Okikiba led Kisuke and Kirio towards a deserted area and a small building beside the 1st Division barracks. Inside the small building, Kisuke could feel two people hiding within the darkness of the shadow but Okikiba ignored them and continued to make his way inside.
Soon, they reached a set of hidden stairs that led to a very dark tunnel that has numerous hidden presences inside it.
Kisuke quietly followed Okikiba and estimated where they were going from the direction they were going, 'The 2nd Division area? More specifically, the abandoned Nest of Maggots.'
From what he saw when he was in the sky, aside from 1st Division and the Academy grounds, everywhere else within the Seireitei was overrun by the noble forces.
While thinking why they are making their way there, Benihime gave him the answer, [That's where that nasty bastard's hidden lab is.]
'I see. When you arrived on his side, how far had he progressed?'
[He already started mass producing the framework for the homunculi and even created a pretty special body for his own little secretary.] Benihime answered but there was still confusion on her side, [But how did you know he'd start copying and mass-producing the bodies you created?]
'I'd thought of it the moment Kyouraku-san snuck up on me when I met Aizen.'
'From the start then,' Benihime thought to herself while waiting for Kisuke to continue.
'Kyouraku-san already saw me so there was no point in hiding, however, from the start, he's not really the one I wanted to cooperate with. While the position of the Captain Commander is convenient, it's also one of the greatest shackles a strong Shinigami could have. I didn't expect much from him from the beginning and I was right that he couldn't do something big aside from partially freeing Aizen and manipulating the information going around the Gotei 13.'
[Manipulating information is not something big?]
'It would be a big deal if not for someone who has a better grasp on real information flowing in and out of the Seireitei. Whether I'd like to admit it or not, Kurotsuchi-san is similar to me so I predicted that after Kyouraku-san met me, it wouldn't take long before he appeared anomalous in his system. That anomaly within Kurotsuchi-san's baseline was what I used to communicate with him and when the whole thing happened with Soifon-san, I figured he'd create his own in case he needed something to counter it.'
'From then on, I slowly gave him my intentions through Serafall and my activities. I didn't attack the Royal Palace twice prior to this just because I wanted to distract them alright? I'm actually appealing to Kurotsuchi-san's bottom line of preserving the Seireitei and the Gotei 13.'
Benihime went quiet a moment before she started cursing, [You bastards have been talking without directly speaking?]
'That way, nobody suspects anything. Why do you think Soifon-san, Hirako-san, and Kyouraku-san were suspected by the Zero Division yet Kurotsuchi-san was trusted by them? We were being careful in manipulating the information to our advantage. Thanks to that, I didn't have to work alone in mass producing those bodies and I didn't have to fight against the Gotei 13 when I went to attack the Royal Palace for the last time today. Hyousube-san might have caught me off guard, but I already prepared various paths of retreat and counterattack.'
While explaining to Benihime the high-level overview of what he's trying to do, Okikiba reached the end of the tunnel and opened the door blocking their way, revealing the inside of the Nest of Maggots that served as a prison for unfortunate Shinigamis.
Guarding Mayuri's former cell was the 5th Division's second in command, Momo Hinamori.
Momo was about to greet Okikiba when Kisuke and Kirio suddenly came into her sight and she froze, not knowing what to do.
"It has been a while, Hinamori-san." Kisuke casually greeted her.
"E-eh? Ah... Uhmmm... It has been a while, Urahara-san... and Kirio-sama."
Thankfully, Momo didn't have to endure the awkward situation as Mayuri came out of the secret door, "Set the greeting aside for later. We don't have much time for that."
Mayuri's eyes then landed on Kirio and was able to figure out the current state she's in, "You really pulled no punches, huh? But I guess that wasn't enough to wipe off his annoying grin."
Kirio smiled wryly and said, "It's as you've said. I wouldn't even call it a fight since he just disregarded everything I threw at him."
"Is that so?" Mayuri lost his interest and he turned his eyes towards the cane hanging beside Kisuke, "You know the place so carry her to a free room."
Without a word from Kisuke, Benihime materialized with her usual white shirt and tight-fit denim jeans.
Okikiba and Hinamori were startled at her sudden appearance but Benihime just ignored them and picked up Kirio from Kisuke's arms before passing by Mayuri and entering his lab.
Kisuke was not surprised and said, "It seems you got close to her?"
"Close to her?" Mayuri clicked his tongue and turned around to enter the lab, "She's one of the most venomous women I've ever met. And if there's one thing I figured out about her, she hates troublesome things. Hikifune was the ticket for her to get out of this so I knew she would take it."
Hinamori and Okikiba looked at each other and just watched Kisuke follow Mayuri inside. Once they made some distance from the door, Hinamori manually closed the door while muttering, "So many things are going on... I don't even know if what we're doing is the right thing, but I hope the others in Hell are safe."
"According to Captain Kurotsuchi, Urahara Kisuke wouldn't let former Captain Commander Yamamoto go away and probably already pulled him to his side. Instead of fighting each other, I can only assume that they are now together, fighting for the common cause."
Hinamori was still conflicted and couldn't entirely believe Okikiba's words, "...I sure hope so..."
.
.
.
As soon as Kisuke entered Mayuri's facility, the first thing he noticed was the entire 12th Division present and communicating to the Shinigami outside defending themselves.
But before he could figure out the whole picture through various monitors, he raised his right arm to defend himself. The next instant, he caught a leg that created a shockwave that knocked over some of the members of the 12th Division.
And when he looked towards the owner of the leg he was holding, Kisuke saw a very angry woman, "Ah~ Soifon-san~! I'm really glad to see you as energetic as ever!"
"You hoodlum! I trusted you and I thought you trusted me!"