Chapter 137: You Can't Do This!
"Holy shit, Muramasa!"
The moment he saw this man, Satoru almost had a heart attack.
After entering Hueco Mundo, thinking Kōga hadn't followed him in, he hadn't maintained his inner world's closed state continuously.
Of course, as a precaution, he had kept a backup plan.
If Kōga did suddenly appear at any moment, he would immediately reactivate the closed state.
Even during the previous battle, he hadn't dared to let his guard down.
After all, if Kōga had really followed him in, intervening suddenly during the fight would obviously be the best opportunity.
But throughout the entire journey, there had been no trace of Kōga's presence.
At the final moment of opening the Garganta, he had finally let his guard down.
Muramasa keenly seized the opportunity of this moment and came to his side.
Seeing Muramasa's fingers just inches from his body, Satoru's pupils shook violently.
If he got touched by this, his innocence... damn it, all the secrets in his head would be gone!
Whether his Zanpakutō betrayed him or not, he didn't really care.
But his identity as a traveler, the existence of the binding system, and his knowledge of the Soul Society's future events... if Kōga saw all this, it would be disastrous!
"You bastard... you can't do this, you can't!!"
Satoru's face showed urgency as he swiftly retreated.
Muramasa revealed a smile.
He had long anticipated Satoru would dodge and had prepared to accelerate.
The moment Satoru moved, he had already closed in.
His fingers were mere centimeters away from piercing Satoru's body!
At that moment, a calm voice rang out—
"Hadō #63."
"Raikōhō."
BOOM!!!
A thick golden lightning blast instantly tore through the long distance, rushing straight toward Muramasa!
"Guh!"
Muramasa's expression changed.
He could sense this blast's power was terrifying—undoubtedly something only a captain-level fighter could unleash.
Taking it head-on would certainly leave him severely wounded.
Satoru's Zanpakutō hadn't even achieved Bankai—it wasn't worth taking such a risk.
The moment he made this judgment, he flickered and vanished from his position.
The golden lightning roared past, completely obliterating the spot where he'd just stood.
From behind a stone pillar, Kōga emerged with a dark expression.
"Who's there?!"
He had been so close to seizing Satoru's Zanpakutō, to making the latter kneel at his feet and repent for his sins.
How dare someone interfere at such a critical moment?!
He burned with fierce rage.
Yoruichi also turned in surprise, looking toward the direction from which Raikōhō had been fired.
Under everyone's gaze, a figure wrapped in multicolored Kidō light slowly stepped forward.
Seeing this figure, Kōga first stared blankly, then suddenly seemed to recall something, his face shifting to astonishment.
"Kōsatsu... weren't you dead?"
From within the light, the figure let out a soft laugh.
"Even things seen with one's own eyes may not have truly happened."
"Much less something merely heard from others?"
Initially, Satoru had been hesitant to recognize the glowing figure.
But hearing this provocatively arrogant way of speaking, he suddenly broke into a grin.
As the voice faded, the figure in the light reached out and slowly drew the Zanpakutō at its waist.
Seeing this movement, Satoru was momentarily stunned.
He quickly turned around, closed his eyes, and pulled Yoruichi into his embrace while covering her eyes.
"Hey, Satoru, what are you..."
"Close your eyes, close them quickly!"
Satoru urged in a low voice.
Hearing his words, Yoruichi closed her eyes without hesitation.
Watching Satoru properly close his eyes, Aizen raised his sword.
Kyōka Suigetsu... Release!
...
...
Time rewound.
Endless sea of sand, the bright moon hanging high.
A boy with brown curly hair wearing a black Shinigami Uniform suddenly appeared.
The next moment, he lightly stepped on a sand dune and vanished again.
While continuously using Shunpo, he occasionally glanced back.
Behind him, a humanoid Hollow was chasing him.
Though its entire body was covered in bone armor, revealing only the upper half of its face, the pair of large breasts on its chest indicated it was female.
Aizen felt somewhat curious.
He wondered if Satoru's preferences included female Hollows.
Given that guy's personality, it might actually be possible...
Suddenly, a powerful Reiatsu fluctuation came from behind.
Aizen flashed and dodged to the side.
Almost simultaneously with his evasion, a golden Cero swept through where he had just been.
Strong, extremely strong.
This humanoid Hollow was the most powerful Hollow he had ever seen.
Its vast Reiatsu far surpassed that of a Captain-level.
With his current strength, trying to control it with Kyōka Suigetsu was almost impossible.
However... his power wasn't solely reliant on Kyōka Suigetsu.
While fleeing, he had set up several triggered Kidō traps along the way.
By circling around a few times, he could use these Kidō to restrain the opponent.
After restricting its movements, he would launch a fierce assault.
Once he depleted its strength, he would use the secret medicine he had developed to temporarily boost his Reiatsu limits.
At that point, there would be a high probability of successfully using Kyōka Suigetsu.
Just thinking about such a powerful Hollow becoming his experimental material made Aizen feel uncontrollably excited.
Tier Harribel pursued relentlessly using Sonído.
A few hours earlier, she had been sleeping on a sand dune when she suddenly saw a Shinigami appear silently.
After appearing, the Shinigami had a clear target—heading straight for a lone Adjuchas.
Under Harribel's shocked gaze, the young Shinigami took action.
As if having practiced countless times, every attack aimed at positions that would disable movement without being fatal.
Soon, the Adjuchas was subdued and lost its ability to resist.
After defeating the Adjuchas, the young Shinigami looked pleased.
He took out a device and threw it onto the Adjuchas.
The latter struggled briefly before being bound by numerous extending Reishi ropes, rendered immobile.
The young Shinigami patted the Adjuchas, a slight smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
Seeing this, Harribel couldn't help but take a deep breath.
Case solved!
Recently, Baraggan Louisenbairn, the ruler of Hueco Mundo, had been sending people to hunt her down.
The reason given for the hunt was that many Menos Grande from Hueco Mundo had mysteriously disappeared, supposedly consumed by her.
When she first heard this reason, she thought it was a false accusation.
But witnessing this scene, she finally understood that Baraggan wasn't making baseless accusations after all.
There really was someone secretly capturing Menos Grande in Hueco Mundo.
And it was a Shinigami!
Harribel was enraged.
This Shinigami, capturing her own kind was one thing, but he actually dared to harm her personally.
If not for this guy, her life would have been peaceful. Why would she be harassed and attacked by Baraggan every day like this now?
Without any hesitation, she moved her feet and charged straight at Aizen!