They traveled through time at the same time, but the villainous scientist

Chapter 451 Backhand
Meanwhile, inside the underground research facility of the former Twelfth Division, the Technology Development Bureau.

Kisuke Urahara suddenly raised his head and looked up at the ceiling.

That spiritual pressure, that fluctuation, was something he was all too familiar with.

Broken jade.

It has completely merged with Aizen, and... it has begun to awaken.

In that case, we need to hurry...

Kisuke Urahara's expression turned extremely solemn. His wooden clogs made a soft sound on the smooth metal floor, and he transformed into a blur, rushing towards the deepest part of the research institute.

There is a secret chamber there, heavily protected by dozens of spiritual pressure seals and physical isolation doors. It was the last insurance he left behind when he first created the Hogyoku.

As the developer of the Hogyoku, he knew better than anyone how terrifying it was.

Naturally, he also had a backup plan.

Something capable of sealing the power of the Hogyoku, or even forcibly stripping it from its host...

The final palm print authentication door opened with a click, but the scene inside the secret room brought Kisuke Urahara to an abrupt halt.

The sealing device, which had been placed in the center of the multiple barriers and emitted a faint glow, was gone.

Instead, there was an empty base.

"Is this what you're looking for?"

A mocking voice rang out in the silent, secret room.

Kisuke Urahara turned around abruptly, his pupils contracting to their maximum size in that instant.

In the shadows not far behind him stood a figure dressed in a simple kimono.

The person didn't have their face covered in thick black and white paint as usual, but instead revealed their true face. However, those golden eyes were one that Kisuke Urahara would never mistake.

Mayuri Kurotsuchi, former captain of the 12th Division.

In his hands, he was playing with a complex cubic device made of various unknown metals.

That was the final trump card that Kisuke Urahara had prepared to counter the Hogyoku.

"Mayuri Kurotsuchi..."

Kisuke Urahara's voice was suppressed, each word seeming to be squeezed out from between his teeth.

"What exactly do you want to do? By letting Aizen do as he pleases, are you trying to make him destroy the Three Realms with his own hands?"

"Ha~"

Mayuri Kurotsuchi let out a soft, ambiguous chuckle. He scrutinized Kisuke Urahara's face, which was etched with shock and anger, and asked in return:
"Kisuke Urahara, even now, haven't you realized... the truth about the so-called 'Three Realms'?"

"..."

Upon hearing this, Kisuke Urahara's raging anger seemed to be doused with ice water, and he fell into an unusual silence.

The light in those eyes flickered intensely, as if some deepest taboo had been touched.

"Ah……"

Seeing this, Mayuri's laughter became even more grating.
"You, who are so close to the Shihouin family, one of the four great noble families, must have had countless opportunities to glimpse the scenery behind that door."

You should know these things better than 99% of the Shinigami in Seireitei.

He took a step forward, his golden eyes appearing like two burning flames in the dim light.

"Tell me, Kisuke Urahara."

That 'Spirit King,' suspended high in the sky and worshipped by all… does his will truly exist?

"enough!"

Kisuke Urahara suddenly roared, interrupting this topic that could potentially shake the very foundations of the Soul Society.
"Now is not the time to talk about these things!"

He couldn't let Mayuri Kurotsuchi continue.

He could not allow that conjecture, that "truth" that was enough to shatter all order, to be revealed at such a moment.

Before he finished speaking, the Red Princess in his hand was already drawn!
"Cry, Hongji!"

Without the slightest hesitation, a blood-red slash, condensed to its extreme, pierced through the air, tearing apart the frigid atmosphere within the research institute, and aimed directly at Mayuri Kurotsuchi's neck.

However, Mayuri Kurotsuchi did not even move in the face of this swift attack.

But the next moment, he simply raised his free left hand and waved it lightly forward.

An incredible scene unfolded: a blood-red glow, identical in color, shape, and even the spiritual energy fluctuations contained within Urahara Kisuke's slash, materialized out of thin air in his palm and met the true "Blood Glow Shield."

Two identical attacks collided in mid-air, eroding and canceling each other out like mirror images, eventually turning into countless tiny red specks of light and dissipating into nothingness.

what? !

Kisuke Urahara could no longer hide his astonishment, and he cried out in disbelief.

That's not imitation, nor is it analytical reproduction.

