"No need to compare—I'll just give first place to you," Fūjin Taichi replied indifferently. Then he turned to Yoruichi and said, "Yoruichi, leave this place to me. Take them somewhere safe."
"Fūjin Taichi?" Yoruichi leapt in front of him, puzzled. "I really don't understand why you're doing all this."
"I get why you're confused, Yoruichi," Taichi said slowly, glancing at Orihime, who was still treating Kasumiōji Hoko. "Honestly, sometimes even I don't know what I'm doing myself…
"But right now… all I want is to save Hoko and rescue Saitō Tsukuyomi. In short, just remember one thing—we're not enemies!"
"Hmph… 'Not enemies,' huh? That's awfully vague. Still, this really isn't the time to keep dragging things out."
Yoruichi looked toward the top of the stone stairs, then turned back to Uryū Ishida and Orihime Inoue. "Ishida, Orihime—you withdraw first. I'll go bring Ichigo back."
"Withdraw? To where?" Ishida adjusted his glasses. "Soul Society is crawling with Shinigami right now. We don't really have anywhere left to retreat."
"No—there's one place that's perfect for hiding," Taichi said. Drawing his Zanpakutō in reverse, he opened a cross-shaped dimensional passage behind him. "Uryū, you and Orihime take Hoko and go first. We'll follow shortly."
"'We'? Since when are you close enough to us to use 'we'?" Ishida said irritably. "And if you hadn't sent us to that place last time, Chad wouldn't have been captured—"
"Ishida, listen to Fūjin Taichi," Yoruichi cut in. "You and Orihime go first. I'll be right behind you.
"As he said, as long as our goals align, we can temporarily be called 'allies.'"
"I understand… Yoruichi," Ishida nodded slightly. He walked over to Orihime and asked, "Inoue, how is she?"
"Shun'ō and Ayame have repaired her injuries… but for some reason, she still hasn't woken up," Orihime replied softly.
"Don't worry about that now—move!" Yoruichi urged urgently. She had already sensed Ichigo's spiritual pressure on Sokyoku Hill growing weaker—it was clear he was in grave danger.
"Okay…" Ishida hoisted Kasumiōji Hoko onto his back and followed Orihime toward the cross-shaped dimensional passage, while Yoruichi dashed off down the stone stairs toward the depths below Sokyoku Hill—
"Hey, hey, aren't you forgetting something?" Ikkaku Madarame smacked his smooth bald head and shouted. "You really think you can just leave unharmed under my watch?! Don't make me laugh!!!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Ikkaku grabbed Hōzukimaru and shot toward Ishida like an arrow loosed from a bow, thrusting the gleaming spear forward with all his might—
"I already told you… now is not the time to fight, Baldy!" Taichi flicked his thumb. His Zanpakutō, which had just been sheathed, slid slightly out again. A cold flash of steel streaked straight toward Ikkaku's lower back—
"What?! So fast!" Sensing danger, Ikkaku twisted his body violently and rolled aside like a tumbling mule, barely avoiding the chilling blade—
Whoosh!
The lightning-fast slash skimmed over Ikkaku's bare scalp. With a thunderous boom, the cliffside of Sokyoku Hill was carved open by Taichi's strike, leaving behind a deep gash!
"Not bad—you dodged it… worthy of Kenpachi Zaraki's—"
Before Taichi could finish speaking, he suddenly leaned slightly to the left and reached upward with his right hand—
Clang!
A spear that had suddenly attacked from behind was caught barehanded by Taichi—no matter how hard Ikkaku struggled, he couldn't pull it free!
"Nice Shunpo… but attacks at this level won't hurt me for another hundred years, Ikkaku!" Taichi said coolly. At the same time, his left hand raised Zanpakutō One and slashed downward in a backhand strike!
Bang!
A Zanpakutō with an inward-curved tip and a blade shaped like the character "卜" suddenly appeared under Ikkaku's armpit, barely blocking Taichi's attack!
"We were comrades once, after all… no need to hit so hard, Vice-Captain Fūjin," said a man wearing black sunglasses and sporting a black eight-shaped mustache. His tone carried a distinctive Hiroshima accent—it was Iba Tetsuzaemon.
"Heh. If I hadn't attacked first, that strike just now would've taken my head, Iba," Taichi sneered.
He swept his gaze around and called out, "Come on out—I can already see your white underwear!"
Whoosh Whoosh Whoosh
As Fūjin Taichi's words fell, figures appeared one after another. From left to right stood the vice-captains: Izuru Kira of Third Division, Shūhei Hisagi of Ninth Division, and Rangiku Matsumoto of Tenth Division.
"Stop, Taichi… Please come back with us and assist in the investigation," Hisagi said first, a trace of helplessness flashing across his eyes.
"Assist in the investigation?!" Taichi shook his head and sighed. "Don't joke around, Senior Hisagi! The entire Seireitei has already convicted me… What investigation am I supposed to assist with?"
"Taichi, stop making pointless resistance," Kira said in a low voice, gripping his Zanpakutō tightly. "This place is already surrounded… You can't escape."
"Oh? Is that so?"
Taichi suddenly raised his left knee and spun around, kicking Tetsuzaemon Iba flying. With his right hand, he pressed down on the spearhead of Hōzukimaru—then leapt high into the air—
Whoosh!
A blade of light sliced past just beneath Taichi's feet. Hisagi stood there holding his Zanpakutō, staring up at Taichi in midair with a stunned expression.
What? He dodged that?!
"Tsk tsk tsk, Senior Hisagi… That didn't look much like 'assisting an investigation,' did it?"
Taichi sneered. In the next instant, he used Shunpo to appear at Hisagi's side and brought down a merciless knife-hand strike diagonally—
Smack!
Hisagi's neck took a heavy blow. He groaned in pain, lost his balance, and collapsed to the ground with a thud!
"So fast! I couldn't even see his movement at all!"
Rangiku's heart skipped a beat. Is this Fūjin Taichi's true strength? No wonder Captain values him so highly…
No… no wonder Captain-Commander Yamamoto had once promoted Taichi to Vice-Captain by force despite the Central 46's opposition. He must have already sensed Taichi's strength back then!
"So… should I make a move or not…?"
Just as that thought crossed Rangiku's mind, her expression changed. She suddenly felt two hard objects pressing against her back!
At the same time, Taichi's teasing voice sounded from behind her:
"Ah… honestly… why did you have to come? Rangiku… You're really getting in the way, you know."
"What?!"
Rangiku was shocked. Just now… I didn't sense his movement at all. Has he already reached captain-level strength? Th-That's impossible…!
...
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