Bleach: Reborn — Chapter 76 - Kisuke Urahara

Wayne led Nel to a secluded stretch of mountain ranges and stopped. He scanned the area, no sign of anyone nearby. He sent Nel ahead to check whether any Hollow Beasts had survived in the surrounding area. After the long road to get here, there should still be stragglers lurking about.

Nel left. Shinji Hirako closed in fast behind her. Watching one of the Adjuchas walk away, Shinji's expression went cold.

"What exactly do you know — and what is your purpose in coming to the World of the Living?" Shinji demanded.

"Before we get into that, let's settle this with a fight." Wayne casually summoned the Sky-Rending Greatsword. "If we don't, you're going to keep thinking you can walk all over me."

Wayne had his own temper. From the start he had kept his posture low, tried to have a civil conversation, and Shinji had spent the whole time talking down to him. He was thoroughly done with it.

The next instant, Wayne's Reiatsu surged. Peak Adjuchas-class, fully unleashed.

"You — you're playing me?" Shinji misread the move and raised his own Reiatsu, bracing for a fight.

"Your lieutenant isn't here. Show me what you've got." Before the words had finished leaving his mouth, Wayne used Sonído, leaving a clone standing in his original position while he reappeared at Shinji's back.

CLANG!

Blade met blade with a sharp, ringing crack. Wayne's fully charged swing sent Shinji, who had moved to block, flying backward through the air.

"What force." Shinji muttered to himself as he sailed back. He hadn't been cut, but the impact had left his arm completely numb.

HMM!

Before he could recover, one of Wayne's Cero came streaking in, a clean shot, no special ability attached.

"Tsk." Shinji clicked his tongue, raised his blade, and slashed straight through it.

The pale-gold Cero split cleanly in two and dissolved into the air. Shinji brought his Zanpakuto up before him and began to chant.

"Fall, Saka—"

"Fall THIS!"

Wayne, cloaked in concealment, materialized beside Shinji in an instant. His right claw locked around Shinji's sword hand. His left brought the greatsword down on Shinji's arm in one clean slash.

SPLAT!

Blade through flesh. Crimson blood sprayed out in an instant, soaking Shinji's haori sleeve and spreading across Wayne's Hollow Mask in a deep red stain.

Shinji reeled backward with a grunt of pain. He hadn't expected to take this kind of damage in only three exchanges.

What had actually happened was this: Wayne had deployed every assassination tool he had. The first Cero was bait. Under its flash of light, he used Sonído and left the clone behind as a decoy. At the same time he cloaked himself, then used his Spatial ability to instantly close in on the mark he had quietly left on Shinji's Zanpakuto during their earlier clash. He channeled every last bit of his Reiatsu into that single strike, and severed Shinji's arm.

One clean hit. Wayne pulled back. In his hand he held not only Shinji's arm, but his Zanpakuto.

"I hope this teaches you some manners." Wayne said coldly, gripping the severed arm. His eyes flickered, and he activated his Spatial ability, generating a massive spatial tremor across the surrounding area, but directing none of it at Shinji himself. Shinji didn't dare move. He could only hold his position in mid-air and wait.

About a minute passed. Wayne let the tremor die and exhaled slowly. He looked out at the shattered vegetation and scattered wreckage, then gave a satisfied nod.

Sustaining a spatial tremor over that kind of area all at once had cost him considerably.

"What — what was that for?"

"I told you. I needed to personally confirm whether your lieutenant was here or not."

The wide-area tremor had been deliberate. No matter how carefully Aizen had concealed his presence, a tremor of that magnitude would have shaken him loose.

"Just how much do you know?" For the moment, Shinji had forgotten that the Hollow Beast in front of him had just cut off his arm. He was far more concerned with the lieutenant Wayne had mentioned.

"Your arm, consider it collateral for our negotiation." Wayne held the severed limb up. "The Zanpakuto I'll return before we leave. But there's something I need to say first: if you don't use Bankai, you won't be able to beat Aizen."

"So you really do know about Aizen!" Shinji's gaze turned hard.

"I don't just know about Aizen. I know you've been watching his every move." Wayne looked at Shinji with an easy smile.

"Remember what I'm about to tell you. Something is very wrong with Aizen, and he is far more dangerous than you imagine. In the future, you and many of your comrades will come under attack from him. The method of attack will be nothing you could ever anticipate. If the opportunity presents itself, I strongly suggest you eliminate him outright. Don't give him any room to rise."

"Just say what you mean! Plainly!"

"Some things are better left unsaid in full." Wayne let out a long call toward the sky, summoning Nel back. He could have laid out everything he knew. But would Shinji believe him?

Better to say just enough. That way he wouldn't alter the story too drastically, wouldn't set off a butterfly effect. And if Shinji truly took the words to heart, if he turned around and actually killed Aizen, that would be just fine by Wayne.

