Bleach: Stirring Up a Storm

Even with over twenty people gathered, the dim hall still felt unusually empty. Those scattered around sat with their eyes tightly shut, not saying a word, making the atmosphere here feel even more gloomy and eerie.

The images of Sado Yasutora and Inoue Orihime being beaten to the brink of death flashed quickly before everyone’s eyes. It wasn’t until Ichigo appeared in the projection that they finally showed a sliver of interest.

Just what was so unique about this human that he could arouse Aizen’s vigilance, prompting him to specifically dispatch two Espada?

One of the men sat cross-legged with his right hand resting against his cheek, his short sky-blue hair resembling a frozen cluster of flames. The corners of his mouth curled up; though he was clearly smiling, it gave off an oppressive feeling of rage about to shatter the dome above—and this was no illusion.

’What is this?’ the man scoffed softly. The Ichigo in the projection seemed unable to even control his own power. He was clearly at death’s door, yet he still looked hesitant and indecisive. Was a piece of trash who couldn’t even go all out to survive really worth paying attention to?!

Like a play slowly drawing its curtains, the images before everyone’s eyes gradually faded to black. Aizen sat on the highest throne, resting his forehead against his hand, his face completely devoid of any joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness.

"And so you judged that, at his current level, he is simply not worth killing. Is that right, Ulquiorra?"

"Yes," Ulquiorra replied in a calm tone. "Because the orders I received beforehand were, ’If he poses a hindrance to us, kill him.’ Furthermore..."

But before he could finish, a rather arrogant voice cut in. "You’re way too soft. Guys like that, I could’ve wiped them out in a single strike right from the start."

"Grimmjow." Ulquiorra turned his head to glance at the blue-haired man behind him, his tone carrying a hint of warning. Interrupting him at this moment was somewhat inappropriate.

Grimmjow didn’t have the slightest awareness of having done anything wrong. He continued loudly, "No matter the reason, since the order was to kill him, you should have just killed him! Right?"

"I agree. He is an enemy, after all. Even if there was no absolute need to kill him, there was no reason to let him live either."

The subordinate’s agreement only made Grimmjow even more displeased. He absolutely despised Ulquiorra’s ambivalent attitude toward killing, which also influenced others. Take Yammy, for example—he wasn’t the type to swallow his anger after taking a beating.

"Yammy! You got beaten to a pulp, and you’re still spouting nonsense like ’there’s no need to kill him’? If you ask me, it sounds a lot more like ’I couldn’t kill him at all’!"

Yammy, who had gone to the World of the Living with Ulquiorra, was caught off guard. He hadn’t said a single word this entire time. Was Grimmjow, that crazy cat, just lashing out at random people again?

"Did you not see what just happened, Grimmjow? I was injured by the clog-wearing guy and the woman in black, not that brat."

"Do you still not get it?" Grimmjow grinned, the jawbone mask attached to his right cheek opening and closing with his words, making no effort to hide his mockery of Yammy. "If it were me, I would have killed both of them in a single strike!"

Or perhaps, this was actually a taunt aimed at Ulquiorra, who was in charge of the mission? Yammy didn’t think that deeply about it. His massive body abruptly turned toward Grimmjow. This guy was all talk—let’s see who could really kill who!

"Stop."

Ulquiorra raised a hand, stopping Yammy before he could attack. He didn’t know if Grimmjow could actually kill those two in a single strike, but Yammy was definitely no match for him.

"Do you realize that, for us, the problem right now does not lie with that brat, Grimmjow?"

"Hah?" Grimmjow suspected he had misheard. Did Aizen-sama send you to the World of the Living just to take a stroll?

Ulquiorra seemed to read his mind, explaining unhurriedly, "Aizen-sama is not worried about him as he is now, but rather his rate of growth. That brat’s potential is indeed extraordinary."

At first, Ulquiorra also couldn’t understand why Aizen had specifically sent him to deal with Ichigo. No matter how he looked at it, the boy was trash. Even when Ichigo severed Yammy’s arm in a single strike, Ulquiorra still held that belief.

