapter 1168 Movie Viewing | Patreon

September 19
Kisuke watched the footage he prepared with Soifon which was mostly their daily lives, the Azazel Cup, the Hell Disaster, the Evie leader's attack, and some snippets of the final battle with Tiamat and Chaos. He also included some footage from the Evil Dragons' resurrection and Trihexa's rampage even though neither he nor Yoruichi were around for it. Though he was really only watching Soifon's dumbfounded reactions and enjoyed himself.
In every scene, Soifon could only be more and more confused even though Kisuke was providing her some verbal context and a few hours later, their movie viewing concluded.
"And that's the gist of it," Kisuke said while turning off the holographic device that turned the room they were in into the scene they were watching, making it as if they are included in the scene.
Although Kisuke sadly couldn't recreate the intensity of the scenes, Soifon still managed to understand a bit of it, especially the large-scale battles that changed the terrains, "...What in the world just happened?" These are Soifon's first words after a long while.
"Oh. You mean this?" Kisuke asked while patting the crystal which was the source of the holographic images on the table, "I created this after studying some illusion techniques employed by various Deities and Youkais. It became pretty popular on that side... for various reasons. And I don't think it'll take long before someone creates an interactable virtual reality with it... This won't affect the population count negatively, will it?" At the end of his sentence, he started muttering after realizing what massive damage this could do especially at the time when they need more people than ever to support and supplement the giant leaps in civilization on Earth.
"...Then the place you two went to is really..."
"A whole new different world. It appears that Byakko is not originally from this world and already had the world-hopping ability before it came to the Shihouin Clan. And thanks to Benihime ripping out both of our souls and the Hougyoku protecting us to properly travel with Byakko, we ended up reincarnating."
"...Reincarnation... Then that Urahara Sakura..."
"Is my mother, yes. We also found Yoruichi's parents but she was abandoned due to trivial reasons and their family itself is rife with abuse on both sides and already collapsing so we didn't bother interacting with them. It was a good thing that she didn't have any siblings that we had to rescue."
"You believe that she's your mother?"
Kisuke looked at her seriously and said, "Of course. She's my mother without a doubt and as an extension, also Yoruichi's. Regardless if I really came from her or not, even if I have the memories of my previous life, it won't change the fact that she's been a wonderful mother to me."
Soifon was a bit startled and cleared her throat, "I apologize. That was a rude question. I just didn't know where to start."
"That's fine. Just slowly think about it and ask whatever question you have. We're not in a hurry so let's take it slow."
Soifon took Kisuke's offer and requested to replay the motion picture, this time, pausing at certain moments and asking him what was happening in more detail.
It took almost a day for them to finish everything and even then, Soifon still couldn't wrap her head around on everything she just saw and heard.
Soifon was about to get depressed when Kisuke reassured her that it was only normal for her not to follow as there was a limit to what he could explain. As Kisuke still hadn't delved deep into what Magic and Ki could do and the various cultures and races that use it, it's perfectly normal for Soifon to be confused by all of this.
"I still don't understand everything, but it seems that you're still in the top few on that side."
"That's due to that side not being very well versed in matters regarding Spiritual Power. And thanks to the Hougyoku's assistance, I was able to get far."
"Hougyoku... Do you intend to make another one?" Soifon stared at Kisuke and within her eyes, there was even a hint of hostility.
Kisuke smiled wryly and shook his head, "No. And I don't think I'll be able to create another one."
Naturally, Soifon didn't believe him, "Not able to create one again? You and Aizen created the first one and you made the second one. What's stopping you from doing the third?"
"The Spirit King." Answered Kisuke, "Or more specifically, his absence."
"...What do you mean?"
"It's hard to explain it, but essentially, even though he's tied up there, he still could interfere with the world. But now that he's gone..."
At the mention of the Spirit King, Soifon was reminded of Aizen's ability, "Did you become someone like Aizen?"
Kisuke shook his head, "No. While I'm hard to kill, I don't have the same immortality and destructive force as him. You saw some individuals who are clearly on a different level, right? Aizen is almost on that stage and the only thing that's stopping him from stepping on that is the fact that he's sealed."
Soifon became quiet.
"By the way, do you finally believe that Ophis and Lilith are not spies?"
Soifon straightened her body and intensely looked at Kisuke when she was reminded about them, "That's right! What's up with them!?"
"Probably the same as the Spirit King, born out of nowhere, but unlike the former, didn't care about the world until recently. Ophis is the Dragon God of Infinity and living up to her name, she's an [Infinite] existence until a [Dragon Slayer] finally got her and she had to split her power. That split power was used by someone and created essentially a copy of her and was named Lilith."
"So they are not twins... But since Lilith is part of Ophis, couldn't she just absorb her?"
"If she didn't meet us, she may have. She's very proud of her power as that defines her entire existence. However, she became much more interested in life than the power she held. Lilith is a life born purely out of her power so her curiosity gave her a chance to live. And right now, if you ask her to absorb Lilith back, she'll get very angry. Even though she became weak for being 'incomplete', she could still wipe out a portion of the map."
"And why is someone like that attending the Spirit Academy? And she's a Dragon, so how are they fooling everyone?" Soifon asked. While she still couldn't believe that those little girls were capable of mass destruction on par with Aizen, she was more curious and afraid of their real intentions.
"Her [Infinity] mostly means limitless possibilities so that gave her a true shapeshifting power. In other words, she can transform into anything she can think of. Human, Spirit, man, or woman, any transformation they do is their true self. They transformed into Plus and were able to enroll in the Academy. And for what reason? It's because they are children.
"And although their common sense is catching up to the standard, they're still incapable of fully mingling and adapting to Human society, especially a normal one. They don't want to be left behind by the other girls so without much of a choice, we enrolled them in Spirit Academy to experience their school life."
"...That's ridiculous."
"Right? But I consider them as my daughters so I'll do everything I can to have them enjoy their lives and stop everyone else from taking advantage of their power."
Soifon wanted to tell him that he's not that kind of person but stopped herself after hearing the conviction and weight behind his words, "...And what about this Flanna? She has the same face as the other two."
"That... I'd like to keep it a secret for now."
=================================
AN: I'm having a hard time portraying Soifon's 'surprise' here so I'm providing more context here in the Author's note. I'm sorry for my lack of ability. Instead of being shocked, she's more confused. Although she could see the destruction the characters of DxD can do, she has no idea of the intensity of the battle going on as I've written.
Issei and co. are capable of mass destruction too, so Ophis' power is hard to see from just a video no matter how immersive it is with 360 viewing. As such, it became not that impressive.
So in this, the exact thing that Soifon couldn't understand is the 'concepts'
Soifon doesn't get the Divide and Boost. She doesn't get the concept of Super Devils or the unique abilities of each Gods. The same with [Infinity] and [Dreams] she doesn't get any of it since the only metric she could compare with is the resulting destruction. And even that is not reliable since she also doesn't know each person's resistance.
