Bleach: No cheat codes, he joined Aizen's side.

Chapter 118, Section 116: Preparing to Return to Soul Society

Under the pitch-black night, flickering lights.

Kisuke Urahara narrowed his eyes as he looked at the group of red-armored samurai who had surrounded the hut.

"It seems you've brought back quite a bit of trouble, Shuichi."

"It's alright. I've tested the quality of these guys. They're neither human nor death gods. They're like puppets being controlled by someone. They shatter at the slightest touch."

Higashino Shuichi paid no attention to the large number of red-armored warriors around him. The only one he cared about was the one among them who looked like a human.

"Are you ronin samurai protecting that woman?"

The man with a samurai-style haircut, a large belly, and a small folding fan in his hand, who was surrounded by the red-helmeted samurai, looked contemptuously at Higashino Shuichi and Urahara Kisuke, who were standing on the second-floor balcony.

Because Higashino Shuichi did not remove his Zanpakuto from his waist, the samurai-headed man naturally categorized Higashino Shuichi as a samurai.

"You are Lord Zuo Bu?"

"Higashino Shuichi asked."

"Oh? So you know me? Since you do, hurry up and hand over that woman named Nagasawa Satomi!"

"The samurai-headed man said smugly."

"You think you can just hand it over like that? Wouldn't that be a huge loss of face?"

Kisuke Urahara's eyes flickered. Unlike Shuichi Higashino, he immediately noticed the unusual nature of the red-helmeted samurai around him.

Then the hidden, reinforced barrier that Urahara Kisuke had set up around them, which was modified from the Kasumioji family's spiritual pressure shielding device, quickly unfolded.

Kisuke Urahara was a smart man; he knew that things were bound to turn out badly tonight.

Shuichi Higashino also admired Kisuke Urahara's intelligence. The reason he didn't just find a random place outside with Satomi Nagasawa to wait for Ayumu to come over was because he was worried that Ayumu was a Fullbringer and that if they were forced to release his spiritual pressure during a fight, it would be troublesome.

There was nothing he could do; the spiritual pressure shielding device he had seized from the Kasumi family in Soul Society wasn't very effective in the human world.

In Soul Society, you only need to consider preventing the fluctuations of spiritual pressure from spreading out, but in the human world, you also have to consider the impact of spiritual pressure on the human environment.

However, Shuichi Higashino was destined to be disappointed.

He simply activated his Bankai, and the surrounding red-armored samurai collapsed one after another, without even Higashino Shuichi having to lift a finger.

Even the Left Step Master fainted due to Higashino Shuichi's overwhelming spiritual pressure, and Higashino Shuichi almost had to perform a soul burial for him himself.

This made Higashino Shuichi feel like he had punched a cotton ball.

This so-called Master Zuo Bu looks so arrogant, but he's just a piece of trash.

Fortunately, Shuichi Higashino didn't come away empty-handed; at least Kisuke Urahara received some news that wasn't too bad.

Those are the outer shells of these red-armored warriors, all made from genuine spirit remains.

Unlike the fake spirit bodies that Higashino Shuichi and the others are currently wearing, although Urahara Kisuke usually likes to call them spirit bodies, strictly speaking, this is just a secondary product developed by borrowing the technology of spirit bodies. In the future, when it is allowed to be used on a large scale, it will have its own exclusive name, the "artificial body".

A spirit body is merely a temporary container for storing and releasing the power of a Shinigami. It can completely isolate the Shinigami from external spiritual particles, prevent the Shinigami's own spiritual pressure from leaking out, and give the Shinigami a human-like body so that the Shinigami can live in the human world like an ordinary human.

The true spirit body is a permanent container for the soul of the Grim Reaper, and the spirit body will be used by the future Soul Pill.

Upon hearing this conclusion, only one word came to Higashino Shuichi's mind.

"Mass-produced weapons".

In fact, from the moment he first saw these red-helmeted warriors, Higashino Shuichi had already made this guess in his mind; it's just that now he's confirming it.

"This must be Aizen's doing!"

Kensei Muguruma was the first to voice his opinion. For him, it was always safe to blame Aizen, that cunning bastard, whenever something happened.

Meanwhile, in the basement of Urahara's cabin, most of the Shinigami who had just fallen into a deep sleep were awakened by Higashino Shuichi's Bankai. After leaving Kisaragi Shusuke, Nagasawa Rimi, and Matsumoto Rangiku, who had fallen into a deep sleep and had not yet woken up, to guard the house upstairs, the rest of them gathered here.

“It shouldn’t be,” Yoruichi Shihouin said after glancing at Kisuke Urahara and receiving confirmation from the latter’s eyes. “Before leaving Soul Society, I asked Shunsui Kyoraku, the captain of the 8th Division, to try to let Mayuri Kurotsuchi succeed as the captain of the 12th Division after we left. If it were Mayuri, he wouldn’t have allowed Sosuke Aizen to get his hands on the 12th Division’s technology.”

That's because you don't know the true effect of a mirage.
Higashino Shuichi silently refuted this in his mind.

