I'm really not the number one slacker in Soul Society.

After finally finishing a day of intelligence screening, Mima switched shifts with the third seat of the Fifth Division, and then bid farewell to his colleagues before returning to the barracks.

After all, he had made a great contribution today, and out of consideration for his subordinate (mainly to give him some time to recover his spiritual pressure), his workload was reduced, which allowed him to come back and rest for a while.

Standing at the entrance of his courtyard, Mi Zhen sighed, roughly sorted out what he had seen and heard that day, and arranged the problems in order of importance and urgency. After confirming what he should do next, he continued to walk.

Although he was a newcomer, in times of crisis, everyone has to step up, so Shutaro... or perhaps Fujimoto Ayamaru was also called to his post, where he was currently struggling with a mountain of documents.

If it weren't for that, Mi Zhen wouldn't have gone back to the barracks.

As my other self said, getting along with her is very important... But Mima is still shaken by what happened the night before last, so she'll put it aside for now and try to contact her again after she has a more thorough investigation.

There were other things too, like writing the script for delivering the letter, and going to find Yan Yuanjinle, etc...

It's a little simpler, but still quite troublesome...

And then there's Kisuke Urahara... I need to find an opportunity to talk to him too.

Next time, let's go using Watanabe Yama's identity. That way, everyone will feel much more at ease.

Lost in thought, Mima casually opened her bedroom door...

Then I saw two men in black who were already sitting inside waiting.

"What the hell?"

Mi Zhen was shocked and immediately conjured two fireballs in his hands, ready to unleash them—seeing this overreaction, one of the taller men in black immediately pulled down his mask and whispered, "Stop! Stop! Don't attract attention!"

Mi was truly shocked.

"Huh?" He gasped. "Captain Urahara?!"

Then he looked at the other man in black: "Miss Yoruichi?!"

"I'm not a captain anymore..." Kisuke Urahara waved his hand awkwardly, "Don't call me that."

"Mr. Urahara."

Mima swallowed hard: "How could you...?"

—This reaction wasn't an act; he genuinely didn't expect these two to appear in his room at this time, and without revealing any presence, so much so that he didn't sense anything before opening the door.

"That's a long story..." Kisuke Urahara sighed. "In our current state, infiltrating Seireitei would be extremely difficult."

"Especially at this time..."

Yoruichi slumped onto the table and yawned wearily: "Just dodging the search by the squad members took a lot of effort, and even so, I almost got run into by Kyoraku when I came in."

"So what exactly are you two here for...?"

Mima wiped the cold sweat from his forehead: "The situation in Seireitei is extremely serious... You are now the number one... oh, now the number two wanted criminal. If Captain-Commander Yamamoto catches you, you're finished."

To be honest, this cold sweat wasn't an act... He had misappropriated these two people's treasures during the day, and they came to his door that night. Although it was almost impossible for them to come and hold him accountable, he couldn't help feeling guilty.

"That's right..."

Kisuke Urahara sighed, "But some things just have to be done..."

Mi Zhen rubbed her temples hard, then sighed deeply before covering her forehead and saying, "Let's set aside how you two got here and what you're here for. Let me ask you something first... Why did you appear in my room in the middle of the night? Putting aside everything else, if I had screamed from fright just now, I would have been in big trouble."

Chapter 222: The Story from a Few Days Ago

"Well... there are reasons for that."

Kisuke Urahara scratched his head awkwardly, exchanged a glance with Yoru, and then said with a shifty look in his eyes, "I know this will cause a lot of trouble for Watanabe Go... oh, now it's Vice-Captain Watanabe, but please calm down and let me finish..."

"That's not a problem..."

Mima poured three glasses of water, took a sip from one of them to moisten his throat, and said, "Thinking about it carefully... actually, given the current situation, even if Mr. Urahara and Ms. Yoruichi openly appeared near the First Division barracks, there wouldn't be any problem, since Seireitei needs your help right now."

"Well... Kisuke and I have already looked into the situation."

Yoruichi pulled down her mask, took a sip of water, and her expression became increasingly subtle as she spoke: "If possible, we would also like to take this opportunity to escape the pursuit... Sigh, if only it were that simple."

After hearing what she said, Mizhen suddenly realized the problem and almost broke out in a cold sweat on her back.

You two can't go back to Seireitei now. If Urahara Shop goes out of business, the Hogyoku project will fall through, and Ichigo Kurosaki will probably die in the womb... Oh, at this point in time, even his mother or his mother's mother hasn't been born yet. Using this adjective seems a bit inappropriate, but that's the gist of it.

"all in all……"

Kisuke Urahara picked up the thread: "Although I feel very sorry for the Captain-Commander and the others, the Urahara family will not interfere in this incident... The squad that was dispatched out is probably already turned away and is dejectedly heading back."

"Huh?" Mima asked, puzzled. "This...why? The Urahara family doesn't get involved in matters of Hell?"

“I’m about to explain the reason to you now.” Kisuke Urahara shrugged helplessly. “But it’s going to be a long story, so I’ll try to keep it short.”

"oh oh……"

Mima nodded hesitantly, then listened as Kisuke Urahara recounted his experiences over the past two days.

"In short...it all started a few days ago..."

Kisuke Urahara quickly recounted the events that had occurred on the outskirts of Karakura City to Mima—of course, he glossed over some particularly dangerous parts with a light touch, while Mima had to put on a very convincing expression of surprise. It was a test of acting skills that demanded a great deal from both of them…

"So... Mr. Urahara, you knew about the situation in Hell even before we did?" Yama said, utterly shocked. "And you even had conversations with... that woman before us? What... is going on?"

