At the Urahara Shop, Yoruichi, who had been missing for many days, finally returned.
Kisuke Urahara stood anxiously at the entrance.
The moment he saw Yoruichi, he immediately went up, picked her up, and looked her over from every angle, as if checking whether she had been injured or was missing any parts.
"Yoruichi-san, where have you been these past few days? We were all worried about you!" Urahara asked nervously.
Yoruichi rolled her eyes at him and said irritably, "Where else could I have gone? I was kidnapped by that mysterious group, obviously."
Urahara's eyes widened in surprise. "Then how did you escape?"
Yoruichi answered casually, "I don't have the ability to escape from them. They let me come back."
"Then… what exactly happened?" Urahara asked in confusion.
However, Yoruichi impatiently cut him off. "Stop asking. Even if you ask, I won't tell you! There are some things you'll only learn when the time is right. For now, you should worry about Ichigo."
After saying that, Yoruichi turned and walked into the shop.
Kisuke had always considered himself extremely clever, but at this moment, he felt as though he had become some kind of clown.
Every move he made seemed to be seen through by someone else, and even the fact that he had gone to rescue Ichigo Kurosaki had not been hidden from them.
That feeling of being closely watched made him deeply uncomfortable.
Worse still, he did not even know who was monitoring him.
This sense of powerlessness struck him hard and left him feeling frustrated.
Fortunately, these people did not seem to bear any malice.
At least when it came to opposing Aizen, their goals were aligned, which gave Urahara a small measure of relief.
Even so, he remained full of doubts about their origins and purpose.
After all, their existence was far too mysterious, and their strength was powerful to an unbelievable degree.
Kisuke had now confirmed that Kazuma was one member of this mysterious group, but he still had no clue about the others.
He racked his brain, trying to piece together their true identities from every clue he had.
In the end, he could only reach one conclusion.
They might be hidden experts from Soul Society who had been lurking in the shadows all along, waiting for the right moment to act.
However, Kisuke would never have imagined that this group was actually made up of the long-deceased first-generation captains, all of whom Kazuma had fished out of Hell.
...
At this time, the unconscious Ichigo was having a rare dream.
In the dream, he felt as though he had fallen into a freezing ice pit.
His body grew colder and colder, as if he were about to freeze to death.
He struggled desperately, but the surrounding ice locked him in place, leaving him unable to move.
Just when he felt he was about to die, he suddenly saw a warm flame burning in the water.
He tried with all his might to move closer to that flame, hoping to gain even a little warmth from it.
Gradually, as he continued approaching the flame, his body began to warm, and the fear of death slowly faded.
Ichigo suddenly opened his eyes.
He found that there was no ice pit or flame around him, only a quiet room.
He was lying peacefully on a bed, but inside the quilt, there was a large bearded man lying on top of him.
"Pervert! Who the hell are you? Get off me!"
He shouted in terror.
Tessai Tsukabishi crawled out from beneath the quilt and spoke with a perfectly serious expression.
"Kurosaki-san, you have finally awakened. Your body temperature dropped sharply just now. I was worried your life might be in danger, so I used my own body to help warm you."
Ichigo shook his still-dizzy head and began carefully observing his surroundings.
It was a room filled with Japanese-style décor, with all sorts of strange tools and ornaments placed around. It looked somewhat cluttered, yet somehow had a different kind of warmth to it.
"This looks like the Urahara Shop…" He murmured to himself.
Ichigo recalled what had happened earlier. Before he lost consciousness, he seemed to have seen that guy with the bucket hat and clogs.
Had Urahara really been the one to save him?
While he was thinking, the door was gently pushed open, and Urahara walked in together with Yoruichi.
Kisuke looked at Ichigo with concern.
"Kurosaki-san, how do you feel now? Is there anywhere that feels uncomfortable?"
Ichigo shook his head, but the first thing he cared about was Uryū Ishida, who had also fallen on the battlefield.
"Hat-and-Clogs, what happened to the other guy who was lying there?"
Kisuke smiled faintly and comforted him.
"That boy wasn't seriously injured so he went back long ago. You should worry about yourself instead. You have already lost your Shinigami powers. Surviving at all counts as good fortune."
Hearing this, Ichigo let out a breath of relief, but at the same time, he felt a trace of loss.
He had been planning to go and rescue Rukia.
Now that he had lost his Shinigami powers, what could he even do?
"Kurosaki-san, what did you think of the strength of the two people you fought?" Urahara's voice pulled Ichigo back from his thoughts.
"Strong," Ichigo answered without hesitation.
"Those two are Sixth Division Captain Byakuya Kuchiki and Lieutenant Renji Abarai of Soul Society. According to regulations, when personnel of lieutenant level or higher enter the World of the Living, their reiatsu must be limited. In other words, the strength they showed was only about twenty percent of their usual power."
Kisuke Urahara calmly laid out a fact that Ichigo found almost impossible to accept.
Ichigo's eyes widened as he stared at Urahara in disbelief.
"How is that possible?"
"I forgot to tell you. Rukia has already been sentenced to death by Soul Society," Urahara said, his voice growing heavy.
"What? Didn't she say she'd at most be imprisoned? How did it become a death sentence?" Ichigo asked agitatedly.
"Unfortunately, the latest information we received is that it is a death sentence."
Urahara shook his head helplessly.
"Hat-and-Clogs, can you help me restore my Shinigami powers? I want to go to Soul Society and rescue Rukia."
Kisuke shook his head with a helpless expression.
"Your Saketsu and Hakusui were severed by Byakuya. Restoring your powers will be very difficult."
Ichigo gritted his teeth and refused to give up.
"Then what about my father? Does he have a way? Wasn't he also a captain in Soul Society before? And a member of the Shiba Clan or something. My mother is a Shinigami too!"
Kisuke looked at him in surprise.
"How do you know that?"
Ichigo said anxiously, "Rukia told me. She recognized my father."
Kisuke fell silent for a moment before slowly saying, "Kurosaki-san, your father was indeed once the captain of the Tenth Division. However, he lost his Shinigami powers in order to save your mother. As for the Shiba Clan you mentioned, it has already declined and can't offer you any help."
Ichigo clenched his fists and unwillingly pleaded with Urahara again.
Urahara pretended to look troubled.
"Ichigo, there is one method, but it is very dangerous. If you make even the slightest mistake, you will become a Hollow. Do you dare?"
"I dare!"
A young man's hot-blooded resolve was always astonishing. Ichigo made his choice without the slightest hesitation.
However, Kisuke directly threw this troublesome problem onto Isshin Kurosaki.
"Even if you have the courage, that still won't do. Go home first and get your parents' approval, then come back and find me."
Hearing this, Ichigo became frantic and hurriedly rushed back home.
"Kisuke, you really are wicked! You're even dragging Isshin into this."
Yoruichi lightly licked her paw.
A dark smile appeared on Kisuke's face.
"Yoruichi-san, I never thought anything like that. Ichigo is still a minor, after all. Isn't it only natural to seek his parents' opinion?"
Taking advantage of the moment, Kisuke immediately threw an important question at Yoruichi.
"Is Kazuma still in Karakura Town?"
"Mm, I can tell you that much. He has already returned to Soul Society," Yoruichi answered.
"Captain Kazuma… He really is impossible to figure out. It's a good thing he isn't our enemy. Otherwise, things would get very troublesome."
Kazuma's issue had always been something Kisuke did not want to face.
Who knew what that man was really planning?