Demon Slayer: The Journey That Began When I Became Yoriichi's Sister

Chapter 651 Plan

"Um……"

Kisuke Urahara's words made Ikuko somewhat wary, and she couldn't help but recall her experiences that morning.

Indeed... without subconsciously using her clairvoyance to scan that area, she didn't perceive the Hogyoku through other senses.

Kisuke Urahara took a sip of tea and said calmly, "In other words, unless someone captures Rukia, it's absolutely impossible to discover that the Hogyoku is on her."

“So…” Yuko suddenly raised her head, her gaze sharp as she looked at Kisuke Urahara, “I still don’t understand the point of what you’re doing.”

Kisuke Urahara felt the pressure and coughed twice: "Of course it's meaningful."

“The Hogyoku is too dangerous, and I have tried everything to destroy it.” Kisuke Urahara pressed down the brim of his hat. “Rather than leaving it in my hands, I should hide it away.”

"Hidden in a place where no one would suspect it."

Yuko propped her chin up with one hand, her eyelids drooping, and said, "Usually, saying such absolute things will get you bombarded with a boomerang."

"Forehead……"

“Furthermore, even if the Hogyoku thing is true, what about the Gikai?” Yuuko shifted her posture. “That Gikai itself must have some problems, right?”

Kisuke Urahara lowered his head slightly: "That artificial body can break down the user's spiritual pressure until it eventually turns them into an ordinary person, which is called demotion."

"By transforming the soul of the Grim Reaper into a whole, we can ensure that the Hogyoku is hidden."

Yu Zi narrowed her eyes: "Are you taking advantage of a naive little girl?"

"Although that little girl seems like a fool, this is still going too far."

"Isn't that going too far?" Kisuke Urahara was taken aback, seemingly not expecting Ikuko to say that at all. "Using an ordinary Shinigami to bring about an even greater disaster, isn't that..."

Before he could finish speaking, his body was inexplicably thrown into the air, his vision rapidly receding until he crashed into the wall behind him.

"Store manager!"

"calm down."

Xiaoyu instinctively grabbed a broom and stepped forward, but was stopped by Ye Yi in front of her.

Xiaoyu was making a mountain out of a molehill; like Woling Tiezhai, who stood still and didn't move at all.

They probably knew that someone as obnoxious as the store manager would get punished sooner or later.

Yuko merely glanced at her briefly before turning her back on her.

Kisuke Urahara struggled for a moment, but found that he couldn't shake Ikuko's ability at all. He could only hang on the wall without changing his expression: "It's really surprising. I thought the gap between us wouldn't be this big."

He was genuinely frightened. He was confident in his own strength, and even if he was not as strong as Yu Zi, he shouldn't have been so easily defeated without any strength to resist.

"Well, because I've already achieved Bankai."

"what?"

Kisuke Urahara almost didn't react.

Yoruichi's expression shifted for a moment: "The aura... no, even the name..."

Although there were signs of her taking action, Yuko patiently explained, "This is not a complete Bankai."

"Bankai consumes too much power, so I came up with a way to achieve a semi-liberation state by using an incomplete release phrase, or even without using a release phrase at all."

"This is the minimum Bankai, which abandons all liberation."

For Yuuko, whether it's a Shinigami expanding inward or a Quincy pursuing power outward, they are essentially manipulating spiritual energy, or spirit particles, to fight.

But the release of a Zanpakuto is different; it completely ignores this fundamental rule.

It's like a newly set rule, independent of the original one.

It can cause the Shinigami's spiritual pressure to surge for a certain period of time by synchronizing its Zanpakuto with the Shinigami.

Therefore, the release of the liberation statement is very necessary, and this is a hurdle that Yuko cannot avoid.

Just like the incantations of the Ghost Path, it's not just about chanting to guide spiritual power; there are also inexplicable rules involved.

When the same person releases a Kido (demon arts), the Kido after the incantation will be more powerful than the normal Kido.

If the release phrase of a Zanpakuto is not complete, even if a Bankai can be forcibly performed, the increase in spiritual pressure and power will be greatly affected.

This is not a problem with usage, but rather a result of the rules being established.

Yuko said without changing her expression, "Although the ability is much weaker than a normal Bankai, it has increased the spiritual pressure by about twice, and can use an incomplete Bankai ability."

