A few days had passed since that incident with Tatsuki. A lot of Ichigo's friends decided it was best to leave him alone, allowing Silas the comfort of training peacefully. There were times that he skipped school specifically to train. Isshin and the rest of Ichigo's family gradually became more worried, but Silas would brush them aside, making an excuse that he just needed to be left alone for a few days.

Ichigo was originally poor at being able to sense other people's spiritual power. But Silas was not Ichigo. Not only had he perfected that ability, he had also learned how to suppress his own spiritual powers in the process.

Every spiritual being emits some form of spiritual power. This even included animals. To truly be an expert at using one's spiritual power, one required training and willpower. And Silas was all about willpower. There was nothing he couldn't do without faith. (Mathew 19: 26.)

With his newfound ability, he could now sense people from great distances. Yet that wasn't the reason he was training so hard. What he needed was complete control over his own spiritual power. And that's just what he attained. By blocking a certain amount of his spiritual power from leaking out, he could hide his presence from others.

It wouldn't be enough to hide from Aizen's spying flies, but it would be enough to hide from people like Uryū, who could distinguish Soul Reapers from other people. And to be frank, Uryū's control over his spiritual powers was greater than Ichigo's. Those thoughts aside, it was finally time for Silas to take the next step in his plans.

Early Saturday morning, he arose, grabbed all of Ichigo's savings, and made his way to Urahara's Shop. This convenience store was truly a shop that catered to Soul Reapers. Behind it was a man waiting for Aizen to unleash the power of the Hōgyoku so that he could seal it away along with Aizen. A lot of events could have been dispelled had that man done everything he could to expose Aizen by simply showing concrete evidence to everyone. That same man was Kisuke Urahara.

"What?!" a little boy screamed at the front of the shop. "Ya wanna speak to the manager?" This boy was Jinta Hanakari, and he was not a boy at all but was actually a modified soul—an artificial soul created to look like a person, but with some enhancements. Their main purpose was to help Soul Reapers fight Hollows. Of course, many of them were exterminated due to ethical reasons. "I've never seen ya here before. Who are ya anyway?"

"You can call me Ichigo Kurosaki."

There was a bit of silence. Jinta had expected Silas to say more. But when he remained despondent, it prompted Jinta to make him wait there as he went inside. Only a few minutes passed until he returned to tell Silas that he could come in.

It came as no surprise to Silas how easy it was to enter the shop. Kisuke knew all about Ichigo, for he was the one who helped Ichigo's father and mother during a crisis. There was also something very special about this shop: it nominally sold items to Soul Reapers. And the fact that "Ichigo" was coming to his shop now must have piqued his curiosity.

Inside, Silas looked around to see neatly stacked shelves. A little girl with dark hair was minding her business as she casually swept the floor. This girl was Ururu Tsumugiya. She, like Jinta, was also a modified soul. From the back, two men came out to greet Silas. One was Tessai Tsukabishi, a large, dark-skinned fellow who wore glasses. The other was none other than Kisuke himself.

Kisuke was just as tall as Silas. He had light-blonde hair and wore a dark black and green kimono, along with a striped white and green bucket hat on his head. "My name is Kisuke, Kisuke Urahara, owner of this establishment. To what do I owe the pleasure, Mr. Kurosaki?!" he asked, waving a small fan by his smiling face. Kisuke's personality wasn't hard to grasp. He often acted like a jovial, eccentric man. But this was a deception as compared to his serious side.

"Mr. Urahara, I would like to purchase something."

"Oh! And what would that be?!" he excitedly asked.

Silas walked away, pretending to glance around the shop. When he couldn't find what he was looking for, he asked in a straight face if he could browse anything in the back. Of course, Kisuke wasn't going to let him do this alone, so he asked Ururu to accompany him.

Ururu was exactly as Silas remembered: rosy cheeks with long black hair that parted down the middle. The rest of her hair was in pigtails, and she wore a pink skirt with white polka dots. She stopped sweeping and casually led him to the back, where Silas discovered a box that read "Poor Merchandise" on it. Pulling out what was inside, he found a dispenser with a duck's head.

"Do you have something similar to this?" he asked.

"Umm! Let me check. Can you wait up front, please?" Ururu begged in a sincere tone.

Silas exited to the front as instructed. Kisuke, who still seemed to be in a jovial mood, asked him if he had found what he was looking for. Before he could answer, Ururu returned with the product. The moment Kisuke saw what it was, the entire mood changed. He then lowered his hat and asked in a serious tone, "Now why would a high schooler want something like that?"

"It looked interesting," Silas answered.

There was an awkward silence as Kisuke stared at him. Not a single person said anything until Tessai finally asked, "Ichigo, how much do you know?" Jinta looked menacingly at Silas, suspecting him to be up to no good. But when Silas feigned his ignorance about what Tessai was referring to, Kisuke's attitude shifted.

"Well, it looks like it's a great day for you, Mr. Kurosaki. We don't often sell products like this one, but since you seemed so keen on it, I'll give you a guarantee in case you're not satisfied. How does that sound?"

A moment ago, Kisuke looked like he was going to interrogate Silas. But now he was ready to sell him the product. For the thing Silas was buying was called a "soul candy". It contained a special pill that had an artificial soul inside. And this artificial soul could temporarily enter the body, forcing whatever soul was inside out of that body. It was not something average people were aware of.

When Kisuke saw Silas pulling out his wallet, he smiled and stated it would be five thousand yen. Silas gave him that exact amount. Transaction successful, he began departing the store until Kisuke stopped him to ask if that's all he needed. Silas, with his back turned, said, "Yeah. That's it…"

After he left the store, Tessai wondered, "Do you suppose he knows what he bought?" Kisuke, whose mood became eerily suspicious, quietly asked someone to spy on Silas. A black cat who was hiding somewhere within the shop then meowed in response.