Chapter 356

2-in-1 chapter:

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Whoosh!

The Dangai Gate opened, and Kaelith and Kyōraku Shunsui stepped out together.

This was a small town in the Human World—where Yamamoto had gone into seclusion.

Though the old man had warned not to reveal his whereabouts, Kyōraku, being his direct disciple, didn’t count as an outsider.

With Kyōraku in tow, Kaelith walked toward the place Yamamoto had been renting.

Along the way, Kyōraku curiously observed the Human World scenery. Compared to the Soul Society, the Human World clearly pulsed with more vitality—even in this remote town, the standard of living wasn’t inferior to District 1 of Rukongai. Occasionally, they even saw LSP4 advertisements at train stations.

Seeing the ads, Kyōraku felt a bit odd. A product so successful it advertised in both worlds and still sold like hotcakes—that was a miracle in itself.

Soon, they arrived at the door of an apartment.

Kaelith rang the bell.

“Sensei! Open up! Your most hated senior disciple and your most beloved junior have come to visit!”

“...?”

They waited a few seconds. No response.

A bad feeling crept over Kaelith.

He placed his hand on the lock, released a black shadow, triggered the tumbler, and unlocked the door.

Inside, the room was empty.

Yamamoto’s books, his futon, his gaming console—everything was gone.

There were no signs of a struggle. Clearly, the old man had left of his own accord.

In fact, it wasn’t even a question—if Yamamoto didn’t want to be taken away, no one in the world could force him.

But more than concern over Yamamoto’s whereabouts, Kaelith immediately sensed something more urgent.

Turning, he made a beeline for the door.

Just two steps out, he spotted Kyōraku doing the same, slipping out of a side room and heading for the exit.

Their eyes met.

Kaelith’s gaze turned cold and sharp in an instant.

Without hesitation, he drew his Zanpakutō and slashed at Kyōraku.

At the same time, Kyōraku sank into the shadows, disappearing.

The next moment, he leapt out from a nearby shadow, twin blades in hand, delivering a dual slash toward Kaelith!

Clang!

Kaelith raised Rixiang Jimie to block the strike.

With a look of feigned shock, he said:

“Senior brother, we trained under the same master—must we really draw blades against each other? Internal strife only brings shame!”

“Put the swords away. If there’s a misunderstanding, let’s talk it out!”

Kyōraku chuckled. “I’m afraid if I put my weapons away, I won’t be leaving here.”

“Come now, with no one else around, would your dear little junior ever harm you?”

“Whether you would or not, I can’t say for sure,” Kyōraku replied coolly. “But I do know someone’s trying to rope me into taking over Squad 1 as Yamamoto’s scapegoat.”

Kaelith’s expression darkened.

Dropping his polite act, he grinned wickedly.

“So we’re done playing nice, huh?”

“The old man’s bailed, and someone’s gotta deal with the mess he left.”

“If it were just temp duty, I’d be fine—but no one knows when the old man’s coming back.”

Kyōraku sneered. “What if he never does? Years, decades—he might never return. And whoever’s ‘temporarily’ in charge will end up with the job for real.”

Both increased the force behind their crossed blades.

“You’ve been managing Squad 1’s affairs just fine,” Kaelith said. “A title change won’t kill you.”

“Filling in and being officially assigned are worlds apart,” Kyōraku shot back. “And you’ve been handling squad work just as well, maybe even better. I’ve seen your memos. If the old man’s gone, you’re the natural replacement. I’d support you fully!”

“So… this isn’t up for debate?”

Kaelith’s killing intent surged.

“Of course not. I’m not wasting my life on this!”

Kyōraku’s spiritual pressure erupted, making his pink haori billow wildly.

Boom!

They burst through the apartment wall into the sky above the town.

Kaelith, looking like a wrathful demon, released Rixiang Jimie and swung down.

Kyōraku met it head-on.

The clash of spiritual pressure unleashed shockwaves in every direction.

On the ground, people on their way to work were caught in the windstorm, stumbling and shielding their faces in confusion.

Above, Kaelith’s arms blurred with speed.

His twin blades formed a net, raining strikes from all directions toward Kyōraku.

Despite the deadly flurry that could overwhelm an average captain, Kyōraku calmly defended, even counterattacking when able.

