The only reason Kaito had kept this Adjuchas around for so long was to study its strength. He had never seen this specific type of Hollow before, and he wanted to observe what kind of techniques it possessed.
But the results left him entirely disappointed.
"That's all there is to it," he muttered disdainfully.
The next moment, his body vanished from the spot. When he reappeared, he was already standing suspended in mid-air directly above the Adjuchas.
"Cang."
He placed a casual hand over the Adjuchas's head, condensing a localized gravitational vortex right in his palm. In the blink of an eye, the Adjuchas's massive body was completely pulverized into spiritual particles.
[ Fusion Progress: Gojō Satoru +4.0% ]
Hearing the sweet sound of the integration rate increasing in his mind, Kaito smiled with satisfaction. Finally encountering a high-level Hollow like an Adjuchas was the perfect opportunity to farm his system progress—there was no way he was going to let it go. If it hadn't been a type of Hollow he'd never seen before, he wouldn't have bothered wasting so much time playing around with it.
As expected, hunting Adjuchas-level threats gave a massive boost to his templates.
Not long after the Adjuchas vanished, however, Kaito suddenly felt a massive wave of spiritual pressure rushing toward his location. Even with his current strength, a subtle instinct of danger spiked within him.
A moment later, a figure blurred into view from the distance, sporting neat short hair and a petite, athletic frame.
Kaito's eyebrows raised beneath his sunglasses. The newcomer was none other than Soi-Fon, the Captain of the Second Division.
Soi-Fon frowned deeply the instant she arrived. After carefully scanning the area to confirm that the overwhelming presence of the Adjuchas was indeed entirely gone, she looked up at Kaito, who was still casually floating in the air.
"You are... Shiba Kaito?"
Kaito chuckled and landed lightly on the pavement beside her. "I didn't expect Captain Soi-Fon to actually know my name. But what brings you all the way out to Karakura Town, Captain? You really should have given me a heads-up. Even if I had to drop everything, I would have rushed over to greet you just to catch a glimpse of your dashing figure."
Soi-Fon's frown deepened. Looking at the handsome face in front of her paired with that mischievous, carefree smirk, she had to admit he was pleasing to the eye—but the smooth, frivolous words coming out of his mouth made her instantly dislike him.
To put it politely: he was lively. To put it bluntly: he was a total slacker.
"Smooth talker," Soi-Fon said flatly, cutting him off. "Save your breath. I detected the spiritual pressure of an Adjuchas here just moments ago. Did you see it, or do you know who took care of it?"
Kaito quickly shook his head, putting on a perfectly innocent act. "How could someone like me possibly purify a monster like that? I just sensed a terrifying spike of negative energy here and rushed over to check, but the area was already completely empty."
Soi-Fon sized him up. Seeing absolutely no tears in his uniform or signs of a struggle, she took him at his word.
"In the future, if you encounter Menos Grande of that scale, your first priority is to call for backup," she commanded, turning her back to him. "Do not attempt to face it alone, understand? That could very well have been a Menos Grande of the Adjuchas class."
With that, Soi-Fon vanished using Shunpo.
Truthfully, she was quite disappointed by the encounter. Shiba Kaito's baseline abilities were certainly above those of an average unseated squad member, but he wasn't anywhere near the mysterious powerhouse she had anticipated finding. As for the recent massive spike in purified souls in this zone, it was likely just the result of Kaito being exceptionally diligent with his patrols. If he was just hunting ordinary Hollows, it wasn't anything special—he was just a hard worker.
Instead, she was far more concerned with why this specific region was suddenly crawling with high-level Hollows. To see an Adjuchas here meant the concentration of spiritual energy in Karakura Town was becoming highly anomalous.
Kaito didn't bother chasing after her. He knew the matter Soi-Fon was investigating wasn't nearly as trivial as she claimed. Karakura Town was a known spiritual nexus, which naturally attracted Hollows, but spontaneous Adjuchas appearances were still incredibly rare.
Could the Seireitei have noticed how many Hollows I've been farming lately? he wondered. He had been a bit arrogant with his hunting methods, after all.
