Chapter 294 - 294 Hello, Kurosaki Ichigo!
Seireitei, a remote location.
After breaking through the encirclement, Toshiro picked a random direction and aimlessly ran until he ended up here.
"Yare yare, to think I'd be outplayed like this. That Aizen guy really can't be underestimated," Toshiro said with a hint of self-mockery.
However, even as he said this, Toshiro wasn't overly disheartened. Although he had been forced to flee, Aizen's goal wasn't fully achieved.
Aizen's plan was to frame Toshiro, forcing him to cooperate with the investigation, thereby restraining one of the Soul Society's strongest combatants and preventing Toshiro from obstructing his plans later.
But even Aizen probably didn't anticipate Toshiro's attitude would be so unyielding, preferring to clash with the Central 46 and the Gotei 13 and be forced to flee rather than have his freedom restricted to cooperate with an investigation.
Although Toshiro was now at odds with the Gotei 13, this also meant he had moved from the open to the shadows. Hidden, Toshiro could act more covertly and unpredictably.
Moreover, Rukia's execution date was approaching, and Aizen's schemes would soon surface.
When that happened, the truth would come to light, and Toshiro could resume his positions as Vice-Captain-Commander and 10th Division's Captain. So, this incident wouldn't have a major long-term impact on Toshiro.
Precisely because of this, even in his 'fugitive' state, Toshiro wasn't particularly worried.
"Heh, the Vice-Captain-Commander and 10th Division's Captain of the Gotei 13 is now on the run. Thinking about it carefully, it's rather amusing," Toshiro suddenly muttered to himself with a wry smile.
"But for now, I should find a place to stay."
"Where should I go?" Toshiro pondered.
"Oh, right! Why not go meet Kurosaki Ichigo?" Toshiro suddenly thought.
Since arriving in this world, Toshiro had only seen Ichigo once… earlier today in front of Senzaikyu. At that time, Ichigo's entire focus was on Byakuya, and he hadn't paid much attention to Toshiro and Ukitake.
So, Toshiro and Ichigo hadn't really had a proper conversation yet.
'Well, Kurosaki Ichigo is the protagonist of the Bleach series I once liked. Meeting him should be an interesting experience,' Toshiro thought, a playful smile appearing.
'In a way, I'm a senior to Ichigo. And I think Isshin even mentioned wanting me to be Ichigo's godfather...' Imagining Ichigo calling him 'godfather', Toshiro momentarily lost himself in the thought.
'Pity. It seems Isshin doesn't want me to tell Ichigo about that for now,' Toshiro thought, returning to reality with a hint of regret.
'Ah well. Since I'm on the run anyway, I might as well go see Kurosaki Ichigo.'
'At this time, if I remember correctly, Kurosaki Ichigo should be training his Bankai in the underground space beneath the Sokyoku Hill,' Toshiro reasoned.
'In that case, I'll go take a look.'
Then, Toshiro headed towards Sokyoku Hill.
…
Beneath Sokyoku Hill lay a massive underground space.
However, this huge space wasn't officially excavated by the Gotei 13. In fact, the Gotei 13 wasn't even aware such a vast cavern existed underground at Sokyoku Hill.
To be precise, this underground space was dug out by Kisuke when he was young.
Kisuke excavated this massive cavern beneath Sokyoku Hill to serve as a secret base for himself and Yoruichi… a hidden base, so to speak.
Therefore, Kisuke and Yoruichi often played here from childhood. After Kisuke and Yoruichi left the Soul Society, this underground space essentially became forgotten, rarely visited by anyone.
But at this very moment, Ichigo was here... soaking in a hot spring with Yoruichi.
Of course, Yoruichi was in her black cat form, so Ichigo didn't get any 'service' scenes.
"Yoruichi-san?"
"What is it?"
"I've been wanting to ask... this place looks very similar to the underground space under Urahara Shop," Ichigo said, glancing around at the surroundings again.
"Of course. The underground space at Urahara Shop was modeled after this place," Yoruichi replied.
"Is that so?" Ichigo said.
"Mhm. Originally, Kisuke and I wanted a secret base, so we secretly dug this place out," Yoruichi explained.
"Secretly... dug out such an unbelievably huge place?" Ichigo said, speechless.
"It was from our childhood. Kisuke always liked secretly doing mischievous things since he was little. After this secret base was built, we often played here. Later, after we grew up, he joined the Gotei 13, and I joined the Onmitsukido..."
"Wait! Yoruichi-san! You said the Gotei 13? Was Urahara really a Shinigami?" Ichigo suddenly interrupted Yoruichi excitedly.
"Yes," Yoruichi stated matter-of-factly.
"No wonder he knows so much about the Soul Society and Zanpakuto..."
"Yoruichi-san, please tell me. Who exactly is he?" Ichigo asked earnestly.
Yoruichi couldn't help but feel puzzled. "Him? That guy didn't tell you? Really, he's hopeless..."
"Well, fine. Given the situation, it's time you knew. That guy is—"
"The former Captain of the 12th Division of the Gotei 13 and the founder and first Director of the Technological Development Bureau!"
Hearing this, Ichigo's heart jolted… not just from shock at Urahara's identity, but also because the voice explaining this wasn't Yoruichi's.
'Someone had entered this place!' Realizing this, Ichigo instinctively stood up and grabbed the Zanpakuto placed beside the hot spring.
"Who's there?!" Ichigo shouted.
"Yare yare, no need for such alarm. I mean no harm," the voice said as Toshiro's figure appeared within Ichigo and Yoruichi's line of sight.
Toshiro carefully observed Ichigo: he stood in the hot spring, gripping his Zanpakuto, staring at Toshiro nervously.
Well, Ichigo was soaking in a hot spring, so naturally, he wasn't wearing clothes. Fortunately, the water wasn't too shallow… Ichigo was only exposed from the waist up, so no eye-searing scenes appeared.
Though Toshiro felt a slight regret that Yoruichi was in her black cat form, denying him any 'fan service' scenes.
"It's you? Who are you exactly? Why did you come here?" Ichigo asked, full of vigilance.
Ichigo found Toshiro somewhat familiar, having seen him in front of Senzaikyu earlier in the day.
But it was just a vague familiarity. At that time, Ichigo's attention was entirely on Byakuya, and as for Toshiro, he was completely treated as an extra.
"Hello, Kurosaki Ichigo. It's our first time meeting… no, I suppose this is our second meeting. Let me introduce myself. I am Hitsugaya, Hitsugaya Toshiro, Vice-Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13 and Captain of the 10th Division."