In fact, the moment Kurosaki Ichigo emerged from the Garganta, an alarm had already sounded in Seireitei!
This was a more concealed route than the Dangai.
Using the Dangai would be even more obvious.
The Garganta belonged to the Hollow domain—Shinigami could not step into it.
The Dangai, however, belonged to the Shinigami domain, and Shinigami had a special division that supervised it.
As long as an abnormal spiritual pressure attempted to enter Soul Society through the Dangai, Seireitei would be alerted.
In the original story, the moment Ichigo and the others arrived, the Seireitei defense wall slammed down as if the Shinigami were already prepared.
Were the Shinigami really that fast?
Of course, there was preparation—and that preparation existed because they had discovered the intruders early.
They were detected while still in the Dangai.
But the Garganta was different.
Shinigami had no means of supervising the Garganta. They could only react after the intruders appeared outside the gate.
So this time, Ichigo used his Shinigami disguise to slip into Seireitei before the Shinigami could respond.
But now, the captains had already begun moving.
Because the moment Ichigo arrived in Rukongai, the alarm rang out across Seireitei, and captains began gathering.
The detected spiritual pressure wasn't particularly strong.
But its unnatural distortion was extremely obvious, making the monitoring division feel deeply uneasy.
After the precedent of the Hollow King's assault, the Gotei 13 also had a system for dealing with disasters invading.
The instant the invasion occurred, the captains began acting separately.
"…Damn it."
Hitsugaya, who had just returned to Seireitei by forcing a Hollow to open a Garganta, changed expression.
He had just come back and was on his way to Central 46 when the alarm rang.
His heart sank.
Because he knew that at this moment, Central 46 would only become even more closed off.
Until the Ryoka was resolved, without a summons from Central 46, no one was allowed to enter the Central Great Tower!
Otherwise, Central 46 truly were a pack of idiots. Every time Hitsugaya thought of this order, he felt that Central 46 would die sooner or later because of it.
In danger, they didn't summon captains for protection—rather, they forbade captains from approaching.
Which genius came up with that idea?
Compared to the Gotei 13, Central 46 seemed to place greater importance on the top students of the Shinigami Academy.
That was even more ridiculous.
What were academy top students?
A bunch of students who hadn't even become proper Shinigami yet.
Good grades might mean that after joining the Gotei 13, they could quickly become seated officers or even higher—
But that was the future.
Right now, they were nowhere near as useful as high-ranking officers.
Hitsugaya could only assume Central 46 possessed an unafraid-of-sacrifice spirit—caring nothing for their own safety or the safety of others—wasting the captains' vital combat power so that the captains could keep defeating external enemies.
Such leaders who do not fear sacrifice are truly a blessing to the Shinigami…
But regardless of what he thought, Hitsugaya could only take a deep breath now.
He knew Yamamoto and the other captains had already moved—and that going to Central 46 was pointless.
Now they could only focus on the Ryoka first!
Judging from the spiritual pressure response and the scale of the movement, the enemy didn't seem to be the same type as Tsunayashiro or the Hollow King.
Those two were incredibly strong, and they didn't hide themselves at all when entering Seireitei.
But this time, the Ryoka clearly wasn't as strong—and its method of invasion was primarily infiltration.
That made it far more insidious than the Hollow King, though it might also just be a waste of time.
Hitsugaya had barely crossed a street when he suddenly stopped.
He saw a dark-skinned boy running through the street, and his pupils snapped tight.
The moment he saw that person, he recognized him.
This was the boy who fought Rukia in the Human World—Hikone Ubuginu.
Hitsugaya hadn't fought him then, but he had heard Rukia describe his physical features afterward, and he recognized him immediately.
After Tsunayashiro's death, they truly hadn't been able to find this boy. Hitsugaya had assumed he died along with Tsunayashiro's defeat.
He never expected him to appear now!
Was this boy the Ryoka?!
"Stop!"
Seeing him run, Hitsugaya shouted and rushed forward.
Hikone turned at the sound, and when he saw Hitsugaya, he blurted out:
"A Shinigami captain?"
Hitsugaya had approached too quickly and didn't have time to draw his sword properly. He could only block with his arm.
The Zanpakutō sliced into steel-like skin—yet it couldn't cut through even a bloody layer.
"Sit upon the frozen heavens… Hyōrinmaru!"
Hitsugaya shouted low. His Zanpakutō released, and at close range, Hikone's body was instantly frozen solid!
Then the ice shattered under a powerful spiritual pressure. Hikone's speed surged, and the distance closed in an instant.
He drew a blade at his waist and released a Bala from the tip.
Hitsugaya dodged sideways, and the Bala tore past him and exploded at the end of the street—
A massive explosion thundered!
"Hyōryū Senbi!"
