As he spoke, black and red spiritual pressure gathered over Ichigo's face, instantly forming a white mask.
This was a form Ichigo had never used before!
After all, he had always channeled his Hollow powers into his Zanpakutō. But now that his powers were severely suppressed, if he wanted to access those Hollow powers, this was the only way.
"Sorry, Zangetsu. I'll have to use this method you hate so much."
Ichigo, now wearing a bull-horned mask similar to his previous Hollowfied state, quietly apologized to Zangetsu in his heart.
"What the…?!"
Yammy Inaba was shocked at the sight!
Not because it was scary—but because this form didn't exist in any of the Soul Society or Research and Development Bureau records!
Ichigo's voice had turned into an electric distortion as he coldly declared, "Don't die so easily, Inaba Yammy. I'm not exactly in full control of this form!"
Then, like teleportation, Ichigo appeared directly in front of Yammy Inaba. With his Zanpakutō shrouded in black spiritual pressure, he struck with one slash, sending Yammy flying!
Still in midair, Yammy gritted his teeth and used spiritual pressure to forcibly stop his momentum, but Ichigo had already closed the distance again—his Zanpakutō sweeping upwards.
"Getsuga… Tenshō!"
Even though Yammy barely withstood the sudden, powerful slash, the close-range Getsuga Tenshō that followed was not so easy to block!
Face contorted, Yammy pushed his spiritual pressure to its peak—"Eight-five-zero!"—and spun his Zanpakutō with all his strength, finally managing to block Ichigo's Getsuga.
But that single strike… had already drained him dry.
"Hahaha!!" Yammy laughed wildly, overjoyed at his survival.
He hadn't expected it himself—he actually endured Ichigo's basic attack using all his strength!
Rukia and Senna both tensed up.
It was obvious now—Ichigo's spiritual pressure was far more chaotic than they'd expected.
If Ichigo had been at normal condition, even without Bankai, his Hollowfied Getsuga Tenshō wouldn't be something someone like Yammy could block!
"Looks like your reiryoku is deteriorating even faster than expected, Kurosaki Ichigo." Yammy sneered grimly.
He feared Ichigo deeply—more than anyone. But he hadn't expected that defeating Aizen Sōsuke had come at such a steep price.
"Ichigo, switch out! Let me take over!" Rukia called anxiously.
It was the first time she'd ever made such an unreasonable demand of Ichigo.
Ichigo tensed. He tried to play it cool. "It's fine. Once I use my Shikai, he won't be able to handle me."
But Senna and Rukia had already appeared in front of him—clearly, they were saying: You're done here.
Yammy looked at Ichigo hiding behind two women and scoffed, "What's wrong, Kurosaki Ichigo? Are you so weak now that you need to hide behind women?"
Still, despite his words, Yammy didn't make any move to approach Ichigo.
Clearly, taking that Getsuga earlier had taken a real toll on him.
"I'm fine," Ichigo said stubbornly.
Senna sighed. "I know you are. But is it really so bad to let us handle him this time?"
Just then, a familiar voice called out from behind a nearby factory wall—
"Roar, Zabimaru!"
Suddenly, a stretched-out Zabimaru tore through the factory wall and struck Yammy straight-on, catching him off guard and sending him flying!
"Renji!" Rukia cried out in delight.
But it wasn't just Abarai Renji—captains and lieutenants who had previously disappeared in the New World were all returning!
Zaraki Kenpachi, Yachiru Kusajishi, Ikkaku Madarame, Yumichika Ayasegawa, Byakuya Kuchiki, Renji Abarai, Sajin Komamura, Tetsuzaemon Iba, Nanao Ise, Tōshirō Hitsugaya, Rangiku Matsumoto, Marechiyo Ōmaeda, and Shūhei Hisagi—all appeared in the Human World!
Even the captain of Squad 12, Mayuri Kurotsuchi, and Nemu Kurotsuchi were there.
And Mayuri… was furious!
After all, Yammy Inaba, the man behind all of this, was one of his subordinates!
To Mayuri, Yammy was just a lowly assistant in the R&D Bureau. And now that assistant had completely played him for a fool!
Hitsugaya, meanwhile, had already knocked out the fake Kira and flash-stepped over, placing Nozomi Kujō safely beside Ichigo.
Even though Yammy reacted quickly, Hitsugaya was long gone by the time he reached that spot.
Not even Mayuri's arrival rattled Yammy.
But seeing Nozomi rescued? That really got under his skin.
He lunged forward.
But before he could reach Hitsugaya—
A storm of cherry blossoms knocked him away again.
Byakuya Kuchiki had arrived.
Yammy was forced to retreat.
He was strong, yes—but not delusional enough to think he could snatch Nozomi back from this many captains.
He wasn't Aizen Sōsuke.
Mayuri looked up at the fleeing Yammy and sneered, "Don't let me catch you. If I do, I promise you'll suffer a fate worse than anything in my lab."
Yammy merely scoffed and opened a Senkaimon, escaping into his manipulated Dangai with the fake Nanao and Kira in tow.
