The Zanpakutō slowly returned to its sheath.
Behind Kai, arcs of lightning plummeted from the heavens like Spears of Longinus, bombarding the area without a single blind spot.
After a dozen seconds, the dancing lightning finally faded.
By then, the Adjuchas-class Menos, which had just crawled out of the ruins, was riddled with holes from the lightning strikes and lay dead in a pool of blood.
"Th... this power?"
Yanagawa Saitō swallowed hard, staring at the scene in absolute horror.
In this moment, he suddenly felt that he had vastly underestimated Kai all along.
This young master from the Noble House was different from the usual resume-padders.
This guy... was a monster!
"You know what to say, right? Do not tell Soul Society about my involvement. Otherwise, you're dead."
Staring at Yanagawa for a few seconds until the man was sweating profusely, Kai spoke calmly.
This incident could not be known by Soul Society.
If he gained merit, he would inevitably become a high-ranking officer in the Gotei 13. That meant he'd be forced to participate in the final battle against Aizen and the Thousand-Year Blood War against the Quincies.
He had zero desire to face Aizen or Yhwach.
"Yes, Lord Kai! I understand completely!"
Yanagawa nodded respectfully. Unknowingly, even his form of address had changed.
"As for you..."
Hesitating for a few seconds, Kai picked up the nearly unconscious girl and vanished from the street.
...
Ten minutes later.
A Senkaimon opened.
A blonde woman with a massive chest rushed out. She immediately grabbed Yanagawa Saitō by the collar.
"Where is Kai? Where is he? Where is the enemy?"
Rangiku Matsumoto's face was filled with anxiety, genuinely worried about Kai's safety.
That was an Adjuchas-class Menos!
A monster formed from hundreds of Hollows merging into a Gillian, then continuously slaughtering and devouring others until it evolved into an Adjuchas.
Against that level of combat power, even a Vice-Captain couldn't guarantee victory.
And Kai was just a sixth-year graduate.
Moreover, she had just told Kai she would take good care of him and "interact" with him deeply. If something happened to Kai now, Rangiku would never forgive herself.
"Vice-Captain Matsumoto, the situation has been resolved."
Yanagawa barely managed to speak.
"Re... Resolved? Nani?"
Rangiku's beautiful eyes went blank. She loosened her grip, and Yanagawa nearly collapsed to the ground.
Resolved?
How was that possible?
That was an Adjuchas!
Could Kai have done it?
No, that was even more impossible. He was just a sixth-year student. Even with her woman's intuition telling her Kai was hiding something, that didn't mean he had the power to defeat an Adjuchas.
"It was a Quincy girl who did it."
Almost without hesitation, Yanagawa chose to help Kai hide his strength.
Whatever Kai's reason was for doing this, it didn't matter.
All he needed to do now was offer his loyalty.
This was his ticket to success.
"A Quincy? I see."
A look of realization flashed through Rangiku's eyes.
There were indeed Quincies in Karakura Town. Their existence was recorded in Soul Society, so it wasn't a secret to officers of Vice-Captain rank or higher.
"A Quincy girl capable of defeating an Adjuchas... sounds like someone I'd like to meet," she muttered, rolling her eyes mischievously. "Since the situation in the World of the Living is resolved, I should prepare to return to Soul Society..."
Yeah, right!
Since she was already in the World of the Living, she obviously had to have some fun before going back!
Stuck with a super irresponsible Captain like Isshin Shiba, who ran off to the World of the Living every few days and dumped all the division duties on her, Rangiku had wanted to quit for ages.
This was perfect. She could let her Captain taste the bitter suffering of daily overtime.
Suddenly, Rangiku's mood improved immensely.
Plus, she could take this opportunity to have more "deep interactions" with Little Kai. It was the best of both worlds.
Rangiku stretched lazily, proudly showing off her curvaceous body, causing Yanagawa to instinctively avert his gaze.
"Saitō-kun, do you know where the Fisher's Tavern is?"
"Eh? If it's that tavern, I know where it is, but how does Vice-Captain Matsumoto know about that place?"
...
Meanwhile, on the rooftop of a hospital.
Kai sat cross-legged on the ground, staring at the girl lying before him.
"Can you still talk? If you can, make a squeak. I can't just leave you at the hospital in this state, right?"
Faced with Kai's question, the girl remained silent, her eyes beginning to dim.
"What a pain. Is this neurotoxin that potent?"
Kai scratched his head. Although he hadn't mastered Kaidō (Healing Kidō), after checking the girl's condition, he felt a headache coming on.
After thinking for a few seconds, Kai suggested, "How about I insert a catheter and attach a colostomy bag for you? You're probably going to lose bladder control soon..."
He had to admit, that Menos's neurotoxin was fierce.
The Quincy girl before him had all her nerves completely paralyzed. In this situation, controlling her body was impossible.
So, something very shameful was about to happen.
"For hygiene, and for your own good, you understand me, right?"
Suddenly, Kai was holding a catheter and a bag in his hand.
The motionless Quincy girl's dim eyes suddenly burst with a frantic light.
But Kai didn't notice.
"Well then, pardon the intrusion."
Kai sighed and began to prepare.
The girl's breathing instantly became heavy, and her eyes seemed to regain a bit of their liveliness.
Just as Kai reached out his hand...
Slap!
The girl suddenly grabbed Kai's arm.
"I think... I can still... be saved... Don't give up on me..."
Her voice was hoarse and broken. After squeezing out that sentence, she went still again.
"Hm?"
Kai's eyes flickered. "She can move?"
But like a flash in the pan, the girl showed no further movement, freezing in that position like a statue.
"See? Just give up on the treatment. You can't be saved. We still have to do this. What a hassle..."
Kai sighed, pried her hand off, and picked up the catheter again.
At that moment, the girl's body suddenly shuddered.
Kai's gaze sharpened, and he stepped back.
In his vision...
On the girl's fair skin, a pattern of faint bloody lines began to spread. A massive, almost palpable spiritual pressure flowed through her blood, devouring the black-purple neurotoxin patterns.
Finally, it formed a tattoo-like pattern of branching veins, intricate and stunning.
"Is this... Blut Vene (Static Blood Guise)?"
"Are you..."
Blut (Blood Guise) was an ability only pure-blooded Quincies possessed.
Kai's pupils constricted slightly as he suddenly thought of a certain woman.
A woman with orange hair, also a pure-blooded Quincy, who was capable of defeating White—the physical cheat code Hollow.
Calculating the timeline, that orange-haired woman would be exactly this girl's age right now.
This Quincy girl... don't tell me... is actually Masaki Kurosaki?!