Chapter 161: The Espada Return
As soon as he received the news, Ichigo immediately used a Teleportation Array to rush to the First Division barracks.
Rukia came with him.
"Why are you following me? They didn't call for you."
Ichigo looked at his Lieutenant in confusion. She had hurried after him the moment he left, then stepped into the array right behind him.
"Idiot."
Rukia rolled her eyes and snapped, "The Captain Commander rarely summons you, so if he does, it is bound to be something important. If I know the situation firsthand, I can immediately start providing support as your Lieutenant. Otherwise, why do you think I would throw aside my paperwork just to come here with you?"
"...That is actually very thoughtful of you."
"I had no choice. Some people like to suddenly decide they want to go soak in a bath and dump all their work on me, leaving me with an absolute mess."
"..."
Compared to a year ago, the two of them no longer carried that taut, high pressure feeling they had when they first took office.
Rukia had also cut her hair short, no longer copying her late sister's hairstyle. She looked energetic and sharp. On her hands were the pure white gauntlets Byakuya had given her to prevent frostbite. With a long sword at her hip and an armband on her shoulder, her strong spiritual pressure remained tightly contained.
Rather than heroic, she looked crisp and resolute.
Ichigo, by contrast, still looked much like himself as always.
But he had clearly grown more mature and reliable.
The haori of the Captain of the Thirteenth Division no longer looked out of place on him at all.
"The Seireitei Sky forum is already saying something has happened in Hueco Mundo. Maybe the reason they called us this time is... Wh what?!"
As she walked, Rukia brought out her denreishinki and logged into the Gotei 13 internal network to search for relevant information.
Seireitei Sky was a public forum jointly developed by Squad 9 and the Technical Development Bureau. Any registered user with a denreishinki could access it through the Workgroup link and post in all kinds of sections.
Ever since it launched, the distance between people seemed to shrink overnight. Even those who were not familiar with each other could start discussing a shared topic, then slowly become acquainted, eventually becoming real friends offline.
Because it was so popular, an enormous amount of information flowed through it every day. It had now become one of the main channels through which Shinigami learned about the outside world.
Rukia quickly found the information she wanted in several highly restricted threads.
But before she could finish reading, she felt something rush past.
She looked up and saw a white blur flash past her vision, like something that had run straight out of an arctic wasteland.
Its speed was astonishing.
"Woof!"
Startled, Rukia immediately turned her head.
She saw the Teleportation Array light up again, sending whoever had triggered it somewhere else.
In the end, she had not even managed to see it clearly.
But still...
"Ichigo, was that barking just now?"
"...Don't ask me."
Ichigo's mouth twitched.
At that moment, several Onmitsukidō members rushed over in a panic.
"Captain Kurosaki! Lieutenant Kuchiki!"
"Oh, hello... Why are you all in such a hurry? Do you need my help?"
"It is only a dog. There is no need to trouble Captain Kurosaki... By the way, did either of you see which direction it went?"
The leader asked respectfully.
Ichigo gave him a strange look and pointed behind him with his thumb.
"It just left through the Teleportation Array."
"Wh what?! How does a dog know how to use a Teleportation Array?"
"That is what I should be asking!"
Rukia's eyes widened, and she could not stop herself from cutting in.
"If I saw correctly... did it just use Shunpo?!"
"I know what you are both thinking. That dog was a gift Captain Komamura gave to the Captain Commander last year. It was handed over to us for strict training. We were just about to complete its training when it somehow learned Shunpo and slipped over the wall while we were distracted. We have to catch it, no matter what, or we will have no way to answer to the Captain Commander. Please excuse us. We must be going!"
The leader explained at top speed, then immediately signaled to the others and turned to leave.
They were clearly not giving up. They were heading to check the Teleportation Array usage logs so they could track where the dog had gone.
"..."
Ichigo and Rukia looked at each other.
After a while, Rukia finally asked uncertainly, "Did I hear that right? A dog learned Shunpo under the noses of the Onmitsukidō, escaped over the wall, and even figured out how to use a Teleportation Array?"
