Bleach: Starting with Marrying Retsu Unohana

Page 299

"Listen, I understand..."

Although Shiba Isshin couldn't see any spirits because he had lost all his Shinigami powers, he still clearly heard Araki's voice, because Araki's voice rang directly in his mind.

"Then let's leave things as they are for now."

Araki looked at the trembling Shiba Isshin in front of him and nodded gently.

"call……"

Upon hearing this, Yixin slowly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Wow! Congratulations! Congratulations indeed! Isshin~"

"Now you can live legally and compliantly in the real world."

Urahara held a small white fan in his hand, gently waving it as he spoke with a smile to Shiba Isshin beneath him.

"Stop talking nonsense, Kisuke Urahara..."

Shiba looked at Urahara, who was jumping around happily beside him, and said fiercely.

"Then the next question concerns you, Kisuke Urahara."

Araki then looked at Kisuke Urahara standing to the side.

"Forehead……"

The moment Kisuke Urahara felt Araki's gaze, his body froze on the spot, and the smile on his face vanished without a trace.

"Captain Urahara, why aren't you smiling anymore?"

Weren't you laughing happily just now?

Looking at the stiff Urahara beside him, Isshin suddenly smiled.

His smile won't disappear, it will just shift...

"quiet!"

Araki frowned slightly upon hearing Isshin's words, and gently tapped the ground with the scabbard of his Zanpakuto.

"boom!"

Araki seemed to have forgotten that this was the 'real world', so he didn't hold back. He simply tapped the ground lightly with his scabbard, and a small earthquake struck the entire Karakura Town of the Spirit Land, causing many people strolling in the streets to fall to the ground.

But that wasn't the end! The next second, a howling wind swept through the streets, and the dark clouds that had covered the sky tore apart in an instant. The earth trembled, the sky seemed to groan, and in a short moment, the weather in the entire Karakura Town changed drastically...

"Captain Araki, please calm down! Please calm down!"

"If you continue to get angry, the world will be destroyed!"

Although he couldn't see Araki's figure, Isshin felt the ground trembling beneath his feet and knew that Araki seemed to be angry. He immediately bowed his head repeatedly and knelt down to beg.

"Um……"

Upon hearing this, Araki withdrew his spiritual pressure.

"Captain Araki, what brings you here?"

At this moment, Kisuke Urahara, who had been silent all along, finally mustered up the courage to look in Araki's direction, bow slightly, and respectfully inquire.

“Urahara, you’ve probably been in the ‘real world’ for far too long, which has caused you to experience temporary amnesia, hasn’t it? It’s alright, I’ll help you remember…”

“Urahara, listen carefully. You’re not just some nobody anymore. You’re a fugitive from Soul Society. What do you think I, as the Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13, should do after encountering a Class A wanted criminal like you who has escaped from Soul Society?”

Araki asked Urahara in a cold voice.

"this and that……"

Upon hearing this, Kisuke Urahara was momentarily speechless.

"Captain Araki, please let me explain!"

"There was a reason why I fled Soul Society in the first place!"

"I never conducted any Hollowfication experiments with Shinji Hirako..."

"Captain Kensei Rokugawa and the others weren't killed by me! In fact, they're all fine and alive right now! If you don't believe me, I'll call them all over here, and you can hear their explanation!"

Urahara was a man who could bend and stretch; the moment Araki looked at him, he knelt down on both knees and shouted that he was innocent.

Yes, Urahara is shameless. If he weren't, he wouldn't have won the favor and trust of Yoruichi Shihōin, the eldest daughter of the Shihōin family.

"Run? So you think I was wrong?!"

"Was it me who, a hundred years ago, failed to distinguish right from wrong and wrongly accused you, Urahara Kisuke?"

Araki countered with a question to Urahara.

"That, that can't be it..."

"How could we possibly have wronged you?"

"No matter whose fault this is, I will never be your fault!"

"Besides, it wasn't you who sentenced us back then. It's all the fault of the wise men and judges of the 'Central 46' who, without distinguishing right from wrong, wronged innocent people..."

Upon hearing Araki's words, Urahara trembled even more, cold sweat pouring down his forehead.

"Let's put aside what happened back then, Kisuke Urahara! Let's talk about the present. It's been almost a century since you defected from Soul Society! You must have been investigating what happened back then during this century, right? So now I'm asking you, who exactly was the guy who was behind all that, manipulating you all back then?"

