Upon receiving Soul Society's message, Yoruichi immediately returned to Seireitei to share the information she knew about Azashiro Sōya.
It turned out that Urozakuro had manifested through Tenshintai when she and Kisuke were training their Bankai, and had voluntarily revealed his Bankai abilities.
After learning about Sōya's true abilities, Seireitei went on full alert, deploying even more divisions to the search party.
However, several days passed, and Sōya seemed to have vanished into thin air, leaving no trace whatsoever.
Seireitei had no choice but to recall most of the divisions, leaving the investigation to the Onmitsukidō, while the other teams returned to their daily duties.
—
At the Nohara residence.
Shin was not surprised by Sōya's escape from the Muken. He guessed that Sōya must have grown impatient seeing him make no moves.
Just as the SRDI was attacked and some seals were broken, Sōya took the opportunity to escape from Muken.
However, Shin wasn't worried.
Although Sōya knew that Shin was involved in the Noble District incident, as long as he was smart enough, he wouldn't reveal it. While they were no longer in the same boat, they weren't exactly enemies either.
But Shin was unwilling to leave such a ticking time bomb around.
He knew Sōya's weakness. As long as Sōya dared to cause trouble, he would simply deal with him then.
At this moment, Shin was in the small courtyard, chatting and drinking tea with Gin.
Gin had adapted to the local customs, changing into clothes from the Human World.
"Azashiro Sōya... Aizen mentioned that name before, even planning to rescue him from Muken. However, for some unknown reason, it eventually came to nothing."
Gin narrowed his eyes, looking at the persimmon sapling in the courtyard.
Shin chuckled. "Is that so? With Azashiro's Zanpakutō ability, he probably already knew what Aizen was doing in secret."
"If he had exposed Aizen to Soul Society earlier, perhaps all these subsequent events wouldn't have happened."
Gin rejected Shin's idea, "Azashiro is a dangerous individual, he probably wished Aizen would throw Soul Society into chaos."
"That's true." Shin stretched.
Seeing his relaxed demeanor, Gin asked curiously, "Aren't you worried he'll cause trouble in the Human World?"
Gin was unaware of Sōya's weakness.
"It's fine, if he dares to cause trouble in the Human World, he's dead."
Shin possessed many wide-range attack abilities, and also Excalibur that could absorb Reishi. Just these two things alone would completely counter Sōya.
"Nohara-san, you seem quite at ease."
A voice sounded behind them.
Turning around, they saw that it was Unohana.
"Captain Unohana, do you walk without making a sound?"
Shin hadn't even sensed her Reiatsu, she was practically a ghost.
Unohana chuckled. "Oh dear, did I startle Nohara-san? My apologies."
Seeing Unohana arrive, Gin bid farewell. "Nohara, I'm heading back."
"Alright, sure."
After seeing off Gin, Shin poured Unohana another cup of tea.
Unohana watched Gin's retreating back. "Nohara-san seems to get along well with former Captain Ichimaru."
"Ichimaru and I are friends now." Shin nodded.
Then he asked, "Captain Unohana, isn't Soul Society currently searching for Azashiro? How do you have time to visit me?"
Unohana said, "The Fourth Division is only responsible for healing, we don't participate in the search."
"Besides, from what I can tell, Azashiro probably won't show himself anytime soon."
"Oh? Why do you say that?"
Unohana explained, "Based on my understanding of Azashiro, that man seems to greatly detest the existence of Hollows. His escape from Muken this time should be to destroy Hueco Mundo."
"He's most likely still preparing, as Aizen is not an easy opponent to deal with."
"Alright, let's not talk about that. I came here this time to fulfill our previous agreement."
Shin's eyes lit up at her words. "Excellent, no time to waste, shall we start now?"
"Certainly, but Nohara-san should be prepared."
[Mission Triggered: Defeat Unohana Yachiru]
[Reward: Random World Item x1]
...
In the underground space.
Unohana untied the braid across her chest, her hair falling loose, and her expression and aura instantly transformed.
Terrifying Reiatsu, like a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, permeated the entire underground space. Her narrowed eyes revealed an endless killing intent.
"Nohara, my name is Unohana Yachiru."
No sooner had she spoken than Unohana drew her sword and slashed at Shin.
Clang!
Blades clashed, sending sparks flying.
Unohana was only 159cm tall, but precisely because of this, she was more agile and free-moving when wielding her sword.
Shin's physical body naturally couldn't compare to the monstrous Zaraki. After several sword clashes, he felt a slight numbness in his arm.
He had underestimated Unohana's sheer power.
Unohana leaped into the air, descending with a graceful slash and Shin raised his sword to block.
Just as their blades met, Unohana's figure vanished from Shin's sight.
Suddenly, Unohana thrust from his right side, and just as the tip of her blade was about to touch his body, Shin arched his body slightly, the blade grazing past him. Before he could counterattack, he felt a sharp pain in his left shoulder. A hidden blade was deeply embedded in his shoulder blade.
"You can't fight with just one hand."
Unohana held her sword in her right hand and the hidden blade in her left.
Shin pulled out the hidden blade and healed the wound on his left shoulder with Reverse Cursed Technique.
It was Unohana's first time seeing Shin use healing, and she praised, "This is the true meaning of healing."
"Captain Unohana, that hidden blade in your sleeve is quite good."
"Now... I'll return it to you."
No sooner had he spoken than the hidden blade precisely pierced Unohana's left shoulder.
Unohana carefully savored the pain radiating through her body, her expression growing excited.
It had been a long time since her body had been injured. What a long-lost sensation.
"Is that the move you used to injure Captain Kyōraku and Captain Kuchiki?"
"Continue to entertain me."
Unohana removed the hidden blade and quickly healed herself with Kaidō. Then, she attacked Shin again, even faster than before.
Her movements were like wind, her sword like lightning. In an instant, she launched five or six consecutive attacks.
Shin weaved through the slashes, parrying and slashing, but Unohana dodged each one. Her body possessed extreme flexibility, bending into various complex shapes with astonishing arcs each time to evade Shin's counterattacks.
As expected of Yachiru.
Shin looked at his torn clothes and wounds on his chest.
His "Master Swordsman" skill alone was still somewhat insufficient against Unohana.