"Ah... Watanabe, you also have a deep impression of that guy..."

Kisuke Urahara sighed, "After infiltrating Seireitei, I even went back to the Technology Development Bureau to watch the footage from that time... To be honest, I really don't understand what that woman named Saki is trying to do."

I went back to the Technology Development Bureau...

It sounds like Mayuri Kurotsuchi is unaware of this, otherwise he would be furious...

"If you don't know, then I certainly wouldn't understand..." Mi Zhen said, looking back with unbearable sorrow, "To be honest, my main impression of that woman was that she could chop people up really hard..."

“Although this is just my deduction…” Kisuke Urahara’s expression became more serious. “Her stance is very strange… but she doesn’t seem to be a purely evil person, much less someone who has wronged others—although I have been away from the family for many years, I still have this ability to judge.”

"Who knows..."

Mima put on an expression of disbelief, gave a few ambiguous replies, and changed the subject, saying instead, "Let's continue. It's not peaceful here. If the captain suddenly gets angry and comes looking for me, things could get very awkward..."

"Then go ahead."

Kisuke Urahara took a sip of water and continued, "In short, Yoruichi and I realized the seriousness of the problem and quickly decided to go back to our family to check the situation. Then we came up with a way to sneak back into Soul Society and return to my home."

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

A few days ago, in the present world, on the outskirts of Karakura City.

"Well... using the anti-demon mutual killing technique to break through the barrier shouldn't be a problem."

While stretching her body, Yoruichi said, "But Kisuke, do you really want to go back? Actually, we didn't need to get involved in this, did we?"

"Well... I guess you could say this is fulfilling my duty." Kisuke Urahara said, checking the various bottles, jars, and magical gadgets in his backpack, with the same meek face he always had in front of Yoruichi. "Even though I've been away from the family for many years, I still have to do what I'm supposed to do."

"Huh? Responsibility?"

Yoru brought his face close to Urahara Kisuke's, then grabbed his neck and asked fiercely, "I've never heard you say anything like that! Haven't you long since severed all ties with the Urahara family? What obligations could possibly extend to you?"

"Cough cough cough—Let go! Yoruichi-san! I'll die!"

Urahara Kisuke, his face turning blue from being strangled, quickly slapped the floor in surrender. He had barely managed to break free from Yoruichi's incredibly tight chokehold, and then, coughing, he said, "Cough... Although it was an obligation I had to fulfill, cough... because the conditions for fulfilling it were so demanding, I almost forgot about it. I never thought something like this would actually happen... cough cough..."

"Conditions? What conditions?"

“The Urahara family has several very old rules that have never been put into practice.”

Kisuke Urahara said solemnly, "When the scapegoat organization, which aims to escape hell, grows to a certain size, members with strength above the third level of spiritual power must immediately and unconditionally return to the family's council hall—specifically, this so-called 'certain size' means that the organization has more than one hundred members."

Yoruichi asked curiously, "Go back... and then what?"

Kisuke Urahara shrugged helplessly: "Who knows... I only know that this order was personally issued by our ancestor, and all the subsequent heads of the family have simply carried it out without ever asking why."

"All right……"

Yoruichi rolled her eyes and stopped asking questions. Instead, she meticulously completed her warm-up exercises, then grabbed Urahara Kisuke by the back of his collar and dragged him to the nearby Transcendental Gate.

"Time to go!"

"Huh? Wait! Miss Yoruichi! The adjustments to the Transcendental Gate haven't been made yet..."

"Enough with the chatter! Just watch my performance!" Yoruichi burst into laughter, "Instant Hoo!"

Chapter 223: Our ancestors are coming to our door!

"Uh... and then the two of you just forced your way through the surveillance network that the Technology Development Bureau had set up in the Boundary?"

Mima gasped, "Wouldn't the Seventh Seat of Inaba be furious at this kind of thing?"

"That surveillance network was built under my leadership..."

Kisuke Urahara coughed lightly. "We've gone off on a tangent. Let's continue."

In short, the two of them returned to Soul Society by brute force and quickly crossed the wasteland at the border, arriving at the Urahara family's territory. They even managed to grab a bite to eat along the way.

Then they encountered a white-haired girl with a very classical demeanor.

Kisuke Urahara bowed respectfully to her: "Greetings... Head of the family."

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

"what?"

Mima almost spat water onto Urahara Kisuke's face: "You mean... the ancestor of the Urahara family... has been alive until now?"

“After all, the Urahara family is in charge of overseeing Hell…” Yoruichi interjected, “Although I don’t know the specifics, according to Kisuke, Lady Ryouka developed a marvelous technology while researching the Sinners, and with that, she gained a kind of immortality.”

After a moment of contemplation, Mi Zhen's expression suddenly turned terrified: "Wait, how could a mere vice-captain like me know such important news? Am I going to be silenced?"

"..."

This left Kisuke Urahara speechless. He remained silent for a few seconds, then shook his head: "How could something so serious happen... Think carefully, is there any clear record in history books of our ancestor's death?"

"..."

Mima thought about it carefully... and realized that there really wasn't one.

Why is it that the Urahara family's presence is so weak? After the ancestors of the other four families passed away one after another, and Soul Society fell into chaos, for some reason, everyone assumed that Urahara Ryouka had also died on some unknown day, to the point that even Yama believed this stereotype...

"Don't interrupt me, let me finish."

Kisuke Urahara forcefully steered the conversation back on track, straightened his expression, and began to speak.

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