The Human World.
"So this is Karakura Town?"
High in the sky, Natsuro stood before a peculiar Senkaimon, gazing down at the city below.
This was the city he would be stationed in from now on, a place he had chosen himself.
Of course, he hadn't heard of Karakura Town before. He had simply picked the city with the highest concentration of reiryoku, and the Shinigami had then recommended this one to him.
Naturally, the nobles had no objection.
After all, the higher the reiryoku concentration in the Human World, the more likely it was to be targeted by Hollows. If Natsuro was willing to be stationed here, all the better.
He closed his eyes, feeling the spiritual energy here.
Indeed, it was far denser than in the city he'd first arrived in upon coming to this world, but still nowhere near the density of the Soul Society.
After all, in the Soul Society, even the ground and walls were made of reiryoku.
Thinking about it, he couldn't help but feel a little helpless, he still didn't understand why, if everything there was composed of reiryoku, he couldn't convert his own reiryoku into such physical objects.
He suspected it involved the deepest, fundamental laws of this world, not something easily achieved.
If one could truly understand everything… would that mean being able to do the work of a god? To create anything, to change everything?
Natsuro shook his head. Without reaching that realm, no one could truly know what it meant.
Since he was here in Karakura Town, he might as well visit the man rumored to be living here, the former captain of the 12th Division… Kisuke Urahara.
He hadn't asked about Kisuke's exact location, but that wasn't a problem.
Because…
After gathering a bit of reiryoku, Natsuro's vision shifted, the world seemed to change before him. Countless white spirit threads appeared in his sight.
Among them was a distinctly red thread, the mark of a Shinigami, and its strength was clearly captain-class.
(Note: High-ranking Shinigami can see spirit threads too; it's not exclusive to Quincy, this is according to Rukia's words in the original.)
Following that red thread, Natsuro arrived at an old shop with a worn sign reading Urahara Shop.
He knocked on the door.
"Coming!"
The one who answered was a tall, middle-aged man with reflective glasses and a handlebar mustache.
"And you are?" the man asked.
"Tessai Tsukabishi, Grand Kidō Chief of the Kidō Corps, am I right?" Natsuro said bluntly.
"Oh? So you're a Shinigami. A new arrival?" Tessai asked as he let him inside.
"You could say that," Natsuro replied with a nod. While not exactly the kind of "new" Tessai meant, it wasn't wrong either.
"Oh my, replacing the stationed Shinigami so soon?"
Inside the shop stood a man with slightly spiky light-blond hair, green eyes, some stubble on his chin, wearing a short dark-green coat over light-green clothes, a green-and-white striped bucket hat, and wooden sandals.
"You're the former 12th Division captain, Kisuke Urahara?" Natsuro raised a brow at him. Despite Kisuke's relaxed demeanor, he could feel almost no detectable reiatsu from him, a sign of extremely refined control.
"That's me. And you are?" Kisuke replied, sensing something unusual from Natsuro's attitude. Maybe this visitor wasn't the average Shinigami.
"4th Division lieutenant, Natsuro Shindōkawa. Due to certain circumstances, I've been punished with a term of stationed duty in the Human World," Natsuro said casually.
At that, Kisuke and Tessai both fell silent. A lieutenant from the medical division, sent to guard the Human World as punishment? That didn't sound right.
Had the Gotei 13's rules changed since their exile?
While the two pondered, Natsuro's gaze shifted to the black cat perched on the eaves.
Man and cat locked eyes for a moment before Natsuro looked away.
"In that case, what business brings you here?" Kisuke asked, deciding to gather more information on Natsuro later.
"I'm here to get a gigai. Honestly, you can think of my stationing as a vacation, the Shinigami already assigned to this area will keep doing their job," Natsuro waved off.
Kisuke narrowed his eyes. "A gigai isn't cheap."
"Money's not a problem. Also, if you have connections, find me a scenic and quiet house nearby," Natsuro said.
Kisuke was momentarily stunned, but he had no reason to refuse. His shop catered to Shinigami anyway, and unusual requests weren't impossible.
"In that case, here's to a pleasant partnership," Kisuke said with a smile.
"How do we handle payment?" Natsuro asked.
"Card," Kisuke replied, signaling Tessai, who brought over a card reader.
"No problem." Natsuro swiped the card without hesitation, it belonged to Unohana, and its balance was absurdly high, more than enough for several lifetimes of spending for an ordinary person.
After all, it was the accumulation of over a thousand years of captain's salary.
Money was just a worldly possession, Natsuro had no qualms about spending it.
"When will it be ready?" Natsuro asked.
"It'll take a few days, most Shinigami who come here only buy common supplies. Gigai aren't in high demand," Kisuke explained.
"As for the house, that's easy. We'll sort it all out when the gigai's ready."
Natsuro nodded and left, after all, it was his first time in Karakura Town, so he wanted to explore and get familiar with the place.
After he was gone…
The black cat spoke in an old man's voice. "Kisuke, this Shinigami isn't simple, he probably already saw through my true form just now."
Kisuke nodded. "Yoruichi, please head to the Soul Society and find out more about him. If he's not hiding his identity, it shouldn't be hard."
"Alright," the cat replied before vanishing from the shop.
Kisuke considered the matter, but with so little information, he quickly gave up and decided to wait for Yoruichi's report.
Meanwhile, Natsuro was walking through the streets, thinking about the Urahara Shop's lineup.
