*'Miyako is currently in Kōe Shihouin's hands. Believe me, I will definitely be able to save her. You also can't hold a prejudice against Rukia; you must do your best to save her, Kaien!'*
*'How could I hold a prejudice against Rukia, Yoruichi?'* Kaien tightly gripped Nejibana and thrust it at Kōe, who had his back turned to him. He just couldn't control his anger toward the man in front of him!
The surging tide was even more fierce than when he faced Byakuya, threatening to swallow Kōe in the blink of an eye and crush him to powder.
"I'll leave my back to you, and you'll protect me well too, right, Byakuya?"
Kōe joked with a smile. He swiped his right hand, drawing Kōki in a reverse grip, and spun around sharply. The broken blade in his hand had already transformed into a gauntlet. Like a cannonball fired from its barrel, it pierced through the water wave and slammed viciously into the thrusting spear tip.
This punch shook Kaien so hard he nearly lost his grip on the shaft, and Nejibana flew upward uncontrollably. Instead of forcing it back, Kaien added to the momentum. Using the force of Kōe's punch, he quickly spun Nejibana around, and the spiral-shaped butt of the spear kicked up a wave of water, sweeping up toward Kōe.
"Trample, Kōki!" Kōe's lips curled into a smirk. Before the spinning tail of Kaien's spear could even rise past his knee, Kōe stomped it firmly into the ground.
Before Kaien could react, Kōe moved along the spear shaft and appeared right in front of him. As his right hand gave a slight wave, his left knee smashed solidly into Kaien's face, making it feel as though a bell were constantly ringing inside his head.
"Long time no see, Kaien."
No one present except Yoruichi could understand Kōe's method of greeting. Byakuya and Ukitake hadn't expected that he truly had no connection to Yoruichi! Ganju and Rukia were even more shocked that two people who should have been on the same side were inexplicably crossing blades.
"Lord Kaien!" Rukia hurriedly ran to Kaien's side. Blood was continuously flowing from his nose and mouth, and though his breathing was faint, thankfully he was still alive.
"Hmm? He actually didn't die?"
"Big Bro... Kōe? W-Why?" Rukia stared at Kōe's smiling face. To her, the Big Bro Kōe of this moment was more unfamiliar than ever before.
"Why? Well, he attacked me first. But if you're asking why I'm being so... hmm, severe?" Kōe's tone didn't change in the slightest. "He's a criminal who trespassed into the Senzaikyū. Isn't this exactly what I should do, Rukia?"
*'Lord Kaien is a criminal who trespassed into the Senzaikyū? Then what about me?'*
"D-Does Big Bro Kōe think... think that I... should die?" Rukia looked up at Kōe, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably.
"What are you crying for?" Kōe gently wiped the corners of Rukia's eyes with his fingers, speaking softly. "Isn't this what you wanted?"
"B-Bastard!!"
Ganju finally couldn't hold back anymore. Earlier, he hadn't understood why his older brother had attacked Big Bro Kōe, but now he did. The man in front of them was a complete stranger; he was no longer the Big Bro Kōe who had taken them to the fireworks festival back then!
"Ganju, is it?" Kōe sidestepped, easily dodging Ganju's attack, and punched him in the stomach. "Long time no see."
Rukia was completely unresponsive. Was this what it felt like to be betrayed? She didn't believe it, nor did she want to believe that the Big Bro Kōe from the past had actually been a fake.
But reality seemed to leave her no choice but to believe it...
"Ganju!" Ichigo shouted and was about to charge forward to fight Kōe to the death. Seeing this, Yoruichi quickly blocked him, pulling him behind her. They had to leave right now.
In truth, they should have left long ago, but Yoruichi had wanted to see exactly what Kōe would do and what kind of hint he would give her.
She had never agreed with Urahara's claims. Even when Kōe attacked them upon entering the Seireitei, she had maintained a half-skeptical attitude.
*'Kōe betraying them? What a joke!'*
As a result, reality seemed to be playing a joke on her; what Urahara had said had once again become the truth. Yoruichi swore that this was the first time she had ever hated Urahara's intellect so much! Even if she had to follow Urahara's plan right now!!
"Miss Yoruichi, I know you're here to protect me," Ichigo said with a serious expression. "But I'm sorry, please step aside. I have to defeat them and save Rukia!"
*'Defeat? And "them"?! With just you?!'*
According to Urahara's deduction, Kōe definitely needed to use them to alter Rukia's extreme sentence, or at the very least, arouse the suspicion of others in the Gotei 13 to delay the execution.
Therefore, his goal from the very beginning wasn't to kill the Ryoka, but to capture them alive. If he could catch someone connected to Urahara, that would be even better. Because of this, the plan dictated that Yoruichi must absolutely not expose her tracks if she could help it.
Yoruichi was in danger, and Ichigo wasn't much safer. As the root cause of Rukia's execution, Ichigo's existence itself was special to Kōe. If he could capture him, Kōe would also gain a bargaining chip!
As for Kaien's appearance, it wasn't her doing, and it certainly wasn't Kōe's doing either. The mastermind behind it had to be Aizen, hiding in the shadows. As for the target, it was obviously Kōe.
However, this action—which could only be framed on her—seemed to actually be a boost for Kōe. After all, from a secondary perspective, it was enough to prove that Kōe and Yoruichi were not on the same side.
Aizen wouldn't do something so meaningless, so there had to be a follow-up move waiting. As for what that follow-up move was, it was unclear for now, and she didn't need to know!
Yoruichi understood that in the grand environment of the Seireitei, the three parties—herself, Kōe, and Aizen—could currently only operate in the shadows. Whoever surfaced first would be declaring total defeat.
Taking them as an example, if Kōe successfully captured Yoruichi, then Yoruichi would be forced to choose between dragging either Kōe or Aizen down with her, or taking the fall for everything alone.
So why were the two most dangerous people appearing in such a strange place right now? Everything had to be blamed on this orange-haired brat!
To be honest, Ichigo being able to defeat Kenpachi had given Yoruichi a pleasant surprise, but in the next moment, it turned into a fright.
After Ichigo received some simple treatment, just as she was enthusiastically introducing the spiritual tool she had taken from the Shihouin family and preparing to tell him the next plan, Byakuya's Reiatsu suddenly flared from the direction of the Senzaikyū.
Once this guy Ichigo sensed it, he acted as if he'd been pumped full of adrenaline. He snatched the spiritual tool from her hands and flew off...
He caught one of Byakuya's strikes and thought he was hot stuff. Now he was confidently talking about defeating them, and taking down two at once? Even your old man couldn't do something like that, okay?!
Old grudges and new debts needed to be settled together. Yoruichi couldn't be bothered to explain anything to Ichigo. She spun around abruptly and drove her right hand straight into Ichigo's abdomen.
"Huh?!"
Hanatarō grabbed his head with a look of despair. The scene before him had completely exceeded the scope of his comprehension.
It wasn't just him; Captain Ukitake, and even Captain Kuchiki, both wore expressions of shock. This was understandable. Someone they had originally thought was an enemy suddenly turned out to be an ally...
Who could have possibly seen this coming!