"Ah…"
Seeing this, the Shinigami who had been fighting froze in shock.
What just happened?!
The monsters who had been fighting them a moment ago suddenly committed mass suicide?
Rukia, who'd just returned and was preparing to fight, also froze.
She remembered what the fake Shiba Kaien had said earlier.
He'd said their target had already been taken away, and this trip was a waste—they'd return when the time came.
But…
Is this how they go back?
Or do they have some other purpose?
Of course, she couldn't trust the enemy's words.
After all, that Shiba Kaien was fake—who knew if he'd told the truth?
But Rukia truly didn't understand why they'd suddenly commit suicide.
The blood rain poured down from the sky, splashing onto Karakura Town, onto every Shinigami. The monsters' bodies turned into pools of blood, decomposing as they fell.
Under the red rain, everyone was left puzzled.
In the crowd, Kurosaki Ichigo was even more confused.
All he wanted was to see if anyone was injured.
He looked up at the sky.
And with that glance, he saw the enormous crimson moon.
At that moment, Ichigo felt the moon growing larger and larger in his eyes—like a giant red eye!
Instantly, Ichigo's pupils dilated!
In his vision, it seemed the crimson moon had… something inside it.
Or maybe the moon itself was just part of some greater thing—perhaps only its eye!
A torrent of scarlet surged. Kurosaki Ichigo let out a roar, covered his eyes with both hands, lost all strength, and plummeted from the sky!
!?
Ichigo's sudden change shocked everyone.
They rushed to catch him.
At that critical moment, a golden barrier appeared—like a Kido spell—catching Ichigo.
"Santen Kesshun!"
Inoue Orihime had appeared on the street, using her power to catch him.
The Shinigami no longer cared about the vanishing monsters; they rushed to see what happened to Ichigo.
Kisuke Urahara was not in a hurry—because Hirako Shinji appeared.
Shinji's face was serious.
"I say, Urahara, do you know what's going on?"
"…I don't know."
"Really? Don't lie."
"How could I?" Urahara smiled.
"Let's go see what happened to Ichigo."
"I'm not going." Shinji replied, sword on his back.
"Same old rule: let him come to us. After this, he should be more sensible."
"We'll be leaving now."
"Anyway, thanks for your help this time," Urahara said.
"What are you talking about? We just don't want our home destroyed."
Shinji clicked his tongue, then vanished, gathering with the Visoreds until they disappeared from the world of blood-red and darkness.
Urahara then descended, preparing to check on Kurosaki Ichigo.
He didn't see Yoruichi, nor Soi Fon, because as they moved, Soi Fon appeared before Yoruichi.
Soi Fon's obsession with Yoruichi was too deep. After everything, it only grew.
Now, she appeared before Yoruichi.
Looking at her former subordinate, Yoruichi smiled.
"Yo, Soi Fon, you don't look so good."
"Of course not. I'm here to kill you," Soi Fon said coldly.
"Kill me? That's a bit much, isn't it? What happened back then is already clear—we were all wrongly accused." Yoruichi smiled.
"!" Soi Fon gritted her teeth.
"That was Aizen's fault, but you still abducted a prisoner. The Captain-Commander forgave you because he needs your strength—but I won't!"
"…That doesn't sound like you."
"You're wrong, Yoruichi. Precisely because it's me, I must say such things.
I will kill you to prove I am stronger than you!"
Yoruichi was silent, then said,
"All right—let's test your training. See if you can truly replace me after taking my place!"
"Don't get cocky, Yoruichi." Soi Fon's eyes narrowed.
"I saw your battle just now. Compared to a hundred years ago, you're weaker!"
"Living in the Human World has weakened you, while I've grown stronger in Soul Society. Now, don't think you can dominate me like before!"
"Actually… a few decades ago, another you said the same thing." Yoruichi sighed.
"All right, let's see how much stronger you are than that imposter."
"Then watch closely."
A powerful spiritual pressure erupted from Soi Fon, shattering her Captain's haori and sections of her uniform.
"…It's Shunko. You've learned it," Yoruichi observed.
"But don't forget, I learned this technique much earlier."
Boom!
She unleashed her own Shunko. She'd already used it in the previous fight.
Shunko placed a huge burden on the body and consumed much spiritual power. But Soi Fon had used a lot as well—she'd even used Bankai.
Both were equally depleted in stamina and power.
Urahara wasn't worried about their fight.
The priority now was to check Ichigo—who had suddenly collapsed.
