"So, saving someone means doing that kind of thing?" Natsuro raised an eyebrow, wearing the expression of someone saying I don't read much, but don't try to fool me.
"Of course." Kisuke Urahara chuckled softly, pressed down the brim of his hat, and said,
"Natsuro, you should know, the opposite of a human is a Hollow. And naturally, the opposite of a Quincy is a Shinigami!"
"I honestly didn't know that before." Natsuro was a little speechless. He knew the opposite of a human was a Hollow, but since he didn't know much about Quincies, he naturally didn't know this fact.
"Well, now you do." Urahara laughed it off.
"And there's one more troublesome thing," Urahara added, "Hollow power is the most toxic poison to a Quincy. That's why that girl is so weak."
"Poison, huh? So that's why Quincies are so obsessed with completely wiping out Hollows?" Natsuro keenly sensed that something about this didn't quite add up.
"Perhaps." Urahara nodded slightly, neither confirming nor denying.
Because… there were still too many things that didn't make sense. Did the other side really not understand the balance of this world? Even if it is poison, compared to the consequences of the world's balance being broken and collapsing, is it really that important?
"Tsk." Natsuro also felt that there might be some secret hidden here. He glanced toward a certain room, from which faint, suggestive sounds drifted to his ears.
"Ahem, let's talk outside." Urahara felt a bit embarrassed; his shop's soundproofing really wasn't great.
Natsuro had no habit of eavesdropping, so he naturally agreed.
"So, Isshin Shiba plans to use his Shinigami powers to suppress the Hollow's power?" Natsuro asked.
"Yes." Urahara sighed slightly.
"That Hollow is no weakling, and if he has to constantly suppress it, Isshin will likely lose his Shinigami powers, unless one day that Hollow no longer needs his power to keep it suppressed." Natsuro spoke as if asking, yet also as if stating a fact.
"As expected, your sense for these matters is sharp." Urahara was surprised. This guy had never done research in this area, yet he could see through it right away.
Natsuro neither confirmed nor denied the compliment, but asked with some surprise, "Isshin never once hesitated to give up his powers?"
"To say he didn't hesitate would be impossible. But he once said, don't let your future self feel regret and remorse, so you have to do what must be done today." Urahara sighed again, then continued:
"That girl had been trying to save him when the Hollow power took advantage of her weakness. So in Isshin's mind, he had to save her."
"I see." Natsuro nodded, but then frowned slightly. "That Hollow… it's strong, but not to the point of being able to kill Isshin, right?"
"Who knows?" This time, Urahara didn't answer directly, but responded with a question of his own, and the topic came to an end.
Clearly, there was still a hidden side to this matter. Natsuro realized as much, but he didn't really care, as long as it didn't affect him.
He also glanced again toward the room where "that" was still going on, and couldn't help but sigh.
If it were him… would he give up his own power?
After a moment, Natsuro chuckled. If you're unsure, then just get rid of the person who caused the problem, if the problem doesn't exist, there's nothing to worry about.
"That gigai must be one of your special designs, right?"
When Natsuro first saw Isshin, he already felt something was off. In his perception, the other man was entirely human. Normally, even if a Shinigami used a gigai, they were still a Shinigami, not like Isshin now.
"Of course. Looks good, doesn't it?" Urahara grinned.
"Yeah." Natsuro looked at Urahara in mild amazement. As expected of the former captain of the Research Division, his technology was way ahead of its time.
"By the way, you really don't want to return to the Soul Society?" Urahara asked.
During Natsuro's stay in the Human World, Karakura Town had been safer than ever before. Even though he rarely used his pure spiritual form, his power alone maintained absolute dominance.
Honestly, Urahara rather hoped Natsuro would stay, but he didn't quite understand why he refused to return. Wouldn't going back to the Soul Society be better?
"Go back just to be controlled by Central 46?" Natsuro countered.
"So that's the reason." Urahara immediately understood and nodded.
