Chapter 340: That Man Has Arrived!
Yamamoto was not happy.
Ever since the spatial bubble incident, his foolish disciple had vanished without a trace.
Based on his understanding of Satoru, the boy had most likely gone to the Living World to investigate.
The problem was, where were the findings from his investigation?
Why hadn't he sent any information back?
That damn brat, did he even remember he had a master?
Filled with displeasure, he summoned his vice-captain.
"Chōjirō, send someone to the Living World to confirm whether that brat is dead or not."
"Yes, I shall immediately dispatch someone to verify Captain Mikami's safety!"
Sasakibe bowed and, in the process, translated Yamamoto's words appropriately.
Before Yamamoto could erupt in anger, he quickly left the room.
Watching Sasakibe depart, Yamamoto clicked his tongue in annoyance.
He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but in recent years, it felt like even his most loyal subordinates and disciples were starting to develop rebellious streaks.
Even Ukitake, who used to be so sensible, was now showing signs of becoming like Satoru.
If this continued, the Seireitei was doomed!
Shaking his head repeatedly, he walked to the tea table and used Ryūjin Jakka to boil water for tea.
After discarding the first infusion, Yamamoto picked up the second brew.
Just then, Sasakibe suddenly returned using Flash Step.
Seeing his vice-captain, Yamamoto was puzzled.
"Why are you back so soon?"
"Reporting, Lord Genryūsai, Captain Mikami had someone waiting at the Eleventh Division's entrance."
"That Shinigami's orders were to hand over the intelligence if the First Division sent someone to inquire."
"If no one came to ask, they should carry on with their duties as usual."
"?"
Yamamoto was baffled.
This was the first time he'd heard of intelligence that required someone to specifically go and ask for it.
Shouldn't this have been reported to him immediately?!
Sasakibe coughed lightly:
"The intelligence content is as follows."
"Captain Mikami went to the Living World and discovered..."
Under Yamamoto's gaze, he reported everything Satoru had encountered over the past few days.
After hearing it, Yamamoto felt like he'd been through the wringer.
The old man opened his eyes wide in surprise:
"The Ryūdōji family... that clan has actually survived until today?"
"Truly astonishing," Sasakibe chimed in.
After a brief moment of surprise, Yamamoto suddenly realized something.
"Wait... such an important matter, and that wretched brat actually concealed it without reporting?"
Sasakibe thought for a moment, then lowered his voice:
"Lord Genryūsai, the form taken by Tani Shinju is that of a young girl."
"Captain Mikami was probably buying time for that girl, which is why..."
"Damn brat!!"
Yamamoto erupted in fury, slamming the table with a loud crack.
"This matter concerns the safety of both the Soul Society and the Living World—how can he treat it so frivolously?"
"Chōjirō, notify the Kidō Corps! Prepare the Kidō Cannon for immediate deployment!"
"Yes."
Chōjirō Sasakibe nodded and left.
While exiting the First Division barracks, he found a squad member and gave some instructions.
Soon, the squad member hurried off toward the Second Division's direction.
...
...
"Hah!!!"
Satoru stood in the middle of the road and suddenly let out a loud shout.
However, the passersby showed no reaction to this.
Satoru, who wasn't wearing a Gigai, was like air to them—neither visible nor tangible.
The sounds he made couldn't reach their ears either.
But the two girls eating ice cream were startled and turned to look in his direction.
Yet, the spot where the loud noise had just come from was completely empty.
"What's going on?"
"I don't know... I clearly heard someone shouting here..."
"Me too! Damn, could it be something unclean?"
The twin-tailed girl frowned, scanned the area once more, and after confirming there was nothing, she grabbed the braided girl's hand and quickly left.
On a rooftop not far away, Satoru crouched at the edge, shaking his head with amusement.
Akane Shizuku landed beside him, looking at the two girls with some surprise.
"They could actually hear your voice? Their spiritual power potential is quite remarkable."
"Hmph, of course."
Satoru wore a proud expression. "One of them used to be my lover, so it's no surprise she has such abilities."
Hearing this, Akane was momentarily stunned.
She glanced at the retreating figures of the two girls.
Then her face darkened as she distanced herself from Satoru.
"?"
Satoru looked at her curiously.
Akane regarded him as if he were something filthy, her face full of disgust:
"Those two girls are both human, right?"
