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Seireitei, Everything Store Branch.
"...That's roughly the content of the request."
After Kikkawa finished speaking, he looked at Ishikawa, who was deep in thought, and continued, "If it's too difficult, I'll help you decline it."
His words were not just polite rhetoric or a tactic of feigned retreat; he genuinely did not want Ishikawa to go to Hueco Mundo.
Unlike the Human World, Hueco Mundo was filled with too many uncertainties; one wrong step could lead to being trapped there forever, and if any danger arose, the Soul Society would find it almost impossible to send reinforcements.
Of course, he wasn't worried about Ishikawa's safety.
Instead, he was concerned about his son in the Human World encountering danger during Ishikawa's time in Hueco Mundo.
Half a year of cooperation had made him realize that what Vice-Captain Ōmaeda had told him earlier was not a lie. This young man, who was not a Shinigami, was indeed extremely powerful and held the Glory title of Captain of the Supervisory Team, which oversaw all dispatched Shinigami.
With him around, his son's safety was completely guaranteed.
Moreover…
Ishikawa was truly useful!
Although the number of collaborations was limited, Ishikawa was able to effortlessly complete even the most difficult and dangerous requests; he even resolved many accumulated requests that had been pending with the Onmitsukidō for years, earning high praise from the usually discerning Seireitei nobles for this Everything Store owner.
Ishikawa did not speak, merely looking at the intelligence compiled by Hoki Aoi in his hand. After a long moment, he asked, "So, two members of the intermediate noble Fujiwara family were playing in Kagamino in the Human World when they stumbled upon a battle between the dispatched Shinigami of Kagamino and a Hollow. They stayed to watch, and when the Hollow fled, they were accidentally dragged into the Black Portal?"
"Precisely."
Kikkawa nodded, sighing lightly, "According to the dispatched Shinigami in Kagamino, the Fujiwara siblings did not leave despite his repeated warnings, which ultimately led to the incident. I have confirmed this with the Technology Development Bureau."
"At the time of the incident, the opening of a Black Portal was indeed detected, and the dispatched Shinigami in Kagamino was notified; when that Hollow fled, the fluctuations from its opening of the Black Portal were also detected by the Technology Development Bureau. Through technical means, the approximate range of the exit has been determined."
"If you accept, I will have the Technology Development Bureau synchronize the approximate range to your Denreishinki."
Ishikawa nodded, a strange glint in his eyes.
This incident report, compiled by Hoki Aoi, was extremely detailed. Due to her continuous role in receiving nobles, Hoki Aoi was very familiar with members of the major noble families. Besides the information provided by the Fujiwara family, it also included Hoki Aoi's own assessment of the two individuals.
The two Fujiwara siblings were the older brother, Fujiwara Hisashi, and the younger sister, Fujiwara Ririka.
Both had received family permission before traveling to the Human World, the reason being Fujiwara Hisashi wanted to celebrate his sister's birthday there; the original plan was to go and return on the same day, so they did not bring any escorts. However, no one expected that the two would encounter an accident just a few hours after arriving in the Human World.
The sequence of events had no issues.
After cooperating with the Golden Seal Association, Ishikawa was well aware of how idle these 'noble members' truly were. Spending a great deal of money to travel to the Human World for a birthday celebration was actually quite common among nobles; Ishikawa had once received a request, also to search for someone in the Human World, and the reason that noble member secretly went to the Human World was merely… to taste ice cream there.
But Ishikawa did not scrutinize these details provided by the Fujiwara family. What he had been looking at was…
Hoki Aoi's assessment of the two.
According to Hoki Aoi, she had known and was very familiar with the Fujiwara Hisashi and Fujiwara Ririka siblings since they were young; although both possessed decent Reishi talent, both the brother and sister were timid by nature, which is why they did not choose to become Shinigami.
If Hoki Aoi's description of the two was true, would two timid individuals really go to watch a battle between a dispatched Shinigami and a Hollow out of curiosity?
Hoki Aoi clearly felt puzzled by this, otherwise, she wouldn't have meticulously recorded their personalities in the incident report and highlighted them, as if fearing Ishikawa might overlook them.
Ishikawa pondered for a moment, then asked, "President Kikkawa, did the Fujiwara family suggest you come to me?"
"Not exactly."
Kikkawa shook his head: "The Fujiwara family hoped we could dispatch Onmitsukidō to Hueco Mundo for a search through the Central 46' secret command channel; however, before the message even reached the Onmitsukidō, it was rejected by the Central 46, who stated that the Onmitsukidō had more important matters to attend to and couldn't afford to lose sight of the bigger picture."
"Finally, after discussion among the council members, it was decided to let you try."
