Yamamoto stood on the balcony of his office and stared out at the Sereitei. It was a rainy day, and most Shinigami were nowhere to be seen, the only ones being the patrols, who were not happy with their duty. It was peaceful and quiet, but he knew that in a couple of months, the peace and quiet that he had grown accustomed to, was going to disappear, that was inevitable. It had been five years since the Thirteen Court Guard Squads met the mythical Reio and his warning about the Quincy Empire known as the Wandenreich. Since then, nearly all of the captains and lieutenants have trained vigorously to increase their strength. He was satisfied when he learned that of all the members of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, all the captains except Zaraki have refined and strengthened their Bankai while most lieutenants have achieved it, and were now in the process of mastering it.
However, something at the very back of his still sharp mind told him that somehow, it was not going to be enough.
He inwardly sighed as not to alert Sasakibe-fukutaicho, since being his lieutenant for centuries made him aware that something was bothering him. He closed his eyes as he thought about the Quincy King Yhwach from a millennium ago. The vermin. Back then, he actually had the nerve to say that he, along the soldiers of the Licht Reich could defeat him and the original Gotei 13. The man with the most powerful Zanpakuto in existence, the strongest pure Shinigami in the Soul Society, along with a group of the most powerful and bloodthirsty men and women in Soul Society's history?! He remembered the satisfaction at making him eat his own words when all thirteen of them, excluding Sasakibe, decimated all of them with relative ease. Then the fool, on his last leg, decided to face him on a duel, with a crazed grin on his face. He would have happy to grant him that request… if he had morals back then. The original Gotei 13 were not interesting in fighting with honour and dignity. They were fighting for their home and to quell the bloodlust. That was why he did not chastise Sasakibe for shoving his Gonryumaru through Yhwach's back and heart, and instead took advantage of it and struck him down with Zanka no Tachi, killing him instantly.
Or so he thought.
Now, as he thought about the current version of the Gotei 13, he knew that nearly all of them, with the except of Sui-Feng-taicho who was an assassin, had developed a sense of honour and pride, not allowing themselves to strike when their enemy's back is turned to them, and wanted to fight in a fair one-on-one. A gut feeling, told them that the enemy would not fight fairly, since they had created the technology to steal Bankai should they use it. Kurotsuchi Mayuri had created a counter to the technology, but it would only work if a captain or lieutenant lost a Bankai. The Gotei 13's strength had increased, but he wondered if it would be enough.
Speaking of strength…
This time he did sigh at the thought of Kurosaki Ichigo, the man who had done more for the Soul Society in less than two years than Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni had done in two thousand. The young man, an infant in this world's standards, had defeated opponents he was unable to. It had been a blow to his pride, having had to rely on a human teenager to defeat Aizen, but he had done just that, even with Urahara KIsuke's help. Then he did what he did. To be honest, he did not regret the choice he made, and feeling regret now would be unprofessional. He did what he had to in order to prevent another Aizen situation from happening. Only the three elder captains and lieutenant understood why he ordered Kurosaki's assassination, but one of them disapproved of the last minute decision to order one of his friends to finish him off, while the two students that had become like his own sons to him now felt like strangers to him.
"Is something the matter, Genryusai-dono?" Sasakibe snapped the ancient Shinigami out of his thoughts. He wanted to say there was nothing to be worried about, but maybe he needed a second opinion and he knew Sasakibe would not mince his words.
"What are your thoughts on Kurosaki Ichigo's assassination? Should I have spared him, or was what I did the right choice?"
Sasakibe blinked at the question, but immediately regained his bearings. "If I were to be honest, I think that was a terrible decision, Genryusai-dono. The boy had risked his life multiple times for the sake of the Soul Society, and we repaid his loyalty by stabbing him in the back. I understand why you ordered his death, but if he were alive, he would have been a great asset to us, perhaps even capable of killing the Quincy King." He paused as he thought about saying what he wanted to say, but decided to say it anyway, since Genryusai-dono could handle it. "You do not have a lot of time left, Genryusai-dono, and you know this as well as I do. I fear that this will be one of, if not the last battles you will ever fight."