Turning back toward the borders of Kabukichō, he noticed a lingering trace of spiritual distortion. Walking over to a struggling, twisting phantom shape left on the ground, Kaito casually crushed it with a flick of his finger.
So, Aizen's subordinates are already conducting experiments here... Kaito mused.
They were likely infecting human souls with Hollow traits to study the boundaries of Hollowfication, probably testing data for the incomplete Hōgyoku.
What a headache.
Kaito had originally planned to just lay low, play it safe, and quietly grind his fusion progress until he was completely invincible. But trouble was knocking on his door much faster than anticipated. Aizen had clearly been keeping a watchful eye on Karakura Town—and Ichigo—from the very beginning.
I wonder if those internet rumors about Aizen spying on Ichigo in the shower are actually true, Kaito thought with a dark smirk.
"Oh, what a total tragedy," Kaito sighed dramatically, looking thoroughly annoyed. "Kabukichō is such a great nightlife district. Of all the places in Tokyo, why did Aizen have to conduct his creepy experiments here? Now I'll have to find a new spot for my daily check-ins. I wonder if the girls in the next district over are any cuter."
Shaking off his thoughts, he headed back to the clinic. According to the main timeline of Bleach, Ichigo and his family shouldn't be in any real danger yet. But knowing Aizen's shadow was loitering around the corner made him a bit uneasy. He didn't care about the political squabbles of the Soul Society, but Kurosaki Isshin had taken him in, and over the years, he had genuinely grown attached to this chaotic family.
Back at the clinic, Kurosaki Masaki was sitting in the living room, watching over a young Ichigo. The moment Ichigo saw Kaito walk through the door, his face fell instantly.
"Dad! Kaito is back from fooling around again!" Ichigo shouted toward the back of the house.
Masaki gently patted the boy's orange hair, giving him a soft scolding. "Ichigo, what nonsense are you talking about?"
Kaito strolled right over, unceremoniously ruffling Ichigo's head. "Hey, Ichigo. How dare you talk about your Sensei like that? You're letting your old man corrupt your manners. From now on, you need to follow me and learn how to be cool, got it?"
It was like rubbing salt directly into the wound. The moment Ichigo heard the word "Sensei," his face turned red with anger and he aggressively hit Kaito's hand away from his head.
"Who called you Sensei?! What could a guy who does nothing but slack off and party all day possibly teach me?!"
Ichigo, who was usually quiet and gentle, rarely threw tantrums like this, leaving Masaki entirely startled. "Ichigo, what is wrong with you today?"
"Hmph! Am I wrong?" Ichigo huffed, crossing his arms. "Dad says he's always out fooling around. I don't want to follow his example!"
The boy stormed off to his room in a massive huff. Masaki looked incredibly apologetic, turning to Kaito with a helpless sigh. "Kaito, don't take it to heart. He's still so young."
Kaito let out a hearty laugh. He knew exactly why Ichigo was throwing a fit—he had totally stood the kid up after promising to show him something magical, and then teased him about it. "It's completely fine, Ms. Kurosaki. Why would I hold a grudge against a brat like Ichigo?"
"Of course you won't hold a grudge, because he's telling the truth!"
Isshin walked out from the clinic's back room, his face uncharacteristically stern. "Kaito, what exactly were you doing out all night? And what's this about Ichigo calling you 'Master'? What foolishness are you trying to teach my son?"
Kaito shrugged, completely unfazed. He turned to Masaki with a dramatic sigh. "Ms. Kurosaki, I think I'd better head to my room before my uncle gives me a massive lecture."
Without looking back, Kaito bolted down the hallway toward his bedroom.
Behind him, Isshin's furious roar echoed through the house: "Kaito! You're not a kid anymore! It's time to get a real job and start contributing to the grocery budget!"
Before Kaito shut his door, he caught the sweet sound of Masaki immediately shutting her husband down: "Oh, stop yelling at him! He's just a boy, how much food could he possibly eat? You're making a bigger issue out of this than it is, Isshin!"