Chapter 25: Preparing for the Bleach World Special Movie Edition
Hearing the holy voice from the heavens, Kisuke Urahara didn't treat it as a joke. Instead, his expression grew stern and his gaze turned heavy.
Urahara had long guessed at Mo Yu's identity. Although he had never reached a final conclusion, to be honest, he didn't care that much about the specifics. Whether Mo Yu was the will of the Soul King, a high-level entity derived from a Soul King fragment, or something even stranger didn't matter. This world was sometimes complex—move one hair and the whole body follows—but sometimes it was simple; even a supreme being, if they had an agenda, would face various constraints and might not truly be able to overturn the entire board.
But one thing was certain: for an entity of this level to condescend to stir up trouble in the mortal world, there had to be matching trouble behind it.
And now, trouble had arrived.
Urahara had no intention of making excuses. He said frankly: "My, my, it is my honor to be held in such high regard by you. Please, by all means, let me hear what the crisis is. Has Old Man Yamamoto finally lost it and decided to cut down all those Nobles? Has Yhwach been resurrected to destroy the Three Worlds? Or has that mastermind with significant influence in Hueco Mundo cooked up some grand conspiracy? Surely it isn't something wrong with the Soul King Palace or Hell... if it's that kind of trouble, I do have some gadgets and contingency plans..."
The history of the Soul Society had been erased by the Nobles, but for a truly brilliant man, the truth could always be reconstructed from traces and clues. Knowing more didn't mean happiness; for these clever men, they couldn't live in a drunken stupor like the decaying Nobles. Whether actively or passively, they would always take action to change something—or at least ensure that when change came, the situation turned in their favor.
Both Aizen and Urahara were such men, though their choices and methods differed.
Hearing this, Mo Yu felt that Urahara truly lived up to his "Batman of Karakura Town" reputation. Beneath that lazy exterior, he was remarkably reliable. If they were to film a Movie Edition later, he could definitely leave the pre-production to him. But now was not the time. Saying "I'll take you to see it," Mo Yu extended the Hand of God, gripped Urahara, and soared into the sky toward the edge of the city.
For Urahara, flight was not a new experience, but being gripped by the Hand of God was entirely novel.
Undetectable. Incomprehensible. Irresistible. This was Urahara's preliminary analysis. Mo Yu could unilaterally interfere with him, yet he had no way to affect that interference. Neither spiritual power nor any other means could touch that divine palm. It was as if the palm didn't exist at all—the very definition of "unscientific."
Urahara realized there was no point in further analysis; the current data alone was already challenging his worldview.
Mo Yu brought Urahara to the edge of Karakura Town, set him down in a safe spot, and spoke:
"Look at the area thirty meters ahead. Tell me, what do you see?"
In Mo Yu's perspective, the area thirty meters away was a chaotic void. He was interested to know how the inhabitants of the World Bubble perceived this nothingness.
Urahara was puzzled but observed carefully before saying: "From my perspective, thirty meters ahead is just an ordinary urban street. I have some memory of this place. Though a bit remote, it's a commercial street built a few years ago. They even hold promotional events occasionally."
Mo Yu raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected the chaotic void in Urahara's sight to still look like a street. The difference between their perspectives was massive.
Mo Yu used the Hand of God to pluck a streetlamp from nearby, thrust a section of it into the void, and pulled it back. One-third of the lamp had been swallowed. He placed the remains before Urahara.
"This lamp was originally eight meters long. Now, look closely at how long it is."
Urahara, confused, examined it minutely. Mo Yu watched his reaction and noticed that when Urahara's hand reached the point where the lamp had been swallowed, his movements and expression acted as if the missing part was still there.
Urahara frowned and finished his inspection. "It's still eight meters. Aside from the physical damage from being uprooted, it is intact. However... putting aside evidence and tests, just going by intuition... this section of the lamp feels like it has an indescribable 'wrongness' to it."
Urahara's hand pointed exactly to the swallowed section. Mo Yu felt slightly relieved; at least Urahara's intuition could detect a problem. Mo Yu then said bluntly:
"Do you know what that area thirty meters ahead looks like in my eyes? There is nothing there—only a void and chaos. I thrust this lamp into that area, and a section was completely devoured. But in your eyes, both the area and the lamp seem perfectly normal."
