Above Karakura Town—
A black crack split open in midair.
Cole stepped out from within, holding Rukia and Sode no Shirayuki in his arms.
They came to a halt in the sky.
Rukia's face immediately darkened as she looked at Sode no Shirayuki. She couldn't help grinding her teeth, her tone anything but friendly.
"Shirayuki, I'm happy to see you and all, but… you're not planning to stay manifested outside all the time, are you?"
Sode no Shirayuki smiled with narrowed eyes.
"What's wrong, small-fry master? Me staying outside bothers you that much?"
Of course it does…
Rukia was grinding her teeth in her heart.
She didn't consider herself a petty Soul Reaper.
But!!!
What kind of Soul Reaper gets carried around by a man together with her manifested zanpakuto!?
Even if Shirayuki was her own zanpakuto—
Even if they were connected in heart and soul—
It was still way too embarrassing, okay!?
Sode no Shirayuki couldn't hold back a laugh.
She suddenly hugged Rukia from behind and started kneading her mercilessly, smiling as she teased,
"Small-fry master, you've already felt so much with me, and you're still fussing about something like this?"
"Shirayuki!!"
Rukia's face went bright red, like a huge apple.
She struggled desperately to pry Shirayuki's hands off.
But blade and wielder shared a single heart—
Shirayuki knew exactly where Rukia's weak spots were.
With just a light squeeze, all the strength went out of Rukia's body, her whole being going limp.
"Shi… Shirayuki… Cole…"
Hearing Rukia's shy, pleading voice, Cole felt the blood rush straight to his head.
Two ice-cold beauties were fooling around right in front of him.
It was almost too good a view.
But one look at the current situation, and another thought of the Soul Reapers who would be arriving soon, made him cough lightly.
"Shirayuki, save bullying Rukia for when we're back home. In broad daylight like this… if someone sees, it won't be good."
Only then did Sode no Shirayuki withdraw her hands with a smile.
Rukia's eyes were wet at the corners as she looked resentfully at her zanpakuto.
It was her own zanpakuto—
Yet Shirayuki bullied her constantly.
And she had absolutely no way to deal with her.
Sode no Shirayuki laughed softly, gently supporting her master as she whispered by her ear,
"Who told you to be such a coward, small-fry master? You had so many chances, but you always backed out because you didn't have the courage…"
"S–stop talking…"
Rukia clapped a hand over Shirayuki's mouth, her face burning.
There was no way she could let anyone else hear the things in her heart.
It was way too embarrassing.
At that moment, an ancient-looking gate opened in the sky beside the three of them—
The exclusive transport of Soul Reapers.
The Senkaimon (World-Piercing Gate).
Rukia quickly straightened up and hurriedly tidied her rumpled clothes.
The next second—
The gate swung open.
Kisuke, Yoruichi, Byakuya, Shinji, Shunsui and the others rushed out in a hurry.
Before Cole could even say anything—
A huge number of Soul Reapers poured out behind them.
The backs of their shihakusho bore the character "四."
Fourth Division, the medical corps of Seireitei.
When these Soul Reapers saw the devastated Karakura Town and the Soul Reapers lying battered all over the place, they all sucked in cold breaths.
"How did it get this wrecked!?"
"There are so many severely wounded Soul Reapers… that one is… Captain Hitsugaya!?"
"And over there, Ikkaku!"
"What happened to them? Why do their injuries look like they were caused by their own comrades!?"
"Vice-Captain Hinamori's zanpakuto… how did it end up stabbing Captain Hitsugaya in the shoulder? Aren't those two childhood friends!?"
"And Ayasegawa… his zanpakuto actually pierced Vice-Captain Hinamori's chest!?"
The Fourth Division Soul Reapers couldn't stop crying out in shock.
They'd seen countless wounded before—
But this was the first time they'd run into something so brutal.
"Less talking, more healing!"
Shunsui barked impatiently.
Shinji also rushed over to help with the rescue.
When it came down to it, this whole mess had been caused by his zanpakuto.
Cole walked forward as well, looking over the heavily injured Arrancar.
He casually picked out a few, tossed them into a garganta, and sent them away.
Just then, he heard startled shouts from the nearby Fourth Division Soul Reapers.
"Vice-Captain Hinamori is still alive!?"
