Rein was now playing a game of urban warfare with Yoruichi. Having lived in the inner city for centuries, he was like a fish in water, practically overflowing with glee. Every time he rounded a corner, he would fire a few arrows at Yoruichi, maximizing his ranged advantage to the absolute limit.
After being ambushed a few times, Yoruichi was incredibly annoyed. *'Turning corners? I just won't turn! I'm stubborn, so I'll only walk in a straight line! Once I blow this whole place up, let's see how you kite me!'*
While Yoruichi and Rein were fighting fiercely, someone was leisurely whistling in a cave dozens of meters underground. His black Shihakushō indicated that he was also a Shinigami. His pale blonde hair curled up slightly at the ends, making him look as if he had just woken up. This person was the final member of the best friend trio—Urahara Kisuke!
After returning from the Royal Palace, Urahara had directly become the 3rd Seat of Squad 12. But merely being a 3rd Seat wasn't enough to intervene in the three most critical operations of Forging the Cage and Exterminating the Stars. Therefore, he had attacked the Star Cross Fortress from the front alongside the Star Extermination Troop.
But right now, the Star Extermination Troop had just finished dealing with the outer city and was sweeping toward the middle city. How did Urahara get to the underground of the inner city?
Simply put, he had made a choice between Yoruichi and his squad members. The answer was self-evident; as her best friend, he couldn't rest easy leaving Yoruichi alone!
So, from the moment he stepped into the Star Cross Fortress, 3rd Seat Urahara Kisuke broke away from the troop and advanced toward the inner city by himself. Along the way, he avoided Quincies whenever possible, and dispatched those he couldn't avoid in the shortest time possible.
It wasn't just Quincies he ignored. When passing through the middle city, an Onmitsukidō squad leader was surrounded and heavily injured. Even though he clearly had the ability to save him, Urahara only gave him a passing glance without even pausing his steps.
Rushing the entire way, Urahara finally arrived at the inner city shortly after Kōe and Yoruichi split up. Finding the battlefield divided into two, he first confirmed that "Ao" on top of the bell tower was under no pressure, and then focused his attention entirely on Yoruichi.
At this point, one had to praise Urahara's intellect. If it were Yoruichi, she would have charged in headfirst long ago; she would never have bothered with this step of observation.
The subsequent scene of Yoruichi being kited was naturally taken in entirely by Urahara, and he analyzed Rein's combat style with near-perfect accuracy. The first and only point that needed to be confirmed was: if even Yoruichi couldn't hit this guy, Urahara wouldn't stand a chance either!
However, this didn't mean he was useless. Urahara understood very well that what Yoruichi needed was an opportunity—a chance to land a solid hit on Rein. And creating this opportunity wasn't actually difficult for him.
Therefore, Urahara sneakily dug a tunnel the entire way. After arriving at a specific position in the middle of the inner city, he leaned on his released Benihime, quietly waiting for the right moment.
The roaring sound echoed again in the underground cave. In fact, the noise had never stopped. But this time was different; crushed stones mixed with loose sand continuously fell, making it seem like the cave was about to collapse at any moment.
"Is he finally here?"
The whistling stopped. There was no trace of a smile on Urahara's face. He stared sharply at the rocks above his head. "Cry, Benihime!"
On the surface, Rein had just taken advantage of a house exploding to jump behind another building, firing arrows in advance while retreating. But right at this moment, the ground behind him began to tremble, and a massive Reiatsu surged from underground!
A blood-red pillar of light burst from the earth. If Rein hadn't stopped in his tracks in time, taking that hit head-on would have left him heavily injured, if not dead!
Just as Rein was feeling lucky, a cold voice spoke from behind him. "Play with fire, Benihime!" The blood-red light appeared again. Rein could feel the violent, scorching aura in the air behind him and instinctively leaped up.
"Urahara, don't you dare interfere!" Seeing the pillar of light, Yoruichi knew Urahara had arrived. The next second, a figure shot diagonally into the sky—who else could it be but the Rein who made her gnash her teeth? Exerting force with her right foot, Yoruichi cracked the ground beneath her. The pent-up anger she had been holding in was finally ready to be unleashed!
Watching Yoruichi charge straight at him, Rein's heart pounded wildly. He hurriedly fired arrows while adjusting his body's orientation, hoping to use the ensuing blast wave to escape the danger zone.
"Haaah!!!"
Yoruichi roared, twirling her long staff into an impenetrable defense. She blocked and detonated the arrows while using the swirling fire crests to absorb the blasts. Hide? Hide from what! This man had to die!!
"Bind, Benihime." Seeing Yoruichi, the corners of Urahara's eyes curved down slightly, and a smile reappeared on his face. He muttered softly to himself, "I'm not interfering. I'm just setting up a 'fair' arena for the two of you."
In midair, Rein realized that at some point, his body had been covered in a dense web of red threads. He was completely immobilized. All he could do was watch the ferocious Yoruichi draw closer and closer, his eyes filled with absolute despair!
*Crack!* The long staff collided with Rein, producing a crisp sound. Yoruichi didn't hold back at all with this strike; a single blow shattered Rein's spine. Rein opened his mouth wide but couldn't make a sound, as his throat was already flooded with blood.
Would Yoruichi's anger be satisfied just like that? Stop joking! Immediately after, the long staff moved like a snake. The end that struck Rein acted like a snake's head, coiling around and biting its own tail, trapping the dazed Rein in the center. The ten sword-shaped fire crests grew brighter and brighter. By the end, looking at Rein from Urahara's position, one could only see a crimson, humanoid silhouette.
"Enshindō, Jippō Kumetsu!" Yoruichi's soft chant was like an index finger pulling a trigger. A crimson tide of flames instantly erupted from the sword-shaped fire crests, merging together to completely engulf Rein.
Next, the long staff in Yoruichi's hands seemed to take a short, sharp breath. As the fire crests on the stone segments flickered from dark to bright, the originally sword-shaped fire crests transformed into round, shield-shaped ones.
The crimson fireball, which was about to explode outward, seemed to hit an invisible wall and surged back inward.
At this moment, a setting sun hung in the sky. Although it was a bit small, with a diameter of just over three meters, it still gave off a warm feeling. The sound of massive waves crashing against rocks echoed in the air, sounding incredibly soothing.
Beside the setting sun, Yoruichi looked like the Statue of Liberty holding her torch, beautiful and elegant. But in the next second, the tone abruptly shifted. Yoruichi spread her hands apart, separating the joined snake head and tail, and hurled that beautiful 'little setting sun' out like a spinning top.
The setting sun ascended into the sky, as if crashing through layers of water. It left behind rings of fire wheels in the air that slowly expanded outward, before finally exploding completely, transforming into a beautiful cloud.
As for what happened to Rein? His traces were scattered throughout the crimson sky!
"How does it feel!" Urahara cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted loudly at Yoruichi, who had just landed beside him. He had no choice; the noise coming from the sky right now was like thunder exploding right next to their ears. It was simply too loud!
"How does it feel?" Yoruichi took a deep breath, looked up at the sky, and smiled. "So satisfying!"
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