Azashiro Sōya had a dream.
In the dream, he had achieved his grand ideal. Using a special device, he erased all superfluous emotions from the humans in the World of the Living. The Hollows in Hueco Mundo dwindled one by one until the realm was completely empty.
From then on, not a single Hollow existed in the world.
But just after all this was accomplished, right as he prepared to retire after his success, the cycle of Reishi stopped, plunging the world into chaos.
Massive amounts of Reishi from the Soul Society flooded into the World of the Living, merging with Kishi, the fundamental matter that made up reality. They continuously converted back and forth until human souls began to collapse.
Meanwhile, deprived of Reishi, the souls in the Rukongai similarly disintegrated.
The destruction of the world was imminent.
In a panic, Azashiro Sōya jolted awake, only to be greeted by an identical apocalyptic scene.
The endless darkness was collapsing. The already fragmented ground completely caved in with a deafening roar. Massive, spiderweb-like fissures spread outward layer by layer, instantly reaching the very edges of the darkness.
Half of Muken was on the verge of collapse.
Intense agony recklessly devoured his sanity, twisting his facial features.
Only then did Azashiro Sōya realize his current condition.
Due to the collapse of the Reishi he had fused with, he had suffered a severe backlash and was forcibly stripped from his Reishi fusion state.
"You guys with 'Ken' in your names really messed with the wrong person this time, didn't you?"
A frivolous laugh rang in his ears. Azashiro Sōya struggled to lift his gaze, looking displeased at a figure that only he could see.
"..."
"Hah, I almost forgot. You've already been defeated by that kid, so now even the 'Ken' in your title has been stripped away. Should I call you Azashiro, or Sōya?"
Listening to Urozakuro's teasing laughter, Azashiro Sōya immediately felt a surge of irritation.
However, just as he was about to lash out, faint footsteps echoed from nearby. He looked up, and a hideous, demonic mask appeared before his eyes.
An undisguised, tyrannical aura washed over him. Caught off guard and already severely injured, Azashiro Sōya's vision went black, and he instantly lost consciousness.
Naraku Sora casually tossed a sealing Kidō at him with a backhand motion, completely immobilizing him first and foremost.
As far as he knew, although Azashiro Sōya could fuse with the Reiatsu of other Soul Reapers, the burden was immense, and the slightest misstep could result in a devastating backlash.
Under normal circumstances, it might still be possible, but in his current state, it was far too much of a stretch.
As for how to deal with him, he would have to see if Aizen had any countermeasures.
In terms of experimental value alone, he was still highly prized.
Today's harvest was quite bountiful.
Naraku Sora grinned, picking up the heavily injured and unconscious Azashiro Sōya, as well as Kuroda Ryōsuke, who had nearly been crushed to death by the shockwaves of the battle.
He turned and vanished into the crumbling darkness.
Urahara Kisuke and Kurotsuchi Mayuri felt that suffocating, terrifying Reiatsu, the word 'despair' written all over their faces.
Even though they were well aware of Naraku Sora's knack for causing trouble, and had even mentally prepared themselves before he entered Muken...
...when that extreme, destructive turbulence reached the outside world, they still couldn't help but fall into shock.
"Mr. Kurotsuchi, as his accomplices, do you think we'll make it to the other side alive?"
Urahara Kisuke muttered softly, gazing at the fissures above their heads and the crimson hue blanketing the entire sky.
Kurotsuchi Mayuri shook his head, a look of utter disgust on his face. "Even if I die, I refuse to die alongside you."
"?"
Although the commotion was now known to everyone, the two stubbornly remained at the exit, not taking the opportunity to distance themselves from the mess.
Even though Naraku Sora usually acted like his conscience had been fed to the dogs, picked on the weak while avoiding the strong, and treated everyone with arrogant disdain, he was undeniably a boss worth following.
Whether it was experiments or research, that guy always trusted them unconditionally.
This was also the main reason why others were willing to pledge their loyalty to him.
Just as the two were discussing how to bluff their way out of this, a scorching Reiatsu barged into their perception.
A figure arrived in the blink of an eye.
Yamamoto looked displeasedly at the two respectful men. Flames seemed to burn within his eyes, and the temperature of the surrounding air skyrocketed, continuously evaporating all moisture.
If he hadn't taken into account that Urahara Kisuke and Kurotsuchi Mayuri had indeed made significant contributions to the Soul Society, coupled with the fact that they were both subordinates highly valued by Naraku Sora...
...Ryūjin Jakka would have already slashed them down the moment he saw them standing at the entrance to Muken.
However, upon seeing these two, Yamamoto's initial worries dissipated by more than half. He simply asked in a foul mood:
"Is that brat inside?"
Urahara Kisuke and Kurotsuchi Mayuri exchanged a glance, then one shook his head while the other nodded.
"Is he in there or not?"
Yamamoto grew somewhat impatient.
There was another round of nodding and shaking heads, but this time, they reversed their actions.
Yamamoto took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to hack them to death on the spot. He simply stood at the exit, waiting alongside them.
It wasn't long before a familiar humming echoed from the vortex.
It was a harsh, discordant tune.
As the sound drew nearer, two "corpses" were tossed out of the vortex.
Yamamoto: "?"
Did that bastard disciple cause such a massive uproar just to secretly release sinners from Muken?
Was he planning to raise the banner of rebellion and completely betray the Soul Society?