"Judging by their current appearance, they're only about fourteen or fifteen... and you said one of them was your former lover?"
"You actually could... could do that with such young children? I've really misjudged you!"
Satoru thought for a few seconds.
Then he nodded: "My tastes are indeed quite broad. Look, you've only been born for a few days, but I wouldn't say no."
"Go die!"
Akane gritted her teeth in anger.
Satoru laughed heartily and stood up.
Seeing that he didn't seem inclined to approach the girls again, Akane asked curiously, "We're just leaving like this?"
"Yeah." Satoru nodded. "They have their own lives, their own futures."
"As humans, they should enjoy human life and human youth."
"As a Shinigami, if I suddenly appeared and disrupted their lives, wouldn't that be completely insensitive?"
Hearing this, Akane nodded repeatedly.
Although this guy's fighting style was rough, he could be quite gentle in everyday matters.
Just as she was thinking this, Satoru continued:
"At the very least, we should wait until they're in high school before bothering them."
"..."
Akane sighed.
She took back her previous thought—there wasn't a single trace of gentleness in this guy.
From now on, she'd have to be careful to protect herself while staying with him.
Otherwise, she might someday be completely devoured by him through some scheme.
Thinking this, Akane pursed her lips.
Could she really become a Shinigami in the Soul Society as Satoru said?
Her very existence could threaten the safety of both the real world and the Soul Society. Faced with such a dangerous entity, would the Soul Society really sit back and do nothing?
More immediately, just getting past Yanlong would be difficult enough.
According to Sōsuke Aizen, the Howling Gorge was completely under Ryudoji Yanlong's control.
Although Yanlong's true power was far inferior to Satoru's, with the addition of his personal dimension, the outcome of any confrontation remained uncertain.
Amid these heavy concerns, two days passed in the blink of an eye.
On the morning of the third day, Satoru turned on his computer and began intensely searching for himself online, wanting to compare which advertisement had more influence—his or Ulquiorra's.
Let's check Niconico first.
As the largest bullet comment interactive website in the Living World, Niconico boasts over a billion loyal users.
The vast majority of them are young people, precisely the target audience for LSP4.
By gauging the reactions on this site, he could basically determine whether he or Ulquiorra was stronger!
Chuckling with a strange laugh, Satoru's fingers flew across the keyboard as he typed "LSP4 advertisement."
Suddenly, his phone rang from his pocket.
Satoru frowned and pulled out his phone.
Seeing the name on the screen, he answered the call:
"Sōsuke?"
"Satoru, prepare for battle."
"Battle? With whom? Ryudoji Yanlong?"
"No, with the Kidō Corps."
"?"
Before Satoru could voice his confusion, Aizen explained to him in a calm tone, though slightly faster than usual:
"I plan to take the entirety of Kakaku with me and turn it into a subsidiary world of Hueco Mundo."
"Using the Living World's terminology, it would be like turning Kakaku into a satellite of Hueco Mundo."
"I need one more day to complete this operation."
"Unfortunately, the Captain-Commander doesn't seem willing to wait any longer."
"These past few days, due to Kakaku's existence, there has been significant particle exchange between the Soul Society and the Living World, causing some serious interference."
"The high concentration of Reishi has awakened spiritual awareness in many people in the Living World."
"If this continues, no one knows how much more damage Kakaku might cause."
"To prevent the damage from escalating, the Captain-Commander has ordered the Kidō Corps to prepare a spatial Kidō Cannon to blast Kakaku into fragments."
"Your mission is to buy time so I can relocate Kakaku."
Satoru fell into deep thought.
Kakaku's existence would trigger disasters and cause unpredictable changes in the Living World.
Yamamoto wanted to destroy Kakaku to prevent catastrophe.
Meanwhile, Aizen, for his own selfish desires, was asking him to stop Yamamoto.
If he went through with this, wouldn't he be aiding and abetting evil? Helping a tyrant do his wicked deeds?
That Sōsuke... thinking he could make him go against his conscience? Absolutely impossible!
Satoru snorted coldly and stood up.
"Understood. Leave it to me."
"Good, go ahead."
Aizen hung up the phone and continued operating the control panel before him.