In other words, it's like the physicists smashing atoms using the LHC. To normal people, it sounds awesome, but to physicists themselves, it's almost a miracle-making device as they understand how and why it works. In this case, Soifon is the normal person.
Another example of this is Yoruichi's ability to cut space itself. From a normal person's point of view, another person and Yoruichi cutting a tree is the same as it has the same result. However, only those who could understand what's happening knows that Yoruichi's cut is much more terrifying.
Similar to those on the DxD side, they wouldn't really understand Aizen's hypnosis or Shinji's bankai by just watching it through a video clip.
And that's the end of my lengthy AN due to my having a skill issue. Thank you for reading.
TLDR: Soifon is more confused than shocked because she doesn't understand the underlying concept of the DxD side's power.
Editors:
28th00: Yeah, the dragon twins be the daughterus. Mr. Hat protects the loli dragons.
7
Chapter 1169 Special Gigai | Patreon

September 19
Kisuke explained everything he could to Soifon pertaining to what they just watched, however, he knew that she wouldn't fully understand it without experiencing it herself and that's a long process if they were not going to that side.
'Anyone can do flashy things, but only a few could be truly horrifying. How will I be able to explain doubling power every ten seconds limitlessly or dividing power to the point of nonexistence?' Kisuke thought to himself while cleaning up, "I think that's enough for now. Let's have you fulfill your side of the deal."
Soifon froze. Now that it has come to this, she started becoming nervous, 'It was really stupid of me to not ask about this experiment before agreeing. But I have a feeling that I would lose my footing in the negotiations if I were to ask for specific details.'
Breathing deeply a few times, she finally said, "I agreed to the experiment thinking that you wouldn't put my life in danger, but am I wrong?"
"I won't deny that there are any risks, but I already arranged everything so that even in the event of a catastrophic failure, your life would be safe and you can still go back to the 2nd Division without any problems."
Soifon sighed in relief, "Alright. I'll trust you. But what are you going to do exactly?"
"For now, follow me."
.
.
.
Kisuke and Soifon left the mansion and went underground to reach a detached building that was at least 5 times larger than the mansion, "What's with you and underground bases?", asked the latter.
"It's convenient so why not?"
Kisuke led Soifon to a large room of the detached building that only contained a few things and the most prominent of it all was the large glass tube filled with a blue solution and in the middle of it, "...A fetus?" Soifon asked.
Kisuke then suddenly turned to Soifon and said, "The experiment is transferring your soul into a physical body and seeing if you could use your Shinigami powers while in it."
"...Are you serious?"
"I've been at it most of the years I've been on the other side. I'm pretty serious about it."
"...And what for?"
"It started as a curiosity, then a genuine interest. I wanted to know how Yoruichi and I were capable of using our powers despite having a physical body. And as an extension to that, how are the Humans on that side different from the ones here."
"Then what happens if this is a success?"
"With sufficient mastery, you'll be able to use Magic and Ki too."
"You know that's not what I'm referring to. What do you want to happen creating something like this?"
"..." Kisuke went silent for a moment before saying, "This is not part of our agreement."
Soifon gritted her teeth, "Do you really think that I'm stupid enough not to believe that this pertains to the fate of the Soul Society!?"
But instead of answering her question, Kisuke asked, "Have you noticed anything out of place with the videos I showed you?"
Soifon was startled and thought that Kisuke was escaping from the topic, "This isn't about that!"
"It isn't? Well, anything show in that is out of place for you, but if you can't notice it, you're still not ready to hear it."
"...What do you mean?"
Kisuke turned around and started operating the panels, "Once you start asking about it, you'll have an idea of what I'm anticipating. However, until that time, I'll keep my mouth shut."
"Is it really that hard to tell me?"
"Yes. As you are now, you'll see me as the most evil man in the world."
Soifon clenched her fist hard and asked another question, "Does Yoruichi-sama know about this?"
"I didn't tell her anything about it, but if it's her, she knows what I wanted to happen. In the first place, I don't know if what I'm thinking is really going to happen. Let's just say that I'm preparing for the worst and this is one of my insurances."
"And she allowed you to return to become that evil man?"
"I have her full support."
"...Then what do you really want?"
"I already answered that."
"No. I'm asking you what's making you do all of this?"
Kisuke's hands stopped and he slowly turned to Soifon only to see her staring at him seriously. Kisuke smiled gently and said, "You may not believe it, but this is to protect all those important to me."
Soifon stared at him for a few more moments before sighing, "What should I do?"
"Just like a Gigai, you'll be entering that fetus."
"...I'm not going in that and waiting for years to reach full maturity, will I?"
"No. It's a fetus I created from very special ingredients. It's special that its DNA is not set and only when a Spiritual Body enters it will start developing. And once it starts developing, it'll only take a day or two for it to get the same shape as the Spiritual Body that entered it."
Soifon approached the glass tube and asked, "And the caveats?"
"According to my calculations, you'll only be able to stay in this... Let's call it Gigai for now. You'll only be able to stay within this Gigai for 30 days before the fuse becomes permanent and it'll become your flesh and blood regardless of the complications. With that in mind, you'll enter it and after two days, we'll do various tests for the next five days. After that, I'll separate you from the Gigai and you'll enter another one to resume the tests."
"You'll have to separate me? I can't do it on my own?"
"Yes. While it sounds simple, the process of entering and exiting it is a lot more complicated under the hood and any oversight from me could cause you harm. Both of us don't want that."
"How many times do I have to repeat this experiment?"
"If it's up to me, I want to do this at least a thousand times, but that's clearly unrealistic to your side. For now, let's aim for at least 10 times and see what comes after that."
"At least ten weeks, I see."
"You can't back out now even if you want to."
"That's not what I meant. It's just that it would take longer than I expected. I don't know if those who came from Hell will stay still."
"After the 10th time, we'll discuss how you'll be able to leave this place. And about Hell, you don't have to worry about them for now. While they can enter the Human World anytime, Kurotsuchi-san should be able to arrange a better detection method. In addition to that, it shouldn't take long before the Shinigamis learn how to detect the aura from Hell. And besides that, it seems that the Hell residents are only immortal when they are in Hell so this will most certainly be a war of attrition."
"If you say so... How should I enter this... Gigai?"
"Just put your palm on the wide surface beside the buttons. I'll do the rest and you'll lose your consciousness until your body reaches full maturity."
Soifon took a deep breath and set aside her fears before placing her palm on the designated area. It'll be two days later before she wakes up again.
Editors:
28th00: Kisuke doing that mad science. Is this his personal reincarnation backup method in case someone dies too? I assume it can be used to give a tri-system body like he(used to) and Yoruchi(still does) have. Magic, Ki and Spiritual. And considering ExE, having access to the last one is pretty damn vitally important for the sheer innate resistance it gives against the Evies themselves. That's my guess at least.
