Compared to the miserable situation on Ichigo's side, things were much easier and more relaxed for Orihime and Uryū.
The only opponent they encountered was Jirōbō Ikkanzaka, the Fourth Seat of the Seventh Division.
After receiving personal special training from his father, Uryū's strength was no longer what it had once been, and he defeated his opponent with ease.
However, if there was anyone who had it the most frustrating, it had to be Chad.
After breaking through the encirclement, he rushed nonstop toward the Senzaikyū, but while passing through the Eighth Division's territory, he unfortunately ran into Tatsufusa Enjōji, the Third Seat of the Eighth Division.
Fortunately, this Third Seat did not quite live up to his title, and Chad managed to knock him back with a single blow.
But as the saying went, fortune never came twice, and disaster never came alone.
Just as Chad finally defeated Tatsufusa and continued on his way, he suddenly saw Shunsui sitting leisurely on a rooftop, drinking sake.
No one knew what wire had crossed in Chad's head, but he actually stood there foolishly and took on a posture as if he intended to attack Shunsui.
Naturally, Shunsui was not going to seriously argue with a kid, and kindly warned him not to act rashly.
Who would have thought that Chad would completely disregard his warning?
As the saying went, good advice could not save someone determined to throw his life away.
Facing such a reckless fellow, Shunsui could only helplessly shake his head.
After casually dodging several of Chad's El Directo attacks, he stopped wasting words and struck directly.
The result was obvious.
With only one slash, Shunsui sent Chad collapsing to the ground.
...
On the other side, after resting for a while, Ichigo gradually recovered some strength and began worrying about the danger Ganju and Hanatarō might be facing.
So, without hesitation, he struggled to his feet and prepared to head toward the Senzaikyū.
Although his injuries had not fully recovered, he no longer had the luxury of caring about that.
"Kid! Where do you think you're going?"
A sudden figure blocked Ichigo's path.
It was Chōjirō, who had been lying in ambush for quite some time.
When Ichigo saw that the newcomer was wearing a haori, he instinctively assumed the man before him was the captain of some division.
After all, every captain had their own unique clothing style and haori.
But after looking more carefully, he realized that what this man wore was not the style of a captain's haori, and there was no lieutenant's armband on his arm either.
Ichigo naively assumed the man before him was just an ordinary squad member, or at most a seated officer.
So he put on an arrogant expression and spoke boldly.
"Hey, old man, don't block my way!"
"Well, well. It seems I've been underestimated, Kurosaki Ichigo. Do you truly think you can cut me down?"
The corner of Chōjirō's mouth lifted slightly, revealing a faint, disdainful smile.
Hearing Chōjirō speak like that, Ichigo instinctively felt a little uncertain.
Still, he forced himself to remain calm and continued playing the emotional card.
"Huh? You know me, old man? In that case, there's even less need for us to fight. You should just move aside and let me go save my friend. That'd be better for everyone, wouldn't it?"
"I am Chōjirō Sasakibe, lieutenant of the First Division. Ichigo, allow me to test just how strong you are."
As he spoke, Chōjirō drew the Zanpakutō from his waist.
Hearing those words, shock appeared on Ichigo's face.
"Y-You're kidding, right? First Division lieutenant?"
He knew very well that the First Division was the central division of the Gotei 13, and anyone capable of serving as its lieutenant could not possibly be ordinary.
One could even say that the weight of this position exceeded that of some division captains.
After all, anyone who could sit in that seat was, without exception, a powerful monster.
"Um… well, Uncle Sasakibe, my dad is Isshin Shiba, the former captain of the Tenth Division! You probably know him. Can we maybe not fight?"
Ichigo put on a flattering expression as he spoke.
"I do know your father. And what of it?"
However, Chōjirō ignored Ichigo's words completely and continued pressing toward him step by step.
Seeing how determined the other man was to fight, Ichigo had no choice but to steel himself and prepare for battle.
Since this fight could no longer be avoided, he took a deep breath and began drawing out the reiatsu in his body.
After several intense battles in a row, his reiatsu had unknowingly risen to a level close to that of a captain.
Unfortunately, when it came to using reiatsu and power, he was still a complete amateur and had no idea what that truly represented.
Ichigo himself had no clue, but Chōjirō was extremely sensitive to fluctuations in reiatsu.
When he felt the powerful spiritual pressure coming from Ichigo, his heart churned, and he almost failed to maintain his composure.
'Only a few short days have passed, and he has already grown to this level?!'
"Pierce, Gonryōmaru."
Chōjirō released his Zanpakutō.
He would not underestimate anyone.
Even a lion used its full strength to hunt a rabbit, not to mention Ichigo Kurosaki was the monster Kazuma had mentioned.
Chōjirō had no intention of capsizing in a ditch.
Chōjirō swung his blade.
The instant their Zanpakutō clashed, he sharply realized that Ichigo only had strong reiatsu.
His Zanjutsu was an absolute mess, to say nothing of Shunpo and Kidō, because Ichigo simply did not know either of them at all.
After only a few exchanges, Ichigo was cut down by Chōjirō, and several more wounds appeared on his body.
"Damn it…"
Ichigo cursed under his breath and casually wiped the blood from his forehead.
Chōjirō looked at Ichigo in front of him, and a trace of admiration actually arose in his heart.
Even so, the blade in his hand did not stop. He thrust toward Ichigo again.
Ichigo gritted his teeth and used all his strength to twist aside.
However, Chōjirō's attacks fell like rain, and Ichigo could only keep dodging.
'I can't lose!'
Ichigo roared inwardly.
His eyes locked tightly onto Chōjirō as he focused completely on observing every one of the man's movements, as if trying to carve even the smallest detail into his mind.
Finally, he caught a perfect opportunity.
With astonishing speed, he charged toward Chōjirō and stretched out his right hand, tightly gripping that razor-sharp blade.
Blood instantly poured from his palm like a spring, staining the ground red.
Yet Ichigo seemed not to feel it at all. There was no trace of pain on his face.
Chōjirō could not help being slightly startled, clearly not having expected Ichigo to choose such a reckless method to stop his attack.
But very quickly, he regained his calm. The corner of his mouth lifted faintly, revealing a dismissive smile.
At that moment, Ichigo used every bit of strength he had to shove Chōjirō away.
Then he swiftly raised the Zanpakutō in his hand and slashed down at Chōjirō with all his might.
"Too slow. In my eyes, your movements are as sluggish as an ant crawling."
Chōjirō gave a cold snort.
His figure flashed as he used Shunpo and easily avoided Ichigo's attack.
Then he swung backhanded, sending another sharp slash toward Ichigo.
Ichigo's eyes widened as he tried to see Chōjirō's movements clearly, but he discovered that he simply could not keep up with the other man's speed.
Everything happened too quickly.
It was just like when he first fought Byakuya.
Before he even had time to react, his back had already been cut.
The wound from that slash brought him pain unlike anything he had felt before.
It spread through his entire body like fire, forcing him to sharply suck in a breath.
Chōjirō, however, was inwardly muttering to himself.
'Tch, tch. Didn't Kazuma say this kid was a monster? Why can't I see it at all? Could it be that I still haven't pushed him into a desperate enough situation?'