Hitsugaya swung again, like a dragon's tail, and a frozen chain lashed out to lock onto Hikone.
"As expected of a Shinigami captain—truly strong!" Hikone praised, leaping up and barely avoiding the attack.
"But I can't play with you right now, Captain."
Already in midair, he stepped on reishi and sprinted into the sky.
"Don't think you can run!"
Hitsugaya wanted to use Bankai, but he felt this boy might be the key to everything—he couldn't let him escape like this.
Yet just as he was about to release Bankai, a woman's figure suddenly appeared before him.
?!
Before he could even identify her, she vanished again.
Not good!
Hitsugaya was startled and tried to turn—but felt a hand press against his back.
Boom!
In an instant, a massive beam of reishi pierced through Hitsugaya's chest.
Hitsugaya's pupils lost focus and he collapsed to the ground.
"…That boy…" the woman frowned. "I told him not to be found."
She was the Third Seat of the Tenth Division—Yamiko.
She looked at the fallen Hitsugaya and shook her head.
"Whatever. It doesn't matter."
"Let's just hope this experiment succeeds."
Her body vanished into the shadows.
Only Hitsugaya remained on the ground. Blood poured from the hole beneath his chest, quickly staining the earth a vivid red.
Not long after he fell, death came.
"Captain Hitsugaya?!"
A Shinigami squad arrived, saw Hitsugaya lying in a pool of blood, and froze in shock before rushing forward.
"Quick—contact the Fourth Division emergency team! Captain Hitsugaya's life is in danger!"
…
On the other side, Angra Mainyu—advancing through Seireitei—seemed to sense something and looked toward the distant battle.
"What is it?" Ichigo asked.
"There's fighting far away," Angra said.
"Fighting?" Ichigo blinked. "Do Shinigami fight a lot?"
Angra didn't answer the foolish question. Instead, he said:
"It seems we're not the only ones causing trouble in Seireitei."
"That's good." Ichigo tightened his resolve. "It'll draw the other captains' attention."
"Let's go to the Repentance Cell, rescue Kuchiki Rukia, then leave immediately."
"If we're lucky, we won't run into a captain!"
"Of course you won't be that lucky."
A voice came from an unknown direction.
The next moment, the street turned into a swamp, a sucking force pulling at them as if to drag them underground.
A man and a woman walked out across the swamp-like street.
Mayuri arrived with Nemu at his side. Seeing Angra, he said:
"Oh? And here I was wondering who it was."
"So it's you."
"Explain yourself. How dare you infiltrate Seireitei?"
Back then, Mayuri had maintained a certain private cooperation with Angra: Mayuri provided research data, and Angra provided Aaroniero materials.
But it was only once. They hadn't contacted each other since.
Until now.
Earlier, Angra had fused the Hollow King's left hand and attacked Soul Society—without using his own Hollow face.
Ichigo, hearing this, couldn't help asking, "You know him?"
"We know each other," Angra said calmly.
"But it looks like I'm not here to catch up."
"Kurosaki Ichigo—keep going forward."
"I'll stop this captain."
"…Huh? If we work together—can't we—?"
Before Ichigo could finish, he felt a terrifying spiritual pressure.
It was stronger than anything he'd ever felt in his life.
What…?!
Ichigo felt his body sink. He stared at Angra in disbelief.
He knew his assistant was strong.
But this was beyond levels.
No wonder the shop manager had let him come alone without worry.
As Angra's spiritual pressure erupted, the swamp seemed to freeze, unable to move under the pressure shock.
"Angra—be careful! I'll go first!" Ichigo said, then turned and sprinted away.
Mayuri narrowed his eyes at Angra.
"…You look completely different from before."
"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, it'd be hard to imagine you're the same person."
"You're not going to chase him?" Angra asked, referring to Ichigo.
Mayuri sneered.
"I'm not interested in an ant like that."
"But didn't you say you wanted to attack Kuchiki Rukia?"
"Why?"
"And that strange Shinigami earlier…"
"I checked the database—he's not a Shinigami of the Gotei 13."
"He reminds me of that hateful woman…"
"But…"
"An ant can be caught anytime."
"You, however, can't be allowed to slip away."
Mayuri pressed a button.
In the next instant, the ground—held still by Angra's spiritual pressure—began to wriggle.
Tentacles burst out, trying to drag Angra down into the earth.
Boom!
Angra's body flared with spiritual pressure and shattered the pale arms into fragments.
"Don't waste time with such petty tricks," Angra said.
"Petty tricks?" Mayuri smiled mournfully. He was not reckless.
He could tell Angra was troublesome.
So of course, he had prepared.
The broken arm fragments began swelling again.
The white flesh bubbles absorbed the spiritual pressure that had shattered them—using it.