Thinking at lightning speed, Urahara didn't doubt Mo Yu. He followed the logic, thoughts surging as he analyzed. He looked around quickly, then studied the thirty-meter mark again. Finally, a bone-chilling shiver ran through his heart.
Urahara pressed down on his bucket hat to hide the tremor in his eyes, struggling to maintain a steady tone:
"To say it's normal is actually... not that normal. As a passage to a new commercial street, the foot traffic shouldn't be this low. It's as if people instinctively avoid this place. And that commercial circle thirty meters away... people are walking around, yet not a single soul is coming this way. Not one. More importantly, neither my falling from the sky nor you uprooting a lamp and waving it around drew a single reaction from those people..."
In Mo Yu's sight, the "commercial circle" Urahara described existed only in the man's words. But Mo Yu could sense the eeriness. That street was like a looping, dynamic texture—visible to the world's inhabitants but impossible to interact with.
Having found the anomaly, Urahara began further testing. He cast a Kido—a brilliant, booming blast of light that soared into the sky. He observed the void:
"After the Kido, the people on the street didn't react. It's like they can't see or hear it. Now for a further test..."
Urahara raised his hand and fired a Kido at a sign hanging on a second floor. In Mo Yu's view, the spell simply vanished into the void and was swallowed. But Urahara described it vividly:
"The sign was hit and fell. There's a reaction over there, but they just treated it as the sign falling due to old age..."
Urahara continued to intervene remotely through Kido. He found that the "texture people" would react—they'd call the police, gather to watch the commotion, the store owner would apologize, and a patrolman would check it out. Everything followed a "normal" logic.
The reason "normal" was in quotes was because Urahara noticed that while the logic existed, it was sluggish and mechanical. Even a laugh or a look of shock was delayed by several seconds. It wasn't natural; the longer he watched, the deeper the horror in his heart grew.
More importantly, despite Urahara unleashing supernatural powers only thirty meters away, not a single person looked at him.
During the test, Mo Yu suddenly said: "Watch that streetlamp. In my observation, it is decomposing!"
The lamp, one-third swallowed, seemed unable to maintain its integrity. It was disintegrating piece by piece until it vanished into smoke. Following Mo Yu's warning, Urahara stared at the lamp.
The bizarre change was happening right under his nose, but Urahara's face was full of confusion because he saw nothing. In his sight and spiritual sense, the lamp remained a lamp—no change at all.
Until the lamp completely vanished. Then, Urahara froze. For the first time, a look of utter daze and shock appeared in his eyes. After a long silence, he asked:
"Did you just do something?"
Mo Yu replied: "I did nothing. Why?"
Urahara rubbed his temples as if to relieve the tension in his nerves, speaking in a bewildered tone:
"I still remember that lamp. It was lying three meters away from me. That is a complete memory. But just now, in an instant, it vanished before my eyes. No... strictly speaking, it didn't vanish. It returned to its original state. It's over there, where it's always been, standing quietly. There are even the scratches I left when I tested it. And now it's lit up, just like the other lamps..."
Urahara's logic was slightly scrambled, but Mo Yu understood. He looked where Urahara was pointing: it was the void zone.
Mo Yu said calmly: "Urahara, let me get this straight: a lamp that was originally in the 'normal' zone has reappeared in the 'void' zone and is working normally?"
"I'll add one thing," Urahara said as he regained his calm. "I have two sets of memories in my head. The first is the 'normal' memory of you uprooting it and me testing it. That memory is logical and clear. The second is a memory where that lamp has always been in the void zone since I arrived. That second memory is highly abnormal—it lacks imagery and logic. It feels like a piece of data was mechanically implanted into me, telling me the lamp has always been there."
He walked to the lamp's original spot. The broken ground from when Mo Yu uprooted it was still there—undeniable proof the lamp had been there. But now, that lamp had "switched jobs" and moved to the void zone.
Urahara returned to his teasing "middle-aged man" tone: "My, my. We have one good news and one bad news. The good news is, I recall that street having a supermarket sale recently—meaning even if we're swallowed, we might just 'switch jobs' and continue living in the void zone. The bad news is, the environment there is terrible, and the people aren't very normal."
