kvmb Chapter 627 The Problem of Bankai
Chapter 627 The Problem of Bankai
Hanakari Jinta, holding a baseball bat, was about to question Ikuko, who was ignoring them.
"Please go easy on me regarding this!"
The store door opened, and Kisuke Urahara, wearing a green and white striped hat, leaned against the doorway with a cane.
"Store manager!"
Kisuke Urahara smiled slightly: "He's someone I know."
Upon hearing this, the two put down the weapons they were holding.
Yuko looked around at her surroundings and said, "I feel like your lives aren't going very well since I left."
Kisuke Urahara smiled and shook his head: "There's no way around it. There's been more and more surveillance lately, and it's not easy to do things like robbing the rich to help the poor."
Yu Zi paused for a moment, then chuckled twice: "You're starting to develop a sense of humor, huh?"
Kisuke Urahara tossed aside a fan and waved it: "It's a pity we missed lunchtime. Would you like something to eat?"
Do you have instant noodles?
"There are all kinds of instant noodle shops."
"Then I'll have a free bowl of instant noodles."
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Yu Zi smiled and introduced herself to the two children who were looking up at her: "Hello, my name is Yu Zi, you can just call me Yu Zi."
The first to respond to Yuuko was the seemingly gentle and unassuming Tsumugi Amane: "Hello, my name is Tsumugi Amane, you can just call me Amane."
“…Shinta.” Hanagari Shinta turned his head slightly away.
Well, this pairing is probably a mischievous boy paired with a delicate girl.
"Come in and say what you have to say."
It was still drizzling outside when Kisuke Urahara carried Ikuko into the store.
"Oh, isn't this Princess?"
"Why the new look again?"
As soon as Yu Zi entered the store, a black cat with golden eyes on the shelf next to her emitted a mocking, middle-aged voice.
Yuko looked up at it, blinked, and then looked at Kisuke Urahara: "When did you start keeping pets?"
"It seems to have a bad temper..."
Before she could finish speaking, the black cat jumped onto her head and scratched wildly with its paws, making a mess of Yuko's hairstyle.
Yoru gave Yuko's head a hard kick and jumped back onto the shelf. Then, ignoring Yuko, he curled up his black tail, closed his eyes, and took a nap.
Yuko smoothed her hair, not angry at all: "Yoruichi, if you keep going like this, you might never be able to turn back."
Yoruichi didn't even open her eyes: "That would be best."
"Being a cat is so comfortable, you don't have to worry about anything all day long."
Yuko turned to Kisuke Urahara and said softly, "She probably only knows how to eat, drink, and have fun, right?"
"Is there anything I need to worry about?"
"I can hear you, you idiot!"
Yoruichi used her claw to send the goods below flying towards Ikuko.
……
After a while.
"...I feel embarrassed with so many of you watching me."
Yu Zi sat at the table, holding chopsticks in one hand and a cup of instant noodles in the other, looking up at the people sitting around the table with a somewhat speechless expression.
Yoruichi, lying next to Yuuko without looking up, said, "How can you say something like that with your thick skin?"
"I'm afraid your fur will drift into my bowl... Ouch!"
Before Yuko could finish speaking, Yoruichi's tail lashed out and struck Yuko's hand with a sharp crack.
Yu Zi flew into a rage: "Is this how you treat a princess?"
"Princess...Princess!" Jinta and Yu looked at Urahara Kisuke in surprise. "Manager, how did you get to know such an amazing person?"
No wonder she's so beautiful.
Yu Zi's lips curled up slightly: "Oh, you've got good eyesight."
Kisuke Urahara covered his face with the fan and smiled silently.
Yoruichi opened her eyes and glanced at her: "So, what's wrong with your hair?"
Yu Zi asked doubtfully, "It's just dyeing your hair, there's no need to make such a fuss, is there?"
"Besides, this is the hair color I had when I was still human."
Ikuko is currently wearing a fake body, so she can't use her demon abilities on the fake body.
"I see." Yoruichi couldn't help but take a second look; it turned out this was the first time she had ever seen Ikuko's hair color.
After exchanging a few casual words with everyone, Yuko brought up the important matter: "Speaking of which, did you all feel that strange spiritual pressure just now?"
Kisuke Urahara pulled down his hat brim: "You mean that Hollow's spiritual pressure?"
