Chapter 359

2-in-1 chapter:

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Kaelith tilted his head slightly.

“So what do we do with this girl? We can’t just leave her to fend for herself.”

“Send her to my lab first,” Aizen said slowly. “Use the instruments to halt the activity of the Reishi within her body.”

“That way, at least her condition won’t worsen further.”

“Once we’ve handled things here, we’ll use the Hōgyoku to heal her.”

Hearing this, Kaelith’s eyes lit up.

Right, the Hōgyoku was an all-purpose plug-and-play fix-it core. It should be more than capable of dealing with Kurosaki Masaki’s condition.

Shiba Isshin still looked a little conflicted, but with both his master and his big bro weighing in, he had no choice but to bite his tongue for now.

Aizen gripped his Zanpakutō and thrust it forward into empty space.

As he moved, two Senkaimon gates materialized out of thin air and swung open with a flash.

The deep tunnel of the Dangai appeared before them.

Kyōraku Shunsui adjusted his hat and prepared to step inside.

But just as his foot was about to land, Kaelith reached out and pulled him back.

“Hold on a sec, Uncle Kyōraku.”

Right at that moment, Kyōraku felt a sense of dread.

Seeing Kaelith’s reaction, Aizen closed his eyes and released his Reishi perception.

A few seconds later, he opened his eyes and looked at the two of them.

“Kaelith’s sensing is accurate. There’s something wrong with this stretch of the Dangai.”

“The routes we Shinigami commonly use have countless patrols and spiritual pressure imprints from regular traffic.”

“But this one feels newly carved out—no traces of spiritual energy at all.”

Shiba Isshin raised a hand. “Master, could it be the Kōtotsu that wiped out those traces?”

The Kōtotsu—shaped like a massive train with a blinding headlamp and a long segmented body—was a unique entity within the Dangai, responsible for clearing out debris, including leftover Reiryoku that didn’t belong.

If it just passed through here, the lack of traces would be understandable.

Aizen narrowed his eyes at his disciple.

Seeing that expression, Isshin instinctively shivered.

Crap, I must’ve said something dumb.

Before he could react, Kyōraku reminded him, “Captain Shiba, did you forget? When Old Man Yama and Kaelith fought in the Dangai, they destroyed the Kōtotsu.”

“It still hasn’t shown any signs of regeneration.”

“Oh right, that did happen,” Isshin mumbled.

“Ulquiorra, fetch some Hollows,” Aizen instructed.

Ulquiorra nodded and vanished into the Garganta.

Watching this, Kyōraku couldn’t help but twitch.

Good grief. Not even pretending anymore, huh?

A moment later, Ulquiorra returned, dragging several Hollows from the Garganta.

On Aizen’s command, he tossed them all into the Dangai.

Having narrowly escaped death, the Hollows instinctively bolted forward.

But as they got barely a hundred meters in, the stable walls of the Dangai suddenly began to melt inward like wax, surging toward the center.

The Hollows had no chance to react. In an instant, they were devoured by the Kōryū and vanished from sight.

Kyōraku clicked his tongue.

Isshin wiped a cold sweat from his brow.

Anyone devoured by the Kōryū would be lost within the Dangai.

With luck, they might drift back into the real world.

Without it, they'd be trapped forever in the cracks of existence—discarded as spiritual waste.

Staring at the scene, Aizen fell into contemplation.

“After taking over as captain of the 12th Division, Mayuri took charge of Dangai supervision.”

“No one else can tamper with the route configuration.”

“Seems like the enemy has already infiltrated the 12th—or perhaps... is someone from within the 12th.”

“We’ll use that angle for the first wave of investigation.”

As he spoke, he turned to Kaelith.

“Kaelith, open the Senkaimon.”

“Me?”

Kaelith blinked.

“Yes. You can directly connect to the Shihōin clan’s private gate. That noble-only channel likely hasn’t been compromised yet.”

“Ah, got it.”

Kaelith nodded and unsheathed his Zanpakutō, stabbing it into the air.

But nothing happened.

Some invisible force blocked the gate from forming. Seeing this, Kyōraku also tried with his Zanpakutō.

The Kyōraku clan, being another upper noble family, had its own Senkaimon.

Same result—nothing.

Aizen curled his lips into a faint smirk.

“They anticipated this move, huh?”

“Figures. If they couldn’t manage that, they wouldn’t be capable of resurrecting the Vanguard Project.”

Kaelith sheathed his Zanpakutō.

“Then why don’t we just go to Hueco Mundo and sneak into Soul Society through a Garganta?”

“If you can think of it, so can they.”

“Judging from how those modified souls behaved earlier, they likely share memories with the originals.”

“If that’s the case, all our usual Garganta routes are probably rigged with traps.”

Aizen took out a remote control and pressed a few buttons.

Kaelith thought for a moment, then froze.

“Wait… Sōsuke.”

“If the doppelgängers have our memories, then the copies of Gin, Isshin, and the others… wouldn’t they have leaked all our intel?”

“Exactly,” Aizen replied. “Can’t rule that out.”

“Yet you remain so calm—got a secret plan?”

“Nope.”

Aizen shook his head.

“Even I can’t foresee every completely unpredictable variable.”

“But there’s no point panicking. Better to focus on what we can do now.”

As he spoke, he finished inputting something.

Kaelith leaned in. “What is it?”

Aizen didn’t answer. He simply folded his hands behind his back and looked skyward.

Everyone followed his gaze.

Above, a massive vortex slowly opened in the sky.

Through it, glimpses of Soul Society could be seen!

Kaelith blinked—then his face lit up. “Kyōgoku!”

“Correct,” Aizen smiled. “Over the past month, I’ve fully modified Kyōgoku using Ryūdōji Ganryū’s body.”

