Chapter 471 - 471: Soi Fon Arrives! Ichigo Makes a Run for It

Of course, some people in Karakura Town were already familiar with these ghost-like figures.

Isshin Kurosaki was one of them.

"Starting today, the three of you are staying home from school."

Ichigo and his sisters stared at their father.

Isshin rarely looked this serious, which immediately told them something was wrong.

But he offered no real explanation.

After giving them a few firm instructions, he left the house under cover of night and headed straight for Urahara Shop.

By the time he arrived, Kisuke Urahara seemed to have expected him. He was already waiting, though Yoruichi was nowhere to be seen.

"Looks like you really do know something."

Isshin got straight to the point.

"Seeing this many Shinigami deployed at once is pretty damn rare."

"I don't know the full situation yet, but something major happened in Soul Society."

Urahara led him toward the underground chamber.

"It may involve Aizen."

"Yoruichi already went to investigate."

Halfway down, Urahara abruptly stopped and turned around.

His expression became strange, as though he wanted to laugh but couldn't quite manage it under the circumstances.

"You've been living in the World of the Living too long. Your awareness has gotten rusty."

Isshin frowned and looked back.

Then his eyes widened.

"Ichigo!"

His orange-haired son stepped out from hiding.

"Dad, I didn't know you had friends like this."

And behind Ichigo were two smaller shadows.

Karin and Yuzu.

Isshin opened his mouth, clearly ready to tear into them, but stopped himself.

"Forget it. Since you're already here, stay."

With the situation this uncertain, home might not actually be safer.

At least Urahara's underground facility offered some protection.

"What is this place?"

The moment the three siblings entered the enormous underground chamber, all of them froze.

Their mouths fell open.

They looked back at the narrow passage they had just come through, then at the vast cavern stretching out before them.

Urahara rubbed his nose.

"So you really never told them anything."

"If things were normal, I'd rather they never found out."

Isshin sighed.

He was already wondering how the hell he was supposed to explain all of this.

For now, though, he moved farther away with Urahara before continuing their conversation.

"I'm still investigating the details. Whether Aizen is involved will have to wait."

Urahara's expression was serious.

"But something enormous definitely happened in Soul Society. Something serious enough to affect all of it."

"Otherwise, they wouldn't break their own rules and send this many Shinigami into the World of the Living."

"You know what that kind of spiritual concentration can do here."

Isshin gave him a flat look.

"So basically, you still don't know anything."

"I thought you'd have more than that, considering you still have contacts in Soul Society."

"There wasn't enough time."

Urahara adjusted his hat.

"And charging back into Soul Society right now could expose us."

Isshin glanced around the massive underground chamber.

"You're not exactly invisible here either."

"A place this large leaks Reishi. Sooner or later, a Shinigami is going to notice."

"At least it buys us some time."

Urahara knew that perfectly well.

But dismantling the underground space now would be worse. The resulting spiritual disturbance would attract even more attention.

"You don't have any time left."

The moment those words were spoken, a black shadow dropped in front of Urahara.

Yoruichi.

But she wasn't the one who had spoken.

Urahara spun around, instantly alert.

At the same time, Isshin's clothes shifted into a Shihakushō.

"Kisuke Urahara."

A cold female voice followed.

"Isshin Shiba."

Soi Fon stood nearby with her arms folded, studying the two wanted fugitives of Soul Society.

Her gaze then moved past them toward the strange figures farther inside the chamber.

"The missing members of the Fifth Division."

"Soi Fon."

Urahara frowned, though his eyes immediately dropped toward the black cat sitting beside his feet.

"I got spotted."

Yoruichi noticed his look and answered casually.

"But they don't have time to deal with us right now. Soul Society has much bigger problems."

"Aizen?"

"Not just Aizen."

Yoruichi's voice became serious.

"Someone entered Seireitei and fought the old man without losing."

"He also did something in Hueco Mundo, and before leaving, he said he was coming to the World of the Living."

Soi Fon then filled in the details.

When Urahara and Isshin heard that Cyrus had fought Yamamoto inside Soul Society and held his own, they exchanged stunned looks.

"So they're planning to fight in Karakura Town next?"

The one who interrupted was Ichigo.

He had finally recovered from the flood of information.

Soi Fon glanced at the delinquent-looking teenager, then ignored him.

Ichigo immediately turned around and ran.

Within moments, he had disappeared back up the passage.

"This is an opportunity."

Yoruichi barely reacted to Ichigo leaving and instead explained why she had brought Soi Fon here.

Isshin clearly wanted to chase after his son, and he had a pretty good idea where Ichigo was going.

But the situation here was too important.

He couldn't leave.

Karin and Yuzu, meanwhile, stood nearby looking completely lost. No matter how sharp they were for their age, they were still children.

"Aizen has been exposed."

Yoruichi padded toward Soi Fon.

"That means a lot of things we couldn't confirm before can finally be investigated."

"And the same goes for them."

She looked up at Urahara.

"Right now, Soul Society needs your help."

"They want you to create an identical copy of Karakura Town."

Urahara immediately developed a headache.

He knew exactly what she meant.

But even ignoring the enormous difficulty and the time required, there was a more serious problem.

"It won't work."

Urahara looked at Soi Fon.

"If that man can really fight the Captain-Commander on equal footing, then any fake Karakura Town we build would collapse almost immediately under that level of combat."

"And why not attack Hueco Mundo now?"

"That would be the better option."

"He can teleport instantly."

Soi Fon answered.

"He can open passages between Hueco Mundo and Soul Society whenever he wants."

Urahara's frown deepened.

"Then we really do have a problem."

"Someone that strong is already hard enough to contain."

"If he can also leave whenever he wants…"

He shook his head.

"There may not be any reliable way to trap him at all."

Raw strength could sometimes be countered with enough preparation.

But if Soi Fon's description was accurate, then even creating the conditions for that preparation would be difficult.