As Yamamoto’s top disciple, his strength was unquestionable.

Even if he were to fight the original Kenpachi, Unohana, in a life-or-death battle, he had faith in his tricks and tactics.

But against Kaelith?

He had no hope of winning.

This kid had clashed head-on with Yamamoto.

Sure, there was that weird blade-swap stunt at the end, but Kaelith had shown he could wield Ryūjin Jakka effectively. His power had likely grown beyond imagination.

Kyōraku knew it was better to flee than to win.

Hopefully, Kaelith wouldn’t go so far as to pin Squad 1 on Jūshirō instead.

........Probably.

He grinned at his own brilliance.

During a gap in Kaelith’s attacks, he activated a technique.

A black shadow blade formed near Kaelith’s ankle and lunged to pierce it.

If he could just cripple the guy’s foot, he’d bolt instantly.

The Human World was huge—he could disappear for a year or two. By then, either Yamamoto would be back, or Kaelith would’ve taken the position himself.

Either way, he’d win.

The image of himself slacking off in the squad quarters forever nearly made him laugh aloud.

But then—

With a thud, the shadow blade pierced Kyōraku’s own leg.

“...?”

He stared at the blade in disbelief.

Did his Zanpakutō betray him like Ryūjin Jakka?

He never abused his sword—what gives?

Kaelith cackled.

“Take a closer look, dear brother. Whose blade is stuck in your leg?”

Kyōraku realized it wasn’t his.

He glanced down to see his original shadow blade still dormant, held in place by multiple bands of condensed shadow.

“……”

Damn.

He’d relied too much on shadow techniques—and forgot Kaelith was a master of shadows too.

Ignoring his bleeding leg, Kyōraku took a defensive stance.

Kaelith charged in again, swinging hard.

Knowing Kaelith’s blade ignored defense, Kyōraku chose to counterattack rather than block.

But just before the blades met, Kaelith’s body dissolved into spirit particles.

He passed through Kyōraku’s attack, rematerialized behind him, laughed wildly, discarded his blades, and grappled Kyōraku mid-air in a painful joint lock.

“Agh…”

Even battle-hardened Kyōraku groaned in pain.

With every joint restrained, he struggled for a plan.

He’d never surrender.

Better to die than get stuck managing Squad 1 for centuries!

No choice. Time to go Bankai.

Let’s see whose spiritual pressure wins!

Just as Kaelith prepared to enter second release, blue spiritual pressure surged—Kyōraku was about to go all out as well.

But then—

A voice echoed in Kaelith’s mind.

[Kaelith, are you in the Human World? Go to Karakura Town. Find Isshin. I’ll instruct you further there.]

He blinked.

Damn, right when it was getting good…

Still, from the tone, this was urgent.

He released Kyōraku and vanished in a flash step.

Kyōraku froze midair.

What just happened?

After a moment, he decided to follow—if something big was going down, he had to be there.

…

Upon arriving in Karakura Town, Kaelith was surprised.

A girl lay on the ground, breathing heavily in pain.

Isshin and the Ishidas knelt beside her, tending to her.

Ulquiorra and Bambietta stood nearby, watching.

“What’s going on?” Kaelith asked Ulquiorra.

Seeing him, Bambietta’s breath quickened slightly.

“Big bro!”

Hearing her, Isshin turned around.

When he saw Kaelith, his eyes lit up.

To him, only two people in the world were truly invincible—his master, Aizen, and his big brother Kaelith.

“Big bro, help! Masaki’s not going to make it!”

Masaki?

Kaelith blinked, then realized—Kurosaki Masaki, Ichigo’s mom.

Wait… wasn’t she attacked by a Hollow after Ichigo was born?

Must be a timeline shift caused by his presence. After all in the original, Isshin wasn’t Aizen’s disciple…

He knelt beside her and placed a hand on her head, releasing spiritual perception.

His brow furrowed.

“A Hollow? You ran Hollowfication on her?”

“Of course not!” Isshin laughed nervously. “For a Quincy, Hollow energy is fatal. She can’t be Hollowfied.”

Aizen’s voice chimed in again.

[She’s been infected. Hollow and Quincy soul energies have fused. Only your precision spirit control can save her.]

[This will be a complex and taxing procedure.]

