The World of the Living, Karakura Town.
The weather was poor today. Thick clouds obscured the afternoon sun, casting a dreary, gray pall over everything.
The secluded alleyway in front of the Urahara Shop, which rarely saw foot traffic even on a normal day, was exceptionally quiet.
Hum— Midair, space suddenly rippled like the surface of a lake.
Immediately after, an antique Japanese sliding door materialized out of thin air.
A rough hand slid the door open from the inside, and Asuka strode out of the Senkaimon, radiating a foul mood.
The moment his feet hit the ground, before he could even take in his surroundings, he was greeted by a burst of overly cheerful, welcoming applause.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
Several party poppers went off in unison.
"Oh my, my! Welcome, welcome! A warm welcome to the Soul King's Palace envoy, the strongest Substitute Soul Reaper, and Karakura Town's great savior, Lord Asuka, as he graces our humble shop with his presence!"
Kisuke Urahara, sporting his ever-present bucket hat, stood on the shop's front steps waving a small, colorful flag he had procured from who-knows-where.
Behind him, Ururu and Jinta held up a lopsided banner with incredibly messy handwriting that read:
[A Warm Welcome to Lord Asuka on His Return to Duty].
Tessai Tsukabishi pushed up his glasses, standing off to the side with an expressionless face. He held a tray laden with candied fruits and preserves.
Asuka stared at this ridiculously exaggerated and seemingly mocking welcome parade...
...and felt his fists clench with the urge to punch something.
"Kisuke Urahara..." Asuka's voice squeezed through his gritted teeth. "If you went through all the trouble of having Squad Zero summon me just to set off these cheap party poppers... I'll tear your shop down right now..."
"My, my, Asuka, don't be so hot-headed!"
Urahara covered the lower half of his face with his folding fan. "You are an envoy from the Soul King's Palace, after all. Our humble shop naturally had to roll out the red carpet for a VIP like you."
Jinta, still holding the lopsided banner, curled his lip in defiance. "Tch, what's the big deal? You still came running after one phone call from the boss..."
"Jinta, be polite to our guests," Tessai said, expressionlessly pushing up his glaring glasses. He offered the tray forward slightly. "Lord Asuka, Miss Kocho, you must be tired from your journey. Please come in, the hot tea is already prepared."
Asuka ignored the cloying candied fruits and unceremoniously brushed past Urahara, striding into the familiar, headache-inducing convenience store.
As Shinobu Kocho passed by Urahara, she offered an elegant, slight bow. "Pardon the intrusion, Mr. Urahara... Asuka has been a bit irritable lately due to his studies, so please bear with him."
Though her words were apologetic, a faint smile played at the corners of her lips. She clearly found Asuka's frustration somewhat amusing.
"Not at all, not at all. Having Miss Kocho join us brings light to our humble shop." Urahara smiled, snapping his fan shut and gesturing for them to enter. "Now then, let's get down to business."
A moment later, inside the Urahara Shop's underground training ground.
"Let's get straight to the point."
Asuka sat cross-legged in front of the low tea table, nodding in thanks to Tessai as he poured the tea. He then shot Urahara an annoyed look. "What exactly happened in the World of the Living that's so major even you can't handle it?"
Hearing this, Urahara placed his folding fan on the table. He pulled a Reishi monitoring map emitting a faint blue glow from his wide sleeve and spread it out before Asuka and Shinobu.
The map displayed the Spiritual Pressure distribution across Karakura Town and its surrounding areas.
In a red-marked zone on the eastern side of Karakura Town, a dense cluster of Spiritual Pressure dots was highlighted.
"Before I explain the situation, I'd like to ask you two a question."
"Have you ever heard the term 'Valley of Screams'?"
"Valley of Screams?" Asuka frowned. This was yet another blind spot in his knowledge.
He turned his head to look at Shinobu beside him.
Shinobu paused slightly, earnestly recalling the countless ancient tomes and secret scrolls she had pored over throughout the years while searching for Asuka.
"I believe... I saw a record of it in a document analyzing the spatial structure of the Dangai."
She gathered her thoughts and spoke slowly. "In this world, not all souls successfully pass on to the Soul Society through a Soul Reaper's Soul Burial, nor do all resentful souls corrupt into Hollows."
"A very small fraction of souls, due to some specific lingering attachment or an accident involving spatial turbulence, miss their chance at reincarnation."
"They wander in the rift between life and death. As time passes, they gradually lose their memories of life, their personalities, and even their self-awareness as souls."
"These blank souls bereft of memories are referred to in the texts as—[Blanks]."
She extended a pale finger, pointing toward the sky above. "It is said that these Blanks gather in massive numbers within the Dangai, the space between the World of the Living and the Soul Society. Their hollow nature, driven by an instinctual desire to be filled, causes the spatial structure to warp and collapse."
"Over the years, this eventually forms a closed, unstable temporary space. That is the Valley of Screams."
Clap, clap, clap.
Urahara clapped lightly, his eyes full of admiration. "As expected of Miss Kocho. You are truly knowledgeable."
Although Asuka understood Shinobu's explanation, he still didn't see the connection. "That doesn't seem to have anything to do with the Otherworld rift you mentioned. Are you expecting me to go on patrol in the Dangai? I have no desire to run into something like the Kototsu again."
"Asuka, the problem lies exactly in what Miss Kocho just described."
Urahara picked up his folding fan and used the edge to point at the red zone marked on the map. "Just as Miss Kocho said, the Valley of Screams is a gathering place for Blanks that exists solely within the void of the Dangai."
"Under normal circumstances, they run parallel to our existence. They absolutely would not, and should not, ever intersect with the World of the Living."
"But right now..." Urahara's gaze turned incredibly serious. "The physical space of Sarayashiki City, which neighbors Karakura Town to the east, is currently overlapping with a massive Valley of Screams."
"In other words, the barrier of the World of the Living has been torn open."
"Thousands of Blanks are breaking through the confines of the Dangai, flooding into the streets of Sarayashiki like a tidal wave."
"An intersection between the World of the Living and the Valley of Screams?" Shinobu asked, a hint of worry in her voice. "Is this Aizen's doing?"
"We can't confirm the cause just yet... Sosuke Aizen's actions have indeed tilted the scales of the Three Realms, but there seems to be another unseen gravitational pull behind this phenomenon."
Urahara sighed. "If it were merely an influx of Blanks, it wouldn't be the end of the world. At worst, our shop would just work overtime to develop Reishi generators capable of forcibly expelling them back to the Dangai..."
"Or we could have the Soul Society send people to exorcise them, and have the Kido Corps set up barriers. There are always ways to handle it..."
He looked up at Asuka. "But the real thorny issue right now is... someone is currently engaged in an incredibly fierce battle with those Blanks inside that overlapping zone."
"A battle?" Asuka raised an eyebrow. "Is it the Soul Reaper stationed in Sarayashiki City? Or a Substitute Soul Reaper like Ichigo Kurosaki?"
Urahara shook his head, a strange look crossing his face.
"Neither."
"...It's a Spirit Detective."