The front door of the Kurosaki household slowly opened, and Ichigo walked in with a solemn expression.
He went straight to the point.
"Dad, I'm going to Soul Society to save Rukia! She's been sentenced to death."
His words carried firm resolve.
He had already prepared himself for everything.
However, when Isshin heard this, he nearly choked on the cigarette in his mouth and could not help coughing.
"What did you say? You're going to Soul Society to break someone out of an execution? You?"
His voice suddenly rose by several pitches, clearly finding the idea absurd.
"Why not?" Ichigo frowned and asked back.
"Do you know how powerful Soul Society is? They have thirteen divisions over there! Every division is made up of elites, and they're all extremely strong. With your current ability, going to Soul Society is no different from throwing your life away."
Isshin pointed out Ichigo's weakness without mercy.
Then, all of a sudden, Isshin realized that Ichigo did not have even the slightest trace of reiatsu left.
His expression changed drastically.
"What happened to your reiatsu?" he asked nervously.
"Hat-and-Clogs said my Saketsu and Hakusui were destroyed," Ichigo explained helplessly.
"Who did it?"
Isshin nearly jumped up.
"Uh… Sixth Division Captain Kuchiki Byakuya."
Ichigo hesitated for a moment before telling the truth.
"Good! That little brat from the Kuchiki family actually dared attack you? Did you not tell him who you are?"
Isshin's eyes widened, his tone filled with anger and disbelief.
"Huh? You're supposed to introduce yourself before a fight?"
Ichigo looked completely blank, unable to understand this rule at all.
Isshin looked at Ichigo as if he were staring at an idiot, and a deep sense of helplessness rose in his heart.
How could someone as smart as him have such a dumb son?
How embarrassing!
"Are you an idiot? If you don't announce your family, who else is he supposed to cut?"
Isshin glared at Ichigo, his face full of disappointment.
He had thought his son should at least understand something like this, but now it seemed Ichigo still needed far more teaching and tempering.
Ichigo was left at a loss by his father's words.
He had never imagined that people were supposed to announce their background before fighting.
To him, a fight was a fight.
Why would there be so many rules?
Still, he also realized that he might have made a stupid mistake, which made him feel a little embarrassed.
"Wait. You've already lost your Shinigami powers, and you still want to go to Soul Society to save someone? What are you going to save her with? Your head?"
Isshin stared at Ichigo with wide eyes, truly feeling that his son was unbelievably stupid.
"Hat-and-Clogs said he has a way to help me recover my Shinigami powers."
Ichigo's expression was stubborn.
"Then what did you come back for? You should've gone straight to him!" Isshin said irritably.
"He said the method is dangerous. If it fails, I might turn into a Hollow! That's why he told me to come back and get your permission first."
Ichigo lowered his head and spoke quietly.
Hearing this, Isshin fell silent.
Masaki, who had been doing housework nearby, immediately objected without hesitation.
"No! I absolutely won't allow you to do something so dangerous."
She put down what she was holding and quickly walked over to Ichigo.
A mother's love was great.
No matter how great the difficulty or danger, a mother would always protect her child without hesitation.
At this moment, Masaki was exactly that kind of mother. She did not want her son to put himself in danger.
After a long silence, Isshin finally squeezed out a sentence.
"That shameless bastard is trying to drag me into this too."
Then he stared straight at Ichigo, his eyes filled with worry and tension, as if trying to find even the slightest hint of retreat in his son's gaze.
"Have you really prepared yourself? You could die."
However, Ichigo's gaze was exceptionally firm, as though a flame were burning in his eyes.
"I'm serious. As long as I can regain my Shinigami powers and go to Soul Society to save Rukia, I'm willing to do anything, even if it costs me my life."
Isshin fell silent for a moment before finally speaking slowly.
"I understand…"
Masaki was still against it.
"Isshin, how can you do this? Ichigo is our child!"
Isshin looked at his wife's emotional expression, and guilt rose in his heart.
Even so, he firmly said, "Masaki, our child has grown up. He has his own thoughts now! Don't you think this kid is a lot like me? Back then, to save you, I gave up my Shinigami powers without hesitation. Now it's his turn to make a choice."
Hearing her husband's words, helplessness and heartache flashed through Masaki's eyes.
She tightly held Ichigo's hand and said softly, "Ichigo, Mom respects your decision. But please, you must come back alive."
Ichigo felt the warmth of his mother's palm and nodded hard, tears glimmering in his eyes.
"Don't worry, Mom. I'll definitely come back alive!"
After Ichigo rushed off to the Urahara Shop, Isshin was still comforting Masaki.
With a relaxed expression, he said, "Don't worry. I've already asked around. That shameless bastard Kazuma has also returned to Soul Society. With him there, Ichigo definitely won't run into any major problems."
Masaki frowned and said worriedly, "I'm not worried about Ichigo running into danger. I'm afraid he won't be able to regain his Shinigami powers. If that happens, he might die."
Isshin comforted her confidently. "Don't worry too much.. Who is Ichigo? He's my son, the child of Isshin Shiba! How could a little difficulty like this possibly stop him?"
Hearing this, Masaki relaxed a little, but she still had some doubts.
"You said Captain Kazuma returned to Soul Society?"
Her reaction seemed slightly delayed, and only after a moment did she realize how important that news was.
Isshin nodded and explained, "Yeah. I only just received the news myself. If that shameless Kisuke hadn't called me ahead of time to tell me about it, I would never have let Ichigo take this risk. After all, those guys in Soul Society aren't easy to deal with."
After hearing this, the heavy stone hanging over Masaki's heart finally settled.
She knew very well that as long as Kazuma had returned to Soul Society, Ichigo should receive excellent protection.
"Masaki, now that things have reached this point, you can honestly tell me, right? Where exactly did your Shinigami powers come from?"
Since matters had already come this far, Masaki felt there was no need to keep hiding it.
She slowly said, "My Shinigami powers were granted to me by Captain Kazuma. After I lost my Quincy powers, there was one day when I went to pick Ichigo up from school and was attacked by a Hollow.
Captain Kazuma suddenly appeared at that moment and cut down that Hollow. Not only that, he also allowed me to become a Shinigami. Ichigo saw him during that incident too, but that part of his memory was sealed afterward."
Isshin exhaled a smoke ring, revealing an expression that said, 'I knew it.'
"That sneaky bastard really doesn't do anything normal! Back when he fought Aizen, we really thought he had died. Turns out he not only didn't die, he even pretended to be badly injured and became an ordinary person!
Why do I feel like he's been pulling the strings behind everything and weaving a huge net for Aizen? If that's really the case, then this is way too twisted. Do people who live too long all end up with such twisted hobbies?"
Masaki listened to Isshin complain about Kazuma.
"Is that any way to talk about someone? You know, if Captain Kazuma hadn't acted back then, I would have been devoured by that Hollow long ago. You ungrateful man!"
Isshin snorted dismissively.
"So what if I say a few words about that rotten old man? If he dared to do it, why wouldn't he dare admit it?"
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