I received an anonymous ask that posed an ethical dilemma: if he could save only one of his friends, and send the other to certain death, what would Urahara do? These panels from Bleach 606 offer some good insight into how he might make a decision like that. Here, he’s sending his childhood friend and closest accomplice (Yoruichi) and his protege (Ichigo) ahead on a dangerous mission, and Hiyori is critical. He explains to Yuushirou that it’s for the sake of the Seretei.
[[ 6/9/2022 Edit from the future: I no longer stand by the following paragraphs. I don’t believe Kisuke’s speaking out of loyalty here. He is trying to stop cataclysm, but it’s not out of loyalty to the universal order, at least not in the political sense. Moreover, I don’t believe he’s being solely concerned with the bigger picture at all. We never see his face, and there’s a reason for that. He’s far more affected by Hiyori’s words than he’s letting on. He’s wondering if sending Ichigo and Yoruichi ahead was a bad call. He may believe that he ought to be detached, but he’s rather bad at it. As it turns out, he later shows up to ‘rescue’ Yoruichi (which may not ever have been necessary and ends up endangering both of them, Yuushirou, and Grimmjow to boot). But... this goes to the point of how convinced he is that his role is essential, at least where Yoruichi is concerned. He does appear to trust in Ichigo’s abilities.
This speaks volumes about the depth of Kisuke’s loyalty to the Soul Society and his dedication to maintaining the present universal order. Despite his distaste for its misguided and sometimes harmful bureaucracy, despite having been exiled himself, his loyalties have never wavered – a fact also noted by a disgusted Aizen after Urahara and Ichigo managed to neutralize him.
He’s grown since Hiyori was his subordinate. He’s willing to trust in Yoruichi’s and Ichigo’s abilities for this mission, and their own willingness to go. He’s no longer the young captain freaking out and chasing after his lieutenant when he realizes the danger. However, that doesn’t mean he’s not concerned. Notice how his back is turned to Hiyori while she’s dressing him down. I’m certain that it’s eating him up inside to put those two in peril, but he’s not going to show that, because he’s adamantly fixed on the bigger picture. He’s going to focus on what’s most strategic in the long run, and shove his personal feelings for his friends to the side. The burden of responsibility is a heavy load.
Okay, so, I've had some time to process the latest chapter, read the fandom reactions, read some translator's notes, and this is where I stand:
On Urahara and his shadiness:
Ever since Kubo revealed that he wasn't originally planning on making Aizen the villain, I've believed that he had instead been working toward revealing Urahara as the big bad. For whatever reason, he changed his mind and retconned a number of things concerning him, like the reason he was exiled from Soul Society.
As awesome as it would be to have Kisuke be a villain, I really don't think it makes sense given what we've seen of him after the SS arc. Like I mentioned in a previous post, I believe that he's all about the ends justifying the means, but he still cares about the people he subtly manipulates. Is it a shitty thing to do? Absolutely, but I truly believe he will try his best to save the people he gets involved in his schemes. This doesn't excuse his actions, of course, but it doesn't put him on the villains' side, either.
In TBTP, he's upset when he realizes he didn't take the Rukongai disapeparances seriously and sent Hioyori instead of going himself. I DO believe he was honestly remorseful when apologizing to Ichigo and hopefully to Rukia, off-screen (gurl, I hope you got a few good kicks in and that he let you, because he totally deserved it and he knew it). Most of all, I cannot believe that he doesn't care for Yoruichi. Ship them or don't, they're still best friends, and the reaction he had when he thinks Yoruichi might get hurt during the Aizen fight is not the face of someone who doesn't care. When he tells Ichigo to think and act for himself from now on in the current arc, I think he's basically preparing him for the shit that's about to go down and how he should start questioning everything that happens, even Kisuke's own words (more on that soon).
I think that what happened with Aizen in TBTP broke Kisuke, in a way. He was always sneaky and had a tendency to manipulate, but I also believe he always kept himself from going too far, as evidenced by the fact that he understood just how dangerous the Hougyoku was and locked it away. Aizen's betrayal showed him that he couldn't afford to be soft anymore, and it made him realize that if he wanted to protect Seireitei/the people he cares about, he had to be willing to put a toe over the line sometimes and do things that wouldn't endear him to others.
When Hiyori accuses him of treating Ichigo and Yoruichi like pawns, Kubo VERY deliberately doesn't show us Kisuke's face. I believe it's meant to be a way to trick readers into thinking Urahara is truly bad, but I think he's trying to pull a Snape here. Signs seem to point to the Soul King not being a benevolent being, and despite what he told Aizen, I think Urahara knows that; he just waited for the right time to act and it's now. If that does happen, we may very well get some sort of twist that Kisuke has been a Soul King agent, momentarily presenting him as a villain, only to have him revealed to be a double agent at the opportune moment. Hopefully, this won't require him to sacrifice himself or something :/
On Hiyori's taunt and 'Yoruichi's Answer'
Man, I don't even know. I have a crack theory that she might be teasing him about confessing/proposing to Yoruichi or something (this being the final battle and all) and Yoruichi being all: "Uhhhh... errr... Now is REALLY not the time... to-- HEY, ICHIGO, WHY DON'T WE GO ON AHEAD? *Shunpos away* "
Joking aside, I think Kisuke deliberately told Yoruichi something that would send her ahead, for whatever reason. I stand by what I said: he's definitely worried about both her and Ichigo and not just guilty because of Hiyori's accusation, but he trusts their abilities enough to believe they will stay alive and do whatever it is they went off to do until reinforcements (ie himself and the Visored) arrive.
