What an impressive lineup...
Kisuke Urahara pressed down the brim of his hat and could not help marveling inwardly.
The captain with the strongest healing abilities, 4th Division Captain Retsu Unohana.
The benchmark of the Shinigami and the 28th Head of the Kuchiki Clan, one of the Four Noble Families, 6th Division Captain Byakuya Kuchiki.
Representing Soul Society's most elite specialized combat unit, the 11th Division, Captain Kenpachi Zaraki.
And... the director of the Research and Development Institute, second only to him, 12th Division Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi.
Mayuri Kurotsuchi turned his head, his golden eyes looking at Kisuke Urahara with disdain. "You seem to be thinking of descriptions that don't match the facts, ne."
"Not at all~" Kisuke Urahara waved his folding fan. "Is everyone here?"
"I think so..." Ichigo Kurosaki looked in one direction. "But why are you two here too?"
Yasutora Sado pointed at Ichigo Kurosaki. "Because you're here, I'm here."
"I refuse to let you give Hueco Mundo any strange misconceptions about Quincy." Uryū Ishida pushed up his glasses. "I absolutely cannot allow a heretic like you to damage the reputation of Quincy."
Ichigo Kurosaki turned his head. "Muten, that's tsundere, right?"
Muten Natsu shot him a sideways glance. "Why are you stating the obvious?"
Uryū Ishida: "..."
"It looks like everyone is ready," Kisuke Urahara said, taking out something that resembled a wristwatch. "Please put this on. It can detect the location of the Hōgyoku. If we can retrieve the Hōgyoku, we can stop Aizen's plan."
Mayuri Kurotsuchi showed no intention of taking one. "Don't bring out something so shoddily made." He took out an insect and pinched it. The insect let out a strange cry. "Even something I threw together would be better than yours, ne."
"You people can go after the Hōgyoku," Kenpachi Zaraki said, his goal clear. "I'm here to cut people down."
Byakuya Kuchiki's eyes shifted slightly, and Renji Abarai stepped forward to take a Hōgyoku detector.
Hanatarō Yamada took one as well.
The lion doll Kon popped up on Ichigo Kurosaki's shoulder. "I can do the same thing!"
Yasutora Sado, worried it might be damaged in battle, and Uryū Ishida, worried it might interfere with fighting, both declined to take one.
"Well then... time to set out." Kisuke Urahara leaped onto a wooden stake driven into the cliff wall and gripped his cane. "My right hand is the stone that bridges worlds. My left hand is the blade that binds reality. The black-haired shepherd is hung from a chair. Stratus clouds come, and I strike down the ibis!"
As he chanted, Reiryoku drifted from the wooden stakes on both sides of the cliff and linked together. The space between them gradually split open, peeling back like the pages of a book and revealing the chaotic darkness within.
Several worms extended from the cliff wall. Mayuri Kurotsuchi pressed the remote in his hand, and electric currents flashed across the worms. Their stiff skin split open, and several faces wearing Hollow masks emerged from within.
The worms opened their mouths, and arms clamped onto the edges of the spatial fissure one after another, holding it in place as if pulling a piece of cloth taut.
"This is the Garganta," Kisuke Urahara reminded them. "You won't be able to see the path inside, and there are whirlpools formed by turbulent Reishi. Use Reishi to move forward. Head into the darkness, and you'll reach Hueco Mundo."
"How crude, ne..." Mayuri Kurotsuchi glanced at Nemu Kurotsuchi. "Take it out."
Nemu Kurotsuchi opened the box, pulled out a purple cloth, and tossed it into the air. The cloth rapidly unfolded, forming a carpet large enough for everyone to stand on.
Mayuri Kurotsuchi stepped onto it first. "I'll handle this, ne."
Muten Natsu stared at the cloth suspiciously, unable to shake the feeling that it did not match Mayuri Kurotsuchi's usual style.
Then a twisted tentacle poked out from beneath the cloth and looked at him.
That was more like it.
Staring at the writhing cloth, everyone decided to move forward using their own Reishi.
"No taste..." Mayuri Kurotsuchi snorted and led Nemu Kurotsuchi into the Garganta first.
"Let's go!" Kenpachi Zaraki leaped in, Reishi shattering beneath his feet as he moved with terrifying speed.
Yachiru Kusajishi shouted excitedly from his shoulder, "Let's go!!!"
Byakuya Kuchiki walked forward at an unhurried pace. Reishi gathered beneath his feet to form footholds, and the instant he lifted a foot, the previous foothold shattered. The scattered Reishi gathered again beneath his next step, forming a new foothold.
"Hanatarō!" Renji Abarai called. "We're going!"
"W-Wait..." Hanatarō Yamada looked toward Retsu Unohana in distress. "Captain..."
"Follow him." Retsu Unohana turned and called to the others. "The rest of you, stay behind me."
As Retsu Unohana walked into the Garganta, the chaotic Reishi was captured by her Reiryoku and spread out beneath her feet, forming a broad, level path.
Uryū Ishida, of course, was not about to walk on a Shinigami's path. Reishi gathered beneath his feet and carried him forward like a skateboard.
"You can do that?" Ichigo Kurosaki tried it and nearly fell into the chaotic darkness, only for Yasutora Sado to pull him back up.
"I told you, you're a heretic." Uryū Ishida calmly performed a Cobra Maneuver in midair. "This is just an application of Hirenkyaku. Nothing special."
A vein throbbed on Ichigo Kurosaki's forehead.
The Hell's Eye opened on Muten Natsu's forehead, his gaze piercing through the turbulent Reishi to look ahead. "It might be because of the Reishi turbulence, but I can't see clearly. Our destination seems to be a white corridor."
"If there are buildings, that means there are enemies," Rukia Kuchiki said, following beside Muten Natsu. "There may even be traps."
The chaotic darkness, combined with the turbulent Reiryoku, made the Hell's Eye ache. Muten Natsu closed it. "Pretty much the same as last time."
Orihime Inoue asked curiously, "Last time, do you mean the incident you mentioned before?"
"Yes." Rukia Kuchiki glanced at Muten Natsu. "The time I was captured by Szayelaporro's men and taken to Hueco Mundo."
To improve her Zanjutsu, Rukia Kuchiki had once trained in the 11th Division with Muten Natsu for a period of time, with help from Renji Abarai, who had still been a member of the 11th Division back then.
While fighting Hollows in the wilderness of Rukongai, she had been caught by a Hollow's spider silk and dragged into Hueco Mundo.
In the blink of an eye, that had already been decades ago.
Orihime Inoue only knew the incident had happened, but not the details. "Did you go to the white corridor last time too?"
Muten Natsu shook his head. "Last time, Szayelaporro attacked us inside the Garganta, which threw the Reishi turbulence out of control and caused us to fall into the Forest of Menos."
"Oh no!" Renji Abarai suddenly thought of a possibility. "If Szayelaporro attacks us again..."
"If I were only thinking of that now, like you, then we'd truly be in trouble, ne." Mayuri Kurotsuchi patted the purple cloth beneath him. "I've already installed a shielding device. We won't be detected..."
Before he could finish speaking, a red light flashed abruptly.