He was now doing what Ryūdōji had attempted before: pulling Kyōgoku between the human world and Soul Society, then forcing it to swell.

Once Kyōgoku grew large enough to touch both dimensional barriers, it formed a new gateway linking the two realms.

Using this bypassed the booby-trapped Dangai and locked Senkaimon, allowing a direct breach.

Kaelith laughed. “Beautiful work, Sōsuke! Let ‘em feel the wrath of my transcendent genius!”

“Master and big bro teaming up? Unstoppable!”

Isshin roared with laughter as well.

Kyōraku: “……”

He felt utterly out of place.

Modifying Kyōgoku? Using Ryūdōji’s body?

Kaelith was having a blast, but he couldn’t even chuckle.

Old Man Yama, where the hell are you? Come back quick—this is way above my pay grade…

……

……

Seireitei, 11th Division Barracks.

Senna was practicing her sword swings when she sensed something and rushed outside.

Many team members were already out there, pointing at the sky.

Senna looked up—and her pupils contracted in shock.

The cityscape of Karakura Town had appeared, inverted and hovering in the sky.

Kyōgoku?!

Didn’t Kaelith and the others take it away? Why was it back?

As she wondered, she suddenly felt a familiar spiritual pressure from within the Kyōgoku passage.

It shone like sunrise, thundered like a mountain.

The members of 11th Division all lit up.

“It’s the boss!”

“Boss is back!!”

Senna’s tense brow relaxed. Her whole body unwound.

Within Kyōgoku, Kaelith burned like a small sun, shooting straight toward Soul Society.

He made no effort to conceal himself.

Kyōgoku was already eye-catching—no point pretending now.

Better to announce his return to all of Seireitei.

Aizen followed behind, both of them flickering rapidly forward.

Suddenly, he glanced to the side.

Kyōgoku’s walls were being compressed by powerful external forces, bowing inward.

Aizen frowned.

Could the 12th Division manipulate the Dangai with this much force?

He prepared to use his own Reiryoku to brace the structure.

But before he could, Kyōgoku’s strength abruptly increased.

Its internal landscapes began to glow.

Souls without owners stirred as if called, rising in unison to resist the pressure.

Kyōgoku’s walls that had begun collapsing now pushed back with force.

Sensing the shift, Kaelith grinned.

“That’s Senna. She’s helping us.”

Aizen nodded. “As expected of the Shinenju. She has a natural dominion over Kyōgoku.”

Thanks to her, the connection between Soul Society and the living world stabilized.

As the Shinigami below looked up, Kaelith, Aizen, and Kyōraku Shunsui burst out of the vortex above.

The instant they emerged, Aizen waved a hand, closing the path behind them.

On the ground, Senna breathed a sigh of relief and released the power amplifying Kyōgoku.

High in the sky, Kaelith looked toward her, grinned, and gave a thumbs-up.

Senna smiled and returned the gesture.

....................................

.............

.

12th Division, one research lab.

A man in a scientist’s uniform stared at the screen showing the trio’s arrival, eyes bulging in fury.

“Damn it… they actually used Kyōgoku to break through?!”

“Those bastards—what do they think Soul Society is, a playground?!”

“This is criminal! Unforgivable!”

He suddenly paused and grinned wickedly.

Turning his head, he said, “Yadōmaru, notify the others…”

From the shadows, a figure resembling Yadōmaru Lisa stepped forward.

After hearing his orders, she bowed her head.

“Yes, Kagerōza-sama.”

In the next instant, she vanished via Shunpo.

Once Lisa was gone, the man snorted.

He pushed his green-yellow hair aside and muttered, “No need to panic… Kaelith might be strong, but he hasn’t fully grasped Seireitei yet.”

“As long as I move carefully, there’s no way he’ll trace this back to me.”

“Now’s the time to replace the last few Captains.”

“Heh heh… even if you can fight Yamamoto Shigekuni, by the time you figure this out, there won’t be a single ally left at your side.”

He let out a smug laugh, then inhaled deeply to calm himself.

Now was not the time to go head-to-head with Kaelith.

Once he perfected the fusion stabilizer, merged with the other half of his soul, and mastered his Zanpakutō—then even Yamamoto returning wouldn’t matter.

But suddenly, a question he’d long overlooked popped into his mind.

Wait—how did Kaelith return so quickly?

The six captain clones sent to the human world… even if they lost, they should have stalled him for at least a few days, right?

Just identifying their true nature should have taken that long.

What the hell happened in the human world?

Kagerōza Inaba frowned deeply.

Then his communicator buzzed.

He pulled it from his pocket and put it to his ear. “What is it?”

“Report, Lord Kagerōza! Kaelith attacked the copy of Kensei Muguruma we sent out!”

“What?!”

Kagerōza Inaba’s face twisted in disbelief.

Hadn’t they just dispatched the Muguruma clone? How could he have been exposed so quickly?

“Have him retreat—tell him not to engage Kaelith directly!”

Though he didn’t know what had gone wrong, Kagerōza gave the order swiftly.

There was a moment’s hesitation on the other end, then came the reply:

“Apologies, Lord Kagerōza. Kensei Muguruma has already been killed by Kaelith in a single slash. We didn’t have time to react.”

".....…”

Kagerōza’s expression contorted.

Kaelith… What the hell is this guy?!

After a flash of rage, a new scheme came to mind.

Since Kaelith was so reckless, daring to kill in public, why not manipulate public opinion?

This time, he’d frame Kaelith as a traitor—an invader of Soul Society, a shapeshifter impostor!

Let’s see how that bastard deals with this!

Kagerōza let out a sinister grin.

Don’t blame me for being ruthless, Kaelith.

Blame that brainless, impulsive personality of yours!

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