Already expecting this scene after they went through Serafall's barrier, Soifon was not as surprised, "He moved with more efficiency than a whole organization. Now I can see the reason why the scouts dispatched by Soul Society couldn't find them."
Shinji reacted to her words and finally noticed Serafall, one of the girls who were sent as reinforcement at the Hell invasion, and two other people whom he was not familiar with, 'I don't want to think about it after his attack on the Soul King Palace... But are they on his side too? Even old man Yamamoto?'
As a swirl of questions started assaulting his head, the fact that Ophis and Lilith who came with them rushed to Serafall and Claire almost slipped from his attention, "W-wait! You know them!?"
Serafall tilted her head in curiosity and turned her sights to Soifon, "You didn't tell him?"
Shiji hurriedly turned his head towards Soifon and only saw her nodding her head, "I promised that I wouldn't tell anyone, so I didn't."
"...Just how much are you not telling us?"
Soifon stayed silent for a moment, "I only told you what I'm allowed to say." Immediately the flame within her heart reacted slightly and got scared for a bit. However, the flame soon settled down and made Soifon sigh in relief, 'I see... It's able to judge that I can say these things to Hirako. What a mystical technique.'
Thanks to this, Soifon was able to figure out the lines she could thread in regard to the information she could release.
Shinji found her words and actions strange and guessed that it must have something to do with Kisuke and the time she spent with him, "So you willingly accepted spies into your ranks?"
"He told me that they are not spies."
"And you believe him?"
"Of course not. It's the reason why I'm keeping them close to me." Soifon paused for a moment before continuing, "But I'm more inclined to believe him now."
Shinji was stunned. He couldn't believe that Soifon, of all people, now believed the people who were closely connected to the strange group of people were not spies, 'I'm still missing a lot of things... Good thing I was able to come here with her.'
"It looks like it's a good time for a break." Serafall interrupted them, "We can talk properly once we head inside. Claire-chan, please prepare some refreshments for everyone."
Everyone stopped practicing and followed Serafall's suggestion. However, just as they were about to leave, they all felt something approaching them at a high speed and when they felt her Reiatsu, they were able to immediately identify who it was, "Unohana? So she's here too." Shinji muttered to himself.
But soon enough, they found something weird as Unohana approached their position. Although still quite far away, everyone has a visual acuity enough to see that she's flying sideways, bruised all over her arms, wildly flailing long hair, and with a crazed smile on her face while putting forward her blade fully covered in viscous blood in a defensive position.
It was at that point that they understood that she was fighting with someone or something, 'She's in her Bankai? But who's her opponent?' Shinji asked himself, thinking if he should jump in to assist her.
Guessing his intentions, Soifon immediately blocked his way with her arm, "Don't bother."
Thanks to the senses that she'd honed, she could feel another individual possessing a hair-raising amount of Ki making her way toward Unohana.
Shinji was confused but Soifon didn't have to explain what was happening to him because a blue beam of light came into view and immediately intercepted Unohana's flight path. As soon as she stopped in place, everyone saw a blue-skinned girl with a pair of large wings behind her back, twisting her waist and pulling her fist covered in a shimmering black and blue gauntlet.
Unohana immediately adjusted her body and gritted her teeth hard while preparing to block the incoming fist, "We've gone quite far, so let's go back~!" Those were the words she heard before the fist slammed into her Zanpakuto.
The force behind the fist was way stronger than the previous ones and Unohana thought that her Zanpakuto was about to snap. Thankfully, she could mitigate some of the force by throwing herself backward.
From the onlookers' perspective, a second or two after the blue-skinned girl connected her punch, a shockwave that's enough to level the trees in the surroundings if they still existed, crushed into everyone, forcing them to cover their eyes with arms due to the incoming debris.
It was only after the surroundings calmed down that everyone notice that they were not around anymore.
"..."
Stillness enveloped everyone until Serafall jokingly asked, "If you want to train your Ki, you're welcome to join them."
Furofushi was the first one to answer. She didn't want to sound weak, however, she also definitely didn't want that sort of training designed for masochists so she said, "I'll think about it after the break!" Before leading everyone while thinking, 'Katori... Good luck to you. I really mean it this time.'
"W-what's going on?" Shinji asked Soifon, who had already turned around to follow everyone.
"If they're letting it go, then it's probably not something bad. Let's understand the situation first before we make any judgment." She then stopped walking and turned her head sideways, "By the way, can you take a direct hit from that?"
"Me? No way. That would have punched a hole straight through my stomach."
.
.
.
Since they could only stay for a short amount of time, Soifon and Shinji had to leave after learning about their situation, albeit, only briefly and the latter was left largely unsatisfied, "Do we have to leave that early?"
"Two Captains going to Hell and leaving everyone's surveillance for a long period of time will ring a lot of alarm bells. I'd like to avoid that as much as possible."
"I know... But I feel the need to risk it since I don't know that much." Shinji then glanced at her, "I'm not someone who has in-depth knowledge of the bigger picture."
"I don't know that much... As much as you, I'm also confused why those guys, even the old man, are supporting Kisuke even after we told them that he attacked the Soul King Palace." Soifon sped up and changed her direction to return to the outpost from a different direction.
Shinji didn't say anything else and silently followed her while thinking, 'Maybe I could have asked those twins... But they just have to be left behind.'
Unbeknownst to them, a pair of eyes were silently watching them from the shadows as they passed through a certain area, "..."