Goyya: In this world, yes. Soul transfer makes one virtually immortal. However, in a world where there's a robust reincarnation system, it's going to be hard.
7
Chapter 1170 Special Gigai part 2 | Patreon

September 19
Three months went by and Kisuke's experiment was progressing well. He would sometimes get a visit from Claire, who had already mostly recovered her mental health, and the other girls to check up on him. And even if Serafall was not saying anything about what's happening on the west side of the world, he could feel the surrounding Holy Power disappearing which means it was being absorbed and controlled by those 'faithful'.
'Did she teach them some Holy techniques? A Devil like her? That's pretty amusing.' Kisuke thought to himself while waiting for Soifon to walk out of the dressing room.
She's changing her clothes and most of it was ripped up after her sparring with Kisuke.
It didn't take too long for her to take a shower and came out while complaining, "Why the fuck are you so sturdy?"
"I've been improving myself too, you know? I figured that I can't depend on my regeneration all the time after it was rendered useless on one occasion. Enough about that. How are you feeling now."
Soifon placed her towel on her shoulder and stretched out her arms and legs a few times before twisting her body left and right, "All the discomfort I was feeling at first has completely disappeared. In fact, I feel way better than before."
"I made sure that I didn't put in any addictive substances but are you sure what you're feeling is not just euphoria?"
"Definitely not. I'm very careful about it and have ascertained the state of my body multiple times before answering you. Isn't it because of that? Magic Power and Ki. I've been getting the hang of it and the movement of my Spiritual Power is in no way affected unless I use two systems at the same time."
"Let's go back to the lab and have you take an in-depth check-up."
As Soifon followed Kisuke to his lab, she asked, "This is the tenth instance. Will we be taking a break after this?"
"That's the plan, but do you have something different in mind?"
"Let me stay in this body."
Kisuke became silent for a brief moment but he still continued walking in front of Soifon, "...That's a dangerous thought you're having. Not even funny as a joke."
"I'm serious."
Kisuke finally halted his steps and turned to face Soifon, "And I'm serious too. The moment you fuse with that body permanently, there's no going back. Forget about getting out of it unscathed, it could also mean the end of your career as a Shinigami. The moment it was discovered that you gained a physical body while maintaining your Shinigami powers and even learned something else in the process, you'd be lucky if Central 46 didn't think that you were doing something very dangerous and have you hunted down. And most dangerous of all, the Zero Division will see this as a threat to their duties and will come down baring their fangs. This is hardly about the results of the experiment but instead the storm you're causing due to crossing an invisible line."
However, even with all of that, Soifon calmly returned another question, "Isn't going past the limit of 30 days very beneficial to you since I'll produce more valuable data? I didn't think you'd disagree with me this strongly. Besides, all the reasons you gave hardly affect you and your group. If someone is sacrificing something, it'd be me."
Kisuke sighed strongly, "If Yoruichi was here, she'd strongly disagree."
"There's no point in mentioning someone who isn't here."
Kisuke thought that that would do the trick but it was instantly brushed off, "Did access to Magic Power and Ki affect your head? Aren't you just drowning in power and wanting more of it?"
From Kisuke's experiments, he discovered that Soifon was very compatible with Magic and that she was already capable of casting elemental attacks on par with Captain-level Shikai. In contrast to that, Yoruichi and Kisuke's compatibility with Ki and the main reason why they took the 'Reiatsu-Ki' route. He doesn't know if this is the side effect of the experimental body or Soifon's own individuality, 'By letting her settle in that body, I might be able to find the real reason out, but...'
"I won't deny that, but I can assure you that it isn't my motivation for this decision."
Kisuke carefully stared at her, especially her demeanor, "Hooh? It doesn't look like you're lying, but I could just attribute that to your skill."
Soifon shrugged, "What benefit would I get from lying to you? You'd basically be holding the leash of my life. Any dishonesty on my part means me being closer to death or maybe something even more horrific."
"I'm glad that you understand that, but I still can't really allow this. What's your motivation in the first place for you to act like this?"
"It's nothing amazing... I just want to become a pioneer."
"Pioneer?"
Soifon nodded eagerly, "I didn't say this to you, but after watching everything that you've shown me, something I kept dormant was stirred greatly. You could call it ambition, but it's my hidden desire to leave the shadows and walk in front of everyone."
Kisuke didn't interrupt and even urged her to continue speaking. He wanted to know where she was coming from after revealing this.
"All my life, I've been following orders. I don't see anything wrong with that since it's also a duty that I have to fulfill. However, since childhood, I have had these bouts of ambitious motivations whenever I see something amazing. I was able to grant this hidden desire of mine but only for a few moments."
Kisuke thought back and remembered that Soifon never really became the 'leader', 'Only for a few moments... Wait, could it be?'
"Shunkou?" Kisuke briefly asked.
Soifon nodded again, "When I thought I was threading a new path different from everyone else, it turned out Yoruichi-sama already mastered it."
"And now you could see a new path?"
"Yes. I can't stop thinking about it and these past few months it's getting harder and harder to hold myself back the more I learn about this Magic and Ki."
"And finally you decided to follow your heart regardless of the risk?"
"Don't get me wrong. I know it's risky, but I've still weighed it properly. If I knew that I'm just throwing away my life, I wouldn't even ask about this."
Kisuke became quiet again and Soifon looked at him with anticipation.
A few seconds later, Kisuke turned around and said, "I'll give you a day. Think hard and carefully about it. If you still haven't changed your mind by then, we'll proceed with what you want."
Soifon gleefully followed Kisuke who resumed his steps, "Fine. I'll give it my final thoughts tonight."
"However, never forget that you're not putting your foot forward but jumping into an abyss where you can never get out from."
"...I'll keep that in mind."
Editors:
28th00: Oh yeah, Soifon got cucked outta Shunko by Yoruichi… That had to fucking sting. Gonna make human-world stealth missions a fucking chore though, but then again, if a Captain-level entity is needed for a stealth mission in the human world, shit's already fucked.
Goyya: I can confidently say that Soifon's talent is on par with Yoruichi's, however, Yoruichi has a personality that makes her a lot more adaptable.
7
Chapter 1171 Return to Seireitei | Patreon

September 19
Kisuke already expected it but Soifon really didn't change her mind. He still can't fully understand her motivation since he was never ambitious. But if he's going to compare it to his thirst for knowledge and overall curiosity, then he could somehow relate.
"So you're going to return like this, huh?"
Soifon finished checking her body and Zanpakuto's condition and said, "Yes. That's why let's set our stories straight."
Kisuke rubbed his chin for a few seconds before saying, "Let's go with your Spiritual Body not being able to survive the decomposition and I had no choice but to put your soul in an experimental Physical Body called a Homunculus. It took us 3 months to stabilize everything so you could only return now. Regarding your abilities, just tell them that various books about Magic and Ki are scattered in this base and I just let you do what you want and would only interfere if you're doing something wrong or dangerous."
