The battle at the edge of Hueco Mundo was raging in full swing.
At the same time, inside the Royal Palace of Hueco Mundo—
A faint spatial ripple, almost too subtle to detect, cracked in a dead-end corner of a corridor within the palace.
Urahara Kisuke, draped in a special cloak that completely concealed spiritual pressure, slipped out of a narrow Garganta crack like a ghost.
The moment his feet touched the ground, the spatial fissure behind him closed up rapidly like a healing wound.
"Well now… it's really a bit too bright for comfort."
He lowered the brim of his hat, his gaze sweeping over the artificially created blue sky and white clouds above, clicking his tongue in quiet amazement.
"In a place like Hueco Mundo, where eternal night reigns, maintaining something like this perpetual daylight purely with reishi… the manpower and resources behind it must be astronomical."
From the very beginning, he had thought that Yhwach and Kyoraku Shunsui's plan was unreliable, and would most likely be discovered.
And once discovered, the Royal Palace would surely mobilize in full force to hunt them down. That would be his chance.
In his view, with Rosse's meticulous nature, there was no way he would just ignore them if he couldn't seal off space.
They had the ability to open a passage to the outer reaches of Hueco Mundo, there was no way the Royal Palace wouldn't know.
And as long as they reached Hueco Mundo, they could use a Garganta to head to the Soul Society and make contact with the Zero Division.
Even if Rosse didn't particularly care about such a thing, a man like him couldn't possibly fail to consider it.
So there was only one explanation.
Someone was watching their every move. No matter what they did, Rosse would know before anyone else.
But they were in the World of the Living, and the passage to the Soul Society had already been cut off.
And Yhwach finding them had been nothing but an accident.
So, the mole wasn't on Yhwach's side. It was someone from the World of the Living.
That person had been monitoring everything about them through some unknown method.
Even his attempt to sneak into the Royal Palace while avoiding that person's notice… had been seen through.
'Just who is that man?'
"I've already suppressed my presence to the absolute minimum, even waited until the outer battle started before infiltrating. And for this operation, I only told Hirako, I didn't even tell Kyoraku. Hirako is unlikely to be one of yours. So why… do you still know I'm here?"
Urahara Kisuke let out a quiet sigh and stopped walking.
He could clearly sense it.
At the end of the corridor behind him, which appeared completely empty, a terrifying spiritual pressure was waiting silently.
He slowly turned around.
And when he saw the figure stepping out from the shadows, even someone as composed as Urahara felt his hair stand on edge.
"So it's you?"
"Captain Urahara, long time no see."
A voice devoid of any emotion sounded from directly ahead.
"Captain Unohana," Urahara called out in a low voice.
Though he addressed her that way, the Unohana before him was no longer the gentle and graceful Fourth Division captain who always wore her hair in a braid.
Her long black hair flowed freely down her back like a waterfall, moving without wind under the fluctuation of her spiritual pressure. The captain's haori and shihakusho were gone, replaced by the elegant black uniform unique to the Espada of the Royal Palace.
That noble and icy presence felt like it pierced into Urahara's eyes.
"Captain Unohana… why you, of all people?"
Two beads of cold sweat slowly slid down Urahara's forehead.
He had imagined countless possibilities.
He knew there were still people in the Soul Society working for Rosse.
He had suspected Shiba Kukaku, suspected Matsumoto Rangiku, even suspected that Aizen and the others had completely defected to the Royal Palace.
But never had he imagined that the one who betrayed the Soul Society would be this living fossil who represented the very history of the Gotei 13.
'If even the first Kenpachi betrayed soul society, then this world… might truly be beyond saving.'
He understood Unohana, and because of that, he understood even more clearly.
Her defection didn't just mean the loss of a top-tier combatant—it meant Rosse held something in his hand, something so compelling that even a seeker like Unohana could not refuse.
"Captain Urahara, here, you should address me as the 4th Espada…"
Unohana slowly raised her hand and gripped the hilt of the sword at her waist, a chilling smile curling at her lips.
"Unohana Yachiru."
Clang!
The blade slid out an inch, letting out a hum that thirsted for blood.
