The Heroes? Victory

"Looks like the battle has finally reached it's conclusion. I guess the royal squad can live it up to it's reputation." Byakuya exclaimed, a small smile on his face as he began to feel impressed by their ability to take down such a potent force.

"Now we should be able to find the captain commander, shouldn't we Ura-" The captain stated, suddenly stopping as he looked behind him to notice Urahara Kisuke was no longer there, also shocking the other captains as they hadn't even sensed him leave.

"Sorry Byakuya, but he already left a while ago, I assume he has already realized where Shunsui was kept."

"I see..."

Within the first division barracks, a hooded figure arrived. Lowering the hood, the figure was revealed as Urahara Kisuke. During the commotion and with everyone being distracted by the fight, he took the opportunity to leave and re-enter the barracks and find the captain commander, having a strong hunch on where he was sealed. Having already activated his bankai to dissect a path through Hikifune's barrier, he entered, using the cloak as a way of masking his reiatsu and being undetectable to those around him soon before the battle would reach its climax. The ex captain astutely looked around, trying to pinpoint the exact location, before shortly cleaving a hole into a pocket dimension, the captain commander on the other side.

"Urahara Kisuke?" Shunsui responded, surprised to see him as his saviour, as he exited and stepped on the first division barrack floors.

"Hey... It's a bit of a long story but Mayuri contacted me to help find you after you went missing. I'm no entirely sure what made me so sure you was here but I guess my instincts were right."

"Well you've had the biggest ties with Aizen, I guess it's not totally a surprise that you'd understand him better than the rest. Either way, I'm just glad to finally be free. But on that note, has Aizen already been apprehended?" Shunsui pondered.

"Yes, the royal guard made an appearance this time... funnily enough."

Shunsui gazed down, a deep confounded look on his face as he came to terms what their appearance within the seireitei under these circumstances meant.

"I suppose Ichibe came, correct?" Shunsui pondered, turning his gaze to the ex captain.

"Yes." Urahara responded.

"I guess the situation was dire enough, they had to intervene earlier than later. Although, it is ironic how now it's just you and me. Once again, I'm left alone with someone else who knows the sordid truth about our race." Shunsui coldly extorted.

Urahara's face was aghast as he realized that the captain commander must have been informed on the truth about the soul king by Aizen before he was sealed, and now they both knew information that could jeopardize the structure of soul society.

"Thank you for not turning against us... I'm sure finding out the truth must have made you reflect on your desire to be a shinigami altogether, to stand for us; even going so far as to risk another shinigami's life to protect that truth." Shunsui explained, stunning Urahara as he didn't expect such a calm and callous response.

"Well I guess the cat's out of the bag now. I created the hyogoku to understand the world as it was; to pursue the greatest possible understanding of the world I was part of and to fix the taint that Aizen was trying to pour out into the world. I didn't expect the device's nature to be as it was, to end up finding out what I did, seeing into the past of the soul king and the path it wanted me to pursue. I tried my best to dispose of it, and make sure no one else got their hands on it but ultimately failed. I don't know why they did what they did to the soul king but I can only assume it was for the better interest of the world as a whole, and that is why I never turned my back on the gotei 13 and the seireitei; after all, we came after the soul king's fall. That Ichibe even knew to come down early to dispose of Aizen before he had gathered more fragments and was easily able to take the remaining few within the royal palace requires a level of precise foresight others could never have. Even against Yhwach, ultimately squad zero had faced no casualties and the enemy was defeated. What Ichibe did may have been wrong but I fear the future he saw if the original soul king were allowed to continue existing; the future he prevented entirely..."

"I see. The way things have unfolded even now, it does feel like it has all been part of a grander scheme. Even though I don't agree with Ichibe and the nobles' actions against the soul king, I can't imagine trying to challenge that behemoth of a monk; just the thought of trying to take him down sends shivers down my spine. Regardless, his path so far has led to the seireitei still existing and our race never reaching extinction no matter how strong our foes are and so I just have to trust in him blindly as the captain commander. As long as he on our side, that is all that matters. Thanks again for rescuing me..." Shunsui replied, walking past Urahara to meet up with the other captains, a silent agreement made between the two to keep the truth a secret.

Just as their agreement was made, Ichibe began to smirk...