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

He stepped forward, stood before Kenpachi Azajo, cleared his throat, and said, "I guess you already know why we're here—well, this shouldn't conflict with your purpose. Could you lend us a hand?"

The next moment, Kenpachi Azajo opened his eyes.

"I agree with you, Kisuke Urahara."

He replied in an almost unsettlingly calm voice, "From my perspective, I do not wish to see Seireitei suffer excessive losses."

This guy gives off a very strange impression.

His expression and movements were almost devoid of any emotion. Although he was human, his first impression was almost always one of mechanical indifference. His spiritual pressure and physique could not be described as powerful, but he could still give people a vague sense of crisis.

This is only natural, because he is the undisputed eighth Kenpachi. What Yama and Kisuke Urahara are seeing now is only "a part" of him. He is the only Shinigami in the history of Seireitei to have Bankai as a permanent state. His Zanpakuto "Ame-dō-tsuru" has the terrifying ability to "fuse with and manipulate spirit particles".

And the object he merged with... was Seireitei.

Even though he is currently sealed, his abilities are still effective, so he can see everything that happens in the entire Seireitei as clearly as if he were reading the lines on his palm, and he can even break Aizen's Kyoka Suigetsu.

Chapter 229: Tell me if this is a good story or not!

If the Seireitei were to create a list of combat abilities, Kenpachi Azajo would undoubtedly rank in the top ten, or even the top five, with his near-unbeatable first-encounter killing power. With his help, the battle against the Asura Clan would certainly be greatly enhanced.

But to be honest, Mima really didn't want to let this guy out...

There's practically no privacy to be with someone who's a cheater who can see the entire map...

If his gaze were limited to a corner of Seireitei, there would be some room to deal with it, but if he starts wandering around the three realms, the difficulty of acting will increase significantly.

Although he has recently come up with a new idea that, if successful, could greatly increase the realism of the script, he hasn't started implementing it yet. If he were to face a difficult boss like Kenpachi Momoshiro right from the start, he wasn't confident that he could perform flawlessly.

What a hassle...

"Therefore, I will present my terms for negotiation."

Kisuke Urahara stared directly at Kenpachi Azajo and said in a serious tone, "You help me maintain the modification project of the Soul-Shielding Membrane, and I will do something for you without causing a huge impact—how about it? This condition should be quite sincere."

“I don’t deny that.”

Kenpachi Azajo initially expressed his agreement indifferently, but the next second he changed the subject and turned his gaze to Yama standing behind him: "I also heard what you said before—the crisis in Hell should indeed exist, but why don't you ask Watanabe Yama what the real situation is?"

Ah... here it comes, I knew it was going to happen...

"Hahahaha, what a coincidence, what a coincidence! The biggest liar in Seireitei is actually someone who would do anything to protect the Teiwa. Or is this all just his acting? How interesting, don't you think?"

Beside Kenpachi, a woman, invisible to everyone except him, was laughing hysterically. Despite being sealed alongside him, she moved about freely as if completely unaffected.

The woman who was laughing wildly around Kenpachi Azajo had a similar appearance to him, but her style was completely opposite. She was dressed in gorgeous and dissolute clothes and had a strange expression. She was the complete opposite of the mechanical Kenpachi Azajo, but she was indeed the person closest to him.

The Zanpakutō "Uzuru".

"Look, he clearly has some kind of cooperative relationship with the first captain of the 8th Division, yet he pretended not to know about the incident the day before yesterday. Past history does show that he is a loyal Gotei 15 member. What is the reason behind this? There is nothing more intriguing than this. Even Aizen Sousuke's actions are not so contradictory. Don't you think so?"

"There's no need to repeat what we already know. Get out of here."

Kenpachi glanced at her, ruthlessly shooing her away, then turned his gaze back to Mima and said in a flat voice, "You obviously knew about the accident two days ago beforehand."

When Kisuke Urahara turned around and looked at her, Mima sighed and raised her hands in surrender: "Okay, although I don't know how you found out, I did hide something from you."

—Fortunately, if it's only this bad, it's easy to smooth things over.

Before setting off, he made a list in his mind, which included "things that Kenpachi Azajo saw but kept hidden from others," including the concealment of his abilities, his relationship with Shikatori Hakuryuu, and various details of what he did behind people's backs in his daily life. The worst-case scenario would undoubtedly be that Kenpachi Azajo exposed everything about Aizen. If that happened, although there were ways to deal with it, it would still be very troublesome.