That single, faint sound made Urahara's pupils shrink to pinpoints.
Survival instinct kicked in before he could even think, and he immediately used Shunpo to retreat at full speed.
Whoosh!
In the next instant, he had already appeared on another stone pillar a hundred meters away.
But...
...still too slow.
Slash!
There was no flash of steel, no visible blade, only a coldness so fast it surpassed the limits of sight.
Standing there, Urahara hadn't even had time to blink before a thin line of blood appeared down the center of his forehead, splitting both him and the stone pillar beneath him cleanly in two.
BOOM!
With a heavy crash, the pillar fell, kicking up dust.
But the severed body atop it didn't spill any organs. Instead, it burst like a punctured balloon, turning into a cloud of red reishi mist.
"That was close… really close, Unohana-senpai."
The real Urahara Kisuke stepped out from the shadow behind the pillar, looking somewhat disheveled. He still held the brim of his hat down, but the hand gripping Benihime trembled slightly.
His specially made cloak that concealed spiritual pressure had been neatly sliced off at one corner, and across his chest was a deep wound down to the bone, blood pouring out.
If not for predicting her prediction and using a portable gigai as a decoy in advance, he would already be dead.
"A simple slash without even Shikai… and it's this strong?", Urahara's gaze turned grave.
Unohana's strength wasn't normal. Far from it. That power had already surpassed the realm of a Shinigami. It had definitely touched the domain of the Heavenly Throne.
"You actually avoided it. As expected of one of the five special war threats evaluated by the King of the Quincy, the one known for having the most tricks. You really are quite troublesome."
Unohana didn't seem the least bit annoyed that her strike had failed. Instead, as if she had found an interesting prey, a crimson light flickered in her eyes.
She still maintained her half-drawn stance, her tone turning cold.
"But how many times can you dodge?"
"Unohana-senpai."
Even in such a desperate situation, Urahara's mind raced at full speed, trying to squeeze information from her words.
"From the sound of it, you seem quite familiar with the evaluation from Yhwach's side? Looks like even around that Quincy Emperor, Rosse has planted eyes as well."
"Still trying to fish for information at a time like this? Urahara Kisuke, your thirst for knowledge is admirable."
Unohana let out a soft laugh, then slowly continued to draw her blade inch by inch.
Shiing!
In the next moment, a silver blade light chased after him like a curse that clung to bone.
Urahara's figure split into countless afterimages, flashing and weaving frantically through the narrow space.
Benihime danced in his hand, forming a red curtain of light, trying to block the omnipresent slashes.
But with every movement and block, that silver blade light didn't fade, it only drew closer.
Unohana remained expressionless, her Zanpakuto finally revealing its tip.
In the next instant, as the blade was fully drawn, a tangible storm of killing intent instantly filled the entire corridor.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
All the afterimages shattered at almost the same time.
When everything stilled, Urahara was already half-kneeling on the ground, his right hand propping up Benihime, which was on the verge of breaking. His body was covered in countless cuts, blood staining the ground.
"Unohana-senpai… have even you fallen?"
He gasped for breath, lifting his head with a bitter smile.
"Even you, a Kenpachi, have abandoned your sword path and started coveting that so-called Heavenly Throne?"
From the moment Unohana said those words earlier, he knew she had likely already seen through his intentions.
She knew that even if this body died, it didn't matter. His goal in coming here was just to gather information.
But he was gambling.
Gambling that Rosse, as Kyoraku had said, was arrogant enough not to care about information leaking.
"Fallen?"
Hearing that word, Unohana slowly raised her head. Her waterfall-like hair slid to either side, revealing a breathtaking face devoid of emotion, like that of an asura.
"When did you start thinking I had given up pursuing strength?"
"The reason I sealed my blade for a thousand years, sealing away the self called Yachiru… was simply because I saw my own end. I saw the limits of a Shinigami, and the end of this world."
"A dull world gave me no desire to draw my sword again. Back then, death might have been the only release for me."
"But Rosse's appearance changed that."
"What did he show you… that made you pick up your sword again?"
Urahara's expression tightened slightly as he couldn't help but ask.