"That doesn't sound like I'm a captive."
"Because you're not. You're a patient, and an amusing Shinigami trying her hands on new toys."
"Do you really have to phrase it like that?"
"Yes. And don't forget to tell them that. I don't want them to think that I'm on their side. I want to maintain my neutrality."
"And if they ask your name?"
"Belial. Just call me Belial."
"Same as those kids' last names?"
"Yes. It's the name of our household on the other side and the name of the Devil our clan originated from."
"Devil, huh? I still can't believe something like that exists… I'm going now." Soifon turned around to the portal that'll lead her back to the Human World. Since normal Humans were capable of seeing her, she's wearing casual clothes that are appropriate for the season. But although they looked normal, they were specially made clothes that are even stronger than Lieutenant-level Shihakusho.
Soifon stepped into the Human World and even though it was just three months, she still missed the air, 'It's the Human World... But there's something slightly different.'
Kisuke was about to close the portal and he remembered something and asked, "By the way, you never once released your Bankai. What are you trying to hide?"
Soifon turned her head to him with a grin and answered, "My ace."
.
.
.
Soifon first walked around the Human World and although it was small in number, there were a few glances that went her way and it bothered her greatly. It was a very different experience compared to when she's a Shinigami. She doesn't know if this is how those who constantly used a Gigai felt since unlike them, she had no limitations to her abilities and her instincts were always kicking in to use them for her own convenience, 'I can't just suddenly disappear from their sights. This is more annoying than I thought.'
Nevertheless, it was still a good thing for her to experience this to prepare herself for the future. After roaming around for about an hour, Soifon decided to find a desolate place and open a Senkaimon.
Thankfully, they hadn't revoked her authority to open one, or else her only option was to go through the Garganta or call for another Shinigami to open a Senkaimon for her.
After making sure that there's nothing wrong with it and that she had a Hell Butterfly accompanying her, she went through the door she opened and found herself passing through the only permanent Senkaimon in the Seireitei.
The moment she stepped out, one of the two guards addressed her with a startled voice, "C-Captain Soifon! You've returned! But those clothes..."
Soifon's strict expression didn't change as she turned to the one who talked to her, "There are various circumstances for this. Is the Captain Commander in his barracks now?"
The guard became nervous because Soifon sounded pissed, "The Captain Commander and the other Captains should be in the 1st Division barracks right now for a meeting!"
"I see. Good work. I'll report to the Captain Commander first."
"Yes! Understood!"
Soifon stopped paying attention to the guards and used Flash Step to get off the tower where the Senkaimon was.
Naturally, her arrival was immediately detected by those skilled enough.
Within the 1st Division Barracks, all the Captains were called to discuss the subsequent actions they should take to Hell since Mayuri just announced that he found a way to avoid Hell's Punishment without relying on Kazui's ability.
And just as Shunsui was about to adjourn the meeting, they all felt Soifon's Reiatsu appear within the Seireitei.
Most of them turned in the direction of the Senkaimon that just emitted a pillar of light and Isane merrily muttered, "Finally..."
Since they could all tell that Soifon was making her way to the 1st Division Barracks, they decided to wait with Shunsui saying, "It looks like we have another subject of importance for today."
"I will readjust your schedule for today." Nanao, the only non-Captain in the room, said while fixing the position of her glasses.
"Couldn't you just cancel everything?"
"No."
While listening to Nanao and Shunsui bicker, Soifon arrived at the front door, "Captain Commander, Captain of the 2nd Division reporting." Since the meeting had already started, Soifon didn't want to just head in without saying anything.
Shunsui sighed and properly sat down, "Come in."
Soifon entered the room and everyone's eyes immediately landed on her, with all of their attention except for one person gathered at one point. The dark blue slacks pants, beige colored polo shirt, and a gray baggy hoodie, 'The world of the living's clothes?' they wondered.
However, their focus was broken when all of a sudden, Mayuri pulled out his Zanpakuto and released his Shikai.
Everyone else subtly created distance from each other while Shunsui frowned, "Kurotsuchi-kun, mind telling us what you're trying to do?"
"Just a bit of a precaution." Mayuri instantly answered, maintaining his eyes on Soifon, "More importantly, I want to confirm something."
Shunsui glanced at Soifon, then to the other Captains also wondering what was going on, and finally back to Mayuri, "Go on."
"All Gigai, except for specially made ones, are automatically destroyed upon passage through Senkaimon, correct?"
'Gigai?' Shunsui and the others asked themselves while returning their sights to Soifon. It was then that they understood that Soifon had a Physical Body. Although it's strange, they still don't get why Mayuri suddenly pulled out his weapon.
Mayuri glanced around and was disappointed that they hadn't caught on yet so he continued, "But no matter how special a Gigai is, there should be no way for her to use her abilities while in it. Of course, there's an exception for a disposable Gigai but that's still in experimental stages and I haven't released any of them nor are any of them unaccounted for."
"!?" They finally realized where Mayuri was getting at.
Editors:
28th00: Hey, Soifon's got some style going on at least, ya know?!
Goyya: It's actually hard to google women's fashion and describe them…
___-_____________________-_____________________-___________-______________________-_____________________-___________
7
Chapter 1172 Returning to Seireitei part 2 | Patreon

4 hours ago
AN: Thank you for waiting~!
Please enjoy and have a good day~!
=====================================
In the middle of all of this, Soifon remained calm, "As expected of Captain Kurotsuchi, you instantly noticed it.
She then turned to Shunsui and asked for permission, "Should I narrate my report here?"
Shunsui became very worried about what this report could entail, 'But since she's here, she must have reached some sort of agreement with him. I can only trust his work.'
Soifon nodded and started narrating what she 'found out'. Meanwhile, Mayuri took back his Zanpakuto and intently listened. Of course, there's still some doubt in his mind that the woman speaking is not Soifon herself, but someone else entirely, 'If someone could transfer a Shinigami's soul into a Physical body and still have their abilities... This is going to send waves through the noble clans.'
Starting from the existence of Magic and Ki and how to use them, to some information about Serafall, the other teenage girls, and the mysterious man. Thankfully, she practiced what she had to say because Soifon had to be careful not to elude Ophis, Lilith, and Flanna's existences.
"Sitri Serafall and Belial Claire are 'Devils'. Belial Kunou is a 'Fox Demon'. Belial Tanis is a 'Dragon'. And the masked man is unknown... What is that supposed to mean?" Iba Tetsuzaemon interrupted Soifon and loudly muttered.
Soifon turned her head towards him and said, "You'll understand it better if you were to think that they are not Humans, Shinigami, Quincy, Hollows, or Fullbringers."