"Some dogs in this world just cannot be fenced in... Just like Captain Komamura when he first left home. It is full of that same great spirit that longs for freedom. Maybe after they catch it, I should paint a portrait of it and give it to Captain Komamura as a keepsake."
"Ichigo, what do you think?"
"...I told you not to ask me."
First Division Barracks, Office.
Takeru had just stamped a report from the New Forty Six Council about increasing vacation days in his capacity as Chief Judge when Ichigo and Rukia arrived.
"What is with those expressions?"
"It is nothing. Rukia just made a terrible joke that was not funny."
Out of pity for the poor people currently being toyed with by a dog, Ichigo did not tell the truth.
Rukia shot him a covert glare.
That excuse was unbelievably weak.
Fortunately, Takeru had no interest in bad jokes, especially not Rukia's.
He did not drive her away for coming uninvited either.
He simply put down the seal and said, "Good. That works out. I have some news that should make you laugh."
Before Ichigo could ask what he meant, Takeru suddenly changed the subject.
"Do you know Szayelaporro Granz?"
"Who?"
Ichigo frowned.
"Idiot, can you not even remember the names of the Espada you fought? That is the Eighth Espada, the one Captain Kurotsuchi defeated."
Rukia pressed a hand to her forehead and reminded him helplessly.
"You know I am bad with names. Besides, I never actually fought that guy... Anyway, why bring him up all of a sudden?"
Ichigo grumbled, then looked toward Takeru.
Leaning his chin on clasped hands, Takeru spoke slowly.
"That is not the point."
"According to intelligence, Szayelaporro was originally a Vasto Lorde. But for personal reasons, he split his soul apart. That caused a massive drop in power and reduced him to the later Eighth Espada. The part he split off was then taken in by another Espada and became one of that Espada's Fracción."
"Split his soul... Like Starrk, the First Espada I beat?"
Ichigo immediately thought of that lonely wolf and the weariness that always clung to him.
"No."
Faced with the confused expressions on both Ichigo and Rukia, Takeru lightly shook his head.
"He split away the souls he had previously fused with and devoured after becoming a Hollow."
"What?!"
Rukia cried out in disbelief.
"I have never heard of a Hollow that devours souls being able to split those souls back out afterward."
Ichigo said nothing, but his expression clearly showed the same shock.
The idea flew in the face of everything they knew.
"Most Hollows probably cannot do it. But Szayelaporro, Hueco Mundo's greatest scientist, may be a different matter. And by the same logic, something he can do may not necessarily be beyond the scientists of Soul Society."
"Brother Kurosaki, I told you on your birthday half a year ago that I would give you a surprise. This... is what I meant."
Takeru spoke calmly.
The moment those words landed, Ichigo felt a terrible premonition rise inside him. It was as though he were about to hear something unimaginably important, something tied directly to himself.
His whole body tensed.
He swallowed hard.
Takeru stopped speaking in riddles and said it plainly.
"Years ago, your mother, Kurosaki Masaki, died because of Yhwach, at the hands of a Hollow wanted by Soul Society."
"That Hollow's codename is Grand Fisher."
"Two hours ago, that Hollow, now secretly evolved into a Vasto Lorde, attacked Las Noches. Ashido severely wounded him, and he has now fled into the Human World."
"Grand Fisher is different from other Hollows. His crimes are too grave. He must be purified. That is why I intend to send you to the Human World."
"And if, I am saying if, you can capture him and bring him back to Soul Society for trial, then I will find a way to force him to spit back out the souls he has devoured, just as Szayelaporro once did."
"What... did you say?!"
The premonition became reality.
The impact struck Ichigo like a spear through the heart.
Under the violent surge of emotion, he nearly failed to keep his spiritual pressure under control.
"Calm down, Ichigo!"
Rukia hurried to steady him.
Her words did calm him.
But not in the way she expected.
He became terrifyingly calm.
His eyes turned sharp.
His entire being, from flesh to soul, seemed to become a blade.
Just as he had once unleashed tremendous power to defeat enemies in order to protect what mattered, that same force now cut through his inner turmoil and hesitation, turning entirely into a single, overwhelming goal.
"You can wait at the Thirteenth Division senkaimon. I have already ordered people to search for his location. If nothing goes wrong, news should reach you soon."
