"This Reiatsu is…!"
Ichigo was in the middle of trying to brush off the fact that he was a Shinigami when he suddenly felt an incredibly powerful Reiatsu descend upon the Living World.
So, Ichigo stopped worrying about hiding things from Karin and prepared to leave.
"Ichigo! Where are you going!"
Karin grabbed hold of Ichigo's clothes.
"Sorry..."
Ichigo gave Karin an apologetic look, then took out his Substitute Shinigami Badge, transformed into his Shinigami form, leaped out the window, and headed towards the source of Ulquiorra and Yammy's Reiatsu.
Karin watched the window with a worried expression, looking at where Ichigo had left.
At the same time, as Ichigo rushed towards Ulquiorra and Yammy's location, the Vizard, Kisuke, Yoruichi, Isshin, Uryu, Chad, Orihime, and others in Karakura Town also sensed the arrival of the two uninvited guests, Ulquiorra and Yammy.
...
Soul Society, 10th Division, Captain's Office.
"Report—!"
"Captain Hitsugaya, Arrancar have appeared again in the Living World! Two of them! Judging by the intensity and stability of their Reiatsu..."
"They should be 'completed bodies'!!"
A member of the Onmitsukido's 5th Squad knelt on one knee, reporting the sudden situation in the Living World to Toshiro.
"Arrancar have appeared in the Living World again? And 'completed bodies' at that."
Toshiro frowned.
''Completed bodies' would be Aizen's Espada, then,' Toshiro thought to himself.
"I understand. You may go."
Toshiro waved for the officer to leave.
Then he looked at Rangiku beside him. "Rangiku, how are the advance team preparations?"
"Captain, everyone is almost ready. After all, we weren't far from the original departure time. Aside from Rukia and Lieutenant Abarai, who are in the 6th Division and need some time to get here, Sojiro and Ashido just need a moment, then we can head to the Living World immediately."
Rangiku replied.
"Is that so? However, the situation in the Living World is urgent. Every minute delayed adds to the danger there. So, I'll go ahead. You stay and urge Ashido, Sojiro, Rukia, and Renji to depart for the Living World as soon as possible!"
Toshiro vaguely remembered that in the original work, when Ulquiorra and Yammy appeared in the Living World, they caused many human casualties. Even Arisawa Tatsuki, Ichigo's childhood friend, nearly died.
Although Ulquiorra wasn't exactly a vicious criminal and was even a sympathetic, admirable character, his Reiatsu was so immense that merely standing still would overwhelm ordinary humans, let alone fight.
Moreover, Yammy, who accompanied Ulquiorra, was no benevolent figure.
And Ichigo alone was no match for Ulquiorra. Even with Kisuke, Yoruichi, and others, defeating them wouldn't be simple.
Furthermore, even if Ichigo, Urahara, and Yoruichi ultimately fought and defeated Ulquiorra and Yammy, it would likely cause significant destruction to the Living World.
So, to minimize casualties among ordinary humans, Toshiro decided not to wait for the other advance team members. He would use his speed advantage to go ahead first.
"Then you go ahead, Captain. I'll go urge Ashido, Sojiro, Rukia, and Renji to depart immediately!"
Rangiku knew the situation was urgent, so she didn't stop Toshiro. Instead, she went to hurry the other advance team members.
…
Living World, East Karakura Town.
"Phew—"
Yammy took a deep breath, then said irritably, "I've come to the Living World several times before, even when I still wore a mask. It's the same as always. The Reishi is too thin... it's hard to breathe. What a boring place."
This wasn't Yammy's first time in the Living World. He had come several times before becoming an Arrancar. Of course, not as a tourist, but to eat humans!
"Stop complaining, Yammy. I said I would come alone. You insisted on following."
Although the words were reproachful, Ulquiorra's expression remained indifferent, his voice devoid of emotion, as if he were a machine without feelings.
"Alright, alright. Is it my fault? Fine?"
Yammy said impatiently, then leaped out of the dozens-of-meters-wide crater their landing had created.
"What happened?"
"Did a meteor fall?"
"But there's nothing here."
"Maybe we should go down and take a look?"
No sooner had Yammy jumped out of the crater than he found a crowd of ordinary humans gathered around it, pointing and talking.
"Hey! How dare you insects point at me! Do you want to die?!"
Seeing the humans gathered around him like monkeys at a zoo, pointing and chattering, Yammy immediately flew into a rage.
Unfortunately, Yammy, all brawn and no brain, seemed to have forgotten that aside from those with high Reiryoku, ordinary humans couldn't see Hollows like him. These humans were gathered here, talking, mainly out of curiosity about the suddenly appearing 'crater'.
But in his anger, Yammy didn't care whether these humans could see him. He only knew he was angry! He suddenly opened his mouth wide and sucked in.
Whoosh—!
"Waaaah——!!"
With a howling gale, the souls of dozens of humans gathered before the crater were sucked directly into Yammy's stomach.
"Burp—!"
Yammy let out a satisfied burp.
"Pfft! So disgusting!"
Yammy said with a look of disgust.
"Of course. How could souls with such low Reishi possibly taste good?"
Ulquiorra also jumped out of the crater.
"Hmph, they were staring at me."
Yammy snorted.
"But they couldn't see you."
Ulquiorra said flatly.
"So what? They angered me, so I ate them. That's all."
Yammy said nonchalantly.
Seeing Yammy's indifferent attitude, Ulquiorra said nothing more. Hollows eating humans was an ordinary occurrence.
Although he had never been to the Living World before and had never eaten a human, that didn't mean he had any obligation to stop other Hollows from doing so.
…
"Hmm? How surprising. There's still someone alive."
Ulquiorra suddenly noticed that someone had survived Yammy's 'Soul Sucking' attack.
"Ugh..."
A spirited girl with short dark blue hair, wearing a karate uniform, struggled to get to her feet.
This girl in the karate uniform was none other than Arisawa Tatsuki, Ichigo's childhood friend and classmate.
After practicing karate at the dojo that day, she was about to head home with her friends.
On the way, they heard a loud crash, as if something had fallen from the sky and landed nearby. So Tatsuki and her friends came to check it out.
Curiosity killed the cat.
"Miyano... Kudo... what's wrong with you?"
Tatsuki asked with difficulty.
Unfortunately, her friends were dead, beyond responding to her calls.
'Damn! Who are they?' Although, influenced by Ichigo's Reiatsu, Tatsuki had become able to see spiritual entities like Hollows and Shinigami, she still couldn't comprehend the existence of beings like Yammy and Ulquiorra.
Tap, tap, tap...
Yammy's heavy footsteps sounded like drumbeats on Tatsuki's heart.
"Yo, your soul managed to survive my 'Soul Suck'. That means your body has a fair amount of Reiryoku too."
The towering Yammy looked down at Tatsuki on the ground.
'It hurts... I'm going to pass out...' Tatsuki looked up at the figure before her, her face filled with fear and despair.