Bleach: Starting with Marrying Retsu Unohana

Upon hearing this, Araki turned around and looked at Yoruichi and the other three, asking them a question.

"Araki-sensei, could it be that you mean?!" Upon hearing this, Yoruichi and the other three were all shocked by Araki's words. After exchanging glances, they asked Araki, "Are you going to take us to your detached palace?!"

"What? Don't you want to go?"

Araki did not answer the crowd's questions, but instead asked them with a smile.

"I want to go! Of course I want to go!"

Yoruichi and the other three nodded repeatedly. How could they not want to go to Araki's detached palace?! They had long been curious about Araki's detached palace, after all, it was the only one they had never been to—the detached palace of the 'Zero Division' members!

"Then come with me!"

Araki said as he walked toward his detached palace.

"go!"

Seeing Araki striding forward, Yoruichi and the other three hurriedly followed, taking small, quick steps.

"Araki-sensei, why is the color of your palace different from everyone else's?!"

"Araki-sensei, why is there a constant booming sound coming from above your pavilion?!"

"Araki-sensei, why did you keep preventing us from going to your ancestral hall before this?"

Araki surrounded Yoruichi, Kyoraku, Ukitake, and Tokina, the four members of the group, who kept asking Araki questions.

"Stop, stop..."

"Once we get there, you'll all understand! Until then, please allow my Li Palace to retain a little mystery~"

Araki's eyelids twitched slightly after hearing what Yoruichi and the other three said. Sure enough, the only downside to putting these people together was that it was too noisy.

"Araki-sensei, how exactly do we get to your detached palace?!"

Shi Nada, who had been silently following behind Araki, frowned slightly when he discovered that there were no intersecting staircases between Araki's detached hall and the main approach. He had a bad feeling, but even so, he still looked at Araki honestly and asked.

"Crack~"

Araki simply looked at his own detached palace in the sky and snapped his fingers. With a slight thought from Araki, the detached palace began to rumble, and then one after another, translucent glass steps, shimmering with endless brilliance, appeared out of thin air, tightly connecting Araki's detached palace with the outer path of the Spirit King Palace.

"Let's go~"

As Araki spoke, he led the way up the glazed steps in front of him, and then walked step by step toward the sky.

"This……"

The four people behind Araki—Yoruichi, Kyoraku, Ukitake, and Tokina—were stunned by the breathtaking scene before them, then quickly followed Araki. They walked step by step down the transparent, glass staircase suspended in mid-air towards Araki's detached hall…

"These steps suspended in mid-air are incredibly high! If any of us were to fall from here, we'd probably be smashed to pieces!"

Kyoraku walked down the steps, craned his neck to look down, and immediately broke out in a cold sweat.

"If you're afraid of heights, don't look down!"

Shi Tan raised an eyebrow slightly as he looked at Jing Le, who was constantly sweating profusely.

"It's not that bad..."

Kyoraku shook his head and continued climbing the steps.

Not long after...

The moment everyone climbed the semi-transparent steps to the desolate hall, the steps vanished instantly. Shi Tan, noticing this, frowned even more deeply.

"Come and see, this is my detached palace!"

Araki stood on a higher step and gently waved to the crowd, signaling Kyoraku and the others to come to his side quickly, because from Araki's position, they could see the entire layout of the Li Palace.

"Eh?!"

At Araki's call, Kyoraku, Ukitake, and Yoruichi immediately went to Araki's side. As for Tokina, who was at the back, he hesitated for a few seconds, gritted his teeth, and walked over.

"This is……"

The moment everyone arrived beside Araki, they were all stunned by the scene before them. Araki was pointing in the direction of the detached hall...

The shimmering light of glass illuminated the area, and the exquisite gatehouse, the magnificent streets, the ancient clock tower, and the numerous glass artifacts captivated Kyoraku and his companions, who stared intently at them.

"Araki-sensei, this place is so beautiful?!"

"Is this the legendary Lower Paradise?!"

"Araki-sensei, how exactly did you create such a beautiful city using such exquisite glass?"

"Teacher Araki, is there really a suitable place for us to train in a town made entirely of glass? I'm really afraid that I might accidentally break all this glass while training, and I'll be heartbroken!"

Kyoraku, Yoruichi, and Ukitake were all immersed in the beauty of the town before them. Even Tokina was drawn to the town and forgot the sense of unease that had arisen deep within him earlier.

