After Grimmjow and Ulquiorra's training was on track, Sora left Las Noches.
He returned to the SRDI.
After taking in Grimmjow and Ulquiorra, Sora thought of another Espada who was easy to convince and could be a disciple.
The 1st Espada, Stark. A lone wolf wandering Hueco Mundo.
He hated loneliness and wanted comrades. But his Spiritual Pressure was too strong; normal Hollows who got close were crushed to Reishi by it.
Sora wanted to find Stark and make him a disciple.
Hueco Mundo was too big, and finding him wouldn't be easy.
But the SRDI had many ways to expand the range of spiritual perception.
"Kisuke, getting off work?" Sora saw Kisuke Urahara coming out of the SRDI and used Shunpo to appear at his side.
"Ah... it's the Captain!" Urahara looked guilty, startled by Sora's normal action.
"I just wanted to ask you something," Sora smiled. "Is there a way to greatly expand spiritual perception? I don't need precision, just range."
"Expand spiritual perception?" Urahara sighed in relief. He thought and said, "I remember Akon made a toy, not sure if it meets your needs."
"It can expand the perception range by thousands of times, but the precision is terrible."
"Far away, you can't sense most Spiritual Pressures, only Lieutenant-level and above."
"Thousands of times? That's enough!" Sora nodded and said goodbye to Urahara.
It was after work. He wouldn't interfere in his subordinate's private life.
After Sora was far away, Urahara finally relaxed.
"Geez, suddenly appearing behind me. I thought I was caught..." Urahara fixed his hair, put on his hat, and left the SRDI.
He didn't head toward Rukongai, but toward the noble district.
Urahara had recently read some ancient books and learned some secrets. He guessed the Four Great Noble Clans likely had 'Soul King fragments'.
After Urahara came into contact with 'Soul King fragments', he became obsessed with cracking their secrets.
But he had too few of them.
To find more, he either had to search Rukongai or go after the nobles.
A moment later, Urahara arrived at a street full of cherry blossom trees.
The rows of houses here were the Kuchiki family estate.
Urahara turned to the back of a large courtyard. A black-haired girl in casual clothes was waiting by the back gate, looking around.
"Miss Aoba, sorry to keep you waiting." Urahara scratched the back of his head.
"Kisuke! Are you off work?" Kuchiki Aoba immediately smiled, ran over, and hugged Urahara.
"Quiet..." Urahara shrank. "If Captain Kuchiki finds out, we're finished!"
"It's just some bones... what's there to be nervous about," Kuchiki Aoba said, confused.
Her innocence was a bit glaring to Urahara. But when he saw what was in the jar in her hand, his thirst for knowledge destroyed his calm.
To find the truth of the world, Urahara felt he could sacrifice his charm.
Even if the girl was the sister of the Squad 6 Captain, Kuchiki Sōjun. If he was discovered, he'd be finished.
But Urahara felt it was worth the price!
"You know, our relationship isn't convenient to make public yet." Urahara held Aoba's hand and said sincerely, "When I make a name for myself, I'll come marry you!"
Urahara and Kuchiki Aoba had gotten along very well.
If he wasn't found out for having her bring out 'Soul King fragments', Urahara wouldn't mind marrying her.
However, neither Urahara nor Aoba noticed...
At the same time, the Squad 5 Captain, Sōsuke Aizen, was standing on the other side of the street corner, watching them.
"Interesting..." Aizen rubbed his chin, a meaningful smile on his face. "Someone else in the Seireitei is researching 'Soul King fragments'!"
The entire Seireitei was covered in surveillance bacteria. Urahara had discovered this.
So, Urahara gave Kuchiki Aoba something to block the bacteria.
This area was a blind spot for the surveillance.
Aizen noticed the bacteria here were acting strange, so he came to check.
Urahara never expected Aizen had hidden his Zanpakutō's ability. He and Kuchiki Aoba had been under Kyōka Suigetsu's Complete Hypnosis since the 'Shinken Taiketsu' over twenty years ago.
Aizen stood at the street corner, and they didn't notice him at all.
"I didn't expect to find something so big... and it's the Lieutenant of Squad 12..."
Aizen had just gotten off work. He was bored and came to check this spot that had been acting strange for days.
Instead, he stumbled onto Urahara and Kuchiki Aoba's secret.
"I'll watch his progress first..." Aizen decided to observe before making a move.
Aizen also wanted to collect 'Soul King fragments' to make his own Hōgyoku.
Urahara had just gotten the Kuchiki family's treasured 'Soul King fragments'. This was the best time for Aizen to get them.
But he had heard his Professor praise Urahara many times, so he was curious. He wanted to see how far Urahara had gotten.
"Let's go, let's get something to eat."
"Okay!"
Kuchiki Aoba pulled Urahara's hand, and they left.
...
Sora got the 'Spiritual Perception Amplifier' from Akon. It could expand his perception range and help him find Stark.
"Captain..." Akon hesitated.
"What is it?" Sora asked gently.
"3rd Seat Mayuri has locked himself in the lab..." Akon said, worried. "He hasn't come out for a month!"
"That long? Is he researching Quincy?" Sora thought about how Mayuri got a lot of Quincy-related things from the war.
"Not Quincy... It's 'Nemu No. 6'. There's progress." Akon explained.
"Nemu No. 6's embryo is developing much better than Nemu No. 5, almost like a normal spiritual body."
"This gave 3rd Seat Mayuri some hope. He's been in the lab waiting for 'Nemu No. 6' to grow..."
"We tried to make him rest, but he chased us out and locked the lab."
After over twenty years of work, Mayuri's 'Nemu Project' had some progress. He had made five generations of artificial spiritual bodies, but all had problems and died early.
Now he was developing the 6th generation, 'Nemu No. 6'.
"That shouldn't be able to stop Lieutenant Urahara, right?" Sora thought of how Urahara had broken through Mayuri's defenses before.
"Lieutenant... he said he understands 3rd Seat Mayuri, and we shouldn't bother him." Akon hesitated. "But he hasn't been out for a month!"
------------
Unlock 400+ chapters across 7+ different novels on Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/c/LEYI396