Death's Hidden Mobile

Let's wait and see how things develop for now.

Unohana Retsu put the letter away again. At that moment, Kotetsu Isane's voice rang out, "Captain, the Commander-in-Chief requests your presence at the barracks."

"Commander-in-Chief? I'll go right away."

Retsu Unohana stood up, left the barracks, and went to the First Division barracks.

Besides the Captain-Commander, there are also the Eighth Division Captain, Shunsui Kyoraku, and Isshin Shiba.

"Captain, what is it?"

Unohana Retsu looked at Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni with a puzzled expression.

Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni said, "The Ninth Division Captain, Tosen, betrayed us and was killed by Soi Fon, leaving the Ninth Division Captain position vacant. Yesterday, Ukitake Jushiro recommended Shiba Kaien to me, and I summoned the three seated officers to conduct an assessment. Today, I summon the three captains, Shunsui, Aizen, and Unohana Retsu, to assess him. None of you will object to this, so accept your fate."

To evaluate a team leader, the team leader needs to nominate the leader, the chair officer needs to approve the nomination, and then Yamamoto and the other three team leaders need to evaluate the leader.

These three captains should be the three with the most seniority. Originally, they should have been Retsu Unohana, Shunsui Kyoraku, and Jushiro Ukitake.

However, Jushiro Ukitake was the nominee and was therefore excluded, leaving only Isshin Shiba as a qualified candidate.

Shiba Isshin smiled and said, "Of course I have no objection, but may I review it instead?"

Shiba Isshin and Shiba Kaien are from the same clan; one is the head of a branch family, and the other is the head of the main family. Shiba Isshin is Shiba Kaien's uncle.

Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni said, "That's fine."

Kyoraku Shunsui said, "He was a vice-captain eighty years ago. At that time, Tosen Kaname was the fifth seat of the Ninth Division. With his talent, he was more than qualified to be the captain."

Retsu Unohana nodded and said, "Kaien Shiba has a great personality and strength. Has he mastered Bankai?"

Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni called out, "Come in."

With those words, Shiba Kaien slowly walked into the First Division barracks, looked at everyone, and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Captain-Commander and the three captains."

Shiba Isshin's expression suddenly turned serious, and he asked, "Kaiyan, are you sure you want to take over?"

Shiba Kaien nodded emphatically and said, "I'm ready."

Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni said, "Then show us your Bankai."

Shiba Kaien drew his Zanpakuto and shouted, "..."

(Third update. The second part of the story officially begins tomorrow. Please vote! Five updates this Sunday, three on other days.)

Chapter 90: The Final Arrangements.

Looking at himself in front of him, with white hair, black eyes, a wicked smile on his face, and a short gun in his hand.

Xia Yan knew that his final arrangements had been successful.

The opposite is one's own Hollowfied form. To enter Hollowfied state, one must first prevent the soul from committing suicide and limit the boundaries of the limitless. Then, one must control Hollowfied state by breaking the boundaries between the Shinigami and the Hollow.

Once you defeat your opponent, you can master the ability to become invisible.

The fact that Xia Yan appeared here also signifies the successful prevention of the soul's suicide.

In the entire Three Realms, there is only one person who can currently prevent souls from committing suicide: Kisuke Urahara.

How did Natsuhiko arrive in the present world and find Kisuke Urahara?

This goes back four years. Xia Yan was attacked by Ramirez. Lying in a hospital bed, Xia Yan was unsure whether Aizen's goal was to kill him or just to test his abilities.

It now seems to be a test of ability, but back then, even though he was hiding, Ramirez still managed to find him, which was very likely Aizen's instruction.

So at that time, Xia Yan first confirmed that Aizen wanted to kill him, and made many arrangements for this.

His first thought was what method Aizen would use to kill him.

Kill him outright? That's highly unlikely. Aizen is currently in hiding, so the probability of him making a direct attack is the lowest.

Framing? That's highly likely. They could use control of the Central 46 to achieve the same result as Kisuke Urahara, Tessai Katsuhiko, and Rukia Kuchiki.

Therefore, Xia Yan wrote a letter about these two outcomes and gave it to Unohana Retsu.

But are these the only two possibilities? The most likely possibility should be etherealization.

Seventy-one years ago (one hundred and one years ago in the original work), Aizen conducted an experiment in which he put four captains, three vice-captains, and one vice-Kido Master into a Hollowfication state.

Without Yoruichi's final act of healing, all eight of them would have died.

Hollowfication, allowing the Seireitei to deal with it, was Aizen's most frequently used tactic to strike his opponents.

Therefore, Xia Yan's first consideration was the issue of blurring.

So how do we solve the Hollowfication problem? Only Kisuke Urahara can suppress the suicide of the soul, but entering the inner space to defeat the Hollow self is something that both Kisuke Urahara and the Visoreds can do.

But in any case, I need to go to the real world and reach Karakura Town.

How do I travel to the present world?

Trans-boundary gate.

But how to build a portal? Xia Yan didn't get the answer while in the hospital. He planned to investigate after returning home, but on his way to the restaurant after being discharged, he saw students from the Shinigami Academy using a portal to travel to the real world for internships and then return. So Xia Yan asked Soi Fon about it. (Chapter 74)

Soi Fon told herself that there were central portals and smaller portals.

Covert mobile units sometimes need to track, investigate, and assassinate Grim Reapers traveling to the mortal world, so they can apply for small interdimensional portals, but they need to apply for a target.

Soi Fon later asked him why he asked those questions, and he said he was taking Soi Fon on a trip to the Maldives in the real world. Soi Fon even said that there was nothing interesting to see in the real world.

At that time, Xia Yan's real purpose was to build a portal to another world.