Ishikawa chuckled upon hearing this. So I'm the second choice, huh?
However, he didn't pay too much attention to it.
Because, apart from the noble families who had previously entrusted Ishikawa, who would consider him as their first choice, other nobles would generally only entrust Ishikawa when they had no other options, approaching him with the idea of just letting him give it a try.
From the nobles' perspective, compared to Ishikawa alone, the chances of finding them would obviously be greater if the Onmitsukidō dispatched Squad Members to Hueco Mundo.
"Did the two not carry any Reishi positioning tools like a Denreishinki?" Ishikawa asked again.
"They did."
Kikkawa shook his head: "But the signal disappeared after they entered the Black Portal. If their Denreishinki is intact after entering Hueco Mundo, their Denreishinki's location will also be synchronized with yours."
Disappeared?
Ishikawa nodded, didn't ask any more questions, and instead reviewed the incident report and the information provided by Hoki Aoi from beginning to end.
Aside from the point about the two choosing to observe the dispatched Shinigami battling the Hollow, there was nothing strange.
And that point was merely Hoki Aoi's own speculation, something even she herself couldn't fully confirm.
Ishikawa, who had never even met the Fujiwara siblings, certainly couldn't use Hoki Aoi's assessment as a basis to infer their psychology.
As for whether someone might be trying to lure him to Hueco Mundo using these siblings, Ishikawa had considered it, but the possibility was minuscule.
Because the Fujiwara family initially wanted to ask the Onmitsukidō for rescue, not him.
And the Central 46 refusing the Golden Seal Association's request on the grounds that the Onmitsukidō had more important tasks seemed perfectly normal to Ishikawa, because as a temporary worker for the Onmitsukidō, he was well aware of what the Onmitsukidō was currently busy with, and they indeed had no time to care about the lives of two noble members.
As for whether the Central 46 was controlled or completely slaughtered, that was impossible at this stage.
The reason was simple: the guy Ishikawa feared most hadn't made his preparations yet, nor had he found the item Urahara Kisuke had hidden.
Although he had had dealings with him, he had never shown any sign of discovering anything from beginning to end, so Ishikawa didn't believe the other party would start his plan early just for him.
And most importantly, even if that person wanted to deal with him, he wouldn't lure him to Hueco Mundo.
In summary, even if someone wanted to lure him to Hueco Mundo, that person absolutely could not be Aizen.
Of course, it's more likely that…
He was overthinking it.
Based on the available information, this was just a very ordinary missing person request, except the place of search was a bit unusual.
If Hoki Aoi hadn't taken it upon herself to add a description of the two, Ishikawa wouldn't have deliberated for so long and would have unhesitatingly accepted this request.
"This request…"
With that thought, Ishikawa nodded and said, "I'll take it."
After much thought, Ishikawa finally decided to accept this request, because if he missed this opportunity, it would be almost impossible for him to find another chance to go to Hueco Mundo.
...
Having made up his mind, Ishikawa didn't hesitate further and immediately accompanied Kikkawa to the Golden Seal Association's Senkaimon.
Unlike going to the Human World, going to Hueco Mundo did not require Reishi suppression, nor did it require leaving a tracking mark on Ishikawa.
After all, Hueco Mundo wasn't a good place; any sane person wouldn't choose to stay there.
Moreover, even if Ishikawa truly lost his mind and wanted to stay in Hueco Mundo, it wouldn't matter to the Soul Society. Rather, an unstable element like him staying in Hueco Mundo would make the Central 46 happy.
"Hmm?"
Standing before the Golden Seal Association's Senkaimon, Ishikawa asked with some confusion, "Isn't this the Senkaimon to the Human World?"
"Indeed."
Kikkawa nodded: "Even the Technology Development Bureau needs a long time to prepare a Black Portal from the Soul Society to Hueco Mundo, but the Fujiwara siblings in Hueco Mundo can't wait that long; so, at the Technology Development Bureau's suggestion, you need to go to the Human World first, and then, when a Hollow appears in the Human World, enter its Black Portal before it closes, thereby going to Hueco Mundo."
"The Senkaimon's appearance location is determined by the Technology Development Bureau, and the Technology Development Bureau can predict the Hollow's appearance location in advance, so there's still plenty of time."
Kikkawa finished speaking, and without waiting for Ishikawa to ask, he said, "Of course, you don't have to worry about not being able to return. The construction of a Black Portal requires at least two days. After two days, a Black Portal will be directly set up based on your Denreishinki's signal to bring you and the two of them back."
