The streets of Naruki City were exceptionally quiet late at night.
Only the occasional passing car and flickering streetlights illuminated the damp asphalt.
Suddenly, a sharp, terrified scream shattered the tranquility.
Kūgo Ginjō, Zanpakutō tightly gripped in his hand, rushed toward the source of the sound. He vaulted over a chain-link fence, landing in an empty alleyway.
A giant, insectoid Hollow was cornering a young child.
Without a second of hesitation, Ginjō swung his oversized Zanpakutō, launching a fierce assault.
The Hollow, intimidated by his aggressive presence and high Spiritual Pressure, retreated step by step. Ginjō didn't let up.
He lunged, driving his blade straight through the Hollow's mask.
The beast shrieked and dissolved into black spiritual particles.
Ginjō sheathed his sword, turning to look at the trembling child. "Hey, brat. Who are you? Why are you out here all alone so late? It's dangerous."
The child blinked, staring at Ginjō. "You can see that thing too?"
Ginjō smirked. "Of course I can. How else could I have cut it down?"
The child let out a shaky sigh of relief. "My name is Shukuro Tsukishima. Thank you for saving me."
Ginjō studied the boy, who wasn't much younger than himself.
The kid's Reishi was erratic but undeniably present. "You can see them, which means you must be a Fullbringer too."
"Fullbringer?" Tsukishima echoed, bewildered. "Is that what this power is called?"
"Looks like you just awakened it," Ginjō noted, nodding thoughtfully. "But don't wander around alone so late anymore. It'll be bad if you run into another one of those."
Tsukishima looked at Ginjō gratefully. "I understand. Thank you, big brother."
"Don't mention it," Ginjō said, patting the kid's shoulder. "Where do you live? I'll walk you back."
Ginjō walked Tsukishima home, the two of them chatting easily along the way.
As they parted ways at the boy's front gate, Ginjō ripped a piece of paper from a notebook and scribbled something down.
"This is my phone number. If you run into any more monsters, call me."
Tsukishima took the paper, holding it carefully. "Thank you, big brother. I'll keep it safe."
Ginjō watched the kid disappear into the house before turning to leave.
'That kid is pretty interesting,' he thought. 'Maybe we'll meet again.'
...
At that exact moment, back in the Karakura Town safehouse, Kazuma slapped his forehead.
"Ginjō isn't here. He's in Naruki City!" Kazuma exclaimed, looking at the map spread out on the table.
"That's where XCUTION's base is. Damn it, I miscalculated the SRDI report!"
Kazuma turned to Batsu'unsai and Saitō. "Saitō, come with me to Naruki City right now. We're wasting time here."
Saitō grabbed her Zanpakutō, confused. "Why are we going to Naruki City? Aren't we supposed to be waiting here to ambush Tokinada?"
"The SRDI intel said Ginjō's last known location was Karakura Town. That must have been a localized Reishi smokescreen he deliberately threw out to throw off pursuit. His actual nest is in Naruki. He must have gone back to ground. If we wait here, Tokinada's assassins will harvest him over there!" Kazuma explained rapidly.
Kazuma and Saitō immediately blurred out of the safehouse, burning Shunpo toward Naruki City.
At the same time, standing on a rooftop in Naruki City, Ginjō received an urgent spiritual ping from his subordinates.
A massive, foreign Shinigami Reiatsu was rapidly approaching their territory.
'Could it be the hit squad sent by the Soul Society?' Ginjō wondered, his grip tightening on his cross-pendant.
He immediately prepared for combat as a fierce battle seemed imminent.
Just then, the shadows on the rooftop shifted.
A man with dark green hair, dressed in high-noble silk attire worn over a Shihakushō, stepped out of the darkness.
Ginjō instantly leaped back, drawing his massive blade. "So you're the assassin from the Soul Society? You got here pretty fast."
Tokinada Tsunayashiro looked at him with a polite, sickeningly sweet smile. "Assassin? You've got it wrong, my boy. I am merely a collector. Tell me... where is Aura Michibane?"
Ginjō's pupils contracted. "How do you know about her?"
Tokinada let out a dark chuckle, adjusting his collar.
"Not just her. I know about all the little freaks in your organization. Oh, by the way... I was the one who sent the men to butcher your friend."
Under these circumstances, even if Ginjō were a complete fool, he would know he had been played.