Takeru continued as if he had not noticed Ichigo's change at all.
"Thanks."
Ichigo nodded heavily, his face completely grave.
Rukia had never seen him like this before.
The two of them immediately returned to the Thirteenth Division barracks.
They had not been waiting long before the information arrived.
"...He actually went near Karakura Town?!"
Rukia's pupils shrank when she saw the precise coordinates on the screen.
"Because he is badly wounded, he must have gone to a spiritually dense area to prey on high density souls and recover."
Beside her, Ichigo set down the denreishinki, rose from the bench without saying a word, and strode toward the senkaimon prepared for deployment.
Seeing that, Rukia hurried after him.
"Wait, Ichigo. I am coming too."
"You do not need to. Handling a heavily injured Vasto Lorde does not require both of us. You should stay behind and take care of my remaining work in the division. I will handle this mission alone."
"Do not be ridiculous. What work could possibly be more important than this right now?"
Ichigo stopped at those words and turned to stare at Rukia.
"Rukia..."
"How can I let you deal with something this important by yourself? Two people are better than one. If you really think this mission matters, then you should be even more cautious, not less. Why would I stand back at a time like this?"
"...Right. You are right. Then I will be counting on you, Lieutenant Kuchiki."
After a brief silence, Ichigo finally smiled in relief.
Thud.
Ignoring Ichigo, who clutched his side and shouted, "What was that for?!"
Rukia strode ahead with her hand on her sword and did not even look back.
"Enough talking. Let us go... Captain Kurosaki."
"The sooner we finish, the sooner we return. There is still work waiting in the division. As your Lieutenant, I am very busy."
Meanwhile, in Karakura Town.
Though called a town, Karakura, with its hundred thousand residents, was by no means some lonely rural place.
Located close to the national capital, it had a constant flow of people.
And in this era, it was also a heavy spiritual ground.
Hollows appeared there frequently.
However, the Human World's reishi density was low, and souls with spiritual power were rare. As a result, only ordinary Hollows generally hunted there.
That was precisely why Grand Fisher had chosen it as his destination.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it...! That cursed Shinigami! He actually made the future King of Hueco Mundo regress into this ugly, pathetic state again!"
Although he possessed high speed regeneration, Grand Fisher had paid an enormous price to escape alive.
At the moment, he looked like a rat shaped Hollow no bigger than a human head.
This was a camouflage form created through one of his special abilities.
Judging by appearance alone, no one would ever guess that this tiny evil spirit, hardly different from an ordinary Hollow, was in fact a Vasto Lorde.
Even his spiritual pressure was carefully hidden.
Anyone lacking strong perceptive ability could have stood face to face with him and noticed nothing.
That concealment made it easier for Grand Fisher to evade Shinigami pursuit, quietly devour other Hollows, and consume spiritually dense souls to heal and restore himself.
Any city that was not a heavy spiritual ground simply did not provide enough food to sustain a Vasto Lorde.
Even so, recovery would not come easily.
"Just wait...! I will not let this go. Sooner or later, I will have my revenge!"
Perched on a rooftop, Grand Fisher glared down at the crowd below as if hoping his resentment alone could curse them all to death, including the Shinigami who protected them.
"I feel exactly the same."
The sudden voice cracked through the air like thunder.
Combined with the abrupt descent of spiritual pressure, it nearly shook Grand Fisher's soul out of its body.
"Who is there?!"
He whipped his head up.
There in the sky stood a man and a woman who had appeared without him noticing.
Their appearance alone was secondary.
What truly mattered was their attire.
"Shinigami uniform... Zanpakutō... and that white haori... A Shinigami Captain?!"
"After seeing my face, that is all you have to say?"
Looking at the enemy he had once killed in another timeline, Ichigo's expression became strangely complicated.
"Then again, I should not expect anything from a bastard like you. Someone like you could never remember how many people you have killed, or the faces of those you have ruined."
"You never cared what anyone else felt. So there is no way you could understand just how badly I want to kill you."
The killing intent hidden beneath those words was so intense that it seemed enough to split the air itself.
At that exact moment, a Garganta opened with a jagged maw.
