"Do you still remember Miss Kakyō from back then?"
Only then did Kisuke Urahara speak in a low voice. "Back then, in order to get close to Miss Kakyō, the Tsunayashiro Clan actually had a family member marry her. For the self-important Tsunayashiro Clan, that was an enormous humiliation."
"That's true." Yoruichi recalled the Tsunayashiro Clan's actions and couldn't help mocking them. "Those people treat anyone outside the nobility like trash. Forget ordinary Shinigami—even lower-ranked nobles are trash in their eyes."
"To make them treat someone like a person, you'd at least have to be a high-ranking noble."
"Indeed," Kisuke Urahara agreed. "Don't you think this time feels similar?"
"How is this similar?" Yoruichi complained. "The Kamado Clan is already a subordinate house of the Tsunayashiro Clan. Isn't it normal for the main family to order them around?"
"So, based on that alone, I could only be about thirty percent sure," Kisuke Urahara said. "But combining it with his own experiences and… his conversation with Aizen, I can basically confirm…"
"Even if Yoshio's soul doesn't contain soul king fragments, at least the Tsunayashiro Clan and Aizen both believe it does."
"And it might not be just an ordinary, simple fragment."
Kisuke Urahara's gaze grew deeper.
If it were only an ordinary fragment, the Tsunayashiro Clan might indeed take action, but Aizen probably wouldn't 'value' it this much.
"I don't get either of you," Yoruichi sighed at last after listening to Kisuke Urahara.
"Forget it, do as you wish. What do you plan to do with Yoshio Kamado?"
"Monitor him for now," Kisuke Urahara said with a wry smile. "I'm afraid Aizen's attitude toward Yoshio is also 'observe.' If we make a move on him, Aizen won't let us off easily."
"Do you want me to go? But my identity might be recognized by him."
At this, Yoruichi became even more puzzled.
"How did he notice me?"
Yoruichi's transformation into a black cat was a secret technique of the Shihoin clan; under normal circumstances, no one would discover it.
But as soon as she appeared near Yoshio, that guy picked her up.
"I'm not the Almighty," Kisuke Urahara said with a wry smile. "How would I know something like that?"
In fact, he himself had been discovered.
If Yoshio could detect Yoruichi by sensing spiritual pressure, then what about him?
He had used a cloak that could conceal spiritual pressure and had layered some invisible Kido over it.
With it on, he was basically invisible; no one would notice him.
Yet when he walked over, Yoshio spotted him at a glance.
Kisuke Urahara had confidence in his inventions, of course.
In fact, it was precisely Yoshio's behavior that made Kisuke Urahara believe his earlier hypothesis even more.
He became more convinced that Yoshio's soul contained a portion of the Soul King.
Because among the Soul King's powers, the most renowned is the legendary Soul King's eye, which can see through everything.
He didn't know Yoshio's objective, nor what Aizen intended to use Yoshio for, but he knew Yoshio would definitely be an important figure in the future and had to be monitored.
At the very least, he needed to be monitored in the Human World.
"Don't worry. Even if Mr. Yoshio notices you next time, he probably won't say anything."
Kisuke Urahara said this.
…
Indeed, as Urahara said, Yoruichi subsequently watched Yoshio for three days, and during those three days, Yoshio didn't expose Yoruichi again.
And what Yoshio did over those three days left Yoruichi somewhat puzzled.
After leaving, Yoshio didn't do anything special. After switching into a gigai, he began roaming around Karakura Town, completely unlike someone on a covert mission.
And that day, Yoshio arrived once more at the Ishida Clan's gate.
He slipped in with ease.
At the fifth training ground, Yoshio sat in a tree, watching Ishida Soken training earnestly below.
He wasn't sure of Ishida Soken's age at the moment, but it felt like he hadn't reached adulthood.
Compared to him—a man in his fifties—there was no doubt Ishida Soken was still a "kid."
The greatest advantage of being a Shinigami is…
Longevity.
For someone like Yoshio, who feared death, this was simply wonderful.
In other stories, the longevity people might spend half their lives chasing was almost within his grasp.
All Yoshio needed to do was strengthen his soul, and his lifespan would increase.
If he were like Yamamoto, living three or four thousand years wouldn't be a problem.
Orochimaru next door would be crying with envy!
In a few decades, Ishida Soken would become an old man, while he would be almost unchanged.
Yoshio shook his head. Come to think of it, the Quincy in the Wandenreich were different—they were all monsters who had lived for hundreds or even thousands of years, but because they remained in a reishi state within the Soul Society, they showed no signs of aging. Humans, with flesh and blood, inevitably suffer from aging.
Yoshio felt like a poet now, a melancholy slowly rising in his heart.
He shook his head, then jumped straight down from the tree.
He landed right in front of Ishida Soken startling him.
He immediately fell back onto the ground. Looking at the suddenly descended Yoshio, he asked in surprise, "Who… who are you?"
Yoshio scratched his head and said with some "confusion," "Strange, where is this?"
Then he looked at Ishida Soken and said, "You… are also a Quincy?"
"Huh?" Ishida Soken asked in surprise. "Of course I'm a Quincy. My name is Ishida Soken. Who are you?"
"Me? I'm Kurosaki Kamado, also a Quincy, from the Kurosaki clan. I've heard of your Ishida Clan—it's a rare pureblood line, right?" Yoshio clicked his tongue.
Right—he had never intended to befriend Quincy as a Shinigami.
If he wanted to befriend a Quincy, then naturally he had to be a Quincy himself.
But this method would only work in front of Ishida Soken.
First, Ishida Soken was still young; he wouldn't be able to verify whether Yoshio was a Quincy right now.
Second, Ishida Soken's Soul Ability was ["Heir to the Quincy."] As long as he gained his favor—even just sixty points—he could use Quincy abilities once in front of the Ishida Clan.
In this way, his identity would basically be established.
Thus, when Ishida Soken drew his bow and demanded that Yoshio show his own bow, he merely sighed.
"Sorry, I used the Quincy's Final Form and completely lost my Quincy powers."
"I… am no longer a Quincy."