Hitsugaya Tōshirō's eyes flicked toward Ichimaru Gin.
He felt as if he had figured everything out.
Aizen must have been killed by Gin, who had then altered the farewell letter left for Momo.
The person who had just fought the Ryoka must also have been Gin, all to create chaos.
"Tōshirō! I'm going to kill you and avenge Captain Aizen!"
Momo charged toward Tōshirō like she had completely lost her mind.
"Ichimaru! I'm going to kill you!"
As he spoke, Tōshirō drew the Zanpakutō from his back, and while doing so, he kicked the charging Momo away.
Faced with Tōshirō's assault, Gin calmly drew the Zanpakutō at his waist and met him head-on.
In an instant, blades flashed and crossed, sparks flickering nonstop.
Tōshirō's eyes were wide with fury, and every swing of Hyōrinmaru carried endless killing intent.
Gin, however, looked especially relaxed.
That faint smile remained on his lips as he seemed to casually dissolve Tōshirō's fierce attacks.
After only a few moves, the battle grew more intense.
Both sides went back and forth, neither willing to give an inch. Even the air around them seemed to tear apart from their collisions, releasing sharp, piercing sounds.
Suddenly, Gin keenly caught a perfect opening.
With a fierce swing of his Zanpakutō, he forced Tōshirō back several steps through sheer power.
Taking advantage of that moment, Gin began mocking him.
"Hitsugaya Tōshirō, praised as the greatest genius in Soul Society, and this is all you have?"
Hearing Gin's ridicule, Tōshirō instantly grew even angrier.
He gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on Hyōrinmaru, preparing to attack Gin again.
However, at that moment, Gin's gaze suddenly shifted toward Momo, who was lying on the ground after being kicked unconscious.
A sly smile appeared on his face.
Then, without hesitation, he raised his Zanpakutō and swung toward the defenseless Momo.
"Shoot to kill, Shinsō."
Just as Gin's blade was about to strike Momo, Shunsui finally made his move from the side.
He swiftly drew his sword and blocked Gin's attack with lightning speed.
A clear metallic impact rang out as Gin's blade was forcefully knocked aside.
There was a trace of reproach in Shunsui's eyes as he looked seriously at Gin.
"Oh my, Captain Ichimaru. That wasn't very nice. Attacking an unconscious shinigami is going too far."
Tōshirō, enraged by this scene, no longer cared about any Seireitei prohibition.
He was going to use Bankai and fight Gin to the death.
"Ban..kai—"
Tōshirō had just begun calling out the release command when, at that critical instant, Shunsui, the first to notice something was wrong, struck him hard in the back with the flat of his blade, cutting off his Bankai by force.
"Seize both of them!"
Kyōraku Shunsui shouted, stopping the situation before it completely spiraled out of control.
Suì-Fēng and Byakuya moved at once, restraining Ichimaru Gin in an instant.
On the other side, Komamura and Kurotsuchi Mayuri held down Tōshirō, who still wanted to keep fighting.
Unohana Retsu still wore that unreadable faint smile.
"Third Division Captain Ichimaru Gin attacked Fifth Division Lieutenant Hinamori Momo without cause and attempted to kill her. Tenth Division Captain Hitsugaya ignored the prohibition and attempted to use Bankai inside the Seireitei without authorization. These are grave offenses. Take both of them back to the First Division and hand them over to Captain-Commander Yamamoto for judgment."
Unohana's voice was gentle, yet every word she spoke was like a sharp blade piercing straight into the heart.
The Seireitei was already in a troubled period.
One captain had died under mysterious circumstances, while another was still lying in the Fourth Division's emergency treatment room, his life and death uncertain.
And now, internal conflict had broken out as well.
No one could predict how severely the Captain-Commander would punish these two captains.
With several captains taking action, the situation was brought under control in an instant.
At this time, the lieutenants present were still dazed and at a loss.
Everything that had just happened had unfolded in a flash, so quickly that they had not even had time to understand what was going on.
"Captain!"
Matsumoto Rangiku looked worriedly at Tōshirō, who had been restrained on the ground.
"Go back and hold the Tenth Division, Rangiku. I'll be fine," Tōshirō said after finally regaining his calm, instructing Rangiku to return to the Tenth Division and stand by.
"And take Momo back with you too."
On the other side, Kira Izuru, Ōmaeda Marechiyo, and the others remained silent.
They followed closely behind their respective captains and rushed toward the First Division together.
...
Suddenly, the door of the tea room was pushed open with force, producing a sharp creak.
Kazuma, Yoruichi, and the Captain-Commander all turned to look.
They saw Sasakibe Chōjirō walk in carrying someone over his shoulder.
Looking more closely, it turned out to be Kurosaki Ichigo.
His head drooped, his eyes were closed, and he seemed to be unconscious.
"Cough, cough! Why did you bring him back?"
Kazuma was so shocked that he nearly sprayed out his sake.
The mouthful he had just swallowed almost got stuck in his throat!
He had only asked Chōjirō to go slash Ichigo up a bit. He had not asked him to bring the boy back!
Great.
Whether Chōjirō had actually cut him or not was unclear, but he had carried the person back, and Ichigo looked like he had already passed out completely.
A deep look of surprise also appeared on Captain-Commander Yamamoto's face.
He frowned tightly and looked at Chōjirō with suspicion.
He truly could not understand why Chōjirō would carry Ichigo back.
Could there be some special reason behind it?
"Chōjirō, what exactly are you doing? We told you to cut him a bit, but you carried him back instead. Are you kidnapping him as a hostage?"
There was a trace of confusion in the Captain-Commander's voice.
Chōjirō scratched his head helplessly and explained, "We did fight. It is just that he failed to defeat me and fell unconscious. Also, I sensed Shunsui and the others heading toward the place where we fought. I could hardly leave this little one there unattended, so I decided to carry him back."
Kazuma looked Chōjirō over suspiciously, thinking to himself.
If Chōjirō had not attacked, then why were his clothes in tatters, and why was even half his mustache gone?
But if he had attacked, then why did Kurosaki Ichigo not have a single wound on him?
And the two powerful reiatsu signatures just now had definitely been real.
Everyone had sensed them.
"What exactly is going on with him? That shihakushō is already torn to pieces, but he doesn't seem to have a single injury!"
"This kid is a monster. I'm confused too! He can actually turn into a Hollow, and he even has that ridiculous ability called High-Speed Regeneration. I cut him countless times, but every time, he recovered almost immediately. Later, he went completely berserk and nearly took me down. Fortunately, he suddenly fainted for some reason at the end. Otherwise, I would have been the one lying down!"
"Oh? He passively entered Hollowfication? Interesting. No wonder he managed to leave you looking like this."
Since Ichigo had been able to reduce Chōjirō to such a state, Kazuma was certain that Kurosaki Ichigo had passively entered his second-stage Hollowfication.
His growth had become much faster.
Kazuma remembered that Ichigo's second-stage Hollowfication was supposed to awaken after he learned Bankai and was cut down by Byakuya.
Yet now, this kid had reached that stage before even learning Bankai.
Once he did learn Bankai, wouldn't his strength rise by several more Kenseis?