Just as his anger flared, the upper half of a familiar figure poked out from the vortex, locking eyes perfectly with Yamamoto.
The air fell into a dead silence.
Naraku Sora fell silent for a moment, then, pretending he hadn't seen a thing, pulled his protruding body back inside.
Yamamoto took a deep breath. Without a word, he forcefully reached out, grabbed the certain someone who hadn't managed to escape in time, and violently yanked him out of Muken.
"Move. We're changing locations!"
With that, he dragged the stubbornly resisting Naraku Sora away, forcibly leaving the crumbling great underground prison.
"Lord Naraku truly is a good person."
Urahara Kisuke watched Naraku Sora, who had forcibly drawn all the aggro, with a face full of profound relief.
Watching the master and disciple depart, Kurotsuchi Mayuri curled his lip and mocked:
"While I know you mean well, could you at least wipe that smile off your face when you say that?"
"Am I smiling?" Urahara Kisuke reached up to touch the corner of his mouth.
Indeed, his grin was stretching from ear to ear.
It was purely a conditioned reflex; he harbored no other thoughts.
Because he had suffered under inhuman oppression for years, the moment he saw Naraku Sora run into bad luck, he couldn't quite control himself.
However, judging by the grave situation, he probably wouldn't end up in one.
"You bastard, are you trying to anger me to death?!"
At the Squad 1 barracks, Yamamoto's deafening roar echoed throughout the entire back mountain. His eyes were wide and glaring, looking as if he was ready to clean house right then and there.
"Treating my warnings like they go in one ear and out the other! Do you have any respect for the laws at all?!"
"Trespassing into Muken, secretly releasing sinners, and to top it all off, nearly destroying the Muken hell!"
"Any single one of these is enough to sentence you to execution!"
"Speak! What exactly are you trying to do, brat?"
Naraku Sora hung his head, looking completely deflated.
Wasn't it said that Muken had extremely high security, and even if someone went in and out dozens of times, they wouldn't be discovered?
So how come he went in just once and was caught red-handed by Old Man Yama?
If he remembered correctly, the battle between the First Kenpachi and the Current Kenpachi took place in Muken. The two fought to the death, yet no other Soul Reapers noticed a thing.
Not only that, but even the great enemy of the Soul Reapers, Yhwach, openly entered to pay a visit, ending up digging a hole for himself.
And he still wasn't discovered by anyone else.
So why didn't it work for him?
This was naked discrimination!
Seeing Yamamoto's gaze grow increasingly sharp, Naraku Sora coughed lightly and recited the excuse he had prepared in advance.
"Actually, here's what happened."
Listening to his rebellious disciple's vivid description, Yamamoto's expression clearly showed some astonishment.
Ultimately, it had to do with the Eighth Kenpachi, Azashiro Sōya, who had been imprisoned in Muken.
It turned out that Naraku Sora had sensed an anomaly in the Reishi of the Soul Society. After some investigation, he discovered the source originated from the Muken hell.
For the safety of the Seireitei, he had bravely charged into Muken without hesitation.
After a round of interrogation and torture, he finally learned of Azashiro Sōya's conspiracy to destroy the world.
"If you don't believe me, Teacher, you can ask Azashiro yourself once he wakes up."
Looking at Naraku Sora's solemn, swearing face, Yamamoto felt an indescribable complexity in his heart.
As an elder, he could naturally tell the truth from the lies in those words.
But his intuition told him that this brat was definitely hiding something and hadn't revealed the whole story.
After thinking seriously for a moment, Yamamoto looked at the certain someone's robust physique. His eye twitched, and he said in a deep voice:
"If you continue to hide things, brat, then don't blame me for cleaning house today."
Naraku Sora instantly grew alert, using a Flash Step to dodge the sudden impact of Reiatsu.
"Very well."
Looking at the young man who had dodged a short distance away, Yamamoto grinned. A scorching heat surged from his body, and the nearby air immediately began to distort.
He tore off his Captain's haori, pulled down his Shihakushō, and tied it around his waist, revealing a muscular torso covered in scars. A ferocious aura washed over the area.
At the end of the day, this was all caused by him not disciplining his rebellious disciple recently.
If he had just shown a little more 'care', things wouldn't have escalated to this point.
Since that was the case, he would just have to make up for all the lacking 'affection' right now.
Yamamoto considered himself to have quite a bit of experience when it came to teaching disciples.
He slowly drew his sword, and the temperature in the air continued to soar.
A burning wind swept through, blowing the dust across the wasteland.
Yamamoto smiled, a wisp of evaporating white steam leaking from between his teeth. The scars on his bare skin glowed red, looking like a volcano that had been dormant for countless years was about to erupt.
"All things in the universe, turn to ashes!"
"Ryūjin Jakka!"
Magma radiating a scorching aura erupted forth, accompanied by a howling, furious burning wind that suddenly descended, enveloping the entire back mountain in intense heat.
Based on previous experience, Yamamoto realized that ordinary methods could no longer subdue Naraku Sora.
For such a rebellious disciple, he had to strike hard and let him properly experience what true Genryū was.
Seeing the old man get serious, Naraku Sora was stunned for a moment. Then, he grinned, backhandedly tearing off his Shihakushō to mimic Yamamoto's appearance, and erupted with a powerful Reiatsu!
Atop the back mountain, two pillars of fire shot into the sky!