As everyone knows, he is a person who hates trouble the most.

Fortunately, Kenpachi Momoshiro, who can only see things within Seireitei, probably doesn't have such rich associative abilities, which is a testament to Yama's long acting career that began the day he entered Seireitei.

This is easy to handle.

"Hidden?" Kisuke Urahara's expression changed, and he put on a look of lament, as if to say, "How come someone as handsome as you is also hiding something?"

He paused for a moment, seemingly waiting for Mizhen to organize her thoughts.

But they didn't seem particularly surprised...

"Let me ask you this anyway." Mima spread his hands and asked Kenpachi Azajo, "From my personal perspective, I don't think I showed any flaws. How did you know I already knew?"

This tactic is called "retreating to advance," where you first reveal something that seems exciting but is actually insignificant, thereby covering up the real problem.

Some might ask here, why didn't he just explain everything to Kisuke Urahara from the beginning? They were all on the same side, so there wouldn't have been any loss in doing so, right? Wouldn't it have been better to lay everything out like Shikatori Hakunsai did?

The reason is simple: everything is about first come, first served.

Watanabe is now on the same side as Aizen. Even if the ending is for justice and he didn't do anything outrageous, he's still on the villain's path. Urahara Kisuke, on the other hand, is a bit impulsive, but he's still on the good guys' side.

How can he possibly come clean now...?

Furthermore, there is an ultimate conflict between Aizen and Kisuke Urahara called the Hogyoku, making it almost impossible for them to sit down and talk properly. It's already quite good that he can mediate and keep the situation as it is now. If he wants to do anything further, he'll have to think of another way.

Now that all three of his bodies have scripts, the burden is too heavy, and he simply doesn't have time to write a new one—clearly, being a bad guy comes at a price, namely, it's difficult to cooperate with good guys anymore.

“I have my own methods, and I can’t stop Kisuke Urahara from revealing my abilities to you.”

Kenpachi Momoshiro's tone was completely flat: "But you're just answering questions with questions, which doesn't help with the exchange."

Mima didn't answer him, but looked at Urahara Kisuke and sighed, "If Mr. Urahara knows the reason... then consider it a condition for the exchange. I'm really curious about how I was exposed. After I figure that out, I will tell you everything I know."

"...Vice Captain Watanabe, you've really given me quite a surprise."

Kisuke Urahara complained a little, but after a brief moment of thought, he still gave Mima a rough explanation of the abilities of the Rain Dew Pomegranate.

They've known each other for over twenty years... Although he seems to be being manipulated now, he's not a complete idiot. No matter what Kenpachi Azajo says, he has to wait until it's verified before he can believe it.

Not explaining things too clearly to Mijin beforehand was originally intended to protect him, and in a sense, this is just right now.

"To think that such a thing would happen..."

Mima slapped his forehead in frustration, then looked at Kenpachi Momoshiro, who was sealed away, with a resentful gaze, as if to say, "You're making me look like a clown," highlighting a sense of loneliness that made him want to hit someone but couldn't find a reason to.

That's about enough for the performance.

“Alright, now it’s my turn to explain…” Mima took a few steps forward, glanced at Kenpachi Azajo and Kisuke Urahara, and said with a “what’s the use” attitude, “Since you two are well aware of what happened on the surface, let me add a little more about what happened outside of Seireitei.”

Then, he first said to Kisuke Urahara, "In short... I've been hiding some things, such as my Zanpakuto abilities—when using clones, my main body doesn't actually need to fall asleep; it's possible to control two bodies simultaneously."

"As for this..."

Kisuke Urahara suddenly chuckled dryly, turned his head and said, "I actually had some deductions about this a long time ago, but I just hadn't seen any concrete examples."

See... you really can't treat people like fools.

"As expected of Mr. Urahara."

Mi Zhen smiled wryly, "Actually, there are some other things, but those are just minor details. Let's fast forward to the main point—starting from the day after Shiroto Hayunzai escaped from the Abyss."

“I wasn’t in Seireitei anymore at that time; I only saw what happened those few days while investigating information…” Kisuke Urahara narrowed his eyes. “It seems the actual situation differs from what’s recorded in the investigation log?”