Ironically, he only realized Ichigo’s extraordinary nature when the boy was on the verge of being killed by Yammy. At that moment, he could feel the violently fluctuating Reiatsu within Ichigo; at its peak, it surged far beyond even his own. Thinking back on it now, he still didn’t understand exactly what had happened.

"But he has also become unstable due to that overwhelming power." Ulquiorra gave a slight nod, voicing his assessment of Ichigo. "Even if left alone, he will likely either destroy himself or become one of our subordinates. That is why I spared his life and returned."

This explanation was exactly what Grimmjow found unacceptable. "That’s why I said you’re too soft! If he grows stronger than you imagine and ends up becoming our enemy, what then?!"

"When that time comes, I will handle him."

Grimmjow was momentarily left speechless, as if he truly had no further objections to what Ulquiorra had just declared.

"Let us leave it at that." Aizen, seated above, spoke up to draw the argument to a close. "I will leave such trivial matters for you to decide, Ulquiorra."

"Thank you for your understanding."

No one noticed Grimmjow’s deeply furrowed brow and clenched jaw in that moment. Was this really just a trivial matter? He certainly didn’t think so...

Therefore, Ichigo’s instincts weren’t wrong; he was indeed being targeted. But at the same time, he was also mistaken. It was precisely because of his abysmal performance that he had drawn their attention once again. Even if he became a piece of trash, he couldn’t truly disappear from this world.

However, he no longer harbored such strange expectations. Rukia’s sudden arrival had finally made him realize: if he was afraid that the blade in his hands would hurt his friends, then he just needed to make his own hands stronger so the blade wouldn’t slip out of his control.

Of course, the process of reaching that realization hadn’t been easy. Rukia’s kicks were just as forceful as ever.

What a headache. Ichigo rubbed the back of his head. This wasn’t just caused by Rukia’s greeting kick, but also...

"In order to deal with the appearance of mature Arrancars and prevent them from causing any more major incidents, the higher-ups urgently dispatched us here."

Although that was what Renji said, Ichigo looked at the five people sprawling haphazardly across his bed and felt a deep sense of skepticism. No matter how he looked at them, these guys had absolutely nothing to do with the word "urgent."

Completely oblivious to Ichigo’s doubts, Renji continued his deadpan explanation. "Since we need to coordinate with you, they chose Rukia, who you’re most familiar with." He patted his own chest. "And since I’m the closest to Rukia among the available combat personnel, I was chosen too."

"Don’t listen to his nonsense," Matsumoto Rangiku leaned close to Ichigo’s ear, speaking in a voice just loud enough for everyone to hear. "Actually, he wasn’t originally part of the team. He just couldn’t bear the thought of leaving Rukia alone, so he stubbornly tagged along."

"Rangiku-san! You’re the one who only tagged along because you thought it would be fun!"

Renji loudly interrupted Matsumoto, a faint blush visible on his face if one looked closely. In truth, it wasn’t that he was worried about Rukia coming alone. But with Kōe leading the team, the situation was entirely different. That old bastard had just recently encouraged Ichigo to woo Rukia; he had to be on his guard.

"Yumichika and I are completely different from them." Ikkaku, noticing Ichigo’s strange expression, hastily distanced himself from the group of people harboring ulterior motives. "The two of us came here as professional combatants!"

He said it with such absolute seriousness, but could you guys please take your feet off my bed first?

Ichigo stared at the five people in front of him who looked entirely too comfortable. These guys had totally come here with the mindset of going on a field trip, hadn’t they?

If anyone was actually reliable, it would be Mr. Shihouin and Mr. Shiba, who had immediately gone off to scout the area as soon as they arrived in the World of the Living, right?

But on second thought, Ichigo felt something wasn’t quite right. To allow such an unseemly bunch to run rampant in his house, the team leader either had terrible taste in personnel, or...

"Let me just ask this... You guys do have a place to stay, right? You’re not... all planning to cram into my house, are you?"