Bleach: Stirring Up a Storm

A successful moment of suspense, and at the same time, an unexpected joke—at least, that was how a heartily laughing Shunsui saw it.

"Is this really the time to be keeping us in suspense?!"

"Alright, alright. Relaxing your mind a bit is good for your health." Kōe waved his hand, signaling Hitsugaya not to be so irritable. If Aizen casually sending two people to the World of the Living was enough to send them into a panic, they might as well just throw their hands up and surrender right now.

"Although Aizen once reviewed a massive amount of geographical and historical data regarding the World of the Living, as time went on, his focus narrowed down to a single location: Karakura Town!"

Kōe lowered his raised finger and continued, "Of course, the timing is extremely delicate. It almost perfectly coincides with the time Aizen is suspected to have deployed early Arrancar test subjects into the World of the Living. It’s impossible to determine whether he did this to facilitate his experiments or if Karakura Town itself holds some special significance."

"However, there doesn’t seem to be a fundamental difference between these two possibilities. To exclusively select Karakura Town as the center for his experiments out of countless locations—unless he drew straws—means Karakura Town must have its own unique traits. Dispatching two mature Arrancars yesterday also indicates, to a certain extent, that Aizen is paying special attention to Karakura Town."

Ukitake stepped forward at this moment. The task of investigating Aizen’s motives was being handled jointly by him and Kōe. "It will still take some time to connect all the clues, but we need to adopt corresponding countermeasures now."

"The question is, does Aizen actually want Karakura Town? Or does he want to deal with Kurosaki Ichigo? Or perhaps both?" Shunsui said leisurely, seemingly having figured something out. "But there’s no fundamental difference. We just need to protect them both together. What do you think, Head Captain?"

"We shall first dispatch a portion of our personnel to the World of the Living, while our main forces remain on standby." Yamamoto rested his crossed hands on his cane, speaking with a slow, measured cadence. "The disturbances in the World of the Living could very well be a smokescreen."

This possibility did indeed exist and certainly had to be taken into consideration. Everyone present could roughly grasp Yamamoto’s intent: they had to manage the increasingly urgent situation in the World of the Living, but they could not invest too much energy into it. Therefore, they could only send a small number of people over to adapt to the situation and gather intelligence.

"Abarai Renji has already achieved Bankai, has he not?"

"Yes."

"Then let him lead the squad this time. Aside from the Captains, he may select personnel from the various squads to head to the World of the Living."

Keeping the Captains from being deployed for the time being would better allow them to respond to sudden emergencies. However, with the World of the Living frequently being invaded by new types of Hollows, merely dispatching seated officers and lieutenants might not provide substantial help. Having Renji, someone who had already mastered Bankai, lead the team would give them more confidence when encountering trouble.

Although there was nothing wrong with this arrangement, Kōe still raised his hand to express a differing opinion. "Let me lead the team over. If the opponent is Aizen, my presence would add an extra layer of security, wouldn’t it?"

"You have more important matters to attend to."

"And who can guarantee that the matters over there aren’t important? Or rather, who knows which side’s matters are truly important?" Kōe asked Yamamoto in return. Receiving no answer, he continued, "It will always take time to rush from the Seireitei to the World of the Living. In a truly critical emergency, I’m afraid Abarai won’t be able to buy us precious time. I am still confident in my ability to handle various unexpected situations, Head Captain."

"If, by chance, the next thing laid before us is a pile of ruins and a field of corpses, the only countermeasure we’ll be able to take is coming up with a new name for Karakura Town."

Come up with a new name for Karakura Town? If doing so could bring those innocent dead back to life, Ichigo would have probably thought of tens of thousands of names for it between yesterday and today.

After returning from Soul Society, Ichigo originally thought he would go back to his ordinary life. Of course, occasionally fighting monsters known as Hollows could hardly be called ordinary, but he was no longer just a normal high school student who could see dead souls. He was now a Shinigami, and for a Shinigami, protecting humans from Hollows was simply the natural thing to do.

*I can protect the people around me.* The previous Ichigo had never doubted this. But now, watching Inoue’s retreating back, he questioned himself once again. *Can I really protect the people around me?*

Just yesterday, in a single instant, the souls of hundreds of people were sucked into the belly of a Hollow. There wasn’t a single wound on their bodies; it seemed as though they hadn’t experienced any pain.

*But, if I could still see their souls, they would surely be just like Chad and Inoue—covered in scars and bruises.*

*But, would they also look at me with forgiving eyes like Inoue did, telling me, "Don’t blame yourself, it’s all my fault..."?*

*Please don’t. They should blame me. Even Tatsuki, who survived, should blame me. It’s all because I’m too useless that I dragged everyone down with me.*

Ichigo clenched his fists tightly. He could feel his own power, but at the same time, he felt a deep sense of dread and fear toward the power he possessed.

From the moment he faced Kenpachi, Ichigo knew there was another version of himself inside his body—a berserk, terrifying monster...

That monster would occasionally slip out. Or rather, it desperately craved to break out and replace his existence. When he faced Byakuya on Sōkyoku Hill, it had come out.

And after returning from the Seireitei, Ichigo realized that the barrier he had erected himself was slowly crumbling. The more he used his power, the clearer the monster’s voice became, as if it were laughing maniacally in his ear, telling him, *’You think I want to replace you? No, no, no... I am you, and you will inevitably become me...’*

*Become a Hollow...*

*’I hope you all can use your powers more cautiously, and try to leave the Hollows to Ichigo...’*

*But Mr. Shihouin, do you know? I’m the one who truly needs to be cautious about using my power.*

Ichigo silently unclenched his fists. *Let it end here. It’s time to let go now,* Ichigo thought. For his own sake and for everyone else’s, letting go was the best choice.

This wasn’t just because of his power that could spiral out of control and hurt people at any moment. It was also because of the many inexplicable, dangerous vortexes swirling around him—vortexes deadly enough to cost everyone their lives.

A group with unknown motives, claiming to be Shinigami who had stepped one foot into the realm of Hollows, and those two Hollows with human forms—they all seemed to be looking for him.

The former had already issued a formal invitation through a man named Hirako Shinji. As for the latter, it was just a feeling, but Ichigo felt that they had come specifically for him.

*Inoue, Chad, Tatsuki, and those innocent people who lost their lives... ultimately, it’s all because of me. I’m the one who dragged them down.*

Aside from apologizing, Ichigo didn’t know what else he could do right now. Perhaps doing nothing at all was the last bit of effort he could muster.

*If I act like an incompetent piece of trash, no one will pay attention to me anymore, right...?*