However, from his perspective, he doesn't think this would be Aizen's masterpiece.

Because there's no motivation.

As Aizen's long-time subordinate, Higashino Shuichi knew Aizen's next plan after forcing Urahara Kisuke out of Soul Society.

They secretly consolidated the Soul Society and then used the entire Soul Society to put pressure on Kisuke Urahara, thereby forcing Kisuke Urahara to reveal the half of the Hōgyoku on his own initiative.

During this period, Aizen may continue to interweave some research on Shinigami and Hollows.

But as proud as he was, even if he truly had designs on the spirit remains, he would never do something as ridiculous and meaningless as shattering them to mass-produce weaker enemies. "Then who could it be? Who else could... Waaah!"

Kensei Rokusha said with dissatisfaction, but was pushed down by Hanami Shiro, who covered his mouth with his hand.

"Cough cough!"

Lisa Yadomaru coughed twice to cover up her embarrassment.

Without a doubt, after rejecting Aizen as an option, only three answers remain.

First of all, Mayuri Kurotsuchi can basically be ruled out. This guy is a fanatical scientist who doesn't care about anything except research. Anyone who has ever had contact with Mayuri Kurotsuchi can see this at a glance.

Secondly, Captain-Commander Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni could also do this, but Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni had no need or reason to do so. After all, considering only the small fry, weren't there enough lifelong Shinigami in Soul Society for him to squander?

In the end, only the option of becoming a nobleman remained.

Only nobles have the motivation and the power to do such a thing.

However, those sitting here now are two members of the five great noble families of Soul Society, and both are theoretically the current heads of their families.

Leaving aside their own strength, the other two people who have close ties with them, Kisuke Urahara and Shuichi Higashino, are both among the most powerful Shinigami in this room.

In this environment, casually stating this answer could be tantamount to courting death.

After a brief silence, Higashino Hideichi said, "How about I go back for a bit?"

Let's take a look at what's going on in Soul Society.
I've thought about it. We can't just stay in the present world and work in isolation forever, can we?
Since Aizen failed to wipe us out this time, it's hard to guarantee that he won't plot another attack on us in Soul Society. After all, theoretically speaking, we are now one of the few Shinigami who know his true identity and are definitely on the opposite side of him.

"I think it's necessary to go to Soul Society and find out more about Aizen."

"I think Shuichi makes a good point, brother, I'll go back with you!"

Kensei Muguruma had just broken free from Hanami Haku's grasp, and it was unclear whether he had even heard what Shuichi Higashino was saying, but he immediately expressed his agreement.

"Come on, you haven't even mastered Hollowfication yet. If you go back to Soul Society with a mask on, won't you be discovered immediately?"

Kunan Shiro mercilessly poured cold water on Rokusha Kensei.

"That's true, haha."

After being told that by Kunan Shiro, Mukuro Kensei scratched the back of his head and laughed awkwardly.

"I agree with what Shuichi-kun said, but let me ask you one more question: Shuichi-kun, are you planning to take Nagasawa Satomi back with you?"

Kisuke Urahara looked at Kensei Muguruma, this clown, and smiled with a hint of helplessness.

"No, it's my first time going back, so it's better to be cautious. It's not too late to bring it after I've confirmed it's safe."

Higashino Shuichi shook his head.

The others looked at Kisuke Urahara and Shuichi Higashino with puzzlement.

It seems like these two have talked about a lot of things they don't know in private.
However, apart from one person, everyone present was quite shrewd, and they all tacitly refrained from asking further questions on this topic.

"Then, Shuichi-kun, when you go back this time, please take Seimei Bassa with you!"

Kabuto Sayaka has always supported Higashino Shuichi's decisions. When she saw that Higashino Shuichi wanted to go back to Soul Society, she immediately took out her Zanpakuto, Seiya Basa.

"Um"

Higashino Shuichi readily agreed, but did not accept the Seimei Bassa from Kabuto Sayaka.

Although the plan has been tentatively set out, returning to Soul Society is definitely not something that can be done on a whim.

Necessary preparatory work still needs to be carried out.

And this preparation took another year.

A year is a long time compared to ordinary humans, but for death gods like Higashino Shuichi, who live for hundreds or thousands of years, it is just a blink of an eye.

During this year, in addition to training with Kensei Muguruma and others to master Hollow abilities and extend the duration of Hollowfication, Shuichi Higashino also wanted to see if anyone else would bother Satomi Nagasawa.

Because Higashino Shuichi was very interested in how the person behind the scenes named Zuo Bu knew about Nagasawa Rimi, and why he wanted to capture Nagasawa Rimi.

Unfortunately, Zuo Bu was just a tool who knew nothing. Everything he did was assigned to him by someone behind the scenes through letters, including those red-helmeted warriors, who were also given to him by others.

After Zuo Bu was captured by Higashino Shuichi and his group, no one has taken his place for a long time.

Therefore, when Higashino Shuichi could sustain a single Hollowfication for 18 hours and had basically mastered all the basic abilities of a Hollowfication, he felt it was time for him to go back.

(End of this chapter)