Boom!!!!
Countless flesh bubbles expanded to arm-sized masses—then reached their limit.
All of them exploded at once.
An explosive storm obliterated the entire street, and several surrounding blocks were affected!
There might have been civilians on other streets—there might have been nobles.
At this moment, they were all swallowed by fire.
The strongest blast remained at the center.
Angra was launched out of the ground like a meteor from a super-crater, and a pillar of flame shot nearly a kilometer into the sky.
If Seireitei didn't have its spiritual barrier, the pillar would've risen even higher.
Mayuri himself was also within the blast area, but ninety percent of the bomb's power was intelligently concentrated on the enemy.
This explosion was absurdly smart—it hunted only the target Mayuri had marked for detonation.
The residual force was still terrifying, but no longer enough to threaten Mayuri.
Mayuri smiled at the blast source.
"If you underestimate me just because I spend all year in a lab instead of a battlefield…"
"You'll regret it."
Then his smile vanished.
As the flames faded, a silhouette was still standing in the center of light and heat.
He hadn't died.
He wasn't even badly injured.
Mayuri narrowed his eyes.
"You…"
"You're mistaken," Angra said, stepping forward from the blast without dodging.
"I never underestimated you."
"Whether you're a Shinigami on the battlefield or a Shinigami in a laboratory—there's no difference to me."
"In the end…"
"You're just death."
Angra looked at Mayuri.
"That method earlier wasn't Shinigami, was it?"
He brushed at the spiritual pressure on his shoulder with a finger, leaving a blue trace.
Blue reishi burned like flame.
Angra stared at it and said quietly:
"A Quincy spirit particle cluster?"
Mayuri's eyes shone with excitement rather than fear.
"That's right!"
"By researching Quincies and Arrancar, I created this Extinguishing Bomb."
"It not only absorbs reishi during battle, it also detonates and draws reishi from the outside world at the moment of explosion—forming a lethal blast!"
He introduced his product like a salesman.
"To be honest, Quincy souls are treasures."
"I used to think I'd researched them thoroughly, but later I realized…"
"Those Quincies were just a pile of trash."
"True Quincies…"
"Every one of them is a mountain of treasure!"
Angra mocked him.
"As a Shinigami, using Hollow and Quincy power is ironic."
"Ironic?" Mayuri replied. "I don't think so."
"Shinigami, Hollow, Quincy—these are all just weapons."
"Especially Hollows and Quincies."
"In the hands of a Shinigami, they can only appear as weapons."
"Isn't that interesting?"
"Oh, right—one more thing."
Mayuri sneered again.
"If you know anything about Quincies, you should also know they have more than spirit particle clusters."
"Other abilities…?"
Angra frowned.
The next moment, he felt dizzy—as if poisoned.
Mayuri answered loudly, delighted.
"Blood."
"Blood is one of the Quincy's abilities."
"Do you think I wouldn't consider that when making bombs?"
"And do you think you can approach bombs with Quincy characteristics…"
"Without being infected by their blood?"
"These bombs don't just produce lethal force in the outside world."
"They're lethal to Hollows too."
"The extermination force enters a Hollow through its blood vessels during the explosion and dissolves the Hollow's soul!"
Mayuri's tactics were chained:
First, he used Angra's own power to feed the bomb, detonating it.
If the explosion still didn't kill him, he then used Quincy power—blood—to invade.
Against most Hollows, this was the best solution.
Except Angra.
Yet Angra was not like Szayelaporro.
If Szayelaporro relied on mechanisms and adaptations, Angra relied on raw spiritual pressure.
So after hearing Mayuri's words, Angra whispered:
"A very good trap."
"But unfortunately…"
He raised his head slightly.
Under Mayuri's shocked gaze, Angra said:
"Even if you exhaust your wisdom and do everything you can…"
"The difference in power is still enormous."
In the next instant, he appeared beside Mayuri and spoke softly:
"How can you touch the sky, even if you go to the ends of the earth?"
Mayuri snapped around—wanting to release Bankai—but he was a step too late.
A Bala flashed.
Boom!
Mayuri's body was swallowed.
The blast chased the earlier explosion scars, reached the edge of sight—
And detonated again.
After that Bala, Mayuri's body was completely destroyed.
Not a single cell remained.
Nemu stared blankly for half a beat, then her eyes widened.
"Mayuri-sama!"
She turned to Angra—who said in a low voice:
"Your captain won't die that easily."
"You should know what kind of person he is."
"He must have an antidote on him."
"Take it out."
"What?" Nemu's face changed.
Angra continued.
"Mayuri's method isn't just that."
"The Quincy ability is blood, so he would rely on that petty trick."
"But what he's truly good at is poisoning."
"When he used Quincy blood to erode me, he must have added poison."
