Clang!
The blade pierced his chest!
At the same time, the Hollow’s sharp claws were already close, seemingly about to impale both of them.
However, its claws stopped abruptly, less than an inch from Kurosaki ichigo’s back.
Boom—!!!
An unprecedented surge of Spiritual Pressure erupted from Kurosaki ichigo’s body, shooting skyward!
Accompanied by a clean slicing sound, the Hollow’s outstretched arm was severed at the shoulder, falling to the ground and dissipating into countless reishi.
As the smoke and dust cleared, a new figure stood proudly.
Underneath his orange hair, a black shinigami uniform fluttered in the wind, and he carried a massive Zanpakuto on his shoulder, disproportionate to his height.
“How is this possible?”
Rukia stared at her right hand in disbelief.
“I only intended to transfer half of my spirit power, but now it’s all been taken!”
“I’ve never seen a Shinigami’s Zanpakuto become so large.
What exactly is this guy…”
While she was still pondering what had happened, Kurosaki ichigo had already charged towards the Hollow with his massive Zanpakuto.
“I’ll make you pay for laying hands on my family, you fish-faced thing.”
Kurosaki ichigo’s figure left an afterimage, instantly appearing in front of the Hollow.
He didn’t use any Move, simply relying on instinct, he hoisted the giant Zanpakuto onto his shoulder and swung it down with all his might!
Splish—!
With a tearing sound, the Hollow’s massive body was cleanly split in two from head to foot by that simple, brutal strike, dissipating into countless reishi.
“Phew…” Kurosaki ichigo let out a long breath, propping the giant blade on the ground.
“Hey, did you see that?
I’m really strong!” He turned around, ready to show off to the Shinigami who had given him power.
However, a cold voice suddenly came from not far away.
“Hmph, to be so pleased with yourself for slaying such a mere minion, how foolish.”
This voice instantly froze the atmosphere.
“Who?!” Kurosaki ichigo spun around abruptly, holding his giant Zanpakuto horizontally in front of him, vigilantly looking towards the source of the voice.
Meanwhile, Rukia, who had lost her power and couldn’t even stand, instantly narrowed her pupils upon hearing that voice.
Standing silently on a utility pole was a slender figure, also dressed in a black shinigami uniform, with an ordinary Zanpakuto at his waist.
“Uchiha Sasuke!”
Rukia almost gritted her teeth as she forced out the name.
“You, when were you there?!”
Sasuke’s gaze slowly dropped, casually glancing at the disheveled Rukia lying on the ground.
“I’ve been here since you were knocked down by that kind of trash,” his voice was chillingly calm.
“Then why didn’t you help?!”
Rukia’s anger completely erupted.
“Aren’t we comrades ordered to act together?!”
Upon hearing this, Sasuke’s lips curved into a barely perceptible arc.
“Comrades?”
He leaped down from the utility pole, walked to Rukia, and looked down at her.
“Don’t misunderstand, Rukia Kuchiki, I have never acknowledged a weakling like you, who can’t even deal with a low-level Hollow, as my comrade.”
“You…” Rukia trembled with rage, but couldn’t utter a single word.
“Hey, you, your words are too harsh!”
Kurosaki ichigo finally couldn’t hold back.
He took a step forward with his large sword, glaring at Sasuke.
“She became like this to protect others.
What right do you have to speak so mockingly here!”
Sasuke’s gaze finally fell on Kurosaki ichigo for the first time, but in an instant, his eyes returned to Rukia.
“However, your performance was indeed unusual.
With your strength, you shouldn’t have been so disheveled.
Was something done to you?”
“Tsk, that’s none of my business,” he slightly turned his head, no longer looking at Rukia on the ground.
“But you should remember, transferring Shinigami power to a Mortal is a grave crime.”
“Rather than lingering here and tarnishing the Kuchiki family’s name, it would have been more dignified for you to have died at the hands of that Hollow just now.”
As these words were spoken, the surrounding temperature seemed to drop a few degrees.
“You bastard…”
Kurosaki ichigo was thoroughly enraged by Sasuke’s words, his forehead veins bulging with anger as he raised his Zanpakuto towards Sasuke.
“You want to fight me?” Sasuke snorted coldly, a hint of disdain flashing in his eyes.
The moment his words fell, his figure flickered slightly.
Kurosaki ichigo’s vision blurred, and Sasuke had already vanished from his spot.
The next second, a bone-chilling coldness attacked him from behind, and a cold blade was already pressed against his spine.
Kurosaki ichigo’s entire body stiffened, and cold sweat instantly drenched his back.
“With your current half-baked power, you’re not even fit to be my opponent,” Sasuke’s voice sounded in his ear, flat yet full of oppressive force.
Just as Sasuke was about to sheathe his sword, a powerful, suffocating Spiritual Pressure suddenly erupted from inside the Kurosaki house!
This Spiritual Pressure had no specific attacking intent, but it felt like an invisible mountain, heavily pressing down on Sasuke, carrying a warning.
Sasuke’s movements paused, his pupils constricted slightly, and his eyes instantly became sharp.
He suddenly looked up at the seemingly ordinary residential house.
There’s another master?
He was silent for a moment, then slowly withdrew his Zanpakuto and turned to leave.
“Wait!”
Rukia’s voice was weak, struggling and urgent as she spoke.
“Will you report today’s events to the Soul Society?”
Sasuke stopped, but didn’t turn back.
“Report to the Soul Society?
Write those boring documents?”
He turned his face sideways, his tone filled with impatience.
“Don’t joke around, I’m not that idle.”
As his words fell, his figure flickered again, completely disappearing into the night, as if he had never appeared.
Only a deathly silence remained.
After a long while, Kurosaki ichigo finally recovered from the shock.
He glanced in the direction where Sasuke had disappeared, then looked at Rukia on the ground, whose face was filled with complex emotions.
He scratched his head, put down the giant Zanpakuto, and grinned, trying to break the heavy atmosphere.
“Hey, I say…
isn’t your comrade the legendary ‘tsundere’?”
“This kid talked so tough, but in the end, he left without doing anything, didn’t he?”
Upon hearing that word, a blush of annoyance instantly appeared on Rukia’s already pale cheeks.
“What do you know?
That guy is a pure scoundrel!” she retorted angrily.
“Yes, yes, scoundrel, scoundrel.” Kurosaki ichigo waved his hand dismissively, then put away his flippant expression, becoming much more serious.
He walked to Rukia, squatted down, and looked at the gruesome wound on her abdomen and her blood-soaked clothes, his brows furrowed tightly.
“Seriously, what are you going to do next?
You’re so badly injured, are you going to be okay?”
He asked somewhat nervously, “Do you want to come to my house to rest first?
My sister should be able to find a first-aid kit.”
“No need.”
Rukia struggled, shakily getting up from the ground.
She stiffly refused Ichigo’s suggestion.
“Mortals and Shinigami cannot have too much contact.
It’s a rule.”
Rukia turned to leave, but her steps paused slightly the moment she took them.
Her gaze subtly swept over the direction of the Kurosaki house.
That powerful, mysterious Spiritual Pressure had come from there.
Whose Spiritual Pressure was that?
Friend or foe?