The Alchemist in Bleach

"call out!"

"boom!"

Yoruichi raised her hand to block Tsukiryu's downward kick, feeling the force it transmitted, a look of surprise flashed in her eyes, Tsukiryu, is she that strong?

The divine power has been eliminated!

While she was lost in thought, Yue Ling's elbow struck out unexpectedly. The strange angle of the attack caught Yoruichi off guard, and she was sent flying by Yue Ling's elbow hitting her waist!

Before she could stop, Yue Ling had already used Instant Step to move in front of Ye Yi again, her fair right fist only an inch away from the mask!

The key to this battle is not actually about winning or losing, because neither Ichiro's group nor Urahara's group could defeat their opponent without going all out and having the determination to kill them.

Admittedly, it will take Ichiro some time to recover his Kido powers. During this period, Ichiro's strength will definitely be greatly reduced because he cannot use Kido, and the same applies to the Moon Spirit whose powers have been rendered ineffective.

However, this does not mean that Urahara and his team have the upper hand.

Don't forget, these two are currently going against the Seireitei!

They absolutely cannot reveal their identities, which is why they both use invisibility—first, to conceal their faces, and second, to alter their spiritual pressure.

But that alone is definitely not enough. Also covered up are their signature skills, such as Yoruichi's Shunko and Urahara's ever-changing Shikai. Even their fighting habits have to be changed. Under these circumstances, the two sides, which have restrained each other, have formed a stalemate.

It's difficult for either side to defeat the other.

Without a doubt, this is not what Ichiro and his team wanted to see.

Regardless of what trouble Urahara's secret plans might cause him, the way Kuchiki Hibiki opened the Black Chamber was already a major concern for him, because the commotion, no matter how you looked at it, resembled Aizen's method...

Although Aizen had tried to conceal it when he tore open the Heavenly Net and opened the Black Chamber, it still couldn't fool Ichiro. The interactions between Ichiro and Aizen over the past few years hadn't been idle.

He was all too familiar with Aizen's habits when using Kido!

This made him even more attentive to the mission assigned by the captain. He initially thought it was just a momentary impulse from a reckless fool, but just when they were about to find the person, Urahara jumped out, and it seemed that he was behind this.

Immediately after Urahara's spiritual pressure rose, a powerful spiritual pressure suddenly erupted from Kuchiki Kyoga's hiding place. Although it was fleeting and the nature of the spiritual pressure was unclear, Ichiro was still able to discern Aizen's identity from the way he tore open the Heavenly Net and opened the Black Cavity.

The seemingly insignificant Kyouga Kuchiki has somehow managed to implicate both Aizen and Urahara, two freaks...

Ichiro now has reason to suspect that Kuchiki Kyoga's defection was definitely orchestrated by one of them!

It's even highly possible that they planned both!

The reason is simple: Aizen urgently needs someone who knows the Zero Division to obtain more detailed information. Since he can't enter the Great Spirit Book Corridor, he has no choice but to trade with the Zero Division.

Among the current members of the Zero Squad, the only breakthrough point is Kuchiki Hibiki.

Urahara doesn't have any intelligence that needs to be gathered through Kuchiki Hibiki, but the experiment has...

In the entire Soul Society, only the Zero Division members and Jushiro Ukitake have undergone Transcendental Modification. Ukitake's Transcendental Modification was carried out by Ichiro, and Urahara also knew about this modification method. In addition, considering the Captain-Commander's influence, he would not be able to harm Ukitake.

That leaves only the members of the Zero Division. And among the current Zero Division members, the easiest to target is still Kuchiki Hyouga...

The three monks from Kirinji Temple have been with the team for too long and are too powerful. Tsunayoshiro's identity is also too special to deal with, so that leaves only Kuchiki Kyouga...

So now, Ichiro is genuinely curious about Kuchiki Kyoga. He can't wait to see what Kuchiki Kyoga has done to him, what he's going to do, and then what he'll do to him.

Of course, all of this is based on the premise that we can get rid of Urahara and his team as soon as possible!

But that's easier said than done. They can't afford to kill each other. So, in this situation, there's only one way to break the deadlock—take down the mask!

Urahara and Yoruichi dare to openly block Ichiro in Rukongai because of the masks on their faces. These masks have almost completely changed the nature of their spiritual pressure, allowing them to release their spiritual pressure without any restraint and fight Ichiro.

