"Long time no see, Kurosaki Ichigo. If I remember right, the last time we met was a few years ago," In the dim depths of the night, Rosse turned around with a smile, his slightly playful gaze sweeping over the fully alert Kurosaki Ichigo.
"It's you? Rosse!"
Kurosaki Ichigo's grip on his twin blades tightened abruptly. The way he looked at Rosse was filled with anger and hatred.
It was this man right in front of him. His mother had been effortlessly taken away before this man's eyes.
Even though this man possessed strength that even Teacher Aizen was wary of, he was very likely nothing more than a lackey of Hueco Mundo.
The reason he had appeared in the human world last time was probably to take Kurosaki Masaki away!
"Looks like you still remember me," Rosse smiled, then stopped paying attention to Kurosaki Ichigo and instead shifted his gaze to Kuchiki Byakuya.
"Captain Kuchiki, not placing a limiter on you doesn't mean you're allowed to activate bankai in the human world. You crossed the line."
"I understand. After I return, I will accept punishment on my own."
Kuchiki Byakuya nodded lightly, waved his hand to retract his bankai, and sheathed his Zanpakuto after it returned to its normal state.
He had no intention of denying it.
Being angered by an ordinary Shinigami could only mean his training was insufficient. That was a disgrace for him as a noble.
"Kurosaki Ichigo, I look forward to our next meeting."
Click!
A Senkaimon opened in front of Kuchiki Byakuya. He did not look back at Abarai Renji or Rukia. Turning around, he stepped straight into the gate.
With Rosse arriving on the scene, his mission had already ended in failure.
Even though Rukia had agreed to return, he had still fought Kurosaki Ichigo once. In the end, he failed to take him down before Rosse appeared. That alone already signified his failure.
"Captain..."
Abarai Renji looked at Kuchiki Byakuya's departing back, his expression somewhat complicated.
This was the first time he had ever seen Kuchiki Byakuya's bankai, and also the first time he had seen his captain's attack be received so easily.
Whether it was the awkwardness Kuchiki Byakuya showed when facing Kurosaki Ichigo's shikai, or his bankai attack being caught barehanded by Rosse, all of it indicated one thing.
The Kuchiki Byakuya he had always taken as his goal did not seem as powerful as he had imagined.
He truly was a stray dog, but it seemed that in front of those real monsters, his captain also looked just as miserable, like a stray dog.
Thinking this, Abarai Renji staggered after him into the gate without saying a word.
At this point, only three people remained at the scene.
"Captain Rosse...", Rukia lowered her head and walked up to Rosse, like a little girl who had done something wrong.
"Let's go. We'll return to Soul Society first. No matter what the Kuchiki family, the Central 46, or even Head Captain Yamamoto think, I'll do my best to reduce your punishment. At the very least, I'll make sure you'll be fine."
Rosse smiled as he patted Rukia's head, speaking in a gentle tone.
"Captain Rosse, I'm not worth it...", Rukia said in a low voice.
She felt she was a jinx, a genuine jinx.
If Rosse had not arrived in time this time, everyone would have nearly caused another major disaster because of her.
"Whether you're a jinx or not isn't something you get to decide. At least the people around you don't think so. Go on, it's time for us to leave."
Rosse smiled and pressed on Rukia's head, nudging her toward the Senkaimon.
Rukia said nothing more, only silently walking toward the gate.
"Hey! Rukia! Are you really just going to leave like this, without any regrets?", Kurosaki Ichigo suddenly shouted loudly toward Rukia, while glaring fiercely at Rosse.
Hearing this, Rukia stopped in her tracks. But this time, she did not even turn her head.
"Ichigo, forget about me. We're not from the same world."
After saying that, she stepped into the Senkaimon.
Rukia really liked the life she had lived in the human world these past days, but this series of events made her understand that she did not belong there, nor could she ignore Soul Society's rules and stay.
Since that was the case, then it could only end cleanly.
Kurosaki Ichigo opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but Rukia had already disappeared into the Senkaimon. He could only let it go.
"Tch! Always that look of thinking about others. Hey, Rosse, I'm really pissed off right now!"
Curling his lips, Kurosaki Ichigo focused all his attention back on Rosse.
"You seem to harbor a lot of hostility toward me, but I don't recall ever doing anything to harm you. Kurosaki Ichigo."
Rosse looked at Kurosaki Ichigo with a smiling expression. Although he did not know exactly what Aizen had trained Kurosaki Ichigo in, judging by his current state, he had clearly accepted Aizen's indoctrination and even regarded him as an enemy.
However, he had no intention of correcting that.
'This version of Kurosaki Ichigo is quite interesting, isn't it?'
"After you showed up, my mom was gone. Do you think I'd be happy about that? And you're wearing a Soul Society captain's uniform, right? You were clearly at my house last time, and the ones who came to pick me up with my mom were also Shinigami. With your strength, how could my mom have just died all of a sudden?", Kurosaki Ichigo shouted as he charged toward Rosse with his twin blades raised.
If not for strictly remembering Aizen's teachings, he would have already lost control at this point.
If the captain who had come to the human world back then had not been Rosse, but one of the other captains, maybe his mom would not have been taken away by Hueco Mundo.
It was clearly because you were colluding with Hueco Mundo that his mom had been taken away without any resistance!
"Hah!"
Kurosaki Ichigo rushed up to Rosse, bringing both blades down in a heavy slash.
"Nice spirit, but that's all it amounts to."
Rosse merely extended both hands calmly. His palms easily caught the two blades, without the slightest injury.
Slash!
Kurosaki Ichigo suddenly felt the resistance vanish from his hands. In the next instant, blood burst violently from his chest, like two pillars of red.
"What kind of joke is this..."
Even as he fell to the ground, Kurosaki Ichigo's eyes were still filled with shock.
He had clearly been standing right in front of Rosse, yet he could not see the other man's movements at all, and he had already been effortlessly cut down.
'The gap is actually this vast?'
Rosse was so fast that he could instantly snatch away both of his Zanpakuto and slash him at the same time, only for Ichigo to react after it was already over.
"Didn't the one who taught you Shinigami powers ever tell you not to foolishly draw your blade against a stronger opponent?", Rosse bent down slightly, speaking in a flat tone, while planting Ichigo's two Zanpakuto into the ground.
At Kurosaki Ichigo's level, his overall strength rating in the system was only A+. Rosse could crush him with a single finger.
"Oh, right!"
As if he had just thought of something, Rosse leaned close to Kurosaki Ichigo's ear and whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear, "By the way, Masaki was really moist."
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
Ignoring Kurosaki Ichigo's futile, dog-like howls, Rosse slowly straightened up and walked directly into the Senkaimon.
He had thought that saying something so explosive might make Kurosaki Ichigo erupt with some kind of super power.
But it turned out to be nothing more than powerless rage.
'How boring.'
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