Ichigo leaves and takes up residence in Soul Society!

Retsu Unohana smiled slightly: "Of course I know you deliberately used those words to provoke me, but this is normal business practice, so you don't need to apologize to me. I really didn't take it to heart, otherwise I wouldn't have let you call Kurosaki-san here so I could vent my anger on him."

"???"

Ichigo opened his eyes wide.

Although his injury had clearly healed, he still felt a slight pain in his knee.

"If you don't mind, that would be great."

Ignoring Ichigo's death stare, Shinomiya seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

"It's not entirely true that I don't care."

"Unohana Retsu suddenly said."

“I can still remember what you said, but I wasn’t angry. In fact, I was happy for the Eleventh Division. Someone could understand their feelings.”

"Miss Unohana is so understanding, and look at someone else..."

Ichigo couldn't help but sigh.

The four palaces remained unmoved, completely unaffected.

After they said goodbye, Yongyin couldn't help but turn back to look at the two who were making a fuss. She said with a smile, "They are really interesting, and they are also excessively outstanding. They are very similar to Captain Kyōraku and Captain Ukitake from the Spirit Arts Academy."

"That's just how it appears on the surface."

"Eh?"

"The captain of the Kyoraku band and Captain Ukitake, as disciples of the captain-general, were the most dazzling duo among the first graduates. Although their circumstances were similar to those of Shinomiya and the others, they were fundamentally different."

In response to Yuuto's words, Unohana Retsu calmly explained.

"Yes... If I had to say, Kurosaki is more like a combination of the two of them, while Shinomiya... is more like the Captain-Commander when he was young."

Yongyin was stunned.

I can somewhat understand the former, but the latter...

What did the captain look like when he was young?

She secretly glanced at her captain's young and beautiful profile, silently swallowing her questions.

Chapter 29 Rukia: How come the Soul Society reinforcements arrived so quickly?

Late June, roof of the main campus of the Spiritual Arts Academy.

All the students from Class One were present, chatting in small groups. Among them were many people of noble birth and outstanding appearance, but their presence was far less noticeable than that of the four boys and girls lingering in the corner.

Even though his spiritual pressure was perfectly concealed, his intense legendary aura made him the center of attention simply by standing there.

Many small groups appear to be talking but are actually secretly monitoring their movements, and the topics they discuss are often related to them.

However, none of the individuals involved had any concern for their image.

Ichigo squinted, squatting there listlessly. With his blond hair and seemingly angry expression, he looked exactly like a delinquent.

Rindou stared blankly at the bird perched on his fingertip, exuding an extremely aloof aura. To others, he was an eccentric person who was difficult to deal with.

Not to mention Ba Ba Yuan, that makeup would be considered very trendy even in today's world.

In the past few days, we've made some minor adjustments to the student uniforms, making them less rigid and more fashionable, befitting a high school girl.

The most normal one has to be the Four Palaces Master.

...provided that his hellish jokes are ignored.

"So many people going to the mortal world to practice soul burial, and they even chose to do it late at night. Are those special festival traditions just rumors? If so, if someone is burning paper money, we have to respond. It's a way of giving the living some spiritual sustenance. In fact, this is the essence of 'soul burial,' and its meaning is instantly elevated."

"Come on, that will only scare people to death. Choosing to do it at night is to minimize the impact on the real world."

"Oh? You remember so clearly? It seems you're not planning to take this opportunity to say hello to your family."

The Four Palaces Lord crossed his arms and teased.

"...I never intended to do that. Since they're already dead, I shouldn't disturb the lives of the living. I'd be content with just a glimpse from afar."

Ichigo's eyes darkened, but he retorted nonchalantly.

"Yeah."

The four palaces remained noncommittal.

"But what do you think?"

Ichigo, whose mentality had been messed up, was not to be outdone.

"Unlike you, I have no one I care about in this world."

"..."

The Four Palace Master's frank words left Ichigo speechless.

Just as he was about to apologize, a small commotion broke out.

Three unfamiliar faces, a man and a woman, dressed in the uniforms of the institute's students, appeared on the rooftop.

"Everyone, are you all ready?"

The boy's clear voice rang out. He had a dark wheatish complexion, delicate features, and a androgynous beauty. He was slender with little muscle and looked no different from a middle school student in the modern world.

"he is……?"

Ichigo stood up in surprise, not simply because she looked like a girl, but because he keenly sensed an unusual spiritual pressure.

"Sixth-generation descendant, the next heir of the Shihōin family, one of the four great noble families known as the 'Heaven-Sent Armored Guards.', Shihōin Yūshirō Sakimune."

