Bleach: Awakened — Chapter 27 - Not a Single One Gets Away

'Shinso... can't come back.'

The smile at the corner of his mouth quietly vanished. Shinso, pinched between Ichigo's fingers, could not be recalled, the terrifying force held it completely frozen, unable to advance a single inch, unable to retreat one either.

'What a frightening fellow... As I thought... without resorting to special measures, even Captain Aizen couldn't deal with him.'

"Everyone, come on in." Ichigo waved the others forward. "Thanks, Jidanbo! You can stand down now, everything after this has nothing to do with you. Just tell them we forced you to open the gate!"

"Oh... Oh!" Jidanbo blinked, then broke into a wide grin. "You've got a real sense of honor. What's your name?"

"Ichigo Kurosaki. The 'ichi' that means moving ever forward, the 'go' that means to protect."

"Oh oh! That's a great name!"

"Hey! Right?!"

While they talked, Orihime and the other two, along with Yoruichi in cat form, stepped inside the boundaries of Seireitei. Jidanbo withdrew to the other side of the gate. In the distance, a number of spiritual pressures were drawing closer.

"Ichigo!" Yoruichi said suddenly. "We should split up!"

"Huh?" Ichigo frowned. "Why split up? We could just follow me and charge, cut straight through. If we split up and the others run into Captains, what then?"

"Get your objectives straight!" Yoruichi's tone turned serious. "We need to throw Seireitei into chaos. Multiple battlefronts cause far more disruption than one!"

"But isn't safety supposed to come first?"

"Relax. The Captains are all sharp, and by now the Gotei 13 has already sensed something is off internally. At a time like this, they generally won't go for the kill, and I'll be keeping an eye out."

"But..."

"There's no 'but' about it." Uryu cut in, flat. "Ichigo, do you actually think of us as accessories?"

"Huh...?"

"Orihime is one thing, offensive capabilities are relatively limited there." Uryu pushed up his glasses. "But Yasutora Sado and I are men. Men with dignity. We don't need you protecting us every step of the way."

"We didn't come along just to save Rukia Kuchiki. This trip is also a chance to test what we've trained for."

"Alright, I get it." Ichigo nodded, then looked toward Orihime. "Then Orihime stays with me. Yasutora Sado, Uryu, you two move freely."

"Got it!" Yasutora Sado nodded. Short hair fell across both eyes, yet behind it, the resolve in that gaze was unmistakable.

"Don't go and get yourselves killed, you two."

"Relax." Blue spirit particles flickered at Uryu's feet. "Don't be surprised when we meet up and I've taken down more Captains than you."

"Hey! That'd be great!"

"Then we're heading out first, Ichigo!"

"Yeah, yeah!"

"One last thing." Yoruichi took two quick leaps up onto the rooftop. Before leaving, she deliberately turned back. "There aren't many Captains who'll go for the kill, but the one standing right in front of you is one of them."

"...Is that so."

'The atmosphere... suddenly changed.'

Standing alone near the gate, Orihime felt the shift the moment it happened. Pulling tighter into oneself, even though the source of it was the person Orihime cared for, the body still went a little cold.

"You..." His fingers released, and the Zanpakuto snapped back in an instant. Ichigo's lips curved into a faint smile. "You're one of Aizen's lackeys, aren't you?"

"...Lackey?" Gin Ichimaru smiled in turn. "If by that you mean someone who follows another, then yes. I have always followed Captain Aizen."

The words had barely landed when a dozen or more Soul Reapers burst out from the streets on both sides. They read the situation instantly, closing in around Ichigo and Orihime in a slow, deliberate encirclement.

"Ryoka!" A Soul Reaper with yellow hair and a grim expression called out. "Surrender quietly while you still can!"

"Are you an idiot?" Ichigo looked at the Soul Reaper like watching a fool. "Did you really think I came all the way to Soul Society just to surrender? What a dunce."

"So it's going to come to blades, then."

The yellow-haired Soul Reaper was clearly the highest-ranked among the group. At those words, the others drew their swords swiftly, every one of them snapping into a sharp, combat-ready stance.

"Then don't blame me—raise your head, Wabisuke!"

As the release incantation ended, the Zanpakuto in the yellow-haired Soul Reaper's hand transformed. The front section curved into a reverse hook, giving it a strange and striking shape.

One by one, the other Soul Reapers released their Zanpakuto as well. The sheer variety of forms was almost too much to take in, Ichigo watched them like someone at a magic show, barely holding back from cheering out loud.

"Charge!"

"YEAAAHH!"

"Wait—Izuru!"

At the yellow-haired Soul Reaper's command, the Soul Reapers surged forward with a roar. Even Captain Gin Ichimaru's voice was swallowed by the chaos.

"Small fry need to know their place, it's genuinely hard for me to hold back against you lot!"

The words left his mouth, and Ichigo's eyes went wide. The spiritual pressure inside him surged to its absolute peak in an instant, yet the release was controlled with remarkable precision, covering only the several dozen meters ahead of him and nothing more. Orihime, standing behind, felt the terrifying pressure wash over, but very little of its crushing weight came through.

"Cr— Ughhhhh..."

The Soul Reapers who had charged forward were not so fortunate. The full brunt of that overwhelming spiritual pressure crashed over them like an abyss, like a prison, the crushing force was immense. The next instant, every last one of them foamed at the mouth and dropped to the ground, unconscious.

"A... monster."

The yellow-haired Soul Reaper was the last to fall. Propping the blade into the ground and leaning on it, struggling, yet in the end, the strength gave out, and the body sank down.

"Fighters who can't even withstand my spiritual pressure shouldn't be carrying swords."

Said plainly, Ichigo watched the yellow-haired Soul Reaper crumple in frustrated defeat. By any normal measure, that opponent was not weak, spiritual pressure at the level of an upper-seated officer or Vice-Captain. But the opponent here was Ichigo. A being that few across all three realms could stand beside, let alone compare to. A miracle given form.

"What a terrifying fellow..."

Even Gin Ichimaru, whose spiritual pressure ranked among the stronger Captains, could not stop the cold sweat. Stumbling back several steps involuntarily.

"I could choose not to kill you. After all, I'd rather not make things blow up too badly on the very first day, it'd be hard to explain later." The smile on Ichigo's lips was easy and bright. "But you'll have to take one slash from me first. Call it collecting a little interest in advance."

"Ha..." Gin Ichimaru's grip tightened on the Zanpakuto. "Does that make me lucky, then?"

"Of course." Ichigo kept smiling, but in Gin Ichimaru's eyes, it was nothing short of a devil's grin. "Because once that Aizen guy gets exposed, I really will cut you down for good."

"Ha... Shouldn't Captain Aizen be the one getting cut down first?"

"Well... not a single one of you is getting away, so don't worry." Ichigo's smile didn't waver. "I'm not someone who does sloppy work."

➤ Next: The Lucky Fox