Small and multiple discussions instantly erupted upon Soifon answering the question, trying to dissect the words she used. While there are multiple 'races' that exist within Soul Society, they are, all in all, categorized as Spiritual beings. So it's a bit hard for them to think about beings that suddenly appeared out of nowhere that aren't under that category and use an entirely different form of power.
Shunsui clapped his hands to interrupt everyone, "Let's have Soifon finish her report first. We can have all the discussions we need after."
Everyone became quiet and let Soifon continue.
And finally, she moved to the currently most important matter, "As for the reason why I have a Physical body, it's because my Spiritual body was beyond saving."
"..." Mayuri creased his brows.
"After getting hit by Baraggan's miasma directly on my chest, it was supposed to have been certain death for me. The masked man, who wanted to be called Belial, figured that there was no point in saving my body and instead transferred my soul into an experimental body he was working on called Homunculus."
"Not a Gigai?" Mayuri asked.
Soifon shook her head, "No. Unlike a Gigai that only temporarily houses a Spiritual body, this is apparently something more permanent."
Most of the Captains instantly understood the implications of that and had their eyes widened, "...Then, does that mean..."
"I'm stuck like this, until the end of my life." Soifon continued Isane's words, "I had to stay for more than three months at their side to stabilize my situation. But because this is the first instance of this happening according to Belial, I have to return to him at regular intervals for checkups and further adjustments. While I can use my Shinigami abilities right now, the creator of this body doesn't know what side effects could still come up."
Isane covered her mouth at the unbelievable scenario and didn't know what to say.
Silence descended upon the room with only the sound of breathing could be heard.
"...And did you find out for what reason he created something like this?" Mayuri suddenly asked after the silence.
Soifon stayed still for a moment before shaking her head, "No. He didn't mention anything that could be pointed in that direction. Whenever I talk about it, he'll just dodge it or talk about the condition of my body. However, I do have some guesses."
Mayuri's eyes shined, "Anything is fine, tell us what you think about it."
"It seems that Belial was also trying to find a way to neutralize the immortality of those who fell in Hell and once mentioned something along the lines of [They are using Magic constructs as bodies.] I'm not really sure what that meant, but I have a feeling that this and that are related."
.
.
.
The meeting that extended for another few hours finally ended. And as expected, Mayuri wanted to perform a 'check up' on Soifon. Naturally, Soifon instantly refused as she knew that his 'check up' could probably mean dissecting her. He only backed off after explaining that Belial didn't allow any check-up by anyone other than him because of the complex nature of Soifon's situation and any mistake could mean disaster for all those involved.
Everyone except for Soifon, Shinji, Nanao, and Shunsui left. The captains, except of course for Zaraki who didn't really care, had multiple questions that they wanted answered but for now, they were asked to return to their posts to prepare for the upcoming operation.
Shunsui was about to speak up but Soifon stopped him by raising her left hand to him. Her right hand then took out a smartphone from the pocket of her hoodie and took a quick glance at it, "Alright. It looks like there are no bugs around." Soifon murmured.
"And that is?" Shunsui asked after Soifon put down her hand.
"His nifty gadget that detects bugs, especially the ones made by Mayuri. It should work for a while."
Shinji sighed and said, "In the first place, shouldn't we move somewhere more private?"
"We can't." Soifon immediately refused, "It'll only raise more suspicion. And now that I've confirmed that there shouldn't be anyone watching or listening in, this is the safest place we can talk in secret."
Shinji understood where she was coming from and asked another question, "What would you do if there's a bug?"
"Then we can postpone it until we can get a good opportunity again. There's really nothing else we can do."
Shinji looked at Shunsui and the nervous Nanao. With the former nodding his head, Shinji turned his head back to Soifon and asked, "How is Kisuke doing?"
Soifon closed her eyes in frustration and sighed, "Still as energetic as ever... annoying so."
"And is there something you can tell us about them?" It was Shunsui's turn to ask.
"...I apologize, but there's nothing."
Shunsui furrowed his brows, "Why?"
However, Soifon shut her mouth and only shook her head.
"I see..." Shunsui leaned back and thought of something else before speaking again, "What about information? He must have shared some with you."
Soifon nodded, "Yes. But before that, I'd like to know if there are any reports that came in from the Kurosaki family."
"No. None whatsoever. What about it?"
"On the day of the attack on Hell, the Kurosaki family were also attacked."
"Wait, what?" Shinji became highly concerned, "But we received nothing like that."
"Of course. It is to protect the identity of the attackers from Szayelaporro's eyes."
Soifon then proceeded to explain to the three of them what transpired in the Kurosaki Household.
Editors:
28th00: I just find it hilarious that Soifon has such casual clothing on during this meeting.
5
Chapter 1173 Flames of a Great Man | Patreon

4 hours ago
As soon as Soifon had left, Kisuke also made his way to the deepest and most secluded corner of the underground facility. There was a closed large metallic door and after operating a few switches, it opened to reveal a very small space. Within that small space, a portal manifested, showing a scenery that was very similar to the Underworld.
Kisuke stepped through the portal and immediately fell down directly onto the massive manor in the middle of Oath Town.
Some of the citizens of the town saw Kisuke's arrival but only gave a quick glance before going on with their day. After all, they've already seen this scene occur multiple times.
Kisuke got off the roof and went through a window where a guard was waiting for him, "Where are they?"
"They've been out for more than three weeks. However, they sent and left a message for you a few days ago, Sir Belial." The guard answered while passing a sealed envelope containing a letter to Kisuke.
Skeptical, Kisuke first examined the envelope itself before moving to open it. Since he had no proof that it was really the leaders of Oath Town who sent this letter, he had to be careful.
As there wasn't anything special in the letter, Kisuke proceeded to read its contents but only found a messily drawn map with few directions at the bottom. Kisuke looked at the guard and asked, "How did you receive this?"
"Through the mayor's messenger bird."
"I see. Thank you for your work. I'll be leaving first."
"Have a safe journey."
.
.
.
Kisuke ended up traveling for a whole day even though he sped up as much as he could to reach his destination, 'If I've guessed it correctly, Saito-san and Shihouin-san should have already made contact with Ichimaru-san and Sasakibe-san. But it could also mean that this is a trap.' This also made him realize that Hell was a much larger place than he initially anticipated.
As he neared the place marked on the crude map, Kisuke immediately donned his disguise 'Belial'. And while he was at it, he noticed that the surrounding area has noticeably become drier and the temperature was constantly rising even though it's the coldest time of the night, 'So they really found him.'
What's more surprising, however, is the fact that he couldn't see a hint of flames that should be raging now along with the rise of temperature. Kisuke thought that if it really was him marked on the map, he should already be seeing something akin to a small sun lighting up the region.
Thankfully, this was soon answered when he passed through a mountainous region and saw a 50-meter radius area lit on fire, and around it were five individuals trying to contain the flames and the skeletons emerging from it.