Kisuke Urahara was so surprised by her words that he was speechless for a while before he smiled and said, "It can't be Yuko, she always manages to do things that I can't even imagine."

"The Bankai that abandons the name?"

"Is there still such an operation?"

He could understand if it was a partial release, since there were precedents, but to completely abandon the release terminology for Bankai...

He really hadn't thought of that.

"But could you put me down first?" Kisuke Urahara smiled without any sense of self-awareness. "I think I can still be saved."

"If you don't satisfy me, you can prepare to report to the Soul Society." Yuko withdrew her ability expressionlessly, and Kisuke Urahara landed with a perfect score, stretched his stiff arms, and returned to the table.

He leisurely took a sip of his tea before looking up and smiling, "Is it because that little girl is Byakuya Kuchiki's sister?"

Yu Zi was taken aback: "Sister?"

"Where did Byakuya get a sister?" Yuko tilted her head. "Could it be that Soujun made the mistake that every man makes?"

"Cough cough...no." Kisuke Urahara almost choked on his tea. "That child is Byakuya's lover's sister."

"So...his lover?" Yuko reacted a beat late. "Byakuya got married?"

"...Well, more than a hundred years have passed, which is about right by the age of the Grim Reaper."

Yuko muttered to herself.

Yoruichi chuckled from the side, "You, as a teacher, really don't care about your students at all."

Yuko glanced at her sideways: "Because I don't know anything about Soul Society, do you know?"

Kisuke Urahara waved his fan and said, "I know."

"You knew?" Yuko narrowed her eyes, as if she had realized something. "Speaking of which, since you gave Rukia her artificial body, you didn't plan this all along, did you?"

"No, no! That's not true at all!" Kisuke Urahara quickly waved his hands, afraid that Ikuko might misunderstand and throw him away. "It was just a coincidence, it was just a coincidence!"

"...Indeed, what happened yesterday cannot be explained by the plan."

After all, it was Rukia's own will that transferred the power of the Shinigami to Ichigo.

And who knew Rukia's combat skills were so poor? She didn't even care about herself in order to save others, and was seriously injured before she could even unleash her Shikai.

If Kisuke Urahara could have guessed this, then he would definitely be able to foresee the future.

If he could truly foresee the future, he wouldn't be hiding in this remote place.

Seeing that Ikuko was lost in thought, Kisuke Urahara lowered his head, the shadow under his hat obscuring his eyes, and said in a deliberately profound tone, "Sometimes fate is made up of countless coincidences, isn't it?"

"What are you pretending for?" Yu Zi looked up expressionlessly. "Your explanation still doesn't satisfy me."

Kisuke Urahara stumbled and nearly bumped into the corner of the table, hastily adjusting his hat to save his composure.

Just as Yuko was completely speechless, Kisuke Urahara finally became serious. He sat down, closed his fan and placed it on the table, then looked up at Yuko solemnly.

"Actually, I had already thought you would come looking for me when I handed that artificial body over to Rukia."

“Yuko, you are the second person I’m willing to open my heart to. Back in Soul Society, I already knew about you…”

Yuko showed no emotion whatsoever, and even turned her head expressionlessly: "Mr. Tessai, you've been ostracized."

Kisuke Urahara almost lost his composure, but forced himself to continue, "So, I think you need to know my plan."

"How many times have you planned not to take me with you?" Yuko rested her cheek on her hand. "I'm used to it."

"...But to be honest, if a Shinigami could solve the Hogyoku problem, I would do it even if you killed me."

Yu Zi frowned slightly: "Since you dare to say that, you probably didn't intend to do it, right?"

Kisuke Urahara pulled down his hat brim: "Don't you think it's time?"

"what?"

"When we are exonerated."

Yu Zi frowned even more deeply: "What do you want to do?"

Kisuke Urahara said calmly, "Since we can't determine how many people Aizen's ability affects, nor can we remove it, then let him..."

Yu Zi's pupils contracted slightly as a possibility flashed through her mind, and she subconsciously replied, "She exposed herself."

"You got it right!" Kisuke Urahara snapped his fingers. "Tell me, if Aizen discovered that Rukia had the Hogyoku inside her, what would he do?"

"He'll definitely want to retrieve the Hogyoku, right?"