Ba Ba Yuan was knowledgeable and experienced, and he recognized the person's identity at a glance.

"The two people beside him are also nobles, but they are no match for him in terms of status, position, or strength."

"I don't understand their status or position, but I can definitely sense their strength... I never imagined that the Spirit Arts Academy had such powerful figures besides us."

“The heirs of the four great noble families are not on the same level as the nobles you saw before.”

Shinomiya-zun gazed at Yuushirou, who was explaining the precautions for the soul burial internship to everyone.

"I heard he rarely comes to class, but he actually came to lead the Soul Burial internship this time. It must be because of our relationship."

He immediately guessed the Spiritual Arts Academy's intention.

There's nothing we can do; this year's top-performing class is just too outstanding.

But apart from Yushiro, no one in the entire Spirit Arts Academy can compare to Hachiyahara and Rindo, let alone Shinomiya-no-Mikoto and Ichigo, who are both outsiders.

In order to protect this generation of talents and ensure their smooth development, a better team leader is needed.

It was with this in mind that the headmaster went to great lengths to call back Yushiro, who had been absent from class for several years, to help.

However, there are probably other reasons why Yushiro himself agreed to help.

"Are you afraid we'll cause trouble? The dean underestimates us. Do you think we're the kind of people who like to cause trouble?"

"That's hard to say. The guy next to you has a face that screams 'I'm looking to cause trouble.'"

Upon hearing what the Four Palace Master said, Ichigo subconsciously looked at Hachiyahara beside him.

This infuriated the Eight-Eight Principality.

"Who wants to cause trouble!"

Her temper flared up quickly and subsided just as fast.

The anger on his face instantly turned into a mysterious smile.

"Let's not talk about that... Haven't you noticed anything different about me today?"

Shinomiya-no-Mikoto, Ichigo, Rindo, and others all looked at her at the same time.

I observed it carefully for a while.

Ichigo frowned first and said, "Isn't it the same as usual?"

[I didn't bring a knife.]

Luntang noticed the difference.

"Rindou does have some sense, but only 'some'~"

Ba Ba Yuan raised a finger and shook it, with a smug expression that said, "It's nothing special."

"How could a soul burial training session be conducted without a knife?"

The Fourth Palace Master rolled his eyes.

"It's not that she didn't bring a knife, nor that she hid it; rather, she mastered the Shikai, which transformed into something that's hard for us to notice, like... nail art."

"It still has to be my soulmate, Shinomiya!"

"Nail art?!"

Ichigo was stunned.

"How could there be such a form of initial release!"

"Hmph, you have a problem with my Zanpakuto? Even if you do, I won't accept it~ Anyway, I'm very satisfied. Now I can finally unleash my full power!"

Ba Ba Yuan looked at the manicure on his ten fingers, looking extremely pleased with it.

"Are you planning to remain in your initial state forever?"

"of course!"

"……Good for you."

Ichigo was completely convinced.

"Now you know how powerful I am, right? In short, the weakest among us is definitely not me anymore, after all, Rindou has already achieved his Shikai..."

Before Ba Ba could finish speaking, he saw Lun Tang write a line of words in the air.

—【I have also mastered the initial interpretation】.

Hachihara's smug smile froze instantly.

He got stuck on his words.

"Hmm."

The Fourth Palace Lord's gaze swept between the two, and he said thoughtfully, "It seems that it is still debatable who is stronger between the two of you."

"I bet a thousand rings, round of court."

Ichigo suppressed a laugh.

"Let's have a competition then...!"

Hachihara's cheeks flushed red, and a murderous glint flashed in his eyes.

The exposed manicure gleamed with a cold light.

Fortunately, the portal opened at that moment, preventing her from becoming enraged.

……

In this world, Karakura Town.

Under the streetlights of the Love and Happiness Park, a phantom was lunging at the spirit of a little girl whose face was covered in blood. Suddenly, a figure descended from the sky, wielding a samurai sword that could be described as a giant blade, and cleaved the phantom in two without warning.

"Phew! Fortunately, I caught up!"

"—Inoue, how's the situation?"

"what?"

"Looks like there's no need to ask."

Rukia, dressed casually, jogged over and paused slightly when she saw the Hollow gradually dissipating, then smiled with relief.

"Little sister, are you okay?"

The orange-haired girl, a Grim Reaper, gazed at the spirit under the streetlight with a tender look tinged with sorrow.

She looks like a little girl who died in a car accident.

This reminded her of another car accident she had heard about a few months earlier.

Tragedy will always happen in places we are unaware of.