Silence was his response as his master continued to stare at the crying heavens. As he was about to continue with his paperwork, he heard, "I see. Send hell butterflies to Unohana-taicho, Kyoraku-taicho, and Ukitake-taicho." Sasakibe inwardly sighed his relief as there was no anger or frustration in his tone.
"May I ask why, Genryusai-dono?"
The fire wielding Zanpakuto user turned to look at him, and suppressed a small smile as the fire returned in his master's eyes.
"We are going to the World of the Living, and get assistance from Urahara Kisuke for the battle ahead."
X
Urahara hummed pleasantly as he tinkered with an invention he was created. He was all alone in the shop; Yoruichi had taken, or rather forced, Tessai to go shopping with him while Jinta and Ururu were playing soccer with the Kurosaki twins, as usual. He was happy knowing that Karin and Yuzu were at least moving on from their brother's death. He had not contacted any member of the remaining Kurosaki family, and it was thanks to Isshin's cold warning the day Ichigo died.
"Look Kisuke. I don't hate you nor do I blame you for my son's death. You did all you could for him, and you had no idea that the Thirteen Court Guard Squads were going to do that. However, I'm going to have to ask you to stay away from our family for now. It will be hard for Karin and Yuzu to move forward from this, but I do hope they will do so one day." He vividly remembered the dark look he was given. "But if I find out that they had unlocked their abilities and you were somehow involved in that, I will personally flay you alive."
He had stayed away for the past four years, even going so far as to remove Isshin's and the Kurosaki home numbers from his phone in order to give them some spaces. He figured he had done enough to the family. In regards to the Gotei 13 however, he was more than willing to remove all communication from them, and turning away any Shinigami that showed up to the door, sometimes with violence and/or memory wipe. He had been a little worried that they would send a Captain to investigate, but they had not come for the past five years, so they were all good.
Knock, knock!
Kisuke simply sighed. Time to go to work, he thought. He straightened himself and went to greet the customers with a cheesy smile on his face… and his expression turned to stone the moment he saw his 'customers.' Standing in front of his shop were the last people he ever wanted to see; Sasakibe Chojiro, Unohana Retsu, Ukitake Jushiro, Kyoraku Shunsui, and Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni. He merely stared at the most powerful captains and lieutenant respectively, before attempting to shut the door in their face. Key word; attempting. The reason he did not succeed in doing so is because of the 13th Division Captain stopping the door with his hand.
"We apologise for intruding like this, Urahara-san." Ukitake softly spoke. "We only need a few minutes of your time, and then we will leave." Kisuke stared long and hard at the white-haired captain's eyes, hoping to see any kind of deception… but couldn't. Ukitake was being honest, and he was a man of honour. Kisuke knew that if there was one person who felt remorse for Ichigo's death five years ago, it was definitely Ukitake.
Kisuke sighed. "Be thankful to Ukitake-san. He just bought you time to say whatever you came to say and leave." He stepped to the side and let them all of them in. Once they all sat down, he poured them green tea. He wanted to make some for only himself, but it had been ingrained in him to be hospitable to his guests so he did not.
"Now then," he began, "To what do I owe the displeasure of having the most powerful Shinigami of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads?" Unohana, Kyoraku and Ukitake slightly flinched, but Sasakibe and Yamamoto did not seem fazed at all.
"We came because we require your assistance for an upcoming war with the Wandenreich, led by the most evil to ever exist, the King of the Quincy Yhwach." To his well-hidden surprise, Kisuke merely raised an inquisitive eyebrow, before drinking his green tea.
"I see. So he has returned, but I have to ask you this question Soutaicho. You say that the son of the Reio is the most evil man to ever exist, but considering your very bloody and violent past, and your decision to kill a defenceless young man after he saved the Soul Society from an enemy you could not even defeat, who is truly the evil one here?"