"...!"
Both Ichigo and Rukia reacted instantly and looked up.
But the first thing they saw was not the face of whoever had opened it.
What emerged first was a torrent of Cero, vast as the sea and darker than the ocean itself.
"Getsuga Tenshō!"
Ichigo seized his sword and, without hesitation, answered it with a golden crescent slash.
Against that collision, the sea like torrent seemed suddenly smaller than a falling moon.
Once the sky had been torn apart and then restored by the clash of two enormous spiritual pressures, the reishi that drifted down around Ichigo and Rukia looked almost like snow.
Only then could they finally see who had emerged from the Garganta and launched the attack.
In truth, even before they saw his face, they had already recognized him by his spiritual pressure.
"You...?!"
Ichigo's pupils contracted sharply.
"Yo."
The figure raised a hand lazily.
"It has been a while, kid."
"The First Espada... Starrk Coyote?!"
Rukia spoke uncertainly.
"Hey! What about me?! Do not act like only Starrk is here! I split off from him, remember? That means I am the boss!"
Lilynette Gingerbuck stamped her foot angrily.
Standing beside her was a blonde Arrancar with freckles and hollow, drowsy eyes.
"To think he really came back... and his spiritual pressure... it is even stronger than before. If the nature of it had not remained the same, I would have thought he was someone else entirely."
Ichigo's expression darkened.
He narrowed his eyes at the lone wolf, still as lethargic as before.
"What are you doing here, Starrk?"
"And what are you doing here, kid?"
Though Starrk still looked indolent and weary, there was a dangerous depth in his eyes.
He was not harmless. He had merely kept his fangs hidden until the right time to show them.
"..."
Ichigo glanced at Grand Fisher on the rooftop. Intimidated by the sudden wave of spiritual pressure, the Hollow did not even dare move.
Then Ichigo answered.
"Sorry. I have something urgent to deal with right now. If you want revenge, then wait until I send this guy back to Soul Society. After that, I will come back and fight you to the end."
"Logically, since you are being that sincere, I should not have any reason to refuse. Unfortunately... I am also here to catch someone. So... sorry, but I cannot grant any request from someone who is destined to become my competitor."
Starrk sighed.
"Then there is nothing left to say. Rukia."
"Understood. I will handle Grand Fisher. You deal with Starrk."
The two of them exchanged understanding in an instant and split their tasks.
"You big idiot! Why are you still standing there? Run!"
Lilynette's shout jolted Grand Fisher back into motion.
Without even thinking, he turned and fled.
In a blur, he shot off the rooftop.
His speed was not inferior to Sonído.
Rukia immediately gave chase.
Starrk and the others made no move to stop her.
Seeing that, Ichigo relaxed for half a second.
But his vigilance only sharpened.
He knew very well that the sudden return of the Espada was no small matter.
The danger behind it might be no less serious than Yhwach and the Wandenreich had been.
"Starrk, you..."
"Kid... do you not think you are relaxing a little too soon?"
Just as Ichigo was about to press him for answers, Starrk interrupted him.
"What do you mean?"
Ichigo frowned.
In the next instant, two terrifying spiritual pressures descended somewhere in the distance.
"That spiritual pressure... other Espada?!"
No. More than that.
Those two spiritual signatures were nearly overlapping with Rukia's route and Grand Fisher's.
"Rukia!"
Boom!
A terrifying Cero came screaming in from the front.
It intercepted Ichigo before he could move to help her.
"Damn it... Starrk, what exactly are you trying to do?! Do not tell me... your target is...!"
"Did I not already say it? I am here to catch someone too. It is just that, like you, I have companions. They will help complete the task and bring your companion, Kuchiki Rukia, back with them."
Faced with Ichigo's rage and disbelief, Starrk spoke coldly and placed a hand atop Lilynette's head.
"Because you are absurdly strong, kid, I am done pretending to take it easy... Hunt them down, Los Lobos."
Boom!
A terrifying spiritual pressure, far greater than what he had displayed back in Hueco Mundo, exploded outward and shook the blue sky above Karakura Town.
And then, what entered Ichigo's sight... was no longer the familiar form from before.