"I don't like being controlled. This time I can let it slide, but next time, it won't be so simple…" Natsuro smiled faintly. In truth, this time he had let it go mostly for the Captain-Commander's sake. Otherwise…
"Hey hey, that sounds a bit scary." Urahara tapped Natsuro with his fan.
"Tsk, you still worry about Central 46? Aren't you technically still a fugitive from the Soul Society?" Natsuro shot back.
"Heh." Urahara didn't answer.
Indeed, he was a fugitive. But in the Human World, even Yamamoto himself didn't want to resort to force. After all, if a captain-level combatant went all out, the destruction would be enormous.
Even a research-type captain like Urahara was no exception!
The Captain-Commander had likely tried other means to apprehend him, but with Urahara's brains, combined with Yoruichi's mobility and Tessai's mastery of all kidō…
Catching them was nearly impossible.
Over time, Urahara's activities in the Human World were tacitly accepted, he even set up a shop supplying goods to Shinigami who came to cleanse Hollows and guide souls.
Of course, not everyone knew of this shop, mostly the 13th Division, who often worked in the Human World. Natsuro had learned about it through them.
"By the way, why did you come here today?" Urahara suddenly asked.
"Obviously for you. Wanna spar?" Natsuro raised an eyebrow.
"Ahem." Urahara regretted asking. "Spare me. I'm really no good at straightforward battles."
Natsuro pouted, unsurprised by the answer.
He had actually come to find Tessai to discuss kidō, but happened to stumble onto this incident instead.
It wasn't strange that he hadn't noticed Isshin earlier. While his sensing ability was strong, it didn't constantly cover the entire city.
Not to mention, when Isshin was injured, it had happened in another city entirely.
Of course, even in another city, if Isshin had unleashed his bankai and spiritual pressure, he could have sensed it. But unfortunately…
Isshin clearly hadn't used his bankai. Natsuro didn't know why, probably because Isshin had been seriously injured at the time and couldn't use it.
Natsuro sighed. In this world, there were too many ways to block spiritual pressure detection. Even a single bakudō technique could prevent others from sensing what was inside.
Not to mention, he glanced at Urahara, with his technical skill, making a tool to block detection would be trivial.
So Natsuro's sensing wasn't invincible here, unlike in the Naruto world, where detecting chakra was almost unavoidable.
Yes, one could avoid detection by not using chakra at all, but that was often even more dangerous, so his detection had been nearly flawless there.
But in the Bleach world… no such luck.
After a while, Isshin finally walked out, face slightly flushed.
At this point, Urahara explained some things to him, like how he probably could never return to the Soul Society…
And that he would likely be considered a fugitive by the Seireitei, perhaps even implicating the entire Shiba clan…
Isshin sighed upon hearing this, but he had no regrets. He had to save the girl who was hurt trying to save him.
"So, Isshin, you'll probably need a new name to live in the Human World from now on," Urahara said.
"A new name, huh?" Isshin nodded, scratched his head, then his eyes lit up. "Then I'll be Isshin Kurosaki."
Urahara nodded, and Natsuro froze.
Isshin Kurosaki?!
Kurosaki?! If he remembered right, the protagonist of Bleach was named Ichigo Kurosaki…
At that moment, Natsuro studied Isshin, no, Isshin Kurosaki, and realized… this guy seemed to be Ichigo's dad!
So it all connected.
Natsuro glanced at the room again, the one that must contain Ichigo's mother.
"Tsk…"
He clicked his tongue. He hadn't expected to be involved in the events leading to the protagonist's birth.
If he had just stopped Isshin earlier… would that mean Ichigo would never be born?
But even knowing that, Natsuro wouldn't have interfered.
He remembered that Ichigo wasn't quite like other protagonists.
Other protagonists usually relied on hard work early on, only to suddenly "activate cheat mode" later…
But Ichigo Kurosaki… from the very start, it was as if the cheat was shoved right in the viewers' faces, almost afraid they wouldn't realize he clearly had an extraordinary background.
