Crossover Anime: Starting with Bankai from Demon Slayer

Chapter 289 The Plan to Return to Soul Society

"Kyatai Stark..." Asuka murmured the name to herself.

"We'll meet again."

The two stepped into the dark cavity, their figures disappearing into the darkness.

The crack slowly closed, and the cave returned to its former tranquility.

"They're gone..." Lilynette looked at the empty cave entrance, fiddling with the cards in her hand with a hint of disappointment.

"You should have kept them a little longer; it's rare to have someone to play with."

"Hmm," Stark replied softly, his eyes closed.

"Stark".

"what?"

"That guy named Asuka... his knife has a strange smell."

"Yes, I know, so although it's a pity... we can't keep him here too long, or there will be trouble."

'

Stark rolled over, and his eyes, which had been closed, opened again.

"That's... the scent of a powerful kin."

In the present world, Fuyuki City.

The once peaceful sky above the mountain town suddenly began to churn.

Then, a dark and irregular crack tore open in the air, like a giant maw that devoured everything.

Bang!Bang!

Two figures leaped out of the crack and landed lightly on the rooftop of a tall building.

"...That old man really does what he says. Are all Vastodes like him?" Shiba Kaien muttered, brushing the remaining white sand off his clothes.

Asuka sheathed her Zanpakuto, walked to the edge of the rooftop, and looked down at the city below.

Neon lights flashed, and cars and people thronged the streets.

In the distance, the Fuyuki Bridge spans the Mien River, its red steel frame perfectly connected to the two banks.

There were no ruins left to be rebuilt because of the Holy Grail War, nor that unsettling feeling of magical depletion.

"It seems that this is indeed our own Fuyuki City."

The bird muttered to itself and withdrew its gaze.

"Hey, Asuka! Look over there!"

Before Fei Niao could think it through, Hai Yan suddenly pointed to a huge electronic GG sign on the distant commercial street and shouted, "Is that date broken?"

The bird followed the petrel's finger and looked in that direction.

It was an LED screen that played a loop of cosmetics advertisements, and the current time and date were clearly displayed in the lower right corner of the screen.

[August 2, 20XX]

Even the petrel, who is slow to grasp the passage of time in the present world, realized the problem, let alone the bird, who had once worked for a shady merchant in the present world.

That year...

He gripped the knife hilt tightly, unable to believe his eyes.

The day they stormed into the city and fought those mutated Void beings, the day they were swept into the spacetime rift...

Eighteen years have passed.

"Eighteen years... Eighteen years have actually passed." Asuka's voice was somewhat hoarse.

Haiyan's smile froze: "Huh? How is that possible?"

He scratched his head, trying to mask his inner panic with a relaxed tone: "It must be that sign that's broken, or maybe humans in the real world are up to some kind of abstract activity again?"

"We're in Hueco Mundo...it feels like less than a day has passed!"

"...It's not a problem with Hueco Mundo." Asuka analyzed as calmly as possible, though he was equally shocked inside.

"I've experienced something similar before... We crossed between two different dimensions, where the flow of time is completely different."

"Zui Yan once told me that he accidentally stumbled into the real world and spent decades there, but less than half a day had passed over there."

"It seems that even the Gem Elder cannot pinpoint the exact timeline of our existence; a deviation of only eighteen years is already considered a controlled error..."

""

He looked at the time on the electronic screen and realized that after he and Shinobu Kocho separated, she had spent so much time alone in Soul Society...

"I broke my promise again..." he suddenly realized.

Haiyan's playful demeanor vanished: "Eighteen years..."

He murmured to himself, "That brat Ganju should be a grown man by now, right? That girl Kukaku... she's probably still angry with me."

"And Captain Ukitake... his health has always been... how has everyone been these past eighteen years...?"

'

He exhaled, slapped his cheeks hard, and forced himself to cheer up.

"Regardless, the most urgent thing now is to get back to Soul Society! So much time has passed, everyone must be incredibly worried!"

He turned to look at Asuka, his eyes regaining their sparkle: "Asuka, we need to contact the Grim Reapers stationed in Fuyuki City immediately."

""

"Once we find them, we can use the Hell Butterfly to send a message to Soul Society, asking them to open the portal, and then we can go back."

Haiyan's suggestion is reasonable and is the most formal and quickest way to return.

As the captain of the 10th Division, as long as he reveals his identity, the Soul Society will open its doors for him, even after eighteen years.

However, the bird did not move.

His brows were furrowed, and his eyes were full of worry.

"What's wrong, Flying Bird?" Seagull asked疑惑地, "Don't you want to see Miss Butterfly soon?"

"I think."

Asuka slowly spoke, "But I want to know, if we contact Soul Society through official channels, where will our location and information be sent first?"

Haiyan thought for a moment: "The Technology Development Bureau...or the one in charge of the rescue mission..."

He stopped talking, suddenly realizing something was wrong.

"...Fifth Division." He spat out those three words through clenched teeth.

After spending time with Asuka, he had basically confirmed that Aizen, the captain of the Fifth Division, was indeed a very dangerous guy.

Even his own encounter with that parasitic Hollow, and the Hollow White that Isshin's uncle met... might have originated from his actions.

"The moment our whereabouts are exposed, what awaits us..." Asuka added coldly, "is likely to be our immediate arrest to silence us."

"He wouldn't dare! I'm the captain of the 10th Division, after all..."

"7

But Haiyan herself didn't have much confidence in saying these words, and touched her neck.

Feibiao spoke up for Haiyan: "I finally got back, I can't let myself die so easily because of this negligence."

"Eighteen years have passed, and we have no idea what the Soul Society is like now."

"I don't dare to gamble, and I don't want to gamble."

Haiyan remained silent for a long time before finally letting out a long sigh and scratching her hair in frustration.

"Ugh! This is so annoying! I hate all sorts of schemes and plots!"

He looked at the bird: "Then what do we do? Besides going to find Death, how else can we get back?"

Asuka's gaze turned north, towards Karakura Town.

"There's another way."

"Go find that swindler who cheated me out of everything."

"Urahara Kisuke?" Kaien's eyes lit up.

He asked Asuka about Urahara.

In his mind, wasn't that guy the biggest villain in the Hollowfication incident? How could he be related to Asuka and Isshin? Asuka couldn't explain it either.

However, judging from his description, Kisuke doesn't seem as heinous as the 46th Chambers portrays him to be...

"Yeah! If it's that guy, he'll definitely have a way to sneak us back!"

"That's right." Asuka nodded. "Besides, he also owes me a huge favor."

That night, he used the true understanding of the white shadow to sever the causal chains of Fuyuki City and saved so many Grim Reapers.

I should at least give myself a free ride.

"Okay! It's settled then!"

Haiyan slapped her thigh, regaining her energy: "Target Karakura Town! Let him take us home!"

The two did not linger in Fuyuki City.

To avoid attracting the attention of the Grim Reaper, they sped off towards Karakura Town like two ghosts flitting through the night.