"Her injuries are this bad, and she still has signs of life…"
"Hurry, stabilize her!"
Watching Hinamori being frantically treated, Cole couldn't help sighing.
"Meat Momo really does live up to the title 'shield of the Soul King'…"
She'd taken a head-on slash from Hitsugaya, then a stab from Aizen, and on top of that, been cut a few more times by others.
Even Yamamoto might not have survived wounds like that.
Yet Hinamori was still alive.
No wonder the fans in his previous life had given her that nickname.
"Meat Momo?"
Rukia shot Cole a puzzled look.
Hinamori was only about a meter and a half tall and looked pretty slender.
Where was the "meat" supposed to be?
"It's not what you're thinking."
Cole sighed and ruffled her hair.
A short while later—
The wounded on the scene were all transported back to Seireitei by the Fourth Division.
Luckily, while there were many injured, not a single one of them was in mortal danger.
They had all been pulled back from the brink.
The humans had been saved as well, their memories of what had happened erased.
Some time passed.
With a resounding boom—
Half of the fake Karakura Town barrier was released and drawn back into Seireitei.
The real Karakura Town returned to its original location.
The entire city—
Looked as if nothing had ever happened.
Cars flowed through the streets, people came and went, laughter and chatter never stopped.
No one knew what had just occurred here.
No one knew that they had been only a hair's breadth away from being turned, along with the entire city, into a Royal Key.
The world seemed to be back on track.
Cole exhaled.
He was just about to say that everything was finally over when—
In the distance, Soi fong came flying toward them, looking anxious as she called,
"Cole, something's wrong, hurry!"
As she spoke, she also noticed the changed state of Karakura Town and the busy Soul Reapers, and couldn't help breathing a sigh of relief.
If everyone was here, that meant the situation had been dealt with.
She just didn't know whether Aizen had been killed or sealed.
Either way, Karakura Town was safe now.
Seeing how flustered she looked, Cole couldn't help raising an eyebrow.
"There's someone even stronger showing up?"
Aizen had already left.
What could possibly make Soi fong this agitated?
Had the Invisible Empire already shown itself?
Shunsui and the others hurried over as well, their expressions serious as they looked at Soi fong.
"Captain Soi fong, what happened?"
Being stared at so solemnly by everyone, Soi fong felt a little embarrassed.
She calmed herself down, coughed lightly, and pointed toward Cole's villa.
"It's urgent, sure, but it's not anything dangerous, so you don't have to overreact. It's just that the Captain-Commander woke up, and he's making a scene in the villa right now."
Everyone stared at each other, baffled.
The Captain-Commander waking up was supposed to be a good thing, wasn't it?
Why did she look like that?
And what did she mean by "making a scene" in the house?
Was he… throwing a tantrum like a child?
Cole, however, immediately guessed what was going on.
He gave Soi fong a speechless look.
"Let me guess, the old man doesn't want his arm healed?"
Soi fong stared at him in surprise, then nodded.
"The Captain-Commander is strongly against being treated by a human. He wants Captain Unohana to handle it instead, but Captain Unohana can't heal a severed arm."
"I knew it…"
Cole rubbed his temples in exasperation.
It had been the same in the original story.
Yamamoto knew full well that Orihime's ability encroached on the realm of the gods—
But he was stubborn to the core.
He simply refused to let Orihime heal him.
So even all the way up to the Thousand-Year Blood War, when he faced off against Yhwach, the old man was still missing an arm.
Cole even suspected that the reason Yamamoto lost to Yhwach might have been that missing arm.
Even for a Soul Reaper, losing a limb was a massive injury, practically cutting one's combat power in half.
It was like with the sword in zanjutsu—
Even a battle maniac like Kenpachi understood that wielding a blade with both hands produced far more power than using just one.
"So what's the situation now?"
Shunsui asked helplessly, looking at Soi fong.
He hadn't expected Yamamoto to still be this stubborn under these circumstances.
At the mention of this, Soi fong's voice grew urgent again.
"Because the Captain-Commander wants to leave, and Captain Unohana won't let him, the two of them are about to start fighting inside that room."
"What!?"
Cole's eyes went wide.
"Those two are about to fight in my house!?"
If they really started, his home would end up worse than the Soul King.
There wouldn't even be dust left.
