"I became a Shinigami!"
Ichigo Kurosaki was astonished by his transformation.
After absorbing the Spiritual Pressure of the trainee Shinigami, his soul suddenly separated from his body.
Moreover, a Zanpakutō had appeared in his hand, and his clothes had turned into a Shihakushō.
"Strange. Does transferring Spiritual Pressure to a Quincy turn the Quincy into a Shinigami?"
The black-haired girl was equally surprised. She had only intended to transfer her Spiritual Pressure to this Quincy boy so he could hold on until reinforcements arrived. However, he unexpectedly turned directly into a Shinigami.
Furthermore, the form of his Zanpakutō was very strange. The wide and thick blade proved that this sword was definitely not a standard Asauchi.
Before she could think more, the black-haired girl felt a wave of intense weakness wash over her, even more severe than the usual exhaustion from overusing Spiritual Pressure.
At this moment, the black shadow had returned to face the two of them.
Ichigo Kurosaki didn't know how to use Shinigami powers, but he did know how to control Spiritual Pressure.
Spiritual Pressure surged within his body, and he instinctively converged it onto the blade's edge.
"Hah—!"
Ichigo Kurosaki shouted explosively, slashing out a wave of Spiritual Pressure.
The power of this slash far surpassed the Spiritual Pressure blasts he had previously unleashed. The black shadow was blown apart, its fragments dissipating into the air.
"Did... did we win?"
The black-haired girl was stunned. What had just happened completely exceeded her expectations.
She transferred Spiritual Pressure to this Quincy hoping he could stall for time until the reinforcements he mentioned arrived.
As a result, he solved the enemy himself.
"This Zanpakutō is pretty impressive..." Ichigo Kurosaki turned and noticed the black-haired girl's pale face. Remembering she was badly injured, he quickly said, "I'll help you treat your wound!"
Ichigo Kurosaki returned to his human body and took out Reishi tools from his pocket dimension to bandage the black-haired girl's wound.
"Are you a student among the Shinigami?" Ichigo Kurosaki was somewhat curious about the world of Shinigami.
"Yes, I am Rukia Kuchiki, a graduating student of the Shin'ō Academy." Rukia Kuchiki felt that this Quincy wasn't a bad person, so she told him her name. "Barring any accidents, I will be a full-fledged Shinigami after returning to the Soul Society..."
"I am Ichigo Kurosaki, a Quincy..." Ichigo Kurosaki scratched his head. "Wait, am I now a Quincy with a Zanpakutō?"
"That's right! You'd better not use that Zanpakutō in front of other Shinigami. This might cause us trouble..." Rukia Kuchiki revealed a helpless expression. "I originally just wanted to replenish some of your Spiritual Pressure, but I ended up transferring Shinigami powers to you."
Rukia Kuchiki had read about the history of Quincies in her books. Shinigami and Quincies actually had a hostile relationship, and several large-scale wars had broken out between the two sides!
Now, she had allowed a Quincy to obtain the power of a Shinigami. She didn't dare to imagine how big of a shock this would cause if news reached the Soul Society.
"I absolutely cannot let Professor's reputation be damaged!" Rukia Kuchiki thought to herself.
Her Professor was the Head Commander of the Gotei 13. She didn't want her Professor to be criticized because of her actions.
"Will using the Zanpakutō cause you trouble?" Ichigo Kurosaki understood Rukia's concerns very well and agreed readily. "Then I won't use it. I'm a Quincy anyway!"
"Just don't let other Shinigami see your Zanpakutō."
Seeing Ichigo Kurosaki agree so readily, Rukia couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.
"What is going on? I ate a Spirit Recovery Pill, but my Spiritual Pressure isn't recovering..."
Rukia felt the Spiritual Pressure in her body and was puzzled.
She had just eaten a Spirit Recovery Pill, but there was no sign of her Spiritual Pressure recovering.
Just then, a figure suddenly appeared in front of them, startling both of them.
"A Shinigami Captain?" Ichigo Kurosaki, having learned from his elders, recognized the iconic Captain's Haori and knew a bit about the Soul Society.
The Shinigami Captain who suddenly appeared was the Captain of the 10th Division, Lisa Yadōmaru.
"Lisa-nee! Why are you here?"
Seeing Lisa, Rukia couldn't help but feel guilty.
Ichigo Kurosaki was still here; she was a bit afraid Lisa would detect Ichigo Kurosaki's Shinigami power.
"The Department of Research and Development told me the graduating class of the Academy ran into trouble, so I came to check the situation." Lisa came to Rukia and used Kaidō to help treat her injuries.
The Department of Research and Development recorded changes in Spiritual Pressure waves in the World of the Living.
A place with heavy spirit particles like Karakura Town was a key focus for the Department of Research and Development. After Ichigo Kurosaki turned into a Shinigami, his Spiritual Pressure changed accordingly. These changes were all recorded by the sensors.
The 10th Division was currently responsible for the security of the World of the Living, so after the Department of Research and Development detected the abnormal Spiritual Pressure here, they reported the anomaly to Lisa.
"The state of your Spiritual Pressure is a bit strange..." Lisa suddenly looked up, staring at the orange-haired teenager nearby. "Why does he have traces of your Spiritual Pressure on him?"
"He doesn't!" Rukia was so frightened her heart almost jumped out. In her panic, she directly incriminated herself, "I absolutely did not transfer Spiritual Pressure to him!"
"You transferred Shinigami power to a human?" Lisa's face darkened. "This is a grave crime!"
"We encountered a strong enemy; there really was no other way..." Rukia remembered the identity the black shadow claimed and hurriedly added, "By the way, the enemy also claimed to be the King of Quincies, Yhwach!"
"Impossible. Yhwach was eliminated by Professor over ten years ago." Lisa didn't quite believe it.
"Although I don't know if that guy was the King of Quincies, I can be sure he was a very strong Quincy. I couldn't even control the external Reishi in front of him," Ichigo Kurosaki said.
"He was a Quincy?" Lisa looked at Rukia with a helpless expression. "So you passed Shinigami power to a Quincy?"
"She did it to save others!" Ichigo Kurosaki asked, "Is there a way to return the Shinigami power to her? If possible, I am willing to return the power!"
"There is no such method." Lisa shook her head and said, "Since it has come to this, Rukia shouldn't return to the Soul Society for the time being. Your Spiritual Pressure has changed too much; if you return to the Soul Society, others will discover the problem. Stay in the World of the Living for a while and wait until your Spiritual Pressure recovers."
Ichigo Kurosaki didn't want Rukia to be punished because of this. Seeing that this Shinigami Captain had no intention of interrogating Rukia further, he instantly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Can my Spiritual Pressure still recover?" Rukia asked about the problem she just discovered. "I ate a Spirit Recovery Pill, but there was no sign of recovery!"
"This is different from ordinary Spiritual Pressure depletion. You transferred the Shinigami power to a human, which is equivalent to losing that portion of power. It will take a relatively long time to recover," Lisa explained. "I will find someone to help make a special Gigai that can help you restore Spiritual Pressure. You just stay in the World of the Living properly and return to the Soul Society after your Spiritual Pressure recovers."
"Thank you, Lisa-nee!" Seeing there was a solution, Rukia also breathed a sigh of relief.
"I didn't expect you to run into something like this during your graduation exam. I should have led the team myself." Lisa ruffled Rukia's onion-shaped hair.
"Quincy boy." Lisa looked at Ichigo Kurosaki, revealing a smile with deep meaning. "I'm entrusting Rukia to your care for a while!