"I did sense something, but there was also a very strong spiritual pressure with him, at least at the captain level."
"Therefore, we didn't pay much attention to it."
Yuko's expression turned serious: "Guess whose spiritual pressure fluctuations I sensed at the scene."
She didn't keep you in suspense and revealed the answer directly.
"Aizen."
Upon hearing this, all three of them frowned.
"That virtual being couldn't possibly be..."
“Hmm, I think they’re conducting some kind of experiment.” Yuko took a sip of her tea. “That Hollow’s spiritual pressure is very strange; it’s mixed with the aura of a Shinigami.”
"Unfortunately, Aizen had already left when I arrived."
"Judging from the fluctuations in his senses, it seems that he used the spiritual pressure-concealing cloak you left behind."
"...Your way of perceiving things is really unique," Kisuke Urahara couldn't help but remark.
Even though you've already concealed your spiritual pressure, which organ of yours is different from ours?
Tetsuzai wasn't focused on that; he went straight to the point and asked, "What about that Hollow? Was it taken care of by that Shinigami?"
"Well, that's roughly the idea." Yuko paused for a moment, then added, "They were defeated by a Shinigami wearing the 10th Division Captain's haori and a female Quincy who was a high school student."
"A Shinigami and a Quincy joining forces..." Kisuke Urahara covered his face with a fan leaf, "That sounds like a really strange combination."
"The key point is that the Shinigami was attacked by that Hollow and had wounds on his body, but when I treated him, I did not find any possibility of Hollowfication in his body."
"I suspect that Hollow has transferred to that young Quincy, but when I tried to check, his partner stopped me."
"I don't know if something bad will happen."
Shen Tai and Xiao Yu listened with a mixture of confusion and awe.
Kisuke Urahara frowned: "This is troublesome. Being able to lock onto a target and transfer it means that Aizen's research has made progress again."
"That's probably a very dangerous Hollow."
“Hmm…” Yuko paused for a moment, “A captain who can suppress the Shikai state must have some strength.”
Shiba Isshin's spiritual pressure was not weak; Yuuko's words at the time were merely intended to lower his guard. In fact, Yuuko could tell how powerful someone was just by looking at them.
The level of spiritual pressure cannot be faked.
A person with a low spiritual pressure level is not necessarily weak, but a person with a high spiritual pressure level is definitely strong.
"Keep an eye on it from now on."
……
Soul Society, Seireitei, First Division.
"That concludes the report." Shiba Ichishin reported to Captain-Commander Yamamoto about the investigation in the human world.
“Although launching an attack without authorization is against the rules, it was because of your decisive action that the casualties among the team members were minimized, and the damage to the world was also very minor,” the Captain said magnanimously. “This time, we will not interfere.”
"That's great! Oh, no, thank you, Captain!"
"Furthermore, the report only mentions the virtual anomalies; I hope you haven't missed anything."
“…Yes, that’s all.” Shiba Ichishin replied, recalling the orange-haired Quincy girl.
That girl... both saving him, a Shinigami, and revealing her Quincy identity required immense courage. She's truly remarkable...
In addition, the mysterious woman's words made him a little concerned.
What does "it's all over" mean...?
Does that mean the girl is in danger?
"Alright! It's decided! Let's go to the real world again!"
……
"Captain, Captain! We just received a last-minute mission and have to go to the meatball shop, so could you please handle the team affairs for us?"
Matsumoto Rangiku happily took a stack of task lists to the captain's office, intending to ask for leave to go out and slack off, but found only a note on the desk.
[To Rangiku: I'm going to the human world for a bit. Could you please help me come up with an excuse to get rid of the Captain-Commander?]
"Wh-what?!"
……
"So? Have you found a way to unlock Bankai?" Yoruichi asked Yuuko, who was sitting next to her, as she rested with her eyes closed in the corridor of Urahara Store's backyard.
"No."
"Hmph, I'll just..."
"But I think it will be soon."
"Hmm? Why do you think so?"
"Whether it's Bankai or Shikai, they're both continuations of the Shinigami's inner self, right?"
"Well, in a way, that's true..."
“My relationship with the butterfly is not like that of other Shinigami and their Zanpakuto, so I don’t think it’s because I haven’t mastered Bankai.”
"Hmm?" Yoruichi opened her eyes.
"It's because I don't know myself well enough."