"However, because it's a temporary Black Portal, its effect is not stable, and its duration is extremely short; that is to say, after two days, regardless of whether you've found them or not, you must immediately return to the Soul Society through the Black Portal. Otherwise, you'll only be able to return as you came, accompanying a Hollow to the Human World, and then contacting the Soul Society to open a Senkaimon."
Ishikawa nodded upon hearing this. Although he had traveled from the Soul Society to the Human World many times, this was his first time going from the Soul Society to Hueco Mundo.
And from his memory, it seemed that the current Soul Society indeed had no direct passage to Hueco Mundo. In the future, when fighting Hueco Mundo, the Captain of the Twelfth Division would create one on the spot, and it would be completed in a very short time. According to him, it was semi-permanent and extremely stable.
But getting that person to serve the nobles and maintain a Black Portal was basically impossible.
The temporary Black Portal Kikkawa mentioned should be the work of a Technology Development Bureau member.
After asking some more details, Ishikawa stood before the Senkaimon, waiting for the signal from the Technology Development Bureau. After about five minutes, his Denreishinki, whose signal had been boosted by the Technology Development Bureau, suddenly rang.
Beep beep beep beep—
Accompanied by a series of urgent alarms, Ishikawa, carrying a Hell Butterfly, unhesitatingly rushed into the Senkaimon.
...
At the same time, in the Tsunayashiro family home.
"Have they departed?"
A murmur echoed from the dark, lightless room.
In a corner of the pitch-black room, a young man in a white robe asked with a questioning tone, "Lord Tokinada, could you tell me why you are doing this?"
"Because it's interesting."
"Hmm?"
"My subordinate who observes Fullbringers in the Human World sent me some very interesting information."
The man referred to as Tokinada chuckled, not elaborating, but instead stood up and said, "Come with me to the Central 46' Image Hall. You'll understand why then. I hope you can gain some new inspiration from it."
The young man in the white robe, hearing this, a hint of doubt flashed in his eyes, but he still respectfully replied:
"Yes."
...
In the night sky, a hundred meters above the ground, a torn fissure, like a wound, gradually healed.
From its original size of over ten meters, it shrank until it was only a few meters. Just as the crack was about to vanish, a figure, accompanied by a sharp whooshing sound, burst out from within.
Almost the instant this figure shot out of the fissure, the fissure completely healed, leaving no trace of the dark passage that had been there moments before.
"Phew—"
Ishikawa landed on the ground, his face subtly darkening: "This is what they call easy??"
If his speed hadn't been fast enough, he might have already been trapped inside the Black Portal.
However, now was clearly not the best time to complain about the Technology Development Bureau.
Because the moment he arrived, Ishikawa felt the surrounding area permeated with the Reishi of countless Hollows, as if vultures attracted by decaying flesh, gathering towards Ishikawa's location.
Ishikawa pondered for a moment, then suppressed his own Reishi, habitually observing his surroundings.
As far as the eye could see, everything was a grayish white.
Unlike the Soul Society and the Human World, Hueco Mundo had no city-like areas with streets or buildings similar to the Human World; there was only barren ground like a white desert and withered trees resembling quartz everywhere.
Ishikawa looked up at the sky, where a massive full moon hung.
According to the information he had gathered before coming, Hueco Mundo had no distinction between day and night; it was perpetually shrouded in darkness.
"The Reishi concentration here is truly terrifyingly high."
Ishikawa had originally thought the Reishi concentration in the Seireitei was already extremely high, but upon arriving in Hueco Mundo, he realized that Hueco Mundo's Reishi concentration was far higher than the Seireitei's. The difference was like being on the surface of the sea versus being in the deep ocean; every movement made Ishikawa feel a strange sense of stickiness.
He didn't linger. After confirming his surroundings, Ishikawa chose a direction and sped off.
He hadn't found any trace of the Fujiwara siblings, but the previous commotion had already attracted many Hollows to investigate. Before figuring out whether there were Hollows stronger than himself in this area, Ishikawa didn't want to rashly engage in battle, so as to avoid attracting the attention of certain powerful beings in Hueco Mundo.
Now, what he needed to do was not to find those two, but to first ensure his own safety.
And…
Begin his experiment.
This was also Ishikawa's true purpose for coming to Hueco Mundo.
Relatively speaking, whether those two kids lived or died wasn't important to Ishikawa. The reason he was so eager to come to Hueco Mundo was to try…
If female Hollows developed affection for him, would he be able to gain experience points?
Speaking of which…
Ishikawa's expression was a bit strange. Setting aside how to distinguish male and female Hollows for now, how does one make friends with a Hollow?
Beat them half to death, then let them go?
Or capture a Hollow and keep it by his side?
Ishikawa shook his head.
I'll research it while doing the request.
Anyway, there's plenty of time.
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