He roared in blind anger, "Why would the Gotei 13 do this?! I've never violated any of your damn rules! Why kill my comrades?!"
Tokinada seemed to genuinely enjoy driving his opponent mad.
He stepped forward slowly. "You're wrong again. The ones who butchered your friend weren't Shinigami from the Gotei 13. They were private executioners from my Tsunayashiro Clan."
Ginjō's eyes widened in realization. "You bastard! So you were the one who jammed my Substitute Badge! You cut off my comms with Ukitake, and you orchestrated the assassinations to frame them!"
Tokinada laughed triumphantly, a vile sound. "Hahaha! That's right. It was all me! But all of this bloody theater was just to lure out you 'Fullbringers.' Now, be a good boy and surrender your powers to me."
Ginjō gripped his Zanpakutō tightly, his teeth bared in a feral snarl.
"In your dreams! I'll butcher you, you bastard!"
His unstable, Hollow-tainted Spiritual Pressure erupted from his body.
Ginjō and Tokinada faced off and the atmosphere tense to the extreme.
Just then, two blurs slammed onto the rooftop and the concrete cracked under their boots.
Kazuma and Saitō had arrived.
"Finally found you, Ginjō!" Kazuma announced, brushing dust off his white haori.
Tokinada turned, his confident smile freezing on his face. "Captain Kazuma. What are you doing here?"
Hearing Tokinada's respectful tone, Ginjō paused, glancing at the newcomer.
'A Captain of the Gotei 13? They sent a Captain-class figure just for me?'
Ginjō turned his head and continued to glare at Tokinada. "You despicable coward! You brought backup!"
"Shut up, fool," Tokinada hissed under his breath, genuinely unnerved by Kazuma's sudden arrival.
'Shouldn't he be in Karakura Town? How did he track us here?'
The three parties stood in a tense standoff, no one making the first move.
Ginjō's rage boiled over.
Young men are always impulsive.
He swung his massive blade directly at Kazuma, assuming he was part of the conspiracy.
Kazuma didn't even draw his sword. He simply unleashed ten percent of his sealed Spiritual Pressure.
A crushing, localized wave of gravity slammed down on Ginjō.
The Fullbringer was instantly pinned flat against the concrete rooftop, his bones groaning under the sheer weight of Kazuma's Reiatsu.
Ginjō couldn't twitch a single muscle.
'So this is a Captain? He's a monster...'
Kazuma ignored the pinned boy, turning his cold gaze to the noble. "Give me an explanation, Tokinada. What are you doing here?"
Looking into Kazuma's eyes, Tokinada involuntarily took a step back.
As a member of the Great Noble Houses, he had access to the restricted archives.
He knew exactly who the Seventh Division Captain really was.
From the moment Kazuma landed on the roof, Tokinada knew tonight's operation was a catastrophic failure.
Tokinada forced a polite, cautious smile. "If I said I was just taking a moonlight stroll in the World of the Living, would you believe me, Captain Kazuma?"
Kazuma stepped closer, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "Do you believe that excuse yourself? I don't care about your perverse hobbies, Tokinada. I am here under the Captain-Commander's direct orders to capture Kūgo Ginjō. Are you planning to obstruct my mission?"
Tokinada swallowed hard, sweat beading on his forehead. "How could I? Please, Captain Kazuma, proceed. I'll just watch."
"Good."
Kazuma casually kicked Ginjō, wrapping him tightly in a high-level binding Kidō, and tossed the immobilized boy to Saitō.
Saitō caught the heavily bound Ginjō with a grunt. "Hey! Can't you carry him yourself? Lazy bastard."
"See you later, Tokinada," Kazuma smirked.
With that, Kazuma and Saitō vanished into a Senkaimon.
After the portal closed, Tokinada collapsed to his knees, gasping for air.
The terrifying pressure Kazuma had subtly directed at him lifted.
That look in his eyes... Kazuma had genuinely debated killing him right then and there!
The prestige of the Five Great Noble Families meant absolutely nothing to that ancient monster.
"I'll deal with Aura Michibane later," Tokinada muttered, wiping his brow. "There's no chance today."
With that, Tokinada opened his own Senkaimon and fled back to Soul Society.
Kazuma and Saitō seemed to have left, but who knew if they were hiding in the shadows waiting for an excuse?
If he made any other moves, he would undoubtedly lose his life.
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