Indeed, even when he made no attempt to hide anything and showed Satoru his ugliest side, this guy would unhesitatingly choose to stand by him.
He curled his lips upward, feeling quite pleased.
The little notebook recording Satoru's various misdeeds could be temporarily shelved.
...
...
Watching Satoru stand up, Akane Shizuku looked at him in surprise.
"You're going to stop the Seireitei?"
Inside her body were many soul fragments of Shinigami.
Some even belonged to former seated officers.
She had some understanding of the Seireitei's power, the Kidō Corps' strength, and how terrifying Old Man Yamamoto was.
Hearing that Satoru intended to recklessly challenge the entire Kidō Corps alone, she couldn't help but feel anxious.
"When prepared, the Kidō Corps can combine everyone's power to launch incredibly fearsome attacks!"
"Even if you're a Captain, you can't possibly defeat them!"
Satoru rolled his neck back and forth, then turned to her with a smile.
"What a coincidence."
"I, Mikami Satoru, have spent my entire life specializing in breaking through all kinds of impossibilities!"
As his words faded, he flashed and disappeared from the room.
Akane Shizuku slapped her forehead in frustration.
Without hesitation, she immediately abandoned her Gigai and chased after Satoru.
By now, the sky above Karakura Town had completely transformed.
What should have been clear and boundless was now filled with dark clouds.
Within the cloud layer, a massive vortex slowly rotated.
Even ordinary people could now see this terrifying anomaly.
Countless people gathered along the riverbanks, standing on the embankments and looking up at the sky.
Through the vortex in the sky, they could see a world that resembled ancient Japan.
There, many people wearing black kimono were running about busily.
Then, a massive black cannon slowly rose, aiming directly at them.
Those with stronger spiritual senses couldn't help trembling at the sight of the black cannon, feeling as if disaster was imminent.
In the crowd, two young girls nervously looked up at this unbelievable scene.
"Megumi, what is that... it looks terrifying..."
"I don't know, but it definitely doesn't look fake."
The pink-haired girl with twin tails gritted her teeth and tightly grasped the hand of the girl with braided hair beside her.
For a moment, countless apocalyptic scenes from manga and novels flashed through her mind.
Thinking about what might happen next, she broke out in a cold sweat.
No matter what, she would definitely protect the person beside her!
Within the vortex, the mirage-like scene became increasingly clear.
Helicopters dispatched by television stations had already begun circling the area for live coverage.
"Dear viewers, I'm currently above Karakura Town..."
"Yes, as you can see, the illusion before us doesn't belong to any existing location—it's like an ancient scene transcending time and space..."
"What are those people across trying to do? No one knows yet..."
Whoosh!
Shiba Isshin arrived at the rooftop of a building using Flash Step.
Close behind him were an orange-haired girl in a JK uniform and Ishida Ryūken in a suit with a serious expression.
Looking at the scene within the massive vortex in the sky, Shiba Isshin was momentarily stunned.
Then his eyes widened.
"Spatial Demon Arts Cannon?!"
"Why has Seireitei brought out such a devastating weapon?"
Ishida Ryūken frowned deeply.
"Even through the Dangai, I can feel the power of that weapon..."
"Currently, the connection between Karakura Town and Soul Society is unprecedentedly strong. If the Kidō Cannon's output has any issues, the blast could easily affect Karakura!"
Hearing this, the orange-haired girl showed a shocked expression.
"Ryūken, what should we do? Is there anything we can do?"
Ishida Ryūken shook his head.
Neither the Valley of Screams nor the Kidō Corps were things a mere Quincy like him could interfere with.
Not even with Shiba Isshin's help!
The girl turned to look at Shiba Isshin.
She saw him smile, appearing not particularly worried.
"Don't worry, Masaki."
"It's just an attack capable of destroying a small world. Before that man, it's nothing at all."
Hearing this, the girl called Masaki showed a confused expression.
"That man?"
"Hehe, here he comes now."
At some point, a figure had appeared in the sky.
Satoru stood in midair.
Beneath the dark clouds, his white Captain's Haori fluttered violently in the fierce wind like a banner.
Everyone with spiritual sense showed astonished expressions at the sudden appearance of this man.
A person... flying in the sky?
Under everyone's gaze, Satoru grinned.
"The hero who saves the world!"
"Satoru!"
"Has arrived!!!"