Kisuke Urahara, former 12th Division captain. Combat ability… unknown. But clearly not ordinary, concealing his reiatsu so completely meant incredible control. And the 12th Division was a research division; to have been its captain, his intellect had to be exceptional.
Tessai Tsukabishi, former Grand Kidō Chief, an outstanding Kidō master, capable of using even the ultimate-level Bakudō #99 with ease, and in possession of forbidden time and space techniques.
That black cat, if his guess was right, it was Yoruichi Shihōin, "Flash Goddess," unmatched in shunpo, and the former captain of the 2nd Division.
"Two captains, one Grand Kidō Chief… Karakura Town is really full of talent," Natsuro murmured, thinking this city might turn out to be quite interesting.
Back at the shop, Yoruichi had already returned from the Soul Society in an astonishingly short time, short enough to surprise Kisuke.
The reason became clear: the entire Seireitei was abuzz with the news about Natsuro and Zaraki Kenpachi. Yoruichi had barely set foot there before she found what she needed.
But upon reading the details, even Yoruichi was stunned, it sounded fake.
A 4th Division lieutenant fighting the 11th Division captain in a massive battle, defeating Zaraki Kenpachi, and destroying the entire 11th Division barracks in the process, leading the Central 46 to sentence both to decades in prison as punishment.
In the end, with the Head Captain's help and the convening of the Noble Assembly, their punishment was reduced to stationing in the Human World.
It sounded ridiculous, so Yoruichi had dug deeper. But no matter how she checked, the story… appeared to be true.
So she brought this absurd report back to Kisuke.
Hearing it, Kisuke narrowed his eyes, then showed a hint of regret.
When he'd first learned Natsuro would be using a gigai and stationed here for years, he'd thought of a long-prepared plan. But…
For someone who could fight Zaraki Kenpachi head-on and win... That was simply too powerful.
Kisuke Urahara knew exactly what kind of monster Zaraki Kenpachi was. Kenpachi had become captain of the 11th Division a year before him, relying solely on that unmatched strength of his.
So for someone to defeat Zaraki, Natsuro's power was already at an extraordinarily high level in Kisuke's mind.
At such a level, Natsuro would almost certainly notice if there was something wrong with a gigai, he might even be able to directly crack a special one. That would be trouble.
And even if he didn't notice, with his immense reiatsu, a special gigai that slowly broke down a Shinigami's spiritual power until they became an ordinary human living permanently in the Human World… would probably take hundreds of years to work.
While time didn't mean much to Shinigami, hundreds of years was still far too long, there would inevitably be complications in the meantime.
So it seemed the only option was to prepare a normal gigai for Natsuro.
Kisuke felt a twinge of regret. Natsuro being punished to reside in the Human World meant he would spend most of his time here, perfect for Kisuke's purposes, but his strength…
With that thought, Kisuke sighed. No one would have guessed that the thing could be created, yet not destroyed.
Even now, he had a method in mind, but couldn't find a suitable candidate.
Knock, knock!
The door of the Urahara Shop was rapped on again.
Natsuro had returned.
"Oh my, a distinguished guest! Over the past few days, I've prepared an excellent gigai for you, as well as a carefully selected house that meets your requirements," Kisuke said.
The regret he'd felt earlier was suddenly nowhere to be found, he now looked like a shopkeeper ready to make a sale.
"Appreciate the trouble," Natsuro said with a nod, unaware of what Kisuke had been thinking.
Soon after, Natsuro entered the gigai. He clenched his fist experimentally, then shook his head, the body's tolerance was poor. Without going all out, just a little extra reiatsu would probably cause it to collapse.
"This is the high-quality gigai you mentioned?" Natsuro shot Kisuke a sidelong glance, as if to say don't try to fool me.
"That's right. It's not that the gigai is low-quality, it's that you're too strong. There's simply no gigai that can match your level of power," Kisuke replied.
"I suppose that's true," Natsuro nodded.
From those words, he understood Kisuke had already investigated him. But since he'd never planned to hide his strength, it didn't bother him.
"In that case, shall we go see the house?" Kisuke asked.
"Sure," Natsuro agreed. Soon, led by Kisuke, he arrived at a house nestled between mountains and water. The location was a bit remote, but it was perfectly quiet.
It was exactly what he had asked for.
Seeing it, he nodded in satisfaction, he had to admit Kisuke's efficiency and quality of work were excellent.
"Are you satisfied?" Kisuke asked.
"Very. There's just one more thing," Natsuro suddenly said.
"And what would that be?" Kisuke raised an eyebrow, sensing it might not be something simple.
"What's the price to spar with all of you? Former 12th Division Captain Kisuke Urahara, former 2nd Division Captain Yoruichi Shihōin, and former Grand Kidō Chief Tessai Tsukabishi." Natsuro grinned.
Kisuke fell silent for a moment before smiling wryly, he had already suspected this.
Anyone who could fight that man from the 11th Division wouldn't be the type to shy away from battle. Sure enough, this one was also a combat fanatic.
"Sorry, but our shop doesn't currently offer that kind of service," Kisuke replied after some thought, deciding it would be too much trouble to accept.
"Is that so? That's a pity. Still, I'll be dropping by your shop often," Natsuro said with a smile.
Kisuke's face turned helpless, he had the distinct feeling his peaceful life was about to come to an end…
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