“That’s right.” Mi Zhen nodded calmly. “After escaping from the Abyss, her first stop was the Eighth Division’s barracks—or rather, me, since I’m considered her junior and in some ways I meet her requirements, making me an ideal candidate for seeking refuge. And I, of course, agreed to the senior’s request.”

There's no need to say exactly what "certain aspects" refers to; judging from Kisuke Urahara's expression, he's probably already guessed the answer.

“I see, that makes sense… Lu Qubaiyunzhai has been out of touch with society for over eight hundred years, it’s impossible for her to find a perfect way to hide on the day she escaped from prison… So it was you who helped her.”

As I always say, never underestimate someone else's intelligence.

There are various theories among the reconnaissance teams about how Shikaku Hakunsai concealed his tracks, with the mole theory being the most prevalent. Watanabe Yama was even a highly suspected individual. However, due to the lack of any trace of a signed contract and the intervention of Shunsui, the hyenas had no choice but to back down.

"Let's get to the conclusion first. Shikatori-senpai is not some crazy person who wants to destroy the world... Of course, she did try to do it back then, and she still has that thought now, but she would never go so far as to get involved with hell."

Mima shrugged: "I found her a hiding place outside Seireitei, and she managed to evade the search without any real danger... Then, that woman appeared..."

As he said this, he gritted his teeth, as if recalling a rather unpleasant past event: "Saki... is the one who attacked us that night, and also the one who fought the Captain-Commander two days ago."

Kisuke Urahara sighed, "...So she approached you first?"

Chapter 230: A Strange Team is Taking Shape

“That’s right… a lot happened in between. Senior Shikatori protected me a few times and I fought with her, but we couldn’t decide who was the winner.” Mima clicked his tongue. “After a few back and forths, I became somewhat familiar with her… I originally thought she was a madwoman, but now my opinion has changed.”

“Even if he really is a madman, he’s a madman who has wielded immense power,” Kisuke Urahara sighed again. “These are often the most terrifying people.”

"I don't have much information, so to avoid misleading anyone, I'll just mention a few things that have already been confirmed."

Mima cracked her knuckles a few times in frustration, then said, "First of all, she has a clear purpose, and everything she does serves that purpose; secondly, she obtained information about Hell in an operation about ten days ago—probably the incident in Karakura Town—and the riot two days ago wasn't some kind of declaration of invasion..."

"Or was it a deliberate warning?"

Kisuke Urahara took over the conversation and spoke up.

"That's right. Although it's a bit extreme, it's a very simple logic—it's a foolish move to remind the enemy that you will attack at a certain time. Not only is it meaningless, but it will also put your side at a disadvantage. I don't know what Hell's mental state is like, but this kind of underlying logic should be universal."

"indeed so……"

Kisuke Urahara stroked his chin and slowly nodded.

Okay, I've finally finished working on the most troublesome part...

Hopefully, it will work well.

It is well-organized (though it doesn't seem so), and its arguments are reasonable (though they don't seem right either). It's so convincing that even Mima herself believed it (let's just assume that's how it is).

Given his current circumstances, telling overly complicated lies wouldn't be appropriate; a simpler one might actually be more effective.

Anyway, Kisuke Urahara probably believed it.

As for Kenpachi Momoshiro... he still has that poker face; only Yulu Zheliu can probably tell his emotional changes.

"That's basically it." Mi Zhen concluded, "It doesn't sound very credible, so whether you believe it or not is up to you to decide."

The first to give an answer was Kenpachi Azashiro: "It doesn't matter. I don't have the means to verify it, so I can only choose to accept your statement for now."

Then, Kisuke Urahara shrugged and said, "There's no contradiction. Why wouldn't I believe it?"

The matter was thus considered closed. As for how much they actually believed... well, none of the three people present were simple-minded hot-blooded youths. Each of them had a set of meticulous and airtight logic. Whether they believed it or not wasn't a matter of just saying it when they met; their actual actions would have to do the trick.

We're all adults, let's be realistic.

Then, they finally got back on track.

"If you want me to oversee the operation of the Soul-Binding Membrane, is the condition that you grant me one of your requests?"

Kenpachi Azajo said without mincing words, “But this is clearly not ‘any request,’ Kisuke Urahara. Make your point clearer.”

He seems straightforward, but he is actually aggressive because he is the one who needs his help and he holds the initiative. This is just a way of testing the waters in a more direct way.

"The scope of the treaty..."