Kisuke immediately stopped flying, hid his presence, and watched what was happening from a distance for now while crossing his arms.
He first looked at the source of the heat and found an old man quietly sitting cross-legged in the middle. Kisuke wasn't entirely sure if that man was the man he was expecting because aside from the familiar attire and build, there was nothing else that he could identify him with as he didn't have a face.
More specifically the old wrinkled man's head doesn't have any flesh and could only see a black skull with a faint red light within his eye sockets.
Kisuke was only able to confirm that the man he was looking at was the former Captain Commander Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto thanks to his Ryuujin Jakka sticking out of the ground behind him.
As for the skeletons around him, Kisuke had already guessed that they were from Yamamoto's Zanpakuto's ability to summon the corpses of those it killed.
As for the five people, Kisuke was familiar with four of them and had already been expecting their presence when he came here. Those who tried to abduct Ichigo's son, Chojirou Sasakibe and Gin Ichimaru and those who he had been in contact with and the ones running Oath Town, Furoufushi Saitou, and Chika Shihouin.
Kisuke's eyes finally landed on the last person and it was someone he didn't know. She was a petite woman with pale skin, large eyes, thin eyebrows, and large breasts. She had black hair arranged into large bangs and a hip-length segmented ponytail tied up with red ribbon, and wore large, thin-rimmed glasses in addition to the standard captain's haori over a shihakushou, as well as red sandals, 'If she's one of the founding members of the Gotei 13 too, then there's only one person with a description like that.'
But while Kisuke was staring at her and trying to figure out his identity, the woman's head suddenly snapped in his direction and their gazes met, 'Hmmm? How?' Kisuke asked himself, surprised.
The woman cut off the skeleton's head that was coming in her direction before pointing her Zanpakuto in the form of a naginata with a white double-edged blade, a golden shaft ridged at both ends with a rubber grip-like texture, and a large golden tassel tied in a three-loop knot at the opposite end of the blade.
".ho ar. .ou!?" The woman shouted. Thanks to the distance, the strong blowing wind, and the rustling leaves of the trees, Kisuke could barely hear her words, however, he could understand her question that was accompanied by dense killing intent.
The other four immediately noticed her action and turned to the direction she was facing.
While Gin and Chojirou were confused at his appearance, Furoufushi and Chika were relieved when they saw him. Immediately after that, Furoufushi angrily gestured to Kisuke to help them out if he was here while Chika explained the situation to the other three.
Without much choice, Kisuke approached the group while feeling the temperature around increasing significantly but not as much as he expected.
As Kisuke landed more than ten meters away from Furoufushi, the latter immediately lashed out at him, "If you're already here, then help out! It's very hard for us to contain this, you know?! I don't think we'll last for another few days…"
"If you're not going to last that long, what's the point of me helping out? Or more importantly, what's the point of stopping this if you have no plan of addressing the root cause of this?", replied Kisuke while analyzing the situation further.
"You're smart, right?" Furoufushi asked while cutting the skeleton that was approaching, "We're hoping that you'll have a solution for this before the old man loses control of himself... But it took you three whole weeks to get here."
Kisuke didn't say anything immediately and looked around more. A few more seconds later, he finally understood the situation, or at least, what was happening right now. Furoufushi and the others are using their Reiatsu to create a wall and contain the heat. Meanwhile, Kisuke has guessed the old man Yamamoto is trying to reign in his raging powers but that's obviously not working as the flames were only getting worse.
"How long can you last, exactly?", asked Kisuke deciding what course of action he should take.
But instead of Furoufushi, it was the woman he didn't know who answered, "Three days. If Furoufushi were to release her Reiatsu, she could hold on for another two days just by herself."
Kisuke looked at her for a few moments to contemplate the feasibility of what he wanted to do, "Three days, hmmm... I guess that's enough, but it's cutting it a bit close."
"You have a plan?", asked Furoufushi with a hopeful expression.
Kisuke nodded while starting to fly off, "Yes. But it'll take some time. After the third day, I'll give everyone a signal. At that moment, please push back against the old man with everything you have. I'll just need a small window when his flames are not as strong as this."
Editors:
28th00: Ah, Katori. The one with the largest breasts in Bleach. Comparable to Yasaka in DxD for example.

Goyya: In bleachverse, it's Rangiku-tier.
5
Chapter 1174 Flames of a Great Man part 2 | Patreon

4 hours ago
Three days later, everyone was resting to restore their depleted Spiritual Power, however, they couldn't properly do so because they can't believe what they are seeing right now.
"And that settles it." Kisuke looked at his work and dusted his hands in satisfaction.
The old man in the middle was still there, the raging flames were still trying to destroy everything around it, and the skeletons were still roaming around, full of hate. However, neither the flames nor the skeletons could find anyone to pour their hatred into.
Yamamoto's Zanpakuto still dominated the 50-meter radius territory but it didn't expand beyond that even without the Reiatsu of the 5 strong individuals pushing back against it.
The reason for this is because Kisuke locked the territory within a barrier that brought them into another dimension just like how he hid his base on Mars. It's not as complicated or as strong as the one he did on his base since one could break away from this one by just teleporting outside of the barrier. However, it became a very effective barrier if the one trapped inside it didn't know any spatial movement techniques.
Kisuke walked around the barrier to check for any holes before walking inside Yamamoto's territory. Despite the flames licking him, it didn't actually touch him and there is no heat emanating from them. After all, what they were seeing right now is just a visual and auditory illusion of what's happening in another dimension.
"...What did you do?" Chika Shihouin asked after standing up and imitating Kisuke by walking inside the flames. To his surprise, there really was no heat that could be felt.
"Sent this place into a pocket dimension. Since that place is being supplied with necessary air and energy from the outside, he won't be suffocated. He also has a Magic body so he won't be starving to death." Kisuke casually answered while walking around the cross legged Yamamoto, 'I can check his situation from here, but as expected, if I want more in-depth details, I'll have to be within the same space as him.'
But of course, while everyone listening understood the words he just spoke, they couldn't understand what it meant.
"In other words, the old man is safe and won't be able to hurt others?" The bespectacled woman asked.
"For now."
"For now?"
Kisuke turned away from Yamamoto and faced the woman he didn't know, "Yes. It's a tricky barrier that's hard to get in and get out of, however, there's still a limitation to its durability. If the old man keeps increasing the power he's releasing, he'll soon forcefully destroy it."
And as soon as he said that, everyone saw that the flames started getting smaller.
"So he can hear us. This is a lot better." Kisuke muttered while turning back to him, "Old man, I'll be looking for a way for you to get out of those controlling black chains, but for now, I'd like it if you could keep yourself in check. If you think you can't hold on anymore, just intensify your flames so that it would be obvious to us. That way, even if you can't talk, we'll still see when we need to take action."
There are no further changes within his surroundings but Kisuke knew that he heard him.