"You have the antidote."
"Take it out."
"Or right now, I'll fire a Bala at the Research & Development Bureau."
"If the R&D Bureau is destroyed, your captain won't be able to resurrect again."
Nemu stared at Angra in shock.
This man felt godlike—overwhelming power, and insight as if he saw through everything.
Yes.
Mayuri's greatest combat method wasn't Bankai or tech bombs.
It was poison.
The real purpose of the Extinguishing Bomb wasn't to kill by explosion.
It was to use Quincy blood to inject Mayuri's poison.
Yet Angra had seen through it all.
Not only did he kill Mayuri, he also knew Mayuri carried an antidote—and even knew Mayuri had backups in the R&D Bureau.
Who… was he?
The captain had seemed to cooperate with him.
Perhaps it was time for the captain to be fully exposed.
This man was terrifying.
She couldn't let Mayuri become enemies with him again.
Fear surged in Nemu's heart.
She obeyed and produced the antidote.
Angra took it.
He did not fire a Bala toward the R&D Bureau.
Instead, he left after that enormous shock.
…
Meanwhile, Kurosaki Ichigo was running toward the Repentance Cell.
He didn't know its exact location, but Angra had pointed out the direction—so he could only run that way.
As he ran, he heard violent explosions behind him.
The power was shocking.
And the direction was exactly where Angra was.
Ichigo felt worried—
But before he could think further, a strong wind ripped toward him from the front.
Ichigo dodged instinctively, barely seeing a blade whip past him.
Even so, his cheek was cut, leaving a wound on his face.
"So the Ryoka is wearing Shinigami clothes and carrying a Zanpakutō?"
A red-haired man appeared in front of him.
Blue stripes spread across his forehead, but much was hidden under goggles.
The blade in his hand was extremely strange—like a whip, stabbing forward.
Spotted?
Ichigo's heart sank.
Didn't Angra say disguising as Shinigami would let him infiltrate?
"You…" Ichigo tried to stall. "What are you talking about? What Ryoka?"
The red-haired Shinigami snorted.
"Stop pretending. I know you."
"I saw you when we went to the Human World."
"You got frozen by Rukia."
"What—did you really come to Soul Society?"
Renji had previously gone to the Human World with Byakuya and Hitsugaya and had seen Ichigo frozen.
At that time, everyone thought Ichigo was just an unlucky human caught in the battlefield, and because Rukia's condition was strange, they didn't think much of it.
Renji especially didn't—because he hadn't had time to.
Now, seeing Ichigo again, that memory snapped awake, and he immediately suspected this man was the Ryoka.
"Why is a human in Soul Society?"
"Did you take Rukia away?!"
Ichigo's eyes widened, anger surging.
"What's your name?!"
"Huh?" Renji blinked. "You know Rukia?"
"Of course!" Ichigo shouted. "I came to save her! Don't let the Shinigami kill her!"
Renji's pupils expanded.
"…What?"
"I came to save Rukia!"
Renji's face darkened.
"You idiot!"
"You've gone insane."
"Do you even understand what you're saying?"
"Who do you think you are?"
"You dare say you want to save Rukia…"
"My name is Kurosaki Ichigo!" Ichigo pointed at himself. "Rukia saved me!"
Renji gritted his teeth.
"Then show me your strength!"
He lunged.
Ichigo met him head-on with Zangetsu.
Steel clashed.
The two fought without mercy.
Renji was shocked.
He hadn't expected Ichigo to fight him this evenly.
Was this guy serious?
He said he came to save Rukia?
How was that possible?
To save Rukia, you'd have to challenge the Gotei 13.
You'd have to face thirteen captains.
How could a human do that?!
Of course, Ichigo didn't know the situation inside Seireitei.
That ignorance was the only reason he could speak so boldly.
Renji shouted:
"You don't even understand what you just said!"
"I'll tell you!"
"The Gotei 13—thirteen captains—stand at the pinnacle of Soul Society!"
"I'm only a lieutenant!"
"If you can't even beat me, and you still want to abduct Rukia from thirteen captains—aren't you ashamed?!"
Renji thought those words would shock Ichigo, make him hesitate, maybe even retreat.
But Ichigo didn't flinch.
"So what?!"
"Even if there were a hundred captains…"
"I still have to save Rukia!"
Renji's face twisted.
"…You brat."
"Fine!"
"If you say that, then I'll show you what a lieutenant can do!"
"Then you'll understand how ridiculous your words, your stubbornness, and your goal really are!"
Renji gripped his blade with both hands and immediately released Bankai.
"Bankai: Hihiō Zabimaru!"
Boom!
A fierce spiritual pressure exploded from Renji's body.
Ichigo stared, stunned.
So strong!
And this is… only a lieutenant?!