According to Soi Fon's description, one needs to have a target to apply to.

So, who should one apply to in order to reach the Transcendent Gate and travel to Karakura Town in the present world?

Therefore, we must find a Shinigami who resides in the human world and has been living in Karakura Town.

However, most of the stationed missions are controlled by the Purification Squad of the 13th Division. They cannot obtain internal information about the Purification Squad, and each investigation area is too vast, making it difficult to find results.

Zennosuke Kurumaya?

He came to the human world to serve after Rukia, and there is still no trace of him.

However, two years later, at his birthday party, Natsuhiko learned that the Women's Shinigami Association had organized a birthday party, but suddenly realized that one person was missing: Kotetsu Kiyone. Soi Fon told him that Kotetsu Kiyone had gone to the human world (Chapter 78).

At this moment, Xia Yan realized that in the original work, Rukia Kuchiki had been to the human world twice. The first time was more than forty years before the original work, and the second time was before the beginning of the original work.

Rukia first went to support Kotetsu Kiyone, but was then placed in the Hogyoku by Urahara Kisuke, and her memories were erased. Urahara Kisuke lives in Karakura Town, which means that Kotetsu Kiyone, whom Rukia supported, was in Karakura Town.

The second time was more than forty years later, before the original story began. Rukia replaced Kotetsu Kiyone again and came to Karakura Town, where she met Kurosaki Ichigo.

Although Aizen was in control this time, Kotetsu Kiyone is still in Karakura Town.

In other words, Kotetsu Sei-on was on duty there for a period of forty years.

Kotetsu Sei-on is the best target for application.

Therefore, Xia Yan applied for a portal to monitor Kotetsu Kiyone, but it was not built in the Second Division, but in Koibushi Mountain in the North Third District.

Why was it built there?

Since the Shiba family lived nearby, and Shiba Kaien and Natsuhiko also trained there, it was convenient for him to go there.

At the same time, transporting the materials for making the Transcendental Gate also requires a transaction with Shiba Kukaku. Under the guise of a fireworks bomb deal, they take advantage of the chaos to transport the Transcendental Gate materials out and assemble them at Koibushiyama.

So where is it assembled?

Xia Yan chose the interior of Mount Koifushi. He used the stone wave technique he learned from Shiba Ganju to create a cavity inside Mount Koifushi. After building the gate to the other world, he did not use it but sealed the cave.

However, once he becomes Hollowfied, his spiritual pressure suddenly disappears, which will attract Aizen's attention.

Therefore, Xia Yan filled the cave with gunpowder and placed a huge explosive device above Mount Koibu.

Because he followed Soukaku throughout his bomb research and helped her create the concussion bomb, Natsuhiko had a decent understanding of bomb technology. Furthermore, with the covert mobile unit's procurement as a covert operation, Natsuhiko was able to easily obtain bomb materials.

Therefore, after he became intangible, he used his last bit of consciousness to rush to Mount Koibuki, and at the same time activated the timer on the bomb, rushing into the interdimensional gate.

After entering the interdimensional gate, the bomb exploded, starting from the top of the mountain and continuing down to the bottom.

The explosion at the mountaintop, using a high-powered bomb to demonstrate its power, made Aizen mistakenly believe he was self-destructing, and combined with the disappearance of his spiritual pressure—this was not difficult to do.

The bombs below were used to destroy the cave.

After Xia Yan left the interdimensional portal and arrived in the real world, the explosion below began, destroying the cave.

Upon arriving in the mortal world, Xia Yan lost control of himself and let out a roar in the sky.

The powerful spiritual pressure would instantly attract the Visoreds and Kisuke Urahara stationed in Karakura Town, and be detected by the Shinigami stationed in the human world, but Natsuhiko lost his mind before they arrived.

Afterwards, Kisuke Urahara and the Visored arrived. Natsuhiko shouted "Save me!" to Kisuke Urahara and then lost his mind.

After Xia Yan was subdued and taken back, he was given a drug to suppress his soul's suicide.

To prevent Kisuke Urahara from giving up on him, Natsuhiko prepared a backpack containing letters. The letters described how he discovered Aizen and told him that once he was Hollowfied, it would inevitably be Aizen's doing.

Furthermore, he had Kisuke Urahara erase the memories of the Shinigami residing in the human world, something he had already done when Rukia arrived in the human world.

This is to avoid linking the powerful spiritual pressure with the time of his disappearance, which could lead to strange speculations and potentially expose his whereabouts.

Xia Yan, who committed suicide by injecting his soul, was taken away by the Masked Army. His soul entered his inner space and fought against his ethereal self.

This was Xia Yan's final arrangement; if even the slightest mistake occurred, Xia Yan would die.

Fortunately, the setup was successful. Xia Yan looked at his blurred self in front of him and a smile appeared on his lips.

. . .

At that moment, inside the underground barrier of the abandoned warehouse, Hiyori Sarugaki drew her Zanpakuto and said, "I'll go first."

The next moment, Xia Yan, who was fixed in place by the hundred-step railing, had his face mask reappear. The hundred-step railing shattered under Xia Yan's immense force. Then, he lunged at Sarugaki Hiyori, but she kicked him away and sent him flying to the ground. The two then began to fight.

"I hope he can master Hollowfication as soon as possible, otherwise I will kill him with my own hands once he is fully Hollowfied."

Shinji Hirako watched Natsuhiko's figure and said softly.

Chapter 91: Bai Xiayan

This is a vast space surrounded by skyscrapers and wide roads, and on the roof of the tallest building, two figures stand facing each other.

"Can I only control your power by defeating you?" Xia Yan asked softly, looking at the illusory form before him.

"Defeat me? How is that possible?"