Kisuke then turned back to the group and said, "Let's move to the other side of the mountain before we talk. I know you guys have a lot of questions, but not here."
Gin stood up from the ground and dusted himself, "Why?"
"These black chains control their host through emotional distress. While we could have a safe talk, we don't really know what's going to trigger it so it's safer to just move the complicated talks away from here lest we cause something irreversible."
Chojirou also stood up from the ground and said, "I'm staying here."
Kisuke nodded at him and said, "That's what I was going to ask you. Although these chains could bring the old man to further ruin through emotional distress, the opposite is also true and possible. It seems that you know him well so accompanying him through these hard times could slow down his descent to insanity. Who knows, maybe a miracle could even occur."
After finishing his piece, Kisuke flew off.
Everyone else looked at Chojirou who's now looking at Yamamoto with a melancholic, but also relieved expression. After a few seconds, each of them followed Kisuke one by one with Gin the last remaining.
"I'll be fine," Chojirou said without looking back.
"I see. But remember this, you're also in the same state as the old man Yamamoto. If those Black Chains trigger their effect, not just you, but you'll also bring him down with you. Be careful."
Chojirou nodded, "I will. Thank you for everything until now."
"Thank me later. We're not yet done." Gin turned around and jumped into the sky.
Gin soon arrived where everyone was and saw that there was a nice round table and chairs set up for everyone to sit in comfort, '...Just who is this guy?'
As soon as he arrived, a round of introductions started going and Kisuke guessed, the bespectacled woman was one of the founding members of the Gotei 13 named Katori Batsu'unsai, the first captain of the 8th Division.
Naturally, Kisuke introduced himself as Belial, and Chika and Furoufushi kept their word and didn't tell anyone his real identity.
"Before we start talking about what should we do with the former Captain Commander, I first want to hear about the other founding members of the Gotei 13 and the former Captains that have arrived at this place throughout the years." Kisuke started.
Right now, 7 out of 13 founding members were already accounted for. He wanted to know what happened to others, including the other Captains that are strong enough to be sent to Hell.
Furoufushi leaned her body on the table and answered, "Three of us have already died... As for the rest of the Captains, most of them were hunted down or eaten."
Kisuke and Gin's eyes widened at her statement, "Hunted down? Eaten?" Asked the former. Since he never really asked, this is the first time Kisuke has heard about this.
"Hunted down by the [Chained] to gain more strength. Eaten by unknown monsters in the depths of Hell. It's as simple as that."
Editors:
28th00: Ah, that's gonna be fun. I guess the Super Hollows had to go somewhere, huh?
4
Chapter 1175 Invading the Palace | Patreon

4 hours ago
Chika and Katori remained silent as Furoufushi explained the situation in Hell as they understood it.
After the first Quincy Great War, the founding members of the Gotei 13 didn't reach Hell at the same time as they all aged differently. However, Furoufushi, Chika, and Katori are all in agreement that they wish that they all died at the same exact time. Because maybe, that way, they wouldn't find themselves in the situation they were currently in.
The first one to go was Saizou Sakahone, the oldest of them all. He didn't die of old age. Saizou knew that his time was almost up but he still couldn't give up his bloodthirst. So as his final act of brilliance, he went to the Hueco Mundo and began a massacre that took the lives of countless Hollows. He died in battle, but they never thought that it was the start of their tragedy.
Upon the old man's death, the rest of the founding members of the Gotei 13 realized that they were the greatest threat to the peace they fought so hard for. So in the coming years, without saying a word with each other, some took their own lives while some followed Saizou's footsteps.
Even without an agreement, it was decided that Unohana and Yamamoto would stay behind to keep the Soul Society military running for the future generations to come.
"I won't go into detail about who went in first because that's not important. The crucial thing is that we were fooled by Sakahone. Not knowing what it meant to be [Chained], some of us were tricked into thinking that we could do whatever we wanted and those who didn't follow what he wanted were killed with some success. This is a gross oversimplification, but that's the gist of it."
Furoufushi clenched her fist tight but immediately loosened it along with a long sigh, "Thank God though that we were able to survive long enough to remove our chains."
Kisuke almost chuckled because Furoufushi suddenly started thanking a nonexistent God, "And these unknown monsters?"
"We call them unknown monsters because we don't know what they are." Chika answered, "We knew some people who ventured deep into unexplored regions and some witnesses said that they were eaten by some unknown entity from far away. To this day, we're still trying to figure out the veracity of these reports but since none have returned alive from exploring the depths, we don't have any information about it."
Kisuke closed his eyes to think, 'Sounds dangerous, but with a remote [Homunculus], I should be able to explore it.'
He then tossed the idea to the back of his head and continued asking, "What about the [Chained] gaining more power?"
"We are also not sure ourselves." Furoufushi scratched the top of her head, "Since we're not [Chained] ourselves, we don't know where they got the idea of killing other strong individuals grants them more power. However, it's a fact that only those who still have the black chains on their bodies are capable of manipulating or utilizing Hell's Blessing. It's one of the reasons why we attacked you when we first met."
Kisuke nodded before turning his attention to the quiet Gin, "What about you, Ichimaru-san? Will you share your method of leaving Hell despite being an [Unchained]?"
At Kisuke's questions, the three former captains' eyes all widened and hurriedly turned their heads to him, "You can leave Hell!?" Furoufushi shouted.
Gin was momentarily startled by the sudden attention to him but instantly recovered his demeanor and feigned a cough to clear his throat, "I don't really mind but I doubt any of you could replicate it."
"Anything will do, what is it!?" Furoufushi and the other two don't intend to leave Hell but there are also other people like them. If there's a method, they want to make proper countermeasures against it, 'The Human world will be overrun by them who can't let go of the fact that they're already dead.'
Gin smirked and answered, "Technically speaking, I'm still one of those people who you call [Chained], however, I managed to get off it by letting my Hollow side take over the chains."
The three former Shinigamis were confused by his words but Kisuke's figurative light bulb lit up, 'So that's it! I forgot that he's one of Aizen's men and should have also awakened their Hollow side. Since he never used it back then, I assumed that he just didn't receive the awakening of the Hougyoku.'
.
.
.
Kisuke returned to his base after hiding the spot where Yamamoto was sealed. Meanwhile, the other former captains left to search for Unohana and Juushirou. Although their characters would allow them to reject the whispers of the black chains, they still need to search for them before the other side finds them.
Kisuke wanted to help them as he wanted to reduce the risk of their enemies increasing but he had more important things to do.
"Benihime, are you ready?"
After a few seconds, Kisuke received a reply, [Anytime.]
"Alright. Tiamat, return to me."
A few seconds later, a tanto blade appeared in his hand, [Since you're calling me, will it be a dangerous venture?]
Kisuke nodded while hiding the tanto blade within his sleeve, "Incredibly so. There's even a chance that my identity will instantly be revealed the moment I step into that place."
