The Seal (1)

Standing behind Yoruichi unnoticed, Shen couldn't help but admire the technique Urahara made. When he was in the Soul Society, he was already interested in Ukitake's ability but was ultimately disappointed due to it having a limit of how much power it can handle. However, Urahara's ability was different from what he could see.

'Gaining control Urahara would be a win-win no matter how you look at it. Besides, having the smartest man in bleach on your side can only be a good thing, right?' But first, before Shen could do any of that he had to deal with anyone would get in the way. It was with that thought in mind that Shen brought his attention back to the person standing in front of him who hadn't noticed his presence.

With his vision being obstructed by Shen's attack that was beginning to disperse, Urahara couldn't see Yoruichi nor warn her from the possible threat. It was only after the diamond-shaped portals began to vanish that Urahara saw Shen standing behind Yoruichi. Freezing for a moment, Urahara could see Shen had an apathetic look in his eyes which caused him to yell out. "Yoruichi behind you!"

Meanwhile, Yoruichi who heard Urahara's warning did not take the time to look behind her as her body began moving out of the way of whatever Urahara was warning her about. Spinning around at her fastest, she put all the force she could muster into a single punch. But all that force was put to waste as her hand simply flew through Shen's head like a ghost. "What!" Missing her strike, Yoruichi's body went stiff as she felt someone's finger touch her back.

"You Onmitsukido Commander's always leave your backs unguarded." Those words were followed by a sudden surge of energy going through Yoruichi's chest. Too caught up in the moment Yoruichi couldn't feel the pain of what had just happened. Instead, her mind was stuck on a repeat of what Shen had said. 'Who... Who was he referring to?' Finally, the pain began to cloud Yoruichi's thoughts as she felt her legs give out.

"Yoruichi!" Seeing Yoruichi fall to the ground, Urahara rushed over towards Shen slashing in his general direction. Smiling Shen let Urahara get close, backing away a fair bit. He was initially thinking of just killing Yoruichi, but he realized that what he was about to do would be a lot more effective in the long run.

Looking down at Yoruichi, Urahara lifted her head up. "Yoruichi are you ok?" Looking down at the place she was injured blood could be seen staining her usually orange jacket. Yoruichi still had her eyes opened as blood could be seen running down the side of her mouth. "I'm fine… He missed most of my internal organs. You need to… You need to be careful he's hiding his trump card...'

Listening to Yoruichi, Urahara knew she was right. Excluding the fact he managed to sneak up on Yoruichi, he didn't doubt Shen was hiding a bunch of abilities since he returned. "Hang in there once the plan is successful we'll get Orihime to heal you." Reassuring Yoruichi Urahara didn't want just to leave her on the ground, but he didn't think Shen would simply sit bye as he brought her someplace else.

Placing her back onto the ground, Urahara gave Shen a type of death stare which couldn't hide his emotions. The relationship between Urahara and Yoruichi had never been clarified, but just from Urahara's reaction, Shen could tell he cared about her. "Hmm, its funny how shes still talking I could have sworn I hit a lung. Though I never paid attention in anatomy class so who am I to say."

Shen still had that same smile on his face from before causing Urahara's front to drop. It was clear Shen was trying to get a reaction out of him, which made it harder for him to remain calm as it felt as if his emotions were bubbling out of control.

Of course, this wasn't because of Urahara's inability to control himself but Shen amplifying his negative emotions using Babidi's Mind Control. With Rukia, he used his Sharingan to make her fall into her fear and guilt, which made it easier to control her, especially without her Soul Reapers powers available to her.

But now that Shen was dealing with someone of Urahara's level he planned to widdle his mind down during the fight instead. 'Calm down. I just need to keep him here for a little longer. Once they arrive, we can deal with him once and for all.' Going over the plan in his head Urahara tried his best to suppress the negativity starting to build in his mind.

As Urahara tried to deal with Shen himself was unaware of the two people who had been preparing themselves. Within the underground area beneath Urahara's shop, Isshin could be seen watching over Ichigo as he sat there meditating. They had been here ever since they dealt with the Void Warrior Shen left behind.

Their fight showed them or to be more precise Ichigo that he was not strong enough to defeat Shen even after unlocking his Bankai. So Urahara came up with a plan involving Ichigo, Isshin, Yoruichi and himself. Thinking back, Isshin still couldn't believe Urahara could come up with such a plan.

"A barrier that can isolate space and time?" Sitting at the table within Urahara's shop Ichigo and Isshin looked at each other for a moment in confusion. "Well, it's not really a barrier at least not in the way we will be using it. Instead of protecting something with this barrier, we'll be sealing someone away." Listening to Urahara Ichigo, Isshin and Yoruichi remained silent as he began to explain.

"Ichigo the truth is not long after you left to go to the Soul Society he showed up." Since everyone had just come back from more than the stressful journey, so Urahara didn't tell them about Shen's visit. But the more he thought about the situation, and he realized that hiding things were only going to make things worse.

"What? Why didn't you tell me!" Ichigo slamming his hand on to table Ichigo took anything related to Shen seriously due to him capturing Rukia. Staring at Ichigo, Urahara looked at him with one eye hiding the other under his hat. "Calm down." Staring at one another, Ichigo gritted his teeth before sitting back down, allowing Urahara to continue.

"When he showed up, he revealed something to me, which began to explain a lot of things I never understood. For example, haven't you wondered how he could even get into the Soul Society?" Looking at the others, Ichigo thought back and remembered no matter how many times Shen showed up he never came through a portal or anything like we had to. Looking at Ichigo's expression, Urahara continued.

"So you noticed. It shows how he has the ability to teleport one way or another. He hid most of the details by adding on a story but even so." Stopping mid-sentence, Isshin spoke continuing what Urahara meant to say. "The ability to teleport is no joke. If it's instantaneous, then you wouldn't be defended against a single attack."

"I get it now, so that's how. He teleported to me to get into the Soul Society." Piecing together the puzzle Ichigo was finally starting to understand what Urahara meant. "But wait if he can just teleport then why does he go through the trouble. Can't he just teleport everywhere to get what he wants?" Speaking up Yoruicih had been holding this question in for a while now.

Turning his head to Yoruichi, Urahara paused before speaking. "It's just a theory, but I believe he may have requirements when it comes to teleportation for that exact reason alone. We know it's not people he has seen since we would all be dead. And the range is out of the question cause of Ichigo being an entire dimension apart from him. But what we do know is that he can teleport to Ichigo for whatever reason and that we can use."

Standing up, Urahara opened his palm as he walked around the table in the center of the room behind Ichigo. "Hey Urahara what are you-" Suddenly a black symbol appeared on Urahara's palm as he slapped Ichigo in the back. "Ow!" Feeling a hot stinging sensation on his back, Ichigo yelled, swinging his arm towards Urahara only to miss. "That hurt!"

Ignoring Ichigo's screaming Urahara flipped his cane. "Now that you're all up to speed, we can begin. The plan we will use to seal him away once and for all."