"A protagonist who's in cheat mode from the beginning? I wonder just how strong he'll get?" Natsuro smiled, with a trace of anticipation in his eyes.
And in fact, he could already guess a lot about Ichigo's "cheat."
From birth, the other guy probably possessed the powers of a human, a Quincy, a Shinigami, and a Hollow…
The human part might be negligible, but the others were nothing ordinary.
The girl in that room had once been a pure-blood Quincy, so Ichigo's bloodline would be impressive even on that front, and the Shinigami powers would be inherited from Isshin Kurosaki.
And Isshin was no ordinary Shinigami, but a captain of the Gotei 13, a man whose strength could be counted among the best of the captains.
Then there was the Hollow factor, one strong enough to force Isshin Kurosaki and that girl into this situation in the first place. That Hollow's power… was definitely not weak.
Such a mix of powers creating a protagonist who starts out overpowered… wasn't without reason.
However…
Natsuro glanced at Kisuke Urahara. Was Ichigo's birth really just an accident?
Even though another force had interfered in all this, was Urahara's hand in it completely absent?If Urahara hadn't been keeping close watch, how could he have appeared at the first possible moment to bring Isshin and that girl back?
He knew Urahara would later be one of the Shinigami helping the protagonist's group, otherwise, he might have thought the entire chain of events was orchestrated by Urahara himself.
Because the timing was simply too coincidental.
Even if it hadn't all been Urahara's plan, he had certainly gone with the flow and taken advantage of the situation.
Otherwise, he should have had the ability to stop it from happening in the first place, yet he hadn't…
While he was still mulling this over, Isshin suddenly seemed to realize something. He looked at Natsuro and blinked.
"Um… Vice-Captain Natsuro, you won't be reporting my situation to the Captain-Commander, will you?"
"I've got no interest in doing that. Relax." Natsuro replied casually.
At once, Isshin let out a breath of relief. He believed Natsuro wasn't the type to lie.
If that was the case, then he could go on living in the human world. As for how to live…
Now that Isshin had given his Shinigami powers to the girl named Masaki, he could no longer see Hollows, nor could he see Shinigami.
Natsuro and Urahara, although both Shinigami, were currently in gigai with physical bodies, otherwise Isshin wouldn't be able to see them either.
At this point, Isshin scratched his head. In his whole life, apart from combat training to kill Hollows, what survival skills did he actually have?
…Probably just the medical techniques he'd learned back in the Shin'ō Academy.
Those might be usable on humans, he supposed…
Rubbing the stubble on his chin, Isshin made up his mind.
"If you want, I can get a message to Squad 10 for you, in a way that they'll 'happen' to learn of it without realizing it came from me." Natsuro offered. He certainly wouldn't deliver the message directly.
After all, that would openly tie him to the vanished Isshin Kurosaki, but with his power, slipping a message through without being exposed would be easy.
"Squad 10, huh… There's nothing in particular I need to tell them. Our squad's Third Seat, Tōshirō Hitsugaya, while maybe not quite on your level, is a once-in-a-century talent. When he first joined our squad, he had already mastered bankai, and he's extremely serious and reliable. Perfect to be the next captain." Isshin thought aloud.
"I even told my vice-captain before, if a new captain were ever needed, Tōshirō would be the best candidate to succeed me as captain of Squad 10."
"So, no need to pass on any message. They'll handle everything fine."
"As long as you're sure." Natsuro nodded. He had heard of Tōshirō as well, he was indeed a genius.
"Either way… thanks." Isshin scratched his head.
Natsuro looked at him without saying anything more. He'd only offered to help because he respected the choice Isshin had made, nothing more.
After that, Isshin began discussing his future life with Urahara, things like opening a clinic, and needing Urahara's support to get it running…
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Currently on Chapter 483 - Power and Sacrifice