Tension rose in the room as the Shinigami around the table stared at Yamamoto, who merely said, "I would like to know as to how you came about this information that is supposed to be classified." He finished in a tone that indicated that an unsatisfactory answer would not end well.
To his credit, the slightly insane shopkeeper maintained eye-contact with the ancient Shinigami. "Simple. After the Vizard came back from the Soul Society with pissed off expressions and told me about the Zero Division's visit, I decided to do my own research. The Sealed Quincy King, regains his pulse after nine hundred years, his intellect after ninety years, and his strength after nine years. You want me to help to defeat the same enemy that you and Unohana-san, along with eleven others, ambushed in the middle of the night."
"Yes, and what say you?"
"Two words; Fuck. No."
Everybody's eyes widened until they were as big as saucers at the level of disrespect the former 12th Division Captain was showing the Soutaicho, who had not changed his expression nor his posture. However, the temperature had started to rise bit by bit. After a few minutes, he grumbled, he finally grumbled, "And why not?"
Kisuke put his cup and stared at the Soutaicho with fearless eyes. "Why should I help the organisation that listens to greedy, corrupt and narrow-minded fools like the Central 46? Why should I help the organisation who killed a young man who had no powers? A quick death so that the boy would not suffer, yet you fed him to Hollows? And why should I help the man who would have gladly killed three of the most loyal captains just to get to us? Until you give me a valid answer, my answer is no, Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni."
Sasakibe, Unohana, Ukitake, and Kyoraku's jaws were on the floor by the time Kisuke finshed. No one had ever spoken to the Soutaicho in this manner. It was simply unheard off, and yet Kisuke Urahara had done it! Even though they were staring at the blonde-haired man with awe, confusion, horror and a little bit of respect and admiration, they were looking at Yamamoto with anxiety and fear, hoping that he did not kill the one man who could help him. Yamamoto himself was quite surprised. They were a few throughout his long life that had spoken to him in this manner, but never had the power to back it up and while on the surface it seems as though Urahara Kisuke was going to join the list, he knew better than that. The man sitting in front of him was the definition of 'Do not judge a book by its cover.' He was the one who helped seal Aizen and the one who created the object that the madman desired, notto mention the fact that his intellect is unrivalled. Urahara had earned some respect from the old man for standing up to him like this.
However, it was time to remind the youngster as to why he was the Gotei 13 Soutaicho for more than a millennium.
"I see." He grunted. "You believed that by me saying 'we required your assistance' that it was a request. I am afraid you are mistaken, boy. You will help us defeat the Wandenreich."
"What if I refuse, like I did a couple of minutes ago?"
"The answer is simple. Tsukabishi Tessai, Shihoin Yoruichi, the group that call themselves Vizards and the two children that live here will perish by my hand."
Kisuke's eyes narrowed in anger while everyone else stared at the ancient Shinigami while having the same thought.
'He's gone too far.'
"You wouldn't dare." Kisuke fought the urge to growl.
Yamamoto opened his eyes, making Kisuke feel a pang of fear he had not felt in a long time. "Yes I would. You seem to forgotten who it is you are currently talking to. I am the one who killed hundreds of thousands of innocent souls all for the sake of the Sereitei. I am the one who is deciding your fate, not the other way around. You may be loosely associated with the Soul Society because of your wrongful exile, but you are still an asset of the Soul Society, regardless of affiliation. A Shinigami officer will send the information we have on the Quincy, and you will help us. Failure to do that… I will not repeat myself." He leaned back and looked like he was about to stand up, when he paused and crushed the scientist with his overwhelming reiatsu.
"And you will never say my full name in front of me without my permission ever again, boy."
(Silbern)
"I see you are back, Haschwalth." Yhwach grunted when his Grandmaster entered his throne and bowed to him. "And the target?"
Haschwalth merely gestured by raising his head, and footsteps were heard before the owner of said footsteps did the same thing Haschwalth did.
"I welcome you, Ishida Uryu."
The Ishida heir simply bowed deeper.
"My son, born in the light."