Hearing this, Urahara Kisuke's expression also turned solemn.
He nodded, his gaze falling on the Adjuchas lying on the ground, barely clinging to life.
The fallen Adjuchas struggled to raise its head, a flicker of fear flashing through its crimson eyes.
Its voice was hoarse and weak. After muttering a few unintelligible words, its massive body gradually turned into wisps of black smoke, dissipating into the air.
The two exchanged a glance, both seeing the gravity of the situation reflected in the other's eyes.
This matter was far from simple.
Afterward, Hasumi Ren sorted through the system fragments gathering around him.
Looking at the prompt before him, Ren pursed his lips.
*Is... is this right?*
*You're forcing me down a dark path here...*
The next moment, a strange sensation washed over him.
In Ren's field of vision, numerous motes of light appeared, scattered all around.
These points of light converged toward him, absorbing into his body.
Ren paused in surprise.
*This is the first time I've seen fragments in this form.*
*Where did they come from?*
While Ren tilted his head in thought over the discovery of these new fragments, Urahara Kisuke stood beside him, closely monitoring his reactions.
Then, Urahara frowned slightly.
*Why does it seem like nothing has changed?*
*Could the concentration of the concoction be too low?*
Ren looked around curiously, then followed the trajectory of the dissipating light motes, his gaze landing on the sleeve of Urahara Kisuke's clothes.
A question mark slowly formed in Ren's mind.
*What is going on here...?*
At that moment, Urahara stepped forward, standing beside Ren as they both watched the Adjuchas-class Menos gradually fade away.
The next moment, several squad members rushed in from outside.
Soi Fon and the squad members had been burning with anxiety after hearing the violent explosions inside, but bound by Urahara's orders, they hadn't dared to barge in recklessly.
It wasn't until the explosions subsided that Soi Fon could no longer hold back, sprinting to the door.
Pushing the door open and seeing the state of the room—along with Ren and Urahara completely unharmed—a heavy weight finally lifted from her chest.
However, when she noticed the bloodstains and shattered scales on the floor, coupled with the solemn expressions on both men's faces, her brow instantly furrowed. She quickly stepped forward.
"How is it? Are you two alright? That Hollow..."
Ren turned around, looking at Soi Fon, and gently shook his head.
"We're fine. This Hollow was already heavily injured beforehand. It died before we could even do much."
He paused, his tone growing serious.
"I don't know if it was attacked by its own kind or injured by someone else, but either way, this isn't normal."
"Furthermore, based on what it said earlier—'that person really didn't lie to me'—could it have been sent here by someone?"
Urahara nodded slightly. This Adjuchas shouldn't have disintegrated so easily.
It was as if a self-destruct mechanism had been planted inside its body long ago.
"Something isn't right," Urahara murmured, his gaze sweeping across the empty floor, his brow slightly furrowed.
"Even after taking Ren's Double Incantation, this Hollow shouldn't have died and dissipated immediately, even if it was on the brink of death."
Urahara crouched down, his fingertips lightly brushing against the residual Hollow spiritual pressure on the ground, his expression growing increasingly grave.
He didn't say anything more. Instead, he silently pulled a specialized spiritual pressure collector from his sleeve, capturing the faint yet abnormal fluctuations lingering in the air.
Afterward, he sat to the side, analyzing the possible causes.
A moment later, Urahara stood up.
He already had a partial answer.
"Someone tampered with this Hollow's body. The moment it took damage, it triggered some kind of internal spell that caused it to perish from the inside out. The method was brilliant and incredibly difficult to detect."
"This is another meticulously designed setup. Although everything points to this Hollow being the culprit behind the missing Soul Reapers, the more perfect it looks, the more deliberate it feels."
Every trace at the scene pointed to a Menos running rampant, flawless and seamless.
But the more perfect it was, the more terrifying the conspiracy of the mastermind behind it.
Only, who could that person be?
A trace of doubt rose in Urahara's heart, yet there were no clues pointing to a specific suspect.
*Why is this person so obsessed with attacking Soul Reapers?*
After pondering for a moment without any breakthroughs, Urahara looked at the group.
"There are too few clues here. Aside from the Hollow's traces, there's nothing else."
Then, Urahara slowly rose to his feet.
His gaze quietly fell upon Ren once more, a complex emotion flashing in the depths of his eyes.
"Alright, let's clean up the traces here first. We'll report the situation to Lady Yoruichi once we return."
"As for the secrets hidden behind all this, we will find the answers sooner or later."
The smoke and dust gradually settled, leaving only the pungent stench of blood and residual spiritual pressure in the room.
The Adjuchas's massive body had long since vanished into wisps of black smoke, leaving behind only a floor littered with shredded Shihakusho, dried blood, and a few charred scales.
Ren slowly exhaled a breath of stale air from his lungs.
That Double Incantation from earlier had consumed a significant amount of his spiritual pressure.
His gaze swept across the room. Several squad members were already methodically organizing the scene according to Urahara's instructions.
Some carefully gathered the torn Shihakusho, while others investigated the surroundings, trying to find any overlooked clues.
However, Ren's attention wasn't on the cleanup efforts; it remained fixated on those tiny motes of light from earlier.
Only now, those light motes had vanished without a trace.
He subconsciously shifted his gaze, looking toward the direction where he remembered the light motes disappearing.
His line of sight landed precisely on Urahara Kisuke—or more accurately, on the cuff of the sleeve hanging by his side.
In the final moment before the light motes dissipated, they had clearly been near Urahara's sleeve.
Doubts surged in his mind once again.
*What exactly were those light motes?*
*And why did they dissipate in Urahara's direction?*
These intertwined suspicions added a layer of scrutiny to the way Ren looked at Urahara.
Ren's gaze was too focused, too direct. Even though he deliberately masked his expression, it couldn't escape Urahara's notice.
Urahara slowly raised his head, following the line of sight, and locked eyes with Ren.
As their eyes met, the air seemed to suddenly freeze.
Without a word, without any drastic change in expression, the two simply shared a quiet look.
Thoughts raced through Urahara's mind as his knuckles tightened slightly.
He didn't look away, nor did he try to hide anything. He simply met Ren's gaze, a flicker of curiosity passing through his eyes.
Ren retracted his gaze, but Urahara noticed that the direction Ren had been looking was exactly at his sleeve.
Urahara's heart tightened slightly. For some reason, he felt as though Ren had caught onto something.
*Could it be...?*
Having just packed away a torn piece of Shihakusho, Soi Fon looked up and happened to see Urahara and Ren. Her brow furrowed slightly.
The atmosphere between the two men was a bit peculiar, making it hard to read.
She subconsciously took a step forward and spoke softly, breaking the eerie silence.
"Urahara, Ren, what's wrong? Is there another anomaly?"
Urahara was the first to revert to his usual lazy demeanor, raising a hand to scratch his head.
"It's nothing. I was just pondering the bizarre nature of that Hollow."
As he spoke, he tugged his sleeve down slightly.
Meanwhile, the vial of concoction in his hand had long been discreetly hidden deep within his sleeve.
---------------