"Let's go~"

Seeing this, Araki didn't waste any words and kicked Yoruichi, Kyoraku, Ukitake, and Tokina in the backside, sending them all flying off the platform.

"Eh?!"

Without much thought, the four of them descended from the sky and landed in that crystal-clear world.

"It hurts, it hurts, it hurts..."

"Araki-sensei, what do you mean by this?!"

As Kyoraku stood up from the ground, clutching his aching buttocks, and turned to look at Araki, Araki had already used his mind to control the platform beneath him to slowly float up, completely separating it from the palace below.

"Alright, enjoy the feast I've prepared for you!"

Araki ignored Kyoraku and the others; he simply patted the sky twice lightly…

"boom!"

The next second, the entire azure-colored town erupted in a tremendous roar!

"How is this going?!"

After noticing the unusual activity in the palace beneath their feet, Kyoraku and the others stood up and drew their Zanpakuto. They realized that their master, Araki, had never intended for them, his disciples, to have an easy time...

"Roar!!"

Before Kyoraku and the others could think further, accompanied by a roar, one after another, monsters with bodies entirely of glass-like color walked towards Kyoraku and the others from all directions.

"This is an illusion?!"

Yoruichi looked at the monster in front of her and said instinctively.

"No! It's just a doll made of glass, not a real Hollow!"

Shi Tan felt the spiritual pressure of the monster in front of him and kept shaking his head.

"In short, strike first!" The moment Kyoraku finished speaking, he slashed at the monsters in front of him, muttering, "They're just monsters made of mere glass! Watch me shatter them with a single blow!"

"Hee~"

When the monster saw Kyoraku's slash, a hint of mockery suddenly appeared in its eyes, allowing Kyoraku to slash at its body at will.

"Ding!~"

With a soft sound, Kyoraku felt as if his Zanpakuto had struck an alloy, unable to penetrate it at all.

"Roar!"

When the monster saw Kyoraku's shocked expression, it immediately launched a counterattack, but before its attack could even touch Kyoraku, Kyoraku dodged it.

"I knew it?!"

Kyoraku used Shunpo to create distance between himself and the monster in front of him, then raised his Zanpakuto and slammed it into the ground with all his might.

"Ding~"

With another loud bang, Kyoraku's Zanpakuto was bounced off the glass-like ground...

The immense force of the recoil caused Kyoraku to feel a sharp pain in his hand.

“You must be careful! These monsters’ bodies are harder than steel! And I’ve also discovered that the material that makes up these monsters’ bodies is the same material that makes up the ‘ground’ of this town and the surrounding ‘buildings’…”

This was the conclusion Kyoraku reached the moment he came into contact with the monster.

"In other words, were all these monsters created by Araki-sensei?!"

Upon hearing this, Ukitake instantly understood.

"Moreover, even if we defeat these monsters, they will quickly get back up! It's extremely troublesome!"

Yoruichi was crackling with electricity. After she used her Instantaneous Roar to shatter a glass monster, the monster soon stood up again, and the parts she had shattered were gradually repaired over time.

"Simply put, let's retreat first?!"

After listening to what everyone had to say, Shi Tan concluded.

"Yes! Let's go to a place without monsters to come up with a strategy! Right now, we have no idea how many monsters there are, how strong they are, how fast they are, how intelligent they are, or how to defeat them! We need to gather as much information as possible so we can find a way to pass the trial..."

Kyoraku nodded slightly, revealing his thoughts to everyone.

"Then let's retreat..."

Everyone present was decisive. After deciding to retreat, no one hesitated and they immediately headed in the direction with the fewest monsters.

However, as the group pressed forward, the number of monsters not only did not decrease, but increased until they became so numerous that the group could not proceed without defeating the monsters in front of them...

"...Heavenly Mad Bones!"

"...Pisces Rationale!"

"...making unfounded claims!"

"Go mad, Wu Wengchui!"

It seemed that a battle was inevitable!

In the blink of an eye, all four of them had released their Zanpakuto.

"Get out of my way!"

Having unleashed their Zanpakuto, the four shifted their focus to offense. Since they couldn't dodge, they decided to eliminate all the monsters before them! With that thought, boundless spiritual pressure exploded from their bodies…

"boom!"

In an instant, Kyoraku, Ukitake, Tokina, and Yoruichi caused a huge commotion on this stained-glass street.

"Ugh! It's so noisy! Could it be that someone new has arrived?!"