From Unohana's few words, he had deduced something that made his blood run cold.
Rosse might not be a lifeform born of this world.
He might come from outside it.
It was precisely because she saw a possibility beyond this world that Unohana chose to take up her sword again, and was willing to fight for him.
Because in him, she saw another path.
"Haven't you already guessed? You really are clever."
A satisfied smile appeared at the corner of Unohana's lips, the kind of calm acceptance that comes from hearing the truth in the morning and dying in the evening.
"Rosse doesn't belong to this world. What he brought me is another possibility, a path of the sword I had never imagined."
"For that path, does it matter even if this wretched world shatters under my sword? I think, not."
Before her words even finished, Urahara's heart lurched, a sense of danger unlike anything before making his scalp prickle.
'Not good!'
'She's stalling!'
'She's delaying the time it takes for my consciousness to return to my main body.'
'The World of the Living… the World of the Living…'
'That hidden eye is looking for me!'
The thought had just formed—
Whoosh!
Unohana's figure vanished instantly.
There was no time to react, not even time to feel pain.
Urahara felt his vision spin, and then saw that his lower body was still kneeling on the ground while his upper body had already flown into the air.
This physical avatar formed through his Zanpakuto ability had been completely severed.
———
Meanwhile—
[The World of the Living, Karakura Town]
Inside the bedroom in the basement of the Urahara Shop—
"Ugh!"
A muffled groan of pain rang out.
Urahara Kisuke, who had been lying on the tatami, merely projecting his consciousness to control the avatar, suddenly arched his body, coughing up a mouthful of blood onto the bedding.
The tearing pain in his soul made his vision go dark. It was the backlash from the destruction of his avatar.
It wasn't just his body being cut. It felt like an invisible blade had followed the connection of his soul and struck directly at his core.
"So this is the power brought by the fusion with another world… Captain Unohana's sword can actually injure my main body through consciousness…"
Gasping for breath, Urahara forced himself to climb off the bed, enduring the pain.
'This place is no longer safe!'
Since Unohana had seen through his avatar and deliberately delayed before striking, it meant the real killing move was here.
He staggered toward the door, trying to leave as quickly as possible.
Crash!
The moment his hand touched the doorknob, the old wooden door was pulled open from the outside.
Urahara froze.
He saw those silver-rimmed glasses glinting coldly in the night, and that signature white suit.
"So even you are one of them? So you were their eyes all along?"
Urahara's voice came out dry. His weakened body could no longer support him, and he collapsed to the ground.
Standing outside the door was the man he had once regarded as a pawn—
Ryuken Ishida.
Unlike his usual doctor's attire, he now wore the uniform of the Royal Palace, one hand in his pocket, his gaze as cold as if he were looking at a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.
"Since you dragged me and Uryu into this certain-death game… since you chose to cooperate with that man even knowing he was the one who killed my wife…"
Ryuken Ishida slowly raised his right hand. In his palm, a drop of silver liquid slid slowly downward.
It wasn't an ordinary liquid, it was highly condensed spirit fluid, and also the key he had long prepared.
In the next instant, the surrounding reishi condensed to the extreme.
At such a high density, space itself was completely sealed.
"You should have known this day would come, Urahara Kisuke."
The next moment—
Buzz!
A dazzling pillar of blue reishi light shot upward, instantly engulfing the entire Urahara Shop.
Within that brilliance, like the explosion of a supernova, Urahara's eyes, filled with shock and unwillingness, froze in the reflection of Ryuken Ishida's glasses.
Then, along with that unspoken sigh, they vanished into nothingness.
"Master Rosse sends his regards."
As the light faded, Ryuken Ishida turned away expressionlessly, adjusted his glasses, and walked toward Karakura General Hospital, as if he had just completed the most ordinary surgery.
Behind him, the Urahara Shop had become a massive crater.
The man known as the smartest mind in the Soul Society, under a cross-world pincer attack by two beings who had surpassed captain level, had finally met his inevitable end.
This was Rosse's regard for him.
And he had lived up to that regard.
Urahara Kisuke, dead!
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