"This is bad!"
After losing his Zanpakutō, Chōjirō's expression turned extremely grave.
Fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead as his eyes locked tightly onto Ichigo, his heart silently crying out in misery.
'What do I do? What should I do?'
Chōjirō, who had always been calm and composed, was actually starting to panic.
His mind raced as he tried to find a way out of the situation, but at that moment, he could not think of anything.
Hollowfied Ichigo continued pressing closer step by step.
Each footfall seemed to land directly on Chōjirō's heart, making him feel a wave of dread.
He knew that if he did not come up with a solution soon, he might truly be finished.
At that moment, something unexpected happened.
Before Ichigo could reach him, he suddenly threw away the Zanpakutō in his hand, clutched his head with both hands, and let out a shrill howl.
That sound seemed capable of tearing a person's soul apart, making anyone who heard it feel a chill crawl down their spine.
"What's going on? Has he gone berserk?"
This sudden scene caught Chōjirō off guard.
He widened his eyes, trying to understand what was happening.
The mask on Ichigo's face suddenly shattered, its fragments drifting down through the air.
His entire body seemed to lose all strength, and he collapsed limply onto the ground without the slightest sign of life.
"His reiatsu.... dropped?"
Under Chōjirō's senses, Ichigo's reiatsu rapidly fell.
From its previous state of roughly four Kenseis, it instantly dropped to about one Kensei, barely reaching a lieutenant level.
'So he really did grow stronger the worse he was injured.'
When Chōjirō had first fought Ichigo, his reiatsu had only just reached the threshold of captain level, roughly half a step into the third tier.
Yet now, his reiatsu had stabilized at the third-tier level.
Compared to before, it was a qualitative leap, meaning he now had the qualifications to grasp Bankai.
The difference between captain level and lieutenant level could not be described as merely half a rank.
That small "half" was something some Shinigami could spend their entire lives trying to reach and still fail.
Even a lieutenant level strength was enough to crush nearly every seated officer.
Of course, certain monsters were exceptions.
After confirming that Ichigo had truly fainted, Chōjirō quickly stepped forward, picked up the Zanpakutō on the ground, slung it over his shoulder, and swiftly left the scene.
In truth, while the two of them had been fighting, every division in the Seireitei had already sensed the abnormal reiatsu fluctuations in this area.
Although they did not know exactly what had happened, that did not stop them from rushing over as quickly as possible to investigate.
The first to arrive was Kuchiki Byakuya, followed closely by Suì-Fēng.
Clearly, their Shunpo skill was superior to the others, allowing them to reach the scene faster.
"Who exactly fought here just now?"
Suì-Fēng frowned and turned her gaze toward Byakuya beside her, hoping to get some useful information from him.
Byakuya's expression was grave as he shook his head slightly.
"Of the two reiatsu signatures just now, one belonged to the invading Ryoka. The other was extremely unfamiliar. I do not know who it was."
Because he had fought Ichigo before, Byakuya was somewhat familiar with his reiatsu.
However, Chōjirō had never displayed his true strength in front of the new generation of captains, so none of them could identify his reiatsu.
As the two spoke, more captains arrived one after another.
"Oh my, have the Ryoka already become that strong? The reiatsu fluctuations just now clearly reached captain level."
Shunsui did know who the other reiatsu belonged to, but he was not stupid enough to say it out loud.
At this moment, aside from the fake-dead Aizen and Yamamoto, who had remained in the tea room the entire time, almost everyone had gathered.
Actually, not quite.
Ukitake Jūshirō, who had long been a regular patient, was unsurprisingly absent again.
There was also Zaraki Kenpachi, who was still lying in the Fourth Division receiving treatment.
Everything that had happened today was truly confusing.
First, early in the morning, Aizen had been discovered dead on the East Great Sacred Wall by Hinamori Momo.
Then, Zaraki Kenpachi had actually been defeated by the Ryoka who had invaded the Seireitei.
And now, another fierce battle had broken out between a Ryoka and an unknown individual.
Just how strong were these Ryoka who had broken into the Seireitei?
How could they defeat powerful figures of the Seireitei one after another?
Could there be a traitor or spy hiding inside the Seireitei?
That question lingered in Hitsugaya Tōshirō's mind.
Hitsugaya Tōshirō stared fixedly at Ichimaru Gin, his eyes full of vigilance.
In his mind, he kept recalling the words Aizen had deliberately left hanging after the captains' meeting earlier.
"Ichimaru Gin, this was all your doing, wasn't it?"
"Captain Hitsugaya, what do you mean by that? I don't know anything."
Ichimaru Gin still had that eternal fox-like smile on his face, making it impossible to tell what the Third Division Captain was truly thinking.
The vigilance in Hitsugaya Tōshirō's eyes did not lessen.
"I don't believe that with your strength, you couldn't sense who that reiatsu belonged to just now. Also, your reaction to Captain Aizen's death this morning was far too calm, as if you already knew he would die there."
Ichimaru Gin's smile stiffened slightly, but it quickly returned to normal.
"Oh my, Captain Hitsugaya, you really know how to joke. I simply felt that everything happened too suddenly and didn't know how to react for a moment. Besides, if I really were the murderer, why would I stay here and investigate with everyone?"
"Ichimaru, you bastard!"
Hitsugaya Tōshirō was deeply dissatisfied with Ichimaru Gin's answer.
His hand pressed against his Zanpakutō, and reiatsu erupted from him as if he was about to fight Gin right here.
"Captain Hitsugaya! Do you understand what you are doing?"
At the critical moment, Kyōraku Shunsui spoke up and stopped Hitsugaya Tōshirō.
It truly was one wave after another.
The tense, gunpowder-filled atmosphere at the scene had only just begun to cool down, but the lieutenants who arrived late unexpectedly added more fuel to the fire.
Even more unexpectedly, Hinamori Momo, who should have been locked in confinement, had also rushed over.
She first turned her head and glanced at Ichimaru Gin, then quickly turned back and stared tightly at Tōshirō.
"Momo, why are you here?"
Tōshirō was extremely surprised by her sudden appearance.
However, what happened next exceeded everyone's expectations.
Momo, tears streaming down her face, suddenly drew her Zanpakutō and shouted furiously at Tōshirō.
"Why did you kill Captain Aizen?! How exactly was he in your way?!"
Tōshirō had thought Momo had come to take revenge on Gin for Aizen's sake.
Now, the situation had completely reversed!
It turned out that Momo had learned the "truth" from a farewell letter Aizen had left her earlier.
According to that letter, everything had actually been secretly manipulated by Tōshirō, and his purpose was to overthrow the Seireitei.
If Aizen had died, then the one who killed him could only be Tōshirō.
Aizen's letter made the innocent, absurdly tough Momo suspect her own childhood friend.
She did not even stop to think whether Tōshirō actually had the strength to pull something like that off.
Overthrowing the Seireitei?
Anyone with even a slightly normal brain would not believe it.
Sure enough, a love-addled brain was terrifying.
Still, one had to admire how powerful Aizen's brainwashing skills were.
Momo herself held an extremely high level of admiration and trust toward Aizen.
In her eyes, Aizen was an almost perfect existence.
His wisdom, ability, and gentle image had deeply moved her.
Slowly, that admiration had transformed into love, making her willing to give up everything for Aizen.
Honestly, having Aizen work as a Shinigami was a waste of talent.
With his level of skill, he would have been far better suited to being the leader of a pyramid scheme.
With his personal charisma, his sales performance would definitely be incredible!
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