No Cheat in Bleach ? Watch me help Aizen then.-Chapter 128: What If It’s a Trap?

In the World of the Living, on a muddy roadside, an old creaking cart rolled slowly toward Osaka Prefecture.

"Ugh—!"

The window slid open, and a head popped out—Muguruma Kensei had surrendered to motion sickness yet again.

"Ahahahaha~!"

Inside the cart, two women burst into peals of laughter.

"You're seriously the worst, Captain Muguruma!" Matsumoto Rangiku clutched her chest, laughing so hard she could barely breathe.

"Honestly, Kensei-kun, maybe you'd feel better jogging alongside the cart instead," Saya of the Tōma Clan offered sweetly, covering her mouth with one hand.

"No way in hell! Even if I puke myself to death in this damned thing, I, Muguruma Kensei, will never give up and walk—blergh!"

His face ashen, Kensei dry-heaved again, despite having nothing left to vomit.

"Lord Shuuichi?" said Nagazawa Satomi, seated beside Saya and curious about the faint smirk on Higashi Shuuichi's face as he finished reading a message sent by Urahara Kisuke.

"I knew it," Shuuichi muttered, smile deepening. "That Kyōraku Shunsui... raising all this noise over an investigation? It's just to rattle the snake."

As he spoke, he pressed a finger to the page, his Reiatsu disintegrating the letter into dust.

"Rattle the snake? Captain Kyōraku's trying to scare someone off?" Saya asked curiously. "You mean that blade thief hiding in Osaka?"

"Of course. There's no 'backup plan' here. He says we're here to protect Kaien, but what he really wants is for us to catch the thief before Shiba Kaien's squad arrives. He even handed us the profile."

Shuuichi unrolled a scroll depicting the suspect in detail:

Yokozawada Tsuna – male, formerly the 3rd Division's Vice-Captain. Long purple hair, star-shaped earring on his right ear, claw-mark scar on his left cheek. Hunchbacked, gaunt, and distinctly unattractive. His Zanpakutō, Nikushamaru, had a Shikai ability that enlarged parts of his body to multiply his physical strength—crude and brute-force in nature.

It reminded Shuuichi of something like "Human Bullet Tank."

At first, the file was tolerable... until Shuuichi realized this guy was once Gin Ichimaru's Vice-Captain. He couldn't help but crack a cynical smile.

Seriously? Gin picked this guy? Was his sword too dull? Or was the 3rd Division completely out of people?

"Ugh, he's hideous," Rangiku declared immediately upon seeing the image.

"Agreed," Satomi nodded, thinking how Shūsuke, in comparison, was downright handsome.

"Shuuichi-kun, please... put that scroll away," Saya murmured, politely averting her gaze.

Seriously? Shuuichi thought. He'd expected them to comment on the guy's Zanpakutō or his former status. He'd even mentally prepared a full analysis. But instead, they wrote him off because of his face?

Fine. Bunch of shallow aesthetic snobs.

He rolled the scroll back up.

To be fair, in a world filled with beautiful Shinigami, someone like Yokozawada Tsuna was a rare monstrosity.

"According to Kyōraku, Soul Society only just finalized the roster for Kaien's team," Shuuichi explained. "Mostly lower-ranked Shinigami from various divisions, led by the 13th Division's Lieutenant Inada Kōji and 3rd Seat Shiba Kaien. Before departure, they'll be trained in gigai usage by members of the 12th Division."

"They need training to use gigai?" Rangiku blinked.

"I mean, it's new tech for them. You don't want some grunt forgetting to take it off before battle," Shuuichi shrugged.

This wasn't the future, where gigai were commonplace. Right now, even basic operational training was essential.

"So, we've got two days to nab the thief before Kaien's team shows up and hand him over as a gift," Shuuichi summarized.

He didn't comment on Kyōraku's plan directly.

It sounded nice—resolving the case before Kaien's arrival.

But it all hinged on one assumption:

That the thief would run.

What if he didn't?

What if Osaka was a trap?

Shuuichi recalled the intel he'd gotten from Mayuri. The Gōmyōdai family had only recently forced the handover of certain Reigai data, but Mayuri had been offloading his research for over two years already—including projects of his own.

Two years might not sound like much, but if planning began earlier, it was more than enough time to produce results.

Kyōraku, Shuuichi thought, what if this isn't a field op... but a lab test?

What if someone wants to observe the results?

He doubted Kyōraku had considered it. The man, still mired in the trauma of events two years past, lacked the vantage point Shuuichi had acquired in exile.

If he'd really known, there's no way Kyōraku or Ukitake would've sent Shiba Kaien into the lion's den.

But thanks to Mayuri's cryptic warnings, Shuuichi remembered a certain man—and the words he said upon their last meeting:

"If things don't work out at the East Bureau, come see us at the West Bureau. I've got my eye on you~"

Almost like that man had foreseen this exact moment.

If plans really had begun back then, this would be the season for flowers to bloom.

"We just hit Osaka's city center with a Hakufuku, and boom, job done!" came Kensei's voice from outside, still running alongside the cart.

"Didn't you swear you'd puke to death before running—" Shuuichi started, before being cut off.

"Listen, Shuuichi, running in the World of the Living is amazing. I can't stop. You've gotta try it!"

"No thanks. You enjoy yourself." Shuuichi rolled his eyes. "You think casting Hakufuku in a city where we don't know the terrain, the enemies, or their powers is a good idea? You might die without knowing how you died."

He slammed the door shut to avoid any more mud splashing in.

If this were Soul Society, and they were facing other Shinigami or Hollows, Kensei's plan might actually work.

But this was the World of the Living—and their likely enemies were Fullbringers.

Rule-based, non-Reiatsu-dependent powers. Pure conceptual warfare.

Even with immense spiritual power, one misstep could mean death.

Which was exactly why Shuuichi so desperately wanted to master Fullbring himself.

By midday, with Kensei now sprawled exhausted atop the cart, they finally reached the outskirts of Osaka City.

There were no towering walls here—just small wooden fences. A light jump, and anyone could get in.

"Urahara Trading Co.?" asked the gate guard as Kisaragi Shūsuke handed over their paperwork.

The name was legit—registered under Kisuke himself.

Shuuichi still couldn't believe the gall. How had none of the Shinigami visiting the World of the Living noticed this name?

"Yes," Shūsuke nodded. "These are company shareholders."

Over the past year, he'd crammed hard to understand the basics of the human world—and it showed.

"Inspection time! Some bigwig's in town—everyone gets checked."

Two guards walked up to the cart. They ignored the collapsed Kensei on the roof and opened the carriage door—only to be immediately stunned by the beauty inside.

Their jaws dropped. Saliva followed.

"Ahem. Gentlemen, are we cleared?" Shuuichi's polite cough snapped them out of it.

"Y-Yes! Everything's fine. Please proceed!"

Thankfully, they weren't brazen enough to try anything in broad daylight—or Shuuichi might've had to find another way in.

As the cart rolled onward, one of the guards exchanged a glance with his partner and quietly slipped away toward the city.

A month ago, a group of VIPs had arrived in Osaka.

One of them had... particular tastes.

He adored beautiful women—but never kept them.

After a single night, he'd toss them aside like used gifts.

As a result, the guards had formed an unspoken rule:

Whenever a stunner entered the city—they reported it immediately.

And today was no exception.