Chapter 528 - 528 Yamamoto's Refusal!

Boom—!!

Nel plummeted from the sky. The powerful impact force directly smashed Toshiro, who had caught her, from the roof of the abandoned factory building into the ground.

"Cough, cough..."

The swirling dust made Toshiro cough incessantly.

Swish!

Toshiro flickered and returned to the ground.

"Hey, are you okay, Nel!"

Toshiro looked at Nel in his arms with concern.

Although the powerful impact had smashed him from the roof into the ground, given Toshiro's incredibly strong physique, this was nothing. Aside from being accidentally choked by the dust, Toshiro was completely unharmed.

However, Nel might not be the same. Although she was the one who fell, and Toshiro who caught her bore the brunt of the impact, Nel still endured considerable reaction force. So, the one who was hit actually needed to worry about the one who fell.

"Toshiro! Is it really you, Toshiro!!"

Nel excitedly grabbed Toshiro's arm.

"Ah, yes, it's me, Nel. Calm down first. What happened? How did you suddenly come to the Living World?"

Toshiro asked gently.

"Toshiro! Waaah..."

After confirming it was indeed Toshiro, Nel didn't directly answer his question. Instead, she suddenly hugged him tightly and burst into tears.

Not only that, but Nel, with tears and snot streaming down her face, also wiped them on Toshiro's clothes, leaving him utterly speechless.

"Alright, are you done crying? Now, tell me properly what happened. You didn't come all the way to the Living World just to see me, did you? Though it doesn't look like it..."

After Nel finally finished crying, Toshiro asked again.

Though not crying as bitterly as before, Nel still sobbed, "Toshiro, the people from Las Noches attacked us... Pesche, Dondochakka, and Bawabawa... they're all in danger... I don't know what happened to them... whether they're alive or dead..."

"What?! What exactly happened?"

Toshiro exclaimed in surprise and confusion.

Toshiro was clearly very surprised and shocked by Nel's words. In the original work, the reason Nel got involved in the battle between the Shinigami and Hueco Mundo was primarily because of Ichigo.

In the original work, Orihime was coerced by Ulquiorra and reluctantly went to Hueco Mundo. Ichigo went to Hueco Mundo to rescue her, which is where he met Nel, and Nel subsequently got drawn into the battle against the Espada.

In other words, in the original work, the one who caused Nel to be dragged into the battle was Ichigo.

But in this life, influenced by Toshiro, Orihime was not coerced into going to Hueco Mundo. Ichigo didn't need to go on a rescue mission either, and naturally wouldn't go to Hueco Mundo looking for trouble.

If he didn't go to Hueco Mundo, he wouldn't meet Nel, and naturally, she wouldn't get involved in a fight with Las Noches.

Yet, the people from Las Noches still attacked Nel and the others. Logically, this shouldn't have happened.

After all, Nel was no longer the Tres Espada, Nelliel.

She was just a weak, pitifully small Arrancar. Las Noches should have disdained paying attention to 'little bugs' like Nel, Pesche, and Dondochakka.

Even Nnoitra, the Espada who hated Nel the most, should have had no interest in actively seeking her out.

So, when Toshiro heard that Las Noches had attacked Nel and the others, he was very surprised.

"Earlier, Pesche and I were playing the endless chase game when we suddenly ran into Tosen, the Espada Supervisor of Las Noches. He came up and asked if we knew you, Toshiro. Then..."

"Finally, Pesche opened the passage to the Living World and sent me through, but Pesche, Dondochakka, and Bawabawa couldn't escape..."

Under Toshiro's questioning, Nel told him what had happened, albeit disjointedly.

"What! You mean Tosen wanted to capture you and use you, along with the safety of the Hueco Mundo Expeditionary Force, to threaten Soul Society!"

Toshiro exclaimed in shock.

"Mm... I think that's what Tosen said."

Nel said after thinking carefully.

"That Aizen is truly despicable!"

Toshiro said angrily.

Toshiro had thought that by killing Ulquiorra and preventing Orihime from being coerced into going to Hueco Mundo, he could disrupt Aizen's goal of dispersing and weakening Soul Society. But he didn't expect Aizen to pull this trick after his plan failed.

Threatening Soul Society with the safety of Nel and the others and the Hueco Mundo Expeditionary Force, forcing Soul Society to send a rescue party… Aizen was blatantly telling Soul Society his intention to disperse and weaken their forces.

Clearly, after Ulquiorra's death and the failure to capture Orihime, Aizen had developed some doubts about the Espada's power.

Aizen was no longer completely confident that the Espada could defeat the Gotei 13's Captains. This only strengthened his resolve to disperse and weaken Soul Society's forces.

Although, in the final decisive battle between Soul Society and Hueco Mundo, the most critical fight would be whether Toshiro and Yamamoto could defeat Aizen.

The battles between the Captains and the Espada would just be icing on the cake and unlikely to affect the final outcome.

But given Aizen's pride, even the Espada, his self-created subordinates, must outshine the Gotei 13's Captains.

That's why Aizen went to so much trouble, employing these schemes.

"Ah well, Aizen pulling a stunt like this is really troubling..."

After his anger subsided and he calmed down, Toshiro could only sigh helplessly.

Aizen had made his move, and Toshiro had to respond.

"It seems I need to talk with Genryusai-sensei again..."

…

Inoue Residence.

Toshiro again contacted Yamamoto, who was stationed in Soul Society.

"What is it, Toshiro? Didn't we just communicate earlier? Why are you contacting me again so soon?"

Yamamoto's figure appeared on the screen again.

"Genryusai-sensei, something terrible has happened!"

Toshiro said with a heavy expression.

"What happened?"

Seeing Toshiro's serious expression, Yamamoto also grew grave.

"This is what happened, Genryusai-sensei. This is an Arrancar I met when I was the Commander of the Hueco Mundo Expeditionary Force, campaigning in Hueco Mundo. Her name is Nel."

Toshiro pulled Nel to his side.

"I was patrolling Karakura Town earlier when Nel suddenly came to the Living World and told me something."

Toshiro explained the entire situation to Yamamoto again.

"I didn't expect this to happen. Aizen would threaten the safety of the Hueco Mundo Expeditionary Force..."

Hearing Toshiro's words, Yamamoto's expression also darkened.

"Genryusai-sensei, Aizen has made his move, and we have to respond. Although this plays right into Aizen's hands, I still wish to request permission to go to Hueco Mundo to rescue them!!"

Toshiro said solemnly.

Hearing Toshiro's words, Yamamoto fell silent. After a long while, he suddenly said in a deep voice, "No! You absolutely cannot go to Hueco Mundo and take that risk!!"