Tōsen Kaname approached in complete silence.
No one noticed him.
Like a ghost, a shadow, or a beam of moonlight—utterly soundless.
He walked up behind Naruto, raising his sword high.
Inside the inner world, the Nine-Tails bared its fangs.
It could sense a presence approaching—not particularly strong, but radiating raw, unfiltered malice.
The sword carried a chaotic and jumbled energy, similar to that of the ones Naruto was currently battling.
Naruto remained unaware.
"Asura" enveloped the Nine-Tails, prompting it to speak out: "Kid, behind you! Be careful!"
Almost instantly.
Naruto acted on instinct, trusting the warning without question—he reached behind him with both hands.
He abandoned the chant.
"Bakudō #39: Enkōsen (Round Lock Fan)"
A spinning golden disc appeared between his palms.
The sword struck it with a metallic clang and was deflected with a jarring rebound.
Naruto turned around.
He saw nothing—felt nothing.
What just happened?
Where did the attack come from?
Who was responsible?
Only the shock feedback from his own spiritual energy confirmed the Nine-Tails' warning was indeed real.
"What was that?" Naruto asked the Nine-Tails.
The Nine-Tails snarled, "Kid, you really didn't sense it?"
Naruto shook his head in silence, conveying denial.
His gaze grew deeper.
An attacker he couldn't sense or see...
Could it be...
The culprit behind the disappearing souls in Rukongai? The one who reduced the captains and lieutenants to their current state?
So silent.
No wonder even captains fell victim.
"Behind, right side," the Nine-Tails hesitated but gave another warning.
Naruto obeyed.
His Adamantine Sealing Chains continued to suppress Kensei Muguruma and Shinji Hirako.
Yet he split off two arms, brandished a blade, and cast a spell in the indicated direction.
Tōsen tried to evade.
The Nine-Tails gave another shout of warning.
In the woods—
Gin Ichimaru spoke with his usual sly grin, his voice sounding like a complaint, though it was hard to discern emotion beneath his sarcastic tone: "Oh no, how unfortunate."
"He seems to have noticed Tōsen."
"Could it be that the Third Seat Uzumaki has already unraveled Aizen-sama's Zanpakutō?"
Aizen Sōsuke remained silent, still smiling as he watched Naruto.
His Zanpakutō's name was Kyōka Suigetsu.
Its true ability was not what had been shown at Shin'ō Academy.
The "water-flow" type was just a façade for outsiders.
Its true power was complete hypnosis.
Anyone who had seen the sword's Shikai release with their own eyes—would have all five senses, even their perception of spiritual pressure, manipulated by Aizen Sōsuke. They would become his puppets, losing the ability to distinguish reality.
It was powerful.
But even such power had a flaw.
No matter how close to "perfection" something may be, it is still not perfect.
If someone had not seen the Shikai release with their own eyes...
They would not fall under Kyōka Suigetsu's hypnosis.
Aizen shifted his gaze toward the effortlessly dodging "Tōsen Kaname" under Naruto's assault.
This subordinate of his—was someone who could escape Kyōka Suigetsu's hypnosis.
Not because he was strong.
But because he was blind.
He couldn't see anything at all.
Even though he was blind in sight, the rest of his senses were just as sharp, if not sharper, than an average person's.
"Gin, I thought you'd understand something, staying by my side this long," Aizen said softly. "What the eyes see is not necessarily the truth."
"Uzumaki-kun hasn't seen through my ability."
"His attack was so slow even Tōsen could dodge it."
"It's not Naruto himself—but something inside his body that hasn't seen my Shikai."
Something sealed within Naruto...
What could it be?
Aizen adjusted his glasses with a slight push.
Gin was about to say something more—
When he saw Aizen suddenly look up toward the left.
He followed his gaze.
A wave of spiritual pressure was rushing toward them.
"A guest, uninvited," Aizen said softly.
But as the figures landed—
Aizen gazed at one of the black-cloaked individuals and smiled faintly.
So it wasn't an uninvited guest after all.
As expected of the captain of the Twelfth Division.
To have developed such a device that even disrupted his own senses.
Naruto turned, his face lighting up with joy.
This spiritual pressure belonged to someone familiar—someone he trusted deeply.
Great Kidō Chief, Hachigen Ushōda.
And when he saw the figure beside him—who he couldn't sense at all but was clearly visible beneath a black cloak—he was even more elated.
"Great Kidō Chief Ushōda!"
And the unmistakable:
"Captain Urahara!"
Urahara Kisuke removed his hood, his eyes sweeping over those who were either restrained or unconscious. His expression turned to shock: "What happened to them?"
Naruto didn't answer the question, instead gave a warning: "Be careful! There are enemies around us that are invisible and undetectable!"
Both newcomers immediately became alert.
In the woods—
Aizen spoke softly: "Tōsen, return."
His voice carried.
"Aizen-sama, I can—" Tōsen began to reply.
"I already told you..." Aizen's voice grew even softer, "Return."
Tōsen paled, immediately flash-stepping back to Aizen's side: "Yes, please forgive my earlier presumptuousness."
Aizen narrowed his eyes as he looked ahead.
Naruto was the main course.
Urahara Kisuke—that was the second course.
The Nine-Tails said no more.
Naruto asked.
The Nine-Tails grinned: "Kid, that guy ran away."
Naruto relayed this information to the two who had just arrived.
"An enemy that cannot be seen or sensed—is that the culprit behind their Hollowfication?" Urahara frowned.
Sparse forest, dim moonlight.
Eight people in Hollow masks had lost their sanity.
These things made his heart race.
He realized he was not the only one conducting "that kind" of research.
"Captain Urahara knows what happened to them?" Naruto's voice raised a pitch, "Then that means you can save them, right?"
"They've already undergone these changes," Urahara nodded, though his tone was grim. "If we treat them here, we lack the proper conditions. But if we return to the division barracks—"
Everyone could hear the disappointment in his words.
Time, environment, equipment...
None of it was available here.
"Then as long as they can maintain this state, and we get them to Twelfth Division—" Hachigen Ushōda spoke up.
"With the right equipment, they can be saved, right?"
Urahara was surprised: "Maintain this state?"
But he didn't deny the possibility.
"Can that even be done?" Naruto asked, equally surprised.
Hachigen nodded solemnly and raised his hands: "I will now perform two forbidden techniques."
"I ask that Captain Urahara and Third Seat Uzumaki—"
"Temporarily act as if you neither see nor hear anything."
"As for how they return to Twelfth Division, I ask that Third Seat Uzumaki take full responsibility before the Captain-Commander."
Naruto didn't hesitate: "Yes, no problem."
Spiritual pressure surged from the great Kidō master.
The spell array unfolded.
Time and space rippled as they vanished.
In the woods—
"The feast fled," Gin said softly.
Inside, he felt something heavy settle.
Aizen shook his head: "Gin, Tōsen. Let's return."
"Aizen-sama, you're just going to let them go?" Gin followed behind.
Aizen looked up: "People think flowers blooming on the edge of cliffs are the most beautiful."
"Because people will stop and admire them from the cliffside."
"But they're not like the flowers themselves, unafraid to take a step toward the sky."
"Don't you think Naruto is that kind of flower—especially beautiful?"
(End of Chapter)