"Shinji Hirako. I'm glad to have met you now, like this. In the future, I hope we'll have a decent relationship. When that time comes, I hope you'll put away that contempt and disgust you have for Hollow Beasts. Not every Hollow is what you think it is. I, for one, have met Hollows as pure and innocent as flowers."

"You bastard." Shinji's face had gone pale, cold sweat running freely, whether from the pain of his severed arm or from Wayne's words, it was hard to say. "What are you rambling about."

"My lord." Nel had caught Wayne's call from a distance and came running. In truth, the moment Wayne had raised his Reiatsu and engaged Shinji, she had already been waiting nearby. She had been tracking his Reiatsu the entire time, and finding that her lord's Reiatsu had not been beaten down or weakened, she hadn't dared step forward on her own, after all, captain-class opponents came in more than just one blond-haired variety.

"My lord, are you alright?" Nel asked instinctively as she arrived. Then she saw the arm still draped in a captain's haori sleeve, and understood immediately that her lord was perfectly fine.

"I'm fine. Eat this quickly, stabilize your Reiatsu." Wayne stripped Shinji's Zanpakuto from the severed arm and handed the arm to Nel. Nel didn't hesitate. She used her absorption ability and drained every last drop of captain-class Reiatsu from it.

"So from the very start, your plan was to cut off my hand?" Watching the scene unfold before him, Shinji felt a vein throb in his forehead. He had been underestimated.

"What else, take your head?" Wayne glanced at him like he was looking at an idiot. "I told you. I have no ill intent toward any of you. Taking your arm was only so my companion could advance smoothly. We'll meet again. And I told you from the very beginning, I'm a little different from other Hollow Beasts." He walked toward Shinji as he spoke.

"The 12th Division and the 4th Division should have ways to restore your arm, so that's not my problem. In any case, thank you for the Reiatsu. Nel can advance without worry now. Oh, and one more thing. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Wayne. Ace Wayne." He held out Shinji's Zanpakuto and returned it.

"Ace Wayne." Shinji took the blade, murmuring the name in a fog.

"Go back and sort out the mess. Remember what I told you today, and I hope you'll keep this secret between the two of us." With that settled, Wayne turned and walked back toward Nel.

"And as for you, Kisuke Urahara, try tailing me again and I'll cut you down on the spot." He fired a Cero into a patch of empty air in the distance without even looking. Kisuke Urahara came leaping out of thin air.

"What a headache. Can't even eavesdrop in peace." Urahara scratched the back of his head. Then he used Shunpo to reach Shinji's side and began treating the wound.

"Kisuke Urahara. I had been intending to make a deal with you as well, but I currently have nothing worthwhile to offer you as collateral. So I dropped the idea."

"Oh?" Urahara kept channeling Kaidō as he glanced over. "If you did want a deal, what would you want?"

"Technology." Wayne was direct. "What the Seireitei currently holds. And certain things you've built privately."

"Those are priceless. Not even your life would cover them." Urahara seemed to catch the scent of something extraordinary in the words.

"Which is exactly why I said I have no good collateral. All I can offer is a single piece of advice, in exchange for the freedom to act as I please going forward." Wayne spread his hands. "I'm going to take some blueprints of human technology from the World of the Living. In exchange, I won't harm any humans, and I won't touch the souls wandering through this city. You, in turn, won't interfere with my movements. Agree to that, and I'll throw in one piece of intelligence."

"If you can hold to your word, we won't interfere with your actions this time. But you must remain within our line of sight until you leave the World of the Living." Urahara had come to understand it by now. The Hollow Beast in front of him was nothing like the others who knew only how to devour souls. It had a mind that matched their own, and it understood technology. If it came to a direct confrontation today, perhaps neither he nor Shinji would come out well. And if they waited for reinforcements, the human city might descend into chaos, that wasn't worth it.

"Then the deal is struck. We'll go into the city and collect what we need, and then we'll leave. You're welcome to follow. If you help us gather what we're looking for, we'll be gone even faster."

"Soul Reapers running errands for a Hollow?" Shinji spat. "Funniest thing I've ever heard." He had lost, he knew it. Otherwise his temper would have had him back on his feet with his blade drawn already.

"Please, go right ahead, Mr. Wayne." Urahara had no intention of actually sending Soul Reapers to assist a Hollow. "So. What intelligence are you offering?"

"The Hōgyoku."

"..." Urahara's eyes narrowed. That was his secret, his current secret, and Wayne had named it in a single word. He couldn't pretend not to be shaken. "I don't know what you're talking about. What stone?"

"The Hōgyoku." Wayne knew Urahara was bluffing. He didn't bother calling it out. "What I'm saying is, the Hōgyoku is not the only one of its kind."

"What?!"

➤ Next: Negotiation