Therefore, if Ichiro and the others want to shake off these two, the only way is to attack the masks on their faces and end their Hollowfication prematurely!

In this way, without their masks to conceal their spiritual pressure, they would naturally step back, since it is not yet time for them to leave Soul Society.

If Ichiro and the others could think of this, Yoruichi and the others could too.

Just as Yue Ling's fist was about to touch Yoruichi's mask, Yoruichi finally fully adapted to the spiritual pressure after becoming Hollowfied. Spiritual particles gathered under her feet to form a fulcrum, and with a light step, she instantly disappeared!

Undeterred by her missed punch, Yue Ling swiftly moved her lips and, using rapid chanting, uttered the incantation: "I say: Within a thousand miles of this place, no one may stand upon the spiritual particles in the air!"

An invisible wave rippled outwards, and Yoruichi, having nowhere to lean on, instantly retreated from her high-speed movement, revealing her figure. Ichiro and Urahara were also affected, and the two who were fighting fell directly from the sky.

After all, death doesn't fly; it just stands in the sky!

Then, before Yoruichi could break the spell, Urahara saw Ichiro, who was also falling, slightly curl the corners of his mouth, and a bad premonition rose in his heart...

really......

As he fell, Ichiro swiftly drew another Zanpakuto from his waist and whispered, "Come forth, Holy Lord of Nanli!"

"啾~~~"

A loud cry resounded through the sky, accompanied by blazing flames!

The flames burned away Urahara's tricks in the surrounding spirit particles, freeing him from the shackles of the Kido.

Of course, these were all incidental, not Ichiro's main goal. Don't forget, the flames of the mimicking Zanpakuto, Nanri Seizo, could condense into wings behind Ichiro...

And these wings are for flying!

Just like Toshiro's Bankai.

With a slight tremor of his magnificent fiery wings, Ichiro transformed into a blazing meteor and vanished before Urahara and the others!

"Po~"

"Tch, is it too late?" Yoruichi curled her lip as she looked in the direction Ichiro had left.

"It's not too late." Urahara, standing atop the air once more after Yoruichi broke the Moon Spirit's spell, looked at Ichiro's retreating figure and said, "There's still time. I've made arrangements over there..."

"Binding Spell Number Eighty-One: Transcendence - Sky Breaker!"

However, at that moment, Yue Lingsu waved her hand, and huge, towering gaps in the sky blocked them off from all sides.

"Tsk~ Failed." Seeing this, Urahara clicked his tongue, waved the Benihime in his hand helplessly, and then looked at the towering voids all around, his eyes showing amazement, "Goodness... such a huge void... did you research this or Ichiro did?"

“Of course it’s my father; I’m still learning.”

"What kind of idiotic question is that? Who else but Ichiro would research this kind of space-breaking technique?" Yoruichi, who had moved to Urahara's side, rolled her eyes at him. Ichiro had already left, so their plan to stop him had failed, well, it had failed halfway.

There's no need to continue fighting, but of course, Yue Ling should still keep them occupied for a while.

Hearing Yoruichi's words, Urahara tilted his head and thought for a moment, then realized it was true...

Because the only function of this "severing the air" technique is to trap the enemy, it is quite useless.

While its blocking capabilities are undeniably strong, given the superior defensive performance of the Duan Kong, it cannot be denied that it possesses exceptional blocking capabilities.

but!

It consumes a lot of energy!

Putting aside how much spiritual pressure such a large-scale descent would consume, even a normal-sized descent would require six times the spiritual pressure of a normal descent to form this move!

Because of the gap in a normal-sized opening, you have to seal off both the top and bottom surfaces as well. This alone maximizes its practicality to the extreme, essentially reducing it to zero...

A normal person wouldn't think to do this, because there's a kind of supernatural practice called a barrier...

This kind of extravagant use of spiritual pressure, which doesn't care about the consumption of spiritual pressure, is only something that a wealthy person like Ichiro, whose spiritual pressure is almost inexhaustible, can afford to use.

"I'm curious, Urahara. What is your purpose? To create a simulated Spirit King? Although I was created by my father, he shouldn't have kept the technology he used to create me a secret from you. Even if the direction of my abilities is different, making it impossible for you to replicate me, with your abilities, you should have mastered those technologies over the years and be able to create a new simulated Spirit King in a new way without any problem. So why didn't you do that?"

"Heh~ Trying to trick me into revealing anything?"

