"I want to go too!"
Seeing Kaien rush back into battle, Rukia immediately tried to follow, but before she could use shunpo, Yoshio pinned her down.
"Calm down," Yoshio said softly. "With your current strength, you'll just get in the way."
"But I..." Rukia was agitated, but seeing Yoshio's expression, she fell silent.
If not for Yoshio just now, she would have died at that Hollow's hand!
Once Rukia calmed, Yoshio narrowed his eyes.
Hollow White...
Why did it attack Rukia?
As if drawn by something, it had a special craving for her.
"Stay here. Don't move. I'm going up to look."
In the next instant, Yoshio's pupils dilated; he spoke at once.
He sensed Ukitake's spiritual pressure from above—and then it sharply weakened.
That sickly guy must have had an episode during the fight with Hollow White. Hopefully not so bad that Hollow White could finish him off in one breath?
Luckily he'd already healed Kaien; with him taking over, Ukitake shouldn't be killed.
"Captain Ukitake!"
Soon, Rukia also felt Ukitake's spiritual pressure plummet and grew anxious again.
"Don't move. I'll check," Yoshio said, frowning.
He leapt up, vanished, and reached the summit.
On the mountain, Kaien was once again fighting Hollow White.
Ukitake lay to the side, clutching his chest. There was a bloody hole in it, as if Hollow White had punched straight through.
After a bout of fighting, Hollow White showed no sign of fatigue—in fact, it was getting stronger.
"...!"
As Hollow White knocked Kaien back, reiatsu began to gather at the horn above Kaien—Hollow reiatsu condensed into a red sphere!
Cero!
Boom!
The Cero slammed into Kaien and detonated violently. Kaien staggered back, bloodied and battered.
"Hah... hah..."
Kaien panted, eyes locked on Hollow White. He hadn't expected it to be this strong!
"Roar!"
Hollow White bellowed and charged Kaien again. Kaien closed his eyes, even prepared to die.
But Hollow White once more abandoned him and headed straight for...
Rukia!
Yoshio watched. This time, he didn't interfere, because he found Hollow White's behavior strange.
When facing Kaien and Ukitake, it was full of killing intent, but toward its repeatedly targeted Rukia, it oddly had none.
Yoshio drew his zanpakutō and then let go.
"Tranquil in three voids, Jigoku Zoku..."
This time, Yoshio didn't attack Hollow White or any Shinigami; he slowly drove his zanpakutō into the ground.
In an instant, the world changed.
Ukitake and Kaien felt like the entire world contained only the two of them. The people who'd been nearby seemed to recede at high speed and vanish in a blink.
But that was just a psychological effect; in reality, the others were right there. In a haze, they seemed to see them again, as if the prior emptiness had been an illusion.
Jigoku Zoku does not dissolve because of a crowd. Alone you feel lonely; among many you still feel lonely.
Whether many or few, Jigoku Zoku is the same.
At this moment, to conceal the change about to occur between Hollow White and Rukia, Yoshio pushed Ukitake and Kaien into a "world of solitude."
Right then, Hollow White bit Rukia's neck, and Rukia, gritting her teeth through the pain, drove her sword into Hollow White's body.
The Hollow White that Kaien and Ukitake couldn't defeat—Rukia pierced it easily?
"This is..."
Yoshio stared, stunned.
Hollow White's body swelled rapidly and then exploded with a roar!
Boom!
A massive blast erupted beside Rukia, but she wasn't harmed—or at least, suffered no physical injury.
She collapsed on the spot.
Yoshio stared, astonished.
This...
Isn't this what should have happened to Kurosaki Ichigo's mother, Kurosaki Masaki?!
The original plot should have gone like this: Shiba Isshin went to the Human World to deal with Hollow White, got ambushed by Aizen, and didn't defeat Hollow White.
Then Kurosaki Masaki came to help, and Hollow White completed the final "transfer" phase of Aizen's experiment directly on Masaki.
And its manifestation...
Was exactly the same as Rukia's current state!
Everything's a mess!
Completely off the rails!
The Hollow White that should have first transferred into Kurosaki Masaki and then into Kurosaki Ichigo had now entered Rukia Kuchiki.
So what about Kurosaki Ichigo?!
Yoshio reflexively looked up at the sky and saw Aizen's soul ability, ["Apotheosis."]
He couldn't see Aizen now, but he was sure Aizen's expression matched his own!
No—Aizen's shock probably held a tinge of excitement.
For a scientist like him, an unexpected development is more thrilling than a plan proceeding smoothly!
Hollow White...
Has reincarnated into Rukia Kuchiki's body!
So what happens to her next?
Will she hollowfy?
"..."
Yoshio pulled Jigoku Zoku free and sheathed his zanpakutō.
Right then, Jūshirō Ukitake suffered an attack of illness.
Kaien, battered by the earlier Cero and the intense battle, succumbed to his Jigoku Zoku and fainted.
Rukia Kuchiki also passed out. She probably had no idea what had just happened.
Only Yoshio was left standing.
He walked slowly to the unconscious Rukia, murmuring, "Interesting..."
"What will the future look like?"
He crouched, placed a hand on Rukia's chest, closed his eyes, and sent his spirit into her, scanning.
No hollow reiatsu...
That meant the transfer was nearly perfect, like with Kurosaki Ichigo. Unless Ichigo hollowfied, he wouldn't be forced into hollowfication like the Visoreds due to failing to suppress a Hollow's power!