[And if that were to happen?]
"We'll escape to Hell." Kisuke made his way towards another room where yet another portal could be opened.
Kisuke stood in front of the door where the portal would be opening and took a deep breath while strengthening his disguise, 'I have more than 20 escape routes prepared. That should be enough, no?'
Kisuke then activated the portal and immediately jumped into it while also immediately closing it. The darkness around him felt very heavy and he could tell that he was going through several barriers that stopped spatial manipulations. However, these barriers were 'outdated' compared to the Evie and Etoulde technology of the space jump.
A second later, Kisuke found himself standing on a suspended half-circle white platform. Connected to this platform is a long paneled path suspended in the air, leading to a large floating cylindrical structure.
Kisuke first looked up into this cylindrical structure before pulling out the tanto blade from his sleeve and muttering, "Descend, Tiamat."
Unlike the previous instance, there was no 'Goddess' descending to this plane of existence. The tanto blade in his hand immediately transformed into a green-tinted longsword with Dragon horns for its handguards.
And as quietly as his Zanpakuto transformed, two figures also appeared out of nowhere, bearing their blades at Kisuke, "How bold. This isn't a place you can just step into casually." The one on his left, swinging down a small blade with a curved tip attached to a long wooden pole, muttered.
"How did you come in?" Asked the one on his right while her golden skeleton arms rushed towards Kisuke.
Editors:
28th00: Time to raid the Soul King's palace where the Evil Monk resides! They're real fucking evil.
4
Chapter 1176 Invading the Palace part 2 | Patreon

4 hours ago
Kisuke blocked the spear-wielding Tenjirou Kirinji with Tiamat and Senjumaru Shutara's golden arms with his left hand covered with various Magic barriers.
Both of them were surprised mostly because both of them were not holding back and Kisuke blocked them without even being pushed back.
After the initial clash, Tenjirou and Senjumaru jumped back and took some distance to observe the intruder more. The question of how he came in was much more important than his presence here so they need more information to pull out any reasonable conclusion.
"Those strange geometric symbols, Magic, is it?" Senjumaru started first.
And that question was soon followed by Tenjirou's statement, "Not just that. I can smell the scent of both Shinigami and Hollow from you. Just who are you? Better yet, what are you?"
But instead of answering their questions, Kisuke just said in his distorted voice, "I'm not here for the two of you."
Tenjirou smirks and scoffs at him while taking a stance with his Zanpakuto, "That's not something for you to decide."
Senjumaru also prepared to attack but just as they were about to take a step forward, the strange man's presence suddenly started to become hazy, "Let's meet again on another occasion."
Tenjirou and Senjumaru were startled and hurriedly initiated their attacks. However, Kisuke didn't do anything and their attacks went through him as his body dispersed like a mist, "!?"
The next thing they knew, his presence was already deep inside the Spirit King's Palace. The two of them realized that the moment they jumped back, he had already gone past them.
"Should we follow?" Senjumaru asked Tenjirou.
Tenjirou silently stares at the palace before turning back to his city, "He's already there. Let's just prepare for the next intruders. We still don't know how he came in and if he's alone."
As soon as he finished speaking, Tenjirou disappeared.
Senjumaru stared at the palace for a few moments too before turning to her own city, 'It's only been more than a decade since the last invasion. I didn't think another one would happen so soon.'
.
.
.
Standing in front of the crystalized man, Kisuke muttered his name, "Yhwach... So it's really you who replaced the Spirit King."
"He's the man who triggered a great war that cost countless lives and claimed that he hated violence and conflict." A man's voice suddenly resounded behind Kisuke, "Quite a hypocrite, eh?"
Kisuke was not surprised and turned his head sideways, "You should be one of the few people who realized that that isn't true."
The large and broad individual with a bald head, red eyes, bushy eyebrows, and a long black beard grinned at him and asked, "I'm not really quite sure what you're talking about."
Kisuke sneered at him and turned his head back to the sealed Yhwach, "You should have realized that Yhwach only absorbed the Spirit King because he saw his own defeat."
"And? What does that have to do with him being a hypocrite or not?"
'Because you intended to use Kurosaki-san as a replacement upon the Spirit King's death. That could potentially split the Soul Society apart, causing more unnecessary deaths even after the war. That's nothing to you because all you have to do is to balance things out, adding more to the tragedy.' Kisuke thought to himself. He didn't want to pan out the conversation because he was afraid that this perceptive monk would figure out more things about him.
Seeing that the strange man remained quiet, the smile on his face disappeared, "Are you here to destroy the lynchpin?"
"You wouldn't have allowed me to stand here if I really intended to do that."
"You have disrespected us who are guarding this place so I'd really appreciate it if your reason for stepping into this place is not because you just want to sightsee." An intense killing intent came pressuring down on Kisuke.
"Of course not. As much as I want to make a mess of this whole place, I just can't casually stroll in here." Kisuke finally turned around and faced the leader of the Zero Division, Ichibei Hyousube, "I just wanted to confirm something from the very first Shinigami born from Hell."
"Hooh... What an interesting statement to make.", Ichibei narrowed his eyes and held his gigantic calligraphy brush, "What do you want to know?"
"Who had an agreement with Hell? Is it the Spirit King or the Five Ancestors?" Kisuke asked straight.
However, Ichibei didn't answer and just directly swung his calligraphy brush. But just like what happened with Tenjirou and Senjumaru, Ichibei only hit a misty image. The strange man's presence was already gone.
Ichibei tapped the end of his calligraphy brush on the floor and muttered, "What a strange ability. It's neither Spiritual Power nor Hell's Blessing." He wanted to hit him at least once to figure out his name but it seemed that the other party already knew his ability quite well and didn't clash with him.
After thinking for a bit, he went outside of the palace and swung his brush a few times, leaving behind a black ink in the air which ultimately formed the word [Halt].
Within the Garganta, Tiamat talked to Kisuke, [That man is very dangerous. You're lucky to get out of there so smoothly.]
"No doubt. It went so much smoother than I expected that it actually scared me."
[Are you going to fight him?]
"I don't know about that yet, but most probably, yes."
[You can't win.]
"I won't deny that, but I already know someone who directly counters his abilities."
Kisuke's trip into the Soul Palace wasn't just to confirm that the lynchpin was functioning as intended, but also to confirm if Ichibei came from Hell because his [Ink] reminded him of the black chains. Although he didn't really receive an answer, based on his reaction, Kisuke was able to confirm that there's indeed an agreement with Hell with either the Spirit King or the Five Ancestors.
'Either way, I have to explore and know more about Hell to even understand Ichibei's connection with it and the Spirit King's warning.
Editors:
28th00: Ichibei has that autowin button that's just fucking disgusting. Truly.
Goyya: Naming things as an ability is truly disgusting.
3