"Let's put Rukia aside for now," Yuuko interrupted, raising her hand. "Even so, wouldn't it be better for him to just find an opportunity to steal the Hogyoku?"

Why would I expose myself?

"Or do you think that if we fight him, the people in Soul Society will believe us?"

“I suppose Yuko doesn’t know yet.” Kisuke Urahara picked up the fan on the table, and, as usual, began to whet people’s appetites. However, when he saw Yuko’s murderous look, he immediately replied, “It is a serious crime for a Shinigami to transfer his power to someone else without authorization.”

Yuko's eyelids twitched: "A serious crime..."

“That’s right, a serious crime.” Kisuke Urahara said calmly, “The artificial bodies provided by the Seireitei are generally made of high-concentration spiritual particles and special materials, so they can be directly detected by the Soul Society.”

"But the prosthetic bodies I create will cause them, including Aizen, to lose all trace of Rukia."

"Given enough time, the Soul Society will lose contact with Rukia and come to the human world to investigate, and they will naturally discover that Rukia transferred her power to an ordinary person."

"And because of Rukia's background, the Kuchiki family will most likely not stand idly by, and the person who will take action is very likely to be the current captain of the Sixth Division, Kuchiki Byakuya."

"Then it's only a matter of time before Rukia is arrested and taken back to Soul Society."

"In the end, aren't you still planning to use others?" Yuko's tone was unreadable, but the temperature around her seemed to drop. "You're treating that little girl and Ichigo as pawns?"

“No,” Kisuke Urahara replied quickly, “It should be called a variable.”

“Even without my intervention, Rukia would have been arrested for violating the laws of Soul Society.”

"Furthermore, does Yuuko feel that she is incapable of defeating Aizen?"

Yu Zi tilted her head: "So you mean you want me to clean up your mess?"

“No, I just don’t want to miss this opportunity.” Kisuke Urahara’s eyes narrowed slightly. “If Ikuko doesn’t agree, I will remove the Hogyoku from Rukia’s body.”

Yuko met his gaze without wavering: "Are you betting that I'll agree to you?"

“This is the best opportunity,” Kisuke Urahara said earnestly.

Yuko's eyes flickered slightly as she glanced sideways at Yoruichi, who remained silent beside her, before standing up expressionlessly.

"I hope you won't play with fire and get burned."

"Don't end up losing more than you gain by trying to steal a chicken."

After leaving those words, Yuko turned and left Urahara Store, leaving the group of people standing or sitting inside.

"Trying to steal a chicken but losing the rice instead?" Urahara Kisuke muttered to himself. To be honest, if Aizen really did snatch the Hogyoku from him, he'd really like to see...

An existence that transcends the boundaries between Shinigami and Hollows.

Yoruichi watched Yuuko leave, then calmly looked at Urahara Kisuke and said, "You almost got killed."

"Ha, haha, that's right." Kisuke Urahara's serious posture immediately became unserious. "I was almost scared to death. I've never even heard of Bankai that completely abandons the release phrase."

Yoruichi sighed; that's why she didn't want to drag Yuuko into it.

That guy is different from them.

Yoruichi knew deep down that Yuuko had no anger towards Aizen at all. Despite her usual carefree demeanor, she was distant from everything in this world.

Only... myself.

You could say it was luck.

He happened to meet her when Yuko lost consciousness, and they got along very well and spent some time together.

As for food, clothing, housing, and transportation...

That was just a joke; given Yuko's status, she probably doesn't need those things at all.

It wasn't like I saved her from serious injury or anything; it was just that I happened to run into her.

If it weren't for him, Yuko might not have agreed.

……

"Is this part of the main storyline?" Yuko muttered to herself on the way back. "It's definitely part of the main storyline, right?"

However, she absolutely did not believe that Urahara hadn't schemed against her.

It's common knowledge that this guy is dishonest; there's absolutely no way he didn't tell her anything.

But thinking about it, it makes sense. Although their combat strength is a bit lacking, even though they have several captains, they are actually just a bunch of weaklings, including Hirako.

It's unrealistic to expect this group to be able to fight their way back to Soul Society; they're just too weak. Yamamoto-sama doesn't even need to personally intervene.

Sister Hua alone is enough to give them a hard time.

And what's the point of winning?

Aizen still held the moral high ground.