Yoruichi, her eyes lowered and her face expressionless, stood up from the corridor, wagged her tail, and jumped onto Yuuko's lap: "What do you mean by that?"
She thinks you have an incredibly clear understanding of yourself, so what could possibly be lacking?
Does it mean you're unaware of how bad your personality is?
Yuko gently stroked Yoruichi's head. Yoruichi instinctively wanted to raise his paw to punch the girl, but considering the topic at hand, he stopped himself.
Yuko was silent for a moment, gazing at the sky in the backyard, then suddenly changed the subject: "I don't actually resent being schemed against by Aizen."
Yoruichi paused for a moment, instinctively wanting to ask a question, but then suddenly realized what Ikuko meant.
Insufficient self-awareness...
Yuko... seems to have no fear of death, and even seems willing to accept it...
As an outsider, she never had much attachment to this world, and even when facing the Captain-Commander who could kill her, she remained calm and composed.
Yoruichi seemed to understand what Ikuko meant.
Even if a Zanpakuto cooperates with someone who is confused at heart, it is still not an easy task to successfully reach the final form of the Zanpakuto.
Yoruichi wanted to say something comforting, but then realized, "So what you meant when you said it was almost over was... that you've found self-awareness?"
Yuko shook her head: "No."
"...Then why..." Yoruichi asked weakly.
Yu Zi said confidently, "The most important and crucial step in solving a problem is to identify it. I have already identified the problem, and solving it is only a matter of time."
Yoruichi couldn't help but want to complain.
What utter nonsense! She thought you'd actually found a way to overcome it.
The most crucial step in solving a problem is identifying it. So, if you identify a problem, you can successfully solve it, right?
Yoruichi silently jumped off Yuuko, intending to stay away from this idiot to avoid being infected with her intellectual disability.
After taking a few steps with her cat-like gait, Yoruichi turned back and asked, "How long do you plan to stay this time?"
Yuko said calmly, "I originally planned to stay for a few days and then leave, but after this incident, I feel that Aizen is about to start taking action again, so I'll stay for the time being."
"You...didn't you say you didn't resent Aizen?"
"Well, but I'm a little concerned about you guys." Yuko gazed at the sky casually.
Yoruichi felt a warmth in her heart; this idiot actually knew how to talk.
"After all, you and Kisuke are so weak. Kisuke is alright, at least he has brains..."
"Are you saying I'm brainless?" Yoruichi appeared in front of Yuuko, standing on Yuuko's shoulder with a gloomy expression. One of her claws pressed against Yuuko's face, its sharp nails sticking out, as if she was just waiting for Yuuko to say something wrong so she could scratch a few claw marks on her fair face.
"Okay, actually I'm more worried about you guys." Yuko raised her hands in surrender. "Aizen's strength is not to be underestimated, and I'm a little uneasy."
Although there are still suspicions that she is weak, however...
It's because she really can't beat this idiot right now.
Yoruichi retracted her claws and rolled her eyes at her: "Heh, at least you still have some conscience."
Yuko suddenly brought it up: "Speaking of which, those two children are..."
Ye nodded: "Yes, it's about modifying the soul."
Yuko looked regretful: "Is that so? I was thinking of reporting him for using child labor."
"If only we could lock that guy up for a few days."
Ye Yi's eyelid twitched: "Are you a drama queen?"
Yuko smiled slightly, as if she had suddenly remembered something: "By the way, Yoruichi, what do you think about me opening a clinic?"
"……what?"
After a moment's pause, Yoruichi let out a surprised and doubtful sound.
Yuko explained, "Since we've decided to stay for a while, and surveillance is so widespread now, we can't just go and rob people again, can we?"
Yoruichi retorted, "You just seemed to have revealed some incredible truth."
Yuko didn't dwell on her words and continued, "I don't think the store is short-staffed. Always freeloading makes me uncomfortable. Having a job would be the best thing for me."
Yoruichi squinted and said, "How dare you say such a thing after eating and drinking for free in my house for so many years?"
Yu Zi retorted, "How can this be considered eating and drinking for free? It's clearly me working for you, okay? I cook for you every day, and this is how you treat me?"
"Yes, yes, but can you even cure illnesses?" Yoruichi nodded speechlessly. "You're not thinking of using your special ability to cure illnesses, are you?"
Yuko turned her head in confusion: "Didn't I tell you?"
"I actually worked as a doctor."
"……No!"