Araki continued to question Urahara.

"This is it~"

Upon hearing this, Urahara immediately looked troubled.

"Captain Araki, we still have some doubts and haven't figured things out yet. The identity of the person behind this is still under intense discussion! Please give us some more time. We will definitely find out the truth and clear our names..."

Urahara continued. In fact, over the past hundred years, Urahara had secretly returned to the Soul Society hundreds of times using the Shihouin family's interdimensional gate, but he still hadn't found any clues about the mastermind behind it all!

Therefore, Kisuke Urahara had to admit that this person who had secretly planned everything was a meticulous, highly logical, and extremely steady individual who would never reveal his identity until the very last moment, making him an incredibly terrifying person.

"In other words, you've spent nearly a hundred years in the mortal world, making so much effort! Yet you still don't know whether the person behind the so-called Hollowfication Incident, who framed you and Hirako a hundred years ago, was male or female, a member of the 'Gotei 13,' or a member of a high-ranking noble family or one of the five great families?"

Araki was speechless after hearing Urahara's words.

"This one……"

"...For now, yes."

Urahara nodded helplessly after hearing Araki's words.

"If things continue like this, even if you have another hundred years, you still won't figure it out!"

Araki looked at Urahara and said coldly.

Aizen Sousuke is about to make his move, and you, Urahara Kisuke, are telling me you haven't even investigated what happened a hundred years ago? Doesn't that make you utterly useless?!

"Kisuke Urahara, I was too trusting of Yoruichi Shihouin. I thought you were a smart person, but it turns out you're nothing special. I'm really disappointed..."

Araki sighed helplessly as he thought about this.

"what?!"

When Urahara heard Araki's words, his expression changed slightly. This was the first time Urahara Kisuke had ever heard someone criticize him for not being smart enough.

In that instant, Urahara felt the pride deep within him begin to shatter, and for some reason, he suddenly felt a chill run through his heart...

After Ryūgen Ishida, Kisuke Urahara also began to break down.

"Forget it, that's it!"

"Urahara Kisuke will punish you by continuing your exile in the 'human world,' and you'd better find all the people who wronged you back then! If you can't find them, then like Shiba Isshin, you should never return to the 'Soul Society,' because going back would only bring shame upon me!"

“The thought that you, Hirako Shinji, Aikawa Raobu, Ootori Rōjūrō, Mukkaru Kensei, Yagami Riza, Sarugaki Hiyori, Kunan Haku, Ushōda Hachigen, and Gatsuhiko Tessai—ten captains and vice-captains, nearly half the fighting force of the Gotei 13—and were outmaneuvered in such a way fills me with bitterness and rage! If the Gotei 13 were all cowards like you, when the Quincy or other enemies of the Shinigami invade Soul Society again, that would probably be the end for the Gotei 13!”

Araki angrily reprimanded Kisuke Urahara.

"Yes Yes Yes……"

"You're right! It was indeed our fault!"

"The responsibility for this lies entirely with us. We were indeed too weak. What you said is absolutely right! Please give us another chance..."

"We will absolutely not make the same mistake again this time..."

Kisuke Urahara was like a child who had made a mistake, apologizing to his parents, explaining his wrongdoing, and repeatedly promising not to do it again.

"Kisuke Urahara and Isshin Shiba, I advise you two to behave yourselves."

As Araki spoke, a light shone behind him—the radiance of the 'Transcendental Gate'.

As soon as Araki finished speaking, he disappeared from Urahara and Isshin's sight.

It was at the very moment Araki left the 'real world' that the dark clouds that had shrouded the sky completely disappeared, and the sun shone on the people on the ground after the storm.

"Phew, saved!"

After Araki left, Shiba Isshin and Urahara Kisuke immediately collapsed to the ground.

"Click~"

Just as Isshin and Urahara were showing expressions of relief, the door to Urahara's shop was opened again, and a black cat ran in.

"Urahara, where's Araki-sensei?!"

The black cat asked Urahara.

"Miss Yoruichi, you're too slow. Captain-Commander Araki has already left."

Urahara looked at the black cat in front of him and said with a smile.

"Cat! The cat actually talked!"

Isshin exclaimed in shock upon seeing the talking cat in front of him.

"Shiba Isshin? You're as rude as ever!"

"I'm Yoruichi Shihouin, you bastard!"