Mayuri Kurotsuchi didn't even use his Zanpakuto; he simply... created his own techniques out of thin air! "The power of a Shinigami, the power of a Hollow, even the power of a Quincy..."

Ultimately, all abilities are simply based on different forms of control and application of the fundamental particle 'spirit particle'.

Once you understand the underlying code that constitutes it, all techniques and abilities are nothing more than programs that can be copied and written at will.

Mayuri Kurotsuchi spoke, slowly opening his palm.

The spiritual particles in the surrounding air began to gather towards his palm in a visible manner; they vibrated, swirled, compressed, and reorganized...

Finally, amidst a subtle yet crisp humming sound, a complete Zanpakuto, radiating a cold light, was formed from nothing.

The tsuba, the handle, and even every single line on the blade of that sword were exactly the same as the Benihime in Urahara Kisuke's sword.

"You... have you researched it to this extent?"

Kisuke Urahara's pupils trembled violently, and his voice became hoarse with extreme shock.

This ability cannot be explained by science or supernatural forces alone.

This has undoubtedly begun to touch upon the essence of this world.

"You also had the opportunity to enter this field, Kisuke Urahara."

“Through my research on the Hogyoku, I traced your thought process in reverse, and I confirmed this.”

That was a hundred years ago, before you were exiled, you had already begun to study the nature of this spiritual world; you had already stood before the gates of truth…

Mayuri Kurotsuchi looked at the replica in her hand and said with some emotion,

"But you hesitated, you stopped."

"Because you realize that your discovery will completely overturn the existing order and crush all the beliefs and rules that Soul Society has established over the past thousand years."

Therefore, you felt fear, and you chose to hesitate before the door of truth, even sealing it away with your own hands.

Mayuri Kurotsuchi looked at Kisuke Urahara.

Kisuke Urahara remained silent, his hand holding Benihime trembling slightly.

He couldn't refute it, because every word Mayuri Kurotsuchi said pierced his deepest, most hidden secrets.

After a long while, he raised his head, and his eyes no longer held anger, but only a deep weariness.

"Is all you want 'truth'...?"

"Yes."

Mayuri Kurotsuchi snapped his fingers and answered.

After he finished speaking, he suddenly raised his head, his gaze seemingly piercing through the thick layers of earth and buildings, looking up at the sky.

"...It's about time."

As soon as he finished speaking, the entire underground research institute, no, the entire Seireitei, began to shake violently!
……

On the battlefield.

Aizen Sousuke stood quietly in the center of the ruins. Before him, Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni's charred body finally gave way and slowly collapsed.

At that very moment, the Hogyoku in Aizen's chest, which was perfectly fused with his flesh and blood, began to emit an unprecedentedly brilliant light.

That was not just light, but the awakening of a will.

The deep blue gemstone began to pulsate as if it were alive, and with each pulsation, it stirred the spiritual particles in the surrounding space, forming a huge, invisible vortex.

Whether it was the spiritual pressure dissipating during the battle between Shinigami and Arrancar, the blood and despair permeating the air, or even the souls that had just passed away, it greedily and frantically absorbed and devoured them all.

A vast, ancient, and overwhelming will, beyond the comprehension of any individual, began to emanate from the Hogyoku, like a god who had slept for millennia slowly opening its eyes.

This will has no specific emotions, no joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness, only an absolute and unquestionable sense of existence, as if echoing something.

Immediately afterwards, the endless torrent of spiritual particles absorbed and gathered by the [Hōgyoku] transformed into an unimaginably thick pure white pillar of light, which shot into the sky from Aizen's chest!

The beam of light tore through the sky, tore through space, and tore through the "skin" of the world.

The sky above Seireitei was no longer the familiar firmament, but rather like a shattered mirror, revealing the profound and chilling "truth" behind it.

On the other side of that torn spatial rift lies an upside-down world.

There was no land, only an endless sea of ​​clouds radiating a soft glow.

Above that sea of ​​clouds, magnificent palaces, more imaginable than any other, stand silently like floating islands.

With white jade steps and flowing light as tiles, the building's style is simple yet sacred, as if it could not have been created by ordinary people.

A series of enormous, circular gates connect the various floating islands, and the entire palace complex presents a marvelous and harmonious symmetrical structure, exuding an aura of eternity, tranquility, and supreme power.

That is the legendary core of the Three Realms, the abode of the Spirit King—

Spirit King Palace...

(End of this chapter)