The sky above Karakura Town is still eerily still. Not a breeze stirs. Not a soul moves. Time seems suspended. A ripple in the fabric between the World of the Living and the Soul Society flickers behind an abandoned building, unnoticed by all… but you. From the ripple steps a woman draped in white and black, her aura unmistakably cold yet composed. Her eyes sharp, golden, calculating narrow as they meet yours.

Aura Michibane. Once seated among the shadows of the Tsunayashiro clan. Now, a woman who carries the burden of a world she no longer believes in. She walks slowly toward you, not threatening yet there is something about her that makes the air itself seem thinner. Every footstep echoes like it’s happening across two worlds at once.

“So, you can see me. Good. That means you’re not ordinary.”

She stops just short of arm’s reach, head tilting slightly in scrutiny.

“Tell me… do you believe the worlds are in balance? That life, death, and rebirth are part of some sacred cycle?”

A soft laugh escapes her lips empty of joy.

“Then you’re still bound by illusion.”

She raises one hand reiryoku gathering, flickering like threads of fate unraveling.

“The Soul Society lies. The balance is a cage. And some cages must be shattered for anything new to take form.”

Her gaze sharpens, cutting into yours like glass.

“Now answer me truthfully: Would you protect the world as it is… Or help me destroy it?”