You can understand it that way.

"Tsk~ That's so blunt~ Alright, actually I don't really want to fight you either. I haven't practiced Hollowfication enough, so the energy consumption is too high, and it would be troublesome to fight. I'll just chat with you casually. Hmm, you should know about the path of a Shinigami, right?"

"Do you mean Zanpakuto? I know that. It's a tragic path. Although a Shinigami and his Zanpakuto are essentially one, even after becoming a Shinigami like with Shikai, he still has a connection to his father and hasn't been able to completely break free. But that's just an objective fact. Subjectively, almost all Shinigami don't consider their Zanpakuto to be just a tool or another side of themselves. So the power gained from fusing with a Zanpakuto is bound to be unfortunate."

"Yes~ Although from the perspective of Zanpakuto, merging with Shinigami is nothing more than returning to the original form, and they not only do not reject it, but are even somewhat happy about it, we Shinigami are not gods after all. We also have emotions and desires. How could we sacrifice our best friends for power?"

“So…” Yue Ling narrowed her eyes, a guess forming in her mind.

"Yes, I want to pave a new path for the Grim Reapers! A path without regrets! A path that allows one to both surpass oneself and preserve one's Zanpakuto!"

"That's bold... So, your target is Kuchiki Hibiki? Or rather, his transformative transformation?"

"You're half right. The one I've got my eye on is..."

"You...you're a madman!" Upon hearing Urahara's words, Yue Ling's pupils contracted, and a rare expression of surprise appeared on her face.

"A madman? Perhaps. After all, there's only a fine line between genius and madness... So, knowing my plan, will you stop me?" As he spoke, a large amount of evil spiritual pressure surged from behind Urahara, forming a huge black shadow that looked down at Yue Ling.

Yue Ling's expression returned to normal, and she indifferently looked at the dark figure behind Urahara. She knew this wasn't a threat, but merely a sign that Urahara's Hollowfication was about to be dispelled. After all, their Hollowfication had some questionable origins...

Shifting her gaze from the shadowy figure behind Urahara, Yue Ling looked into Urahara's dark golden eyes and said, "If Father stops me, I will stop him. The rest is none of my business."

"Ah..." Urahara's composure crumbled instantly, his mysterious expression turning helpless. He scratched the back of his head and said, "You need to have your own ideas. You can't just listen to Ichiro's every word. You need to grow up and make your own decisions."

Upon hearing this, Yue Ling didn't react, but Ye Yi looked at Urahara with a strange expression. Why was she teaching a child? Was she really hoping that He would stop them?

Although she was speechless, Yoruichi did not stop Urahara from courting death. On the contrary, she was actually quite curious to see how interesting Urahara's expression would be if Yue Ling was persuaded to come and stop them!

Unfortunately, unlike Yoruichi's expectations, Tsukirei did not intend to say anything about Urahara's plan.

“I know, I just have no interest in these things, but that doesn’t mean I won’t make my own choices or help my father.”

"Not interested? Well, what you're interested in... tsk, what a pity. Looks like we'll have to talk about it later. Masked One, let's go!"

"...Yes, Mask Two..."

Moon Spirit: "......."

He doesn't know either of them, absolutely not!

Watching Urahara and Yoruichi strike a pose and leave just as the Seireitei reinforcements were about to arrive, Yue Ling's lips twitched. Married life, is it really this exciting? These two...

Shaking her head, Yue Ling glanced at Captain Aikawa Rao, who had slowed down after seeing her. With a thought, her figure slowly dissipated, and at the same time, she used her powers to erase the traces of the battle around her, whether it was Ichiro's and hers, or Urahara's.

Captain Aikawa Luowu arrived only after Yue Ling had completely evacuated, and sighed as he looked at the empty scene.

"Sigh~ I'm too late again~"

------------

Chapter 240 The Rotting Wood Echoes Like a Doll

On the other side, after shaking off Urahara and the others, Ichiro flew to the 48th Rukongai with a long, fiery tail. He hovered in the air, glanced at the trembling spirits below, frowned, and reduced his spiritual pressure again.

This made the spirits below breathe a sigh of relief. In the Soul Society, the difference in strength is terrifying. The weak, let alone resist the strong, may not even be able to adapt to the aura of the strong. If the gap is too large, they may even die directly!

However, that wasn't the reason Ichiro frowned; he frowned because he was still late...