274. Soul Society

A couple more days passed.

Leo was busy reading through the materials Kisuke have him. From them he got a clear understanding of how each world is connected to one another.

The passage between them wasn't that hard to access, the problem was the amount of time he could stay there.

While in thought Leo's phone rang. He picked it up.

"It's me. Come to my shop. We are ready."

Leo hung up and called Shinobu.

They reached Urahara's Shop and went down to the training ground.

Ichigo, Chad, Orihime and Uryuu were there. There was also a black cat with them.

Leo's eyes stopped on the black cat for a few seconds before his focus landed on Ichigo's sword. The broken sword was gone and in it's place was a large knife modelled zanpakuto. Ichigo's spiritual energy seems to have grown as well.

"Everyone's here. Let's get started."

Kisuke clapped his palms. Him and Tessai started working on a square frame.

Hm?

Leo sensed a certain fluctuation of spiritual energy from the device. After a moment the empty area of the frame started to ripple. A second later the ripples tore apart the space, revealing a dark corridor.

"Now, everyone jump on. Remember you have four minutes to get to your destination, any longer will get you killed."

Ichigo asked back, "It's that dangerous?"

Kisuke shrugged, "We have no other choice."

"Alright, let's do this!"

Ichigo took the lead and jumped in. Chad, Orihime and Uryuu followed. As Leo was about to enter Kisuke's mouth moved a bit.

Leo paused for a second before entering the dark corridor as well.

Kisuke looked at their disappearing figures and mumbled, "I'm counting on you."

...

Leo looked around the dark corridor. Both sides of the corridor had sludge flowing down endlessly.

"Let's move. We don't have much time."

At this moment the black cat talked. Leo wasn't all that surprised when he heard it. Shinobu on the other hand looked at the cat curiously.

Her eyes never left it as they were running towards their goal.

The black cat obviously felt her eyes on it. It didn't feel any hostility from her gaze so it ignored her.

As they were running a sudden rumble came from behind. A glaring light flashed through the dark corridor.

"What the hell is that!?"

Uryuu who was being carried by Chad asked in shock.

The black cat was startled when it saw what was coming towards them.

"Run faster! That's the cleaner, it comes through this place once every seven days!"

They picked up speed. However the cleaner was way too fast.

Damn! It caught up! Why is it here now of all times?!

The black cat cursed inside.

Leo and Shinobu were trailing behind the group.

Leo stopped in his tracks and pulled out his sword.

The black cat saw his movements and yelled, "Don't touch it! It can disintegrate everything it comes in contact with!"

Leo smiled and raised his sword. Haki climbed onto his blade as a sharp intent condensed on it's edge.

Immovable Mountain.

He swung his sword down. A sword ray flashed and condensed into a large sword infront of the cleaner.

Boom!

The cleaner struck the large sword. The collision created ripples that caused the dark corridor to shake. The sludge flowing from the walls flowed even faster. However the sword didn't break, it stopped the cleaner dead in it's tracks.

Everyone nearly lost their balance when the dark corridor shook. The black cat looked incredulously at Leo.

Rumble.

The corridor they were in started to shake. Cracks started to appear.

Crap! The passage isn't going to hold.

"Run, you fools!"

The black cat yelled and ran as fast as it could. The rest didn't hold up and did the same.

While they were running for their life the sword stopping the cleaner started to crack.

At this moment everyone saw a glimmer in the distance.

Bang!

The sword finally felt apart. The cleaner rushed out with incredible speed.

Almost...

When the cleaner nearly caught upto them Leo pushed his palm forward. A powerful force pushed the group through the glimmer of light.

After taking care of them Leo held Shinobu's waist and disappeared from the dark corridor.

...

Bang!

A group of people fell into a town.

Cough. Cough.

Ichigo got up from the ground and looked around.

"Where are we?"

The black cat appeared beside him and explained, "The rukonga. It's where every soul appear after they die. This town is the outer perimeter of the soul society, the inner sanctuary is where the shinigamis live."

Leo and Shinobu looked around the place curiously. They then spotted a completely different style of buildings in the distance.

"That place looks different... ah, it must be where those shinigamis live."

Ichigo spotted the difference and ran towards it.

The black cat saw his movements and yelled, "Idiot! Don't approach that place carelessly!"

Ichigo heard it and looked back to ask why. It was at that moment several towering blocks fell from the sky.

Boom!

It fell neatly and surrounded the inner sanctuary.

Ichigo was just several metres away from being squashed into a meat paste.

"Phew. That was too close for comfort."

The black cat heaved a sigh of relief and said, "For now let's fall back and formulate a plan. We can't just reckle...

It was explaining when Leo and Shinobu walked towards the inner sanctuary.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

Leo smiled, "Going inside."

The black cat was shocked. It flashed infront of them and said seriously, "Don't joke around. Do you know how many shinigamis live inside? Not to mention squad captains, their lieutenants and even worse, the captain commander of the gotei 13! Recklessly charging in will only get us killed!"

Leo ignored it's words and walked forward leisurely.

When he reached the towering walls he pulled out his sword.

When was about to attack a giant shadow covered him. Leo paused and moved back several steps.

Boom!

A large silhouette smashed into the ground.

Leo looked up and saw a giant man getting up from the ground. He held a flat axe in his right arm and wore a red cap on his head.

"Who is that?"

"That guy is so huge."

Chad, Uryuu and Orihime looked shocked.

The black cat replied, "That's Jidanbou. The gatekeeper."

Leo stared silently at Jidanbou.

The latter looked at him and said, "No one can enter without permission."

Leo asked, "What if I insist?"

Jidanbou stared at him and said indifferently, "Then I'll smash you."

Leo curled his lips into a smile.

Swish!

Without any sign he disappeared. Before Jidanbou could react Leo flashed beside his head and threw out a punch.

Jidanbou was fast enough to react. He raised his axe and tried to defend.

Crack! Boom!

The axe didn't provide any defence and cracked. Leo's fist smashed through the axe and fell squarely on Jidanbou's face.

The force from the punch lifted the giant from the ground and threw him far into the distance.

Jidanbou smashed into the ground and rolled a good distance before stopping. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and fainted.

Leo landed lightly on the ground and looked at the walls stopping him.

He slid his foot back and took a stance. A powerful force broke out from his body.

Armed!

Haki climbed onto his blade and sword rays flashed around him.

Raging Inferno!

He slashed out.

Zzz!

A sword ray flashed. The sturdy walls that blocked his path trembled for a second before it started to crumble.

A large part of the wall disintegrated into tiny specks of dust and dispersed into the wind.

The black cat, Ichigo, Chad, Uryuu and Orihime had the jaws wide open. They rubbed their eyes a few times to make sure they weren't seeing wrong.

"Hey, Yoruichi, didn't you say that this wall couldn't be breached?"

Ichigo asked the black cat.

Yoruichi woke up from her shock and said, "Yes, it can't be breached. Atleast not by any normal person. If it's a captain then the story is different."

Yoruichi looked at Leo and Shinobu. A faint flicker flashed in her eyes.

Leo walked past the destroyed part of the wall with Shinobu.

What greeted them was a large line up of shinigamis. All of them were staring at this shocking scene.

Leo smiled and spoke politely, "I'm here to find someone. I wonder if you guys can help me?"