Mo Yu said flatly: "While I understand you're joking to lighten the mood, I must restate: Urahara, though the scenery still exists to you, I swear by my name as God—there is nothing there. No people, no streets. Only empty void and chaos. There is no 'switching jobs'..."
Mo Yu wasn't sure about the mystery of the void zone yet, but his "Omniscience" confirmed it was empty. The reliability of this insight was absolute.
Urahara pressed his hat down. This was a habit he used to hide his emotions and force himself to stay calm. He muttered:
"A guarantee from a God? Fine. If that's the case, the situation is truly dire."
A world experiencing anomalies versus a world literally disintegrating into nothingness—these were two very different things. The latter was pushing Urahara to his breaking point. He had prepared for the fall of the Soul King by creating two artificial "Soul King Candidates," but a crisis where the world itself vanished exceeded his cognition.
But he quickly pulled himself together. "I need to do more research to determine the truth of this crisis. God... what are your thoughts?"
Mo Yu said: "Do what you must. I have no specific plan yet. I'll gather some more people. Either way, more hands make light work."
Mo Yu switched his view to Ichigo. He wasn't at school; he was in his room, doing one-finger handstand pushups. He was drenched in sweat.
"Not bad. Doing high-intensity 'Martial Artist' training on your own. Your Purity has increased greatly again."
Hearing the voice, Ichigo vaulted off his finger and did a backflip to a steady landing. He grabbed a towel and said calmly:
"Because of that fighting tournament you set up, people at school are being annoying today. I took a leave of absence. I had nothing to do, so I trained. What is it? Ready to film the second episode of The Legend of the Strongest Academy Security Guard? No problem, as long as the villain is strong enough."
Mo Yu only cared about causing trouble and outsourcing the work. Although he pushed for the tournament, the actual organizer was Grand Fisher. Whether out of whim or a meticulous personality, Fisher had gone all out: ads, media coverage, and a massive prize pool.
So, when Ichigo went to school this morning, he was swarmed by media and handed a giant check. Back in class, teachers and students stared at him like a rare animal. Annoyed, he went home.
"I don't have a script for episode two yet. I'm here for something more important..."
Before Mo Yu could finish, the door burst open. Orihime Inoue's energetic voice rang out:
"Kurosaki-kun! The God-appointed manager is coming in! Eek! You... you're not wearing clothes! I'm sorry!"
She saw the shirtless, sweating Ichigo and immediately covered her eyes—though her fingers were spread wide, and she was staring intently. Her nosebleed erupted with exaggerated force.
Under the tempering of Purity, Ichigo's physique was no longer what it was yesterday. Powerful, flowing muscle groups, a perfect V-taper, and an eight-pack—he exuded the raw masculine charm of a Reishi Madman.
Even Rukia, who followed behind Orihime, froze for a second. She appraised him with an appreciative look before it turned into a trace of disdain—likely thinking his muscles still weren't as "savage" as her transformed state and lacked sufficient Purity.
Uryu and Chad filed in after her. Ichigo was surprised to see the whole group. They explained they were just checking on him since he missed school. During the small talk, Uryu asked:
"Kurosaki-kun, how is your injury?"
In the center of Ichigo's chest was a deep fist-print. It seemed to hold a sinister power, constantly pulsing. With every pulse, dark blue-black gashes appeared around the mark. From a distance, it looked like an abstract black sun etched into his chest.
Ichigo looked down at his wound, his eyes complex. He said indifferently:
"It's nothing. Fisher's finisher wasn't completed, so it didn't do much. My healing speed might just be a bit slower for a while."
Since Ichigo was a terrible liar, his words were blatantly false. No one in the room believed him, but they didn't push.
Mo Yu, seeing the whole team together, felt it was destiny. He spoke:
"I originally only intended to call Ichigo, but since you're all here, come with me. If we're facing a crisis, you guys might as well trigger a 'Protagonist Group Movie Edition' bond."
End of Chapter
Like this story Leave a review ; it would really help me out a lot.
Want to Read Ahead in Advance?
Join my Patreon!
+75 Chapters
Support me in
Patreon.com/BestElysium