"So strong…"
"Ukitake… this level of spiritual pressure already surpasses us, doesn't it?"
Inside the 8th Division's quarters.
Under the wide-brimmed hat, clad in a pink flowered haori, Kyōraku Shunsui felt the overwhelming surge of reiatsu spilling from the video, shaking the very air with a constant roar.
The leisurely face that just moments ago had been sipping tea while watching the footage… instantly changed.
His brows furrowed.
His eyes brimmed with wariness.
Across from him, his longtime friend—the 13th Division Captain, Ukitake Jūshirō—responded:
"Yes…"
"This level of reiatsu… in all of the Gotei 13, only the Head Captain himself could face it without flinching."
Perhaps due to his long illness, Ukitake's pale face grew even whiter, like a sheet of paper. His expression became grave.
Clearly, the reiatsu was making him feel unwell.
Worse yet, he could sense an ominous threat within it.
"Look carefully!"
"Surrounding that mysterious giant, there are numerous figures standing off against him from every direction…"
"Those people… could they be us in the future?"
Shunsui remembered clearly.
When the footage first appeared, the voice said: 'Shinigami Captains!'
The thought made him suck in a sharp breath.
More than ten captains ganging up on one enemy?
Such a thing…
First, it was disgraceful and beneath their pride.
Second, Shunsui believed not a single captain would willingly do it.
And yet!
In the past thousand years, nothing like this had ever happened.
It was simply unbelievable!
"I'm not sure…" Ukitake shook his head, staring at the screen in suspicion. "But I keep feeling like more than half of those tiny silhouettes… they look unfamiliar, and yet somehow familiar. Almost as if we encountered them long ago…"
His instincts told him…
In this terrifying battle, those present weren't just the current captains.
There would also be others—perhaps reinforcements.
At the same time.
In the outskirts of Karakura Town.
Inside a warehouse that looked abandoned from the outside…
"Hiyori…"
"Kensei…"
"Look! At the lower left corner of the screen… those shadows, don't they look exactly like us?!"
Inside the warehouse.
In an open area, a giant translucent screen loomed.
Standing before it, freckles across her face, twin pigtails bouncing—Sarugaki Hiyori.
She squinted, examined the footage closely…
And nearly fell flat on her face.
Yes.
She had just spotted them.
Among the silhouettes on the screen were not only herself, but the other members of the Visoreds as well.
Such absurdity…
She screamed on instinct.
"What?"
"No way…"
"We're there too?!"
Behind her, Hirako Shinji tilted his head forward.
His bowl-cut blonde hair shifted as his eyes widened to their limits.
It was as if he had seen something horrifying.
His jaw dropped. "Damn! Am I hallucinating? Not only are we there… but we're wearing shihakushō and captain's haori too!"
For a moment…
Shinji was utterly dumbstruck.
He stood frozen, as though doubting his entire existence.
After all…
Ever since that day.
The day they were framed in Aizen's plot, nearly executed…
If not for Yoruichi and Urahara Kisuke saving them, they would have died.
From then on…
They abandoned the title of "Shinigami," swore never to return, never to reconcile with the Gotei 13.
And now?
The future showed them back in Soul Society.
Wearing shihakushō.
Draped in captain's haori.
This shattered Shinji's very worldview.
His brain was paralyzed by shock, unable to form words.
"No way…"
Nearby, the hot-tempered Muguruma Kensei clenched his fists.
Though equally shaken, his dominant feeling was rage:
"So you're telling me… in that future footage, we'll be helping Kuchiki Byakuya, fighting side by side against that giant?"
"That's what side characters do!"
"Why the hell should we?!"
His voice trembled, fists tightening.
Back then…
They had been betrayed and destroyed by the Shinigami.
And now they were supposed to crawl back… and fight as their dogs?
Damn it!
That was worse than death!
In that instant.
The entire Visored group broke down.
Captains once strong and proud.
Each had believed their Zanpakutō no weaker than Senbonzakura. They had all been sure they would be ranked in the future videos, rising as protagonists.
But instead…
This ridiculous turn of events.
It was worse than death.
(End of Chapter)
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[[email protected]/Zukooo]
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