Bear in mind that Yoruichi accused Kisuke of not believing in his subordinates in TBTP, when he requests to go after Hiyori. It's pretty clear he's long since learned to do so, but Hiyori never knew about what happened in the captain's meeting that night, and her remark probably cuts him pretty deep.
YORUICHI'S KAWAII BROTHER
Kubo's horrible timing aside, I'm loving the kid's reveal. It's about damn time we learn more about Yoruichi's family. I'm surprised people think the kid showing up now is an ass-pull. It's pretty damn obvious to me that his reveal is all about what he's carrying, and we'll FINALLY get to find out why the Shihouin clan are called the House of Godly Gears.
Is their armor/weaponry meant to protect the Soul King? Is Kisuke planning on using their powerful instruments against the Soul King? Who knows?
Also, one of the translators pointed out that Yuushirou says he got news OF his sister, but not necessarily FROM her, which makes me think that this is perhaps why Kisuke sent Yoruichi away. Perhaps he was the one who contacted Yuushirou in order to get the weapons/armor/artifacts the kid brought along. Perhaps he was worried Yoruichi wouldn't want her little brother involved? Orrrrr maybe whatever it is he plans on doing is part of him being revealed as a faux villain and if Yoruichi had been there when her brother arrived she would've seen right through it? For some reason, I really think we'll get a fake reveal of Kisuke as a villain and that he plans on fooling even Yoruichi for a while. Man, how awesome would it be if we get a YoruichixKisuke fight? Anyway, I'm getting waaay ahead of myself here, these are all crack theories right now.
On a final note, I really don't get why people are also upset Yuushirou is not the leader of the Onmitsukidou or in the Gotei 13. Again, it's pretty damn obvious he's still a kid. The fact that he's head of the family only means that he is the heir, just like Yoruichi was before her departure.
To sum it all up
This chapters hasn't really changed my perception of Kisuke and/or his ultimate pgoals. Ever since we found out he's been in Kirinji's realm at some point in the past, I've firmly believed he either a) has very good reasons for being on the Soul King's side, or b) realized just as Aizen did that the status quo needed to change, but took his sweet time to come up with a solid plan.
C'mon Kubo, I ain't asking for a lot here, all I want is for Kisuke to:
a) be falsely accused as a villain
b) have an epic fight with Yoruichi which gets interrupted
c) escape with the big bad and leave everyone feeling betrayed
d) later on pull a pretty heroic move that reveals to everyone he'd always been a double agent and actually on their side
e) preferrably NOT die if said heroic move gets him gravely injured
f) reconcile with Yoruichi and get together/get BACK together, depending on what their current status is (babies are not mandatory but will be appreciated)
you know, in a lot of bleach fan-fiction, whenever they mention the Shihouin house, they're always like "One of the noble houses, and now it's fallen", and then we get this from kubo and it's like no sir, you can't just drop this we need MORE INFORMATION
ON ANOTHER NOTE:
I refuse to believe Urahara sent them in JUST to slow down the enemy. He's shady as fuck sometimes, yes, but he cares about Ichigo and especially Yoruichi. You don't even have to ship them to know that he wouldn't do that to his best friend.
Does he have a plan? Yes. Did he mooooost likely tell them whatever it was he told them on purpose? Yes. But he trusts them and he's about to go 'in' himself.
C'mon Kisuke, don't disappoint me now >_____>
There's that scene with Yoruichi and Soi Fon, where she tells Soi Fon she's like a little sister to her, waaaay back in the SS arc, during Soi Fon's flashback.
WAS SHE TALKING ABOUT HER OWN SISTER/SIBLING (MIGHT BE A LITTLE BROTHER, DUNNO) WHOM SHE MISSED AND THAT'S WHY SHE LOOKED SO SAD AND FORLORN??
Friendly reminder that the fact that Yoruichi has a sibling (which really isn’t that surprising) is the first piece of new info we’ve received about her since the TBTP mini-arc.
I mean, all we really know is that:
She can morph into a cat (though we still don’t know HOW that’s possible. I don’t see anyone else McGonagalling it up so it doesn’t seem to be that common)
She is exceptionally adept at the flash step; earning the nickname Goddess of Flash
She trained Byakuya in the flash step
She’s part of a clan that seems to keep track of all the cool gadgets in SS
She was captain of the 2nd division and commander of the Onmitsukido
She left SS when she helped Urahara and the vizards escape
… and really that’s it. We don’t even know her zanpakuto’s name or even what it can do. We don't know a lot about Isane Kotetsu but at least we know the name and type of zanpakuto she has.
