Kisuke left the founding members of the Gotei 13 in the log house to make his way back to his laboratory and transfer some equipment to Hell.
A day later, Gin Ichimaru returned with both good and strange news only to be stunned at the sudden luxurious log house, "...What is this?" And as he approached the out-of-place building, he heard something hitting the ground behind it.
He went around it and saw two half-naked men plowing the land not far from the house, "...Er... What?"
Yamamoto and Choujirou stopped moving and turned their heads to the new guest, "Ichimaru?" The latter murmured when he saw the slit-eyed man.
However, Gin's eyes are not on him but on the old bald man with a long white beard, "Captain Commander..."
"Former Captain Commander." Yamamoto immediately corrected him.
"The chains... You're out." Gin muttered and prepared himself to fight and escape in case Yamamoto decided to attack. After all, their last meeting before this is a hostile one.
Yamamoto noticed his defensive demeanor and said, "I have nothing against you so ease yourself. I've also heard what you'd done to gain Aizen Sosuke's trust. While there's nothing good about it, you did what you have to do in your own judgment. It's not something to be shameful about."
"I don't deserve those good words.", Gin sighed in relief, "But enough of that. I was able to locate and communicate with both Unohana Retsu and Ukitake Juushirou. There's also something big going on in Soul Society."
"Hmmm..." Yamamoto guessed that it probably had something to do with what Kisuke did yesterday, "Alright. Let's head inside first."
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With everyone gathered, Gin first looked around and asked, "Where did this big log house come from? And from its workmanship, the one who built this is a master. Can I hire him to make me one too?"
Furoufushi sighed, "That can come later. Whether you could hire him or not will depend on him... Well, you'll understand later. Tell us what you found out."
Gin felt the strange atmosphere around and he could even see the strict Captain Commander make a weird expression, 'Is it a sensitive topic?'
Gin cleared his throat and moved on, "First, I found Unohana Retsu and Ukitake Juushirou and asked them to join us. However and understandably, they don't trust me and want proof that we're not from Szayelaporro's side. But this is good since Szayelaporro also doesn't have any way of pulling them in. We could just have Captain Commander come to their side and that should solve the problem."
"Are they doing alright?" Chika asked.
Gin shook his head, "I'm not too sure about that since I only directly talked to Ukitake. Unohana is probably also struggling with the chains like the Captain Commander so it's better for us to act as soon as possible."
"Umu..." Yamamoto nodded, "We'll move immediately. But before that, what's happening in Soul Society? You mentioned something big was going on."
"I first heard it from those who were deployed to Hell from the Seireitei. I then went to the world of the living to confirm and get more details. I don't know what the full story is but the Spirit King Palace came under attack yesterday and the Spirit King Palace itself was cleaved in half despite the Royal Guards protecting it with its smaller half falling into Soul Society."
"..."
'Hmmm? What is this reaction?' Gin asked himself and thought that they'd be more shocked about this.
"The Spirit King... The lynchpin is safe but the Royal Guards decided to bring back the Seireiheki (Pure Soul Wall) after protecting the Seireitei for almost two decades and locked themselves up. And the cause of all of this is apparently Urahara Kisuke after matching the Reiatsu that appeared in the Spirit King Palace that time with him.
"That's all the credible information that I gathered. As for the rest, they're just rumors like how strange voices were heard in all of Seireitei at that exact moment."
"..."
Contrary to Gin's expectations, there are no strong reactions from any of them. Instead, they have this same weird expression from earlier, "Ummm... What's going on?"
At that moment, a new presence suddenly appeared from the interior of the house which made Gin jump from his seat, "Who is it?"
"It's the person you want to hire..." Batsu'unsai answered while the corner of her mouth was twitching, "And what did he say yesterday? He caused a bit of a distraction? Is this still a distraction?"
Chika smiled wryly and said, "...Well, technically speaking, it is. Just on a wholly different extent than we initially thought."
Gin found their conversation very uncanny but couldn't dwell on it when somebody whom he was not expecting suddenly exited one of the doors, "...Urahara!?"
"Oh. If it isn't Ichimaru-san, you're finally back."
Gin thought that his question was weird but set it aside and asked, "What are you doing here?"
Kisuke took out his mask and placed it on his face. The next instant, his whole attire and appearance changed, "Does this explain it?"
"...Belial!?"
Kisuke took off the mask again and returned to his normal appearance, "That's the short story."
He then turned towards the main door and walked towards it, "But I got no time to explain so ask them about it. I've got to set up my lab."
From the same door where Kisuke came from, a very tall woman also came out, this time properly dressed, and followed him, ignoring everyone else in the room.
"We'll explain it on the way." Yamamoto stood up, "For now, lead us to Retsu and Juushirou."
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Kisuke made his way towards the side of the mountain and used his Magic to dig into it. He wanted to dig downwards but there were unknown dangers there that he didn't want to unnecessarily take. While doing so, he turned to the log house and saw Yamamoto, Choujirou, and Gin leaving with Flash Steps, "Did he find the other two?"
It took him half a day to hollow out the whole mountain and set up the laboratory that he'd need inside. After checking that everything was working in order, Kisuke let out a long breath of satisfaction.
"You don't stop surprising us, huh?" From the entrance, Kisuke and Tiamat heard Batsu'unsai's voice of amazement while looking everywhere.
Without turning around, Kisuke asked, "Have you guys decided?"
"Yes. It'll be me who'll be going first. The Captain is out of the question, Choujirou will be the last before the Captain, while Furoufushi and Chika will have something to lose if they go first."
Kisuke finally turned, "You have nothing to lose?"
"Aside from my life now? None. I've been traveling aimlessly this whole century trying to find something to do. Furoufushi and Chika found something while I didn't. Out of everyone, I have the least attachment to anything."
"That's a sad way to put it." Kisuke then began walking to his left, "Though I can't really say anything about your way of life. It's your choice so I'll respect it. Please follow me. I first have to detach your soul from that body made out of Hell's Blessing."