Kaelith Yurei's gaze revealed deep pain.

  "Mayuri… Mayuri, I never expected someone like you, with those thick eyebrows and righteous demeanor, to betray the Gotei 13!"

  After a brief moment of reflection, Kaelith turned to Yoruichi.

  "Cousin, make your move!"

  As soon as the words left his mouth, Yoruichi's figure disappeared from her position.

  "What?" Mayuri froze, confused by what Kaelith meant.

  But upon seeing Yoruichi's sudden use of Shunpo, he instinctively guessed something.

  Mayuri's heart tightened as he immediately drew his Zanpakutō.

  "Damn it, are you two pnning to defect?"

  His eyes darted rapidly, trying to follow Yoruichi's movements.

  Before long, he spotted Yoruichi in midair, standing on a temporary ptform made of spirit particles.

  At the same time, her hands moved swiftly over the control console of the scroll compartment.

  With each spiritual marker entered by Yoruichi, the locks on the compartment clicked, unlocking one by one.

  Mayuri's eyes widened as if he were deep in thought.

  A second ter, his pupils suddenly contracted.

  "No… no!"

  "You two weren't sent by the rebels!"

  "That pce is where Captain Unohana stored data a few years ago—it hasn't been accessed in years… The data on artificial souls isn't even there!"

  "Damn it! Who are you two?!"

  Gripping his Zanpakutō tightly, Mayuri gred at Kaelith with fury and demanded, "Since you're so eager to reveal yourselves, I'll make you talk!"

  Kaelith let out a small ugh and also drew his Asauchi.

  "I am the leader of the Akatsuki, Pain!"

  "And over there, that's my wife, Konan!"

  "My wife and I rushed here after learning you were colluding with the rebels to stop your evil pns!"

  Yoruichi: "?"

  Busy unlocking the mechanisms, she gnced over and rolled her eyes at Kaelith.

  Mayuri froze for a moment before blurting out in confusion, "Didn't you just call her your cousin?"

  "Oh, that must've been a mistake," Kaelith said bnkly. "She's not my wife; she's my cousin, Shinichi Kudo."

  Mayuri: "?"

  How does someone confuse their wife with their cousin?

  Realizing something else, he snarled, "Don't be ridiculous! You're stealing things yourself! How could you possibly be here to stop me?!"

  Mayuri's teeth ground together as his blood pressure skyrocketed.

  "Oops, caught red-handed?" Kaelith tapped his head lightly as if trying to strike a mischievous pose.

  However, dressed in dark nightwear with his face covered, he couldn't convey the expression at all.

  Even though Mayuri was baffled by Kaelith's antics, he now understood that he had been duped.

  These two mysterious individuals were definitely not sent by the rebels.

  If he let them escape, the truth about his betrayal of the Gotei 13 and his collusion with the rebels to steal data would be exposed!

  Thinking this, his face darkened, and he attacked without hesitation—

  "Grip, Ashisogi Jizō!"

  As he uttered the release command, his Zanpakutō fshed, changing form.

  The hilt transformed into the face of an infant.

  The bde became a golden trident.

  Wielding the newly transformed Zanpakutō, Mayuri thrust it directly at Kaelith's chest without hesitation!

  His bde, coated in deadly poison, needed only to graze the skin to paralyze the target completely.

  To enhance this ability, Mayuri had developed a unique sword style.

  His attacks intentionally left rge openings, baiting the opponent to block or deflect them.

  But that was a trap.

  This particur strike used only half his strength. If Kaelith took the bait and deflected it, Mayuri would seize the opportunity to abandon the primary target and ssh Kaelith's shoulder with even greater speed.

  Once paralyzed, Kaelith would become his pything!

  Imagining Kaelith bound on an operating table, Mayuri couldn't help but grin, exposing his sharp white teeth.

  But the grin disappeared just as quickly as it appeared.

  To his horror, Kaelith's figure vanished before his eyes.

  "Ashisogi Jizō… I wouldn't dare let such a dangerous bde touch me."

  Mayuri's body tensed as Kaelith's voice came from directly behind him.

  In that instant, this guy had moved behind him?!

  What kind of speed was this?

  Grinding his teeth, Mayuri swung his golden trident in a wide arc toward Kaelith behind him—

  "Too slow, far too slow!"

  Mocking him, Kaelith thrust his sword, piercing Mayuri's shoulder.

  Mayuri groaned in pain, staggering slightly.

  "We've got it!" Yoruichi smmed the lid of the scroll compartment shut and called out to Kaelith.

  Kaelith nodded.

  He leaped back, widening the distance between himself and Mayuri, and nded next to Yoruichi.

  The two regrouped and used Shunpo to move outside the data room.

  At the room's entrance, Kaelith grabbed a rope and yanked it firmly.

  Dong! Dong!

  A shrill arm echoed throughout the entire Twelfth Division!

  At the same time, Kaelith coughed, disguising his voice, and shouted loudly, "Intruders! Intruders! Someone has broken into the data room!!"

  Hearing this, the nearby patrolling Shinigami, along with the Twelfth Division members resting in their barracks, all wore stunned expressions.

  Gripping their Zanpakutō, they rushed toward the data room.

  After confirming the Shinigami's attention was diverted, Kaelith and Yoruichi became dark shadows, leaping onto a nearby rooftop.

  "Let's go—if more people arrive, we won't be able to escape," Yoruichi said to Kaelith.

  Kaelith gave a brief nod.

  Just as he was about to move, he suddenly froze, sensing something. His eyes widened in shock.

  "Duck!"

  Kaelith sharply elbowed Yoruichi aside.

  At the same time, he drew his Asauchi and sshed forward—

  Cng!

  Sparks erupted in the night!

  Yoruichi stumbled back but quickly regained her footing.

  Her pupils contracted as she took in the sight before her.

  A man cd in a white haori, with disheveled bck hair and a zy expression, stood before them. His Zanpakutō pressed firmly against Kaelith's bde.

  "Oh?"

  Seeing his strike blocked, the man looked mildly surprised.

  In the moonlight, he brushed his bangs back with one hand.

  "To think you noticed me and even blocked my surprise attack... Interesting."

  "Judging by your outfit, are you with the Stealth Force?"

  "No… though your style is simir, it's just standard nightwear."

  "Never mind. It doesn't matter who you are. I'll kill you all the same."

  With that, he withdrew his Zanpakutō and increased the force of his next ssh at Kaelith.

  "Watch out!" Yoruichi shouted. "That man is the Captain of the Third Division, Shinchira Renzosuke!"

  As her warning reached him, Kaelith shifted slightly, dodging the attack by a hair's breadth as though he had predicted it.

  Gripping his Asauchi tightly, he swung upward.

  A crescent-shaped bst of spiritual pressure surged forward.

  Boom!