Just now… Kurosaki Ichigo seemed to have seen something, then fell from the sky.
As Urahara descended, the clouds in the sky lightened, and the blood moon lost its ominous glow.
The oppressive feeling weighing on everyone lifted.
They looked up, seeing that the blood rain had stopped, and dried blood stained the ground.
Some collected samples. Urahara did too.
…
"What happened to Kurosaki-kun?"
Inoue Orihime asked anxiously.
She'd already used Sōten Kisshun, but it seemed useless.
"You're Kurosaki's classmate, right? Don't worry, he's fine," Urahara said.
"His body and spiritual pressure are normal. He's probably suffered some kind of mental shock."
"…Urahara, what was that just now?" Ukitake also asked.
Urahara smiled bitterly.
"I'm not the Almighty. This is beyond me."
He was smart, but not omniscient.
Without information, how could he analyze this?
"It's the Primodial Moon, isn't it?" Hitsugaya said.
"Mayuri mentioned one of the gods from outside the Three Realms—called 'the Primodial Moon'."
It was clear—
The crimson moon still hanging in the sky was impossible to ignore.
"Yes." Rukia recounted her encounter with the fake Kaien, though she hesitated and didn't mention the necklace, only that she hadn't been ambushed.
Everyone pondered.
This confirmed: these people were subordinates of the Primodial Moon.
"Among them are Hollows from the Three Realms, and also beings totally unlike anything in the Three Realms," Ukitake said.
"They caused all this just to find fragments of the 'Key of Life'?"
"And the one who impersonated Kaien," Ukitake added apologetically.
"Sorry, Kuchiki. I meant to check on him, but when I saw you with him, I stopped paying attention."
"…It's fine. Because of the previous 'Faceless One,' I never let my guard down," Rukia said softly.
"The former Faceless One could transform into others, and now there's another fake Shiba…"
"Could these two be connected?"
"No," Urahara shook his head.
"From the fake Kaien's words, we can deduce they can't easily appear in the outside world.
The Faceless One appeared several times before."
"Ichigo once said the Faceless One took something from his soul when it appeared," Rukia said.
"Could that be the 'Key of Life fragment'?"
"It's very possible, but we're too late," Urahara said.
"It's already been taken."
Everyone felt lost.
Inoue listened, then suddenly asked,
"Um… are you all Kurosaki-kun's friends?"
She'd been so worried about Ichigo she hadn't noticed she was surrounded by strangers. The only familiar face was Rukia, who'd just transferred today.
Kurosaki Ichigo was very familiar with Rukia, but the rest she'd never seen.
"…"
The Shinigami only now realized Inoue's presence.
"A human?"
"She's probably like Kurosaki, a human who awakened powers because of Karakura Town," Rukia said.
"Your name is… Inoue, right? Don't worry, we're not bad people."
"Oh…" Inoue was silent, then said,
"If you're looking for Kurosaki-kun's lost item, that person looked for me too."
!?
Everyone was surprised—except Urahara.
"You mean the Faceless One found you too?"
"Yes. It transformed into Nezuko-chan's appearance to find me, and later even transformed into me to deceive Kurosaki-kun."
Everyone glanced at Urahara. He sighed.
"Leave this to me."
He'd noticed Inoue's abnormality, but hadn't had time to investigate.
Besides, he didn't want Inoue to talk about it here, surrounded by Shinigami.
He could trust the Shinigami present—but what about those not present?
Mayuri Kurotsuchi… and the nobles might not treat Inoue kindly.
He would protect her.
"Eh?" Inoue was surprised.
"Leave it to you?"
"Don't worry, I'm Kurosaki's friend. If you don't believe me, wait for him to wake up and ask him," Urahara said.
"Look, he's about to wake up."
Indeed, as he spoke, Ichigo stirred.
The next moment, his eyes snapped open!
"Hah!"
Ichigo sat up abruptly, staring in confusion.
"…What happened just now?"
"We were about to ask you," Rukia said.
"Why did you suddenly scream and fall from the sky?"
"…"
Ichigo frowned, recalling what happened.
His thoughts returned to the crimson moon.
Thinking of that giant full moon, his body trembled.
A flash of fear crossed his eyes.
"I… I think I saw… Yoshio Kamado!"
!?
Everyone was stunned.
They stared, speechless.
"What did you say?!"
"That's right. I think it was him."
Hearing their doubts, Ichigo calmed down.
He thought back, then said,
"Yes, it was him! He seemed to be standing on that blood-red moon, talking to something!"