Of course, Orihime wouldn't forget her brother. But in her memory, her brother Sora Inoue was a gentle man. No matter how she looked at it, it didn't resemble the terrifying-looking monster in front of her that emitted an eerie aura.
"Damn it! How could you forget me! How could you forget me?!"
"I raised you! I brought you out of that house!!!"
Sora completely lost his mind and extended his sharp claw towards Orihime.
However, just then, a cold light streaked across the air without warning.
Swish!
Sora's right arm was severed at the root and fell to the ground.
"Who! Who did it?!"
Sora was stunned for a moment before reacting, letting out a roar and looking around.
However, just then, a calm voice sounded above his head.
"I'm just a passing devil."
Boom!
A deafening roar echoed in the room.
Sora was knocked to the ground by the sudden attack and suffered heavy injuries.
After that, Tatsuma jumped down from above him, raised his hand, and summoned a magic array to envelop Sora.
In just a few seconds, Sora's body rapidly shrank and was finally enclosed in a palm-sized black box, falling into deep sleep.
"I didn't expect it to be quite useful."
Tatsuma picked up the black box and let out a sigh.
This Magic is called Black Box. It's a storage Magic he recently researched, used to store weapons and various personal items.
Due to Sora's special nature, Tatsuma found it inconvenient to directly kill him just now, so he had a flash of inspiration and thought of using this magic to seal him.
Although Black Box's sealing of living beings is quite ordinary, fortunately, Sora's strength isn't strong enough. Strengthening the seal with the Boosted Gear, it was not a problem to confine Sora.
Putting the black box into his bosom, Tatsuma turned and walked towards the girl who was still in a daze not far away.
On the other side, seeing Tatsuma walking towards her, Orihime finally recovered from the series of startling changes.
"Um... Devil-san, thank you for saving me."
"You're welcome, after all, I get paid."
"Huh? Is that so?"
Orihime reached into her pocket to get money.
However, just then, she remembered that she was still in a state of soul separation.
Looking at her body lying on the ground, and the chain connecting her body and soul, Orihime blinked and asked, "Devil-san, do you have a way to put me back in my body? Otherwise, I can't get the money out."
"Of course."
Tatsuma reached out and lifted Orihime's body that was lying on the ground, walking towards her soul.
However, halfway there, he suddenly stopped and turned his head to look at the broken wall not far away.
"What is it?" Orihime turned her head to look.
The next second, her gaze fell on two figures, one male and one female, jumping in from outside.
"Hmm? What's the situation?"
His gaze swept across the messy room. Not finding a Hollow, Ichigo was stunned for a moment.
But just then, he noticed Tatsuki unconscious in the corner, and Tatsuma holding Orihime's body.
After subconsciously fabricating a ten-thousand-word essay in his mind, Ichigo's eyes suddenly widened, and he let out an angry roar.
"You bastard! Stop it!"
Stomping his feet heavily on the ground, Ichigo turned into an afterimage and charged towards Tatsuma.
"Kurosaki-kun, you misunderstood..."
Orihime reacted a beat late and wanted to explain.
However, before that, Tatsuma raised his palm first and flicked his finger.
Bang!
Ichigo flew backward at an even faster speed and disappeared from the room.
[Congratulations on successfully defeating Ichigo Kurosaki and obtaining the gold trait Energy Fusion.]
[Energy Fusion (Gold): Can fuse energy from different sources, greatly increasing the quality of energy while retaining its original effects.]
He's actually quite nice.
Glancing at the gold trait that had appeared on its own, Tatsuma raised an eyebrow and forgave Ichigo's recklessness.
Turning his head and retracting his gaze, he walked up to Orihime's soul and put it back into her body.
"How do you feel? Is there anywhere you're uncomfortable?"
"Mm... No problem, everything is normal."
Orihime took out her wallet from her pocket.
"Devil-san, this is all the money I have, I hope you are satisfied."
Tatsuma took the wallet, glanced at it, and threw it back into Orihime's hand.
"Forget it, I won't take your money. With this little money, even a thief would cry. I'd feel guilty taking it."
"..."
I'm really sorry for being so poor.
Just then, seeing that Tatsuma didn't seem like a bad person, Rukia, who had been standing not far away, walked over.
"You two, could one of you explain to me what exactly happened here?"
Tatsuma said, "Nothing much, just happened to pass by here and found a Hollow attacking ordinary people, so I stepped in to help deal with it."
"After that, you guys arrived, and that blockhead Shinigami over there rushed up to cause me trouble without understanding anything."
Ichigo, who had just run back: "..."
So he was an ally.
After listening to Tatsuma's explanation, Ichigo's expression became awkward.
"I'm truly sorry!"
Tatsuma casually said, "No need to apologize, just let me beat you up when we meet next month."
"?"
Why next month?
Ichigo scratched his head, but in the end didn't ask the question.
"Um... Excuse me, what is a Hollow?"
Just then, Orihime raised her hand to ask.
"Hollows are souls that have been affected by various factors and eventually fallen, becoming monsters." Rukia helped explain.
After a moment, Orihime, who now understood what a Hollow was, had a complicated expression.
So that monster just now hadn't lied, it really was her brother.
"Speaking of which, why are you in Karakura Town?"
Seeing that Orihime was no longer speaking, Rukia's gaze turned towards Tatsuma, a hint of confusion flashing in her eyes.
Karakura Town is one of Soul Society's administrative areas, managed by Soul Society's Shinigami. Under normal circumstances, external forces like devils shouldn't be entering here.
"I came to find you."
"Find me?"
"Mm, after your captain discovered you were out of contact, he privately sent a request to the Underworld."
Tatsuma took out the commission document and handed it to Rukia, briefly explaining what had happened.
***
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