Chapter 26: sajasungeo

I looked intently at Urahara.

Intelligent beings all strive in the present to change the future.

In a way, that’s natural, so Urahara’s words weren’t strange.

But the nuance of Urahara’s words sounded as if I knew the future and was trying to change it.

“What do you mean?”

“Hey, there’s no need to hide it like that.

I don’t know what Black-san knows, but I know that you are preparing, knowing the future.”

I am aware that my words and actions are sudden.

But I also think it’s too absurd to conclude that I know the future from that.

Even if it’s Urahara, who has the strongest brain in the three realms, how can he know that I know the future with just a few words?

Is he bluffing?

But Urahara’s expression was as nonchalant as usual.

I glared sharply at Urahara.

Honestly, I’m not confident in winning a battle of wits against Urahara.

Urahara not only created the Hogyoku, but he also developed a Kido that could seal even Aizen Sosuke, who became a transcendent being, although Ichigo helped.

A clumsy psychological warfare is rather a bad move.

As if reading my psychology, Urahara said simply.

“Let’s go inside for now.”

Following Urahara’s guidance, I went inside without saying anything.

Inside, I was served a simple tea, and I asked Urahara, looking at him indifferently.

“I’m curious as to why you thought that just now.”

“It’s nothing.

Black-san’s actions may seem random at first glance, but they follow a single context.

There are many who try to prepare for the future.

Just like how the Shinigami of the Gotei are preparing for Aizen’s actions because Aizen has rebelled against the Gotei.”

“That’s right.”

“But Black-san is different.

Black-san’s preparations are not like moving for the sake of one in ten thousand, but like knowing the answer and fitting the actions to it.

And I was able to be sure from the subtle actions and appearances shown in response to what I just said.”

Even if he had such a thought, does one usually think that one can know the future?

But I also think that it’s possible because it’s Urahara.

I could make any excuses here, but I could tell that Urahara was already convinced.

I rested my chin on my hand and looked at him with displeasure.

“So what.”

“Haha, can we share some knowledge?”

“I don’t want to?”

I snorted.

“Why would I trust you?”

“Oh, if you say it so bluntly, it hurts.”

“Bullshit.”

Urahara is not a bad person.

I don’t deny that.

He was not a revolutionary like Aizen Sosuke, who knew the wrong logic of the world and tried to stand in the sky.

Perhaps if you ask if he’s a good person or a bad person, you could say he’s a good person.

After all, if he was just a hypocrite, people like Yoruichi and the Visoreds wouldn’t follow him.

But that and trusting Urahara are separate issues.

Just as it’s true that he saved the Visoreds.

It’s also true that he ruined Rukia’s life and deceived and tried to screw Ichigo over.

“Is there an idiot who trusts a guy who slyly plays tricks behind his back?”

“It seems I’ve been branded as a bad person.”

“No matter what words you add, your actions screwed us over.

Am I wrong?”

“………I won’t deny it.”

Urahara smiled wryly.

In the end, Urahara tried to hide the existence of the Hogyoku by using Rukia, and because of that, Rukia almost lost her Shinigami powers.

You can say that it’s for the greater good, considering the danger of the Hogyoku, but the Hogyoku is an item that Urahara made on his own, and is it right for Rukia to take responsibility for it?

The same goes for Ichigo.

It was Ichigo’s will to invade Seireitei, but it can be said that Urahara used it to his advantage.

Not all of his actions can be condemned as purely evil.

But he was a being who was far from trustworthy.

“…Are you going to do something in the future?”

It was a somewhat unexpected question.

But as if he had immediately understood my gaze, Urahara seemed somewhat relieved.

“I see.

It seems that’s not the case.

That’s a relief.”

“What is.”

“I thought of the worst-case scenario, that I might abandon all humanity and morality as a scientist.

Because I know myself as a scientist well, if I were to fall like that, I would become a being more twisted than Kurotsuchi-san.”

I thought about that.

What if Urahara had a personality that said to hell with humanity, like Kurotsuchi Mayuri?

…That’s f*cking terrifying.

I looked at Urahara with disgust.

“Isn’t it beneficial for the world if you just die here?”

“Hahaha, that’s too much.”

Laughing heartily, he said.

“Then I’ll have to regain the lost trust.

Did you say Xcution?

Surely, it was the place run by the first substitute Shinigami, Kurosaki-san’s predecessor?”

“Aha.”

“I heard that the first substitute Shinigami suddenly slaughtered Shinigami and that the current Gotei has issued an arrest warrant for him, but…….”

He put his hand on his chin and muttered.

“Honestly, it’s too strange.

It seems to have been lightly passed over in the Gotei, but whether it’s a human or a Shinigami, they don’t suddenly become madmen.

According to the information I’ve gathered, the first substitute Shinigami was rather an ideal substitute Shinigami like the current Kurosaki-san.”

“….”

“I can see a few missing links in the cause and effect.

And it seems that someone intentionally pushed things this way.

If it’s a person who can easily cover up this kind of thing, at a low estimate, it’s not a high-ranking nobleman, but…….”

Urahara seems to already know the inside story of Xcution.

Well, even if I look at it, I feel that there are many suspicious points in the inside story of Xcution.

If I feel that way, it goes without saying for Urahara.

“What do you plan to do when you meet the first substitute Shinigami, Black-san?”

“I don’t know.”

Honestly, I’m still a little worried.

In the future, in some way, they will become Ichigo’s allies.

But trusting that alone and just letting it go was too risky.

No matter what they were originally, they are now just fallen villains.

“If there’s a possibility of becoming an enemy, I’ll just cut the weeds and remove the roots.”

Nothing more, nothing less.