And he'd just finished remodeling the basement too.
"Cole…"
Shunsui had just opened his mouth to say something when he saw Cole's figure shoot off like a meteor toward the villa.
The others hurried after him.
Soi fong, however, blinked and didn't rush to follow.
Instead, she grabbed hold of the escaping Yoruichi, smiling as she pulled her close.
"Yoruichi-sama, where do you think you're going?"
Yoruichi's face was flushed red as she looked at her former subordinate, struggling hard but unable to shake her off.
"L–let go of me…"
The usually carefree and bold Yoruichi had a rare note of shyness in her voice.
Just thinking about what had happened a little while ago made her want to dig a hole and crawl into it.
Girls weren't supposed to do things like that to each other.
You were only supposed to do those things with boys.
And yet her own subordinate had dared to do this, and that, and that, and that, and those kinds of shameful things to her…
Seeing Yoruichi's flushed face, Soi fong's cheeks reddened too, little hearts practically shining in her eyes.
"Yoruichi-sama, you're so cute!"
Yoruichi jumped in fright, almost unleashing her spiritual pressure to use hoho (Flash Step) and run.
But before she could move, Soi fong's finger brushed the soft spot at her waist—
And her whole body went weak.
"Soi fong…"
Yoruichi looked at her disciple in embarrassed anger.
That was her most sensitive spot, and now her subordinate had discovered it.
"Yoruichi-sama, I didn't expect your weak point to be this obvious…"
Soi fong swallowed, pink hearts swirling in her eyes as she tugged Yoruichi along and sprinted away.
"N–no…"
Yoruichi cried out, spiritual pressure exploding around her as she turned and fled in a burst of hoho.
"Wait for me, Yoruichi-sama!"
Soi fong rushed after her.
At the same time—
Inside Cole's villa.
Yamamoto glared darkly at Unohana from across the room.
"The only reason this arm was severed was because I was careless and didn't dodge. That is my shame. This old man will never accept treatment from a human."
Unohana's gaze was anything but gentle.
"Once a patient enters my care, do you really think you can run away?"
As she spoke, she drew her zanpakuto, her expression dangerous as her spiritual pressure filled the room.
"Hundreds of years ago, you used Ryujin Jakka (Flowing Blade Like Flame) to burn me all over. You don't actually think I'm still that weak, do you?"
After countless bouts of sparring and training with Cole, her swordsmanship had improved across the board.
Her strength was far beyond what it once had been.
She didn't believe for a second that Yamamoto, in his current state, could beat her.
Yamamoto drew his zanpakuto as well.
"Unohana. I said I don't need treatment, and that means I don't need treatment."
Off to the side, Orihime was on the verge of tears.
"Captain Unohana, Captain-Commander, please don't fight…"
Tatsuki couldn't help saying as well,
"Hey, old Soul Reaper geezer, having your arm grow back is a good thing, isn't it?"
Yamamoto's face was like stone.
He was a Soul Reaper, one who existed to protect humanity.
His pride wouldn't allow him to accept help from a human.
And on top of that, Orihime's power was far too outrageous.
If he let her heal him, it might drag her into danger.
That was something he simply could not accept.
With that in mind, Yamamoto spoke sternly,
"You two brats, leave this place. I'm going to have a little spar with Captain Unohana."
Even with one arm missing, he didn't believe he would lose to Unohana.
Seeing that the two of them really were about to start, Orihime's eyes filled with tears.
"Captain Unohana, Captain-Commander, I won't treat your arm anymore, okay? Just please don't fight in here!"
They were comrades, both Soul Reapers—
And they were about to start fighting over a treatment.
The thought alone made Orihime want to cry.
Yamamoto opened his mouth to respond—
But suddenly his body jolted.
His eyes rolled back, and he pitched forward uncontrollably.
With a heavy thud, he crashed to the floor.
Behind him, Cole's figure appeared.
The black-haired boy rested his golden staff on his shoulder, looking down at the collapsed Yamamoto with a dark expression.
"You really thought you could fight in my house?"
He'd gone to all that effort to build his underground space, and he'd barely even gotten to use it.
If they wrecked it now—
He would absolutely beat Yamamoto until he literally crapped himself, and make Unohana kneel and call him papa while begging for mercy.
(End of Chapter)
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