Chapter 174: Chapter 174: Urahara Kisuke’s Shock

(T/N:Second Chapter for today!)

Urahara was filled with questions.

He dug through his memory but couldn’t recall anything aboutKatori Nanatsukigetting married.

Yet here he was... bringing a baby to visit.

"This child... don’t tell me—" Urahara gave Nanatsuki a look like he was some kind of degenerate. "—you knocked someone up out of wedlock?"

"It’s not mine!" Nanatsuki rolled his eyes and quickly stopped Urahara’s wild imagination.

Urahara’s curiosity was piqued. He leaned in to get a better look atSarugaki Hiyori.

"There’s something odd about her..." he muttered. "She doesn’t look like a normally developed baby."

"She was born two to three months early. A preemie," Nanatsuki explained. "If not for the weakReiatsukeeping her alive, she’d have died at birth."

"I see... well, this could be trouble. I’m guessing you’re here to ask the Captain for help?" Urahara pulled out aHell Butterfly Transmission Deviceand tapped it.

"Hey, Captain? Are you in the barracks?"

A voice crackled from the device—it wasHikifune Kirio:

"Is that you, Kisuke? I’m here. What’s up?"

"Nanatsuki-kun showed up. Brought a newborn. She’s got serious health issues. We’re in the main squad hall."

"What?! Nanatsuki-kun brought a baby?! I’ll be right there!"

She ended the call in a hurry.

A moment later,Hikifune Kirioburst into the public hall.

"This yours?" She glanced at the frail little Hiyori and raised an eyebrow. "This is a preemie, isn’t she? You were way too careless!"

"It’s not mine... I found her by the roadside, actually..." Nanatsuki hurriedly explainedHiyori’sbackground.

"She was born prematurely and her condition’s fragile. That’s why I hoped you could help nurture her back to health."

Hikifune took Hiyori from the maid’s arms, her eyes filled with pity.

"Poor thing... lost her mother so early."

"Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of her."

She turned to the maid.

"You’ll stay here inSquad 12to help care for the baby."

"Kisuke, sort out her accommodations. Find her a private room in the squad barracks."

"I need to get started right away. Her condition is critical."

Hikifune then took Hiyori straight to the lab.

Urahara pulled out the transmission device again and contacted the squad’s logistics officer to arrange housing for the maid.

For now, the maid would share Hiyori’s room. The infant had no ability to care for herself and required round-the-clock supervision.

Shortly after, a Shinigami came to escort the maid to her new quarters.

"You’ve got it good, Nanatsuki-kun," Urahara sighed dramatically. "Going off on a carefree ’training journey’ while I’m drowning in work over here..."

Nanatsuki had already mentioned he was accompanyingCaptain-Commander Yamamotoon a training expedition, which made Urahara even more jealous.

"So, what’s been keeping you so busy?" Nanatsuki asked. "Things seem peaceful in the Soul Society lately."

"Peace in theSoul Societyonly exists because folks like me work ourselves to the bone behind the scenes," Urahara muttered, rolling his eyes.

"You remember when thoseReishi Shellsinfiltrated our lab?"

"Of course," Nanatsuki nodded. "Even a Captain went missing during that incident."

"Well, ever since then, I developed a device that can detectReishi Shells."

Urahara’s expression darkened.

"And recently, we’ve discovered signs of newShell activity. I’ve been swamped trying to investigate."

"Someone’s manufacturing new Shells?" Nanatsuki frowned.

Last time, they hadn’t caught the mastermind—just purged the imposters hiding in the squads.

"Exactly. But this time, the shells aren’t imitating Shinigami... they’re mimickingRukongaicivilians."

"That’s... strange. What would be the point?" Nanatsuki tapped his chin, thinking hard.

"If they were making Shinigami shells, it’d make sense—they’d want to infiltrate theGotei 13. But replicating Rukongai residents... what’s the endgame?"

"There must be a purpose behind it," Urahara muttered. "But now our lab’s staff are being run ragged. I’ve been combing throughRukongai’s soul registration datanonstop."

He slumped in his chair, exhausted.

"Can’t these schemers spare a thought for us overworked researchers?"

"Didn’t you build a device to detect Shells based onReiatsu differences? Can’t we just do a mass sweep?" Nanatsuki asked.

"I wish," Urahara groaned, shaking his head. "Shells are hard to detect. Their Reiatsu is nearly identical to the original."

"Even if I had one standing right in front of me, the instrument couldn’t detect it."

"The detector only works if we already have a sample of theoriginal person’s Reishi. Only by comparing those specific markers can we confirm a Shell."

"But that means... we’d have to scan every single soul inRukongaiand compare their Reishi against stored data. That’s completely impossible."

"There are just too many of them."

Urahara scratched his head so hard his hair turned into a mess, clearly overwhelmed.

"Your scanner needs an upgrade," Nanatsuki said calmly.

"My brain is already fried from all the Rukongai data," Urahara replied, spreading his hands in despair. "I’m running on fumes here."

"Give me a set of instruments. Maybe I can tweak them a bit," Nanatsuki suggested.

He didn’t have much free time himself, but he still hadAizen Sōsukein his lab. He planned to hand the task off to Aizen and see if he could improve the design.

"Sure, why not..." Urahara agreed. He already knew about Nanatsuki’sPillinvention and his spiritual anatomy knowledge, so he wasn’t surprised.

He retrieved aReishi detection kitand a stack of design documents.

"This is my blueprint—has all the core logic."

"See this tube? It’s for collectingReishi. Once gathered, it compares the sample to the database. We’ve got Shinigami data logged, but not much for civilians..."

He picked up a tube and prepared to demonstrate.

Holding it over Nanatsuki’s head, he spun the tube a few times to gather the strayReiatsu particles.

"This method’s slow. It relies on passive Reishi dispersal. But if you use this toinject directly, it’s much faster."

He then took theneedle-tipped tubeand jabbed it into Nanatsuki’s finger.

The instrument immediately captured hisReishi.

"Next, we compare the sample with the stored profiles..."

Urahara brought up the interface—and froze.

"...A match? Over90% similaritywith existing data?!"

He swallowed hard.

"Seems like your scanner works fine," Nanatsuki said, glancing at the screen with a faint smile.

Urahara’s eyes widened. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

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