[If anything goes wrong, prioritize your safety. I’ll find another way.]

Kaelith grinned.

“Bah! A mere operation—do you know who I am?”

“Seinosuke Yamada? That’s my son. They call him ‘The Restoring Hand’—you think he got that talent out of nowhere? I’ve got twice the skill.”

[…]

Aizen didn’t even react.

After a pause, he began issuing instructions.

Kaelith pulled Masaki upright and placed his hands on her back.

Blue spirit energy flowed into her.

Isshin, guessing that Aizen was helping remotely, stood by with his Zanpakutō to guard.

Ryūken frowned, unsure whether to trust Kaelith.

“It’s fine, Ryūken,” Isshin said. “Big bro and master will save her.”

Reluctantly, Ryūken nodded and joined the defense.

Bambietta, tired from using Vollständig, sat nearby to recover.

Kyōraku also arrived and was surprised by the scene.

This was no small matter.

Then he saw Ulquiorra and his eyes narrowed.

Wasn’t this the “relative of Kaelith” who killed that noble’s heir in the upper districts? Last time, this “relative” had been concealing their spiritual pressure, so he hadn’t dared to confirm their identity.

Now, he could be one hundred percent sure—this was a Hollow.

He instinctively looked toward Isshin Shiba.

Seeming to guess Kyōraku’s thoughts, Isshin stepped forward:

“Apologies, Captain Kyōraku. I’ll explain it to you later. For now, just support Kaelith from the side—nothing can be allowed to go wrong.”

Kyōraku frowned.

Though Isshin said so, it was still extremely difficult for him to pretend he hadn’t noticed Ulquiorra.

He instinctively glanced toward Sōken Ishida.

That old man was the current head of the Quincy in the Human World.

The girl meditating beside him was the one Kaelith had captured from the Wandenreich—now the monitor of the Human World’s Quincy.

Two Quincy of captain-level strength, peacefully coexisting with a Hollow...

This world was utterly absurd.

Though his feelings were complicated, reason won out, and he didn’t act.

He stopped a short distance from Ulquiorra, where he could react immediately if needed, and helped Kaelith keep watch.

Due to the lingering effects of the earlier battle, no passersby approached for now—so the area remained quiet.

Kaelith closed his eyes and, following Aizen’s instructions, extended his spiritual power into Kurosaki Masaki’s body.

Soon, he detected a soul that felt entirely out of place.

Just as Aizen had said, this soul was already entangled with Masaki’s, the degree of fusion extremely high.

Sensing Kaelith’s approach, the soul turned its attention toward him.

The next second, under Kaelith’s gaze, a Hollow mask larger than himself suddenly materialized within the soul space.

“Soul Reaper, leave now, or I’ll devour you too!”

“Oh? If you think you can, then give it a shot.”

Kaelith grinned and continued forward.

Watching Kaelith “step by step” drawing near, White Hollow began to panic.

Though it had only just been created, it was a super-class Hollow forged with top-tier technology from Aizen’s lab.

Its strength was comparable to that of a Vasto Lorde.

Its sensory perception, of course, was nothing to scoff at either.

It could feel that this Soul Reaper intruding into the soul world was completely different from the others.

This guy… was dangerous.

But by now, it had already begun fusing with Kurosaki Masaki. Retreating now would only place it at a greater disadvantage.

After a brief hesitation, it decided to go all in.

Under Kaelith’s amused stare, White Hollow split off a fragment of its consciousness.

Wielding its scythe-like arms, it stomped the ground and lunged toward Kaelith!

Then, in a moment that made it want to scream, Kaelith casually slapped the approaching consciousness—and blew it apart on contact.

White Hollow fell into existential doubt.

This was supposed to be half its domain.

The fragment of consciousness it had just created, though only partially powered, was still Vasto-level Hollow.

And this Soul Reaper had slapped it away like a fly?

Was this some kind of joke?

Staring in horror, White Hollow watched as Kaelith grinned and continued walking forward.

“Let me take a look—see if you’re fusing properly~”

“Ngh—aaahhhhhhh!!!”

Seeing Kaelith’s hand reaching toward him, White Hollow let out a terrified shriek.

In the real world, Isshin and Ryūken Ishida occasionally glanced over at Kaelith and Kurosaki Masaki.

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