In a certain corner of Karakura Town, a derelict warehouse stood.
At first glance, it seemed like any ordinary abandoned building with nothing out of the ordinary, but a closer look revealed something strange: stray cats, despite walking in wide-open spaces, acted as if they were balancing on a narrow ledge.
Whether it was birds, insects, or ants, nothing dared approach the warehouse.
An invisible barrier isolated the building, hiding it from the conscious mind.
This was Orihime’s first impression upon seeing the warehouse.
“Amazing…” Orihime reached out, and the barrier—which should have blocked anyone—rippled at her touch.
“This power…
it feels similar to my Rikka…”
“Right?”
With those words, Ichigo strode forward.
In terms of perception, he didn’t seek an opening; he simply forced his way in.
The barrier shattered upon contact, though it quickly restored itself.
“What a strange feeling…”
As her Reiatsu resonated with the barrier, Orihime’s hand passed right through.
With a single step, she entered the interior of the barrier.
“Whoa—” Ichigo exclaimed in surprise.
“I didn’t realize they were that similar!
Hachi should be able to teach you a lot!”
“Mm-hmm!”
“…” Outside the barrier, Chad couldn’t help but ask, “What about me…?”
“Oh—” With a single punch, Ichigo smashed through the barrier and pulled Chad inside.
“My bad, I forgot!”
“…”
Inside the warehouse, the place was empty, but a powerful Reiatsu surged from beneath their feet.
It wasn’t just one source; several powerful signatures were intertwined, causing Chad and Orihime to feel a secret surge of alarm.
This level of Reiatsu was no weaker than the Shinigami Captain from yesterday.
“Follow me.”
Ichigo, knowing the way, found the passage to the basement and led the two of them down.
“Yo—it really is you, Ichigo.” With a tilt of his head, Shinji Hirako greeted them.
“Hachi said someone violently forced their way through the barrier; I figured it had to be you.”
“Yo, Shinji!”
“And these two must be the Chad and Orihime you mentioned,” Shinji said with a grin.
“What a beauty!
Truly worthy of being my first love!”
“…Eh?!”
“Hachi is the one you’re here for.”
As he spoke, a tall man walked over.
With a gentle expression, he said, “You must be Miss Inoue…
As I thought, your abilities are very similar to mine.”
“Ah…
hello, Mr.
Hachi…”
“Hello, hello.”
Observing her closely, Hachigen Ushōda even reached out with his large hand to pinch Orihime’s small head, muttering something to himself as he studied her.
“Ahhh—my head!
It’s going to snap!”
“It really is the same,” Hachi noted after a while.
“Very similar to my ability…
is it the hairpins?
It’s like a Shinigami’s Zanpakutō…”
“Please let go of my head first!”
“Ah, sorry!”
‘Is he actually a normal person…?’ Chad couldn’t help but wonder.
BOOM—!!
A massive roar echoed through the area, and only then did Chad notice two people fighting not far away.
“Hifuki no Koduchi!”
A massive spiked mace, resembling a cactus, slammed down violently.
A man with sunglasses and an afro shouted loudly, and in the next instant, a towering pillar of fire erupted, raising the temperature of the entire basement by several degrees.
“Quite the punch!”
As the pillar of fire dissipated, it revealed a burly, white-haired man wearing a six-eyed mask.
He patted his shoulder, extinguishing a few lingering sparks.
“I really wouldn’t have come out of this unscathed without the mask,” Kensei Muguruma said in a strange tone, sounding almost like he had an electronic voice filter.
“You’re quite a handful in Shikai, Love.”
“What, are you going to use Bankai already?”
The afro-haired Love Aikawa placed his hand on his forehead and slid it across; a demon-like mask appeared on his face.
His Reiatsu surged to a higher level, becoming noticeably more violent.
“Not necessary yet!”
Wielding his dagger, visible greenish-blue threads of a blade floated in the air. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
Kensei Muguruma suddenly exerted force through his feet, activating Shunpo in an instant to appear behind Love Aikawa.
“Too slow!”
Unable to block with the massive mace in time, Love Aikawa thrust out his right hand.
Powerful, violent Reiatsu enveloped his fist, emitting a dazzling light.
CLANG—
Like the clash of swords, Love Aikawa’s fist blocked the attack, but several cuts appeared across his knuckles; bare hands were ultimately no match for a blade.
“You’re not fast either!”
The left hand holding the spiked mace exerted sudden force, and the injured right hand gripped the handle as well.
Combining the strength of both arms, he slammed the mace down toward Kensei Muguruma!
DING—
Kensei blocked with his right arm.
The relatively short blade dramatically halted the mace, but the terrifying force sent Kensei flying backward.
“Pah!”
After performing several flips in the air to stabilize his center of gravity, Kensei slid several meters across the ground before finally coming to a stop.
He spat out a mouthful of blood and stood back up.
“Too careless, Love,” Kensei said calmly.
“You know the power of Tachikaze; whatever it cuts will explode.”
“I just didn’t expect you to be so uninjured,” Love Aikawa said, shaking his head.
“I thought you’d have broken at least two bones from that hit.
Your physique has gotten stronger, Kensei.”
“Of course.” Sheathing his Zanpakutō, Kensei turned his gaze toward Ichigo nearby.
“However, the gap between me and that guy hasn’t shrunk one bit.”
“He’s a monster, a monster,” Love Aikawa said, his spiked mace suddenly shrinking as he waved his hand.
“Ordinary people like us shouldn’t be compared to a monster like that.”
“Heh…” Kensei couldn’t help but smile bitterly.
“In the face of a monster, even a Captain who has mastered the highest art of the Shinigami, Bankai, is just an ordinary person…”
“Yo—” Seeing the two stop, Ichigo stepped forward to greet them.
“Kensei!
Love!
This is my friend, Chad.”
“Hello.”
The fight just now had been an eye-opener for Chad.
Although the battle between two Captain-level combatants had ended quickly, their movements were incredibly clean and precise—the hallmarks of seasoned warriors.
More importantly, both of them were clearly powerhouses in terms of physical combat.
For Chad, whose ability involved the mutation of his arms, this was exactly the kind of guidance he needed!