Of course, not before tossing out one last threat—
"Enjoy yourselves while you can. Once I retrieve Kujō Nozomi, I'll show you my true power. Not just the Soul Society, but the Human World and Hueco Mundo will all fall under my control!"
With that, Yammy disappeared into the natural void.
This final declaration made every present Shinigami realize just how important Nozomi really was.
After he left, the captains gathered in Ichigo's house.
Which, to be fair, wasn't very big.
With over ten people crowding in, the place was absolutely packed.
Still, none of them were shy about it—they all found a spot to sit down.
Ichigo was sweating bullets. He was completely surrounded.
"Seriously? Why do we have to have the meeting in my room? What was wrong with that factory from earlier?" Ichigo asked helplessly.
"Your room is safer," Byakuya said out of nowhere.
Ichigo didn't know how to respond.
Mayuri clapped his hands. "Alright then, let's begin by explaining why we lost contact in the Dangai."
That actually piqued Ichigo's interest. Manipulating the Dangai… wasn't something easily done.
"Before we entered the Dangai, Yammy had already altered the time flow within. So during our investigation, we were forced into a time collision!"
"Then, while we were out of contact with Soul Society, he sent fake, reigai-based captains into the Seireitei. Thus perfectly pulling off a 'replace-the-pillars' scheme!"
"In other words… Yammy now controls most of the Gotei 13!"
While the Shinigami were in Ichigo's home having their secret meeting, Yammy was holding one of his own in the Soul Society—planning how to recapture Nozomi Kujō with the reigai captains.
Meanwhile, Orihime Inoue and Tatsuki Arisawa had taken the lead in throwing Nozomi a welcome party—hoping she'd warm up to everyone.
Even Uryū Ishida and Yasutora Sado, both still recovering, helped out.
But things didn't go smoothly.
The group got rowdy and noisy… and Nozomi ran away from the Urahara Shop.
Everyone was forced to split up to search for her.
Back at Ichigo's place, the meeting had just ended.
Rukia and Senna received a message from Orihime and Tatsuki—Nozomi had run away.
Ichigo and the others quickly left to search for her.
Naturally, only Ichigo could find her.
By the riverside, Ichigo saw Nozomi walking along the bank, a troubled look on her face.
"Hey, Nozomi! What are you doing out here?" Ichigo called.
But she didn't respond. She just kept walking.
Ichigo sighed and stepped forward.
Just then, Rangiku Matsumoto appeared out of nowhere.
"Ichigo, leave this to me."
"…Rangiku?" Ichigo blinked.
Rangiku smiled. "A girl's heart is something only another girl can understand. Leave her to me. I'll untangle whatever's bothering her."
Ichigo nodded, but something felt off. This Rangiku… was acting way too cold.
Before he could figure it out, she had already taken Nozomi and left.
But on her wrist… was a strange bracelet.
Ichigo's expression darkened.
He hurried to Urahara's shop—then went to Rangiku's place.
This Rangiku, unlike the previous one, lit up when she saw Ichigo. She ran over and hugged him, pouting, "Ichigo! Did you find Nozomi? Hmph, I didn't even get a greeting back at your house!"
And her outfit—it was her gigai version!
Ichigo instantly realized.
"Damn it. That fake Rangiku took Nozomi!"
The real Rangiku's face paled. She and Ichigo immediately flash-stepped toward the riverbank.
When they arrived, the fake Rangiku was preparing to throw Nozomi into the Dangai.
But—
"That's far enough. Let her go!"
Ichigo transformed on the spot, slashing forward and completely destroying the fake Rangiku's escape attempt.
Real Rangiku caught Nozomi in a flash step, smiling gently. "You okay?"
Nozomi didn't speak—but she nodded.
And soon, Rukia and Senna arrived too, having followed Ichigo's reiatsu.
"So this is… a reigai?" Senna muttered.
Just as the fake Rangiku tried to draw her blade, two Zanpakutō were already pressed to her neck—one in front, one from behind.
In an instant, Rukia and Senna had her completely pinned.
Even the real Rangiku's eyes narrowed—she admitted even she wouldn't have been able to dodge that ambush.
The fake scoffed, then shouted—
"Whisper… Haineko!"
Smoke exploded in all directions, and in the chaos, she escaped through the Senkaimon.
Ichigo and the others didn't chase. They were more focused on Nozomi.
And because of this rescue, Nozomi finally began to bond with everyone.
The other captains and lieutenants looked at her with warmth, not suspicion.
"The barbecue's ready. Come eat." Ichigo handed her a skewer.
Nozomi looked at him for a moment, then finally took it.
Seeing that, both the Shinigami and Human World friends all smiled.
But back in the Soul Society…
To justify sending forces to the Human World, Yammy orchestrated a captain's meeting where his reigai fakes pushed all the blame onto Ichigo.
This strange behavior from Kyōraku Shunsui, Ukitake Jūshirō, Hitsugaya Tōshirō, Zaraki Kenpachi, and Byakuya Kuchiki—all close friends of Ichigo—made Unohana Retsu, who presided over the meeting, immediately realize something was wrong.
(End of Chapter)
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