"Captain-level spiritual pressure at Shikai… that's a bit too exaggerated, isn't it?", Beside Urahara's shop, watching Kurosaki Ichigo's figure shoot straight into the sky, Yoruichi could not help opening her mouth wide.
In her understanding, from the moment Kurosaki Ichigo obtained Shinigami powers to reaching captain-level strength now, even if you counted everything, it had not been more than a month.
"Compared to that, the fact that he managed to achieve Shikai under Rukia's guidance is what's really worth paying attention to," Urahara Kisuke frowned slightly, his probing eyes fixed on Kurosaki Ichigo high in the sky.
He did not have many particular thoughts about Kurosaki Ichigo. Ichigo had never been part of his plan to begin with.
He did not even know what made Kurosaki Ichigo special.
In his plan, Rukia had always been the chess piece used to pry at Aizen within Soul Society.
But now that Kurosaki Ichigo had appeared, he felt that it might be necessary to start taking him into consideration.
"Tch! They're all monsters anyway. There've really been a lot of monsters showing up lately. That Head-Captain Rosse from Soul Society, when he first appeared, his strength was already not inferior to Captain Kyoraku and the others. Having captain-level combat power without even reaching Shikai, that was truly terrifying," Yoruichi spoke leisurely.
At this moment, she did not feel the slightest bit of guilt about having run off.
She had already gotten the Shihoin family to cooperate with Rosse and the others. In her view, that was more than enough.
As for private deals and such… those were private matters. Running off a few times was perfectly normal, wasn't it?
"Truly a monster… and also dual blades, just like Captain Kyoraku and the others…", Urahara Kisuke murmured softly.
The moment those words fell, the battle in the sky reached its conclusion.
Kurosaki Ichigo merely crossed his twin blades, shouted "Getsuga Tensho," and slashed out a cross-shaped crescent wave of light. That Adjuchas was chopped into several pieces on the spot.
Compared to a captain-level fighter going all out, an Adjuchas that had not even become an Arrancar was still somewhat lacking.
From his observation, that Adjuchas was not even as strong as most vice-captains. Being cut down by Kurosaki Ichigo in a few strikes was the normal outcome.
But such a result was enough to make most of those who witnessed it unable to accept reality.
Soul Society was shaken as a whole. The Visored wore expressions of all kinds. Rukia stood there in a daze. Uryu Ishida was overwhelmed with shame.
Among everyone present, only Kurosaki Masaki, Ishida Ryuken, and Aizen Sosuke remained calm from start to finish.
In their eyes, Kurosaki Ichigo cutting down an Adjuchas in a single strike was simply normal.
It was also the first step in pushing all plans forward.
The Hollow bait incident completely came to an end under Kurosaki Ichigo's blade.
But the impact caused by Kurosaki Ichigo continued to spread.
———
[Soul Society, First Division]
BOOM!
As Head-Captain Yamamoto's Zanpakuto-disguised cane struck the ground once more, the captains gathered again inside the conference chamber, restoring its usual solemn and dignified atmosphere.
"Everyone, it has been a long time. I have returned!"
Head-Captain Yamamoto's opening words were as simple as ever, yet they still carried overwhelming pressure.
Even though he had lost most of his spiritual pressure, even though he could not even perform Shikai right now, he still exuded the domineering presence of Soul Society's strongest Shinigami, inside and out.
He swept his gaze across the others present, lingering especially on Captain Hitsugaya of the Second Division, Captain Aizen Sosuke of the Fifth Division, Captain Kyoraku Shunsui of the Eighth Division, and Captain Rosse of the Tenth Division.
To be honest, he was very disappointed in Kyoraku Shunsui.
Hesitation was destined to lead to defeat.
When he was unconscious, what Kyoraku Shunsui should have done was not protect a worthless old man like him, but directly reorganize the Gotei 13 and seize the position of acting Head-Captain.
With Kyoraku Shunsui's prestige from hundreds of years as a captain, he absolutely could have done it.
But unfortunately, Kyoraku Shunsui missed the best opportunity by choosing to protect him, allowing a junior who had been a captain for less than ten years to take the seat.
As for Rosse, Head-Captain Yamamoto felt neither liking nor disliking toward him.
Judging by his actions, he did not think there was anything particularly wrong.
Once you become Head-Captain, it is only natural to carry out your own will, even if that means overturning old ideas from before.
But unfortunately, this was also someone who was indecisive.
After becoming acting Head-Captain and stabilizing the situation, the biggest taboo was leaving hidden dangers behind.
And in Soul Society, he himself was Rosse's greatest hidden danger.
As long as he woke up, everything Rosse had done would instantly become meaningless.
The moment he recovered his spiritual pressure, he could overturn all of Rosse's policies and return things to how they were when he led the Gotei 13.
'A bunch of soft-hearted fools. How are they supposed to lead the Gotei 13 to victory with Hueco Mundo still around?'
To be honest, Head-Captain Yamamoto was very disappointed.
He was not afraid of death. He only hoped that his death could carve out a new path for Soul Society.
But in the end, Soul Society still needed this old fossil to clean up the mess.
"Captain Mayuri, report on the situation in the world of the living," Head-Captain Yamamoto spoke calmly, getting straight to the main reason for convening the captains' meeting today.
He had no interest in Rosse's policies, nor did he even want to understand them.
As long as he was still alive, as long as Rosse did not have the guts to kill him, Soul Society should follow his ideals.
If you truly had ambition, truly had that resolve, then try killing him quietly.
"Yesss! Yesss! Yesss!"
Mayuri Kurotsuchi stepped forward with a bored look. Holding a captains' meeting over such a trivial matter. He had not thought much of it before, but after Rosse became acting Head-Captain, he found Head-Captain Yamamoto more and more of an eyesore.
He first shot a glance at Rosse. Seeing that he had no reaction, Mayuri then spoke unhurriedly, "Just yesterday, a wild Adjuchas appeared in the world of the living. The cause may have been attraction by Hollow bait, or it may have been deployed by Hueco Mundo."
"The world of the living? An Adjuchas-level Menos appearing there must have caused heavy casualties, right?", Aizen spoke with a tone of compassion. As everyone knew, he was a kind-hearted man.
"There were no casualties. The moment that Hollow appeared, it was taken out by a suddenly appearing captain-level individual. Keh! Heh! Heh! Becoming a captain from an ordinary person in just one month, this is truly the first case of its kind," Mayuri's eyes gleamed with excitement. If not for the fact that the person was in the world of the living, he would probably have already been preparing to bring them back to the lab for research.
"One month from an ordinary person to captain-level? What does that mean?", Komamura Sajin frowned as he asked.
Among everyone present, he was probably the one who had taken the longest to become a captain. It had taken nearly a hundred years before he broke through the bottleneck of fourth-class spiritual might and learned Bankai.
And now someone was saying that a person went from ordinary to captain in one month? Pure fantasy.
Even a genius like Hitsugaya took sixty years to go from zero to becoming a captain.
If what Mayuri said was true, then what did all his years amount to?
Had he really lived his life like a dog for nothing?
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
[email protected]/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining P@treon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through P@treon.